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Dressing formally or informally as an academic may be a trade-off when it comes to managing impressions towards students, but the extant body of literature remains limited with only mixed results. This research is the first focussed investigation to examine the effects of academic dress formality on the ‘big two’ of impression formation, perceptions of warmth and competence. In a series of three controlled laboratory experiments (total N = 1361), we find dress formality to increase perceptions of competence but to decrease perceptions of warmth, which leads to ‘downstream’ effects on students’ evaluations of instructors and behavioural intentions to enrol in a course. Furthermore, we demonstrate that perceptions of competence may be subject to other information cues (success communication and discipline norms) that can mitigate negative effects associated with dress informality. Implications for higher education practitioners are provided.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly important in various domains, making education about AI a necessity. The interdisciplinary nature of AI and the relevance of AI in various fields require that university instructors and course developers integrate AI topics into the classroom and create so-called domain-specific AI courses. In this paper, we introduce the “AI Course Design Planning Framework” as a course planning framework to structure the development of domain-specific AI courses at the university level. The tool evolves non-specific course planning frameworks to address the context of domain-specific AI education. Following a design-based research approach, we evaluated a first prototype of the tool with instructors in the field of AI education who are developing domain-specific courses in this area. The results of our evaluation indicate that the tool allows instructors to create domain-specific AI courses in an efficient and comprehensible way. In general, instructors rated the tool as useful and user-friendly and made recommendations to improve its usability. Future research will focus on testing the application of the tool for domain-specific AI course developments in different domain contexts and examine the influence of using the tool on AI course quality and learning outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: With an increasing number of nursing students in higher education institutions in Tanzania, traditional student presentation pedagogies are insufficient to enhance effective learning. Pecha Kucha presentation is a new promising approach that can improve students' speaking skills, learning process, creativity, and students' engagement in learning. It involves the use of 20 slides where each covers 20 s, thus making a total of 6 min and 40 s. The current study will assess the effect of Pecha Kucha's presentation on presentation knowledge, skills, and learning satisfaction among nursing students in Tanzania. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study aimed to determine the baseline and end-line of Pecha Kucha Presentation knowledge, skills, and learning satisfaction among nursing students. METHODS: This study protocol proposes to employ an uncontrolled quasi-experimental study design with a quantitative approach among 230 university nursing students in Dodoma Region using simple and stratified sampling techniques. It proposes to employ the researcher-administered questionnaire to assess study variables that arise as students use the Pecha Kucha presentation format to prepare and present their assignments. The study will involve training of research assistants, pre-assessment of study variables, and training, and demonstration of Pecha Kucha presentations format among study participants. It will also involve assigning topics to study participants, submission and evaluation of the prepared assignments, participants' presentations in the classroom, post-intervention assessment, data analysis, reporting and dissemination of the study findings. CONCLUSION: This study will address and complement the global need to invest in nursing in an attempt to prepare competent nurses who are capable of solving complex health challenges through critical thinking, analysis, collaboration, and effective communication. The study will inform policymakers, health training institutions, and educators about a new engaging, and innovative nursing student presentation approach that enhances students' creativity, critical thinking skills, and meaningful learning. The referred nursing students' presentation approach intends to equip the students with survival and life skills in the 21st century in an attempt to meet the global economy and job opportunities. TRIAL REGISTRATION: It is not applicable as this is not a trial.

With the world becoming flat with fluid boundaries, engineers have to be global in their outlook and their pedigree. Due to the need for international acceptance of engineering qualification, the incorporation of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) has become common and global accreditation treaties such as the Washington Accord have been ratified. Further, it becomes important, especially for an engineering university with a global outlook preparing its students for global markets, to ensure that its graduates attain the planned outcomes. Additionally, the higher education institutions need to make sure that all the stakeholders, including students, parents, employers, and community at large, are getting a quality educational service, where quality is categorized as (1) product-based ensuring that the graduate attained the planned outcomes and skills, and (2) process-based keeping an eye on whether the process is simple, integrated, and efficient. The development of quality movements, such as Total Quality Movement (TQM), Six Sigma, etc., along with quality standards such as ISO 9001 has been instrumental in improving the quality and efficiency in the fields of management and services. Critical to the successful deployment of a quality culture is the institutionalization of an integrated Quality Management System (QMS) in which formally documented processes work according to the Vision and Mission of an institute. At the same time, commitment to Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) to close the loop through effective feedback, would ensure that the planned outcomes are attained to the satisfaction of all the stakeholders, and that the process overall is improving consistently and continuously. The successful adoption of quality culture requires buy-in from all the stakeholders (and in particular, the senior leadership) and a rigorous training program. In this paper, we provide a review of how a QMS may work for the provision of quality higher education in a 21st-century university.

The establishment of quality clinical experience within a supportive and pedagogically clinical learning environment is a significant concern for nursing educational institutions. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between nursing students' clinical placement satisfaction, academic self-efficacy, and achievement. Descriptive correlational longitudinal panel research design was utilized for the study. Nursing students enrolled in different nursing courses and affiliated to Technical Nursing Institute -Cairo University during two consecutive academic years were recruited in this study. Personal data tool, students' satisfaction with clinical placement tool and academic self-efficacy scale were used for data collection. Results: More than two thirds of the students were satisfied with their clinical placement. Statistically significant positive correlation between students' achievement in nursing courses, clinical placement' satisfaction and academic efficacies existed and also, between students' gender and clinical placement' satisfactions. A statistically significant negative correlation was detected between students' age and their levels of academic self-efficacy. Conclusion: Nursing students highlighted negative areas that could be taken into consideration by the faculty members, clinical instructors, and clinical staff to enhance learning in the clinical setting. Satisfaction with clinical placement and academic self-efficacy was directly proportional to students' achievement.

You have taken a college field course in ecology or some other “ology,” done a little research mentored by a professor, and found that you love mist-netting and banding birds, electrofishing, measuring trees, sampling soil, live-trapping rodents, and collecting behavioral data on deer. You learn that it is possible to get paying jobs as an ecological or natural resources field technician doing all of these and more. But how do land your first paid position, maintain steady employment, and make a living as a professional field tech? Alternatively, you are hiring field technicians for the first time, and you want to hire excellent techs, and supervise them in a manner that meets the project objectives, provides professional development, and maintains high morale among crewmembers. And presumably, you want to be perceived as a good leader, teacher, mentor, and scientist by those you supervise; someone whom they can look up to as a guide as they begin their own careers in the same field. The Ecological Society of America recognizes that there is a wide and growing range of jobs that require knowledge about ecology and natural resource management. It also recognizes the need for greater information sharing and resources to help students and the professionals who mentor them understand how to pursue these job opportunities. We are all colleagues who have worked or are currently working as field technicians in the United States or internationally. Some of us have also hired and supervised field techs, as a university-affiliated researcher, state resource agency biologist, or conservation scientist at a non-profit organization. We have written this to share what we have learned collectively over many years’ experience, to help those who are interested in working in this field understand how to do it, and be aware of challenging and problematic aspects that should be considered before committing to this path for a living. We have also written it for first-time supervisors, to provide some practical guidance on hiring and supervising a good team of field technicians. Our perspectives are derived from experiences in USA-based projects or as Americans at international research field stations, but we believe most of what we discuss is relevant globally to anyone involved in ecological fieldwork. Everyone’s experience as a field technician or supervisor is unique, but there are commonalities to all of our experiences that are likely to hold true for others. A field technician position provides the opportunity to work in places that few people have been in, handle organisms that few people have seen up close, and immerse yourself in the challenges of working in, learning about, and understanding a natural community and the species within it. You will likely be part of a small team, headed by a supervisor or crew leader who is in charge of the project. Depending on the position, you may have a supervisor with years of experience at training and managing field crews, or they may be a graduate student on their first field season. Frequently, the “supervisor” may not be the person you directly interact with daily in the field, especially when working with graduate students. Instead, the person in the field with you who assigns your daily tasks, answers questions, and provides all the required training, may answer to someone higher up the chain who oversees the more traditional supervisorial and other administrative roles. These include hire and fire decisions, approving time-off, and dealing with human resource issues. You will have been hired based on having the prerequisite interest, skills, knowledge, and personal attributes required for the position and will be trained in the specific skills and protocols needed to do the job. However, you will be expected to learn quickly, follow directions reliably and meticulously, follow local and federal field site work laws and regulations, and ask questions about anything you do not understand or have concerns about. You will be expected to take careful, detailed, comprehensible field notes about your work, and record data in the manner mandated by the supervisor’s protocols. You will be expected to work both courteously and effectively as a team member, and independently. You will be expected to follow all health and safety guidelines; most supervisors have little tolerance for recklessness and carelessness in the field. You must be organized and have the personal clothing and gear needed at the start of each workday; you will most likely have to supply most of the field clothing and personal gear on your own. You will be required to maintain and care responsibly for the research instrumentation, equipment, and vehicles, and be expected to address problems promptly as they arise. Most field technician jobs are seasonal, and the timing and length of the season depends on the study organisms, the location of the study, and the budget. Field tech jobs are not workweek-restricted 9-to-5 jobs. Many field tech supervisors expect you to work six-day weeks, longer than eight-hour days and may require you to work at night, very early in the morning, or late into the evening. Physical demands may be substantial. 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BACKGROUND: Experiencing internship shapes nursing students' professional commitment and aggravates its changes. However, few studies have been investigated how this changes empirically. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study are to investigate (a) what are the changes of professional commitment of nursing students before and after the internship? (b) Which of multiple independent variables is the strongest predictor? METHODS: A longitudinal study was conducted with 996 senior undergraduate nursing students (ready to enter clinical practice) in the China universities. The survey was conducted in the spring of 2015 and autumn of 2016. The data were collected by a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. The instruments used included Professional Commitment Scale and Perceived Stress Scale. Analysis of paired t-test and linear regression analysis were performed on the data. RESULTS: Nursing students showed lower professional commitment (2.79 ± 0.36) than they were (2.92 ± 0.36) before internship. Socio-demographic variables, pre-internship professional commitment and stress perceived during internship predicted 40.1% of the variance in the post-internship commitment. DISCUSSION: These data summarize the nursing students' professional commitment changes and the main influential factors that contribute to post-internship professional commitment of undergraduate nursing student. The findings are timely, which indicate that senior nursing students' professional commitment can be increased by enhancing pre-internship commitment and reducing students' stress levels during internship.

Poor social skills in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are associated with reduced independence in daily life. Current interventions for improving the social skills of individuals with ASD fail to represent the complexity of real-life social settings and situations. Virtual reality (VR) may facilitate social skills training in social environments and situations similar to those in real life; however, more research is needed to elucidate aspects such as the acceptability, usability, and user experience of VR systems in ASD. Twenty-five participants with ASD attended a neuropsychological evaluation and three sessions of VR social skills training, which incorporated five social scenarios with three difficulty levels. Participants reported high acceptability, system usability, and user experience. Significant correlations were observed between performance in social scenarios, self-reports, and executive functions. Working memory and planning ability were significant predictors of the functionality level in ASD and the VR system's perceived usability, respectively. Yet, performance in social scenarios was the best predictor of usability, acceptability, and functionality level. Planning ability substantially predicted performance in social scenarios, suggesting an implication in social skills. Immersive VR social skills training in individuals with ASD appears to be an appropriate service, but an errorless approach that is adaptive to the individual's needs should be preferred.

This article explores processes and possibilities for critical learning in the workplace, with a focus on workers laboring in what are often exploitive and dehumanizing conditions. The argument is based on a study of work-life learning of women, mostly new immigrants, employed long-term at an Alberta garment manufacturing plant. It is argued that their negotiations of work conditions are nested in various areas of learning associated with everyday practices, small communities, labor organizing processes, and English learning classes. These are argued to have generated solidarity through learning about sociality, resistance, and personal worth. These solidarities appear to be configured by energies of both transformation and reproduction that are threaded together and generated simultaneously as women learned to survive within the system while supporting one another in a vital interdependent social network. The discussion explores how these dynamics unfolded, and their effects on how different women positioned themselves and their knowledge.