This paper analyses the global university rankings introduced by Times Higher Education (THE) in partnership with Thomson Reuters in 2010 after the magazine ended its association with its former data provider Quacquarelli Symonds. The distinctive features of the new rankings included a new procedure for determining the choice and weighting of the various indicators, new criteria for inclusion in and exclusion from the rankings, a revised academic reputation survey, the introduction of an indicator that attempted to measure innovation, the addition of a third measure of internationalization, the use of several indicators related to teaching, the bundling of indicators into groups, and most significantly, the employment of a very distinctive measure of research impact with an unprecedentedly large weighting. The rankings met with little enthusiasm in 2010 but by 2014 were regarded with some favour by administrators and policy makers despite the reservations and criticisms of informed observers and the unusual scores produced by the citations indicator. In 2014, THE announced that the partnership would come to an end and that the magazine would collect its own data. There were some changes in 2015 but the basic structure established in 2010 and 2011 remained intact.

In today’s demanding academic environment, academic leaders need to be well equipped with stress management coping strategies as they often find themselves in challenging situations and responsibilities. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the stress management coping strategies used by academic leaders in an institution of higher learning located in Selangor, Malaysia. A mixed-methods research design was employed and the sample population involved 46 academic leaders from a public university. Data were collected using a questionnaire and semistructured interviews. The quantitative data were statistically analyzed using SPSS while the qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The findings showed that a majority of the academic leaders opted towards positive problem-focused engagement strategies such as cognitive restructuring and problem solving strategies followed by emotion-focused engagement which included expressing emotion and social support strategies. Besides that, academic leaders did confess that they sometimes do use disengagement strategies such as wishful thinking, problem avoidance and self-criticism coping strategies but they stressed that they faced problems and stress in a positive and constructive manner. The findings of this study imply that academic leaders in this study are engaged and well informed of stress coping strategies. However, it is recommended that top management in institutions of higher learning take the initiatives in providing necessary support to academic leaders by educating them on stress management coping strategies.

This study explored the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and self-regulated learning (SRL) in learning English. Using simple random sampling, 189 male and female undergraduate students were selected. These students were pursuing a general English course in Islamic Azad University of Marvdasht, Iran. The Emotional Intelligence Inventory (EQI, Bar-On, 1997) and Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ, Pintrich, 1991) were used to collect data. The results showed that there was a significant and positive relationship between EI and SRL. There was also a significant and positive relationship between EI and motivation as well as learning strategies scales. EI was also positively and significantly correlated with learning strategies subscales including resource management, cognitive and metacognitive strategies as well as motivation subscales except test anxiety.

Statistics may be viewed as an intimidating subject for students in universities and a stumbling block for researchers to complete their research projects. Nevertheless, researchers at Harvard University view statisticians as one of the most promising jobs for the next ten years. Henceforth, statistics should be seen as a chance for a better future. According to Calson, Keith and Winquist (2011), “what students do and how they think about what they did determine whether a given active learning approach will be successful” (p. 3). Therefore, a product referred to as the EzyStat3Q Model which is a hands-on guide developed by the writers of this paper to lead university students and researchers to learn the tricks of statistics quickly through a multi modal approach is evaluated. EzyStat3Q Model is a quick and interactive learning model which comprises MOOCs, Mobile App, Interactive Multimedia PowerPoint, e-Book, and Quick Learning Print Module. This creative statistical learning model is expected to lead university students and researchers to learn the tricks of statistics quickly. This model utilizes the concept of multimodality and built-in quick references to trigger active learning through a constructivist approach among students and lecturers in the learning and teaching of statistics. In order to obtain feedback from users, a descriptive research was conducted with two intact groups of 45 masters students at the Faculty of Education of a public university in Malaysia. The data collected via questionnaires were analysed descriptively to identify mean and standard deviation for each item. Besides that, qualitative data from the interviews with five students were used to support the quantitative data collected from questionnaires.The findings indicated the EzyStats3Q Model App has acquired certain levels of quality in terms of ease of use, user interface, audience appeal, effectiveness, presentation, program content, and documentation. The paper has identified some important implications and recommendations for the improvement of this product at a higher level.

Students in their transition between primary school and secondary school are likely to experience adaptation issues in terms of teaching approaches and perceptions towards the new curriculum. Teachers’ effort in assisting the students to adapt to the change becomes easier if they are provided with information about the students’ attitude towards the new learning experience. This study investigated students’ attitudes towards the learning of mathematics. An attitude scale instrument was distributed to 63 Form One students who participated in the study. The overall findings revealed that most of the students showed moderate positive attitude towards mathematics. This has implications for higher education institutions involved in the training of mathematics teachers.

This study looked at types of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) that matriculation students frequently applied and their level of use of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) categories. Data was collected through a questionnaire from a sample of 140 matriculation students. Strategies of guessing textual contexts, asking classmates for meaning of new words, studying spelling of new words, interacting with fluent speakers, verbally repeating new words, listening to English songs and watching English television programmes or movies were found as the most frequently used vocabulary learning strategies among these students. Meanwhile, vocabulary learning strategies category with the highest level of use was metacognitive-consolidation strategies while social consolidation strategies was the vocabulary learning strategies category with the lowest level of use. Among the implications of this study are it provides suggestions to improve vocabulary learning among ESL matriculation students and gives input to English language instructors about vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) among ESL matriculation students. It can also further understanding on vocabulary instruction that can be inculcated in post-secondary educational institutions.