Seminars 2007 — Abstracts

Friday, September 28

Speaker: Helen Kandilorou, Athens

Title: A Latent Variable Model for Skills in Studying: The Case of Sophomore Greek Students of Economic and Business Studies

Abstract: Demand for higher education in Europe has been increasing since the last quarter of the twentieth century. The resulting increased competition, coupled with an increasingly growing proportion of knowledge intensive work, has lead to what is mandatory for today’s working life: not only a strong grasp of relevant knowledge, but also a set of diversified skills to critically select, acquire, and use new knowledge. Against this background, the paper challenges educational systems to combat stifling their students’ life goals by assisting their efforts to develop skills in studying and learning so that they can take full advantage of their university studies. In this paper a latent variable model is constructed to analyse the direct and indirect relationships between studying skills, educational performance, socioeconomic status, family oppression and personal stress of sophomores in economic and business sciences. The maximum likelihood estimates reveal a non-skill oriented educational system. This work underlines an urgent need to reform the curricula and the fundamental teaching and grading methodologies.