American Journal of Educational Research

This study focuses on the poor and deteriorating quality of education in the Third World countries in relation to Cross-border in higher education (CBHE), as a result of colonisation and globalisation. By whatever standards, be they macroeconomic or social variable, the situation has been precipitous retrogression. Debt servicing obligation is on the increase. The subject is approached by application of conceptual analysis of colonialism, human capital theories, globalisation, and internationalisation. The emerging issues of participation, mobility, the growth of private institutions, finance & quality and consequent challenges in area of digital divide, etc on the region are historically analysed. Findings reveal that participation and mobility are lopsided, Africa’s talented brains are selected; they leave and never come back. Private institutions are on the increase and exorbitant fees are charged. Inequalities loom, only the rich send their children to school. The paper recommends accommodation of countries not benefiting from CBHE.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2013, 1(1), 11-15. DOI: 10.12691/education-1-1-3
Pub. Date: February 01, 2013

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Universal Pre-Primary Education: A Comparative Study

by M. N. Haque, S. Nasrin, M. N. Yesmin and M. H. A. Biswas

Original Research

Pre-primary education has become popular strategy to protection drop-out from formal education of children all over the world. Early Childhood Development (ECD) and pre-primary education are widely recognized as having a significant impact on the performance of children in basic education programmes. Pre-primary education would ensure a smooth transition to the primary education and lay the foundation for lifelong learning. Development of a child begins within the family and mostly depends on the parents. Educated parents are able to prepare their child for the smooth entry into formal education but no doubt uneducated parents are unable to do this. To apposite develop of a country education is crying need. So protection drop-out from formal education of child is most necessary for a nation. For this reason pre-primary education is especially important for a nation. In this article we have investigated the role of various governments such as India, Argentina, Nigeria, EU countries etc in pre-primary schooling. Our main objective in this paper is to study, analyze and compare the activities of the government of Bangladesh and NGOs in pre-primary sector with others mentioned above. This paper focuses on the importance of pre-primary schooling in Bangladesh with respect of others developed and underdeveloped countries.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2013, 1(1), 31-36. DOI: 10.12691/education-1-1-7
Pub. Date: February 07, 2013

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Bar-Coded Enterobacteria: An Undergraduate Microbial Ecology Laboratory Module

by Thao Le, James Trexel, Alexandra Brugler, Kristina Tiebel, Yukari Maezato, Brian Robertson and Paul Blum

Original Research

Microbial community ecology is an area of rapid growth centered within the larger discipline of microbiology. Newly developed research methods using molecular strategies have transformed this area into an accessible research topic. Despite such advances, transmission of this topic into pedagogical form has lagged behind. To improve this situation, an undergraduate research team created an artificial microbial community for class room use. They used color-coded enterobacterial taxa transformed with broad-host range plasmids that encoded green fluorescent protein color variants. Using this instructional tool, a class room teaching module was developed about microbial fitness. Over a multi-semester period, the module was introduced into a conventional microbiology curriculum and refined. The learning outcomes for this module include; understanding community composition, that the members of a community can respond in different ways to external events and, that these responses can be used to measure fitness. Learning outcomes were measured through pre and post testing and indicated a gain in understanding about microbial communities.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2013, 1(1), 26-30. DOI: 10.12691/education-1-1-6
Pub. Date: February 04, 2013

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Prevalence and Gender Ratio of Dyslexia in Greek Adolescents and Its Association with Parental History and Brain Injury

by F. Vlachos, E. Avramidis, G. Dedousis, M. Chalmpe, I. Ntalla and M. Giannakopoulou

Original Research

Dyslexia is the most common and carefully studied of the learning disabilities in school-age children. It is characterized by a marked impairment in the development of reading skills, and affects a large number of people. The prevalence of dyslexia shows considerable cross-national variation. Additionally, a plethora of research studies have indicated that there are more boys than girls with reading difficulties. The aim of this study was to identify the frequency and gender ratio of dyslexia in a sample of Greek adolescents and their siblings. 598 secondary school students (Mean age 13.33, SD = 1.49) who attended mainstream public schools participated in this study. The prevalence of dyslexia in this study was estimated at 5.52%, a finding consistent with the data from other countries with “pure” orthographies. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in the prevalence of dyslexia between gender (7.6% male, 3.8% female), which means that boys were twice as likely to be identified as dyslexic than their female peers. Additionally, statistically significant differences were observed between dyslexics who had a parent suffering from dyslexia (15.1%), compared to normal readers (1.8%), but no differences were observed between the two groups as for the frequency of brain injuries. Overall, our findings are in accordance with the results of previous national studies indicating the universal existence and the biological basis of this developmental disability.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2013, 1(1), 22-25. DOI: 10.12691/education-1-1-5
Pub. Date: February 04, 2013

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Open Doors and Clear Boundaries: Mentorship in the Changing Context of Graduate Medical Education

by Jennifer M. Charlesworth, Sarah Knudson and Mary V. Seeman

Original Research

Effective mentorship can mean the difference between success and failure in any career. We set out to examine mentorship (the student-supervisor relationship) of graduate students in a Medical Faculty. Themes were extracted from taped and transcribed focus group data gathered at an intervention workshop held for students and supervisors of the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto in November 2010. This was supplemented with 6 in-depth, semi-structured, 60 minute interviews with students and supervisors completed in spring 2012. Three important themes needed for effective mentorship were extracted: 1) on-going, frank, informal communication, 2) mutually understood, evolving boundaries that address needs of students and supervisors and 3) supportive independence for students permitting growth and development. In conclusion, graduate faculties must develop and implement policies that encourage mentorship-friendly environments in order to ensure faculty accountability to students while, at the same time, avoiding rigid, bureaucratic approaches to graduate supervision.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2013, 1(1), 16-20. DOI: 10.12691/education-1-1-4
Pub. Date: January 27, 2013

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Game as a Main Strategy in Language Education

by Ilka Lyubenova Birova

Original Research

This article is dedicated to a problem in language education – using game as a basic strategy in learning process of all age learners. The author describes main features of game as a learning method and its advantages in comparison with traditional methods. Game sustains student motivation and interest and makes education effective and pleasant. In the paper a short presentation of Suggestopedia is given, an efficient method created by Bulgarian scientist Dr G. Lozanov (1926-2012), which is based on game. In the article some terms used in language education are also discussed.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2013, 1(1), 6-10. DOI: 10.12691/education-1-1-2
Pub. Date: January 29, 2013

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Student Leadership Development and Orientation: Contributing Resources within the Liberal Arts

by Michael D. Thompson

Original Research

Research in higher education on leadership development and attributes has primarily concentrated on students currently engaged in campus experiences and programs (e.g., student government, volunteerism) that emulate leadership positions and opportunities that carry over to societal equivalencies. Thus, students who are not active in leadership activities are rarely assessed regarding their leadership-related development, perspectives, or preferences. The central purpose of this study is to explore students’ disposition regarding leadership etiquette, behavior, and method in the context of leadership process theory. Using the Leadership Attitudes and Beliefs Scale III, how students think about leadership, irrespective of their perceived experience in leadership-based activities or positions, will be examined within the context of contributing university resources.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2013, 1(1), 1-5. DOI: 10.12691/education-1-1-1
Pub. Date: January 27, 2013

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