Determinants of e-learning acceptance amongst Iranian postgraduate students

E-learning can address some of the unmet needs of learners and educational communities; however, not all learners and educators accept e-learning as a delivery modality. This research endeavored to study the factors which affect e-learning acceptance among Iranian post-graduate students using the Davis Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and to identify the changes which would facilitate their improved acceptance and subsequent wider use of e-learning. This descriptive-correlation study was conducted by surveying 320 Iranian postgraduate students using a self-reporting questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis through LISREL software. Results revealed sufficient validity and reliability of the TAM among Iranian postgraduate medical students. Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness of e-learning, students’ attitudes toward e-learning, and the intention to use e-learning positively affected e-learning’s acceptance (p < 0.05) among Iranian postgraduate students. According to the results, attitudes toward e-learning have more predictive power than other TAM constructs. Therefore, emphasis on students’ favorable attitudes toward e-learning can be effective in accelerating its acceptance and will progress students’ learning outcomes.

THE TASTE OF HOME: THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH COMMENSALITY AMONGST FEMALE MALAY STUDENTS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Background and Purpose: Commensality is an act of eating together among migrant communities as a means of passing down the culture and ethnic identity. There is very limited discussion on commensality that pays attention to food sharing and eating that extends beyond the traditional forms of social relationships, identity, and space among the Malay community abroad. Thus, this article aims to explore the connections of social relationships through food, space and identity amongst female Malay students in the United Kingdom. Methodology: This research is based on one-year ethnographic fieldwork amongst female Malaysian Muslim students in Manchester and Cardiff. Thirty in-depth interviews were conducted with both undergraduate and postgraduate students from sciences and social sciences courses. Besides, in-depth interviews, participant observation, conversation and fieldnotes methods were deployed as supplementary for data collection. Findings: This paper argues that cooking and eating together in a private space is a way for them to maintain social relationships and overcome stress in their studies, and fulfil their desire to create harmony and trust at home. Besides, places such as the kitchen, play an essential space in building the Malay identity and social relationships between female Malay students’ communities in the host country. Contributions: This study has contributed to an understanding of the meaning of friendship, identity, space, and the discussion on the anthropology of food from international students’ perspectives and migration studies. Keywords: Food and identity, commensality, Malay students, friendship, international students. Cite as: Ibnu, I. N. (2022). The taste of home: The construction of social relationships through commensality amongst female Malay students in the United Kingdom. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(1), 316-334. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss1pp316-334

Fundamentals of scientific research

The textbook outlines the concepts and methods of conducting scientific research and presenting their results. The fundamentals of scientific thinking and methodological foundations of scientific research are considered. The process of scientific research, methods of obtaining and analyzing data, collecting and summarizing scientific information, the sequence of the process of scientific research are described. The approaches, methods, rules and norms of preparation of reports on the results of scientific research, scientific articles and dissertations are described. The organization, financing of scientific research and training of scientific personnel in the Russian Federation, the organization of research work of students, the principles of scientific ethics are characterized. Recommendations for the preparation of final qualifying papers and dissertations are given. The textbook includes topics and questions, the study of which is necessary to master the competencies provided for by the federal state educational standards of higher education of the latest generation. It is intended for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students of the enlarged group of training areas 38.00.00 "Economics and Management".

The Impact of Business Attitude on Entrepreneurial Behavior in Postgraduate Students: A Cross-sectional Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Entrepreneurship and business behavior are of great significance in developing countries, such as Iran, due to the unemployment crisis. Today's economic status and population composition have propelled everyone to find effective solutions in the economic arena. Therefore, appropriate educational models for students and programs to encourage students to turn to entrepreneurship and create new businesses are vital. Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the impact of business attitude on entrepreneurial behavior in postgraduate students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on the postgraduate students of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences in 2021. Data were collected using the standard questionnaires of Aution et al. and Leon Dice Zamptakis and Vasilis Mustakis. Data analysis was performed in the R software version 4.0.4 using Spearman’s or Pearson’s correlation-coefficient and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Results: The mean age of the participants was 28.17 ± 6.297 years. Pearson’s correlation-coefficient indicated a significant, inverse correlation between age and attitudes toward competitiveness and entrepreneurial culture (r = -0.210; P = 0.002 and r = -0.177; P = 0.01, respectively). In addition, the results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that the attitude to business had a significant, inverse effect on entrepreneurial behavior (r = -0.259; P < 0.001). Conclusions: According to the results, students' unpreparedness for self-employment activities highlights the need for changing the attitude of postgraduate students in this regard by explaining the prevalence of the COVID-19. Due to the outbreak of the disease, numerous startups and personal businesses were shut down. Therefore, students are mostly reluctant to become involved in entrepreneurial activities despite their business attitude.

W.A.T.E.R. – a structured approach for training on advanced measurement and experimental research

W.A.T.E.R. stands for Workshop on Advanced measurement Techniques and Experimental Research. It is an initiative started in 2016, in the scope of the Experimental Methods and Instrumentation (EMI) committee of the International Association for Hydroenvironment Research (IAHR) aimed to advance the use of experimental techniques in hydraulics and fluid mechanics research. It provides a structured approach for the learning and training platform to postgraduate students, young researchers, and professionals with an experimental background in fluid mechanics. It offers an opportunity to learn about state-of-the-art instrumentation and measurement techniques and the latest developments in the field by partnering with manufacturers. The W.A.T.E.R. brings together academics, instrumentation manufacturers, and public sectors in a structured setting to share knowledge and to learn from good practices. It is about training people that already have certain knowledge and skill level but need to go deeper and/or wider in the field of measurement and experimental research.

Impact of Postgraduate Student Internships During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

To understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on postgraduate students’ internships in China, 911 students from different regions of China were surveyed through online questionnaires. Among the postgraduate students surveyed, 48.51% of which believed that the pandemic had its greatest impact on colleagues interaction, and 59.60% believed that the pandemic had a strong impact on practical skills. In total, 31.8% of postgraduate internship programs were impacted by COVID-19. The proportions of respondents having severe, moderate, and mild anxiety levels were 1.42%, 4.72%, and 15.92%, respectively; and the rates of severe, moderate, and mild depression were 1.64%, 10.86%, and 21.84%, respectively. ANOVA found that major, degree type, and degree of impact of the pandemic on colleague interactions and improved practical abilities all affected postgraduate mental health. The findings suggest that the mental health of postgraduate students should be monitored during a pandemic, and targeted psychological counseling should be offered. Postgraduate internships should be emphasized as to ensure a smooth internship process during a pandemic period. Psychological counseling and assistance should be provided to those whose internships were affected by the pandemic, and programs should be set up to aid postgraduate students in adapting to the new internship and employment conditions brought on by the “new normal” of pandemic prevention and control.

Academic Writing for Publication Purposes and Machine Translation: Is the Symbiosis Possible?

The abstracts in Russian and in English are written according to certain rules. For articles written in Russian, an abstract in English is the only means of informing the world scientific community about the authors’ research results. However, the quality of abstracts written in Russian and then translated into English does not always meet the criteria for readability and comply with the accepted academic and publication conventions. This situation might result from the intensive usage of machine translation (MT) systems by authors who do not take into account the guidelines for the input text quality and the limitations inherent in MT systems. The author analyzed the requirements for the input texts and some typical errors in the target ones. The article describes the stages of training masters, postgraduate students and university staff in the effective use of MT systems. The training is based on a bilingual approach, which implies a constant comparison of vocabulary, grammar and style in the native and English languages. The author comes to the conclusion that the effective use of MT systems for writing an abstract in English is possible if the authors have the command of Russian and English at the level sufficient for a concise and unambiguous expression of their thoughts and ideas. Self-censoring is a prerequisite for creating a text that is “understandable” for MT systems. Students must follow simple rules: write sentences of 15-20 words; express one thought per one sentence; use more active verbs; choose nouns that express a specific concept; exclude unnecessary words. At the post-editing stage, learners can use the tools available on the Internet, which allow not only editing the target text, but also will enable learners to acquire independent editing skills.

The Effect of Genderism on the Process and the Product of Translation

Many studies have been made and still concerning the field of translation. Since the mid-90's a considerable amount of researches has tackled the problem of gender and its effect on the process and the product of translation. Simon (1996, p 508) points out that when comparing women and men as translators and writers through history, women seem to be the weaker side. This paves the way to feminist movements which produce prominent studies concerning gender as a concept and translator's gender as practice on the quality and the accuracy of the translation. Flotow (in Meschia, 2012, p 1-4) outlines several issues that can be examined concerning gender and translation, these are historical studies, theoretical contemplations, translator's identity, post-colonial questions, and cultural questions. This research deals with two aspects of identity, i.e. gender: the gender of the translator (and its effect on the translation if there is any) and the gender of the evaluator of the translated text (and its effect if there is any). The aim of this paper is to find out whether there is any negative influence of the identity on the process and the product of translation. For this purpose, 40 students from the Department of Translation at Al-Ma'moon College University, in addition to 20 postgraduate, have been asked to assess and analyze through a questionnaire (that tackles the identity of both translator and evaluator) and an assessment of Shakespeare's Sonnet (no. 18) and four translated versions of it. The study remarkably shows that the gender-bias effect of the identity of the translator and the evaluator have an influence on students with 12.5% for undergraduate and 5% for postgraduate students. The majority of 87.5% and 95% believe that gender does not affect. This proves the research's hypothesis that there is a difference in the language of the two genders, yet it will not affect the gender of both of the translator and the evaluator.

Is virtual classroom a window into future during COVID-19? A comparative study of undergraduate and postgraduate university students in India

Education in today’s epidemic time is possible only through virtual learning platforms. COVID-19 has changed the mode of learning and shown the power of learning in virtual mode. In this paper a self-designed questionnaire on virtual learning was developed to analyse the impact of virtual learning on undergraduate and postgraduate university students. The self-developed questionnaire containing 25 items is tested for validity and reliability. 25 items are further segregated into 5 factors using exploratory factor analysis. These five factors are: Virtual Learning Environment; Virtual Learning and Health Related Issues; Virtual Learning and Interpersonal Issues; Virtual Learning and Technological Issues; Virtual Learning Deliverables. To have the comparative study of undergraduate and postgraduate students for the use of virtual learning platforms, one-way ANOVA is implemented. One-way ANOVA is implemented for each factor and it was found that virtual learning effectiveness increases when students move from Under graduation (UG) to Post Graduation (PG) in India.