Prof. Kelum A.A. Gamage
Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA)
University of Glasgow, UK

Speech Title: Transnational Education Sector: Emerging Opportunities, Challenges and Trends

Abstract: Demand for transnational education programmes has remained relatively steady over the years, but with the current pandemic circumstances, significant changes in student numbers can be seen in the transnational education sector. This paper explores the past, present and future direction of the transnational education sector and investigates and identifies the impacts of the pandemic on the transnational education sector. We identify the challenges of a post-pandemic era, which has resulted in long-term changes to the global higher education landscape. Transnational Education engagement can benefit students, overseas partners, and UK universities, and it is critical to investigate trends and challenges to ensure that transnational academic program partners can adapt to the environment and reap the benefits. It highlights students pursuing a transnational education programme as a more sustainable approach to obtaining an international degree compared to leaving their home country for a period of higher education abroad.

Bio: Prof. Kelum Gamage (BSc, PhD, PgCAP, CEng, PFHEA, FIET, FRSA, SMIEEE) is a Full Professor in the James Watt School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow and a winner of the University of Glasgow Teaching Excellence Individual Award (2020/21). He is the Learning & Teaching Enhancement Officer of the College of Science and Engineering and the Co-Director of the Centre for Educational Development and Innovation. He is an academic accreditor and Professional Registration Advisor (PRA) of the IET. Prof. Gamage is the Scotland member of the Advisory Group for the Engineering Subject Benchmark Statement (lead by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education) and also an assessor of the Designated Quality Body in England (DQB). He is the lead editor of "The Wiley Handbook of Sustainability in Higher Education Learning and Teaching" (ISBN: 978-1-119-85283-4). Prof. Gamage is the Editor-in-Chief for the STEM Education Section of the Education Sciences Journal (Publisher: MDPI, Switzerland, ISSN 2227-7102).
Prof. Gamage has gained the highest level of professional recognition for teaching and supporting learning in higher education, becoming a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA). He is also a Chartered Engineer (CEng) of the Engineering Council (UK), a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (SMIEEE).

Prof. Ravinder Koul
Fulbright Senior Specialist
The Pennsylvania State University, USA

Speech Title: Gendered Patterns in Engineering Identities, Participation, and Persistence in Engineering Fields

Abstract: In 2022, the percentages of women enrolled in undergraduate engineering degree programs in the top 11 universities in Thailand were 25% for computer engineering, 22% for electrical engineering, 19% for civil engineering, and 13% for mechanical engineering (Thai Office of the Higher Education Commission, 2022). This data is indicative of the underrepresentation of women in engineering programs in universities across the world and the gender gap that continues to persist in some of the STEM fields. There have been education policy and research efforts undertaken globally to enhance gender equity in engineering education (Ong et al., 2020).

This paper begins with an overview of research literature from different motivational perspectives on gender differences in engineering identities, participation, and persistence in engineering fields. The paper presents results of a comparative analysis of gender differences in academic identities and occupational interests and goals of public high school students in central Thailand and undergraduate students enrolled in engineering programs at a public institution of higher education in the same geographical region. The paper concludes with proposing theoretical and practical implications of findings for gender-based equity in engineering fields.

Bio: Dr. Koul is a Professor of Education (Science Education) at The Pennsylvania State University, USA. Dr. Koul’s research and teaching have developed with three learner-centered themes: 1) Cultural aspects in motivation and learning, 2) Mastery goals and motivation for teaching and learning, and 3) Equity issues in teaching and learning. His recent research has focused on gender equity in the participation and persistence of students in STEM fields across national cultures and cultural factors that promote or hinder curriculum reform efforts and the effectiveness of professional development for teachers. Dr. Koul was a recipient of Fulbright Senior Specialist Awards in 2010 and 2013 and has been recognized by Pennsylvania State University for his international work. Dr. Koul is the Lead Faculty for the STEM education graduate program offered through Penn State’s World Campus.

 

Prof. Shuo Zhao
Fellow of New York Academy of Sciences
Communication University of China, China

Speech Title: On Digital Education of European Universities in Post-pandemic Era

Abstract: After COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, online education has been basically started in all education stages around the world. From a global perspective, the model of using digital media for education and teaching has become an irreversible education trend. The digitization degree of British universities is in the leading position in the world. Taking the digital teaching practice of three British universities as case study the research analyzes the digital teaching achievements of British universities in post-pandemic era and compares current situation of digital education in China and UK, so as to provide reference and enlightenment for applying digital teaching in more universities of the world.

Bio: Dr. Shuo Zhao is Professor in Communication University of China (CUC) and Fellow of New York Academy of Sciences while he is guest professor/PhD Superviser in University of Malaya(UM), Krirk University of Thailand and visiting professor in Universidad Nacional de Rosario(UNR) in Argentina.
He received his two Ph.D in Shanghai International Studies University and Northwestern Polytechnical University. He did his Postdoctoral Research both in Fudan University, Shanghai of China and Universitat of Barcelona, Barcelona of Spain. He is majored in higher education, digital education and applied linguistics.
Professor Shuo Zhao ever presides over National Social Science Fund in China, China Postdoctoral Science Fund, Humanities and Social Science Fund of Chinese Ministry of Education, National Education Science Program. He publishes more than 100 papers and articles approximately.
He is awarded as International Humanity Scholar by American Common Ground Publishing and CEU of Spain in 2014. In addition he is awarded as Emerging Humanity Scholar by American Common Ground Publishing and Imperial College London in 2017. Recently he is awarded as Emerging Scholar by Universidad Complutense of Spain in 2021, Emerging Scholar by University of Aegean of Greece in 2022, Emerging Scholar by University of Sorbonne of France in 2023.

Assoc. Prof. Yang Chen

Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), China

Bio: Yang Chen is currently an associate professor in the college of humanity and social sciences of Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), China. She received her bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Communication University of China, master’s degree in digital media from Harbin Institute of Technology, China, and doctoral degree in computer graphics technology with a concentration in human-computer interaction from Purdue University, USA. Her research interests include social media, user experience, environmental communication, and educational gamification. As principal investigator, she has undertaken funded research projects on gamified pro-environmental communication, gamification in second language acquisition, and big data and education resources, which were funded by national/provincial social science foundations. She has publications in international journals including International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, sustainability, and International Journal of Language, Literature and Linguistics. She also published in international conferences such as ICBDE, ICESS, ICIET, WCEEE, and ELEARN. In addition, she serves as a reviewer for several prestigious international journals (such as Information, Communication & Society, Information Processing and Management, Social Media and Society, Behaviour & information Technology, and Interacting with Computers) and international conferences in the fields of social media, technology, and education.

Dr. Shahzad Ashraf

NFC Institute of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan

Bio: SHAHZAD ASHRAF received B.E. degree in Computer Systems Engineering, and M.E. in Communication System and Networks from Mehran Engineering & Technology University, Jamshoro Pakistan in 2004, and 2014 respectively. He secured Ph.D degree from Hohai University Changzhou China in 2020. At present, he associates with NFC Institute of Engineering and Technology Multan, Pakistan. His area of interest includes Wireless sensor communication, Underwater routing, Computer graphics and architecture, Computer Networks, Grid and distributed computing and Computer hardware. He is an active reviewer and member of technical committee of more than 70 renowned international journals and conference proceedings including IEEE and ACM. He is associate editor of more than five renowned international journals.

Dr. Dan Michael A. Cortez

University of the City of Manila, Philippines

Speech Title: An Enhancement of SMOTE Algorithm Using Heron- Centroid Approach and Noise Mitigation

Abstract: The performance of any classification algorithm is determined not only by the quality of the classifier itself, but also the quality of data to be used. Most data are imbalanced, meaning the different class instances have varying ratios which poses a challenge for classification performance. Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) algorithm is an oversampling technique that deals with data imbalance by generating synthetic data instances by linearly interpolating between the minority class instances. However, the SMOTE Algorithm has certain limitations as it has a potential to overfit the classification model. The proposed method utilizes a triangle centroid method for the synthesis of new minority class instances. Heron’s formula will also be used for the proposed method to be able to determine the distribution density of the data instances, as well as use a triangular noise mitigation technique to reduce the propagation of noisy data instances. Results of simulation on publicly available medical datasets show that Heron-Centroid SMOTE improved SMOTE across all performance metrics and beating both ‘Imbalanced’ tests and SMOTE on most datasets, with mean F- score of 0.5792, and an average G-mean of 0.6398.

Bio: DR. DAN MICHAEL A. CORTEZ is currently the Assistant Vice President for University Priorities at PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA. He is also the Chairperson of the Computer Science Department. He has ten (10) years of teaching experience.
He graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. He also obtained his Master of Science in Information and Communications Technology degree from the same university. He finished his Doctor in Information Technology from Technological Institute of the Philippines-Quezon City Campus.
He is a member of the Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators (PSITE-NCR) and the Computing Society of the Philippines. He is also an author of various books and has already published his research in the field of Information Technology, both locally and internationally. His research interest is more on cryptography and Data Mining.