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The main purpose of this study is aimed to estimate the mediating role of student engagement in the structural relationships between students' field of study choice, learning readiness and academic competence of undergraduate students in higher education.

In the study process, a correlational design was employed. Data were collected from 419 participants who were selected through a simple random sampling technique. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data.

The study findings showed neither field of study choice nor learning readiness has a significant direct effect on student's academic competence. However, when student engagement, entered the relationships between “field of study choice and academic competence” as well as “learning readiness and academic competence”, the indirect effects became significant. Both conditions, therefore, suggesting student engagement had a full mediation role in the structural relationship models.

Based on the results, it can be concluded that student engagement is shown as one of the key variables used to comprehend how students develop competence in the teaching-learning process. Hence, teachers and academic administrators could use engagement as a strong instrument to optimize students' learning and academic competence to enhance their academic success.

Gamification is a growing field of study that has not been touched by Nigerian academic librarians. This study aims to explore the awareness, perception and readiness of academic librarians on the application of gamification to library services.

This study adopts an interpretive research design and a qualitative research approach. This involves using semi-structured interviews to collect data for the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 20 participants but only 15 participated in the study. Participants were interviewed on their lived experience as to gamification; hence, phenomenology research method was adopted for the study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze collected data.

The findings of the study show that most of the academic librarians in Nigeria were not aware of gamification to library services. However, the few that were aware knew about the gamification of library service through their personal academic reading. It was shown that there is a link between awareness and positive perception of gamification to library services. It was found that most of the academic librarians did not have a positive perception of applying gamification to library services in Nigeria. Results show that important factors to consider in readiness towards application of gamification to academic library services in Nigeria include library management support, librarians’ technical know-how and IT compliance.

The findings of this study will provide insights as to academic librarians’ awareness, perception and readiness in applying gamification to library services in Nigeria and may provide insights into other developing Africa countries at large.

Transformation to Industry 4.0 has become crucial for nations, and a coherent transformation strategy requires a comprehensive picture of current status and future vision. This study presents a comprehensive model for readiness assessment of nations based on rigorous analysis of several global indices and academic Industry 4.0 literature.

A holistic approach is taken considering overall socioeconomic development along with industrial innovation and seven readiness dimensions: enabling environment, human resource, infrastructure, ecological sustainability, innovation capability, cybersecurity and consumers. The indicators used for evaluation are standard metrics for which data are collected from reputed sources such as World Bank, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Economic Forum (WEF) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and hence internationally acceptable.

The formulated model is used to evaluate Industry 4.0 readiness of 126 economies that account for 98.25% of world’s gross national income. Observations show poor scores of most economies on innovation capability and cybersecurity dimension as compared to other 5 dimensions. In 75% countries, I4.0 readiness score is below 0.5 on a scale of 0–1(completely ready), highest being 0.65 for Denmark.

A systematic literature review revealed lack of assessment models discussing a nation's current status or readiness for Industry 4.0. This academic study is first of its kind.

Using a national data set from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort, we examined factors associated with approximately 700 young African American boys’ pre-academic skills. The factors examined included (a) family characteristics, behaviors, and beliefs; (b) nonparental care literacy activities; and (c) child health, aggression, and approaches to learning (e.g., curiosity, independence, and persistence). High achieving boys are contrasted with other boys, along the following dimensions: familial, early childhood program, child characteristics and practices and their pre-academic skills, and whether the association was moderated by achievement status. Regression analyses indicated that some aspects of family, preschool, and child characteristics were associated with African American boys’ early outcomes, especially parental caretaking (e.g., bathing and brushing teeth) and approaches to learning (e.g., persistence and attention). Recommendations for educational practices and policies were offered.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the utility of an evidence-based suite of programmes, The Incredible Years (IY), to enhance outcomes for children using a parent-teacher partnership model.

A review of the broad evidence base for the IY parent, teacher and child programmes, uniquely focusing on the inter-relationships between home and school contexts.

Evidence suggests that it is beneficial to parents, teachers and children to deliver IY programmes applying a multi-modal approach.

This paper, read in conjunction with other contributions in this volume, demonstrates the growing viability of partnership strategies that support children, their families and teachers to enhance school readiness, and promote positive child outcomes.

The National Information Center for Children and Youths with Disabilities (NICHCY, 1999) listed five purposes of assessment: (1) screening; (2) evaluation; (3) eligibility and diagnosis; (4) IEP development; and (5) instructional planning. Screening is concerned with identifying students who are suspected of having a disability. In the area of LD, assessors would be evaluating children who are exhibiting learning difficulties or delays in acquiring academic skills. Data from the screening would point out the degree to which these students with suspected LD are approximating average academic growth patterns. Students with extremely deficient skills would be recommended for a full evaluation. This evaluation would delineate the student’s strengths and weaknesses, and overall academic progress across the curriculum. Evaluation would encompass three areas, namely, pre-academic, academic, and learning style assessment. Pre-academic assessment provides information related to a student’s status on prerequisite behaviors (e.g. attention to task) that need to be acquired before instruction in an academic domain (e.g. math) occurs. Academic assessment allows educators to: pinpoint deficit academic readiness skills; describe a student’s overall skill performance level; identify academic skills necessary for learning a domain area; and delineate the steps of a learning task a student has mastered. Learning style assessment involves the identification of a student’s individual learning pattern that she has acquired based on her learning and behavior assets and weaknesses (e.g. active vs. passive learner, auditory vs. visual learner).

The underrepresentation of men of color (MOC) in US higher education and the growing disparities in their educational attainment has prompted much concern among policy makers and educators. The objective of this chapter is to address the comparative perspectives on equity and inclusion aim of the book by exploring why MOC are less like to earn a degree. We begin with a review of the contemporary literature on MOC and their academic transition to college in the United States. Next, findings from a longitudinal study that explored the early transitional challenges experienced by this population are presented. Results show the stark differences between high school and college in terms of faculty expectations, autonomous responsibility for academic coursework, and academic demands permeated early academic experiences of a group of MOC. Implications for practitioners are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the major transition issues experienced by first-year students in Malaysia. In so doing, the authors compare the findings to those drawn from western contexts.

This study applied a focus group method, conducting seven focus groups with a total of 35 business students.

This study identified five skills that are central to quick adaptation to university learning: independent learning, research, time management, English and critical thinking. Unlike findings in the western literature, the findings of this study do not indicate social aspect as a major adjustment issue.

The generalisability of the findings is limited due to the study’s small sample size. To overcome this, future researchers should consider a national study using a survey-based research method. To test whether students in a relationship-based culture are less prone to challenges related to social aspects in their transitions into university, cross-national or cross-cultural studies are needed.

The study’s findings point to the need for Malaysia’s universities to strengthen their transition programmes, and proactively form closer relationships with high schools to help their students identify suitable courses and develop their curricula.

This study highlights the inadequacy of private education in bridging the gap between high schools and private university education in Malaysia. As most first-year-experience studies have used western samples, this study provides much needed data addressing the development of higher education and its relationship with the school systems of developing countries.

In this paper, we refer to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2016, where the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) was coined by Klaus Schwab, with the reference that it would be building on “the Third, the digital revolution” and would be “characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres”. While acknowledging that the 4IR will impact on everything, everywhere, including research and libraries, we conceptualize 4IR, and we compare current academic library services/trends in South Africa with 4IR requirements, through the analysis of 26 public university library websites.

Besides conceptualization of 4IR, a content analysis of websites of 26 public universities’ libraries in South Africa was achieved followed up with verification of the data by respective libraries through a preliminary research report circulated to them by email. 23 areas were identified as the trends in academic libraries, which included free Wi-Fi in the libraries; 24/7 study areas and access to library resources on and off campus; research commons; makerspace; borrowing ICTs (e.g. laptops); e-resources; e-catalogues; research data services (RDS; RDM, IR); open scholarship; information literacy and reference/bibliographic tools, library as a publisher, among others. Data obtained were captured in Excel and analyzed by the research questions.

The 4IR concept does not occur often in literature, in relation to academic libraries, but it is implied. The findings show that the libraries are responding well to the revolution through their services, with remarkable innovation and creativity on display. There was a 64% presence of the analyzed trends/services in the libraries, with emerging trends/services such as library as a publisher (4%), robotics/AI (4%), makerspace (8%), RDS (27%), borrowing of ICTs/devices (19%) and user experience (19%) scoring low, while information literacy and digital scholarship (e.g. IR) (88%), e-catalogue and e-resources (92%), group study area (85%) and off campus access (77%) scoring above 75%. The scatter of the trends/services among the university libraries is noted for knowledge sharing of best practice.

In order to improve accordance with trends, academic libraries have to be better resourced, accessed and used, as well as improve web visibility. The study expects library services to be responsive, resourced and accessible anytime and anywhere, and it provides a conceptual framework and a benchmark for further research and exploration in the country, region and perhaps elsewhere.

The study can be used for benchmarking current and future academic library services in Africa. The conceptual framework provides an agenda for theoretical discussions and deliberations.

The trends, framework and 4IR representations in the study can inform theory and practice in LIS, particularly in Africa.

Linking 4IR to current and future library services provides a tool for academic libraries services benchmarking and development and provides a conceptual framework for theoretical and practical debates and implementation. The study is quite current and appropriate for the ongoing discussions of 4IR implications to academic libraries.

Black and Latino males face challenges to college-going that may alter their decision to attend college. However, many Black and Latino males have successfully enrolled and matriculated through college. This study aims to explore the precollege factors that influenced the college enrollment and persistence for first generation Black and Latino male collegians (N = 5) at a predominantly white institution located in the Northeastern area of the USA. Two major themes (i.e., pre-college barriers and pre-college facilitators) along with several subthemes emerged from the data. The authors discuss recommendations for teachers, school counselors, and administrators in assisting Black and Latino males prepare for enrollment and persistence in college.

A qualitative approached was used for this research study. A focus group was incorporated because it enabled participants to discuss their experiences in a single setting with other participants with similar backgrounds and thus through contrast and group dialogue vital insights related the phenomena of interest can be identified (Kitzinger, 1995). Individual interviews were conducted to engage in a more in-depth data collection process with the participants in a one-one-setting.

Pre-college barriers and pre-college facilitators were the major themes of this research study. The subthemes originated from the frameworks of Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005) and Constellation Mentoring (Kelly and Dixon, 2014).

The paper will contribute to the research literature, as the authors are exploring the experiences of Black male collegians from a Northeastern PWI. There is a dearth of literature in this area of research.