NUGSE Research in Education Journal. (2018) Volume 3. Issue 1

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    Balancing life and studies in a classroom without walls: graduate students’ perspectives on online learning
    (NUGSE Research in Education, 2018-06) Akhmetova, Dinara
    Technological advancements taking place in the 21st century are changing the ways in which classes are taught (Allen & Seaman, 2011). Education worldwide is reaching far beyond the four walls of classroom by offering courses online. This paper explores students’ perspectives on the quality of courses offered online by one Kazakhstani University, based on the advantages and challenges 12 master’s degree students faced while studying some courses online during two academic years of their enrollment. According to the results of this study, participants highlighted the flexibility of online education in pursuing their academic endeavors concurrently with other responsibilities as the main advantage. However, students were challenged in managing their time due to overlapping dates for submitting the tasks completed for online courses. Since the findings of the study have limited generalizability due to small size of population, several recommendations will be made for the future research.
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    Conducting large-scale collaborative research on higher education finance: an insider’s view
    (NUGSE Research in Education, 2018-06) Ippolitova, Mariya; Sanat, Aisulu; Serikbayeva, Sagida
    National-level reports and programs are written annually but it is rarely possible to talk to the people who actually worked on these documents and find out the story behind them. We were lucky to interview Dr. Ali Ait Si Mhamed, one of the main investigators in the research team on higher education sustainability, who prepared a chapter in the “Development of Strategic Directions for Education Reforms in Kazakhstan for 2015–2020” diagnostic report of 2016. In the current issue, you can find the executive summary of the report but in our editorial, we want to share some insights on the project. First, we asked Professor Ali to tell us a little bit about the project and the people who worked on it before delving into Dr. Ali’s views on education in general, and various facets of Kazakhstani education system in particular. In addition to getting an expert’s view on the current situation, we were interested in the ways to improve the country’s higher education financing system. We ended our interview by asking for a few pieces of advice for young researchers who would like to work on state-level research projects.
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    Enrichment clusters: educating for the real world
    (NUGSE Research in Education, 2018-06) Adilzhanova, Lyutsiya; Ixanova, Ulyana; Kaus, Alyona
    Over the last three decades, there has been a dramatic change in the expectations the society holds about compulsory education. Contemporary education is expected to cultivate highorder thinking as well as to develop life skills and functional literacy in school graduates. However, public satisfaction and student performance on international testing are far below these expectations. Enrichment clusters (EC), which are group projects aimed to connect students to address real-life issues, could be an alternative solution to bridge the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that schools provide. This paper, therefore, aims to justify the importance of life skills education, to highlight the necessity to improve the quality of Kazakhstani secondary education, to compare two current models of life skills education, and to argue for EC to become an integral part of the secondary school curriculum to promote functional literacy.
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    In defense of the student-centered approach: responding to a critical review
    (NUGSE Research in Education, 2018-06) Akimenko, Olessya
    What can be more rewarding than having your article published and read? It is, of course, having it critiqued. I do think that if your work has motivated others to think and create something of their own, writing it was not in vain. Therefore, I was extremely delighted to see a critical response to my article in the December 2017 edition of NUGSERIE, written by Serik Ivatov. In my opinion, this is a very well-written article, which makes many valuable points. However, as having academic discourse is almost as enjoyable as writing articles, I have decided to address some of the comments Ivatov makes in his article. In his critical response, Ivatov gradually analyzes the main points that have been made in the article, as well as gives his suggestions regarding the areas that could be improved. In this article I will follow the same order to make it easier for readers to review both articles.
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    MOOCs in Kazakhstan: internationalization and digitization of higher education
    (NUGSE Research in Education, 2018-06) Kavashev, Zulyar
    There is a shortage of data in about the role massive open online courses (MOOCs) play in internationalizing the sphere of higher education in Kazakhstan. This paper aims to explore the ways Open University Kazakhstan (OpenU), the country’s first online university, is using MOOCs to foster internationalization within the “Digital Kazakhstan” policy initiative. The case of OpenU has been carefully studied by means of interviews and written reflections with the university team, and the results of this research indicate that the OpenU can be considered a pioneer university of MOOC introduction in Kazakhstan. By gaining awareness of issues related to MOOC integration and by taking well-educated actions forward, higher education institutions (HEIs) will be able to promote Kazakhstani educational programs, which are taught online by locally experienced professors to students around the world. Consequently, it will likely attract more international students by creating new online students’ mobility programs. This exploratory study highlights the potential benefits and drawbacks of this trend, which is situated at the intersection of economics, education, technology and language development in Kazakhstan.
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    University sustainability in relation to higher education funding model in Kazakhstan in the context of transition period
    (NUGSE Research in Education, 2018-06) Mhamed, Ali Ait Si; Ibrasheva, Alima; Kasa, Rita; Nurmagambetov, Amantay; Sagintayeva, Aida; Vossensteyn, Hans
    For the past four years, the international team of Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education’s researchers and faculty members has jointly worked with local policy makers, practitioners and stakeholders on the diagnostic analysis of priority areas of the current educational reforms in Kazakhstan. With the official title of Development of Strategic Directions for Education Reforms in Kazakhstan for 2015–2020, the Project has been informally recognized as the Roadmap group. The research project has aimed to provide analytical support for the development and implementation of national policies across different sectors of education.
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    Welcome letter from the editor
    (NUGSE Research in Education, 2018-06) Montgomery, D. Philip
    During a faculty meeting in the spring of 2015, NUGSE professors brainstormed ways that students could gain more experience participating in research and sharing their work on a wider scale. The idea for this journal came out of that meeting and subsequent discussions with faculty, students, and alumni over the next year. Now we celebrate our fifth issue, beginning our third year as the first English-language, student-run, peer-review journal in Kazakhstan. In that time, we have grown and established a working model for a successful journal...