Preparing for the Future with Liberal Arts

Quality higher education plays a vital role in sustainable development by equipping graduates with knowledge, competencies, and skills required for economic and societal development. This study examined the relationship between instructional strategies and the employability skills of undergraduate students in the School of Art and Industrial Design at Kyambogo University, Uganda. Specifically, it investigated the relationships between cooperative teaching, collaborative teaching, inquiry/discovery learning, independent study, experiential (authentic) learning, project-based learning, and students’ employability skills. The study adopted a quantitative approach using a correlational research design. Data were collected from 378 third-year undergraduate students using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Pearson’s product-moment correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to determine the direction and statistical associations between instructional strategies and employability skills. Findings showed that cooperative teaching, inquiry/discovery learning, and experiential teaching had positive statistically significant associations with employability skills, whereas collaborative teaching had a negative statistical association. Independent study and project-based teaching had no statistically significant unique associations with employability skills. Inquiry/discovery teaching demonstrated the strongest statistical association with employability skills among the strategies examined. The study concluded that instructional strategies had different statistical associations with employability skills and that learner-centred approaches are most beneficial when they actively engage students in cooperative, inquiry-oriented, and authentic learning experiences aligned with intended graduate outcomes. The study recommended strengthening cooperative, inquiry, and experiential teaching through structured group tasks, inquiry-based activities, and authentic practical experiences. It further recommended improving the design and implementation of collaborative, independent, and project-based learning to enhance their contribution to graduate employability skills.

Over the last decade, there has been a visible surge of students participating in and leading different forms of activism. Following the cultural reckoning of 2020, the United States saw a rise in awareness and engagement in activism among young individuals. Continuing this trend, higher education institutions have seen an increase in on-campus demonstrations in recent years. Given the recent increase in activism, political engagement, and the globalization of social issues, this study examined how attitudes, beliefs, individual factors, and prior behaviors relate to undergraduate students’ willingness to engage in different forms of activism (i.e., conventional and high-risk). Across both forms of activism, institutional advocacy (i.e., the behavioral targeting of institutional racism) was the most consistent unique predictor of a student's willingness to engage in activism. Need for cognition and individual advocacy were significantly and positively related to conventional activism, whereas political orientation was negatively related to it. Social justice orientation was significantly and negatively related to high-risk activism.

This study addresses the critical deficiency in speaking skills among university students, a challenge primarily attributed to the reliance on traditional teaching methods and the limited time allocated for authentic verbal practice within the classroom. The research aims to construct a comprehensive theoretical framework for the Flipped Classroom strategy and identify the pedagogical and linguistic justifications for its implementation in developing speaking skills, while providing practical procedural recommendations for its integration into higher education. Adopting a descriptive-analytical approach through a critical review of educational literature, the findings reveal that the flipped model significantly enhances students' fluency, linguistic accuracy, and capacity for spontaneous expression. Furthermore, the model fosters increased motivation and active participation by granting learners the autonomy to progress at their own pace, as pre-class preparation helps mitigate "language anxiety" and bolsters confidence during real-time communicative interactions. Despite these advantages, the research identifies several implementation challenges, most notably the digital divide, potential cognitive overload, and the necessity for intensive faculty training in digital instructional design. Ultimately, the study concludes that the Flipped Classroom represents a fundamental philosophical shift that redefines educational roles, transforming class time from passive instruction into a dynamic "living linguistic laboratory" focused on intensive communicative practice.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the economic self-management strategies used by students of the Faculty of Business Sciences of the Technical University of Machala during their academic training; Interest in this study arose from the need to understand how students face economic difficulties that arise in their training. A mixed approach was applied and a survey was used on a representative sample of 367 students, identifying the main source of income for a part of the student population, evidencing alternatives to sustain their expenses and reduce their economic dependence. The most used strategies were observed when they go through difficult situations and if the income is sufficient to cover their expenses, reflecting the existence of limitations and conditioning the way of organizing their resources and decision making. Likewise, it was identified that students usually perceive an impact. in their academic performance. The results allowed us to understand the economic dynamics experienced by university students and provide information for the design of institutional strategies that contribute to strengthening permanence, well-being and academic success.

Short-term field trips enable learners to bridge the pedagogical gap between academic knowledge (theory) and the practicalities of their discipline in a real-world setting. In Ireland, there has been a dearth of empirical research into the essence of short-term field trips as a teaching and learning strategy for criminal justice students. The purpose of this article is to bridge that pedagogical gap through thematic analysis of qualitative data of student learning experiences in the context of a short-term field trip to an operational prison. Research findings based on semi-structured interviews with students who participated in the active learning experience show evidence of the essence of experiential learning activities which could not be achieved to the same level in academic seminars alone. In essence, students contextualise their academic (theory) knowledge, which is a catalyst for gaining a deep and flexible understanding. In consequence of the sensitive nature of the operational prison, and compliance with security protocols, some limitations were also reported by participants, notably the short-term duration of the field trip and the use of conventional methods of documenting active learning experiences was not possible. Keywords: higher education, participatory action research, experiential learning, short-term field trip, operational prison, reflection in action, reflection on action, thematic analysis of qualitative data