Multidisciplinary Journal for Education, Social and Technological Sciences

Undergraduate Research EFL Students’ Experiences in Building ePortfolios

Sami Mohammed Alanazi — 2022-10-04

High-impact practices (HIPs) have been adopted by many universities around the world to enhance student learning. The aim of this qualitative study was to analyzed how building ePortfolios may impact student learning experience via weekly reflections. A total of 47 senior undergraduate English as a foreign language (EFL) students enrolled in research projects shared reflections about their research experiences via the development of ePortfolios. Data analysis was carried out through deductive coding of the transcribed focus groups and weekly reflections. Findings suggest that the participants used their ePortfolios to improve their writing skills and increase their knowledge. Students were able to track their progress and felt more engaged in learning. They also showed appreciation to the feedback provided by their instructors on their reflections. However, the students shared some challenges they faced while developing their ePortfolios. Despite these challenges, there was a positive impact of ePortfolios on students’ learning experiences. Implications and further directions for research are discussed.

Working on Critical Thinking skills using the computer lab works of an Engineering subject

Juan Giner-Navarro — 2022-10-04

A practical intervention was devised in order to promote and to assess Critical Thinking in undergraduate students of Engineering. First, in collaboration with specialists in education, the concept of Critical Thinking, and its skills and dispositions on which to focus on, was determined. Second, a teaching strategy was designed in order to be as effective as possible, considering the limitations of the intervention. This strategy took advantage of the computer lab sessions where discussion and questioning encouraged the development of Critical Thinking. Then, the instruments to assess the acquired skills and attitudes of the students were developed. Finally, a quantitative analysis of the results was conducted in order to evaluate the validity and reliability of the strategy. This paper presents a full description of the intervention carried on for two years. Besides the desired effects on the students’ performance, some conclusions regarding the development of appropriate instruments to deal with a large group of students are drawn. This intervention has proven to be effective in order to help the students to develop their Critical Thinking skills, and it is particularly suitable for large groups.

Internal Assessment of a Physical Education Teacher Education Program in the Philippines using the Engagement Theory of Program Quality (ETPQ)

Stephanie G. Dizon — 2022-10-04

The presence of various quality assurance measures was evidenced in the mainstream of higher education across the world and is a well-accepted normative standard of excellence even in the Philippines. However, there is a need to examine programs that strongly manifest students’ engagement in the educational system. Hence, this study was sought to facilitate the conduct of an internal quality assessment of the Bachelor of Physical Education program from a teacher education institution in a state university in Pampanga, Philippines grounded on the Engagement Theory of Program Quality (ETPQ) (Haworth & Conrad, 1997). A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design (follow-up variant explanatory model) was used to examine the importance, concreteness, and effectiveness of the 16 attributes of the ETPQ model by the students and faculty members of the program. Results of the quantitative strand revealed that the ETPQ attributes are generally perceived to be extremely important, highly evident, and highly to extremely effective, and yielded no significant differences between the two groups. Moreover, linear regression (forward selection method) revealed ten (10) attributes of the ETPQ in terms of concreteness to be significant predictors of effectiveness. Additionally, the qualitative strand further explored these attributes to reveal the best practices in the program. Congruence between the respondents’ assessment and their narrative experiences was also confirmed. The inputs derived may pave the way for the institutionalization of quality assurance mechanisms that put into premium the strong engagement of the students complementary with other stakeholders.

Music as a Tool for Ethics

María Gemma Sánchez González — 2022-10-04

The current musical situation nowadays reflects a fast-technological change that has contributed to main social issues, such as a tangible crisis of values globally. The impact of music lyrics, nevertheless, could be a powerful useful tool to engage people in different ethical values leading to an improvement of relationships of any nature. Can music be that magic wand? This study aims at measuring the impact of lyrics on values of people and the power to improve norm activation. A questionnaire based on the Likert scale was conducted among 281 subjects either at university or with university studies. Results were analysed using the structural equation model SEM-PLS, which showed the relevance of items and connected hypotheses and a significant prediction capacity (R²= 0.458). Conclusions exposed that music can predict attitude change and become a tool for ethics.

A Criteria Catalog of Innovation Facilities at Higher Education Institutes: An Observational Approach

Atia Bano Memon — 2022-10-04

The present paper deals with designing a criteria catalog for the definition and characterization of academic innovation facilities established within premises of higher education institutes. The in-depth content analysis of available scientific literature on the topic and web description of existing innovation facilities from their official websites is carried out following a purposive observational approach. As a result, a criteria catalog of 12 aspects including 6 functional and 6 structural aspects along with their possible field configurations is devised and proposed herein. The proposed catalog should assist in defining a particular innovation facility in more standardized manner and thereby serve as a guideline for planning and establishing new academic innovation facilities. The catalog should also enable to cross-compare and distinguish multiple innovation facilities across different geographies in order to reveal their relative strengths and weaknesses.

Best practices in syllabus design and course planning applied to mechanical engineering subjects

Francisco Rubio — 2022-10-04

The syllabus of a subject, that is part of the curriculum of a bachelor’s or master's degree, must provide the student with information about all the fundamental aspects of the subject. It is a piece of written document or multimedia file encompassing all topics and concepts that will be covered in a certain subject. The objective of the syllabus is to put the subject and the information related to it in context by means of clear, organized, concise and summarized style. It should not be limited only to the subject matter. Instead, it is advisable to provide basic course information such as the number of credits; course content; transversal competences, skills and attitudes that are relevant for access to work and further learning; faculty staff; assessment and evaluation elements; calendar; venues, and facilities location; lesson plans and bibliography. Moreover, information about the activities to be carried out and whether they are done individually or in groups. Another important point is the evaluation of students and how to assess their achievements in terms of the level of acquisition of knowledge and skills planned in the subject. It helps students to meet the desired subject objectives and to motivate them. In short, it will lay the foundations so that at least contents, methods and techniques of the discipline that supports the subject can be taught and so that students can acquire the knowledge and competences committed.