CURRENT ISSUE

ABSTRACT: Immigrant and foreign-born students are one of the fastest-growing populations in higher education across the US, and yet there is a dearth of research around their sense of belonging on campus and in the classroom. Therefore, this paper will cover the development and evaluation process for a scale designed to evaluate the perception of college welcome provided to immigrant students. Data from 94 college students were used to conduct a series of factor analyses to assess the survey questions and their utility for measuring college welcome. The scale is made up of four factors. The Cognitive awareness of college welcome factor showed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.72, the Emotional college welcome factor showed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.732, Behaviors of college welcome showed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.75, and the Relational college welcome showed a Cronbach’s alpha 0.767. Overall, Cronbach’s alpha is 0.864 for the perception of college welcome which is excellent. While the results are promising that this scale could indeed be measuring college welcome, it is important that more data be collected, reflect a higher percentage of immigrant students, and that future research be done to continue to assess the reliability and validity of this scale. This scale is the first step in better understanding the perception of welcome provided to foreign-born students, which is critical so that social workers can intervene and help improve the social and emotional well-being of students.

ABSTRACT: This policy analysis examines the implementation of A.C.A. 6-18-222, a statewide policy in Arkansas that addresses unexcused absences and the subsequent consequences for course credit among students. Utilizing anonymized student-level data from the 2020–21 and 2021–22 school years, which includes a total of 65,651 freshmen, the study investigates the variability in policy implementation across districts. It also examines the differing language used to dictate the consequences of exceeding unexcused absence thresholds. Our multivariate logistic regression models demonstrate that students eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch are notably more likely to fail a course after surpassing their district’s absence threshold. Moreover, the data reveal that upon reaching this threshold, students are significantly more likely to fail core courses as opposed to non-core courses. These findings illuminate the variations in local policy implementation and their impact on student academic outcomes, emphasizing the importance of uniform policy enforcement to ensure equitable educational opportunities.

ABSTRACT: The mandate of universities and higher education institutes is to shape students’ ethical wisdom and catalyze sustainable development. However, everyone does not have equal access to higher education which drives the above mindsets, leading to unequal quality of education. Today, most ethics teaching in engineering schools is narrowly micro-ethics and does not attempt to define macro-ethics’ special challenges. Micro-ethics concentrates on concerns related to the individual and the innermost workings of the profession. However, macro-ethics encompasses sustainable development with a focus on the collective social responsibility of the profession and public concerns about technology. This study examined undergraduate engineering programs in 25 major Canadian universities to see if they are adequately prepared to navigate both the micro- and macro-aspects of ethics education. The curricula of the programs show many courses focusing on micro-ethical concepts. The lack of explicit macro-ethical agendas for advancing society invites further work on curricula to enhance the efficacy of the content and delivery modes. This inadequate commitment to socially responsible engineering is conceptualized as a “culture of disengagement”. The study introduces important moments of change to strengthen ethics education. These include twinning engineering and computing ethics; embedding overlapped ethics, sustainability, and responsibility mindsets; and promoting the scholarship of integration through research, synthesis, practice, and teaching. By adopting these approaches to curriculum and pedagogy, the students will effectively cultivate a critical understanding of and obligation to the profession’s collective responsibility and the well-being of the greater society. These changes provide crucial insights into broadening socio-technical-minded prospects of engineering ethics education.

ABSTRACT: This study aimed to explore the critical reflection experiences of teachers who took part in effective and ineffective professional learning events. It examined the influence of D.A. Kolb’s reflective observation stage within the experiential learning theory (ELT) framework on teachers’ professional development. Using a qualitative interpretive phenomenological method, the research investigated teachers’ viewpoints, beliefs, and experiences related to various professional development activities to evaluate their effectiveness. Eleven teachers attended the same educational conference. The investigation involved semi-structured individual interviews and a focus group discussion. The interview questions centered around the concepts of enactive mastery and vicarious experiences. Open-ended discussions allowed participants to explore their experiences of professional learning. To highlight emergent patterns, this study employed a phenomenological technique to analyze data and identified critical observations through an inductive coding method using the NVivo software. The study’s findings suggested that the reflective process necessitated time, collaboration, and structure during professional learning sessions. Moreover, having a group of peers was advantageous for critical reflection. They created a learning environment where support was the norm, and dedicated time encouraged self-reflection, which promoted effective growth in teacher development. The researchers found that inquiry-based professional development promoted introspection and facilitated profound learning. The research emphasized that teachers responded positively when professional development facilitators allowed participants time to link their personal experiences to new teaching methods, prompting reflection and collaboration with peers.

ABSTRACT: In this article, we examine the role and responsibilities of teaching assistants (TAs) in primary schools in England. A survey exploring the health and wellbeing of educators received 244 responses, with 70 TAs eager to share their experiences. While literature indicates that expectations placed upon TAs are often unclear and fluid, our data suggest that this vagueness can be exploited by leaders. In response to our survey, a picture emerges where the responsibilities of TAs increased exponentially during the pandemic and have not lessened since. In a role that is very poorly paid and can be relatively unsupported, the inevitable impact of this is a significant increase in stress and anxiety. This stress not only impacts TAs’ mental health and wellbeing but also affects their family relationships. In this article, we call for a review of this role at school level and for consideration to be given to clearer pay scales and job descriptions. We advise schools to consider actions that create a more respectful school culture, where the skills, knowledge, and wellbeing of TAs are valued on a par with their teaching colleagues.