Identifying Predictors of Academic Success for Part-Time Students at Polytechnic Institutes in Malaysia

A central challenge for higher education today is to understand the diversity and complexity of nontraditional students’ life experiences and how these factors influence their academic success. To better understand these issues, this study explored the role of demographic characteristics and employment variables in predicting the academic success of part-time students at four polytechnic institutes in Malaysia. Demographic characteristics studied included respondent’s age, gender, marital status, number of children, parent’s educational level, and financial resources. Employment variables assessed were number of years working, job relatedness to the program, job satisfaction, and monthly salary. A total of 614 part-time students completed the survey. Results indicated that being an older student, being female, paying for their own education, and having high job satisfaction were statistically significant predictors of part-time students’ academic success. Understanding the effects of demographic characteristics and employment variables on students’ academic success might help administrators and educators to develop teaching and learning processes, support services, and policies to enhance part-time students’ academic success

Improving second Language Speaking Proficiency via Interactional Feedback

Researchers have suggested that interactional feedback is associated with foreign/second language learning because it prompts learners to notice foreign/second language forms. Using Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development and Long’s interaction hypothesis as conceptual frameworks, this study explores the use of systematic explicit feedback to undergraduates (N = 1180) at three assessment points throughout one semester using digital voice recording technology for oral assessments. Results indicate that statistically significant differences were found in pronunciation, linguistic structure, and content from the first to last observation. Findings suggest serious implications for improving speaking proficiency, which promote the use of combining digital technology for oral language formative and summative assessment with quality, systematic, and in-depth feedback to students

A Brief Introduction to Q Methodology

Citation: Yang, Y. (2016). A brief introduction to Q methodology. International Journal of Adult Vocational Education and Technology [Special Issue]: Quantitative and Mixed-Method Research, 7(2), 42-54. doi: 10.4018/IJAVET.2016040104Q methodology is a method to systematically study subjective matters such as thoughts and beliefs on any given topic. Q methodology can be used for both theory building and theory testing. The purpose of this paper was to give a brief overview of Q methodology to readers with various backgrounds. This paper discussed several advantages of Q methodology that makes it attractive to researchers and practitioners who are interested in understanding different perspectives or behavioral patterns toward any given topic, its distinct position as a methodology, and how it fits into the qualitative—mixed—quantitative continuum. The paper further used two research studies as applications to demonstrate how to perform a Q methodological study, involving the following steps: development of the Q sort statements; selection of the P set (participants); Q sorting; and analysis and interpretation of Q sorts

Prior learning assessment: Systematic review of academic literature

Many argue a college degree is more important than ever and required for many occupations. However, pursuing one requires time and money. Prior learning assessment (PLA) offers one solution to overcome such barriers by documenting outside learning through competency portfolios or assessment testing to receive academic credit. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to examine the academic literature related to PLA within the United States. The review searched 669 databases, across 72 disciplines/fields, and yielded 47 peer-reviewed journal articles, published in 14 journals, during the last decade. Findings included six major themes with implications for adult education theory and practice

A Decade of Prior Learning Assessment: A Systematic Review of Global Literature

Prior learning assessment (PLA) offers a powerful tool to adult learners. The purpose of this review was to systematically examine the global academic literature related to PLA over a decade

Instructional Alignment of Workplace Readiness Skills in Marketing Education

This study examined high school marketing education teachers’ knowledge of workplace readiness skills and whether that knowledge had an impact on student workplace readiness skill achievement. Further, this study examined the usage of Virginia’s 13 Workplace Readiness Skills curriculum and identified the teaching methods and instructional strategies used to disseminate the skills to students. Three sets of data were used for this study: teacher workplace readiness skills data, teacher survey data, and student workplace readiness skills post-test data. Pearson’s correlation was used to determine whether teacher knowledge of workplace readiness skills had an impact on student attainment of the same. The results showed that while overall teacher scores did not show a statistical significance on overall student scores, there were four individual skill areas in which there was a relationship between teacher and student scores

The Impact of Change Management in the Transformation of Online Graduate Education

This deliberation aims to determine how change management of online graduate education impacts educational curricula. The goal of online graduate education is to connect theory and practice analysis to global workforce needs. Demonstrated is how change management supports innovation in online graduate education. Correspondingly, change management in educational leadership is a critical core competency derived from a student focus, organizational and technological awareness, and matriculation goals, enabling educators to create significant improvements in education environments (Webber & Scott, 2008). Further, education leaders create processes to address organizational problems and technical issues that occur in educational organizations (Baltaci & Balcı, 2017). The ability to convey innovative ideas and processes in online graduate education leads to elevating organizational initiatives (Hosseini et al., 2017). As a result, core competencies are best utilized by conceptualizing, initiating, leading, organizing, delegating, and executing plans when necessitated

Adult Learners and Credit for Prior Learning: Analytical Thinking and Motives

This study examined 364 adult learners using linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) of reflective writing assignments with implications for adult learners and educators and credit for prior learning (CPL)