{"title":"Governance reform of local university under the “Double World-Class” policy: are there unintended but not unanticipated consequences?","authors":"Linhao Jiang, Youliang Zhang, Yucui Shen","doi":"10.1007/s12564-024-09926-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12564-024-09926-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Adoption of the “Double World-Class” policy in China has led to substantial changes in the country’s higher education governance system. Thus, to examine whether any undesired effects have occurred, in this study, we conducted document analysis along with purposive interviews to gather pertinent data on one local university that has been selected for inclusion in the national “Double World-Class” initiative as well as the Guangdong Province’s “High-Level Construction Universities” project. This investigation is guided by de Zwart’s (Theory and Society 44:283–297, 2015) concept of the “unintended but not unanticipated consequences” and a clear distinct perspective on how these consequences arise. Application of this analytical framework on unanticipated consequences of purposive social action allowed us to identify selective neglect, utility maximization, and the pursuit of the “world-class university” label to perpetuate the myth of superior educational quality as the main drawbacks of the recent policy change. The impact of these factors on the quality of higher education in China is discussed, along with the strategy that can be adopted to mitigate the noted drawbacks in future.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139846668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"International academics in national research institutes in Korea and Japan: contributions, reasons for migration, and challenges","authors":"Yangson Kim, Inyoung Song, Noboru Miyoshi","doi":"10.1007/s12564-024-09925-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12564-024-09925-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study aims to explore and compare the experiences of international academics in government-funded research institutes in Korea and Japan and focuses on their integration through primary roles and contributions, reasons to stay, and the challenges they face in their academic and daily lives. Although international academics are critical human resources in academia, their experiences in northeast Asian research institutes, instead of universities, require thorough investigation. Additionally, policy initiatives and projects in these countries tend to emphasize international academics in universities instead of those in research institutes. The study conducted semi-structured interviews between October 2020 and July 2021 with 15 international academics from government-funded research institutes in Korea and Japan. We intend to illuminate their experiences outside of universities and demonstrate that a clear academic role, a (relatively) horizontal organizational culture, and systemic support are the major reasons for their decision to stay and integrate. We also highlight the challenges they face in relation to policy, language, and family issues. International academics help create an internationalized work environment, although they frequently struggle to bridge domestic and international academia. All interviewees were male academics working in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields; thus, further studies are required to explore the experiences of female international academics and those working in other areas and to compare between the academic cultures of universities and research institutes in Korea and Japan.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12564-024-09925-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139768981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Predictive factors for reading comprehension ability in indigenous high school students instructed through various teaching methods","authors":"Tzu-Hua Huang","doi":"10.1007/s12564-023-09924-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12564-023-09924-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>It is essential that students develop the skill of reading comprehension during their schooling, although it has been defined in various ways. The Programme for International Student Assessment indicates that a substantial proportion of students fail to develop sufficient reading skills during their schooling. While it is easy to understand the concept of reading comprehension, the various factors and processes involved in it make it quite complex as a task, and many factors can affect the performance of reading comprehension. This study, using an e-book experiment, explores the factors that predict reading comprehension ability among indigenous Taiwanese high school students using different teaching methods (teacher read aloud and teacher questioning). The participants were indigenous students studying at a high school in Hualien County, Taiwan. Using five scales, the study investigated correlations among two teaching methods and prior knowledge, reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading attitudes, and reading motivation. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression were conducted to assess the impact of the two main teaching methods on reading comprehension scores and predictive factors. The results indicated that both methods showed a significant positive correlation with prior knowledge and with reading comprehension scores. In the teacher read-aloud method, reading motivation showed a significant positive correlation with reading comprehension scores, while for the use of teacher questioning, reading strategies provided a significant positive correlation with reading comprehension scores. This study sheds light on the predictive factors for reading learning among indigenous Taiwanese students under different teaching methods, which holds considerable significance.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139528353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Inclusive education in Japan and its role in international cooperation: analysis of a project for children with disabilities in Mongolia","authors":"Subin Cho, Jeehwan Park","doi":"10.1007/s12564-023-09923-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12564-023-09923-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study explores the influence of educational ideologies and practices of donor countries on the educational systems in recipient countries in the context of international cooperation. Previous research on international education cooperation has focused on international cooperation policies, ignoring the educational systems of both donor and recipient countries. This study seeks to fill this gap by examining how Japan’s dualistic model of inclusive education is reflected in the Strengthening Teachers’ Ability and Reasonable Treatments for Children with Disabilities (START) project in Mongolia. This study reviews the literature on inclusive education in Japan and Mongolia, and analyzes documents produced through the project. It finds that despite some instances of inclusive practices in Japanese schools, special needs education in Japan is still predicated on individualized and medicalized approaches to disabilities. Conversely, Mongolia has struggled to provide children with disabilities with accessible and quality schooling since its transition from a socialist to a capitalist regime in the early 1990s. The START project aims to identify children’s disabilities as early as possible, provide individualized support and guidance, and develop educational settings that allow the inclusion of children with disabilities in their peer groups. In implementing the project, Japanese-style inclusive education is negotiated between Mongolian teachers and officials rather than imposed by Japanese experts. By embracing the dualistic nature of Japanese inclusive education, Mongolia can better promote the ideal of inclusion for all children.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12564-023-09923-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139438271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A pedagogy of emptiness: a daoist perspective","authors":"Ying Ma, Hongyu Wang","doi":"10.1007/s12564-023-09920-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-023-09920-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In a time of intellectual and emotional overload in education, this paper offers room for breathing through a pedagogy of emptiness from a Daoist perspective. It begins by introducing the concept of Daoist emptiness through three intertwining features—generative, transcendent, and inclusive—important for rethinking pedagogy. It then moves to four significant pedagogical implications: emptiness as opening pedagogical possibilities, pedagogical relationships in an empty space, self-transformation and self-transcendence in teaching and learning, and a playful pedagogy beyond dualism. First, emptiness opens pedagogical possibilities by clearing the ground and leaving space in the esthetic imagination. Second, pedagogical relationships in an empty space can be enacted through teaching without (or beyond) words, dwelling in time, suspending judgment, and creating space by cultivating the educator’s inner emptiness. Third, an empty space of relationality provides a generative condition for the possibility of personhood re/formation and self-transformation. Fourth, a playful pedagogy in a creative flow from emptiness breathes improvisational lightness to unsettle dualism, dissolve rigidity, and give birth to students’ new understandings, awareness, and relationships.</p>","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139375561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Estimating the causal impact of non-traditional household structures on children’s educational performance using a machine learning propensity score","authors":"Li-Dan Shang, Francisco Rowe, Eric S. Lin","doi":"10.1007/s12564-023-09916-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12564-023-09916-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Over the past two decades, family structures have diversified. International migration has led to a rise in the number of families in which at least one parent is foreign-born. Increases have also been observed in both the rate of partnership separation, leading to a greater number of single-parent households and an increase in the number of families where grandparents have assumed caring responsibilities for their grandchildren. Evidence indicates a strong relationship between family structure and children’s educational outcomes. Parental involvement is well documented as a key ingredient for the educational success of children. Drawing on Taiwanese multi-wave survey data (Taiwan Assessment of Student Achievement) and a machine-learning-based propensity score algorithm for multiple treatments, this paper aims to determine the various relationships between children from different household structures (two-parent households, skipped generation households, single-parent households, and immigrant households) and their cognitive knowledge (measured by test scores). Key findings reveal that children from skipped generation households achieve the lowest performance scores and that those from immigrant households tend to perform even better than children from traditional two-parent households in certain disciplines. Our results suggest that policy interventions targeted at providing remedial education and/or financial assistance are needed to support children from skipped generation families to redress existing educational disadvantages in Taiwan.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12564-023-09916-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139008775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tsinghua or Beida? factors affecting high school students’ selection of prestigious universities in China","authors":"Youliang Zhang, Yidan Zhu","doi":"10.1007/s12564-023-09919-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12564-023-09919-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Amid concerns about creating internationally recognized world-class universities in China, this study aims to explore the factors that influence the selection of two prestigious universities in China, namely Tsinghua and Beida, by high school students. In light of concerns surrounding the establishment of globally renowned universities in China, this study applies Simon’s Bounded Rationality Theory (Q J Econ 69(1):99–118, https://doi.org/10.2307/1884852, 1957, Models of bounded rationality, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1982) to examine the decision-making tendencies of students when faced with limited information. The study analyzes survey data collected from 10 senior high schools in Henan province. Our findings reveal that students lack clarity regarding Chinese universities and majors. Students’ misconceptions about Tsinghua and Beida are linked to insufficient information and socially entrenched images of these two universities. Students’ social environment may subtly influence their choice between Tsinghua and Beida, with different socioeconomic backgrounds resulting in varying expectations. Additionally, we identified enrollment strategies that impact high school students’ choices. The study provides policy implications for Chinese elite universities and suggests that universities can enhance enrollment strategies by effectively promoting their institutions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138594671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Learning-by-doing in a professional learning community: technological pedagogical and content knowledge development of Hong Kong university teaching staff","authors":"Fan Su, Di Zou, Lixun Wang","doi":"10.1007/s12564-023-09918-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-023-09918-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138594689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dazhen Tong, Yang Tao, Kangkang Zhang, Xinxin Dong, Yangyang Hu, Sudong Pan, Qiaoyi Liu
{"title":"Investigating ChatGPT-4’s performance in solving physics problems and its potential implications for education","authors":"Dazhen Tong, Yang Tao, Kangkang Zhang, Xinxin Dong, Yangyang Hu, Sudong Pan, Qiaoyi Liu","doi":"10.1007/s12564-023-09913-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12564-023-09913-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have been consistently influencing the progress of education for an extended period, with its impact becoming more significant especially after the launch of ChatGPT-3.5 at the end of November 2022. In the field of physics education, recent research regarding the performance of ChatGPT-3.5 in solving physics problems discovered that its problem-solving abilities were only at the level of novice students, insufficient to cause outstanding alarm in the field of physics education. However, the release of ChatGPT-4 presented substantial improvements in reasoning and conciseness. How does this translate to performance in solving physics problems, and what kind of impact might it have on education? This study undertakes a comprehensive assessment of ChatGPT-4’s performance in solving physics problems from the perspective of physics conceptual understanding and reasoning, and compares its performance with that of students. It is concluded that ChatGPT-4’s performance in solving physics problems has significantly improved compared to ChatGPT-3.5, and was notably superior to the majority of middle school and high school students. This finding presents both a challenge and an opportunity for physics education and the broader educational field, and triggers immediate considerations for coping with this challenge in future teaching and assessment environments.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138527664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}