Assessing the effectiveness of the internationalization process in Higher Education Institutions: A case study of Florida International University

The purpose of this study was to examine a Higher Education Institution’s (HEI) process of internationalization. The theoretical model developed by Van Dijk and Miejer (1997) was used to review Florida International University (FIU)’s policy, support, and implementation dimensions and determine its position on the Internationalization Cube, and assess how FIU’s international activities fit into its different organizational processes. In addition, the study sought to shed light on student and faculty attitudes toward internationalization. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from examining organizational documents, interviews, descriptive data on FIU’s international activities using the International Dimension Index, and the Student and Faculty Survey on Internationalization. FIU’s international activities results were analyzed in relation to a panel of experts’ item relevancy index. The Likert-type survey scales’ frequencies and percentages were calculated as well as Spearman Rho correlations between the survey’s three scales and demographic and experiences variables. The study found that FIU is located on position six of a possible eight positions on the Van Dijk and Meijer Internationalization Cube with the following characteristics: Priority Policy, One-Sided Support, and Structured Implementation toward internationalization. The analysis of FIU’s results on international activities showed that FIU exhibits all the activities considered to be strong indicators of internationalization but for position seven placement special attention is needed in the areas of foreign language study, international students, study abroad, faculty movement and involvement in international projects. The survey indicated students and faculty rated the Benefits of Internationalization highly but didn’t perceive strong institutional Support for Internationalization. Faculty age and offshore programs participation; student gender, race/ethnicity and class status; and for both, study abroad and knowledge of students travel grant had significant positive correlations with student and faculty attitudes. The study concluded that an association exists between FIU’s position on the Internationalization Cube and its international activities. Recommendations for policy, implementation, and future studies were made. It was concluded that advancing FIU’s position on the Cube will require adjustments in FIU’s policy, support and implementation dimensions. Differences in student and faculty views toward internationalization should be taken into account when planning internationalization efforts.

Supporting Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Higher Education through Mentoring

Federal legislation is now making it possible for students with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) to enroll in university programs through inclusive transition models. The need for more knowledge in the workplace, in addition to newly acquired opportunities, draws students with ID to college campuses. With this increase of student in postsecondary education settings, it is necessary to examine the types of supports needed to ensure their success. Peer mentorship has been identified as a crucial aspect of support for academic and social development. This paper identifies the skills mentors use during their sessions and outlines challenges with mentoring partnerships in postsecondary transition programs. Data analysis revealed major themes related to inclusion, self-determination, and adaptive behavior skills.

Cognitive dissonance and the effect of acceptance of methodology, beliefs about religion, religious orientation, and dogmatism on the success of university students in a religious studies course

The problem investigated was negative effects on the ability of a university student to successfully complete a course in religious studies resulting from conflict between the methodologies and objectives of religious studies and the student's system of beliefs. Using Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance as a theoretical framework, it was hypothesized that completing a course with a high level of success would be negatively affected by (1) failure to accept the methodologies and objectives of religious studies (methodology), (2) holding beliefs about religion that had potential conflicts with the methodologies and objectives (beliefs), (3) extrinsic religiousness, and (4) dogmatism. The causal comparative method was used. The independent variables were measured with four scales employing Likert-type items. An 8-item scale to measure acceptance of the methodologies and objectives of religious studies and a 16-item scale to measure holding of beliefs about religion having potential conflict with the methodologies were developed for this study. These scales together with a 20-item form of Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale and Feagin's 12-item Religious Orientation Scale to measure extrinsic religiousness were administered to 144 undergraduate students enrolled in randomly selected religious studies courses at Florida International University. Level of success was determined by course grade with the 27% of students receiving the highest grades classified as highly successful and the 27% receiving the lowest grades classified as not highly successful. A stepwise discriminant analysis produced a single significant function with methodology and dogmatism as the discriminants. Methodology was the principal discriminating variable. Beliefs and extrinsic religiousness failed to discriminate significantly. It was concluded that failing to accept the methodologies and objectives of religious studies and being highly dogmatic have significant negative effects on a student's success in a religious studies course. Recommendations were made for teaching to diminish these negative effects.

The democratization of higher education in Jamaica: The role of the University of the West Indies

The University of the West Indies (UWI), established in the British colony of Jamaica in 1948, was mandated to serve the “brightest and the best” of the British colonies. Unfortunately, the austerity of Jamaica's economy has not helped to augment an “open door” access to higher education, and UWI is often criticized for not implementing policies to sustain the democratization of higher education; it is accused of functioning as an elitist institution. ^ The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine whether UWI functions democratically as an institution to influence the equity of higher education in Jamaica. A review of the literature reveals many interpretations of the democratization of higher education. Three of Spaulding and Kargodorian's four criteria were utilized to analyze this research. They were (1) equality of access to higher education, (2) equality of participation within the institution of higher education, and (3) equality of educational results. Multiple sources of written data augmented by interviews in Jamaica and Miami were utilized. ^ The analysis revealed that UWI functions in a collaborative relationship with Jamaica's Centralized Educational System as well as with the country's political, economic, and social realms to impact the democratization of higher education. Documentation suggests that, although strong traditional influences continue to exist, UWI has deviated from its original mandate and instead, flexible admittance policies and diversification of expanded programs have contributed to greater accessibility. ^ Despite UWI's reports of improvements which have contributed to more access, UNESCO and some interviewees have not been impressed. A World Bank report on enrollment ratio at the university level in English speaking Caribbean countries reflects less than one percent of the age cohort. The Jamaicans interviewed, especially those from the lower class, felt that their democratic right to receive higher education was not met. UNESCO regards UWI's efforts as just putting a “dent” in the problem. ^ Recommendations include continuing efforts towards developing curricula more relevant to the Jamaican society, increasing distance education in order to ease UWI's load, expanding financial partnerships with private sectors, and extending research in collaboration with large local and foreign private companies. ^

A hermeneutic phenomenology of graduate education students' understandings of instructor power in a higher education classroom

Higher education is a distribution center of knowledge and economic, social, and cultural power (Cervero & Wilson, 2001). A critical approach to understanding a higher education classroom begins with recognizing the instructor's position of power and authority (Tisdell, Hanley, & Taylor, 2000). The power instructors wield exists mostly unquestioned, allowing for teaching practices that reproduce the existing societal patterns of inequity in the classroom (Brookfield, 2000). ^ The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore students' experiences with the power of their instructors in a higher education classroom. A hermeneutic phenomenological study intertwines the interpretations of both the participants and the researcher about a lived experience to uncover layers of meaning because the meanings of lived experiences are usually not readily apparent (van Manen, 1990). Fifteen participants were selected using criterion, convenience, and snowball sampling. The primary data gathering method were semi-structured interviews guided by an interview protocol (Creswell, 2003). Data were interpreted using thematic reflection (van Manen, 1990). ^ Three themes emerged from data interpretation: (a) structuring of instructor-student relationships, (b) connecting power to instructor personality, and (c) learning to navigate the terrains of higher education. How interpersonal relationships were structured in a higher education classroom shaped how students perceived power in that higher education classroom. Positive relationships were described using the metaphor of family and a perceived ethic of caring and nurturing by the instructor. As participants were consistently exposed to exercises of instructor power in a higher education classroom, they attributed those exercises of power to particular instructor traits rather than systemic exercises of power. As participants progressed from undergraduate to graduate studies, they perceived the benefits of expertise in content or knowledge development as secondary to expertise in successfully navigating the social, cultural, political, and interpersonal terrains of higher education. Ultimately, participants expressed that higher education is not about what you know; it is about learning how to play the game. Implications for teaching in higher education and considerations for future research conclude the study.^

Playing the Game: A Hermeneutic Phenomenology of Graduate Education Students’ Perceptions of Instructor Power in a Higher Education Classroom

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore students’ experiences with the power of their instructors in a higher education classroom. This study provides a deeper understanding of instructor power from student perspectives to inform teaching practices in the higher education classroom.

Review of Research on Spiritual and Religious Formation in Higher Education

College students have diverse ways of expressing their spirituality. The purpose of this review is to examine and critique the research used to study college students’ spiritual and religious formation. Implications for faculty, student affairs professionals, and ministers doing research on spiritual formation in higher education are discussed.

Implementation of service -learning in higher education courses: Perceptions of faculty

This study examined the motivation of college and university faculty to implement service-learning into their traditional courses. The benefits derived by faculty, as well as those issues of maintenance, including supports and/or obstacles, were also investigated in relation to their impact on motivation. The focus was on generating theory from the emerging data. ^ Data were collected from interviews with 17 faculty teaching courses that included a component of service-learning. A maximum variation sampling of participants from six South Florida colleges and universities was utilized. Faculty participants represented a wide range of academic disciplines, faculty ranks, years of experience in teaching and using service-learning as well as gender and ethnic diversity. For data triangulation, a focus group with eight additional college faculty was conducted and documents, including course syllabi and institutional service-learning handbooks, collected during the interviews were examined. The interviews were transcribed and coded using traditional methods as well as with the assistance of the computerized assisted qualitative data analysis software, Atlas.ti. The data were organized into five major categories with themes and sub-themes emerging for each. ^ While intrinsic or personal factors along with extrinsic factors all serve to influence faculty motivation, the study's findings revealed that the primary factors influencing faculty motivation to adopt service-learning were those that were intrinsic or personal in nature. These factors included: (a) past experiences, (b) personal characteristics including the value of serving, (c) involvement with community service, (d) interactions and relationships with peers, (e) benefits to students, (f) benefits to teaching, and (g) perceived career benefits. Implications and recommendations from the study encompass suggestions for administrators in higher education institutions for supporting and encouraging faculty adoption of service-learning including a well developed infrastructure as well as incentives, particularly during the initial implementation period, rewards providing recognition for the academic nature of service-learning and support for the development of peer relationships among service-learning faculty. ^

A comparison of upper division performance of community college transfer students to native university students

The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis that no differences existed in the upper division performance of academically excellent community college transfer students when compared to native university students. The relationship of enrollment patterns such as skipped terms, dropped terms, summer session utilization, college of major, credits attempted, credits received, test scores, and current status were also studied.^ The data were collected through a hand analysis of 673 student transcripts which provided the information for a database designed specifically for this study. The subjects were 229 transfers from Miami-Dade Community College and 444 natives from Florida International University. The students all began their studies in the lower division in the Fall term of 1982, 1983 or 1984 and eventually transferred to the upper division at FIU. This longitudinal study followed the upper division performance and enrollment patterns through the Spring term of 1991.^ Data analysis included chi-square for all categorical and numerical variables; t-tests were performed for the numerical variables. Correlation coefficients, Two-Way Analysis of Variance and Three-Way Crosstabulations were also used when indicated. There were significant differences among the upper division performance of community college transfer students and native university students for the graduation rate and the GPA range. A significant difference was also found between the math and essay CLAST scores, number of summer terms utilized, number of terms to graduation, current enrollment status, and credits attempted and received for the groups. ^

A Basic Interpretive Study of the Experiences of University Students Who Have Dropped or Failed an Online Course

Online courses have increased in enrollments over the past few decades. As the number of students taking online courses have increased, so has the number of students who have dropped or failed an online course. According to the literature, online courses may have higher drop rates than traditional, face-to-face courses. The number of students who fail an online course is, also, of concern. As online courses may continue to grow over the next few decades, studies on persistence in online courses may benefit students, administrators, instructional designers, educators, and researchers. Although previous research studies have addressed persistence in online courses, very few examine it from the perspectives of students who were unsuccessful in their courses. These students may have unique insights about the online experience that may have related to their lack of success. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of university students who have failed or dropped an online course through the lenses of transactional distance theory and Kember’s model of dropout in distance education. Transactional distance theory discusses the dialog, structure, and learner autonomy involved in an online course, while, Kember’s model presents categories that may relate to dropping an online course. Together, the theory and model may help in understanding the experiences of students who have dropped or failed an online course. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants from a large Southeastern university in the United States. Based on the participants’ responses, the data was sorted and ranked according to the amount of transactional distance in their courses, as well as the categories of Kember’s model. Many of the participants who experienced low or high transactional distance have, also, expressed an issue with the goal commitment category of Kember’s model. Additionally, there were important differences in the student characteristics of those who dropped or failed an online course. Furthermore, suggestions for improving online courses were given by the participants. Some of these suggestions included more student-instructor interactions, the use of more technology tools in their online course, and for orientations to the online environment to be offered.

The effect of sexist attitudes on the perception of visual artists by community college and university students

This study compared the effects of sexist labeling on the perceptions of visual artists by the community college and university students and determined their sex role orientation. The 370 students were shown five slides of an artist's works and were given six versions of an artist's biography. It contained embedded sexual labeling (woman, girl, person/ she, man, guy, person/he). The Artist Evaluation Questionnaire was administered to the female and male community college and university students that required the students to evaluate the female and male artists on several aspects of affective and cognitive measures. The questionnaire consisted of 9 items that had to be rated by the participants. In addition, the students filled out the Demographic Questionnaire and the BEM Sex Role Inventory, titled the Attitude Questionnaire. The Analysis of Variance testing procedures were administered to analyze the responses. The results disclosed gender differences in students' ratings. The female artist's work, when the artist was referred to by the neutral sexual label, "person", received significantly higher ratings from the female students. The male students gave the female artist her highest ratings when she was referred to by the low status sexual label, "girl". Both sexes did not express statistically significant preferences for any of the male sexual labels. Gender difference became apparent when it was found that female students rated both sexes equally, and their ratings were lower than those of the male students. The male students rated the female artist's work higher than the work of the male artist. The analysis of the sex role inventory questionnaire revealed the absence of the feminine (expressive) and masculine (instrumental) personalities among the students. The personalities of almost all the students were androgynous, with a few within the range of the near feminine, and a few within the range of the near masculine. The study reveals that there are differences in perception of sexual labels among the community college and university students.

A basic interpretive study of the experiences of university students who have dropped or failed an online course

Online courses have increased in enrollments over the past few decades. As the number of students taking online courses have increased, so has the number of students who have dropped or failed an online course. According to the literature, online courses may have higher drop rates than traditional, face-to-face courses. The number of students who fail an online course is, also, of concern. As online courses may continue to grow over the next few decades, studies on persistence in online courses may benefit students, administrators, instructional designers, educators, and researchers. Although previous research studies have addressed persistence in online courses, very few examine it from the perspectives of students who were unsuccessful in their courses. These students may have unique insights about the online experience that may have related to their lack of success. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of university students who have failed or dropped an online course through the lenses of transactional distance theory and Kember’s model of dropout in distance education. Transactional distance theory discusses the dialog, structure, and learner autonomy involved in an online course, while, Kember’s model presents categories that may relate to dropping an online course. Together, the theory and model may help in understanding the experiences of students who have dropped or failed an online course. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants from a large Southeastern university in the United States. Based on the participants’ responses, the data was sorted and ranked according to the amount of transactional distance in their courses, as well as the categories of Kember’s model. Many of the participants who experienced low or high transactional distance have, also, expressed an issue with the goal commitment category of Kember’s model. Additionally, there were important differences in the student characteristics of those who dropped or failed an online course. Furthermore, suggestions for improving online courses were given by the participants. Some of these suggestions included more student-instructor interactions, the use of more technology tools in their online course, and for orientations to the online environment to be offered.^

Influence, policy formation, and higher education in Florida: 1989--1994

This study examined the perceptions of state governmental officials and administrators from the state university system, community college system, and independent institutions concerning the ability of various groups to influence state-level higher education policy formation. The study was conducted in Florida for the period 1989-94. Florida has a history of legislative involvement in higher education, a unique system of state universities and community colleges, and a limited number of private institutions of higher education. This study was grounded in the works of Mortimer and McConnell (1978), Millett (1987), Marshall, Mitchell, and Wirt (1989) and Finitfer, Baldwin, and Thelin (1991).^ The study represented the application of an embedded, single-case design. A survey was the primary collection instrument. Respondents were asked questions concerning: (a) personal involvement in higher education, (b) perceptions of the ability of various groups to influence higher education policy, (c) the names of particular individuals considered key players in higher education policy formation, (d) important state-level documents, (e) personal knowledge of key areas of policy formation, and (f) emerging higher education issues in Florida. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the different sections of the survey.^ The findings indicated that a power and influence hierarchy exists among the various groups that attempt to influence higher education policy and that this hierarchy is recognized by state government officials and higher education administrators. While an analysis of variance of the various groups revealed a few differences between state government officials and higher education personnel, the high overall agreement was an important finding. Leading members of the legislature, especially the Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, and key staff members, especially from the Senate Ways & Means Committee, were considered the most influential. Representatives from higher education institutions and research organizations were considered among the least influential. Emerging issues identified by the respondents included: (a) the political nature of state-level policy formation, (b) the role of legislative staff, (c) the competition for state moneys, (d) legislative concern for state-wide budgetary efficiency, and (e) legislative attempts to define quality and supervise academic program development for higher education. ^

A distance education case study: A comparison of instructional delivery methods practiced by higher education faculty and emerging standards

The purpose of this research was to compare the delivery methods as practiced by higher education faculty teaching distance courses with recommended or emerging standard instructional delivery methods for distance education. Previous research shows that traditional-type instructional strategies have been used in distance education and that there has been no training to distance teach. Secondary data, however, appear to suggest emerging practices which could be pooled toward the development of standards. This is a qualitative study based on the constant comparative analysis approach of grounded theory.^ Participants (N = 5) of this study were full-time faculty teaching distance education courses. The observation method used was unobtrusive content analysis of videotaped instruction. Triangulation of data was accomplished through one-on-one in-depth interviews and from literature review. Due to the addition of non-media content being analyzed, a special time-sampling technique was designed by the researcher--influenced by content analyst theories of media-related data--to sample portions of the videotape instruction that were observed and counted. A standardized interview guide was used to collect data from in-depth interviews. Coding was done based on categories drawn from review of literature, and from Cranton and Weston's (1989) typology of instructional strategies. The data were observed, counted, tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted solely by the researcher. It should be noted however, that systematic and rigorous data collection and analysis led to credible data.^ The findings of this study supported the proposition that there are no standard instructional practices for distance teaching. Further, the findings revealed that of the emerging practices suggested by proponents and by faculty who teach distance education courses, few were practiced even minimally. A noted example was the use of lecture and questioning. Questioning, as a teaching tool was used a great deal, with students at the originating site but not with distance students. Lectures were given, but were mostly conducted in traditional fashion--long in duration and with no interactive component.^ It can be concluded from the findings that while there are no standard practices for instructional delivery for distance education, there appears to be sufficient information from secondary and empirical data to initiate some standard instructional practices. Therefore, grounded in this research data is the theory that the way to arrive at some instructional delivery standards for televised distance education is a pooling of the tacitly agreed-upon emerging practices by proponents and practicing instructors. Implicit in this theory is a need for experimental research so that these emerging practices can be tested, tried, and proven, ultimately resulting in formal standards for instructional delivery in television education. ^