Determining students’ personality traits according to parental perspectives: A scale development study

The educational community recognizes individual differences, but it is important to fully address them in educational settings. While there are existing studies on personality traits, none focus on the personality traits of students aged 6-18. This study aims to fill this gap, as personality traits significantly influence personal, academic, and professional life. Understanding student personalities allows for the development of more effective educational programs, facilitating their full potential. The study included parents of 2,229 students from a population of 16,505,271 aged 6-18 in Turkiye. Through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), a reliable 61-item 5-point Likert scale (α = .942) was derived. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on a second dataset of 916 parents, resulting in 794 due to outliers. The Scale for Determining Student Personalities According to Parental Perspectives, with 16 sub-dimensions and 46 items, demonstrated good reliability (α = .948). The study’s findings are expected to hold significant implications for education, parenting, and child development

What hospitality and tourism higher educators learned from COVID-19: A case of Turkiye

Among all the sectors, the hospitality and tourism sector has been detrimentally affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research aimed to determine how changes have been experienced specifically in the Turkish tourism higher education and tourism sector. Twenty-seven academics from the hospitality and tourism education departments were interviewed. Most agreed that restrictions have limited student access to hands-on practical courses and internships, which are crucial to developing necessary competencies. Moreover, the results showed the curriculum does not always meet the needs of the hospitality industry for a trained and skilled workforce. The challenge is to decide what else should be taught and what methods and teaching approaches should be used. As a result, industry-academia cooperation is necessary to reassess the curriculum programs to meet sector needs considering the pandemic impacts

COVID-19 and its impact on multinational enterprises: A modified value at risk approach

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating across different currencies are exposed to exchange rate risk. They may utilize a variety of tools to mitigate that risk. While there are different types of exchange rate risk, this study focuses specifically on the ongoing exposure of cash flow transactions denominated in the currencies of seven different developed countries. Since other types of risk (i.e., economic and translation) are evaluated based on yearly results, they are not considered in this study. The modified value-at-risk (MVaR) model is employed to estimate the maximum one-period losses during the eighteen months before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and, in addition, the maximum one-period losses during the eighteen months following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The predicted losses using MVaR are then compared with the actual ex-post results. Our objective is to analyze the extent of the cash flow transaction exposure and provide practical insights to MNEs as they decide whether or not they should hedge this risk. This study is noteworthy because it compares the pre- and post-COVID-19 periods

Financial characteristics of mobile banking and payment users in the United States

This study aims to examine the personal finance characteristics of mobile banking and mobile payment users in the United States. To achieve this goal, we used the 2018 National Financial Capability Study, which surveyed over 27,000 American adults regarding their personal financial standing and behaviors. By using ordinary least squares models, our results indicated that the use of mobile banking and mobile payment technology was associated with lower age, Non-White Ethnicity, higher income, higher debt load, debt types (auto, student, credit card, and predatory), and spending more than one’s income. These results reveal that the higher one’s income, financial liabilities, and spending are, the more they may value the convenience of mobile banking and payments

Initial findings on student progress and satisfaction in a new model of hyperflexible online delivery for university students

University degrees are usually delivered in defined sessions —by term, semester, or in week-based blocks— whereby students are required to complete their studies by the due date. Term or session-based schedules that require students to complete the study within set timeframes are, however, potentially restrictive. Temporal challenges associated with work and life can impede progress and add to the specific problem of student attrition in online learning. As universities seek to deliver innovative options for their students, increased attention is being paid to alternate models of delivery. This paper reports on the development of a hyperflexible online Master of Business Administration (MBA) course by a regional university in Australia, which has grown to more than 1,000 students since its launch in 2017. Delivered entirely online, the degree was specifically designed to address an inequity; MBA programs are traditionally expensive, and in Australia, the requirement for students to travel to attend residential schools and examinations adds significant cost to already expensive tuition fees. This paper analyzed enrollment data, course analytics over a two-year period, and student surveys conducted at the end of the second year of delivery (n = 98) to evaluate the development and implementation of the course as a hyperflexible course whereby students have almost complete control over their study at the postgraduate tertiary level. Results highlight the potential for the model to enable student success through flexibility

Nurturing a global ecojustice consciousness among preservice teachers through critical place-based learning

Global environmental challenges brought on by over-consumption, limited resources, and climate change will task teacher education programs to prepare teacher candidates with new paradigms in problem-solving, collaboration, and innovation. Skills such as collaborating across cultures and borders, thinking critically and creatively, reflecting on deeply embedded assumptions, and negotiating uncertainty will all be needed to surmount these challenges. EcoJustice education addresses these needs. When combined with critical place-based pedagogies, skills, and attitudes associated with global citizenship may also develop. Four preservice teachers participated in a research trip to Lesvos, Greece, to learn about and aid in the refugee crisis there. Participants documented their experiences via critical reflections and dialogues and analyzed these data. Findings suggest that through engagement in a critical place-based learning experience, preservice teachers challenged conceptions of their role as Americans and shifted towards a more global, EcoJustice consciousness

Inclusive settings in Belizean primary schools: A focus on teacher practices

Educators in Belize are charged with ensuring that all Belizeans are given an opportunity to acquire a quality education that promotes personal development and productive citizenship. Consequently, Belizean law now requires all children from ages five through fourteen to attend at least eight years of primary school. Students with special needs have historically not received accommodations in the education system, so many teachers struggle with meeting the needs of students with learning disabilities in these inclusive settings. This qualitative case study explored teaching strategies and contextual factors in inclusive primary classrooms in Belize and was conducted in the form of Community Engaged Research in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, and Culture (MOE). Findings suggest consistent approaches for differentiating instruction, teacher passion for teaching and commitment to meeting student needs, a need for additional resources and training, and a disconnect between families and schools. Interpretation of these findings through Hornby’s (2015) theory of inclusive education suggests that Belize is primarily following inclusivity as students with disabilities are integrated into the mainstream educational system. However, while some principles and practices of inclusion are followed, other features are absent. Adding a special education component could enhance student learning as individualization and standardization of instruction, expectations, and assessment could occur between teachers, across grade levels, and in communication with families. A special education component with associated teacher training could support teacher desire for additional resources and meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population of students

Ken Welch oral history interview

This is an oral history interview with Ken Welch, the mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida. Welch talks about his childhood in St. Petersburg and his memories of the Gas Plant area. He also discusses the issues and history surrounding the Oaklawn, Moffett, and Evergreen cemeteries

Disrupting Deterrence Signaling: Examining the Fifth Wave of Technology’s Impact

A critical component of deterrence is signaling, or how states communicate desired images of themselves and their intentions.[i] While scholars advocate for a re-examination of classical deterrence theories in light of the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems, some view the impact of AI and autonomy as a force that will diminish human agency as a component of deterrence and interactions between nations. This article argues the contrary and posits that the emergence of AI and autonomous systems will magnify the importance of human agency by enabling decision-makers to more accurately gauge credibility, will-to-fight factors, and the national resolve of their opponents based on aggregated sentiment analysis and psychological profiling of civilian populations. Furthermore, this article contends that traditional forms of signaling are undermined by the pervasiveness of AI, autonomous systems, social media, metadata, and the ability of nation-state actors to more accurately surmise the credibility and national resolve of an opponent. [i] Robert Jervis, Perception and Misperception in International Politics, New Edition (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976), xvi, https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvc77bx3