Public funding of higher education has declined substantially in recent years (Alexander, 2000; Esposito, 2010; Mortenson, 2012; NACUBO, 2011; Redd, 2014; Serna and Harris, 2014), while operating costs and demand have increased (Desrochers and Kirshstein, 2012; Mortenson, 2012; Mumper and Freeman, 2011; NCSES, 2014; Serna and Harris, 2014; St. John and Parsons, 2004), forcing institutions to look for alternative sources of revenue (NCSL, 2010). One such alternative source of revenue is alumni giving (Monks, 2003; Archibald and Feldman, 2012; CAE, 2014). Research has shown that the factors that influence alumni financial giving include demographic characteristics (Hoyt, 2004; Monks, 2003), academic experiences (Monks, 2003; Pumerantz, 2005), social experiences (Monks, 2005; Thomas and Smart, 2005; Volkwein, 1989), and alumni participation variables (Gaier, 2005; Gallo and Hubschman, 2003). Although there is ample evidence to support the importance of alumni giving, researchers have not examined the factors that influence young alumni giving. This study sought to determine if demographic characteristics, academic experiences and social experiences explain the variance in alumni giving to their alma mater within five years of graduating. I conducted a case study at a single institution and used Volkwein's (1989) model of giving coupled with data from the 2011 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that captured alumni's demographic characteristics and measured their academic and social experiences while in college. I merged NSSE with data about giving that I retrieved from the Development Office at the selected institution. The variables included five Demographic items, fourteen Academic Experience items with numerous sub-items, and twelve Social Experience items with numerous sub-items. Exploratory factor analysis revealed five academic factors and four social factors. The results of a multiple regression analysis revealed that only one factor, Class Assignments, explained the variance in young alumni giving, but it may have been spurious. It would appear that demographic characteristics and academic and social factors determined from NSSE are not particularly useful in explaining giving by young alumni. Indeed, only 14.5% of participants actually made a donation within five years of graduating. Clearly more research is needed to expand upon the literature about alumni giving. / Ph. D.

No description available.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2015 / This study investigated students’ experiences of integration of learning in the undergraduate medical programme at the University of the Witwatersrand. There is evidence that integration of learning, also referred to as “integrative learning”, assists students to assimilate and apply what they have learnt more effectively, and thus enhances the goal of achieving professional competence. From 2003, Years 3 and 4 of the undergraduate programme were redesigned to be presented as integrated system-based blocks, using problem-based learning as the main learning strategy. From 2005, Years 5 and 6 were also redesigned. Although clinical rotations in specific disciplines still formed the main learning strategy, a number of integrating activities – and even rotations – were included in the new programme in these years. From 2006 Years 1 and 2 of the programme (which were still discipline-based) were reviewed in terms of course content and integration of learning, and new courses were added to those years to facilitate integration of learning. As a result of the reforms outlined above, the six years of the undergraduate medical programme at the University of the Witwatersrand now contain a rich variety of features designed to advance integration of learning. However, the ways in which students and teachers experience these kinds of integration are not known, neither is the effect that they are having on student learning. Investigating student and teacher experiences of a variety of events designed to promote integration of learning deepens the understanding of the many and varied effects of such integration activities, and contributes to the body of knowledge on integration of curricula in medical education. This study also contributes to a generic understanding of the phenomenon of integration in the process of learning, potentially enhancing knowledge and practice in the field of medical education. This is a qualitative study which used phenomenography, a research approach with an educational interest. The phenomenon of integration of learning is one which exists in the understanding of persons involved in the learning process, as teachers or students and, for this reason, an approach which clarifies that understanding was followed. The principal sampling approach was purposive. Data collection spanned 27 months (March 2012 to June 2014) and a total sample of 25 students and 10 teachers were the respondents, providing information through in-depth interviews and small focus group discussions. The semi-structured interviews were conducted using a tool that introduced an entry question such as “What is your understanding of ……?” Subsequent dialogue followed on angles of responses, leading to the development of different categories of how the phenomenon is experienced. Interviews were recorded using a voice recorder. Focus group discussions and further individual interviews were used to refine ideas and not necessarily to increase the size of the original sample. For analysis, the researcher used qualitative data analysis software, MAXQDA11. Excerpts that conveyed the most significant information were selected, de-contextualised and compared, followed by grouping and re-grouping of them until the outcome space was formulated. Three categories of description made up the outcome space. The categories that emerged represent the qualitatively different experiences of the students and teachers who were interviewed: conceptions of meaning and processes of integration of learning; conceptions of how to integrate learning and development of integration ability; and conceptions of the links between integration ability and educational experiences. The outcome space was constituted using as a guide the framework of the anatomy of awareness and the structure of experience as espoused by Marton and Booth (1997). The lowest level of conception is that integration of learning is a vague and abstract concept which happens passively while an ability to integrate learning is conceived of as an atomistic acquisition of fragmented facts. The respective act of learning is experienced as knowledge increase. A conception of increasing appreciation of the phenomenon is that it is important to consciously link concepts through identifying essential detail. This is a perception of higher value as it includes the ability to remember everything. A conception of higher value is that subjects are related as they contribute to each other. Understanding one leads to the understanding of another. The concept of integrative learning is introduced and this happens during studying. The most sophisticated conception is that integration of learning happens automatically as students accumulate knowledge and experience. Integration of learning, therefore, becomes a way of thinking, an unconscious competence for life in an integrated career. Students adopt strategies that enable learning for meaning while drawing on all knowledge and skills. When the outcome space is translated graphically, a model of how students develop the ability to integrate learning is revealed. From the model, it was apparent that students embark on a journey of integration of learning through taking steps that increase in complexity and hierarchical inclusivity. The integration of learning takes a relatively long time to develop, occurring from the first year to the sixth year, but starting from minimal to highly complex acts of learning, to be able to cope in a complex career in a complex world. The affective constructs towards the phenomenon also change over the years from negative to positive. All this happens in an environment that is regulated by affective constructs and motivation factors. The acquisition of the ability to integrate learning is conceived to take long depending on the effects of affective constructs and the external horizon. From the model, four factors emerge that are critical for integration of learning in that they either promote it or prevent it from occurring effectively. The factors can be grouped according to whether they involve the teacher, curriculum, student and studying. Recommendations for application of the model were drawn around interventions that impact on improvements specific to each of the factors identified. This is a proposed developmental model which is a logical presentation of integration of learning. The proposed model requires additional research to provide further empirical justification. Gibbs (1994) refers to a proposition that research on student learning has something substantial to feed back into the context within which it is undertaken. The researcher makes specific reference to Harden’s (2000) integration ladder as a benchmark for curriculum integration strategies that strengthen integration of learning in institutions of Higher Education. KEYWORDS Integration of learning Integrative learning Curriculum integration Phenomenographic research into integrative learning Learning approaches 21st century learning theories Learning according to phenomenography Pedagogies of integration of learning Anatomy of awareness

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What is being done to stop the increase of accounting scandals and frauds? This study focuses on ethics teaching for accounting students at the undergraduate level. This study asks the question, "have students increased in their use of professional judgement as defined by the AICPA code of Professional Conduct?"

Interest in plagiarism continues to generate debate both in the media and in the context of the academy. Opinions continue to differ not only about how plagiarism can be defined, but also about the nature of its causes and its possible solutions. Most universities have now developed websites to address the difficulties experienced by both students and staff in ascertaining exactly what kind of writing practices might constitute plagiarism. However more often than not, such websites tend to give undue emphasis to the mechanics of referencing and universal notions of ‘academic honesty’ in order to make their point. Little or no attention is given to providing well-developed guidelines on what constitutes ‘common’ knowledge, which is especially relevant currently given the growing cultural diversity of contemporary university classrooms. In addition, discussions about writer identity and authorship seem to be totally absent. This silence on such matters needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency. I have adopted a ‘critical ethnographic’ case study approach to this doctoral study in order to investigate how undergraduate university students from diverse language and disciplinary backgrounds have used the words and ideas of others in their written research-based assignments. The responses of academic staff to these students’ writing practices have also been explored. Three different sources of data from ten students and ten academic staff have been collected in order to allow for data analysis from multiple perspectives through a process of triangulation. Bakhtin’s concept of dialogism (1981, 1984, 1986), Kristeva’s writings on intertextuality and the subject-in-process-and-on-trial (1986a, 1986b, 1986c, 1996) and Howard’s work on patchwriting, textual ownership and writer development (1992, 1995, 1999) have been central to the construction of the analytical framework used in this study. I argue that, the notion of ‘plagiarism’ should be re-conceptualised in terms of transgressive and non-transgressive forms of intertextuality (see also Chandrasoma et al., 2004). My study also reveals how students react differently to the homogenising forces of the academy (Holton, 2000). Some feel alienated and have challenged or resisted these forces, while others have adopted an accommodationist position. Furthermore, this research shows that students are confused by unified and autonomous notions of textual ownership and originality that fail to conceptualise subjectivity and authorship as sociohistorically constructed and multi-voiced. I conclude that educators need to recognise the political nature of the processes involved in the construction of text/knowledge and writer identity and recommend a dialogic approach to pedagogy, which allows for textual ownership and authority to be circulated and negotiated between students and their lecturers.

Counterfeiting and piracy are serious problems in Taiwan. Recent changes in local laws and enforcement policies have sought to curb the problem, but these actions have failed to account for the inherent differences in the perceptions among young Taiwanese persons of purchase and/or consumption of counterfeit or pirated goods. Previous research had indicated that the primary drivers in this market of purchase intention for these products are education, ethicality, legality, quality, face consciousness, perceived harm to society, and the utility derived from consumption. The primary aims of this research were to compare and contrast these perceptions among undergraduate students in Taiwan using two independent surveys and to attempt to explain the variance in purchase intention that can be attributed to six of the seven drivers (utility excluded). While purchase intention and perceptions regarding some kinds of societal harm were found to be statistically equal, significant differences were discovered between students¡¦ attitudes toward counterfeiting versus piracy with regard to ethicality, legality, and the impact of these activities on innovation and the Taiwan economy. Additionally, there were marked differences between the amounts of variance in purchase intention explained by the six drivers and between the specific correlations of these drivers. Counterfeit goods¡¦ purchase intention correlated significantly with only three of the drivers, while pirated goods¡¦ purchase intention correlated with five, and with only partial overlap between the two. The findings of this study are thus concluded to be significant for the further development of research into the two areas.

This study examined the work experiences of individuals who perform recruitment activities for the California State University. Based at four campus settings, the objectives were to: 1) analyze the ways in which professionals regard and enact system-wide and institutional enrollment management policies; 2) explore their professional orientations in regards to college access; and 3) examine the congruence of system-wide and institutional formal policy and the perspectives of different groups of professionals.The analysis centered on two levels, the institutional and the ground level perspective. The principal data sources that informed the study were interviews and campus level and system-wide documents. To frame the data gathering and analysis, two theories were used to understand the perspectives of the set of professionals; the study modified the classic conceptualization of `street-level bureaucrats' (Lipsky, 1969) and latent social roles of professionals (Gouldner, 1954). For the broader organizational perspective, the study relied on institutional theory and academic capitalism in the new economy to offer context to the university's move to enrollment management. Findings indicate that professionals varied in how they enacted recruitment practices depending on the institutional context. So, while enrollment management practices are being implemented at the Cal State system, the extent to which the actions were strategic was dependent on the campus environment and the priorities of that university.

No description available.

Interest in plagiarism continues to generate debate both in the media and in the context of the academy. Opinions continue to differ not only about how plagiarism can be defined, but also about the nature of its causes and its possible solutions. Most universities have now developed websites to address the difficulties experienced by both students and staff in ascertaining exactly what kind of writing practices might constitute plagiarism. However more often than not, such websites tend to give undue emphasis to the mechanics of referencing and universal notions of ‘academic honesty’ in order to make their point. Little or no attention is given to providing well-developed guidelines on what constitutes ‘common’ knowledge, which is especially relevant currently given the growing cultural diversity of contemporary university classrooms. In addition, discussions about writer identity and authorship seem to be totally absent. This silence on such matters needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency. I have adopted a ‘critical ethnographic’ case study approach to this doctoral study in order to investigate how undergraduate university students from diverse language and disciplinary backgrounds have used the words and ideas of others in their written research-based assignments. The responses of academic staff to these students’ writing practices have also been explored. Three different sources of data from ten students and ten academic staff have been collected in order to allow for data analysis from multiple perspectives through a process of triangulation. Bakhtin’s concept of dialogism (1981, 1984, 1986), Kristeva’s writings on intertextuality and the subject-in-process-and-on-trial (1986a, 1986b, 1986c, 1996) and Howard’s work on patchwriting, textual ownership and writer development (1992, 1995, 1999) have been central to the construction of the analytical framework used in this study. I argue that, the notion of ‘plagiarism’ should be re-conceptualised in terms of transgressive and non-transgressive forms of intertextuality (see also Chandrasoma et al., 2004). My study also reveals how students react differently to the homogenising forces of the academy (Holton, 2000). Some feel alienated and have challenged or resisted these forces, while others have adopted an accommodationist position. Furthermore, this research shows that students are confused by unified and autonomous notions of textual ownership and originality that fail to conceptualise subjectivity and authorship as sociohistorically constructed and multi-voiced. I conclude that educators need to recognise the political nature of the processes involved in the construction of text/knowledge and writer identity and recommend a dialogic approach to pedagogy, which allows for textual ownership and authority to be circulated and negotiated between students and their lecturers.