5,899 research outputs found

    UMSL Bulletin 2023-2024

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    The 2023-2024 Bulletin and Course Catalog for the University of Missouri St. Louis.https://irl.umsl.edu/bulletin/1088/thumbnail.jp

    Reshaping Higher Education for a Post-COVID-19 World: Lessons Learned and Moving Forward

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    What issues do school staff describe as important when introducing a whole school attachment-based approach? A Reflexive Thematic Analysis

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    Research demonstrates that supporting children’s emotional needs promotes better learning outcomes (Geddes, 2018). In the United Kingdom, hundreds of schools are trained in whole school approaches that have a basis in attachment theory. These approaches emphasise the relational needs of pupils and prioritise their sense of safety. They are often referred to by schools and in the limited literature as ‘attachment aware’ approaches. The current study took place in a deprived inner East London borough. It has one of the highest proportions of children with social, emotional, and mental health needs in the country. Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) was used to provide an answer to the following research question: “What issues do school staff describe as important when introducing a whole school attachment-based approach?” Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted in three schools with a range of staff including senior leaders, teachers and support staff. The researcher constructed five overarching themes to organise 13 themes that reflected patterns in participant experience. These five overarching themes were ‘Context Affects Delivery’, ‘Training Must Resonate’, ‘Scope and Remit of School and School Staff Widens’, ‘Permission to Feel’ and ‘Not Running Alone with Them’. In the current climate, emotionally focused “approaches could be referred to as an addon to the real business of education” (Parker & Levinson, 2018: 9). This research argues that emotionally focused approaches such as whole school attachment-based approaches are well placed to meet the needs of the entire school community and promote increased pupil engagement. This study adds to the exponentially growing body of research on whole school attachment-based approaches. The research has implications for local and national practice due to the priority given to trauma-based approaches in recent government guidance

    Latino and/or Hispanic Male Leaders in Community Colleges in Texas: A Narrative Study

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    This study aimed to understand the factors influencing the leadership development of Latino and/or Hispanic male leaders serving in Texas community colleges. As the Latino and/or Hispanic population continues to grow, understanding the experiences from middle school to college is critical to gleaning insights into the factors that influence the development of Latino and/or Hispanic male leaders. Using a narrative life span approach to leadership development, the study provided themes regarding the critical factors impacting leadership development across the life span of the participants. Through life stories, the study’s findings described and illustrated key factors that influenced leadership development for the participants. Through the thematic analysis process, three prominent themes emerged as the most influential factors in leadership development, (1) relationships, (2) regional culture, and (3) socioeconomics. Subthemes included (1a) personal, (1b) professional, and (2a) border towns and other regions of Texas, (2b) language, (2c) discrimination, and (3a) education. Three key conclusions included (1) relationships, and regional cultural experiences represent critical life span factors influencing leadership development, (2) socioeconomics represents the influences on educational experiences, and (3) experiences of discrimination represent critical factors influencing leadership practices. Further, this study contributes to the scholarly literature on community college leadership by expanding the understanding of experiences for Latino and/or Hispanic male leaders in community colleges in Texas. Keywords: Latino and/or Hispanic male leaders (LHMLs), community colleges, leadership development, life spa

    Exploratory Case Study of Students of Color in US Study Abroad & Village-style Programmatic Support

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    This qualitative single-site case study investigated the continued relevance of the four Fs (family, finances, fear, and faculty) described by Cole (1991) when she identified barriers to study abroad (SA) for students of color (SOC); Hembroff and Rusz (1993) additionally identified academic requirements as barriers. Using a student questionnaire and in-depth qualitative interviews with SOC, staff, and faculty, the study explores how SOC experience and are supported at one traditional United States (US) university pre, during, and following SA. While the study confirmed the continued noteworthiness of previously identified themes, the findings highlighted nuances suggesting more positive influences of families, peers, their communities, and advisors when it came to supporting SOC throughout their experience. Despite the considerable familial and community support, the findings also revealed advisors did not adequately target families of color in the dissemination of important information. Moreover, faculty selected students using discretionary powers and successfully prioritized ‘group fit’ over academic qualifications suggesting academic criteria may no longer need to be a barrier. Additionally, identified emergent themes involved inclusive faculty programming, safety and wellbeing, along with unifying role reversals when White students become minorities at host SA sites. My original contribution is a holistic philosophical framework called MENSCH that engages with the collected data and avoids deficit views associated with these underrepresented student groups. MENSCH is a tool educators might use to engage with marginalized students; it also allows advisors to optimize the resources of faculty of color to gain insights into effective mentorship, incorporating inclusive program design, and creating safer spaces for SOC. The study concludes with ideas for additional broader university research using an even larger student base to further explore the emergent themes

    Dwelling in dwelling: A phenomenological study of architects’ experiences in becoming architects and designing their homes

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    Aiming to explore the role of critical self-reflection in architectural education and practice, this qualitative research study investigates the experience of a sample of ten architects in becoming architects and in designing, or significantly modifying, their own homes. Five male and five female architects, of different ages and backgrounds, were invited to reflect on a) becoming architects and b) designing or significantly modifying their own homes, based on two key questions: a) ‘From as far back as you remember until now, what were the key influences on you becoming an architect?’ b) ‘What were the key influences on designing your home?’ The collected and recorded data was analysed using Clark Moustakas’ phenomenological approach. Fifteen recurring themes were apparent in the collected data related to becoming an architect and 24 themes were apparent in the data related to designing/modifying own homes, with multiple similar thematic findings across the two categories. Core findings were apparent in the descriptive synthesised statements from this study, regarding shared essences and meanings related to a) what the experience of becoming an architect is like for architects and b) what it is like for them to design/modify their own homes. This study contributes to architectural education, teaching and practice through providing pedagogical tools for students, teachers and practitioners to reflect on their own influential life experiences and individual ways of being and designing. One of the contributions that has resulted from this study is the ‘Revealing the Inner Designer’ survey, an undergraduate survey for students in the first semester of their first year of study, which includes 40 probing open-ended critical self-reflection questions informed by the findings from the investigation into the experiences of architects in becoming architects. These are grouped into a series of categories relating to different dimensions of self-identity that may inform a greater understanding of self in students as well as a greater understanding of who they might be as designers in the future. Another contribution to the field of architectural education made by this study is the ‘Design Philosophy and Approach’ an architectural practice-based postgraduate and practice questionnaire, including 24 open-ended questions based on the thematic findings from the investigation into the experiences of architects in designing or significantly modifying their own homes. The questionnaire could be applicable to postgraduate researchers, architects or clients and may be used to assist conversation or self-reflection regarding qualities and meanings specific to an architect’s individual design philosophy and approach to design. This study argues for a need for greater awareness of the ways in which architects may reveal themselves through reflections on their own life stories in becoming architects as well as through spatial design processes

    Opportunities and Barriers to Leadership for Female Finance Directors in the United Kingdom: a Qualitative Study

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    Despite progress and legislation, there are relatively few women in finance director roles. Men are still seven times more likely to be finance directors than women (Austin, 2020). This inequity led to the development of the research topic ‘Opportunities and Barriers to Leadership for Female Finance Directors in the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Study’. It was a response to a gap in the literature and the candidate’s own experiences. The study rests on original research with several female finance directors in the sector, which aimed to elicit their responses to a variety of questions on their background, education, motivation and ability to negotiate and overcome challenges within their roles. The aim was to understand their expectations and influences and to consider ways in which female finance directors might differ from their counterparts in other sectors. The focus was on their lived experiences and the barriers and success factors that they have experienced. A review of the main theories on female underrepresentation and gender inequality is presented and discussed in the literature review. The study utilises a feminist methodology; one that seeks the female perspective and solutions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by the candidate to collect data. The most salient data from the interviews are presented in the findings chapter. The primary data is compared with the literature. This allowed for key theories to be developed based on the data from the interviews. The study makes several contributions. Among these is the finding that there remain social and cultural barriers to female progression, but they are not as significant as they once were. The work demonstrates that female leaders lack critical awareness of how their career impacts the prospects of other ambitious women in finance. The women often failed to understand how their behaviours impacted other women. While they are willing to stand up for women’s rights, they have failed to create an environment where women feel valued, which is evident in the elevated number of females who leave leadership roles in finance. The work demonstrates that women are as likely to contribute to barriers as they are to remove them. For example, the women followed the same institutional career path as males and this may be unintentionally reinforcing gendered barriers. It was also shown that BAME finance directors need a ‘unique level of flexibility’. Such a level of ‘cultural flexibility’ is something that not every BAME woman is prepared to accept and this could be contributing to their underrepresentation in finance, which is not addressed in the literature. Since female finance directors may be unintentionally contributing to the slow progress being made in gender equality, the transition to gender equality is not as fast as it should be. This appears to be more of a problem in finance than in other sectors and a unique issue in the industry. Increasing the number of women in leadership roles cannot alone improve the environment for ambitious women. The study indicates that successful female finance directors need to engage in strategies to adapt to the workplace that are not acceptable to many. Female leaders must be goal-orientated, and this undermines female solidarity and unintentionally reinforces inequality. The highly competitive and target-driven nature of finance means that it is highly unlikely that there would be a ‘revolution from the top’. This has implications for those who argue that a ‘critical mass’ of women leaders can lead to real changes, especially in the finance sector. Many of the women interviewed would only support those who are like them and are task orientated. This means that female leaders are not able to act as ‘gatekeepers’ who can help to secure the promotions of more women. The study found that the women were not overly concerned by concepts such as the glass ceiling and glass cliff. The study thus contributes to the limited literature on women’s beliefs about barriers to career advancement. There are specific expectations and practices in finance that make it less attractive for women. The study makes some recommendations, for example, that there needs to be a move away from the goal-orientated approach in finance and a need to create an organisational culture aligned with what some perceive as feminine traits to improve women’s lived experience in the sector. The study proposes that women need to be taught at an early age that they need to challenge the system if other women are to succeed. Furthermore, childcare policies that support women need to be put in place at a national level as the present system is still too reliant on the personal circumstances of parents. Suggestions for further research are also provided.

    Interdisciplinarity as a political instrument of governance and its consequences for doctoral training

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    UK educational policies exploit interdisciplinarity as a marketing tool in a competitive educational world by building images of prosperous futures for society, the economy, and universities. Following this narrative, interdisciplinary science is promoted as superior to disciplinary forms of research and requires the training of future researchers accordingly, with interdisciplinary doctoral education becoming more established in universities. This emphasis on the growth of interdisciplinary science polarises scholars’ views on the role of academic research between the production of knowledge on the one hand and knowledge as an economic resource at the other end of the spectrum. This research asks: what is the rationale behind the perceived value of interdisciplinary research and training, and how does it affect graduate students’ experiences of their PhD? Based on a practice theory perspective for its suitability in generating insights into how university’s social life is organised, reproduced and transformed, the doctorate is conceptualised as sets of interconnected practices that are observable as they happen. This current study, therefore, comprised two stages of data collection and analysis; the examination of documents to elucidate educational policy practices and an educational ethnography of an interdisciplinary doctoral programme. This study found interdisciplinary doctoral training is hindered by the lack of role models and positive social relationships, which are crucial to the way interdisciplinary students learn. Furthermore, it is argued that interdisciplinarity is sometimes applied to research as a label to fit with funders’ requirements. Specifically, in this case, medical optical imaging is best seen as an interdiscipline as it does not exhibit true interdisciplinary integration. Further insights show that while interdisciplinarity is promoted in policy around promises and expectations for a better future, it is in tension with how it is organisationally embedded in higher education. These insights form the basis for a list of practical recommendations for institutions. Overall, interdisciplinary doctoral training was observed to present students with difficulties and to leave policy concerns unaddressed

    Fostering digital transformation in education: technology enhanced learning from professors’ experiences in emergency remote teaching

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    In this work, we aim to understand professors’ perception of the key competences as well as the best educational strategies and technological tools to guide digital transformation (DT) in education, according to their experience in emergency remote teaching (ERT). In recent years, technological advancement has driven DT in many areas, with education being among them. ERT due to COVID-19 accelerated this transition. Restrictions and lockdowns forced higher education institutions to adopt remote teaching strategies and tools suited for a digital environment. We surveyed 100 professors from a private Mexican university with 15-month experience of online ERT. We asked them through Likert scale questions to self-evaluate their performance and whether they perceived it to be better in online or hybrid environments compared with face-to-face environments in different aspects. We performed correlation, cluster, and factor analysis to identify the relationships and patterns in their answers. Through open-ended questions, we also asked the participants about the challenges and achievements they experienced, and the educational strategies and technological tools they successfully incorporated during ERT. We also conducted text mining to extract the most relevant information from these answers and validated that they were not polarized with negative sentiment using a large language model. Our results showed social intelligence as an underlying competence for teaching performance was highlighted in the digital environment due to the physical interaction limitations. Participants found success in implementing information and communication technologies, resulting in maintaining student interest and building trust in the online environment. Professors recognized the relevance not only of learning management systems and communication platforms, as expected, but also hardware such as tablets, cameras, and headphones for the successful delivery of education in a digital environment. Technology Enhanced Learning transposes game-based, quizzing practices, and collaborative learning to digital environments. Furthermore, the professors recommended learning-by-doing, flipped learning, problem-based learning, game-based learning, and holistic education as some pedagogical methodologies that were successfully applied in ERT and could be implemented for DT. Understanding the gains concerning teaching learning strategies and technologies that were incorporated during ERT is of the utmost importance for driving DT and its benefits for current and future education
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