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This paper aims to develop indicators of happiness in learning of the Thai open university (TOU)'s undergraduate students.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop indicators of happiness in learning of the Thai open university (TOU)'s undergraduate students.
Design/methodology/approach
Sampling for the study was comprised of two groups. Group I comprised eight lecturers who are experts in their disciplines and six students who were purposively sampled. The focus group was used to validate the appropriateness of the indicators. In Group II, 332 students were engaged in a multistage sampling process. The responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, coefficient correlation, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
Findings
The indicators of happiness in learning of undergraduate students of TOU were classified in six categories. These included satisfaction with learning environment (five indicators), learning anxiety (five indicators), satisfaction with learning (five indicators), enthusiasm to learn (six indicators), self-satisfaction (six indicators) and readiness to learn (seven indicators). The six categories explained happiness in learning of undergraduate students of TOU at the 65% and fit empirical data.
Practical implications
The TOU can use the indicators for the assessment of happiness in learning of its students as well as guidelines for the improvement of its student learning environments.
Originality/value
There have been very few studies on indicators of happiness in learning of TOU students. Most were done at the basic education level. This study disclosed the six factors affecting happiness in learning of TOU students; therefore, it should inspire and draw attention of many in the field of higher education distance learning.
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Yao Tong and Zehui Zhan
The purpose of this study is to set up an evaluation model to predict massive open online courses (MOOC) learning performance by analyzing MOOC learners’ online learning…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to set up an evaluation model to predict massive open online courses (MOOC) learning performance by analyzing MOOC learners’ online learning behaviors, and comparing three algorithms – multiple linear regression (MLR), multilayer perceptron (MLP) and classification and regression tree (CART).
Design/methodology/approach
Through literature review and analysis of data correlation in the original database, a framework of online learning behavior indicators containing 26 behaviors was constructed. The degree of correlation with the final learning performance was analyzed based on learners’ system interaction behavior, resource interaction behavior, social interaction behavior and independent learning behavior. A total of 12 behaviors highly correlated to learning performance were extracted as major indicators, and the MLR method, MLP method and CART method were used as typical algorithms to evaluate learners’ MOOC learning performance.
Findings
The behavioral indicator framework constructed in this study can effectively analyze learners’ learning, and the evaluation model constructed using the MLP method (89.91%) and CART method (90.29%) can better achieve the prediction of MOOC learners’ learning performance than using MLR method (83.64%).
Originality/value
This study explores the patterns and characteristics among different learning behaviors and constructs an effective prediction model for MOOC learners’ learning performance, which can help teachers understand learners’ learning status, locate learners with learning difficulties promptly and provide targeted instructional interventions at the right time to improve teaching quality.
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Chung‐Ching Chiu, Chih‐Hung Tsai and Yi‐Chan Chung
In the early industrial age which with high intensity of machine and labor, using financial measurement index was good enough to tie in company’s mechanization and philosophy of…
Abstract
In the early industrial age which with high intensity of machine and labor, using financial measurement index was good enough to tie in company’s mechanization and philosophy of management and been in efficiency. But being comply with “New Economic age,” a new economic environment is full of knowledge and information, the enterprise competition had changed from tangible assets, plants to intangible innovation ability of knowledge. As recognizing the new tendency by enterprise, they value gradually the growth and influence from learning. Practice of organization learning not only needs firm structure and be in coordination with both hardware and software, but also needs an affect measurement model to offer enterprise to estimate learning performance. It’s a good instrument of financial performance measure mold in the past years, But it’s for measuring the past, couldn’t formulate enterprise trend to future, hard to estimate investment for future, such as development of products, organization learning, knowledge management etc, as which intangible assets and knowledge ability just the key factors of being win around competition environment in the future. In 1992, Kaplan and Norton brought up Balance Scorecard (BSC) on Harvard Business Review, as an instrument helping enterprise to measure performance, which is being considered to be a most influence management instrument. It added non‐financial index such as customer, internal process and learning growth besides traditional financial index, as offering enterprise an index to measure and manage intangible assets and intellectual property. As being aware of organization learning is hard to be ignored in the new economic age, this research is based on learning and growth of BSC, and citing one national material company try to let the most difficult measurement performance of organization learning, to be estimate through BSC, analyze of factor and individual case, to discuss the company how to make the related strategy and vision of organization learning to develop learning and growth of the structure of BSC, subject the matter of out put factors to be discussed, and measure the outcomes as a result of research. The research affect offers (1) the base implement procedure of carrying out BSC; (2) the reference of formulating measurement index while enterprise using BSC to estimate performance of organization learning; (3) the possibility bottleneck maybe forcing while carrying out BSC, to be an improvement or preventive for enterprise.
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The purpose of this paper is to test the effect of organizational learning on employees’ job satisfaction, the effect of organizational learning on the employees’ organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test the effect of organizational learning on employees’ job satisfaction, the effect of organizational learning on the employees’ organizational commitment, the effect of the organizational learning on employees’ performance, the effect of job satisfaction on the employees’ performance and the effect of organizational commitment on employees’ performance in PTPN XIII (Limited Liability Company) in West Kalimantan.
Design/methodology/approach
The population in this research refers to all employees of PTPN XIII (Limited Liability Company) in West Kalimantan, with the criteria that the employees are from class III‒IV (population of access). The size of the sample is determined by using the partial least square approach, which is 10 times of the size of formative indicator, that is, job satisfaction with five indicators plus employee performance with eight indicators, with the total being 13 × 10 = 130 employees. The sampling method used is proportional random sampling technique, which is based on work area (three working areas: Head Office, West Kalimantan I District and West Kalimantan District II).
Findings
Learning organization has a significant and positive effect on job satisfaction and organizational commitment, but it has no significant effect on the employee performance. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment have a significant effect on employee performance.
Originality/value
The phenomenon that existed in PTPN XIII (Limited Liability Company) and referring from various previous research results, the study regarding employee performance was conducted using organizational learning variable as an exogenous variable and using job satisfaction and organizational commitment variable as an intervening variable. Robbins (1996) revealed that the relationship between organizational learning and performance is not very close. It is necessary to have other variables that can reinforce the relationship and to determine the extent to which the organizational learning can contribute to the improvement of the performance.
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Shelley Kinash, Vishen Naidu, Diana Knight, Madelaine-Marie Judd, Chenicheri Sid Nair, Sara Booth, Julie Fleming, Elizabeth Santhanam, Beatrice Tucker and Marian Tulloch
The paper aims to disseminate solutions to common problems in student evaluation processes. It proposes that student evaluation can be applied to quality assurance and improving…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to disseminate solutions to common problems in student evaluation processes. It proposes that student evaluation can be applied to quality assurance and improving learning and teaching. The paper presents solutions in the areas of: presenting outcomes as performance indicators, constructing appropriate surveys, improving response rates, reporting student feedback to students and student engagement as a feature of university quality assurance.
Design/methodology/approach
The research approach of this paper is comparative case study, allowing in-depth exploration of multiple perspectives and practices at seven Australian universities. Process and outcome data were rigorously collected, analysed, compared and contrasted.
Findings
The paper provides empirical evidence for student evaluation as an instrument of learning and teaching data analysis for quality improvement. It suggests that collecting data about student engagement and the student experience will yield more useful data about student learning. Furthermore, findings indicate that students benefit from more authentic inclusion in the evaluation process and outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further and apply to their own university contexts.
Practical implications
The paper includes recommendations at the institution- and sector-wide levels to effectively use student evaluation as a university performance indicator and as a tool of change.
Originality/value
This paper fulfils an identified need to examine student evaluation processes across institutions and focuses on the role of student evaluation in quality assurance.
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This chapter will examine the interplay among actors who took part in the process of consensus building towards a post-2015 education agenda via different channels of global…
Abstract
This chapter will examine the interplay among actors who took part in the process of consensus building towards a post-2015 education agenda via different channels of global governance, including both formal and informal channels.
Most of the forums and entities established as part of the global governance structure are composed of representatives from UN or UNESCO member states, civil society organizations (CSOs) and UN agencies. However, each of these categories has diverse constituent groups; representing these groups is not as straightforward a task as the governance structure seems to assume. Therefore, based on interviews and qualitative text analysis, this chapter will introduce major groups of actors and their major issues of concern, decision-making structure, mode of communication and relationship with other actors. Then, based on an understanding of the characteristics of the various channels and actors, it will present the structural issues that arose during the analysis of post-2015 discourse and the educational issues that emerged as the shared concerns of the ‘education community’. While most of the analysis to untangle the nature of discourse relies on qualitative analysis of texts and interviews, the end of this chapter will also demonstrate the trends of discourse in quantitative terms.
What was the post-2015 discourse for the so-called education community, which in itself has an ambiguous and virtual existence? The keywords post-2015 and post-EFA provide us with an opportunity to untangle how shared norms and codes of conduct were shaped at the global scale.
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Fadiyah Almutairi and Su White
This paper aims to develop a model of measuring student engagement in a blended-massive open online course (MOOC) context. MOOCs are those that are delivered, usually by leading…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a model of measuring student engagement in a blended-massive open online course (MOOC) context. MOOCs are those that are delivered, usually by leading universities, with a promise to provide free high-quality education to an unlimited number of learners. They offer an opportunity for “blended” course design, where instructors can integrate MOOC content within face-to-face educational activities and components.
Design/methodology/approach
Three internationally recognized existing frameworks, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), UK Engagement Survey (UKES) and Student Engagement Questionnaire (SEQ), were combined into a single model. The model was confirmed by a panel of 35 expert practitioners. A trial evaluation using the model was carried out on 13 students who had participated in a course that had adopted a blended-MOOC format.
Findings
The confirmed model has nine indicators which provide information about distinct aspects of student engagement.
Originality/value
It is considered to be the first model designed to measure student engagement within the blended-MOOC context.
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Neill Simpson, Margaret Whoriskey and Michael McCue
Service systems for people with learning disabilities in Scotland have developed in the context of the Scottish legal system and devolved policy for health. Scottish organisations…
Abstract
Service systems for people with learning disabilities in Scotland have developed in the context of the Scottish legal system and devolved policy for health. Scottish organisations are responding to the spectrum of mental health needs by working in partnership to improve quality. This article describes this system and the key organisations, and presents some findings of the National Overview Report of services undertaken by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland.
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Yijin Chen, Yue Qiu, Hanming Lin and Yiming Zhao
This study aims to explore the influence of topic familiarity on the four stages of college students' learning search process.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the influence of topic familiarity on the four stages of college students' learning search process.
Design/methodology/approach
This study clarified the effects of topic familiarity on students' learning search process by conducting a simulation experiment based on query formulation, information item selection, information sources and learning output.
Findings
The results characterized users' interaction behaviors in increasing topic familiarity through their use of more task descriptions as queries, increased reformulation of queries, construction of more purposeful query formulation, reduced attention to a topic's basic concept content and increased exploration of academic platform contents.
Originality/value
This study proposed three innovative indicators which were proposed to evaluate the effects of topic familiarity on college students' learning search process, and the adopted metrics were useful for observing differences in college students' learning output as their topic familiarity increased. It contributes to the understanding of a user's search process and learning output to support the optimization function of learning-related information search systems and improve their effect on the user's search process for learning.
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Fermín Sánchez-Carracedo, Daniel Romero-Portillo, Bàrbara Sureda Carbonell and Francisco Manuel Moreno-Pino
This paper aims to present a methodology for analysing the extent to which students of a university degree perceive that they have received a good education for sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a methodology for analysing the extent to which students of a university degree perceive that they have received a good education for sustainable development (ESD). The methodology enables us to quantify this perception, which, in turn, allows us to determine: to what extent the objectives related to ESD are achieved in the degree, and to compare the learning in ESD perceived by students of different degrees. The methodology is applied to nine engineering degrees and nine education degrees in the Spanish university system.
Design/methodology/approach
ESD is analysed from the students’ learning perception. This perception is measured by comparing the responses of first- and fourth-year students to a questionnaire about their sustainability competencies. Two indicators have been designed to analyse the results. The first indicator, learning increase, measures the declared learning difference between fourth- and first-year students. The second indicator, learning percentage, measure the amount of learning as reported by fourth-year students compared to how much they could have learned.
Findings
The results show that the average learning percentage perceived by students is higher in engineering degrees (33%) than in education degrees (27%), despite the fact that the average learning increase declared by students at the end of their studies in both areas of knowledge is similar (66%). Engineering students report having achieved higher learning than education students in all sustainability competencies, with the exception of ethics.
Originality/value
This paper analyses ESD from the student’s perspective. Furthermore, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that compares the perception of ESD between engineering and education students. This comparison allows us to determine the different approaches that university Professors take to ESD according to the discipline they teach.
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