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This paper examines the impact of extreme rainfall shocks on the performance in test scores of students living near at-risk urban areas in Brazil.

To identify the causal effect, we consider the exogenous variation of rainfall at the municipal level conditioned on the distance from the school to risk areas and the rainfall intensity in the school months.

The results suggest that extreme precipitation shocks, defined as a shock of at least three months of high-intensity rainfall, have an adverse impact on both math and language performance. Through a heterogeneous effects analysis, we find that the impact varies by student gender, with girls being more affected. In addition, among students who study near at-risk areas, those with better previous school performance and higher socioeconomic status are more negatively affected.

Our results suggest that extreme weather events can increase the differences in human capital accumulation between the population living near risk areas and those living more distant from these areas.

This paper aims to provide a parsimonious but rigorous model to assist decision-makers to determine critical factors which can lead to higher graduation rates amongst higher education institution (HEI) participants. It predicts the odds of dropout amongst university students, using HEI data from a developing country. This is used as a basis for a Student Retention Predictive (SRP) Model to inform HEI administrators about predicted risks of attrition amongst cohorts.

A classification tool, the Logistic Regression Model, is fitted to the data set for a particular HEI in a developing country. The model is used to predict significant factors for student dropout and to create a base model for predicted risks by various student demographic variables.

To reduce dropout and to ensure higher graduation rates, the model suggests that variables such as age group, faculty, academic standing and cumulative GPA are significant. These indicative results can drive intervention strategies to improve student retention in HEIs and lessen the gap between graduates and non-graduates, with the goal of reducing socio-economic inequalities in society.

This research employs risk bands (low, medium and high) to classify students at risk of attrition or drop out. This provides invaluable insights to HEI administrators in the development of intervention strategies to reduce dropout and increase graduation rates to impact the wider public policy issue of socio-economic inequities.

Illicit drug use is a well-known global problem that has been noticed to be increased significantly among medical students. This study aims to assess the prevalence and consequences of illicit drug use among medical students in the country of Jordan using the validated Drug Abuse Screening Test-10 (DAST-10).

The authors used a cross-sectional, descriptive design to conduct this study. A total of 2,104 participants from six medical schools were included. A structured online-based English self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection.

Out of 2,104 included participants, 242 (11.5%) reported using illicit drugs in the past year. More than three-quarters (77%) of the drug users suffer from various degrees of problems related to drug use, ranging from risky (41%) to severe risk (6%). Drug use was found to be associated with gender, planned specialty and exposure to psychiatry training.

The cross-sectional design prevents from drawing cause-and-effect relationships and confirming how the tendency toward substance use is affected by the psychological state, sleep quality and exposure to psychiatry. Also, although it is important to measure the subjective observation of distress and sleep, objective estimates of psychological distress and sleep including actigraphy and sleep diary could be helpful to strengthen the findings. Also using an online survey with convenience sampling are some inevitable limitations with the present COVID-19 restrictions. Also, the nature of DAST-10 closed-ended questions precluded from accurately exploring the consequences of substance abuse.

Appropriate screening to identify medical students at risk for substance abuse and provide them with treatment referrals are strongly recommended in this study. In addition, medical schools should provide a comfortable environment that encourages a healthy lifestyle with a responsible attitude toward using drugs.

There is a dearth of information about illicit drug use among medical students, especially in the country of Jordan. The nature of their studies, the different stresses they experience and the impact imposed by other factors such as sociocultural all are likely to make medical students more susceptible to drug abuse. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first cross-national study of its kind in Jordan with a representative sample of 2,104 participants. We assessed the prevalence and consequences of self-reported illicit drug use and the sleep quality of medical students from all schools of medicine in Jordan.

This study analyzes the significance of various attributes of developmental psychology developed by male and female students within higher education institutions (HEIs) in Cambodia. It also focuses on the mismatch between planned enrollments and the final selection of a course, and the knowledge and skills accessed during the study.

A sample of 463 students (267 female) was selected for a survey from two private and two public universities, located in both Phnom Penh and other provincial locations.

It was found that (1) the Cambodian Sustainable Development Goal targets related to quality education are likely to be achieved by 2030, but this will require close monitoring of the targets. While it is likely that the male ratio will be accomplished by 2030, this is less certain for the female ratio. (2) There was a mismatch between the planned enrollment and actual course selection for just under half (49.2%) of students surveyed due to high tuition fees, a lack of scholarships, unavailability of preferred courses, failure to gain admission and parental influence. This mismatch was higher for female students for all of these factors except for parental influence. (3) Students indicated a high degree of access to knowledge and skills, except for technological literacy, economic aspects and interpersonal effectiveness. Overall, male students were found to access a higher degree of both knowledge and skills. (4) The developmental psychology of students was found to be significantly influenced by decision-making ability, empathy, people skills, community engagement and voluntary work.

There were a number of limitations in carrying out this research. For example, discussions were separately organized at each university; the authors did not organize a consultative meeting gathering all the students from the four universities to discuss and get consensus. Moreover, the study did not cover the interviews of parents to gain their views regarding support for their children at HEIs.

Improvement in key aspects of developmental psychology for male students was found to be more significant than for female students, except for intellectual capacity.

Still, improvement in the adopt of developmental psychology is required at HEIs in Cambodia and developing countries. Improved developmental psychology among students at universities has been shown to result in a significant enhancement in study performance and competencies. These competencies range from cognitive and intellectual capacity, associated with thinking and analysis; and emotional and social capacity, associated with the development of a societal vision. Students who develop cognitive and intellectual capacity tend to perform tasks more accurately and efficiently, make decisions more effectively and respond intelligently to new or complex circumstances. Students who develop emotional and social capacity are better guided toward focusing on caring for others in the community and establishing peaceful and safe environments. An important implication of the developmental psychology of students within HEIs in Cambodia is the holistic nature of education integrating knowledge, skills, competencies and social responsibility. HEIs should take on the role of equipping students with both cognitive and intellectual capacities for employment; as well as the emotional and social capacities required to build a society based on mutual trust and harmony. Improving the psychological development of students at HEIs in Cambodia may also be significant in achieving the CSDG targets. In terms of policy, HEIs should integrate opportunities for this to be included in the curriculum to increase the opportunities for students to engage in practice-based learning and community engagement activities. This will require providing sufficient learning materials and equipment to enable students to self-learn, think, analyze and innovate, using theories obtained in class, at home. This should be coupled with community engagement programs that provide students with the opportunity to work in the field. All knowledge and skills accessed by students should be integrated with the development of both cognitive and intellectual capacities. Further, social activities organized by HEIs are required to assist in developing the emotional and social capacity of students to interact with communities.

The paper is solely conducted and prepared by SOK Serey, CHEB Hoeurn, CHHINH Nyda, BO Chan Koulika and NGUONPHAN Pheakdey. The findings of the research produce both quantitative and qualitative information on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals at higher education in Cambodia. In particular, this research is one of the most pioneer academic research studies conducted by a local scholar from Cambodia.

The purpose of this study is to address the generalised lack of guidance on ethical treatment of corporate (e.g. non-research) data in higher education institutions, by focusing on the case of the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia). No actionable framework is currently available in the country to govern the ethical usage of corporate data. As such, this research takes a stakeholder-centred approach to data ethics; the lived experience of the stakeholders involved coupled with a theory-based ethical framework allowed the authors build to build a framework to guide ethical data practice.

Adopting a revised canonical action research approach focused on intervention on the context, the authors conducted a review of the literature on ethical usage of data in higher education institutions; administered one survey to university students (n = 168); and facilitated three workshops with professional staff (two) and students (one).

Collected data highlighted how, among other themes, the role and ethical importance of transparency was the dominant claim among all stakeholder groups. Findings helped the authors develop an Enhanced Enterprise Data Ethics Framework (EEDEF) emphasising transparency and stakeholder-centricity.

Legislation is the driver to regulate the use of corporate data in higher education; however, this can be problematic because legislation is retrospective, lacks normativity and offers scarce directions for cases that do not exactly follow within the legislative mandate. In light of these regulatory limitations, the authors’ EEDEF offers operators guidance on how to ethically manage corporate data in the higher education environment.

This study fills gaps in praxis and theory; that is the lack of literature and guiding ethical frameworks to inform data practice in higher education. This research fosters a more ethical data management by virtue of genuine and authentic engagement with stakeholders and emphasises the importance of strategic decision-making and maturity of data culture in the higher education sector.

Large class sizes are becoming the norm in higher education against concerns of dropping learning qualities. To maintain the standard of learning and add value, one of the common strategies is for the course convenor to proactively monitor student engagement with learning activities against their assessment outcomes and intervene timely. Learning analytics has been increasingly adopted to provide these insights into student engagement and their performance. This case study explores how learning analytics can be used to meet the convenor’s requirements and help reduce administrative workload in a large health science class at the University of New South Wales.

This case-based study adopts an “action learning research approach” in assessing ways of using learning analytics for reducing workload in the educator’s own context and critically reflecting on experiences for improvements. This approach emphasises reflexive methodology, where the educator constantly assesses the context, implements an intervention and reflects on the process for in-time adjustments, improvements and future development.

The results highlighted ease for the teacher towards the early “flagging” of students who may not be active within the learning management system or who have performed poorly on assessment tasks. Coupled with the ability to send emails to the “flagged” students, this has led to a more personal approach while reducing the number of steps normally required. An unanticipated outcome was the potential for additional time saving through improving the scaffolding mechanisms if the learning analytics were customisable for individual courses.

The results provide further benefits for learning analytics to assist the educator in a growing blended learning environment. They also reveal the potential for learning analytics to be an effective adjunct towards promoting personal learning design.

This cross-sectional online survey in Oman in April 2021 aimed to assess university students' resilience, stress levels and meaning during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify characteristic profiles.

A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from full-time students at one University in Oman. Outcomes included sociodemographic information, the brief resilience scale, the perceived stress scale-4 and the meaning in life questionnaire to explore the students' profiles.

A total of 964 students participated (response rate = 34.8%), of which 35% had low resilience scores. The average perceived stress, presence of meaning in life and search for meaning in life scores were 7.9 ± 2.3, 24.2 ± 6.9 and 24.9 ± 7.7, respectively. Cluster analysis identified three groups: low-risk and fewer impacts (cluster A, n = 503, 523%), moderate-risk and moderate impacts (cluster B, n = 160, 16.6%) and high-risk and more impacts (cluster C, n = 301, 31.2%). Cluster C students experienced more psychological problems and were at high risk during the pandemic.

The respondents' honesty is a possible error that could influence the results. Low response rates limit its generalizability, and cause-effect relationships among mental health outcomes cannot be discerned.

This study identified three distinct groups of students, each with different levels of severity in their health problems. There is an increased need for education and counseling to support students during this period, and university management should focus on implementing personal precautionary measures and providing high-tech, user-friendly platforms for students to enhance their learning.

These findings suggest that tailored strategies should be developed to address the unique psychological needs of each group. The study provides important information for university management to understand the pandemic's psychological impact on students and develop effective interventions to support their well-being.

Refugee students’¹ education is disrupted by multiple spatial and temporal transitions – no matter where they come from, where they go, and what cause their forced migration. The first major disruption occurs with their flight from origin countries due to security or other reasons. The COVID-19 pandemic led to another dramatic disruption with a heightened risk of weakening hard-earned progress. This chapter examines an example of post-migration education opportunities for urban refugee students across two monolingual contexts at two critical junctures from their arrival in the destination countries to the COVID-19 outbreak. It discusses the readiness and responsiveness of Turkish and German education systems by examining the instances and consequences of disruption in refugee students’ education in İstanbul and Hamburg. A multiple case study design with critical policy analysis (CPA) was used. In addition to the available national statistics, empirical data drew on semi-structured in-depth interviews with refugee students and teachers. The background section maps out the trajectory of refugee education with a synthesis of the formal educational policies in Turkey and Germany toward the inclusion of refugee students into public schools. The findings first elaborate on the readiness of the Turkish and German contexts and a scoping review of the literature on the major issues in both settings. The second part explores the responsiveness of both education systems to refugee children’s education during the COVID-19 pandemic in both cases, namely, in İstanbul and Hamburg.

This qualitative study interrogates the barriers that historically disadvantaged higher education students in South Africa face when it comes to access and success. It specifically explores the challenges black students encounter in gaining epistemic access within the South African higher education system.

This research draws upon empirical data collected from a mixed-methods research project conducted at six higher education institutions. It focuses on issues of epistemic access and success within humanities and sciences faculties. The dataset comprises interview transcripts involving 34 student and ten staff cases. Thematic analysis, aided by MaxQDA software, was meticulously conducted to extract and synthesise meaningful themes, crafting comprehensive narratives.

The study uncovers multifaceted challenges, including difficulties in understanding the admission process, financial barriers and language proficiency issues, faced by disadvantaged students when accessing universities and transitioning from basic to higher education. The research emphasises universities taking proactive measures, such as providing comprehensive early support, identifying at-risk students and collaborating with schools to prepare prospective students better. It advocates for the potential of resilience theory in addressing social justice issues related to access and success for these students. Furthermore, the study recommends developing inclusive curricula and underscores the need for universities to actively support disadvantaged students academically and socially.

This research departs from the conventional focus on physical access to universities, introducing a more comprehensive perspective that emphasises epistemic access as a pivotal aspect of higher education. Drawing on empirical data, it sheds light on the obstacles faced by disadvantaged students during the transition from high school to higher education while also exploring their resilience strategies.

Service marketers are increasingly aware of inequalities triggered by service systems and the need to prioritize practical strategies for reducing inequalities. A priority area for the Australian Government is reducing university education inequities for Indigenous Australians. This paper aims to examine how Indigenous Australian university students build and leverage their capabilities and strengths, harnessing service providers’ efforts towards enhancing participation (and completion) in university education – an essential transformative outcome for reducing inequalities.

A three-stage qualitative research process explored student retention/completion and capability building among a sample of Indigenous Australian university students, typically under-represented in the higher education sector.

Applying a manual thematic analysis, the findings reveal Indigenous students’ value co-creating capabilities (summarized in three dimensions) harness multi-actor processes extending beyond the service provider. Five dimensions summarize the service provider’s transformative service activities that strengthen capabilities for Indigenous Australian university students. Networks of place (a structured Indigenous Centre); processes (university systems); and people (social support), including peer-to-peer networks, are important service assemblages.

The authors present implications for supporting Indigenous students in persisting with and completing higher education. More broadly, the authors provide recommendations for service marketers to resolve barriers to service equality and enhance strengths-based approaches to value co-creation.

Underpinned by a strengths-based approach, the authors contribute towards an agenda of sustainable transformative services. Although considerable research reviews the experiences of Indigenous students, little research has taken a transformative service research perspective. Addressing this, the authors propose a conceptual framework linking consumers’ agentic capabilities with transformative service mediator practices.