NUGSE Research in Education Journal. (2016) Volume 1. Issue 1
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Open Access Welcome Letter from the Editorial Board(NUGSE Research in Education, 2016-06) Kozhabayeva, Kamila; Sanat, AisuluAs American writer, political activist, and the first special needs woman in history to get a bachelor’s degree, Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Truly, each member of the NUGSERIE editorial board contributed a brick to establish a solid base for this journal. Below, we would like to share our voices, so that you have an idea what we have gained from this extraordinary experience. The following paragraphs are collated and edited responses from our Editorial Board: two MSc students, two MA students, two PhD students, two alumni, and two faculty members.Item Open Access Welcome letter from the editor(NUGSE Research in Education, 2016-06) Montgomery, PhilipScholarly research is as much a science as it is an art. The articles presented in this inaugural issue of NUGSE Research in Education reflect the high academic and ethical standards of educational research and policy analysis. All of our authors have completed graduate or postgraduate courses in research methods and educational policy studies. They have chosen and researched the topics themselves, topics which are relevant to education in Kazakhstan and which deserve a wider audience. This critical and analytical inquiry can and will bring positive change to schools, universities and governmental organizations, by placing value on passionate intellectual curiosity and meticulous evidence-based decision-making. The very act of writing, reviewing and editing these articles, we hope, will encourage students to tackle the big problems and wrestle with the big ideas in their field.Item Open Access Publication tips from NUGSE faculty(NUGSE Research in Education, 2016-06) Baigazina, Altyn; Gapbassova, LyazatHenry Ford once wisely noted, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success”. This quote accurately mirrors the team spirit that has inspired and fueled the creation of the first peer-reviewed student-led journal at Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education. Indeed, the first issue of Research in Education has received tremendous support from NUGSE faculty and the student community, who have willingly taken the initiatives to become peer-reviewers, editors, proofreaders, administrators, designers, writers and authors. This has been a long learning process for all of us, and in this editorial we have collected tips from our contributors for future authors. These recommendations explain how to nail down your research hunch, how to present convincing argumentation in your writing and turn it into a solid paper. In addition, our contributors will help you to clarify what publishing ethics you might want to consider to make your paper look substantial and share their experience on how to navigate through the rigorous publishing process for success.Item Open Access The role of language policies in developing plurilingual identities in kazakhstan(2016-06) Syzdykbayeva, RizagulKazakhstan is a multicultural country that conducts democratic policy towards every ethnic group living there; therefore, major language policy documents raise the importance of maintaining and developing all languages in Kazakhstan. Moreover, raising Kazakh, Russian and English speaking plurilinguals is seen as a key factor for establishing peace and reciprocity among all nations. This paper reviews how language policies contribute to the development of plurilingual individuals in Kazakhstan, and analyzes their role as major drivers for promoting a multilingual society. It also focuses on language policies along with ensuing initiatives through the lenses of historic roots, socio- political context, and outcomes.Item Open Access Quality of education in Kazakhstani universities: real or not real?(NUGSE Research in Education, 2016-06) Kovaleva, LyudmilaThe quality of education in the sector of higher education has been one of the key priorities of the government for the last decade. In order to assure the quality of education and produce highly qualified human resources, the country needs to have an effective tool for assessing the activities of higher education institutions. Successful international experiences and the need to integrate into the European Higher Education Area urged Kazakhstan to introduce the procedure of external accreditation by independent quality assurance agencies. To understand the effectiveness of the external accreditation in the framework of Kazakhstani context, there is a need to contemplate the issues of the general concept of quality, overall procedure of quality assurance as well as its strong and weak points. While there are ongoing debates about the efficiency of quality assurance agencies and their impact on quality of education, it is important to realize that the internal quality within universities cannot be assured by the means of external review alone. In summary, this article argues that the process of assuring the quality of education in Kazakhstani institutions has to be a cooperative attempt of both quality assurance agencies and educational organizations. Therefore, the culture of quality and attitudes of society, policy-makers and universities towards quality assurance agencies is an important issue for discussion.Item Open Access Academic mobility and the labor market(NUGSE Research in Education, 2016-06) Jumabayeva, ZhannaThe current study is aimed to better understand the concept of academic mobility and identify its labor market outcomes in the context of Kazakhstan. The paper considers whether mobility is an advantage for the domestic employment market and whether it enhances graduates’ employability. The researcher also investigates whether in Kazakhstan students’ participation in the international programs, particularly the Bolashak International Scholarship of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, affects their employment upon completion of their studies. This investigation indicates that increasingly large numbers of students continue to study abroad despite the lack of clear evidence supporting the gains graduates have in finding jobs. This suggests that students who return are not necessarily guaranteed with ideal jobs upon their graduation. Just because someone studied abroad, the competition for them does not disappear: work experience can have a higher priority. Hence, the results of this study showed that the Bolashak program is not always a ticket to a better future, at least in the short term.Item Open Access The benefits of blogging(2016-06) Yessenova, AisaraBlogging is an unconventional way for students to hone their academic writing skills. Blogs are "a chronological publication in which personal thoughts and opinions are posted" (Lai & Chen, 2011, p. 948). The introduction of blog writing to the Advanced English course spurred the enhancement of students' argumentative essay writing. This progress in developing one's own sense of style and voice corresponds with the research findings by Warschauer (1997) and Montgomery (2015), who claim that the writing of student bloggers becomes more natural, reflective, and versatile.Item Open Access Experiencing inclusion in higher education: a student perspective on Nazarbayev University practices and lessons drawn from U.S. policies(2016-06) Abdykaimov, ZiyatAs the first Nazarbayev University (NU) student with special needs, I am currently researching emerging practices and policies of inclusion at NU. In this editorial I take an opportunity to reflect on my nearly year-long study experience at NU and present some lessons learned from the U.S. policies and practices of inclusion based on an investigation of the disability support system at University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the NU's strategic partners. I proceed from the premise that based on its model of partnership with top international universities, NU could collaborate with UW-Madison and bring lessons learned to its own practices of inclusion.