International postgraduate students and peer learning

Programmes such as peer learning and peer assisted study sessions are increasingly used to support undergraduate students in many academic institutions. These programmes are regularly evaluated, monitored and proven to have academic and social benefits for learners. However, postgraduate students, especially international students are not the main target of these programmes. This study targeted international postgraduate students. The action research method was used to investigate how peer learning could support international postgraduate students in their learning journey and enhance their learning experience. Two former/experienced postgraduate students were invited to share their learning experience with thirty four new international postgraduate students in two sessions. After the two presentations, participants completed a self-administrated open-ended feedback questionnaire to evaluate the two sessions. An open-ended feedback questionnaire was used as the main research tool to gather the primary data and thematic analysis was used to analyse the collected qualitative data. The findings revealed that students enjoyed this learning opportunity; majority of participants thought that the two peer learning sessions were useful, insightful, thoughtful, inspirational and beneficial. In conclusion, peer learning is an important tool to enhance the learning experience of international postgraduate students and enrich their educational journey. Therefore, the outcomes of this action research contribute to the growing body of knowledge on peer learning and international postgraduate students

An examination of positioning in editorials, business and sports commentaries in the Lesotho weekly newspaper, Public Eye

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-113).In this thesis I have examined positioning in editorials, business and sports commentaries in three issues of the Lesotho weekly newspaper, Public Eye. The study is premised on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and selected approaches to media production so as to provide a sociopolitical and cultural context for textual analysis in the study. The study is organized into five chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction which serves to give the background of this study with brief mention of CDA and media theory as the theoretical orientations of the study. Chapter 2 details the conceptual and theoretical context of the study. The chapter focuses on the approaches to media production and media genres, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), CDA, and strategies of positioning. In Chapter 3, I describe the qualitative methodology on which my data collection and analysis were premised. For my analysis I used the CDA as well as Fairclough's three-dimensional model which I also supplement with metafunctions of SFL. In Chapter 4, I give some background to the newspaper from which my texts are drawn, and I analyze positioning in nine texts – three from each genre. My conclusive remarks draw on differences and similarities in the positioning strategies adopted in each genre. My findings reflect that Public Eye uses various linguistic markers of positioning and show the extent to which these are consistent with the theory explored in this study. Chapter 5 starts with a brief overview of the research, notes its limitations and comments on what I regard as the most interesting findings

CCG contextual labels in hierarchical phrase-based SMT

In this paper, we present a method to employ target-side syntactic contextual information in a Hierarchical Phrase-Based system. Our method uses Combinatory Categorial Grammar (CCG) to annotate training data with labels that represent the left and right syntactic context of target-side phrases. These labels are then used to assign labels to nonterminals in hierarchical rules. CCG-based contextual labels help to produce more grammatical translations by forcing phrases which replace nonterminals during translations to comply with the contextual constraints imposed by the labels. We present experiments which examine the performance of CCG contextual labels on Chinese–English and Arabic–English translation in the news and speech expressions domains using different data sizes and CCG-labeling settings. Our experiments show that our CCG contextual labels-based system achieved a 2.42% relative BLEU improvement over a PhraseBased baseline on Arabic–English translation and a 1% relative BLEU improvement over a Hierarchical Phrase-Based system baseline on Chinese–English translation

An information technology competency model and curriculum

This paper addresses the progress made by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) in developing a competency model and curricular guidelines for four-year degree programs in information technology. The authors are members of an international task group representative of academic institutions, industry, and professional organizations. The task group is to develop a competency model, called IT2017, for information technology education within two years based on earlier guidelines and other perspectives. This paper provides a brief background of the project, some activities undertaken, the progress made, and expectations for future developments. IT2017 seeks to produce a futuristic model of academic excellence so information technology graduates will be prepared for new technological challenges in a global economy

A Competency-based Approach toward Curricular Guidelines for Information Technology Education

The Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society have launched a new report titled, Curriculum Guidelines for Baccalaureate Degree Programs in Information Technology (IT2017). This paper discusses significant aspects of the IT2017 report and focuses on competency-driven learning rather than delivery of knowledge in information technology (IT) programs. It also highlights an IT curricular framework that meets the growing demands of a changing technological world in the next decade. Specifically, the paper outlines ways by which baccalaureate IT programs might implement the IT curricular framework and prepare students with knowledge, skills, and dispositions to equip graduates with competencies that matter in the workplace. The paper suggests that a focus on competencies allows academic departments to forge collaborations with employers and engage students in professional practice experiences. It also shows how professionals and educators might use the report in reviewing, updating, and creating baccalaureate IT degree programs worldwide

Assessing the infusion of sustainability principles into university curricula

open3siThe current paper presents the assessment of the infusion of sustainability principles into university curricula at two Jordanian universities. The peer review process of revising the curricula infusing sustainability principles is also discussed. The research methodology involved quantitative methods to assess the revised courses. The results revealed the following: the most relevant ESD themes in the revised curricula were ìhuman connections to the physical and natural worldî, and ìethics/valuesî. The most relevant ESD topics were: ìsustainable production/consumptionî and ìhealth promotionî. The most infused ESD pillars (competencies) were: ìlearning to knowî and ìlearning to doî. The most relevant ESD principles were: ìpracticed locallyî and ìresponds through applied learningî. The findings offered a rich scenario of the strategies applied by the university professors in revising the curricula, providing evidence of a mental attitude to adopt ESD strategies, as well as a goal-oriented approach in curriculum planning. The paper also discusses the implications of the study results for syllabus revision and development, as well as the refinement of the teaching methods that focus on infusing sustainability into university curricula. Keywords: education for sustainable development, higher education, professional development, curricula revision, Reorient University Curricula to Address Sustainability (RUCAS)openBiasutti, Michele; De Baz, Theodora; Alshawa, HalaBiasutti, Michele; De Baz, Theodora; Alshawa, Hal