International Journal of Higher Education

A warm welcome to all our regular audience and to those new to the journal! The IJHE focus is to publish innovative and impactful research articles at both undergraduate and graduate levels, in the fields of educational theory, teaching methods, instructional design, and student management. This issue is no exception with a strong focus on IT and how technology in general can assist those involved in higher education. We enjoy contributions from Germany, the USA, Spain, Israel, Thailand, China, the UAE, and Belgium.

Whilst we have weathered the COVID-19 disruption to varying degrees, we still live in times of global insecurity, violence and upheaval. Our role as educators never-the-less continues with challenges and situations we must manage in order to extend our message to students. The IJHE is proud to disseminate research findings that empower and may ameliorate some of the challenges we face in higher education.

The first article of this issue is from von Wachter and Lewalter who undertook a systematic literature review of 18 eligible studies published between 2014 and 2022, regarding the use of annotations, their implementation in teacher training, and their effect on the development of professional competencies as a result of using video annotations as a supporting tool for video-based learning. These studies confirmed that video annotations were generally used to perform one of three functions: feedback, communication, and documentation. Concurrently, they also enabled a deeper content knowledge of teaching, reflective skills, and professional vision, and facilitated social integration and recognition. The second article by Joshua Singer considered the job satisfaction and joy experienced by Special education teachers in the USA, despite being underfunded, overstressed, and burdened with societal and political pressures. He found that the highest levels of teacher job satisfaction was related to co-workers, but teacher joy was reported almost exclusively as a product of working closely with students. The third article examined whether games-based learning improved the motivation and the performance of students in the Degrees of Business Studies and Economics. The findings of Lloréns and Sánchez-Ballesta report that games-based learning helped to improve the motivation and performance of students, especially when they had an interest in advancing with their studies. The fourth article from Ben-Amram and Davidovitch examined the efficacy of an internship workshop combining simulations for teacher residents, and whether combining simulations in the workshop constituted a teacher training tool that bridged academia and the field, with regard to group cohesion and evaluation of personal functioning in the workshop. Their findings illuminate the importance of integrating simulations in internship workshops for teacher residents, which strengthens the association between academia and actual work at the school.

Panas Wongrattana created a model for developing excellence in quality of life for the ageing at elderly schools in the Northeast of Thailand. Six key components of an ‘excellent’ life quality for the elderly were identified: 1) vital environment, 2) physical health, 3) economic well-being, 4) social well-being, 5) mental and emotional well-being, and 6) spiritual or intellectual well-being. The study reported that all participants were more satisfied and happy than before. The sixth study from Changwu Wei explored the relationship among job demands, work engagement, work–life balance, and the well-being of Chinese college teachers. The findings indicated that work–life balance was a positive factor in promoting well-being; job demands negatively affected work–life balance; and work engagement positively affected work–life balance. The seventh article by Amal Al Yammahi from the UAE investigated the status of qualified Education Alumni who were unemployed, but interested in running their own businesses or taking a leadership role, particularly in the nursery sector. The study provided the alumni with an opportunity to widen their knowledge and take the initiative to save this sector, by joining an Entrepreneurship Mentorship Program (EMP). The findings recommend the development of remote workshops for graduates that promote the significance of starting up businesses, and taking leadership roles amongst women in the UAE. The final article in this issue is from Nauwelaerts, Doumen, and Verhaert who investigated the open-admission system of the Belgian higher education, specifically, the development of a new orientation tool to support teachers and the teacher board in their guiding role for high-school students transitioning to higher education. The orientation tool considered a student’s high school GPA, and the match between their chosen field of study in secondary school, and their intended/chosen Bachelor programme in higher education.

From all of us at the IJHE team, we hope you found this issue educative and of interest to your practice and studies. The ongoing high quality of the IJHE would not be possible without the tireless commitment and dedication of the editorial and publishing team, and I would like to personally thank them for their efforts. Until the next issue is June, all the best.