Aim/Purpose: Despite millions of apps on the market, it is still challenging to develop a mobile app that can run across platforms using the same code. Background: This paper explores a potential solution for developing cross platform apps by presenting the hybrid app approach. Methodology: The paper first describes a brief evolution of the different mobile app development approaches and then compares them with the hybrid app approach. Next, it focuses on one specific hybrid app development framework called Ionic. Contribution: The paper presents the hybrid app approach as an emerging trend in mobile app development and concludes with the highlight of its advantages and teaching implications. Findings: The hybrid app approach reduces the learning curve and offers tools to allow the reuse of code to create apps for different mobile devices. Recommendations for Practitioners: The experience that the paper describes in using Ionic framework to create a hybrid app can be adopted in a web design or mobile app development course. Impact on Society : The advance in hybrid framework in general and the growing acceptance of open source framework, such as Ionic in particular, may provide an alternative to the native app domination and may trigger the rapid rise of hybrid apps in the years to come.

Aim/Purpose: The uptake of university by regional students has been problematic for various reasons. This paper discusses a program, initiated by a South Australian regional university campus, aimed at attracting regional students into higher education. Background: A qualitative descriptive approach to study was used to determine the value of the program on participating students and school staff. Year 10 students from Roxby Downs, Port Augusta and Port Lincoln high schools were invited to participate in a two-day regionally-focussed school-university engagement program that linked students with the university campus and local employers. Methodology: A survey was administered to determine the impact of the program. Perceptions about the program by school staff were gathered using a modified One-Minute Harvard questionnaire. While 38 Year 10 students and 5 school staff members participated, 37 students and 3 staff evaluated the program. Findings: The findings revealed that the majority of the students would like to attend university, but financial and social issues were important barriers. The students learned about the regional university, what it can offer in terms of programs and support, and the employment prospect following university. The school staff benefited by developing a closer relationship with students and becoming better informed about the regional university. Recommendation for Practitioners: One way by which university uptake may be increased is to provide similar immersion programs featuring engagement with employers, our recommendation to other regional universities. In increasing the levels of education, individuals, communities and the society in general are benefited.

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this project was to explore student perceptions of the value of both the creation of video content and exposure to other students’ work though peer assessment and inclusion of exemplars as unit material. Background: The research was in a first year information technology flipped-learning unit, where the assessment involved students developing video presentations that were peer assessed and exemplars incorporated into the unit as teaching material. Methodology: Data was gathered using a mixed methods approach using an online questionnaire followed by semi-structured interviews with a selection of questionnaire respondents. The interviews were designed to further explore issues identified from the analysis of the questionnaire data. Contribution: Informs on student perceptions of peer review and the integration of student generated content into University teaching. Findings: Most students enjoyed the video assessment (58%) with many preferring it to a written or programming task (55-58%). In the subsequent peer assessment, many liked seeing the work of others (67%) and found the approach engaging (63%) yet some other perceptions were mixed or neutral. Recommendations for Practitioners: University IT students generally enjoyed and perceived peer assessment and found student generated content to be valuable. Recommendation for Researchers: Further investigation of peer review and student generated content in contexts where the student cohort represents a variety of cultures and age categories Impact on Society: Contributes to a body of knowledge regarding peer assessment and student generated educational materials. Future Research: Future work is needed to better understand this domain, in particular the role of learners’ individual differences in order to successfully integrate these approaches into modern learning environments.

Aim/Purpose: Executive doctoral programs in higher education are under-researched. Scholars, administers, and students should be aware of all common delivery methods for higher education graduate programs. Background This paper provides a review and analysis of executive doctoral higher education programs in the United States. Methodology: Executive higher education doctoral programs analyzed utilizing a qualitative demographic market-based analysis approach. Contribution: This review of executive higher education doctoral programs provides one of the first investigations of this segment of the higher education degree market. Findings: There are twelve programs in the United States offering executive higher education degrees, though there are less aggressively marketed programs described as executive-style higher education doctoral programs that could serve students with similar needs. Recommendations for Practitioners: Successful executive higher education doctoral programs require faculty that have both theoretical knowledge and practical experience in higher education. As appropriate, these programs should include tenure-line, clinical-track, and adjunct faculty who have cabinet level experience in higher education. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should begin to investigate more closely the small but growing population of executive doctoral degree programs in higher education. Impact on Society: Institutions willing to offer executive degrees in higher education will provide training specifically for those faculty who are one step from an executive position within the higher education sector. Society will be impacted by having someone that is trained in the area who also has real world experience. Future Research: Case studies of students enrolled in executive higher education programs and research documenting university-employer goals for these programs would enhance our understanding of this branch of the higher education degree market.

Aim/Purpose: Student dropout in higher education institutions is a universal problem. This study identifies the characteristics of dropout. In addition, it develops a mathematical model to predict students who may dropout. Methodology: The paper develops a mathematical model to predict students who may dropout. The sample includes 555 freshmen in a non-profit private university. The study uses both descriptive statistics, such as cross tabulation, and a binary regression model to predict student dropout. Contribution: There are two major contributions for the paper. First, it identifies the dropout rates of each group, a finding that may be used to better allocate resources at higher education institutions. Second, it develops a predictive model that may be used in order to predict the probability of a student dropping out and take preventive actions. Findings: This study compared dropout rates of one and a half year of enrollment among Traditional Undergraduate Students. Two major findings are the following: (1) Some of the resources designed to assist student are misallocated, and (2) Predictive models can be used to calculate the probability of a student dropping out. Recommendations for Practitioners: The study recommends that institutions must create initiatives to assist freshmen students and have annual assessment to measure the success of the initiatives. Recommendation for Researchers: Two, mathematical models may be used to predict dropout rates, the paper includes a model that predicted with 66.6% accuracy students who will dropout.

Aim/Purpose: The objective of this study is to understand how video lectures of the same length and content as the current face-to-face lectures can be designed and implemented to have a positive effect on student performance, particularly when there is a campus shutdown. Background: In a number of South African universities protests by the students are on the increase. Often, they lead to the cancellation of academic activities such as face-to-face classes and examinations. Methodology: A quasi-experimental design was used on two video lectures to (1) compare the performance of the students who did not watch the video lectures and those who watched the video lectures, (2) compare the performance of each student who watched the video lectures on the test topics covered in the videos and the test topics not covered in the videos, and (3) determine the factors that influence the effectiveness of the video lectures. Contribution: This study contributes to the literature by investigating the effectiveness of video lectures in improving student performance, the factors associated to the effectiveness of such lectures, and the complexity or simplicity of the two video lectures used, and by providing possible solutions to the challenges identified in relation to designing video lectures. Findings: In terms of student performance, there is no significant advantage arising from watching the video lectures for the students who watch the video lectures, as compared to those who did not watch the video lectures. It is also found that the student performance on the topics with video lectures is significantly associated to the students’ commitment, prior performance, the quality of the content, and the design of the videos. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study recommends how the accounting video lectures can be designed and highlights the environments in which the video lectures of the same length and content as the face-to-face lectures should not be used. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should replicate this study by using short length videos of better quality and appropriate length, which incorporate current issues, games, are interactive, and so forth. Impact on Society: This study examines the use of educational video lectures in order to minimise the impact of disruptions at university level. Future Research: Future studies may use randomly selecting treatment and control groups. They may consider a nationwide research or using qualitative interviews in examining the use of educational video lectures.

Aim/Purpose: The primary objective of this research is to build an enhanced framework for Applied and Computational Math. This framework allows a variety of applied math concepts to be organized into a meaningful whole. Background: The framework can help students grasp new mathematical applications by comparing them to a common reference model. Methodology: In this research, we measure the most frequent words used in a sample of Math and Computer Science books. We combine these words with those obtained in an earlier study, from which we constructed our original Computational Math scale. Contribution: The enhanced framework improves the Computational Math scale by integrating selected concepts from the field of Data Science. Findings: The resulting enhanced framework better explains how abstract mathematical models and algorithms are tied to real world applications and computer implementations. Future Research: We want to empirically test our enhanced Applied and Computational Math framework in a classroom setting. Our goal is to measure how effective the use of this framework is in improving students’ understanding of newly introduced Math concepts.

Aim/Purpose: Authentic assessments offer students the opportunity to develop skills that implement the formal learning they receive in the classroom. Although there is a need for accounting graduates to possess a plethora of skills to equip them for success, there is a shortage of literature that focuses on authentic assessment design for accounting courses. This paper aims to address this gap by compiling a toolkit for accounting educators aspiring to design and implement authentic assessments. Background: This paper reviews examples of authentic assessments that are available and have been used by accounting educators and educators in general. It highlights the skills that might be developed with each assessment Methodology: A review of 182 articles on authentic assessment design and examples of authentic assessments like portfolios, reflective journals, presentations, reports, peer and self-assessment was conducted. Contribution: A toolkit with examples of authentic assessment to ease the task of authentic assessment design for those new to authentic assessment and seasoned authentic assessment practitioners alike. Findings: Authentic assessments are a form of learning. They help graduates develop skills and attributes that will make them work-ready and capable of handling a lot of real life practical work situations. Rubrics are an important part of authentic assessment implementation and their use is mandated by business school accrediting bodies like AACSB. Recommendations for Practitioners: Accounting educators may find guidelines in this paper which will help them understand authentic assessments and enlighten them on the challenges they may encounter when implementing the assessments. Recommendation for Researchers: There is a need for future researchers to contribute more to this topic so as to increase the variety and amount of literature available for those wishing to engage with authentic curriculum design in accounting. Future researchers could also focus on the perceptions of authentic assessments of accounting educators, students and employers. Impact on Society: This paper may also be of use to prospective employers wishing to gain a clear understanding of the skills inherent in prospective graduates who may have been exposed to authentic assessments. Accounting students and graduates may find this paper useful as it will help them comprehend the importance of some the assessments with the backing and assurance from the literature. Future Research: Future research may focus on the challenges in implementing authentic assessments. It would also be great to see more research addressing the perceptions of educators towards authentic assessments.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this article is to establish the different impacts of technological changes in institutions generating irrevocable changes in today’s society. Background: Technological changes have had a positive impact on many aspects of everyday life today, and it is natural that both public and private institutions benefit from this reality. Methodology: The research method used is based on the explanatory approach, through the documentary review of secondary sources and research works. Contribution: The implementation of electronic government in Ecuador is presented as a direct consequence of these technological developments with ways to direct and govern a country, which leads to competitive advantages in a world that is increasingly globalized. Findings: In the institutions the only permanent thing is change, for which the changing and evolving fact that the public and private institutions of today must have is highlighted. Recommendations for Practitioners: Results can inform to users the importance of the “new government” in a practical level. Recommendation for Researchers: The influence of technology on how to govern and if this in some way improves the functioning of the State. Impact on Society: Technological developments, which leads competitive advantages in a world that is increasingly globalized. Future Research: Create discussion and have a starting point to compare the influence of technological government in different parts of the world.

Aim/Purpose: The proposed Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) for Empowerment (PKM4E) Framework expands on the notions of the Ignorance Map and Matrix to support the educational and informing concept of a PKM system-in-progress. Background: The accelerating information abundance is depleting the very attention our cognitive capabilities are able to master, contributing to widening individual and collective opportunity divides. Support is urgently needed to benefit Knowledge Workers irrespective of space (developed/developing countries), time (study or career phase), discipline (natural or social science), or role (student, professional, leader). Methodology: The Design Science Research (DSR) project conceptualizing the PKM System (PKMS) aims to support a scenario of a ‘Decentralizing KM Revolution’ giving more power and autonomy to individuals and self-organized groups. Contribution: The informing-science-related approach synthesizes and visualizes concepts related to ignorance and entropy, learning and innovation, chance discovery and abduction to inform diverse audiences and potential beneficiaries. Findings: see Recommendation for Researchers Recommendations for Practitioners: The PKM4E learning cycles and workflows apply ‘cumulative synthesis’, a concept which convincingly couples the activities of researchers and entrepreneurs and assists users to advance their capability endowments via applied learning. Recommendation for Researchers: In substituting document-centric with meme-based knowledge bases, the PKMS approach merges distinctive voluntarily shared knowledge objects/assets of diverse disciplines into a single unified digital knowledge repository and provides the means for advancing current metrics and reputation systems. Impact on Society: The PKMS features provide the means to tackle the widening opportunity divides by affording knowledge workers with continuous life-long support from trainee, student, novice, or mentee towards professional, expert, mentor, or leader. Future Research: After completing the test phase of the PKMS prototype, its transformation into a viable PKM system and cloud-based server based on a rapid development platform and a noSQL-database is estimated to take 12 months.

Aim/Purpose: This paper describes and information system for the maintenance and management of municipal lighting systems that also serves as a decision support tool for reducing power consumption on urban lighting. Background: Many municipalities are financially constrained and unable to invest in improving their lighting infrastructure. We propose a very efficient and inexpensive way to set up the database and provide city leaders with tools to improve their system efficiently. Methodology: An information database for the data management and an Integer Programming model for deriving the optimal investment plan. Contribution: This paper contributes to the fields of urban economics and sustainability. Findings: Informing management and workers about the status of the system and how to optimize it will reward the city with considerable savings and improve the service quality. Recommendations for Practitioners: The application of this model, even in a small scale such as a neighborhood can improve citizen’s quality of life without a heavy burden on the city budget. Recommendation for Researchers: There is a growing need for cost-effective means to improve urban management. Innovative ideas that meet these goals should be researched and developed. Impact on Society: First, it allows reduction in carbon emissions and light pollution by reducing power consumption and over-luminous lighting levels. Second, financially constrained municipalities can manage their systems at a very low cost. Future Research: A full scale application is needed in order to evaluate the city-wide benefits of the system.

Aim/Purpose: To monitor Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) established by the United Nations through the hierarchical architecture of informing systems Background: The paper discusses the case of Poland and its Gdansk region Contribution: The solution combines the big-picture of civilization with small-picture of a nation, regions, cities, and firms Findings: The presented solution can be implemented if the political will can be secured. Recommendations for Practitioners: Take the main idea of this paper and adapt to your local case. Recommendation for Researchers: Develop some prototypes of presented informing systems and test in your local environment Impact on Society: The success of the sustainability of globalizing society can be secured if the coherent informing systems can be applied to the planning, monitoring, and implementation of the UN's universal SDG. Future Research: Work on the modeling of costs and benefits of the presented solution.

Aim/Purpose: This exploratory study investigates the influential factors of users’ decisions in the dilemma of whether to agree to online personalization or to protect their online privacy. Background: Various factors related to online privacy and anonymity were considered, such as user’s privacy concern on the Web in general and particularly on social networks, user online privacy literacy, and field of study. Methodology: To this end, 155 students from different fields of study in the Israeli academia were administered closed-ended questionnaires. Findings: The multivariate linear regression analysis showed that as the participants’ privacy concern increases, they tend to prefer privacy protection over online personalization. In addition, there were significant differences between men and women, as men tended to favor privacy protection more than women did. Impact on Society: This research has social implications for the academia and general public as they show it is possible to influence the personalization-privacy tradeoff and encourage users to prefer privacy protection by raising their concern for the preservation of their online privacy. Furthermore, the users’ preference to protect their privacy even at the expense of their online malleability may lead to the reduction of online privacy-paradox behavior. Future Research: Since our results were based on students' self-perceptions, which might be biased, future work should apply qualitative analysis to explore additional types and influencing factors of online privacy behavior.

Aim/Purpose: The objective of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of educational games on learning computer programming. In particular, we are examining whether allowing students to manipulate the underlying code of the educational games will increase their intrinsic motivation. Background: Young students are fond of playing digital games. Moreover, they are also interested in creating game applications. We try to make use of both of these facts. Methodology: A prototype was created to teach the fundamentals of conditional structures. A number of errors were intentionally included in the game at different stages. Whenever an error is encountered, students have to stop the game and fix the bug before proceeding. A pilot study was conducted to evaluate this approach. Contribution: This research investigates a novel approach to teach programming using educational games. This study is at the initial stage. Findings: Allowing the programming students to manipulate the underlying code of the educational game they play will increase their intrinsic motivation. Recommendations for Practitioners: Creating educational games to teach programming, and systematically allowing the players to manipulate the gaming logic, will be beneficial to the students. Recommendation for Researchers: This research can be extended to investigate how various artificial intelligence techniques can be used to model the gamers, for example, skill level. Impact on Society: The future generations of students should be able to use digital technologies proficiently. In addition, they should also be able to understand and modify the underlying code in the digital things (like Internet of Things).This research attempts to alleviate the disenchantment associated with learning coding. Future Research: A full scale evaluation – including objective evaluation using game scores – will be conducted. One-way MANOVA will be used to analyze the efficacy of the proposed intervention on the students’ performance, and their intrinsic motivation and flow experience.

Aim/Purpose: Medical images are very sensitive data that can be transferred to medical laboratories, professionals, and specialist for referral cases or consultation. Strict security measures must be utilized to keep these data secured in computer networks when transferred to another party. On a daily basis, unauthorized users derive ways to gain access to sensitive patient medical information. Background: One of the best ways to which medical image could be kept secured is through the use of quantum cryptography Methodology : Applying the principles of quantum mechanics to cryptography has led to a remarkable new dimension in secured network communication infrastructure. This enables two legitimate users to produce a shared secret random bit string, which can be used as a key in cryptographic applications, such as message encryption and authentication. Contribution: This paper can make it possible for the healthcare and medical professions to construct cryptographic communication systems to keep patients’ transferred data safe and secured. Findings: This work has been able to provide a way for two authorized users who are in different locations to securely establish a secret network key and to detect if eavesdropping (a fraudulent or disruption in the network) has occurred Recommendations for Practitioners: This security mechanism is recommended for healthcare providers and practitioners to ensure the privacy of patients’ medical information. Recommendation for Researchers: This paper opens a new chapter in secured medical records Impact on Society Quantum key distribution promises network security based on the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics by solving the problems of secret-key cryptography . Future Research: The use of post-quantum cryptography can be further researched.

Aim/Purpose: Although cassava is one of the crops that can be grown during the dry season in Northeastern Thailand, most farmers in the region do not know whether the crop can grow in their specific areas because the available agriculture planning guideline provides only a generic list of dry-season crops that can be grown in the whole region. The purpose of this research is to develop a predictive model that can be used to predict suitable areas for growing cassava in Northeastern Thailand during the dry season. Background: This paper develops a decision support system that can be used by farmers to assist them determine if cassava can be successfully grown in their specific areas. Methodology: This study uses satellite imagery and data on land characteristics to develop a machine learning model for predicting suitable areas for growing cassava in Thailand’s Nakhon-Phanom province. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a novel model for predicting suitable areas for growing cassava. Findings: This study identified elevation and Ferric Acrisols (Af) soil as the two most important features for predicting the best-suited areas for growing cassava in Nakhon-Phanom province, Thailand. The two-class boosted decision tree algorithm performs best when compared with other algorithms. The model achieved an accuracy of .886, and .746 F1-score. Recommendations for Practitioners: Farmers and agricultural extension agents will use the decision support system developed in this study to identify specific areas that are suitable for growing cassava in Nakhon-Phanom province, Thailand Recommendation for Researchers: To improve the predictive accuracy of the model developed in this study, more land and crop characteristics data should be incorporated during model development. The ground truth data for areas growing cassava should also be collected for a longer period to provide a more accurate sample of the areas that are suitable for cassava growing. Impact on Society: The use of machine learning for the development of new farming systems will enable farmers to produce more food throughout the year to feed the world’s growing population. Future Research: Further studies should be carried out to map other suitable areas for growing dry-season crops and to develop decision support systems for those crops.

Aim/Purpose: This paper investigates the changing paradigms for technical skills that are needed by Data Engineers in 2018. Background: A decade ago, data engineers needed technical skills for Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS), such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. With the advent of Hadoop and NoSQL Databases in recent years, Data Engineers require new skills to support the large distributed datastores (Big Data) that currently exist. Job demand for Data Scientists and Data Engineers has increased over the last five years. Methodology: This research methodology leveraged the Pig programming language that used MapReduce software located on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud. Data was collected from 100 Indeed.com job advertisements during July of 2017 and then was uploaded to the AWS Cloud. Using MapReduce, phrases/words were counted and then sorted. The sorted phrase / word counts were then leveraged to create the list of the 20 top skills needed by a Data Engineer based on the job advertisements. This list was compared to the 20 top skills for a Data Engineer presented by Stitch that surveyed 6,500 Data Engineers in 2016. Contribution: This paper presents a list of the 20 top technical skills required by a Data Engineer.

Aim/Purpose: The objective of this study was to concept test a new instructional aid called Virtual Pathology Learning Resource (VPLR), which was used as a vehicle to communicate information and enhance teaching and learning of basic sciences (Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology) to allied health science students at a South Australian university. Background: Pathology was traditionally taught using potted specimens to review disease manifestations independently. However, this approach was found inadequate and ineffective. VPLR is a new teaching platform comprising of digitised human normal and human pathology specimens (histology, histopathology), patient case studies, short answer and critical thinking questions, and self-assessment quizzes. Using authentic learning theory as an educational pedagogy, this learning resource was developed to enhance the teaching and learning of Pathology. Methodology: Cross-sectional study design was used. A survey, given at the end of the course, gathered qualitative and quantitative data concerning the perceptions and experiences of the students about VPLR and its components. The online tool SurveyMonkey was utilised so that students could respond anonymously to a web link that displayed the questionnaire. The perceived impact on students was assessed using an 18-item questionnaire seeking agreement or disagreement with statements about VPLR, multiple choice and open-ended questions querying the best things about VPLR, benefits to be derived, and areas for improvement. Descriptive and frequency analyses were performed. Contribution: The VPLR approach involved rich learning situations, contextualised content, and facilitated greater understanding of disease concepts and problems. Findings: In a sample of 103 Medical Radiation students, 42% of students (N=43) responded to the post-intervention survey. The majority of students reported highly positive effects for each component of the VPLR. The overall results indicated that this tool was a promising strategy in teaching Pathology as it assisted students’ gaining knowledge of the science, facilitated connections between sciences, and allowed students to make better links with professional practice and skills. Recommendations for Practitioners: As students found VPLR to be beneficial, it is recommended that the same approach is applied for the teaching of Pathology to other health science students, such as Nursing. Other universities might consider adopting the innovation for their courses. Recommendation for Researchers: Applying VPLR to teaching other allied health science students will be undertaken next. The innovation will be appropriate for other health science students with particular emphasis on case-based or problem-based learning and combined with clinical experiences. Impact on Society: In reshaping the way of teaching a science course, students are benefited with greater depth of understanding of content and increase motivation to study. These are important to keep students engaged and ready for practice. VPLR may impact on education and technology trends so that exploration and possibilities of initiatives are ongoing to help students become successful learners. Other impacts are the new forms of learning discovered, the renewed focus on group work and collaboration, and maximising the use of technology in innovation. Future Research: Future directions of this research would be to conduct a follow-up of this cohort of students to determine whether the impacts of the innovation were durable, meaning the change in perceptions and behaviour is sustained over time.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify how Advanced level Mathematics and Mathematics course units offered at university level do impact on the academic performance of theoretical Computer Science course units. Background: In Sri Lankan state universities, students have been enrolled only from the Physical Science stream to do a degree program in Computer Science. In addition to that, universities have been offering some course units in Mathematics to provide the required mathematical maturity to Computer Science undergraduates. Despite of this it is observed that the failure rates in fundamental theoretical Computer Science course units are much higher than other course units offered in the general degree program every year. Methodology : Academic records comprised of all 459 undergraduates from three consecutive batches admitted to the degree program in Computer Science from a university were considered for this study. Contribution: This study helps academics in identifying suitable curricula for Mathematics course units to improve students’ performance in theoretical Computer Science courses. Findings: Advanced level Mathematics does not have any significant effect on the academic performance of theoretical Computer Science course units. Even though all Mathematics course units offered were significantly correlated with academic performance of every theoretical Computer Science course unit, only the Discrete Mathematics course unit highly impacted on the academic performance of all three theoretical Computer Science course units. Further this study indicates that the academic performance of female undergraduates is better than males in all theoretical Computer Science and Mathematics course units. Future Research: Identifying other critical success factors contributing to the students’ academic performance of the theoretical Computer Science through empirical studies

Table of Contents for IISIT Volume 15, 2018

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether grit was a contributing factor to student persistence and success at minority serving institutions. Background: A number of studies conducted in the past fifteen years have concluded that grit is a positive predictor of achievement across many domains. But, is grit really the ultimate panacea for student success? This longitudinal study sought to answer that question by specifically focusing on business students attending a mid-Atlantic minority-serving institution that primarily serves low-income and first generation learners. Methodology: The research study under consideration used quantitative methods for data collection and analysis. It was initiated in the Fall of 2014 with the administration of the standard 12-item Grit assessment to all freshmen students enrolled in a university business department. Students were then followed longitudinally over a five year period with GPA and persistence to graduation documented. During the analyses, grit score was compared to participant first year GPA’s as well as retention and persistence to graduation via comparison tables and ANOVAs. Contribution: A lack of substantive studies conducted at HBCUs and other minority serving institutions poses a major gap in the existing literature available on grit. A number of authors have put forth a call to action for faculty at minority serving institutions to conduct meaningful studies focused on grit and student persistence in order to better inform the HBCU community. This study is specifically purposed to help fill some of the gaps in the available literature. The results of the research presented in this paper hopefully shed light on the need to explore non-cognitive factors that may affect student performance. In particular, research should explore factors that may, or may not, contribute to the success of under prepared college students in particular those who are from low income, first generation, and minority groups. This form of exploration is part of a commitment to positive student outcomes. Findings: According to the findings, there is a significant positive correlation between higher grit scores and both GPA and persistence to graduation. First year GPA, however, was not found to be a reliable predictor of academic success. Recommendations for Practitioners: As part of a commitment to positive student outcomes, faculty and administrators in higher education must be constantly exploring factors that may, or may not, impact student success. Recommendation for Researchers: The results of this research help to shed light on the need to explore elements that may help to contribute to the success of under prepared college students in particular those who are from low income, first generation, and minority groups Future Research: The authors conclude that while building the grittiness of freshmen students may lead to positive student outcomes, grit alone might not be enough. In fact, they postulate that grittiness without clarity of purpose, positive self-efficacy, and growth mindset may mean that students who may be gritty may not be exerting their energies appropriately. During the next phase, a model that is currently under development will be used as part of a mindset intervention to edify students about grit, growth mindset, locus of control/self-efficacy, and clarity of purpose. A complimentary research study examining student performance and perceptions will also be conducted.

Aim/Purpose: The aim and purpose of this study is to understand why there is a dearth of faculty of color ascending to senior levels of leadership in higher education institutions, and to identify strategies to increase the representation of faculty of color in university senior administrative positions. Background: There is a lack of faculty of color in senior level academic administrative position in the United States. Although there is clear evidence that faculty of color have not been promoted to senior level positions at the same rate as their White colleagues, besides racism there has been little evidence regarding the cause of such disparities. This is becoming an issue of increased importance as the student bodies of most U.S. higher educational institutions are becoming increasingly more inclusive of people of various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Methodology: Qualitative interviews were used Contribution: This study adds to the research and information made previously available regarding the status of non-White higher educational members in the U.S. by contributing insights from faculty of color who have encountered and are currently encountering forms of discrimination within various institutions. These additions include personal experiences and suggestions regarding the barriers to diversification and implications of the lack of diversity at higher educational institutions. Given the few diverse administrative or executive leaders in service today in higher education, these personal insights provide seldom-heard perspectives for both scholars and practitioners in the field of higher education. Findings: Limited diversity among faculty at higher educational institutions correlates with persistent underrepresentation and difficulty in finding candidates for leadership positions who are diverse, highly experienced, and highly ranked. This lack of diversity among leaders has negative implications like reduced access to mentorship, scholarship, and other promotional and networking opportunities for other faculty of color. While it is true that representation of faculty of color at certain U.S. colleges and programs has shown slight improvements in the last decade, nationwide statistics still demonstrate the persistence of this issue. Participants perceived that the White boys club found to some extent in nearly all higher educational institutions, consistently offers greater recognition, attention, and support for those who most resemble the norm and creates an adverse environment for minorities. However, in these findings and interviews, certain solutions for breaking through such barriers are revealed, suggesting progress is possible and gaining momentum at institutions nationwide. Recommendations for Practitioners: To recruit and sustain diverse members of the academic community, institutions should prioritize policies and procedures which allocate a fair share of responsibilities between faculty members and ensure equity in all forms of compensation. In addition, institutional leaders should foster a climate of mutual respect and understanding between members of the educational community to increase confidence of people of color and allow for fresh perspectives and creativity to flourish. Where policies for diversification exist but are not being applied, leaders have the responsibility to enforce and set the example for other members of the organization. Assimilation of diverse members occurs when leaders create an inclusive environment for various cultures and advocate for social and promotional opportunities for all members of the organization. Recommendations for Researchers: Significant research remains on understanding barriers to the preparation of faculty of color for leadership in higher education. While this research has provided first-hand qualitative perspectives from faculties of color, additional quantitative study is necessary to understand what significant differences in underrepresentation exist by race and ethnicity. Further research is also needed on the compound effects of race and gender due to the historic underrepresentation of women in leadership positions. At the institutional and departmental level, the study validates the need to look at both the implicit and explicit enforcement of policies regarding diversity in the workplace. Future Research: Higher education researchers may extend the findings of this study to explore how faculty of color have ascended to specific leadership roles within the academy such as department chair, academic dean, provost, and president.

Aim/Purpose: Any system that aims to address the task of modeling social media communication need to deal with the usage of emojis. Efficient prediction of the most likely emoji given the text of a message may help to improve different NLP tasks. Background: We explore two tasks: emoji identification and emoji prediction. While emoji prediction is a classification task of predicting the emojis that appear in a given text message, emoji identification is the complementary preceding task of determining if a given text message includes emojies. Methodology: We adopt a supervised Machine Learning (ML) approach. We compare two text representation approaches, i.e., n-grams and character n-grams and analyze the contribution of additional metadata features to the classification. Contribution: The task of emoji identification is novel. We extend the definition of the emoji prediction task by allowing to use not only the textual content but also meta-data analysis. Findings: Metadata improve the classification accuracy in the task of emoji identification. In the task of emoji prediction it is better to apply feature selection. Recommendations for Practitioners: In many of the cases the classifier decision seems fitter to the comment content than the emoji that was chosen by the commentator. The classifier may be useful for emoji suggestion. Recommendation for Researchers: Explore character-based representations rather than word-based representations in the case of morphologically rich languages. Impact on Society: Improve the modeling of social media communication. Future Research: We plan to address the multi-label setting of the emoji prediction task and to investigate the deep learning approach for both of our classification tasks

Aim/Purpose: Blended learning can transform students experience and learning in higher education. Although the literature extensively explores benefits of blended learning, limited research exists to provide a detailed design principle for implementing instructional activities in blended courses and its usage as tool to influence learning outcomes for second language first year accounting learners. Background: The objective of this study is to find out how the learning experience of students was impacted and by designing and implementing blended learning and connectivity between online and face-to-face learning. This paper reviews the challenges and benefits of blended learning and highlights teachers’ and students’ perceptions on the impact of the connectivity of online and face-to-face activities on students’ learning. Methodology: Data was collected from students enrolled in the course using an open-ended questionnaire. There were 220 respondents, representing a response rate of 65%. Data was extracted from the online learning data and grade center. Teachers’ experiences and observations were also noted. The survey results were analyzed using content analysis. Contribution: Research focusing on blended learning design and implementation is limited, and there is no one size fits all when it comes to blended learning. Consequently, this paper contributes to the discussion by highlighting how second language, first-year accounting students benefit from blended learning and the connectivity between online and face-to-face activities. Increased flexibility for learners appears to be one of the most cited rationale for the combination of traditional with online instructional methods, however, this study evaluates blended learning as a tool for transforming the learning experience of second language, first year accounting students. Findings: Findings show that students benefit from blended learning, and connectivity between online and in-class activities allows students to exploit the advantages of both online and face-to-face learning. Students can see the relevance of what they are doing online and how that contributes to their in-class activities and, hence, are motivated to complete the activities. Recommendations for Practitioners: Educators should use a well-designed blended learning pathway to empower students to be in charge of their learning. Placing materials online creates more and better opportunities for engaging students in class. Institutional support is important when implementing blended learning. Recommendations for Researchers: There is a need for more studies on blended learning design and implementation. Future researchers may carry out more studies on how blended learning design affects student engagement and learning for second language learners in other courses. Impact on Society: A blended learning pathway would greatly benefit second language learners to learn better and empower them to be more independent as a self-directed learner who is able to utilize their time wisely. Community of practice is an excellent platform to encourage teaching teams to work together and create innovative teaching and assessment materials. Future Research: Future studies may carry out the study using other methods for example quantitative surveys and interviews to get a deeper understanding of both students and teachers’ perceptions and experiences.

Aim/Purpose: To understand readiness of students for learning in online environments across different age groups. Background: Online learners today are diverse in age due to increasing adult/mature students who continue their higher education while they are working. Understanding the influence of the learners’ age on their online learning experience is limited. Methodology: A survey methodology approach was followed. A sample of one thousand nine hundred and twenty surveys were used. Correlation analysis was performed. Contribution: The study contributes by adding to the limited body of knowledge in this area and adds to the dimensions of the Online Learning Readiness Survey additional dimensions such as usefulness, tendency, anxiety, and attitudes. Findings: Older students have more confidence than younger ones in computer proficiency and learning skills. They are more motivated, show better attitudes and are less anxious. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners should consider preferences that allow students to configure the learning approach to their age. These preferences should be tied to the dimensions of the online learning readiness survey (OLRS). Recommendations for Researchers: More empirical research is required using OLRS for online learning environments. OLRS factors are strong and can predict student readiness and performance. These are opportunities for artificial intelligence in the support of technology-mediated tools for learning.

Aim/Purpose: This paper explores the benefits and challenges of experiencing virtual multi-cultural teamwork in order to learn entrepreneurship. Background: Entrepreneurial eco-system usually requires working in international, virtual multi-cultural diverse teams. Higher education institutes are trying to educate future generation of entrepreneurs, coping with challenges derived from the virtual work and cultural diversity. Prior research shows that traditional learning is not effective for entrepreneurial education. Methodology: An explorative study was conducted based on the BIPA project, a Bavarian (German)-Israeli Partnership Accelerator, which was held four times between 2015 and 2017. The project aims to experience entrepreneurial virtual multicul-tural teamwork via co-creation of tailored-solutions for challenges of German or Israeli corporates. Retrospective interviews with participants were held after finishing their mission, and analyzed. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of knowledge about multicultural diverse participants in virtual entrepreneurial environments, in order to work together. This situation raises new challenges, due to the combination of multicultural teamwork and the use of virtual communication. Findings: The multicultural teamwork was a trigger to participate, specifically in the con-text of entrepreneurship studies with those two cultures, German and Israeli, which were found by participants as complementary, stimulating and fruitful, although challenging. Through experience, participants improved their entrepreneurial skills and mindset. The major teamwork challenges that were found included conflicts concerning free-riding, as well as communication challenges, due to virtual, language and cultural communication competencies. Recommendations for Practitioners: At a practical level, results can be useful for global companies, showing the benefits of virtual teamwork of employees in different locations, both in terms of reducing expenses and improving innovation. Moreover, managers can motivate employees by highlighting personal benefits, such as cultural awareness and improving their entrepreneurial skills and mindset. In addition, faculty may use this kind of experience to enhance entrepreneurial learning skills and mindset. Recommendations for Researchers : At the theoretical level, this research advances the body of knowledge of entrepreneurial multicultural teamwork in a virtual environment. In this research, the teams worked for a short time together (14 weeks) and had a week of face-to-face interaction with their team members. It is recommended to examine long-term teamwork, and how it affects teamwork challenges, as well as entrepreneurial learning. This research found the combination of German-Israeli cultures as stimulating entrepreneurial teamwork. It is recommended to examine other cultural combinations in teams, in order to be able to generalize findings. Impact on Society: Understanding the needs, benefits, and challenges of entrepreneurial multicul-tural teams working in a virtual environment can be useful to current global entrepreneurial eco-system, which is commonly using this kind of teamwork. Future Research: ‎This study included teams from two cultures: German and Israeli. Research must be expanded to different cultures and to groups compounded from more than two cultures. Moreover, the combination of virtual communication and face-to-face meetings in different milestones during the timeline of the teamwork must be further examined, especially in longer projects.

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to answer the research question titled What are the competencies required for the Business Process Analyst (BPA) role in organizations with ERP systems in Kenya. Through 4 hypotheses, this study focuses on two specific aspects: (1) Enhancing BPM Maturity and (2) ERP implementation. Background: The emergence of complex systems and complex processes in organizations in Kenya has given rise to the need to understand the BPM domain as well as a need to analyze the new roles within organizational environments that drive BPM initiatives. The most notable role in this domain is the BPA. Furthermore, many organizations in Kenya and across Africa are making significant investments in ERP systems. Organizations, therefore, need to understand the BPA role for ERP systems implementation projects. Methodology: This study uses a sequential mixed methods approach analyzing quantitative survey data followed by the analysis of qualitative interview data. Contribution: The main contribution of this study is a description of competencies that are critical for the BPA in Kenya both in terms of enhancing BPM maturity and for driving ERP systems implementations. In addition, this study sheds light on critical BPA competencies that are perceived to be undervalued in the Kenyan context. Findings: Findings show that business process orchestration competencies are important for driving BPM maturity and for ERP systems implementations. This study found that business process elicitation, business analysis, business process improvement and a holistic overview of business thinking are often overlooked as critical competencies for BPAs but are nevertheless critical for building the BPA practitioner. Recommendations for Practitioners: From this study, practitioners such as top managers and BPAs can be enlightened on the specific competencies that require focus when carrying out BPM and when implementing ERP systems projects. Future Research: The next step is to investigate the interventions that organizations implement to build their BPA competencies. The main aim of this would be to describe those interventions that impact the requisite BPA competencies especially those competencies that were seen to be undervalued within the Kenyan context.

Aim/Purpose: Teachers are being asked to integrate mobile technologies into their content creation and distribution tasks. This research aims to provide an understanding of teachers taking on this process and whether the use of technology has influenced their content creation and distribution in the classroom. Background: Many claim that the use of technology for content creation and distribution can only enhance and improve the educational experience. However, for teachers it is not simply the integration of technology that is of prime concern. As teachers are ultimately responsible for the success of technology integration, it is essential to understand teachers’ viewpoints and lived technology experiences. Methodology: The Task-Technology Fit (TTF) model was used to guide interpretive case study research. Six teachers were purposively sampled and interviewed from a private school where a digital strategy is already in place. Data was then analysed using directed content analysis in relation to TTF. Contribution: This paper provides an understanding of teachers’ mobile technology choices in relation to content creation and distribution tasks. Findings: Findings indicate that teachers fit technology into their tasks if they perceive the technology has a high level of benefit to the teaching task. In addition, the age of learners and the subject being taught are major influencers. Recommendations for Practitioners: Provides a more nuanced and in-depth understanding of teachers’ technology choices, which is necessary for the technology augmented educational experience of the future. Recommendations for Researchers: Provides an unbiased and theoretically guided view of mobile technology use with content creation and distribution tasks. Impact on Society: Teachers do not appear to use technology as a de facto standard, but specifically select technology which will save them time, reduce costs, and improve the educational experiences of their learners. Future Research: A mixed-method approach, including several diverse schools as well as learners would enrich the findings. Furthermore, consideration of hardware limitations and lack of software features are needed.

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop a prototype of an information-generating computer tool designed to automatically map the dental restorations in a panoramic radiograph. Background: A panoramic radiograph is an external dental radiograph of the oro-maxillofacial region, obtained with minimal discomfort and significantly lower radiation dose compared to full mouth intra-oral radiographs or cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging. Currently, however, a radiologic informative report is not regularly designed for a panoramic radiograph, and the referring doctor needs to interpret the panoramic radiograph manually, according to his own judgment. Methodology: An algorithm, based on techniques of computer vision and machine learning, was developed to automatically detect and classify dental restorations in a panoramic radiograph, such as fillings, crowns, root canal treatments and implants. An experienced dentist evaluated 63 panoramic anonymized images and marked on them, manually, 316 various restorations. The images were automatically cropped to obtain a region of interest (ROI) containing only the upper and lower alveolar ridges. The algorithm automatically segmented the restorations using a local adaptive threshold. In order to improve detection of the dental restorations, morphological operations such as opening, closing and hole-filling were employed. Since each restoration is characterized by a unique shape and unique gray level distribution, 20 numerical features describing the contour and the texture were extracted in order to classify the restorations. Twenty-two different machine learning models were evaluated, using a cross-validation approach, to automatically classify the dental restorations into 9 categories. Contribution: The computer tool will provide automatic detection and classification of dental restorations, as an initial step toward automatic detection of oral pathologies in a panoramic radiograph. The use of this algorithm will aid in generating a radiologic report which includes all the information required to improve patient management and treatment outcome. Findings: The automatic cropping of the ROI in the panoramic radiographs, in order to include only the alveolar ridges, was successful in 97% of the cases. The developed algorithm for detection and classification of the dental restorations correctly detected 95% of the restorations. ‘Weighted k-NN’ was the machine-learning model that yielded the best classification rate of the dental restorations - 92%. Impact on Society: Information that will be extracted automatically from the panoramic image will provide a reliable, reproducible radiographic report, currently unavailable, which will assist the clinician as well as improve patients’ reliance on the diagnosis. Future Research: The algorithm for automatic detection and classification of dental restorations in panoramic imaging must be trained on a larger dataset to improve the results. This algorithm will then be used as a preliminary stage for automatically detecting incidental oral pathologies exhibited in the panoramic images.

Aim/Purpose: This paper presents an exploratory case study into using 360° videos to present small segments of lecture content for IT students in an Australian University. The aim of this study was to understand; what is the impact of incorporating 360° videos into class content for students and teaching staff? In this study the 360° videos are described as “learning atoms”. Learning atoms are short duration videos (1 to 5 minutes) captured in 360°. Background: Within this paper we conducted experiments in the classroom using 360° videos to determine if they have an impact on student's feeling of presence with class content. Additionally, to follow up, how does the inclusion of 360° impact on the teaching experience. Methodology: The methodology used in this study focused on both quantitative and qualita-tive aspects. Data was captured at the same time during the teaching period to address the research questions. In order to gauge the feeling of presence within the classroom a short survey was administered to students in the undergraduate IT class at the start (pre) and end (post) of the semester using the same questions to measure any change. Contribution: The main contributions from this study were that we demonstrated there is a potential for providing an alternative ‘immersive’ content presentation for students. This alternative content took the form of 360° learning atoms, whereas further showed our nuance process for creating and publishing of these atoms. Findings: The results show that for students, learning atoms can help improve the sense of presence, particularly for remote students, however the interactive experience can take student’s attention away from the lecturer. The results present potential for providing an alternative ‘immersive’ content presentation for students, however problems for uptake are present for both students and teachers, such as image capture quality and file size Impact on Society: We foresee this approach as being a new approach to teaching students in higher education within online spaces to increase engagement and move towards having a richer virtual experience no matter the location. Future Research: Future research will be conducted to resolve whether presence and engagement is supported by the inclusion of 360° videos in the classroom.

Aim/purpose The purpose of this article is to discuss the psychosocial and emotional outcomes of an introductory health science workshop designed to support and assist incoming health science students before starting their university study.   Background For the past two decades, a South Australian university offered an on-campus face to face workshop titled ‘Preparation for Health Sciences’ to incoming first-year students from eleven allied health programs such as Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medical Imaging. While many were locals, a good number came from regional and rural areas, and many were international students also. They consisted of both on-campus and off-campus students.   The workshop was created as a new learning environment that was available for students of diverse age groups, educational and cultural backgrounds to prepare them to study sciences. The content of the four-day workshop was developed in consultation with the program directors of the allied health programs. The objectives were to: introduce the assumed foundational science knowledge to undertake health sciences degree; gain confidence in approaching science subjects; experience lectures and laboratory activities; and become familiar with the University campus and its facilities. The workshop was delivered a week before the orientation week, before first-year formal teaching weeks. The topics covered were enhancing study skills, medical and anatomical terminology, body systems, basic chemistry and physics, laboratory activities, and assessment of learning.   Methodology In order to determine the outcomes of the workshop, a survey was used requiring participants to agree or disagree about statements concerning the preparatory course and answer open-ended questions relating to the most important information learned and the best aspects of the workshop. Several students piloted this questionnaire before use in order to ascertain the clarity of instructions, terminology and statements. The result of the 2015-2018 pre- and post-evaluation showed that the workshop raised confidence and enthusiasm in commencing university and that the majority considered the workshop useful overall. The findings of the survey are drawn upon to examine the psychosocial and emotional impacts of the workshop on participants. Using secondary qualitative analysis, the researchers identified the themes relating to the psychosocial and emotional issues conveyed by the participants.   Contribution The contributions of the article are in the areas of improving students’ confidence to complete their university degrees and increasing the likelihood of academic success. Findings Of the 285 students who participated in the workshops from 2015 to 2018, 166 completed the survey conducted at the conclusion of the initiative, representing a 58% response rate. The workshops achieved the objectives outlined at the outset. While there were many findings reported (Thalluri, 2016), the results highlighted in this paper relate to the psychosocial and emotional impacts of the workshop on students. Three themes emerged, and these were Increased preparedness and confidence; Networking and friendships that enhanced support, and Reduced anxiety to study sciences. Some drawbacks were also reported including the cost, time and travel involved. Recommendations for practitioners Students found the introductory workshop to be psychosocially and emotionally beneficial. It is recommended that the same approach be applied for teaching other challenging fields such as mathematics and physics within the university and in other contexts and institutions. Recommendations for researchers Improving and extending the workshop to provide greater accessibility and autonomy is recommended. A longitudinal study to follow up the durability of the workshop is also proposed. Impact on society The impacts in the broader community include: higher academic success for students; improved mental health due to social networking and friendship groups and reduced anxiety and fear; reduced dropout rate in their first year; greater potential to complete educational degrees; reduced wastage in human and financial resources; and increased human capital. Future research Addressing the limitations of cost, time and travel involved, and following-up with the participants’ academic and workplace performance are future directions for research.

Aim/Purpose: Bring your own device (BYOD) provides opportunities for both the organization and employees, but the adoption of BYOD also introduces risks. This case study of an organization’s BYOD program identifies key positive and negative influences on the adoption decision. Background: The consumerization of IT introduced the BYOD phenomenon into the enterprise environment. As mobile and Internet technologies improve employees are opting to use their personal devices to access organizational systems to perform their work tasks. Such devices include smartphones, tablets and laptop computers. Methodology: This research uses a case study approach to investigate how business priorities drive the adoption of BYOD and how resulting benefits and risks are realized and managed by the organization. Primary empirical data was collected using semi-structured interviews with 15 senior employees from a large South African financial services organization. Policy documents from the organization were analyzed as secondary data. Contribution: Thematic analysis of the data revealed six major themes: improving employee mobility; improving client service and experience; creating a competitive industry advantage; improving business processes; information security risks; and management best practices. Findings: The themes were analyzed using the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, showing the key positive and negative influences on the adoption decision. Recommendations for Practitioners: Organizations need to clearly understand the reasons they want to introduce BYOD in their organizations. The conceptual framework can be applied by practitioners in their organizations to achieve their BYOD business objectives. Recommendations for Researchers: BYOD remains an important innovation for organizations with several aspects worthy of further study. The TOE framework presents a suitable lens for analysis, but other models should also be considered. Impact on Society: The findings show that organizations can use BYOD to improve client service, gain competitive advantage, and improve their processes using their digital devices and backend systems. The BYOD trend is thus not likely to go away anytime soon. Future Research: The applicability of findings should be validated across additional contexts. Additional models should also be used.

Aim/Purpose: Little is known of the cultural competence or leadership styles of a minority owned newspaper. This autoethnography serves to benchmark one early 1990s example. Background: I focused on a series of flashbacks to observe an African American weekly newspaper editor-in-chief for whom I reported to 25 years ago. In my reflections I sought to answer these questions: How do minorities in entrepreneurial organizations view their own identity, their cultural competence? What degree of this perception is conveyed fairly and equitably in the community they serve? Methodology: Autoethnography using both flashbacks and article artifacts applied to the leadership of an early 1990s African American weekly newspaper. Contribution: Since a literature gap of minority newspaper cultural competence examples is apparent, this observation can serve as a benchmark to springboard off older studies like that of Barbarin (1978) and that by examining the leadership styles and editorial authenticity as noted by The Chicago School of Media Theory (2018), these results can be used for comparison to other such minority owned publications. Findings: By bringing people together, mixing them up, and conducting business any other way than routine helped the Afro-American Gazette, Grand Rapids, proudly display a confidence sense of cultural competence. The result was a potentiating leadership style, and this style positively changed the perception of culture, a social theory change example. Recommendations for Practitioners: For the minority leaders of such publications, this example demonstrates effective use of potentiating leadership to positively change the perception of the quality of such minority owned newspapers. Recommendations for Researchers: Such an autoethnography could be used by others to help document other examples of cultural competence in other minority owned newspapers. Impact on Society: The overall impact shows that leadership at such minority owned publications can influence the community into a positive social change example. Future Research: Research in the areas of culture competence, leadership, within minority owned newspapers as well as other minority alternative publications and websites can be observed with a focus on what works right as well as examples that might show little social change model influence. The suggestion is to conduct the research while employed if possible, instead of relying on flashbacks.

Aim/Purpose: Providing both formative and summative assessment that allows students to learn from their mistakes is difficult in large classes. This paper describes an automated assessment system suitable for courses with even 100 or more students. Background: Assessment is a vital part of any course of study. Ideally students should be given formative assessment with feedback during the course so students and tutors can identify weaknesses and focus on what needs improvement before summative assessment, which results in a grade. This paper describes and automated assessment system that lessens the burden of providing formative assessment in large classes. Methodology: We used Checkpoint, a web-based automated assessment system, to grade assignments in a number of different computer science courses. Contribution: The students come from diverse backgrounds, with a wide range of ages, previous qualifications and technical skills, and our approach allows the students to work at their own pace according to their individual needs, submitting their solutions as many times as they wish up to a deadline, using feedback provided by the system to help identify and correct their mistakes before trying again. Findings: Use of automated assessment allows us to achieve the goals of both summative and formative assessment: we allow students to learn from their mistakes without incurring a penalty, while at the same time awarding them a grade to validate their efforts. The students have an overwhelmingly positive view about our use of automated assessment, and their comments support our views on the assessment process. Recommendations for Practitioners: Because of the increasing number of students in today’s courses, we recommend using automated assessment wherever possible.

Aim/Purpose: Our research goal was to examine the factors that motivate women to enroll in Computer Science (CS) courses in order to better understand the small number of women in the field of CS. Background: This work is in line with the growing interest in better understanding the problem of the underrepresentation of women in the field of CS. Methodology: We focused on a college that differs in its high numbers of female CS students. The student population there consists mostly of religious Jews; some of them are Haredi, who, because of their unique lifestyle, are expected to be the breadwinners in their family. Following group interviews with 18 students, a questionnaire was administered to all the female students and 449 of them responded. We analyzed it statistically. We compared the responses of the Haredi and non-Haredi students. Contribution: The main contribution of this work lies in the idea that studying the factors underlying women’s presence in a CS program in unique communities and cultures, where women are equally represented in the field, might shed light on the nature of this phenomenon, especially whether it is universal or confined to the surrounding culture. Findings: There were significant differences between the Haredi and non-Haredi women regarding the importance they attributed to different factors. Haredi women resemble, regarding some social and economic variables, women in developing countries, but differ in others. The non-Haredi women are more akin to Western women, yet they did not completely overlap. Both groups value their family and career as the most important factors in their lives. These factors unify women in the West and in developing countries, though with different outcomes. In the West, it deters women from studying CS, whereas in Israel and in Malaysia, other factors can overcome this barrier. Both groups attributed low importance to the masculine image of CS, found important in the West. Hence, our findings support the hypothesis that women’s participation in the field of CS is culturally dependent. Recommendations for Practitioners: It is important to learn about the culture within which women operate in order to attract more women to CS. Recommendations for Researchers: Future work is required to examine other loci where women are underrepre-sented in CS, as well as how the insights obtained in this study can be utilized to decrease women’s underrepresentation in other loci. Impact on Society: Women's underrepresentation in CS is an important topic for both economic and social justice reasons. It raises questions regarding fairness and equality. In the CS field the gender pay gaps are smaller than in other professional areas. Thus, resolving the underrepresentation of women in CS will serve as a means to decrease the social gender gap in other areas.

Aim/Purpose: To capture digital training experiences, the paper introduces a novel data collection method – a graphic questionnaire. It aims to demonstrate the opportunities and limitations of this tool for collecting feedback from socially disadvantaged participants of digital literacy training about their progress. Background: In training of digital skills for disadvantaged audiences through informal educational interventions, it is important to get sufficient knowledge on factors that lead to their progress in the course of training. There are many tools to measure the achievements of formal education participants, but assessing the effectiveness of informal digital skills training is researched less. The paper introduces a small-scale case study of the training programme aimed at the developing of reading and digital skills among the participants from three socially disadvantaged groups – people with hearing impairments, children from low income families, and elderly persons. The impact of the training on participants was evaluated using different tools, including a short graphic questionnaire to capture the perceptions of the participants after each training. Methodology: We performed a thematic analysis of graphic questionnaires collected after each training session to determine how the students perceived their progress in developing literacy and digital skills. Contribution The findings of the paper can assist in designing assessment of digital literacy programmes that focus not only on final results, but also on the process of gaining digital skills and important factors that facilitate progress. Findings: The graphic questionnaire allowed the researchers to get insights into the perception of acquired skills and progressive achievements of the participants through rich self-reports of attitudes, knowledge gained, and activities during training sessions. However, the graphic questionnaire format did not allow the collection of data about social interaction and cooperation that could be important in learning. Recommendations for Practitioners: Graphic questionnaires are useful and easy-to-use tools for getting rich contextual information about the attitudes, behaviour, and acquisition of knowledge in digital literacy training. They can be used in applied assessments of digital literacy training in various settings. Their simplicity can appeal to respondents; however, in the long-run interest of respondents in continuing self-reports should be sustained by additional measures. Recommendations for Researchers: Researcher may explore the variety of simple and attractive research instruments, such as “honeycomb” questionnaires and similar, to facilitate data collection and saturate feedback with significant perception of personal experiences in gaining digital literacy skills. Impact on Society: Designing effective digital literacy programmes, including engaging self-assessment methods and tools, aimed at socially disadvantaged people will contribute to their digital inclusion and to solving the issues of digital divide. Future Research: Exploration of diverse research methods and expanding the research toolset in assessing digital literacy training could advance our understanding of important processes and factors in gaining digital skills.

Aim/Purpose: The study describes empirical research into agile Requirements Engineering (RE) practices based on an analysis of data collected in a large higher education organization. Background: Requirements Engineering (RE) in agile development contexts is considerably different than in traditional software development. The field of agile RE is still nascent where there is a need to evaluate its impact in real-world settings. Methodology: Using a case study methodology, the study involved interviewing nine experienced software practitioners who reflected on the use and implementation of various agile RE practices in two software development projects of a student management system. Contribution: The primary contribution of the paper is the evaluation of agile RE practices in a large tertiary educational organization. Based on the analysis of the data, it provides valuable insights into the practice of agile RE in a specific context (i.e., education), but just as importantly, the ones that were omitted or replaced with others and why. Findings: While the evolutionary and iterative approach to defining requirements was followed in general, not all agile practices could be fully adhered to in the case organization. Although face-to-face communication with the customers has been recognized as one the most important agile RE practices, it was one of the most difficult practices to achieve with a large and diverse customer base. Addressing people issues (e.g., resistance to change, thinking, and mindset) was found to be a key driver to following the iterative RE process effectively. Contrary to the value-based approach advocated in the literature, the value-based approach was not strictly adhered to in requirements prioritization. Continuous integration was perceived to be a more beneficial practice than prototyping, as it allows frequent integration of code and facilitates delivering working software when necessary. Recommendations for Practitioners: Our study has important implications for practitioners. Based on our empirical analysis, we provide specific recommendations for effective implementation of agile RE practices. For example, our findings suggest that practitioners could address the challenges associated with limited face-to-face communication challenges by producing flexible, accessible, and electronic documentation to enable communication. Recommendations for Researchers: Researchers can use the identified agile RE practices and their variants to per-form in-depth investigations into agile requirements engineering in other educational contexts. Impact on Society: There are a number of new technologies that offer exciting new opportunities that can be explored to maximize the benefits of agile and other requirements techniques. Future Research: Future research could conduct case studies in different contexts and thus con-tribute to developing bundles or collections of practices to improve software development processes in specific contexts.

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the sense of challenge and threat, negative feelings, self-efficacy, and motivation among students in a virtual and a blended course on multicultural campuses and to see how to afford every student an equal opportunity to succeed in academic studies. Background: Most academic campuses in Israel are multicultural, with a diverse student body. The campuses strive to provide students from all sectors, regardless of nationality, religion, etc., the possibility of enjoying academic studies and completing them successfully. Methodology: This is a mixed-method study with a sample of 484 students belonging to three sectors: general Jewish, ultra-orthodox Jewish, and Arab. Contribution: This study’s findings might help faculty on multicultural campuses to advance all students and enable them equal opportunity to succeed in academic studies. Findings: Significant sectorial differences were found for the sense of challenge and threat, negative feelings, and motivation. We found that the sense of challenge and level of motivation among Arab students was higher than among the ultra-orthodox Jewish students, which, in turn, was higher than among the general Jewish student population. On the other hand, we found that the perception of threat and negative feelings among Arab students were higher than for the other two sectors for both the virtual and the blended course. Recommendations for Practitioners: Significant feedback might lessen the sense of threat and the negative feelings and be a meaningful factor for the students to persevere in the course. Intellectual, emotional, and differential feedback is recommended. Not relating to students’ difficulties might lead to a sense of alienation, a lack of belonging, or inability to cope with the tasks at hand and dropout from the course, or even from studies altogether. A good interaction between lecturer and student can change any sense of incompetence or helplessness to one of self-efficacy and the ability to interact with one’s surroundings. Recommendations for Researchers: Lecturers can reduce the sense of threat and negative feelings and increase a student’s motivation by making their presence felt on the course website, using the forums to manage discussions with students, and enabling and encouraging discussion among the students. Impact on Society: The integration of virtual learning environments into the learning process might lead to the fulfilment of an educational vision in which autonomous learners realize their personal potential. Hence they must be given tasks requiring the application of high learning skills without compromise, but rather with differential treatment of students in order to reduce negative feelings and the sense of threat, and to reduce the transactional distance. Future Research: Further studies should examine the causes of negative feelings among students participating in virtual and blended courses on multicultural campuses and how these feelings can be handled.

Aim/Purpose: Drone technology has been increasingly used in education. This paper reports a study of assessing teachers’ readiness and training needs for using drone technology in their teaching. Background: New technology promotes new ways of practices. With the sophisticated design and the affordance to explore our world from a bird’s eye perspective, a drone has been increasingly used to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. However, it also brings challenges to teachers to integrate drone technology in their teaching. It is therefore important to obtain a better understanding of various aspects of integrating drone technology in education. Methodology: A group of pre-service teachers was engaged in a case study conducted using a designed-based approach. The participants were randomly assigned into three groups. They were required to develop lesson plans with the application of drone technology in teaching. The lesson plans were subsequently analyzed using the TPCK framework to identify teachers’ readiness and training needs. Findings: The participants, to a large extent, have sufficient competence to master the skills and knowledge of drone technology and to integrate it into their teaching. However, they were required to strengthen the pedagogical knowledge, subject content knowledge, and technological content knowledge in order to maximize the potential benefits of drone technology in education. Contribution: This paper reports the level of readiness and training needs of teachers regarding the use of drone technology in their teaching. Recommendations for Practitioners: To conduct teacher training regarding the use of drone technology in education, a particular focus should be put on enhancing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, subject content knowledge, and technological content knowledge. Recommendations for Researchers: Researcher may further explore the strategies to integrate drone technology in teaching. Impact on Society: This paper suggests the area of teacher training regarding the use of drone technology in education. The teaching and learning effectiveness could be improved. Future Research: Future research may study the safety issue and ethical issue of using a drone in education.

Aim/Purpose: The flipped classroom approach is one of the most popular active learning approaches. This paper explores the effectiveness of a new pedagogy, known as FOCUSED, for postgraduate students. Background: The flipped classroom approach is a trendy blended learning pedagogy which capitalizes on the flexibility of online learning and the stimulating nature of face-to-face discussion. This article describes a pilot study involving post-graduate students who experienced the flipped classroom approach in one of their courses. Methodology: In additional to online activities, students adopted a newly learned approach to solve a related problem that was given by another group of students during classes. Quantitative data were collected from pre- and post-tests for both self-learned online materials and group discussion during classes so that the effectiveness of the flipped classroom pedagogy could be examined from the perspective of a holistic learning experience. Findings: It was found that the average scores for the post-test for the self-learned online video were much higher than for pre-test, even though the post-tests for both online and face-to-face learning were higher than the respective pre-tests. The qualitative data collected at the end of the flipped classroom activities further confirmed the value of the flipped classroom approach. Even though students could self-learn, more students valued peer interactions in the classroom more than the flexibility of online learning.

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this project was to explore a method to enable an updated under-standing of digital literacy to be implemented in curricula in an environment of an existing, but outdated, understanding of digital literacy. . Background: The changing healthcare environment increasingly emphasizes the importance of digital literacy skills; therefore academics in the optometry discipline at Deakin University sought to better understand where digital literacy skills were taught in their program, and whether delivery was implicit or explicit. Methodology: This case study describes a systematic review of the optometric curriculum to first identify where and what digital literacy skills are currently being addressed in the curriculum, identify the gaps, and develop a strategy to address the gaps. Contribution: The main outcome of this work is the development of a spiraling curriculum to support the development of digital literacy skills required in later units of the program and for clinical practice post-graduation. Findings: Although the definition of digital literacy may be outdated, the digital literacy capabilities being addressed in the curriculum had grown as digital technology use by staff and students had expanded. This, together with the realization that students were not as digitally capable as expected, indicated that teaching digital literacy skills needed to be made overt throughout the curriculum. Recommendations for Practitioners: The process developed through this case study provides a strong foundation for course teams, curriculum developers and educational designers to efficiently analyze digital literacy expectations in existing, accredited health-related curricula and improve the curricula by more overtly embedding digital literacy teaching into it. Impact on Society: Graduates of the amended program of study are expected to be better prepared to undertake their future careers in a digitally enhanced and disrupted environment. Future Research: The framework will be used to explore digital literacy teaching practices in other disciplines. A systematic evaluation will be undertaken to identify the benefits and short comings of using the framework. The elements that make up the new definition of digital literacy need to be better articulated to allow curriculum developers to be better informed as to how to interpret the framework in their context.

Aim/Purpose: One of the most fascinating developments in computer user interfaces in recent years is the rise of “chatbots”. Yet extent information system (IS) curriculum lacks teaching resources on chatbots programming.. Background: To better prepare students for this new technological development and to enhance the IS curriculum, we introduce a project that teaches students how to program simple chatbots, including a transactional chatbot and a conversational chatbot. Methodology: We demonstrated a project that teaches students how to program two types of simple chatbots: a transactional chatbot and a conversational chatbot. We also conducted a survey to examine students’ perceptions on their learning experience. Findings: Our survey on students’ perception of the project finds that learning chatbots is deemed very useful because chatbot programming projects have enabled the students to understand the subject better. We also found that social influence has positively motivated the students to learn chatbot programming. Though most of the students have no prior experiences programming chatbots, their self-efficacy towards chatbot programming remained high after working through the programming project. Despite the difficult tasks, over 71% of respondents agree to various degrees that chatbot programming is fun. Though most students agree that chatbot programming is not easy to learn, more than 70% of respondents indicated that they will use or learn chatbots in the near future. The overwhelmingly positive responses are impressive given that this is the first time for the students to program and learn chatbots. Recommendations for Practitioners: In this article, we introduced a step by step project on teaching chatbot programming in an information systems class. Following the project instructions, students can get their first intelligent chatbots up and running in a few hours using Slack. This article describes the project in detail as well as students’ perceptions. Recommendations for Researchers: We used UTAUT model to measure students’ perception of the projects. This study could be of value to researchers studying students’ technology learning and adoption behaviors. Impact on Society: To our best knowledge, pedagogical resources that teach IS students how to program chatbots, especially the introductory level materials, are limited. We hope this teaching case could be of value for IS educators when introducing IS students to the wonderful field of chatbot programming. Future Research: For future work, we plan to expand the teaching resources to cover more advanced chatbot programming projects, such as on how to make chatbot more human-like.

Table of Contents for IISIT Volume 16, 2019

Aim/Purpose: The need for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to maximize the use of their intellectual property and strategic resources for research and teaching has become ever more evident in recent years. Furthermore, little attention is paid in developing an enabling system that will facilitate knowledge transfer in the Research-Teaching Nexus (RTN). Hence, this study assesses the current state of practice in knowledge management of the nexus in higher education in Oman. It also explores the context of how Knowledge Management System (KMS) for the nexus can be designed and utilized by HEIs and challenges them to rethink their traditional approaches in managing their knowledge as-sets to boost individual and organizational learning. Background: This study provides a Knowledge Management-based framework and design of a knowledge management system that support the academic community towards the improvement of the nexus. This study sets out ideas from various academic and professional experts on how academic stakeholders in the higher education can improve and promote knowledge transfer and make better use of its knowledge and research assets for teaching and learning. It stressed the importance of having the knowledge assets or resources that can easily be pooled, accessed, and made available to its intended stakeholders. Methodology: Data were gathered from 29 out of 49 institutional quality audit reports of all HEIs in Oman. The panel comments were coded and analysed to extract valuable insights regarding the management of knowledge assets in research. Additionally, data were gathered from the institutional accreditation outcomes page of the same website. Manifest and latent content analyses were used in reporting the findings of the panel. Contribution: The study will contribute to a greater understanding and acceptance of Knowledge Management (KM) in higher education and extended the body of knowledge concerning knowledge management for the RTN. Findings: The reports revealed a very limited practice of the nexus in terms of people and culture, structure ad processes, and computing and web technologies. A few staff are involved in RTN work, there is an uneven understanding of the RTN among staff, limited joint research between staff and students are some of the reasons for this. Significantly, there is no explicit research framework or policy for the RTN, and systems and/or mechanisms are limited. Further-more, the reports did not account any use of computing and web technologies for the nexus. These limitations can lead to students with less academic, research, and graduate skills. Hence, this study presents a feature design of a KMS that incorporates various RTN best practices, as informed by the reports and literature. The design will allow the staff to utilize the research assets in the classroom, at the same time, engages students in research and scholarly under-takings. Recommendations for Practitioners: All HEIs must have a innovative system that integrates a formal agenda and approach, and set initiatives, strategies, policies, and procedures for knowledge management in utilizing research assets for teaching and learning. It must be designed so that RTN practices remain up-to-date, relevant, and responsive to the needs of the stakeholders, as well as, address academic accreditation challenges. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can evaluate the knowledge management of RTN practices of other HEIs outside of Oman to effectively recommend the proper course of action for teaching and learning improvement. Impact on Society: This study will redefine the role and contribution of HEIs, which are key players in advancing a knowledge economy. HEIs are expected to be powerhouses where academic knowledge is discovered, created, disseminated, shared, and re-invented. They must be able to fully grasp the value of managing knowledge to be able to effect positive and purposeful change to the community. Future Research: Future work should include staff and student surveys that examine the knowledge management need of the learning organization to better inform the design of a KMS for the RTN. Thereafter, future research can test the stage to test the effectiveness of the conceptual design.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the learning that happens in assuming a supervisee’s role during the postgraduate study. Background: The facilitators and barriers students encountered while pursuing postgraduate studies, strategies to achieve success in postgraduate studies, and how to decrease attrition rates of students, have been sufficiently explored in literature. However, there is little written about the personal and professional impact on students when they are being supervised to complete their postgraduate studies. Methodology: Autoethnographic method of deep reflection was used to examine the learning that transpired from the supervisee’s perspective. Two lecturers (a Senior Lecturer in Nursing and an Aboriginal Tutor) focused on their postgraduate journeys as supervisees, respectively, with over 30 years of study experience between them, in Australia and abroad. Contribution: Future postgraduate students, researchers, would-be supervisors and experienced supervisors could learn from the reflections of the authors’ postgraduate experiences. Findings: Four themes surfaced, and these were Eureka moments, Critical friend(s), Supervisory relationship, and Transformative learning. The authors highlighted the significance of a supervisory relationship which is key to negotiating the journey with the supervisor. Essential for these students also were insights on finding the path as well as the destination and the transformative aspects that happened as a necessary part of the journey. Conclusion. The postgraduate journey has taught them many lessons, the most profound of which was the change in perspective and attitude in the process of being and becoming. Personal and professional transformative learning did occur. At its deepest level, the authors’ reflections resulted in self-actualization and a rediscovery of their more authentic selves. Recommendations for Practitioners: This article highlights the importance of the supervisory relationship that must be negotiated to ensure the success of the candidate. Reflections of the transformation are recommended to support the students further. Recommendation for Researchers: Quality supervision can make a significant influence on the progress of students. Further research on the supervisory relationship is recommended. Impact on Society: The support in terms of supervision to ensure postgraduate students’ success is essential. Postgraduate students contribute to the human, social, professional, intellectual, and economic capital of universities and nations globally. Future Research: Further reflections of the transformative learning will advance the understanding of the personal and professional changes that occur with postgraduate supervision.

Table of Contents for IISIT Volume 17, 2020

Aim/Purpose: In the midst of COVID-19, classes are transitioned online. Instructors and students scramble for ways to adapt to this change. This paper shares an experience of one instructor in how he has gone through the adaptation. Background: This section provides a contextual background of online teaching. The instructor made use of M-learning to support his online teaching and adopted the UTAUT model to guide his interpretation of the phenomenon. Methodology: The methodology used in this study is action research through participant-observation. The instructor was able to look at his own practice in teaching and reflect on it through the lens of the UTAUT conceptual frame-work. Contribution: The results helped the instructor improve his practice and better under-stand his educational situations. From the narrative, others can adapt and use various apps and platforms as well as follow the processes to teach online. Findings: This study shares an experience of how one instructor had figured out ways to use M-learning tools to make the online teaching and learning more feasible and engaging. It points out ways that the instructor could connect meaningfully with his students through the various apps and plat-forms. Recommendations for Practitioners: The social aspects of learning are indispensable whether it takes place in person or online. Students need opportunities to connect socially; there-fore, instructors should try to optimize technology use to create such opportunities for conducive learning. Recommendations for Researchers: Quantitative studies using surveys or quasi-experiment methods should be the next step. Validated inventories with measures can be adopted and used in these studies. Statistical analysis can be applied to derive more objective findings. Impact on Society: Online teaching emerges as a solution for the delivery of education in the midst of COVID-19, but more studies are needed to overcome obstacles and barriers to both instructors and students. Future Research: Future studies should look at the obstacles that instructors encounter and the barriers with technology access and inequalities that students face in online classes.

Aim/Purpose: This brief paper will provide preliminary insight into an institutions effort to help students understand the application of the scientific method as it applies to the business discipline through the creation of a dedicated, required course added to the curriculum of a mid-Atlantic minority-serving institution. In or-der to determine whether the under-consideration course satisfies designated student learning outcomes, an assessment regime was initiated that included examination of rubric data as well as the administration of a student perception survey. This paper summarizes the results of the early examination of the efficacy of the course under consideration. Background: A small, minority-serving, university located in the United States conducted an assessment and determined that students entering a department of business following completion of their general education science requirements had difficulties transferring their understanding of the scientific method to the business discipline. Accordingly, the department decided to create a unique course offered to sophomore standing students titled Principles of Scientific Methods in Business. The course was created by a group of faculty with input from a twenty person department. Methodology: Rubrics used to assess a course term project were collected and analyzed in Microsoft Excel to measure student satisfaction of learning goals and a student satisfaction survey was developed and administered to students enrolled in the course under consideration to measure perceived course value. Contribution: While the scientific method applies across the business and information disciplines, students often struggle to envision this application. This paper explores the implications of a course specifically purposed to engender the development and usage of logical and scientific reasoning skills in the business discipline by students in the lower level of an bachelors degree program. The information conveyed in this paper hopefully makes a contribution in an area where there is still an insufficient body of research and where additional exploration is needed. Findings: For two semesters rubrics were collected and analyzed representing the inclusion of 53 students. The target mean for the rubric was a 2.8 and the overall achieved mean was a 2.97, indicating that student performance met minimal expectations. Nevertheless, student deficiencies in three crucial areas were identified. According to the survey findings, as a result of the class students had a better understanding of the scientific method as it applies to the business discipline, are now better able to critically assess a problem, feel they can formulate a procedure to solve a problem, can test a problem-solving process, have a better understanding of how to formulate potential business solutions, understand how potential solutions are evaluated, and understand how business decisions are evaluated. Conclusion: Following careful consideration and discussion of the preliminary findings, the course under consideration was significantly enhanced. The changes were implemented in the fall of 2020 and initial data collected in the spring of 2021 is indicating measured improvement in student success as exhibited by higher rubric scores. Recommendations for Practitioners: These initial findings are promising and while considering student success, especially as we increasingly face a greater and greater portion of under-prepared students entering higher education, initiatives to build the higher order thinking skills of students via transdisciplinary courses may play an important role in the future of higher education. Recommendations for Researchers: Additional studies of transdisciplinary efforts to improve student outcomes need to be explored through collection and evaluation of rubrics used to assess student learning as well as by measuring student perception of the efficacy of these efforts. Impact on Society: Society needs more graduates who leave universities ready to solve problems critically, strategically, and with scientific reasoning. Future Research: This study was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic; however, it is resuming in late 2021 and it is the hope that a robust and detailed paper, with more expansive findings will eventually be generated.

Aim/Purpose: This study examined learning during the COVID-19 crisis, as perceived by preservice teachers at the time of their academic studies and their student teaching experience. Background: The COVID-19 crisis is unexpected. On one hand, it disrupted learning in all learning frameworks, on the other, it may create a change in learning characteristics even after the end of the crisis. This study examined the pro-ductive, challenging, and thwarting factors that preservice teachers encountered during their studies and in the course of their student teaching during the COVID-19 period, from the perspective of preservice teachers. Methodology: The study involved 287 students studying at teacher training institutions in Israel. The preservice teachers were studying online, and in addition experienced online teaching of students in schools, guided by their own teacher. The study used a mixed method. The questionnaire included closed and open questions. The data were collected in 2020. Contribution: Identifying the affecting factors may deepen the understanding of online learning/teaching and assist in the optimal implementation of online learning. Findings: Online learning experience. We found that some of the lessons at institutions of higher learning were delivered in the format of online lectures. Many pre-service teachers had difficulty sitting in front of a computer for many hours—“Zoom fatigue.” Preservice teachers who had difficulty self-regulating and self-mobilizing for study, experienced accumulating loads, which caused them feelings of stress and anxiety. The word count indicated that the words that appeared most often were “load” and “stress.” Some preservice teachers wrote that collaborating in forums with others made it easier for them. Some suggested diversifying by digital means, incorporating asynchronous units and illustrative films, and easing up on online lectures, as a substitute for face-to-face lectures. Online teaching experience in schools. The preservice teachers' descriptions show that in lessons taught in the format of lectures and communication of content, there were discipline problems and non-learning. According to the preservice teachers, discipline problems stemmed from difficulties concentrating, physical distance, load, and failure to address the students' difficulties. Recommendations for Practitioners: In choosing schools for student teaching, it is recommended to reach an understanding with the school about the online learning policy and organization. It is important to hold synchronous sessions in small groups of 5 to 10 students. The sessions should focus on the mental wellbeing of the students, and on the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Students should be prepared for participation in asynchronous digital lessons, which should be produced by professionals. It should be remembered that the change of medium from face-to-face to online learning also changes the familiar learning environment for all parties and requires modifying the ways of teaching. Recommendations for Researchers: A change in the learning medium also requires a change in the definition of objectives and goals expected of each party—students, teachers, and parents. All parties must learn to view online learning as a method that enables empowerment and the application of 21st century skills. Impact on Society: Teachers' ability to deploy 21st century skills in an online environment de-pends largely on their experience, knowledge, skills, and attitude toward these skills. Future Research: This study examined the issue from the perspective of preservice teachers. It is recommended to examine it also from the perspective of teachers and students.

Aim/Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic demanded an immediate and massive adaptation of higher education to distance learning. Teachers had to transform from face-to-face to distance teaching, with insufficient pedagogical and technological knowledge and resources. This study aims to capture higher education faculty experiences in the very early stages of the crisis-prompted transition into synchronous distance education in order to obtain a broader view on the faculty’s perspectives (benefits, challenges and insights) on distance teaching through synchronous online environments. Background: Although online teaching and learning have been part of higher education teaching for more than two decades, many instructors found themselves teaching remotely for the first time and facing new and unpredicted challenges. Methodology: This study explored and analyzed an e-mail thread discourse between teachers in a higher education institute, two months after “going online” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A singular case study was conducted, and a retrospective and snapshot case study approach was used. Data analysis was an iterative exploratory process of going back and forth the empirical material, resulting in the construction of categories, then themes, and finally a conceptual framework was developed. Contribution: The findings contribute the knowledge domain of implementation of immediate and massive online teaching and learning from the faculty perspective. Findings: Two main focal points, students and teachers, were encountered. Three main recurring themes were identified associated with both students and teachers: Convenience, Ethical Issues, and Insights for the future. Two themes were identified associated with faculty: Pedagogy and Tools, and Resources. In addition, two themes were identified for students: Attendance and Responses. Each of the themes was decomposed into several aspects. Recommendations for Practitioners: Higher education institutions and stakeholders should build a campus wide e-learning agenda including appropriate infrastructure and professional development for the future. Recommendations for Researchers: The study presented a conceptual model based on qualitative case study methodology. The impact and influence of each of the components of the model should be further researched and measured using quantitative methodologies. Impact on Society: Understanding the benefits and challenges of distance learning from the faculty perspectives in order to implement better distance learning strategies. Future Research: The impact and influence of each of the components of the model should be further researched and measured using quantitative methodologies.