Narrow Results

Several empirical studies have examined the gender-differentiated effects of education on economic growth or on a steady-state level of economic output, using cross-country data to determine the quantitative importance of these effects and the direction of correlation. This chapter reports on a similar study of the gender effects of education using province-level data for Turkey. It finds that female education positively and significantly affects the steady-state level of labor productivity, while male education has either positive or insignificant effects. A separate examination of the effect of the educational gender gap finds a negative relationship with output. The results are robust to a number of sensitivity analyses, such as elimination of outlier observations, controls for simultaneity and measurement errors, controls for omitted variables through the inclusion of regional dummy variables, the use of steady-state versus growth equations, and the consideration of different samples.

This chapter uses data from a commissioned nationwide sample survey of some 1,100 female-headed households, as well as from focus groups with female household heads. Women-headed households constitute about one-tenth of Jordan's households. By region of residence, religion, and household size they differ little from households in the country at large. But nearly half of them (48 percent) are living below the poverty line, compared with about 13 percent in the population at large. Their annual spending is less than one-third of the nationwide average. Very few of the women household heads work outside the home: 78 percent of them are not and have never been employed. Their education levels are low: about 54 percent are either illiterate or have only basic schooling, and about 27 percent have secondary education. The problems faced by women household heads include malnutrition (a problem in nearly one in five of these families); social stigma attached to themselves and their children; problems in rearing their sons, many of whom drop out of school and become socially withdrawn; and pressures from their own or their husband's family. Recommendations are made for policies and other measures to assist female-headed households.

In recent decades, the Middle East and North Africa region achieved substantial improvement in women's education, but without a commensurate increase in women's participation in the labor market. Using primary household survey data collected in 2008 in Amman, Cairo, and Sana'a, this chapter empirically investigates whether education acts as a vehicle for labor market participation among urban women. As a baseline, we investigate the determinants of female labor force participation by means of a single-equation probit model. Based on the results of the probit model, we analyze the role of social norms. Results confirm that education increases female labor supply. However, when levels of schooling are considered, only high levels of education (post-secondary/university/post-university education) show a positive and significant effect. The study also confirms the negative association between traditional attitudes and female labor supply. Thus, policies in the region that aim to raise female labor force participation need to focus more broadly than on investment in education, to take account of other economic and non-economic barriers to female labor supply. Further investment in education in itself may not achieve the full intended goal for women in the labor market.

This study analyses social inequality in education in China, focusing on parental class effects on children’s educational attainment. While there is a massive increase in the state provision of educational opportunities, class differences persist and are becoming even more pronounced for the younger cohort. The growing social disparity as found in China is at odds with findings of trendless fluctuation or weakening inequality in the Western societies. It is argued that it is the growing socio-economic disparity in China as compared with the relative stability in class-lined conditions in the Western countries that may account for the different findings between this study and those by other scholars.

A multi-year project with funding from many sources was led by physicists who recruited world-class experts in producing a state-of-the-art planetarium show about dark matter. It has found worldwide success and even won an award. It has been translated into many languages and is showing on all five continents.

This chapter discusses the phenomenon of inter-generational transmission of education inequality in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has a unique position in the world, particularly in the Islamic World. This is the first study on this topic. It addresses separately the effect of father and mother’s education on educational attainment of daughters, as well as whether there is an interactive effect of mother and father on daughters’ outcomes, in order to address the possibility of assortative mating, and thus the endogeneity of the wife’s education with respect to her husband’s education. Findings indicate that, while both mothers’ and fathers’ education influence daughters’ educational outcomes, mothers’ education has a stronger impact. Conversely, fathers’ education has a stronger impact on sons.

The Loretto Community (historically known as the Sisters of Loretto) is an organization of both traditionally vowed Catholic Sisters and also co-members, who are women and men who share values with these Sisters. Some of the co-members of the Loretto Community (LC) take values-based vows as well, committing themselves to simple living, non-violence, solidarity, and/or ecological sanity as an alternative to the traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Together, these women and men live out a common mission to “work for justice and act for peace because the Gospel urges us.” They are located primarily in the United States, with several Sisters in Pakistan, Sister communities in both Ghana and Guatemala, and connections all around the world. The LC has always been forward-thinking, has sponsored a Loretto Earth Network (LEN) for over 25 years, and has been responding to the climate crisis in several creative and important ways. Examples of these responses include divesting from fossil fuels, activism in several campaigns against fracking, and educating the entire community about how to move towards carbon neutrality in daily life. The LC provides one important example of how a faith-based organization (FBO) can effectively advocate for Earth justice and contribute to solving the climate crisis.

Leaders of a vast majority of the world’s nations hope to achieve three extraordinary accomplishments between now and 2030: end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and solve the challenge of climate change. The way these leaders will achieve these accomplishments will be through a set of 17 goals, called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were adopted at the United Nations (UN) in September 2015. The SDGs outline a pathway to a more just, more resilient and more livable world. They are important for many reasons, but primarily because they are an opportunity for countries to collaborate across borders to solve the most pressing challenges of our day, like the climate crisis. The success of the SDGs is evaluated annually at a UN-sponsored High Level Political Forum (HLPF) that takes place at UN headquarters in New York City, and once every four years at the UN General Assembly. There is a role for everyone in the achievement of the SDGs, not just government leaders and diplomats, and the most exciting part of the process thus far has been the number of youth involved in learning about, promoting and enacting the SDGs.

republicEn.org is a community of conservatives and libertarians who care deeply about solving the problem of climate change. Our community educates the public about the power of applying conservative and free-market principles to climate-change policy. republicEn is the only grassroots conservative organization in America whose sole purpose is enfranchising conservatives to lead on climate. The mission of republicEn is to educate and amplify the voices of conservatives who care about solving climate change in order to depolarize climate action and embolden lawmakers to lead. Since republicEn opened in 2012 (originally called The Energy and Enterprise Initiative), many allied organizations have sprouted in DC and around the country. We affectionately call this right-of-center coalition the EcoRight.

The Echo dot is one of Amazon’s top-selling products in 2017- 2019 and over 100 million units were sold. Its virtual assistant Alexa is the smart home device and responds to queries, such as weather, date, time, news, music, jokes, recipes, games, reminder, calendar, alarm clocks, timer, and to do list. Besides, it can be applied to education. We used Amazon echo dot and Alexa for English learning. An English learning skill named yoyo English was developed, which had eight popular lessons, including greetings, family members, colors, fruit, animals, body parts, time and seasons, transportation. Each lesson had 3 parts such as instruction, practices, and games. Students who took a course “English for Young Children” at a private university of technology tried the skill and provided their feedback about the new technology of artificial intelligence. We analyzed the feedback and suggestions, then offered limitations and future design suggestions.

The paper explores the possible knowledge transfer from the increasingly popular concepts Agile and Lean Startup in different industries towards managing projects and developing products in science and educational projects. The research goes through a literature analysis of the researched Agile and Lean Startup from their perspective of project management and product development methods. In the methodological part of the research, the common aspects of Agile and Lean Startup are elicited so they to be reviewed in the context of science and educational projects. The results of the study present the main ingredients and aspects of Agile and Lean Startup with interpretation of their possible application in science and education. The results show some good practices of knowledge transfer from Agile and Lean Startup to Science and educational project management for increasing these projects’ flexible management.

The combination of Virtual Reality (VR) and Gamification techniques can be used to produce fun applications, including virtual space and education content. A previous study developed a prototype interactive training application for Full-color Powder-Based three dimensional printing (3DP) in universities. The purpose of this study is to address problems encountered in the previous study related to teaching, training and practicing 3DP, including complicated operating processes, respiratory tract discomfort caused by the dust produced by the 3DP process, a lack of space in which to conduct multi-person training, and the high cost of consumables. This study therefore developed a 3DP virtual laboratory integrating immersive virtual reality technology and pedagogical 3DP content knowledge.

After user evaluation of the prototype, the authors decided to integrate gamification technologies into the 3DP virtual laboratory prototype, based on user recommendations of how to improve and enhance user motivation.

This study applies the systematic development phases of engineering gamified software in order to integrate the gamification into the 3DP virtual laboratory prototype. Moreover, user evaluations of the game elements designed for the prototype yielded positive feedback with further comments.

According to the National Literacy Trust, e-books have advantages in improving children’s reading abilities and attitudes. This action research was conducted in “English for Young Children” course of a private university in Taiwan. Students were taught the knowledge and skills of teaching young children English. Then they were encouraged to design and create their English-learning e-books using the Pixabay database and SIMMagic ebook software. Features of SIMMagic ebook included inserting photos, sounds, videos, links to google map/YouTube, puzzle, games, etc. Themes of English learning e-books included alphabets, colors, animals, transportations, food, family, body, sports, counting, fruit, and so forth. Students integrated text to speech technology, and created interactive and fun English-learning media. Overall, students had positive attitudes and experiences towards e-book creations. They also provided a feedback to improve the user interface of e-book software.

The refining process for the soybean candle inspired the knowledgeable fact of a science education. This article tries to use wax as a science course for a preschool education. First, we observe the basic properties of the object. Then, from the two perspectives of art and science, we explore the possible roles in early childhood teaching. From an artistic point of view, we find low-density and non-hydrophilic properties, and the wax will solidify after melting. Two proposals presented through creativity with these traits. Secondly, from a scientific point of view, the wax oil was guided by the sliver through the capillary phenomenon and burned during the combustion process. From black smoke generated during the process. it can be learned about chemical changes inside. After we understand the scientific background of non-hydrophilic materials, we propose two teaching proposals on the shape and non-hydrophilicity of the combustion flames for children.

After almost 500 children studying at a junior middle school in the city of Changzhou in Jiangsu province became sick with a range of illnesses. Investigations revealed the school had been built on polluted ground. The premises had been formerly occupied by three chemical pesticide factories, which left the ground toxic. After investigations, questions arose as to why the school was built there. This case presents the moral issues involved, including corruption, stakeholder rights, and corporate social responsibility.

Universities across the world are adopting entrepreneurial programs to meet the needs and challenges of the global economy. However, by accident or design, the entrepreneurial programs tend to focus almost exclusively on start-ups and do not necessarily encourage or enable corporate entrepreneurship (CE). Therefore, much of the content is not applicable in a corporate scenario, yet business students typically start working for established companies for initial positions or as continuation of graduate training. With the lack of corporate entrepreneurship modules in the entrepreneurial curriculum, business students are less prepared to enter the job market and incumbent organizations and miss out on opportunities to recruits with corporate entrepreneurship knowledge, skills, and abilities. This is unfortunate, as companies are also affected by the absence of next-generation leaders oriented to CE, which may contribute to the vulnerability of existing organizations facing increasingly dynamic environments. To address this knowledge deficiency and encourage future research on this important topic, we conducted 20 in-depth interviews with CE scholars, educators, and administrators. In this chapter, we synthesize a Corporate Entrepreneurship Education Framework and propose high-potential directions for future research.

While Learning Analytics has been widely used to improve learning experiences such as course content, activities, and assessments, it plays a significant role in providing data-driven insight into the efficacy of a program. This chapter sheds light on how big data can be used in curriculum development to ensure that the skills and competencies students learn at educational institutions align with those required in the current and future job market. By exploring three case studies in which big data has been utilized to revise and update curricula in different fields, this chapter suggests that big data allows curriculum designers to make data-driven decisions which leads to a higher rate of employability and satisfaction among students. This chapter also discusses the limitations and challenges of using big data in education.

Large Language Models (LLMs) are a type of artificial intelligence that has been revolutionizing various fields, including biomedicine. They have the capability to process and analyze large amounts of data, understand natural language, and generate new content, making them highly desirable in many biomedical applications and beyond. In this workshop, we aim to introduce the attendees to an in-depth understanding of the rise of LLMs in biomedicine, and how they are being used to drive innovation and improve outcomes in the field, along with associated challenges and pitfalls.

The global information glut, and rapid developments in electronic media and the World Wide Web (Web) within the last couple of decades, have brought about numerous changes to every society and economy. Recognizing this, the Singapore government envisaged a dire need for Singapore to be Information Technology (IT) equipped and skilled in every industry, beginning most importantly with education in schools. Specifically, the Ministry of Education (MOE) implemented rigorous plans for both schoolteachers and students to be outfitted with the necessary competencies. As a result, there ensued several educational reforms in schools. This paper gives an insight into the changes that have been taking place in the education system in Singapore with regard to the new policies on IT; an overview of the consequent challenges that teachers face and the changing roles that they have to assume; and finally a brief discussion on how these changes can be adopted more readily.

No abstract received.