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This study aims to explore information-seeking anxiety (ISA) among undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students at Dr Babasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, located in Dapoli, Distt. Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. The research focuses on evaluating the intensity of ISA, understanding its underlying causes and identifying potential strategies to reduce its effects, particularly within the context of an agricultural university.

This research intends to examine Information seeking anxiety (ISA) among undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students at Dr Babasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth located in Dapoli District, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. This research intends to examine and investigate the intensity of ISA among students at an agriculture university, its root causes and possible methods to reduce its effects. The research adopts quantitative surveys with qualitative secondary sources to achieve a comprehensive understanding of ISA among students. A standardized scale was used as the primary data collection tool to assess participants’ levels of ISA. A total of 122 students participated in the study, completing the survey and providing valuable data for analysis.

The findings reveal a range of ISA levels among students, indicating the presence of varied information skills and abilities. This underscores the need for well-structured information literacy programs tailored to address these disparities. A significant gender-based difference in ISA was observed, with female students exhibiting lower anxiety levels in relation to “integrated elements 3” at a significance level of .05 (t = 1.327). Interestingly, the study found that the students' rural or urban backgrounds did not significantly impact their ISA levels. Additionally, various integrated elements within the information seeking anxiety scale were found to be interconnected, contributing to the overall anxiety experienced by students.

The study highlights the importance of designing and implementing targeted interventions to address ISA in academic settings. These findings suggest that tailored information literacy programs could be effective in reducing ISA among students. Future research could build on these results by examining ISA across different disciplines and institutions, thereby contributing to the development of broader, more generalized strategies for mitigating ISA in diverse educational contexts. Individuals may not accurately recall or report their anxiety levels, potentially affecting the study’s findings. This study’s findings may not be generalizable to all agriculture university users due to factors such as the specific university setting, student demographics and agricultural disciplines represented.

This study provides actionable insights for academic institutions, particularly agricultural universities, in developing targeted information literacy programs. These programs can be designed to address varying levels of ISA among students, enhancing their ability to effectively seek and use information. Additionally, understanding the gender differences in ISA can guide the creation of more inclusive resources and support systems, ultimately improving the overall academic experience and reducing anxiety-related barriers to learning.

The research highlights the broader societal impact of ISA, particularly how it can affect students’ academic success and overall well-being. By addressing ISA through tailored interventions, institutions can contribute to reducing educational inequalities, especially in rural and underrepresented communities. This can foster a more equitable learning environment where all students, regardless of their background, have the opportunity to thrive academically and socially.

This study contributes to the relatively underexplored area of ISA within the context of agricultural universities. By combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, the research offers a comprehensive understanding of ISA, its causes and potential solutions. The findings provide new insights into how gender and integrated elements of ISA influence anxiety levels, offering valuable contributions to the field of library and information science, particularly in specialized educational settings like agricultural universities.

In this study, students’ perceptions of the effective practices of their research mentors were examined. The research mentors implemented the practices informed by the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) mentorship competencies to mentor underrepresented students in engineering education research in a virtual environment.

This research experience for undergraduates (REU) program, situated in the United States of America, consisted of undergraduate students (i.e. mentees), graduate students and faculty mentors who all had at least one underrepresented identity in engineering (i.e. Black, Latiné/x, and/or women). Using qualitative methods, we used data from reflection surveys and follow-up interviews with REU mentees to understand the outcomes of the mentorship strategies employed by the mentors in the program. The data were analyzed thematically using CIMER model constructs and social capital theory as guiding frameworks.

The results indicated the identified strategies students perceived as the most impactful for mentorship throughout the program. Students in the REU gained knowledge on how to activate social capital in mentorship relationships and how to better mentor others.

The findings provide insight on how to operationalize the CIMER mentorship competencies to skillfully mentor underrepresented students in engineering. Given the size of the REU and the nature of qualitative research, the sample size was limited.

The results help inform mentorship practices for underrepresented individuals in engineering education and the workforce. Further, they add to the practical knowledge of implementing CIMER best practices virtually, at a time when the world has transitioned to more hybrid and virtual working and learning environments.

This study identifies impactful strategies for operationalizing mentorship strategies informed by theory- and evidence-based CIMER mentorship competencies. In addition, this study extends knowledge about how to implement mentoring best practices and engage mentorship in a virtual environment.

This chapter investigates the experiences of doctoral students and supervisors in the doctoral process, focusing on the potential impact of imbalances in the distribution of power. In this respect, there are troublesome manifestations of excessive faculty entitlement that appear to be a source of inequality and injustice. These phenomena call into question the crucial relationship of support expected of doctoral students, as thesis supervisors have a fundamental role to play in guiding them towards the doctorate and ensuring their successful entry into the research community. Looking at the issue from the angle of the theory of social fields, I examine instances of dysfunction in supervisory experiences. Such problematic practices tend to conform to the relationships and traditions that sustain and (re)produce the practices of the academy, constraining the establishment of what Bakhtin describes as a dialogical relationship, between doctoral students and supervisors. I examine this problem from my own experience, both as a doctoral student and as a supervisor. I approach the question by combining self-study and narrative inquiry to make use of the data from my experience to analyse the issues raised during the supervision of doctoral programmes. I connect accounts drawn from literature, real-life testimonies and a corpus of discussions and notes to explore the manifestations of excessive faculty entitlement in the form of asymmetries and difficulties that can negatively impact the quality of supervision.

Increasingly governmental policy around PhD education has resulted in greater university oversight of programs and student experience – often through creating central PhD Schools. While student experience is well researched, the experiences of Heads of these units, who are responsible for creating student experience, have been invisible. This exploratory Danish case study begins such a conversation: its purpose to examine the perceptions of five Heads of PhD Humanities Schools, each responsible for steering institutional decisions within Danish PhD policy landscapes.

A qualitative approach integrated three distinct analyses: a review of Danish PhD education policies and university procedures, each university’s job specifications for the Heads of the Schools and the Heads’ views on their responsibilities.

The Heads differentiated between their own and today’s PhD student experience. They had held prior leadership roles and fully supported institutional regulations. They cared deeply for the students under their charge and were working to achieve personal goals to enhance PhD experience. Their leadership perspective was relational: enhancing individual student learning through engaging with multiple PhD actors (e.g. program leaders) – when possible at a personal level – to improve PhD practices.

This study contributes an expanded perspective on how PhD School Heads constitute their roles by empirically linking: macro-national policies and institutional regulations and individuals’ biographies to their support of the PhD regimes – with implications for academic leadership generally. The authors argue research into PhD School leadership is essential, as it is such individuals who create the organisational settings that students experience.

The body has been one of the central tools in analysing connections between sport and postcolonialism in India, given how sport was an essential part of the colonial ‘civilising’ mission, which involved disciplining and controlling Indian bodies. Any discursive understanding of sport and postcolonialism in India must consider how it relates to existing concepts of the body and shapes the experiences of the people involved in it – acknowledging not just the power of colonialism in moulding sporting experiences but also the force of internal hierarchies that exist in Indian society. This chapter explores the experiences of students who studied in higher educational institutions in Kerala under the ‘sports quota’, a system that reserves seats in colleges/universities for high-performing sportspersons in India. Through their interviews, the sustained exclusion of the sporting body in contemporary Indian pedagogy is illustrated here. Specifically, the continuing prevalence of the colonial emphasis on the sporting body, as one whose strength and instrumentality are paramount, as well as its corollary postcolonial position, which treats this sporting body as inferior to the ‘refined mind’ of studious pupils, can be observed. Approaching the sports quota with a decolonising lens would require re-examining the disembodied nature of pedagogy in India’s higher educational institutions, acknowledging sporting students’ lived experiences, and a seamless integration – as opposed to separation/exclusion – of the sportsperson into higher education.

This paper aims to evaluate the accessibility of digital information systems as a key usability attribute in information retrieval by users with visual impairment (VI), to inform development of accessible information systems.

This study used a cross-sectional survey design based on the quantitative research paradigm. Data was collected from 117 students with visual impairments from selected public universities in Kenya, using a semi-structured questionnaire adapted from Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

This study revealed that gender did not influence screen reader compatibility, alternative format preferences, perceptions of accessible content or digital library navigability. Instead, type of visual impairment, prior assistive technology (AT) training and digital library use frequency significantly impacted these attributes. Blind students reported positive experiences, favouring alternative formats, and expressed positive views on accessible content while those with low vision faced more challenges. Prior training in assistive technology and frequent digital library use resulted in higher screen reader compatibility and better navigability. Increased digital library use was linked to access to alternative content for those with prior assistive technology training.

This study contributes to the existing literature on accessibility of digital information systems for users with visual impairments. Further research is needed to explore other factors that may influence the accessibility of digital systems, such as the design of user interfaces as well as an evaluation of accessibility of digital systems for other categories of disabilities such as hearing impairment, physical impairment, autism and intellectual disability, among others.

The findings of this study have practical implications for the design and development of digital systems such as digital libraries. Developers can leverage findings of this study to enhance compatibility of digital platforms with screen readers and provide alternative formats and accessible content. User-centred design principles can be used to create interfaces that are easy to navigate and friendly to users with visual impairments. Training programmes on assistive technology should be provided to users to enhance their skills and confidence in using digital systems.

This study contributes towards design and creation of navigable systems that are compatible with screen readers. The study also points out the importance of creating more inclusive and usable digital environments for persons with visual impairments.

In this study, the authors explore students' and industry’s perceptions about the challenges and opportunities of participating in a large-scale, non-compulsory, individual, in-person and unpaid business placement programme at an Australian university. The placement programme aims to support students' workplace transition by emphasising the development of key employability skills through reflective learning and linking theory to practice.

Utilising a case study methodology and integrating survey questionnaires, the authors collected both quantitative and qualitative data with large sample sizes.

The results highlight curriculum areas for improvement, emphasising tailored feedback to manage placement expectations and addressing employability skill strengths and weaknesses.

Recommendations include co-partnering with students to develop short, tailored and hot tip videos along with online learning modules, including the presentation of evidence-based statistics to inform students about post-programme employment prospects.

The study contributes to benchmarking good practices in non-compulsory, individual, in-person and unpaid placement pedagogy within the business education context.

This study examined the implementation of an agile-blended learning (ABL) approach in a master-level early childhood research course and assessed its impact on the learning experience. The purpose was to understand how incorporating ABL concepts affected flexibility, learner autonomy, collaboration and technology mediation, the core principles of ABL.

A participatory case study methodology was employed to gather insights from 40 students regarding their experiences in the redesigned research course. Data were collected through interviews, observations and document analysis. Qualitative data were thematically analyzed and quantitative data descriptively analyzed.

ABL fostered flexibility, convenience and learner autonomy. However, students desired richer interpersonal interactions. Technological integration enhanced learning, but social presence was lacking.

The study was limited to a specific master-level early childhood education course and focused on a particular group of students. Further research is needed to examine the generalizability of the findings in different educational contexts and student populations.

Recommendations include ongoing professional development and support systems to optimize ABL realization. Sustaining ABL practices necessitates flexible, empowering institutional structures.

This study contributes to the literature by exploring the potential of ABL in the context of early childhood research education. It provides empirical evidence of the benefits of ABL for increased flexibility, learner autonomy, collaboration and technology mediation. The case study design adds to the originality by offering insights into the practical implementation of ABL in an educational setting.

Pedagogical and digital innovation in vocational education training (VET) is scarce as well as research on the subject. The pandemic may have prompted a modernization of VET that needs to be examined with a focus on the main subjects: the students. The purpose of this paper is to analyse students' perspectives on henceforth VET pedagogies. We aim to investigate students' perspectives and satisfaction regarding the didactic strategies and teaching modalities they experience to inform further trends in VET.

A quantitative and cross-sectional study was conducted, gathering the views of 460 Catalan VET students through a questionnaire. Data were analysed descriptively and applying the generalised linear model (GLM) mediation model to address the specific aims detailed below.

The findings show that the most frequent and preferred teaching strategies are lecturing and active learning, while situated learning is found to be less frequent and preferred. Face-to-face is the preferred teaching mode for all teaching strategies. The internship modality does not affect students' satisfaction with teaching strategies, while the professional brunch does.

The limited responses gathered and the impact of the pandemic on the students' views limit the widespread applicability of the results. Future work must collect data from a broader sample and within a context of normality to determine current pedagogies and the use of digital technologies in VET.

Literature on VET pedagogies is scarce, and little is known about the predictable boost that the pandemic gave to the digitalisation and pedagogical modernisation of VET. Our study sheds light on the shift towards combined teaching strategies with a particular focus on active learning.

This contribution responds to the call of various researchers for a shift in Responsible Management Education (RME) to adopt a more human-centered and less organizational-centered approach. Service learning (SL) is introduced as a possibility to offer didactical opportunities for participants to connect real-world experiences to system thinking in various ways. We suggest an approach called a “Prism of Reflections” to pique participants' hermeneutical, technical, and emancipatory interests so they can delve deeply into local social and environmental issues and be able to connect them to broader global issues as encapsulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We exemplify our method by demonstrating how students reflect on their experiences working at food banks, and how they relate to concerns of sustainability, poverty, and access to food. Our research suggests that this approach offers a way to situate organizational thinking and instrumental reasoning in a larger framework that considers the aims of hermeneutics, technical and emancipatory discourses. Our findings demonstrate that there are conflicts and dissonances when connecting intersubjective real-world perceptions to emancipatory interests and technical knowledge, particularly when it comes to challenges in the realm of food.