Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101729

Authors: Khouloud Zabaneh Tannas Dorit Aram Margalit Ziv

Interactions with young children provide an important context for early literacy development. Although many of these interactions occur within the family, little is known about older siblings’ literacy interactions with younger siblings or how they compare with mothers’ interactions with the younger sibling within the same family. Using a game-based literacy activity, this study compared mother–preschooler and older sibling–preschooler interactions in terms of literacy mediation, dyadic quality, and playfulness, and examined associations among these interaction characteristics. Participants were 80 Palestinian preschoolers (ages 5–6), their mothers, and older siblings (ages 7–9). Each dyad played a structured literacy-bowling game involving constructing words using lettered pins. Mothers showed higher levels of literacy mediation (Grapho-Phonemic and spelling mediation). Regarding the dyadic aspects of the interaction, mothers displayed greater positivity, and preschoolers showed higher levels of positive engagement and dyadic reciprocity during interactions with their mothers. During interactions with older siblings, preschoolers displayed higher levels of negativity and negative behavior. Finally, regarding playfulness, siblings showed higher levels of playfulness. Significant cross-dyad associations emerged for several interaction features. Within both interaction types, greater playfulness was associated with higher positivity, positive engagement, and reciprocity, and with lower negativity and child-negative behavior. These findings highlight mothers and older siblings as distinct yet interconnected literacy partners within the family. Together, the findings broaden the study of the home literacy environment beyond parent–child interactions and underscore the importance of considering older siblings as meaningful contributors to young children’s early literacy experiences.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101728

Authors: Sherif Welsen

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) can support self-regulated learning (SRL), but its pedagogical value depends on whether interaction elicits learner cognition or substitutes for it. This study examined how students’ reported use of GenAI corresponded to an intended question-first coaching design, the perceived processes and tensions associated with SRL, and conditions relevant to potential scale. A qualitatively driven embedded case study utilized 31 reflective portfolios as the primary dataset, complemented by 53 survey responses and 68 weekly logs from 12 maximum-variation cases. Abductive, reflexive thematic analysis generated five themes. Question-led interaction appeared most useful when it prompted problem reframing, led to a bounded evidence-producing action, and preserved learner judgment through evaluation, modification, or rejection of AI suggestions. Benefits were qualified by role drift, generic interaction, cognitive substitution, uneven engagement, and continued need for human support. The findings support a distributed coaching-system interpretation in which AI-supported elicitation, pedagogical scaffolding, learner agency, reported AI-role configuration, and function-specific human support interact. The study does not demonstrate institutional scalability; instead, it identifies scale-relevant conditions including sustained engagement, manageable scaffolding, role boundaries, safety, learner judgment, and routes to human expertise.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101727

Authors: Chihhsin Chen Meihsiu Chuo Chih-Hung Chung Yen-Ling Chen

Parent–child shared reading supports early language and literacy development, but favorable beliefs do not always translate into sustained, high-quality interaction. This cross-sectional study examined how four perceived barriers—time constraints, resource limitations, uncertainty about reading methods, and digital media interference—were associated with parents’ interactive shared-reading behavior and whether barriers were indirectly associated with behavior through parental attitudes. The analysis was informed by expectancy–value reasoning, with the barrier dimensions treated as cost-like constraints rather than as direct measures of the expectancy–value cost construct. Survey data from 309 parents and primary caregivers of preschool children in Taiwan were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with a two-stage reflective–formative higher-order construct. Parents endorsed shared reading strongly (M = 3.41 on a four-point scale) but reported more moderate interactive practice (M = 2.71). Perceived barriers were associated with less favorable attitudes (β = −0.349, p < 0.001) and lower interactive shared-reading behavior (β = −0.407, p < 0.001), whereas attitudes were positively associated with behavior (β = 0.369, p < 0.001). The model explained 40.6% of the variance in behavior. The indirect association through attitudes was significant (β = −0.129, 95% CI [−0.193, −0.081]), while the direct association remained significant. Exploratory dimension-level analyses showed direct and indirect associations for time and method barriers, a direct association for digital media barriers, and no unique association for resource barriers. Method barriers were among the least strongly endorsed constraints yet showed the strongest association with behavior, suggesting that practical guidance in interactive reading, alongside time scaffolding, merits testing. Because the design is cross-sectional, the reported indirect effect is interpreted only as a contemporaneous statistical association and does not establish temporal ordering or causal mediation.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101726

Authors: Alejandro Rodríguez-García Sara González-Tejerina Ana Rosa Arias-Gago Carlos González-Flórez

Evidence on programmes that combine manipulative mathematics, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and multilevel instruction is scarce, particularly for primary students with and without specific learning difficulties (SpLD). This study examined whether a six-session triadic programme was associated with gains in mathematical achievement and attitudes towards mathematics in second-grade students. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design with a non-equivalent control group was used in four schools in Castilla y León (Spain); in each school, one classroom received the programme (n = 69) and one received traditional instruction on the same content (n = 69). Mathematical fluency, calculation and mathematical competence were primary outcomes; competence sub-domains and four attitude items adapted from the TOMA-3 were secondary outcomes. Analyses of covariance controlling for pre-test scores and school, with corrections for multiple testing and cluster-level sensitivity analyses, showed higher adjusted post-test scores in the experimental group on all primary outcomes (adjusted differences of 4.99 and 5.14 raw-score points in fluency and calculation and 1.84 points in competence; ηp2 = 0.60–0.69; all p < 0.001) and on all secondary outcomes. Exploratory analyses indicated a smaller, though still positive, adjusted effect in the single state-subsidised school and no reliable differences by sex; comparisons involving the eight students with SpLD were imprecise. Group membership and pre-test score were the only substantial predictors of post-test achievement. Given the non-random assignment of classrooms, the short duration and the absence of follow-up, the findings are interpreted as associations that warrant replication in randomised designs rather than as definitive causal effects.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101725

Authors: Regina John Luan Brendan Murphy

This study investigated how Digital Media students judged acceptable and problematic forms of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) involvement in creative learning. An embedded mixed-methods analysis examined 48 completed and consented baseline survey responses from an accessible population of 120 students at an Australian university. Forty-seven responses were valid for most Likert items, with qualitative content analysis of 37 benefit responses and 41 concern responses. Participants identified potential value in troubleshooting, coding support, grammar checking, information organisation, and error identification. They reported concern about AI-system training practices (93.6%), reduced employment opportunities (89.4%), the ethical acceptability of AI-supported coursework (83.0%), environmental effects (80.9%), and possible reductions in creative-skill development (76.6%). These percentages represent perceived risks, not demonstrated outcomes. Integration indicated that respondents differentiated bounded technical, corrective, and organisational assistance from GenAI involvement perceived to displace ideation, research, planning, understanding, or capability-building practice. Conditional legitimacy is proposed as a provisional framework linking delegated function, retained capability-building activity, learner agency and responsibility, and ethical and professional acceptability. The contribution is a student-informed account of the criteria underlying the assistance–perceived replacement distinction in Digital Media education.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101723

Authors: Krystian Tuczyński

The study examined e-learning practices reported by students and academic staff in the post-pandemic period and respondent characteristics associated with exploratory composite index scores. In October 2025, a cross-sectional survey included 1049 students and 189 academic staff members recruited through non-probability sampling at eight institutions in southeastern Poland. Each respondent-specific questionnaire included a ten-item block on e-learning practices, experiences, and barriers. Its first eight items formed separate exploratory composite indices for students and academic staff across the participating institutions. Analyses comprised descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha, and two linear regression models with institution fixed effects and HC3 robust standard errors. Students most frequently endorsed items concerning online tests, synchronous classes, and improved time management. Academic staff most often reported online consultations and using communication platforms, but less frequently recording classes, creating LMS courses, or using specialized collaboration tools. Among students, reported awareness of training availability was positively associated with the index score (B = 0.458, p < 0.001). Among academic staff, positive associations were observed for reported training completion (B = 0.472, p < 0.001) and prior remote-teaching experience (B = 0.457, p = 0.004). These associations do not establish causality. The findings indicate a selective pattern of reported e-learning use.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101724

Authors: Dhouha Kbaier Kbaier Annemarie Kane Karen Kear

Remote access to laboratory equipment enables distance-learning STEM students to engage with authentic experimental activities, but some students experience barriers when using remote laboratories. This paper reports an exploratory mixed-methods study undertaken within the two-year Lab-Assist Project, which examined students’ and tutors’ perceptions of real-time or near-real-time support in remote STEM laboratory activities. Data were collected through stakeholder consultations with 13 Module Chairs, surveys of 41 students and 8 tutors, and a pilot of live-supported sessions involving two of the participating tutors within The Open University’s OpenSTEM Labs in the UK. Quantitative responses were analysed descriptively and qualitative responses thematically. Findings indicate that students valued timely and tailored support, particularly when experiencing difficulties with equipment, experimental procedures, or uncertainty about their performance. Tutor feedback highlighted challenges associated with fragmented information, preparation, and interpreting experimental tasks, providing a basis for considering the potential role of timely support in managing extraneous cognitive load. However, the study did not directly measure cognitive load or learning outcomes, and low pilot attendance and small voluntary survey samples limit the strength and generalisability of the evidence. Participants also expressed mixed views on automated support, suggesting that AI-based assistance may be appropriate for routine queries but should complement rather than replace human support. The study contributes design-oriented insights for developing responsive, accessible, and inclusive support models for remote STEM laboratories.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101722

Authors: Linda Bradley Jonas Karlén Niklas Segergren Mattias von Feilitzen Daniel Johansson

Generative artificial intelligence is increasingly used in higher education, yet limited research has examined how university teachers’ experience pedagogically designed AI systems that prioritize reflective learning over answer generation. This exploratory mixed-methods case study investigated university teachers’ experiences of a course-specific GenAI chatbot within a professional-development course at a Swedish university. All 48 course participants were invited to complete a questionnaire, of whom 21 responded and 11 reported using the course-specific chatbot; nine respondents also participated in semi-structured interviews. Questionnaire data were analyzed descriptively and interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The chatbot was designed to encourage dialogue, engagement with course literature, and independent thinking rather than provide summaries or ready-made answers. Participants generally found the chatbot easy to use, but perceptions of usefulness varied. Evaluations were shaped by prior experiences and expectations of GenAI: some teachers, who associated AI with efficiency and rapid answers, perceived the reflective design as restrictive, while others perceived its value as supporting dialogue and independent thinking. We interpret this tension as pedagogical friction, where design constraints intended to support reflection may conflict with users’ expectations of how GenAI should function. The findings suggest that the perceived educational value of GenAI depends not only on technical usability but also on alignment between pedagogical design, users’ expectations, and educational context. Successful implementation of reflective AI may therefore require explicit pedagogical framing alongside technical development.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101721

Authors: E. Michael Nussbaum Tammy Szafranski Michael S. Van Winkle Ian J. Dove Alain Bengochea

Teachers often have difficulty facilitating whole-class science discussions that are not teacher-centric. In this study, we explore the use of a planning/reflection form (PRF) to support these discussions in three middle-school science classrooms. The PRF was based on three instructional frameworks: Ian J. Dove and E. Michael Nussbaum’s Critical Questions Model of Argument Assessment, talk moves as described in Sarah Michaels and Catherine O’Connor’s Academically Productive Talk, and an elicit-explore-consensus instructional cycle. The frameworks also provided a basis for identifying both deficiencies and successes in the teachers’ discourse practices. Data included recordings of discussions and teacher reflection meetings, analyzed for thematic discursive patterns. We found the curriculum (Amplify Science) incorporated some critical questions for evaluating arguments, but provided limited scaffolding for facilitating whole-class discussions or probing student reasoning. Teachers viewed the PRF as helping them focus on student contributions and formative assessment data. One teacher also implemented a student science seminar led by student moderators. This was a form of whole-class discussion that was not teacher-centric but still conceptually productive. We argue that current conceptions of argumentation in science education should be broadened to place greater emphasis on learning to participate in conceptually productive discussions.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101720

Authors: Francisco Asís Hipólito-Ojalvo Doroteya Dimitrova-Angelova Diego Francisco Yáñez-Murillo Diego Carmona Fernández

STEM outreach evaluations often rely on full-sample averages and general enjoyment metrics, overlooking how specific pedagogical factors relate to students without a consolidated vocation. This study evaluates the “Desayuna Ingeniería” (Breakfast Engineering) STEM outreach programme to identify intervention variables associated with perceived increases in pre-university students’ vocational interest in industrial engineering. In the retrospective survey (N = 584), 48.8% of participants reported increased interest after the visit. Focusing specifically on the target subsample of students with low or moderate prior interest, who represent the “undecided” group (n = 408), binary logistic regression models examined how active workshop participation, overall workshop satisfaction, and mentor gender configuration were associated with perceived vocational change. Active workshop participation showed a positive predictive trend that did not reach the prespecified significance threshold (p = 0.056), overall workshop satisfaction showed no statistically significant association (p = 0.697), and evidence regarding mentor gender configuration was inconclusive. Exploratory gender-stratified analyses suggested that perceived increases were primarily associated with baseline interest in female students, and with baseline interest alongside a positive, although non-significant, trend for active participation (p = 0.052) in male students. Brief interventions may benefit from prioritising hands-on involvement, whereas fostering girls’ baseline STEM motivation at earlier school stages remains a theoretical hypothesis for future longitudinal studies.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101719

Authors: Hooi Lian Lim Thiam Yew Wun Cheng Meng Chew Rozniza Zaharudin

This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an online tutoring program (OTP) based on the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) model and the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model for learning basic algebraic concepts step by step. The application of the OTP involved 13 mathematics teachers and 289 Grade 7 students during classroom lessons. A mixed-method approach was applied, with a quasi-experimental method used to collect quantitative data. The students’ feedback was collected through an interview survey. All the mathematics teachers were also interviewed after the implementation. The quantitative findings of the paired samples t-test showed p-values of 0.00, indicating that there was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of algebraic expressions and linear equations after using the OTP. The results of the qualitative study showed that both student feedback and teacher provided expressive insights that extend and refine the OTP in the context of algebra teaching and learning. This study confirmed that an OTP in school settings could positively affect the teaching and learning of algebra.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101718

Authors: Jae-Eun Namkoong Thomas Burnham

This research examines the psychological consequences of an AI deployment policy wherein instructors use AI to grade student work while discouraging students from using AI to produce it. Drawing on expectancy-value theory, procedural justice, social exchange, and algorithm aversion frameworks, we experimentally test a psychological model in which algorithmic (vs. human) assessment reduces perceived policy fairness and expected grading accuracy, which in turn lowers prospective students’ appraisals of the course and diminishes their intentions to exert effort. Lower willingness to exert effort, in turn, is associated with increased intentions to rely on AI for task completion against instructional policy. These effects are moderated by prior AI familiarity: individuals with less AI experience perceive algorithmic assessment as more unfair and inaccurate, amplifying negative downstream consequences. The findings contribute to the understanding of how the deployment of AI for assessment by those in authority roles shapes behavioral responses, with implications for the design of assessment policies, AI use guidelines, and instructor practice in higher education.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101717

Authors: Angelica Arace Paola Zonca

Continuity is a fundamental principle of integrated Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) systems, yet little is known about how adults’ educational beliefs vary across developmental references. The study examined developmental differentiation in educational beliefs when adults refer to children aged 0–3 versus 3–6 years and whether this differentiation varied across parents and ECEC professionals. Participants were 697 parents, 243 nursery educators, and 160 preschool teachers from ECEC services in Northern Italy. They completed two parallel versions of the Pre-K Survey of Beliefs and the Socialization Goals Scale. The two parallel Educational Beliefs forms showed metric and partial scalar invariance across developmental references. A mixed-design ANOVA showed less child-initiated beliefs for the 3–6 reference and a significant developmental-reference × respondent-role interaction of modest magnitude. Parents and nursery educators showed moderate within-person differentiation, whereas preschool teachers showed a small observed difference; an equivalence analysis did not establish statistical equivalence for preschool teachers. Item-level analyses indicated selective rather than uniform differentiation, with the largest shifts in developmental goals, learning processes, and the adult role. Psychological Autonomy was positively associated with child-initiated beliefs, whereas the role-specific developmental pattern remained virtually unchanged after adjustment for broader socialization goals. These findings support conceptualizing continuity across integrated 0–6 systems as coherence across developmentally differentiated expectations rather than representational uniformity.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101716

Authors: Tekalign Lemma Woldassilasie Hirpa G. Lemu Birhane Desta Atsegeba Moti Melkamu Abera

The integration of 3D printing technology (3DPT) into STEM education has transformed teaching and learning through experiential and design-based approaches. However, the effectiveness of this technology is largely shaped by the institutional environment in which it is implemented. This study investigates the moderating role of institutional infrastructure in the relationship between 3DPT and STEM education outcomes (STEMO) in Ethiopian secondary schools. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was employed, involving 368 participants from secondary schools equipped with STEM and 3D printing facilities. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results indicate that the dimension of 3DPT are positively associated STEMO, with frequency of use, instructional integration, and access to digital resources showing stronger associations than availability alone. In addition, both human and digital infrastructures were positively associated with STEMO. The significant interaction effects further indicate that institutional infrastructure moderates the association between 3D printing technology and STEM education outcomes. The study contributes to educational technology literature by integrating constructivism, experiential learning, socio-technical systems theory, and connectivism into a unified explanatory framework. The findings provide empirical evidence from a developing-country context and highlight the importance of institutional readiness in maximizing the educational benefits of 3D printing technology in STEM education.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101715

Authors: Jun Peng Yilin Jiang Xiaoyu Liu Shuhua Guo

Teacher burnout is a persistent problem characterized by psychological exhaustion and occupational stress, posing serious constraints on teachers’ professional development, the improvement of teaching quality, and the stable functioning of the educational ecosystem. Conventional questionnaire-based surveys, which dominate teacher burnout research, primarily assess prevalence and bivariate correlations, often at the expense of predictive precision. Such approaches often have limited predictive accuracy and generalizability, making it difficult to identify teachers at risk of burnout with precision. To develop a more effective predictive model for burnout among senior high school teachers and clarify its key underlying mechanisms, this study recruited 2441 in-service teachers from 42 senior high schools in Guangdong Province and the Macao Special Administrative Region of China. The performance of logistic regression, random forest, XGBoost, LightGBM, and CatBoost was compared to identify the optimal predictive framework. Interpretable machine learning methods were then employed to investigate the key factors associated with teacher burnout and the mechanisms through which they operate. The results showed that CatBoost achieved the best overall performance, with an accuracy of 0.815, a specificity of 0.836, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.817, the highest among the five models. This superior discriminatory capacity (AUC = 0.817) suggests that gradient-boosted decision trees are more adept than linear classifiers at capturing the multivariate complexity inherent in teacher burnout. Using SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), an interpretable machine-learning technique, we analyzed factors associated with teacher burnout and identified several variables showing significant correlations with burnout among senior-high-school teachers. Depression, neuroticism, surface acting, family–work conflict, and high perceived stress emerged as positive correlates of teacher burnout. By contrast, work engagement, deep acting, psychological need satisfaction, social support, psychological resilience, teacher self-efficacy, high conscientiousness, and openness to experience were negative correlates of teacher burnout. Based on the machine-learning framework, this study constructed an interpretable prediction model and a visual predictive tool for teacher burnout, and unpacked the association patterns between each variable and teacher burnout. The findings of this study can provide robust theoretical evidence and practical support for educational administrative authorities to conduct cross-sectional association screening for teachers with high-burnout profiles and formulate tiered and differentiated psychological intervention strategies.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101713

Authors: Anne Khaled Fadie Hanna Emma Nitert Ruben Fukkink

There is a growing trend in which new professional roles complement traditional ones to bridge education, childcare, and social care. In the Netherlands, this is reflected in the introduction of the Pedagogical Educational Professional (PEP) as a boundary-crossing professional in pre-service education. In a mixed-methods study with a vignette-based survey (N = 422), followed by three focus group discussions (N = 14), we explored how staff from childcare and primary education, and Integrated Child Centers perceive this new professional. Findings show that perceptions of the PEP are highly context-dependent. Primary education professionals mainly recognized and valued the PEP as a pragmatic generalist providing flexible support, whereas childcare and integrated childcare professionals more strongly recognized boundary-crossing roles related to collaboration, continuity, innovation, and inclusion. These differences reflect challenges in developing knowledgeability through engagement, imagination, and alignment. Practically, supporting PEP integration requires creating “brave spaces” where professionals jointly negotiate roles, responsibilities, and expertise across organizational boundaries.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101714

Authors: Bahaa’ Makhoul Elite Olshtain

Arabic-speaking adolescents face distinctive literacy challenges arising from diglossia, morphological complexity, and limited access to academic vocabulary. This quasi-experimental, non-randomized mixed-methods study examined intervention-associated changes following the Golden Triangle, a five-month blended-learning program integrating academic-vocabulary instruction, reading comprehension, digital practice, and teacher professional development. Twenty-three Arabic-medium middle schools participated (17 intervention; 6 comparison), and 731 seventh-grade students were recruited. Primary maximum-likelihood mixed-effects models included time, condition, and their interaction, with student and school random intercepts. Model-based Wald inference indicated additional gains in receptive vocabulary (B = 6.25, 95% CI [1.82, 10.67], nominal p = 0.006) and Grade-7 reading comprehension (B = 4.88, 95% CI [0.39, 9.37], nominal p = 0.033), but no statistically detectable additional gain on the Productive Academic Vocabulary Test (PAVT; B = 1.54, 95% CI [−1.92, 4.99], p = 0.384). These intervals and tests did not incorporate a small-cluster correction. A separate school-clustered sensitivity analysis yielded positive estimates but confidence intervals that included zero for all three outcomes. Because PAVT combines lexical retrieval with morphological and sentence-context demands, its nonsignificant result does not establish an absence of productive vocabulary development. Grade-8 follow-up used a different, non-equivalent reading-comprehension measure and therefore concerns an association rather than maintenance on the same scale. Selective retention limits interpretation. Thematic content analysis of 14 teacher interviews identified perceived pedagogical benefits alongside technological, scheduling, and resource constraints. The findings are suggestive and model-dependent, rather than definitive evidence of causal or sustained literacy gains.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101712

Authors: Hilary K. Y. Ng Lester C. H. Chan

We systematically reviewed 36 peer-reviewed studies from 3829 articles across 25 countries between 2018 and 2023. Our PEOPLE framework—psychological determinants of learning, educational opportunities, educational processes, learning outcomes, and educational effectiveness—captures the impact of the digital divide on the university learning experience from a multidimensional perspective. Findings show the divide persists in both developing (56%) and developed (44%) countries, with research emphasizing access over skills or benefits. Academic performance was most studied (n = 16), followed by psychological determinants (n = 13), highlighting how digital inequities affect students’ emotional and cognitive toll. The divide cascades through the interconnected components of the PEOPLE framework: restricted educational opportunities limit access to learning resources, disrupted educational processes undermine engagement and skill development, compromised psychological determinants affect students’ mental and emotional capacity for learning, diminished learning outcomes reflect immediate academic impacts, and reduced educational effectiveness threatens long-term career prospects and socioeconomic mobility. We urge interventions addressing all dimensions and expanded research on how digital inequities shape learning beyond resource access. Future studies should adopt interdisciplinary approaches to explore how the digital divide perpetuates educational and socioeconomic inequality in a technology-driven world.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101711

Authors: Kristina Turner Elise Hunkin Laura McFarland Kathryn Ambrose Claire Philp-Clark

Calls for evidence-based practice in wellbeing in education have expanded rapidly across research, policy and professional discourse. Yet the concept of evidence in this field often remains under-theorised and inconsistently applied. Wellbeing in education is a complex and multidisciplinary domain, informed by psychology, education, sociology, public health and philosophy and encompassing outcomes, lived experiences, relationships and contextual conditions. As a result, narrow hierarchies of evidence borrowed from medical or interventionist traditions may be insufficient for capturing the complexity of educational wellbeing. This conceptual article develops a Multidimensional Evidence Framework for understanding evidence about wellbeing in education. Drawing on a critical realist and pragmatic pluralist theoretical frame, this article proposes that robust evidence in this field includes descriptive, causal, contextual and implementation, and experiential and interpretive forms of evidence, considered through a cross-cutting equity and ethical lens. It further distinguishes between evidence about wellbeing, evidence for wellbeing practice and evidence of wellbeing impact. A Multidimensional Evidence Framework is proposed to support more rigorous and conceptually coherent research, policy and practice by integrating these complementary evidence domains with the questions of evidence of what, for whom, and for what purpose.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101710

Authors: Anna Bienkowska Ikram Ur Rehman Julie Wall Nagham Saeed Parisa Saadati Raffaella Milani Noor Ullah Muazzam Ali Khan Khattak

Studies involving students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or autism have reported a range of challenges in higher education that may affect academic success and retention. Yet, most existing reviews focus on in-person settings at primary or secondary levels. Few studies address online higher education specifically for students with ADHD and/or autism, leaving a critical evidence gap. This scoping review and thematic synthesis, therefore, examines challenges reported in studies involving students with ADHD and/or autism in online higher education. Following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology, the Population-Concept-Context (PCC) framework and the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a focused database search, supplemented by backward and forward citation searching, resulted in the inclusion of 39 studies. The findings were synthesised thematically. Six analytical themes were identified: academic and cognitive challenges, social and communication barriers, institutional support and accessibility, technological issues, emotional and mental health impacts, and COVID-19-related challenges. Although publications have increased since 2020, relatively few studies specifically examine ADHD and autism in online higher education, with many considering students with these conditions within broader disability or neurodivergent populations. Evidence concerning students with co-occurring ADHD and autism was particularly limited. The findings highlight priorities for inclusive digital learning environments, institutional support and future research focused specifically on students with ADHD and/or autism.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101709

Authors: Luis Henry Torres-Ordóñez Ignacio Isa-Vargas Pedro Javier Fajardo-Aguilar Samantha Isabel Romero Mendoza Vanessa Geoconda Cárdenas Dávila Juan Tarquino Calderón Cisneros

Governments across Latin America and the Caribbean have invested heavily in home devices and connectivity, yet whether these resources narrow or widen socioeconomic achievement gaps remains unclear. Using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 microdata from 13 education systems (N = 89,339), this study examines whether home digital resources (ICTRES) moderate the socioeconomic gradient (ESCS) in mathematics and reading, using plausible values, multiple imputation, and Fay-corrected replicate weights. The results point to amplification rather than compensation: the ESCS × ICTRES interaction was positive in mathematics (β = 2.90) and reading (β = 1.83), and the mathematics gradient rose from 9.05 points at low ICTRES to 15.57 at high ICTRES. This pattern held when ESCS was residualized on ICTRES. Adding ICTRES reduced the baseline mathematics gradient (19.46 points) by 37.0%, but this attenuation largely reflects variance shared by two partially overlapping indices, so the accompanying decomposition is reported only descriptively. Country gradients ranged from 12.02 points (Dominican Republic) to 22.13 (Chile), with significant cross-national heterogeneity. These cross-sectional associations show that more home technology is not, by itself, accompanied by narrower socioeconomic gaps; read alongside prior intervention research, they suggest that access-only digital equity policies are unlikely to close them.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101708

Authors: Maria Jafari Lea-Malin Töpler Anke Meisert

Group discussions enable argumentative development and are considered as a core strategy for addressing socioscientific issues (SSIs). Yet, in SSIs, students often struggle to navigate the decision-making process. This has increased interest in scaffolds that make both the process and the factual and normative complexity manageable. Although effects on the discussion process have been researched, little is known about whether structured discussion influences dispositions for future engagement, including discussion-related attitudes, communicative self-efficacy, and environmental attitudes. Therefore, this study investigated group discussions on three SSIs with 56 secondary students from four 7th- and 8th-grade classes at two German schools. In the experimental condition, discussions were supported by a scaffold called Target-Mat, which visually structured the discussion steps; the control condition used a familiar pro–con table. Pre–post questionnaires measured communicative self-efficacy, discussion-related attitudes, and environmental attitudes; group × time interactions were analyzed using a mixed ANOVA. Results showed significant group × time interactions for communicative self-efficacy (partial η2 = 0.09), discussion-related attitudes (partial η2 = 0.09), and environmental opinion (partial η2 = 0.08), but not environmental emotion. These findings indicate that structured discussions can positively influence relevant dispositions for future participation. The implications for teaching and educational research are discussed.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101706

Authors: Leon-Joel Rackisch Robert Jende Heinrich Söbke Jens Wiggenbrock

Collaborative question-generation systems such as PeerWise can support active, collaborative, and self-regulated learning, while sustained participation remains an important implementation challenge. This study examined perceived educational value and participation descriptively in an undergraduate business information systems course. A mixed-methods case study design combined a theory-informed pre-examination questionnaire (N = 25), a post-examination questionnaire (N = 22), open-ended responses, and three focus group discussions (two with the study cohort and one with a previous cohort taught under the same design). Students generally regarded PeerWise as useful and educationally valuable, while question-generation activity remained limited and PeerWise use was concentrated close to the examination. Question creation was described as cognitively demanding and time-consuming, while other study activities often took priority. Engagement was also associated with visible peer activity, instructional guidance, and assessment relevance. The study identifies a gap between perceived educational value and sustained participation and highlights conditions associated with this gap.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101707

Authors: Jianhua Yang Kerem Öge Hoang Van Pham Chidi Okorro Youn Affejee

This study presents an exploratory, generative AI (GenAI)-assisted full-text analysis of barriers to using GenAI in education within an arXiv corpus. A total of 19,756 records were retrieved using a keyword search and then screened for relevance using three large language models (LLMs), GPT-4o mini, Gemini 2.0 flash-lite, and Llama3-70B (Groq), through a voting mechanism. This yielded a corpus of 1998 education-relevant full-text articles. Using GPT-4o, learning and teaching scenarios (LTSs) were extracted using a structured 6As framework (Actor, Activity, AI Role, AI Interface, Assessment, Achievement) developed for this study. Barrier themes were derived separately by clustering a total of 4729 barrier descriptions, embedded using OpenAI’s embedding model. The descriptive results indicate: (i) STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) vs. non-STEM distributions of GenAI use cases are broadly comparable; (ii) approximately 75% of reported GenAI intervention outcomes were classified as non-negative across the different disciplines; and (iii) reported barriers show different descriptive patterns between STEM and non-STEM disciplines. STEM use cases more frequently report performance constraints, while non-STEM ones more frequently report privacy and workflow integration concerns. The observed disciplinary differences in extracted barriers suggest that approaches to supporting GenAI use may need to vary by disciplinary context. However, the findings are limited by arXiv coverage and limited human validation; future research should broaden source coverage and strengthen robust validation.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101705

Authors: Yuexin Duan Enilda Romero-Hall Wei Wang Jennifer Ann Morrow

Online learning is now widespread in the United States (U.S.) higher education, but its readiness for international students has not been fully explored outside the context of technical access. This mixed-methods study examined acceptance, participation, and cultural responsiveness among international students at a large public research university in the southeastern United States. Data included 105 surveys and 11 semi-structured interviews. Quantitative survey data were analyzed statistically; open-ended survey responses were analyzed using qualitative content analysis; and interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Students generally viewed online learning as accessible, manageable, useful, and worth continuing, while ratings of community and interaction were less positive, particularly among students with only asynchronous course experience. Interviews complicated this pattern. Students often chose online courses because they met scheduling, location, or course access needs, even when online learning was not their preferred format. Recordings and flexible access supported learning, but students also described difficulty entering fast-paced discussions, interpreting unstated expectations, and building relationships. Participation was better supported when instructors provided clear guidance, adequate processing time, multiple ways to contribute, structured peer interaction, and responsive communication. Overall, technical readiness was relatively strong, but support for international students’ social, linguistic, and cultural participation remained uneven.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101704

Authors: Zhiru Sun Anna Møller Nina Bonderup Dohn

Universities promote generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as a pedagogical resource while regulating it as a risk to academic integrity and fair assessment. This study examines how differentiated policy framing varies across substantive policy dimensions and national contexts, and how students interpret and navigate such guidance in practice. Using a convergent mixed-methods design with quantitative priority, we analyzed GenAI policy documents from 36 universities in Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands, complemented by eight semi-structured interviews with graduate students at one sampled university. Aspect-based sentiment analysis and mixed-effects modeling show significantly positive sentiment in teaching-related statements and significantly negative sentiment in GenAI- and ethics-related statements, while student- and assessment-related statements do not differ significantly from neutral. Neither country nor the policy-dimension-by-country interaction is statistically significant. The interviews contextualize these policy-level patterns: participants described uncertainty around acceptable use, disclosure, and instructor expectations, with responses ranging from cautious experimentation to avoidance. Together, the findings show how differentiated GenAI guidance can coexist within university policy and illustrate the interpretive demands students may face when applying such guidance in practice. Clearer programme- and course-level guidance, consistent disclosure expectations, and stronger support for GenAI literacy may help connect institutional policy more closely with teaching and learning practice.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101703

Authors: Samiran Das

Interactive simulations can help students explore relationships that static figures cannot show easily. Their educational value, however, depends on a basic condition: the simulation must compute and display what it claims. This study presents OpenHydroLab, an open-source suite of ten browser-based laboratories for undergraduate fluid mechanics, hydraulics, and hydrology. It also develops a reproducible protocol for verifying the implementation. The protocol combines independently derived reference solutions with explicit tolerances and parameter sweeps. It also tests rendered geometry, browser behaviour, offline delivery, and selected accessibility requirements. In total, 197 numerical cases were evaluated in three browser engines, producing 591 comparison records. A further 108 software and accessibility checks were executed 324 times. No failures remained in the final verification run. The protocol identified six defects in code that had already been used in teaching. A seventh defect passed the numerical checks but drew a correct force magnitude on the wrong side of a curved surface. This showed why visual claims must also be tested. OpenHydroLab therefore provides a worked example of how educational simulations can be made inspectable, reproducible, and technically trustworthy. More broadly, effective technology integration in STEM education requires more than access to interactive tools. It also requires transparent evidence that their computational and visual representations can be trusted. The study establishes implementation fidelity and delivery reliability; it does not evaluate learning effectiveness.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101702

Authors: Rasamimanana Joronavalona Eli Rohaeti Endang W. Laksono Outi Haatainen

Undergraduate chemistry programmes increasingly need to develop professional competencies such as problem-solving, technical communication, and collaboration alongside disciplinary knowledge, yet conventional verification-based laboratory instruction rarely develops these competencies together. This study investigated whether an immersive learning environment built around authentic, iterative formulation troubleshooting was associated with differences in four professional-competency outcomes—problem-solving, technical project writing, oral presentation, and collaborative attitude—in an undergraduate Cosmetic Chemistry course. A quasi-experimental, non-equivalent comparison-group design involved 47 chemistry students in two intact classes (immersive condition, n = 25; comparison condition, n = 22). Because each condition was represented by a single intact class and assignment was non-random, pre-existing differences between classes cannot be excluded as an alternative explanation for the observed between-group differences. Outcomes were post-intervention problem-solving, technical project writing, oral presentation, and collaborative attitude, treated as related professional competency domains, with pre-intervention collaborative attitude as a covariate. Researcher-developed instruments showed acceptable-to-strong validity and reliability evidence. In the primary reduced-model MANCOVA, instructional condition was associated with a significant multivariate difference across the four outcomes (Pillai’s Trace = 0.945, F(4, 41) = 174.88, p < 0.001), and follow-up ANCOVAs indicated higher adjusted scores in the immersive condition across all four outcomes (all p < 0.001). Because the two conditions differed in several coordinated features besides virtual reality, the findings concern the integrated instructional package rather than an isolated virtual reality effect. Given the small, non-randomized, single-institution sample, the results should be read as preliminary evidence from an exploratory comparison of two intact classes rather than as causal evidence of instructional effectiveness.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101701

Authors: Ignacio Catalan-Monzon Maria Desamparados Bernat-Adell Maria Lidon Mateu-Campos Paula Recacha-Ponce Laura Galarza-Barrachina

Traditional quantitative instruments, such as the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS), reliably measure readiness for interprofessional education (IPE), but often miss the complex socio-cultural nuances and cognitive friction of collaborative training. This mixed-methods study aimed to capture these deeper realities by integrating open-ended qualitative questions with the validated Spanish version of RIPLS. A total of 176 undergraduate medical and nursing students participated in a high-fidelity simulation training seminar. Data was analyzed using quantitative associations alongside deductive qualitative content analysis to identify perceived strengths and weaknesses. The results indicated that early clinical immersion and prior healthcare experience consolidated teamwork and communication as perceived strengths. On the other side, a younger age predicted structural weaknesses in role assumption and procedural skill. Also, medical students prioritized synchronized teamwork, whereas nursing students exhibited sensitivity to communication breakdowns. Integrating open-ended reflections with standardized quantitative scales successfully bridges the gap between attitudinal metrics and the authentic lived experiences of students, providing educators with granular insights to design highly responsive, profession-sensitive IPE curricula.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101700

Authors: Lendel Kade Narine John M. Diaz

Extension lacks literature comparing standalone generative artificial intelligence (AI) with structured professional development for capacity building. Guided by Social Cognitive Theory and Cognitive Load Theory, this study evaluated the effects of an asynchronous online course and a custom AI tutor on evaluation knowledge and self-efficacy among Cooperative Extension professionals. We conducted a randomized 2 × 2 factorial pilot study crossing access to an evaluation certificate course with access to a custom Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT). Of 144 registrants, 78 provided matched pre- and post-test data, with attrition differing across conditions. Data were analyzed using a three-way mixed factorial ANOVA. Course access and GPT access each increased objective knowledge, with post-test means around 91% across treatment groups. No statistically significant additive effect was detected for knowledge gain. However, given a possible ceiling effect and limited statistical power, this result is inconclusive. Course access and GPT access each increased self-efficacy, but the combined condition produced the smallest self-efficacy gain among treatment groups. Because these estimates are based on participants who completed the study, findings are preliminary. If replicated, results suggest that Extension should combine AI tutors and coursework only when each modality provides known complementary value.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101699

Authors: Dana Sury Oshrat On Einat Kleider Tesler

Research on mathematics anxiety (MA) transmission has examined how teacher anxiety shapes student outcomes through instructional behavior. A more complex reality remains unaddressed. Teachers supporting students with mathematics difficulties do so under emotional conditions that may compromise their own regulatory resources, and these conditions may interact with the anxiety they are trying to relieve. The current paper draws on interpersonal complementarity theory, cognitive reappraisal theory, and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework of social-emotional competencies to propose a closed-loop dyadic co-regulation model of teacher-student MA in elementary special education mathematics instruction. In this model, students’ MA-related, low-agency behavioral cues are proposed to elicit complementary, controlling teacher responses that, in turn, heighten students’ MA. We theorize teacher MA and mathematics teaching anxiety (MTA), treated jointly, as an amplifying moderator of this loop. Special education settings are expected to be particularly susceptible, given their concentrated dyadic format and the fact that many special education teachers lack formal mathematics preparation. Among teachers, MA and MTA tend to co-occur. Teacher cognitive reappraisal, enabled by self-awareness and social awareness, is proposed as the regulatory entry point for interrupting this loop. The model generates testable predictions and argues for incorporating dyadic regulatory awareness into special education teacher preparation.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101698

Authors: Orly Barzilai Ronit Shmallo Rina Zviel-Girshin

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly used to support programming education, but its use in learning-from-errors activities has received limited research attention. This quasi-experimental study compared AI-guided and human-guided support in a structured learning-from-errors programming activity, focusing on students’ perceptions and their variability. A total of 59 college students completed the JavaScript error-detection and correction activity under AI-guided or human-guided support. Following the activity, students completed a questionnaire measuring perceived learning experience, satisfaction, general motivation, self-regulated learning (SRL), and self-efficacy. Between-group differences were examined using Mann–Whitney U tests, and differences in variability were examined using Levene’s tests. Students in the AI-guided condition reported significantly more positive learning experiences and greater satisfaction than those in the human-guided condition. They also reported significantly higher overall SRL and greater use of SRL strategies. No significant differences were found in general motivation, SRL motivation, SRL planning and organization, or self-efficacy. The AI-guided group showed significantly lower raw variability in satisfaction and self-efficacy. However, a sensitivity analysis did not establish that these variance differences remained after accounting for mean-related constraints on the bounded response scale. The findings suggest that GenAI may serve as a scaffold for error analysis when integrated in ways that maintain students’ active cognitive engagement.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101697

Authors: Francine Smolucha

Object substitution play can be independent of imaginary role-play and not have a storyline. In the game “hot potato” an object is tossed from one person to another, as if it was too hot to handle. Different objects can be used: a ball, a rock, a rolled-up sock, or a crunched-up piece of paper. Object substitution play can be introduced to infants at three months by caregivers moving their hand up the baby’s chest like a mouse, with a minimal narrative of “a mouse is crawling, crawling … gotcha”. Object substitution play is a precursor to pretend roleplay, and when introduced by caregivers leads to more advanced pretend play at younger ages. According to Vygotsky, this leads to the development of literacy, imagination, creativity, and abstract thinking (skills important in mathematics, science, the arts, and social studies). Introducing object substitution play with autistic children advances communication skills, and could do the same for neurotypical children. Many researchers and educators have assumed that symbolic play originates from the toddler’s solitary activities. A reimagined pedagogy would explore caregiver-initiated object substitution play beginning in early infancy.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101696

Authors: Paula Alfonso-Asencio Alba Roldán Eduardo Cervelló Carlos Montero-Carretero

Bullying towards students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) remains a persistent problem in school contexts, yet the psychosocial mechanisms underlying bullying perpetration in inclusive settings are still insufficiently understood. Primarily grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a complementary framework for considering attitudinal variables, this study examined a predictive model of bullying perpetration towards students with SEND in Physical Education (PE), focusing on the role of motivational and attitudinal processes. A total of 356 secondary school students (M age = 13.77; SD = 1.34) completed measures assessing perceived teaching style, basic psychological needs satisfaction, self-determined motivation, tolerance, attitudes towards disability, and bullying perpetration towards peers with disabilities. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlational analyses, and path analysis. Results showed that higher levels of self-determined motivation were positively associated with tolerance and more positive attitudes towards disability. In turn, tolerance and attitudes towards disability negatively predicted bullying perpetration. In this case, self-determined motivation did not directly predict bullying perpetration but showed an indirect association through its effects on tolerance and attitudes. These findings highlight the importance of motivational and attitudinal pathways in explaining disability-related bullying and suggest that prevention efforts in PE should move beyond behaviour-focused approaches to address the motivational climate and the development of tolerance and positive attitudes towards disability.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101695

Authors: Michael Morawski Dina Pommerening

Children increasingly encounter agriculture through mediated images and interfaces rather than sustained contact with farms. This exploratory qualitative case study examined (RQ1) what fifth-grade triads articulated while operating Hay Day, (RQ2) which game–reality comparisons and medium-related evaluations appeared in a prompted debriefing, and (RQ3) which design conjectures can be drawn from the contrast between these non-equivalent data production settings. Twenty-one students worked in seven triads during a four-lesson geography project. The corpus comprised audio-recorded triadic gameplay verbalizations with 14 rotating speaker-players, process notes, and written group responses. Structured qualitative content analysis combined theory-informed categories with inductively refined subcategories. Gameplay discourse centered on actions, resource dependencies, waiting, production, exchange, and progression; timers and level restrictions were salient but rarely interpreted as authored design choices. The debriefing elicited critique-oriented statements about omitted or simplified aspects of farming, but its materials supplied many relevant categories. Accordingly, thematic uptake is distinguished from student elaboration, and the debriefing is treated as prompt-responsive evidence rather than as spontaneous conceptual change. Hay Day is conceptualized as a playable agricultural model linking actionable game relations to agricultural relations, actors, spatialities, and consequences rendered absent or non-actionable. The findings support testable design conjectures, not a causal game effect.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101694

Authors: Kalin Penev Vladislav Slavov Radoslav Deliyski

Artificial Intelligence is transforming numerous sectors, and education is no exception. The adoption of generative AI tools in higher education presents significant opportunities for enhancing teaching, learning, assessment, accessibility, and administrative processes. At the same time, their widespread use raises critical ethical concerns related to academic integrity, bias, transparency, data protection, and the possible erosion of critical thinking and creativity. In response, higher education institutions worldwide are beginning to formulate ethical guidelines to govern the use of AI by students, educators, and administrators. However, institutional responses remain diverse across different contexts. This study examines how academic institutions across different countries conceptualise ethical AI use, define risks, and operationalise principles in practical policies through mapping 55 higher education institutions, complemented by an extended analysis of 87 documents. Across the six analysed thematic categories, transparency and disclosure, academic integrity, data protection and privacy, accountability, and risk mitigation are more consistently addressed than accessibility and inclusion. The analysis identifies practical guidance and recognised legitimate AI uses. The discussion considers the interpretation of AI and recommends aligning its use with ethical standards. The article concludes with a summary of the results and directions for future research.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101693

Authors: Tong Zhou Yihang Huang Jordi Colomer

Multicultural classrooms can be understood as complex adaptive learning environments in which cultural diversity, collaborative interaction, and systemic reasoning interact in non-linear ways. Although systems thinking, cooperative learning, and multicultural education have each received substantial scholarly attention, their intersections remain insufficiently synthesized. We conducted a scoping review of 120 empirical studies identified through searches of Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus, using a search window from January 1992 to June 2024. The earliest eligible empirical study was published in 2003. The review mapped publication trends, educational contexts, geographical distributions, teaching strategies, historical paradigms, and epistemological orientations in systems-thinking education. The findings identified 11 teaching-strategy categories, three analytical paradigms, and three epistemological orientations. Based on thematic coding, we developed the Integrative Systems Education Model (ISEM) as a heuristic framework rather than an empirically validated theory. The model identifies three proposed intersections: Cognitive Diversity Loops, Collaborative Resonance, and Nonlinear Innovation Paths. These constructs highlight how cultural epistemologies, collaborative interaction, and systems reasoning may become mutually related in complex learning environments, while also recognizing that such relationships may be moderated by facilitation quality, group composition, and cultural context. The review therefore positions ISEM as a provisional conceptual map that generates testable questions for future longitudinal, mixed-methods, and comparative research.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101692

Authors: Ann Margareth Gustavsen Mette Marit F. Jenssen Hilde Forfang

This article examines inclusive practices through the implementation of a data-use model in a partnership between a university and schools in a Norwegian region. Although inclusion is a key educational policy goal, research shows that its realisation in practice remains uneven. National policy documents therefore emphasise that school improvement should be developed collaboratively between universities and district leaders to build local professional capacity. In this study, 290 teachers from 18 schools participated in a questionnaire assessing the quality of support, training, leadership and their work with the data-use model, as well as perceived outcomes for teachers’ practice and students’ learning. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted. Results from the factor analysis identified two components, ‘Quality’ and ‘Outcomes’, with high internal consistency. Teachers rated the quality of implementation structures higher than the outcomes achieved so far, and a strong correlation (r = 0.667) indicated that higher perceived quality was associated with more positive outcomes. The qualitative results indicated perceived improvements in classroom management, feedback practices, adapted instruction, analytical competence, shared pedagogical practice, and reflective collaboration. Regarding student learning, teachers reported fewer changes but described some examples of improved learning environments, knowledge and skills. The study suggests that structured partnerships, leadership support and teacher communities may be important conditions for translating data-driven analysis into inclusive teaching practices.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101691

Authors: Jing Li Jinghe Han Johanna Einfalt

The increasing use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in higher education has prompted growing interest in its potential in intercultural competence (IC) education. Yet research on how GenAI can support IC development remains fragmented across language education, pragmatics, pedagogy, and professional communication. This scoping review mapped research contexts, designs, theoretical foundations, and findings on GenAI-mediated IC education. Eligible English-language publications published or posted between November 2022 and 11 August 2026 examined GenAI in relation to IC or related pragmatic and socio-pragmatic constructs of IC in higher education. Searches of ERIC, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, and Google Scholar identified 26 eligible publications, including 20 empirical studies and 6 non-empirical publications. Data were charted using a structured form and synthesised descriptively and thematically. The included empirical studies reported varied perceived and task-specific outcomes for intercultural and pragmatic learning, mainly in structured and guided activities. Three issues warrant particular attention. First, the included publications drew on heterogeneous theoretical frameworks that addressed different or partial dimensions of IC. Second, several publications positioned teacher mediation as important for GenAI-supported learning, yet teacher preparedness, including their AI literacy and capacity to undertake this role, was not directly or systematically measured. Third, few studies directly examined learners’ critical AI literacy or the cognitive processes involved in evaluating or revising GenAI-generated content.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101689

Authors: Lenwood Gibson

Special education should empower students with disabilities as active participants in their educational experiences, yet many students, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds (a population designated CALD in some international contexts), those with more significant disabilities such as high-support-needs autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDDs), and those experiencing socioeconomic and immigration-related challenges, continue to experience exclusion, segregation, and limited opportunities to express themselves in traditional educational settings. This theoretical position paper argues that special education graduate preparation must be reorganized to focus on advocacy, and it presents an integrated framework for preparing special education graduate students as advocates capable of amplifying and centering student voice for the most vulnerable and marginalized learners. Drawing on contemporary research in special education, professional development, and teacher preparation, this paper examines how graduate preparation programs can intentionally develop advocacy competencies, embed culturally responsive practices, and create conditions for system-level change. The paper provides specific recommendations for curriculum design, experiential learning, and professional development necessary to transform special education graduate preparation into a vehicle for advancing equity and inclusion through student-centered advocacy. By positioning special education teachers as advocates and student voice champions, this paper envisions education systems that respond authentically to the needs, aspirations, and experiences of all learners.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101690

Authors: Anna Oberrauch Helga Mayr Sandra Parth Thorsten Kosler

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) aims to foster the key sustainability competencies (KSC) that enable future teachers to act as change agents. Yet little is known about how pre-service teachers interpret these competencies and their development within project- and problem-based learning settings. This study examines the perceived learning processes and self-reported competence development of pre-service primary school teachers within a four-semester, project- and problem-based ESD module. It addresses two questions: which KSC pre-service teachers perceive as further developed within the module, and what interpretations and interrelations of these competencies emerge from their reflections and self-assessments. A mixed-methods design was adopted, combining focus groups with a self-report questionnaire assessing eight KSC. The findings suggest that students perceived the module to foster the KSC to differing degrees, with collaboration, self-awareness, and critical thinking competence featuring most prominently. Students situated their learning within their sustainability projects, where collaboration, strategic action, and reflection were closely interwoven. Notably, several competencies were interpreted not only in sustainability-specific but also in more generic terms. The findings underline the importance of authentic experiencing of innovative ESD approaches and reflection of perceived learning processes in teacher education as well as the necessity of explicit pedagogical framing to foster the development of a broad range of KSC.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101688

Authors: Kingston Palthamburaj Mercedes Premalatha Ramesh

Error in Affiliation [...]

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101687

Authors: Zeus Plasencia-Carballo Antonio Eff-Darwich-Peña Cristian García-Santana Carmen de los Ángeles Perdomo-López

Generative artificial intelligence is creating new possibilities for educational resource development, making prompt design increasingly relevant to interactions with these tools. However, little research has examined how pedagogical criteria are represented in prompts developed within initial teacher education or how prompt design can be conceptualised in relation to teachers’ professional knowledge. This study analyses 15 group-produced prompts and their documented development processes, created by students enrolled in a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education during a Foreign Language Teaching Methodology activity involving the creation of children’s stories in English using generative artificial intelligence. An exploratory case study design was adopted, using an eight-dimension analytical rubric addressing pedagogical, linguistic, narrative, and strategic aspects of prompt design, with the corpus independently assessed by three raters. The analysis combined descriptive scores across rubric dimensions with qualitative examination of prompt content and documented revision processes to identify recurring patterns of educational prompt design. Findings showed that educational criteria were generally represented explicitly across the corpus, although differences emerged across dimensions and cases. Strategic development and agency, target learners and language level, and language function and objectives were the most consistently represented dimensions, whereas formal control of the output showed comparatively lower scores and professional contextualisation showed the greatest variability. The combined quantitative and qualitative analysis revealed recurring cross-case patterns in the explicitness and integration of pedagogical criteria rather than discrete competence levels or developmental categories. The findings suggest that prompt design can be examined as a form of AI-mediated pedagogical performance in which educational criteria are translated into operational instructions for generative systems. Rather than demonstrating a wholly independent teaching competence, the study highlights prompt design as a potentially relevant context for mobilising and externalising pedagogical knowledge within initial teacher education. Given the small, context-specific corpus of collaborative prompts, the findings are exploratory and are not intended to support generalisation to individual prompting competence or to other teacher education contexts.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101686

Authors: Aida Faraji Lea Ferrari

The F-Words framework introduces a holistic view of child development. This study evaluated the preliminary development and psychometric properties of the ‘I Know Myself Well’ questionnaire, a new self-report measure based on this framework. Participants included 209 primary school students in Northern Italy. Using a cross-validation framework, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a robust two-factor structure (EFA = 90; CFA = 119): Relational Self-Awareness and Agentic Self-Projection. The scale demonstrated satisfactory fit indices and acceptable overall internal consistency. This brief tool provides a psychometrically sound, child-centered instrument to support inclusive educational planning and early career development.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101685

Authors: Jingxuan Wang Xinqiao Liu

Preparing engineers for rapidly changing sociotechnical environments requires a clear account of the competencies that undergraduate engineering programs should foster. This study used the term future outstanding engineers to refer to engineering undergraduates being prepared for engineering excellence and examined the structure and correlates of their self-reported core competence. Cross-sectional survey data were obtained from 578 engineering undergraduates at a Chinese research university. A reflective–formative higher-order model was estimated using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM); partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) compared grade cohorts; and multiple linear regression examined associations with student background and educational experience. Adaptive, professional, and basic competence formed the higher-order construct, with adaptive competence receiving the largest outer weight. The outer weight of adaptive competence was larger, and that of professional competence smaller, among third-year than first-year students; the outer weight of basic competence did not differ significantly. Selected co-curricular and language-learning experiences were associated with adaptive competence, whereas family background and leadership experience were associated with professional competence. Basic competence was associated with a broader set of student background and engagement variables. These findings support a differentiated, stage-sensitive approach to competence development. Because the data are cross-sectional, self-reported, and drawn from one institution, the results should be interpreted as structural and associational rather than developmental or causal.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101684

Authors: Honor McElroy Dayna Jean DeFeo David A. Tallmon Paul Cotter

This document analysis reviews 12 commercial and institution-specific Individual Development Plans (IDPs) and the web content used to frame them from 22 STEM undergraduate programs across the US. Positioned as an essential career planning tool for STEM students at undergraduate and graduate levels, IDPs are intended to promote student success through self-assessment, goal setting, and planning. Drawing from recent scholarship that underscores the role of community in first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students’ motivations to attend college, we used Yosso’s community cultural wealth (CCW) framework to explore what skills and values IDPs prioritized, how IDPs include or acknowledge different forms of capital (aspirational, familial, social, navigational, resistant, linguistic), and how IDPs framed the goal setting process. We found that IDPs touch upon some of CCW’s forms of capital, but they do not align with the theorized richness of CCW. Additionally, this superficial connection to CCW in IDPs was paired with a neoliberal framing of goal setting as a fixed process—one that is linear, time-bound, and competitive. The language and tone of these tools sits in tension with the inclusivity and community-centered ethos of CCW. Our findings suggest opportunities to incorporate CCW into goal setting and career planning tools, including making apparent the structural inequities that underrepresented students will encounter as they navigate STEM degrees and careers. This also implies opportunities for tools that reflect diverse epistemological approaches to goal setting.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101683

Authors: Éva Ladányi László Balázs

Teachers’ professional self-efficacy is one of the key determinants of the quality of early childhood education; however, there is little empirical evidence available on the personal psychological resources underlying its development within the Hungarian preschool education context. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and professional self-efficacy, and to examine whether this relationship differs between groups representing two stages of professional socialisation. The sample comprised 234 pre-service preschool teachers and 177 in-service preschool teachers (N = 411), who completed the Hungarian version of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS-HU) and the self-efficacy scale of the ORA questionnaire. The analysis was based on a measurement invariance test, hierarchical regressions estimated using HC3 robust errors, relative weight analysis, an equivalence test (TOST) and multi-group latent structural models. Emotional intelligence showed a strong, stable positive association with professional self-efficacy across all model variants (β = 0.594; around 0.70 at the latent level), and no evidence was found that its strength differed between the two groups, although the confidence intervals do not exclude small-to-moderate differences. Of the dimensions, the assessment of others’ emotions showed the largest relative weight, although only its contrast with the assessment of one’s own emotions was statistically distinguishable. The level of professional self-efficacy did not differ between the two groups: the difference was reliably smaller than a small-to-medium effect size. The comparable association in the pre-service group is compatible with the possibility that the link between emotional resources and beliefs about competence is already present during initial training—an interpretation that requires longitudinal confirmation—and supports integrating the development of emotional competences into initial teacher education.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101682

Authors: Verónica Gomes João Arménio Lamego Lopes Célia Oliveira

Reading fluency is a key component of reading competence, yet its longitudinal development among students with reading difficulties remains poorly understood. This systematic review synthesized longitudinal evidence on reading fluency trajectories, associated predictors, and methodological approaches in elementary school students with reading difficulties. Following PRISMA guidelines, studies published between 2004 and 2025 were identified through searches of Scopus, ERIC, and Web of Science, complemented by citation tracking and manual screening. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. The available evidence indicates heterogeneous developmental trajectories across the reading outcomes examined, although substantial methodological variation limits the ability to draw secure conclusions. Students identified as having reading difficulties generally exhibited slower and more variable growth than their peers, although definitions of reading difficulties varied across studies. Two studies reported descriptive patterns consistent with possible partial convergence in the later elementary grades. Predictor evidence was limited and fragmented, with individual studies identifying associations involving letter knowledge, vocabulary, reading behavior, socioeconomic status, demographic factors, and risk status, but with little replication across studies. Interpretation of the evidence is constrained by conceptual and methodological heterogeneity, including differences in outcome measures, trajectory models, and predictor selection. Overall, this review synthesizes a fragmented evidence base and proposes a heuristic framework to guide future longitudinal research towards a cumulative understanding of the development of reading fluency.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101681

Authors: Emil Johansson

This conceptual article argues that research on reflection and reflective practice in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) has largely focused on content-based understandings of reflection. In response, it contends that growing attention to situated reflection can cultivate conditions for resonance, creating opportunities for a more diverse, vibrant, and responsive field of inquiry. The article therefore provides a literature-based diagnosis of the field and advances a conceptual argument for greater engagement with situated reflection, while exploring how conditions for such engagement can be cultivated and sustained. I contend that the research field has evolved through three phases: an exploratory period characterized by conceptual challenges, a phase of validation and consolidation, and a more recent phase marked by increasingly predictable research patterns. To avoid a trajectory towards predictive and intellectual stagnation despite rising publication rates, greater attention to situated reflection offers a promising avenue for renewal. Viewing reflection as situated can broaden the field’s domain-centered understanding, open new lines of inquiry, and generate forms of knowledge that have previously remained unrecognized. Such knowledge may invite new responses from researchers and the field, transforming both conceptualizations of reflection and the enactment of scholarly practice.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101678

Authors: Felipe Emiliano Arévalo-Cordovilla Ricauter Lopez-Bermudez Fabricio Guevara-Viejó Oscar Xavier Bermeo Bermeo Almeida Jesmy Flora Castelo Castelo González

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming higher education; however, evidence of its research and application in Ecuador remains fragmented. We systematically reviewed the internationally indexed literature on AI in Ecuadorian higher education. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, Scopus and the Web of Science Core Collection were searched for peer-reviewed publications from 2015 to 2025. Of the 271 unique records screened, 62 studies met the eligibility criteria; they were appraised using design-specific instruments (MMAT 2018, PROBAST) and analyzed through thematic synthesis across eight axes. The corpus concentrates on 2024–2025 (71%) and is dominated by learning analytics (16 studies) and generative AI (14 studies), followed by perception studies (10 studies). Reported benefits—early warning, efficiency, assessment support, and skill development—rest on technical performance, usability, and satisfaction rather than on measured learning or institutional gains. Persistent challenges include infrastructure constraints, uneven digital competencies, ethical and privacy concerns, and methodologically fragile local evidence; 30 of the 59 appraised studies were rated as having high concern. Ethics, governance, and academic integrity were rarely the primary research objects (two of 62 studies), although 28 raised them as secondary findings. This review derives a research agenda prioritizing governance, pedagogical theorization, methodological rigor, and outcome evidence.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101680

Authors: Sihua Wu Piyapong Sumettikoon

Bibliometric commentary increasingly frames the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) as a paradigm shift in AI-in-education (AIED) research, yet rarely distinguishes publication growth from genuine reconfiguration of the knowledge base or of teacher–learner roles. This study maps knowledge evolution in AIED from 2015 to 2025 by integrating four analytical strands across Web of Science and Scopus: scientometric mapping (including keyword and reference bursts and co-citation analysis), structural topic modeling (STM), design-weighted coding of full texts, and triangulation across these strands. Two transition windows emerged. The weaker 2019–2020 window (Jensen–Shannon divergence, JSD = 0.058; retained under the permutation rule but not under a stricter interval-based rule) reflects a research-front transition toward learning analytics and prediction, accompanied by knowledge-base reconfiguration but no detectable change in teacher–learner roles. The 2022–2023 window (JSD = 0.187, the period maximum) coincides with the generative-AI surge and couples a newly formed co-citation community with a topic-specific rise in coagency whose direction is clear but whose magnitude is imprecisely estimated. Because these effects concentrate in 36.6% of the weighted corpus and recent citations remain right-censored, we classify the change, under our pre-specified labeling scheme, as localized paradigm-level reconfiguration rather than a field-level paradigm shift. The label is an operational classification within that scheme, not an independent determination that a paradigm shift has occurred.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101679

Authors: Khawlah Alhejii

Executive function (EF)—working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility—underpins school readiness, academic achievement, and socio-emotional competence in early childhood (ages 3–8). Digital and AI-supported game-based interventions are a promising but underexamined modality for EF training. This review aimed to synthesize the reported effects of digital and AI-supported game-based interventions on executive function in children aged 3–8 years and the technological features linked to reported gains. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, this systematic review synthesized 19 studies from six databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC, Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore) covering January 2012–March 2026, involving 1890 children aged 4–8 years across 11 countries. Narrative synthesis indicated predominantly positive findings across all three EF components; this was observed most consistently for working memory. Adaptive difficulty calibration, immediate corrective feedback, and motivational scaffolding were the features most often linked to gains; positive findings were somewhat more frequent in school-based settings and in longer interventions, though these descriptive patterns rest on small, unbalanced subgroups and cannot establish setting or duration as moderators. Critically, the corpus was overwhelmingly conventional and rule-based: only three studies (15.8%) contained machine-learning components, with none driving pedagogical personalization (confined to gesture recognition or post hoc analysis); none employed conversational agents or affect-sensing, and no eligible study sampled 3-year-olds. Findings should therefore be read as evidence about adaptive digital game-based interventions rather than AI-driven ones. This near-absence of machine-learning personalization for typically developing children aged 3–8 years is itself a principal finding, alongside gaps in long-term retention, cross-cultural generalizability, and ethical AI data governance.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101677

Authors: Noam Lapidot-Lefler

The consolidation of online learning in higher education raises a question teacher education can no longer defer: How is social–emotional –support created when teaching and learning are mediated by screens? This study explored how preservice teachers experienced social-emotional learning (SEL) in an online course, focusing on three dimensions: belonging, visibility, and voice. Using reflexive thematic analysis within a constructivist orientation, the study analyzed the summative written reflections, composed as letters to the lecturer, of preservice teachers (N = 27) in a year-long synchronous online course at a teacher education institution. The cohort, aged 19 to 35, was heterogeneous in life circumstances, professional experience, and learning profiles. The analysis constructed four themes: belonging built through structured relational rituals; visibility as pedagogical noticing across the screen; voice as graduated, chosen participation; and the intended translation of experienced online SEL (O-SEL) into a professional toolbox for inclusive teaching. The findings indicate that the online space is double-edged: it heightens the risks of invisibility and disconnection, yet its affordances, written channels, structured formats, and learner control over self-presentation, can deepen inclusion when deliberately designed. Because the letters were addressed to the lecturer–researcher, the findings are read as situated accounts of perceived support and intended practice rather than as evidence of effectiveness or of classroom implementation. The discussion links the findings to systemic and transformative SEL and online disinhibition theory, and proposes a practice architecture for preparing teachers for inclusive classrooms.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101676

Authors: Anna Khalemsky

The growing demand for data science competencies across professional fields creates a need for curricula that enable management students to develop analytical skills while navigating increasingly complex technological environments. This study examines the design and evaluation of a three-year Data Science track embedded within an undergraduate management program. The curriculum integrates statistics, programming, data management, visualization, artificial intelligence, and project-based learning within a progressively structured, multi-tool environment. A multi-cohort, multi-method design combined longitudinal academic performance data from two independent cohorts with graduates’ attitudes toward data science, career adaptability, course perceptions, and qualitative feedback. Academic performance showed cohort-specific patterns: variability decreased progressively across the three years in Cohort 1, whereas in Cohort 2 it decreased in the second year but increased in the third year. Graduates reported high perceived utility and interest in data science, relatively high career adaptability, and positive perceptions of applied and project-oriented courses, although self-efficacy varied in technically demanding areas. Qualitative findings highlighted authentic projects, progressive learning, and multi-tool exposure, alongside challenges related to technical complexity. The study provides program-level evidence for designing accessible yet rigorous data science curricula and highlights the potential value of progressive curricular integration and applied multi-tool learning for management students.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101675

Authors: Laiping Wong Takshun Tsin

Background: Playwriting is a core module in Hong Kong’s secondary drama education curriculum; however, its effective implementation is often hindered by traditional text-first pedagogical paradigms. These conventional approaches restrict novice students’ ability to conceptualize live dramatic tension, often resulting in plays with stiff dialogue and limited stage feasibility. This study evaluated the instructional efficacy of a four-lesson somatic-first playwriting module—the somatic-generative and dual-loop reflective framework (SoDu) aligned with the LETCA rubric (Literary-language, Effective Lines, Tension, Creativity, and Stage Applicability)—compared to a conventional text-first approach. Stageability was operationalized as the extent to which written text can be effectively translated into embodied stage actions. Methods: A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test evaluation was conducted with two Secondary 3 classes. The experimental class (n = 19) engaged with the somatic-first SoDu-LETCA unit, whereas the reference class received text-first instruction. An independent panel conducted a blinded outcome assessment of plays across 10 indicators of the LETCA rubric. Baseline literacy disparities were statistically controlled using ANCOVA. Results: The reference class held a lead in the overall literary-language domain (p = 0.048) due to direct lexical borrowing in word choice (p=0.011,ηp2=0.134). However, the SoDu-LETCA unit achieved statistically significant superiority across four major domains: effective lines (p<0.001,ηp2=0.286), tension (p<0.001,ηp2=0.246), creativity (p<0.001,ηp2=0.313), and stage applicability (p < 0.001). Crucially, no participant in the somatic-first group showed a decline in stage applicability scores, whereas declines were observed in the text-first comparison group. Conclusions: These findings offer preliminary evidence that engaging students in somatic and spatial exploration prior to textual drafting may support the development of stageable playwriting in secondary contexts. Given the small sample size and non-randomized quasi-experimental design, future research with larger cohorts is recommended to verify the generalizability of embodied drama pedagogies.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101674

Authors: Plamen Vladkov Mirazchiyski Maja Zupančič Žan Lep Eva Klemenčič Mirazchiyski

Among many other factors, the formation of adolescents’ attitudes toward immigrants is related to multiple socio-economic, personal, and educational factors, yet little is known about their relative importance across educational systems. This study examined the relative contribution of students’ socio-economic background, personal characteristics, civic activities at school, and civic activities outside school to attitudes toward immigrants using nationally representative data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2022, including almost 70,000 participating eighth-grade students from 21 European educational systems. A series of regression models examined the extent to which different blocks of variables attenuated the association between socio-economic background and positive attitudes toward immigrants. Across the 21 educational systems, higher socio-economic background was generally associated with more positive attitudes. Among the examined predictor blocks, the inclusion of students’ personal characteristics attenuated the most of these associations, followed by civic activities at school, whereas civic activities outside school contributed relatively little. The overall pattern of findings was remarkably consistent across the participating educational systems. These findings highlight the central role of adolescents’ personal civic dispositions in explaining their attitudes toward immigrants and suggest that schools can promote more inclusive attitudes by fostering students’ civic development alongside opportunities for meaningful civic participation.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101673

Authors: Nannan Fan Eric A. Kirk Minghui Zhu Troy D. Sadler

Scientific argumentation is a core scientific practice recognized by multiple national science standards, yet many science teachers experience challenges integrating it into their classrooms. This systematic review examined the resources identified by research as shaping teachers’ argumentation instruction and how these resources were reported to support teachers’ classroom practice. Guided by an adapted version of the Pedagogical Design Capacity Framework, we analyzed 79 empirical studies published between 1983 and 2025. Resources were categorized as personal, instructional, or contextual, and their specific supportive aspects were grouped according to their reported contributions. Personal resources included teachers’ beliefs, knowledge of argumentation, and pedagogical content knowledge for argumentation. Instructional resources comprised curriculum materials, professional development programs, and technological tools. Contextual resources (factors) including classroom culture, school administration, and policy environments mediated teachers’ uptake of instructional resources. These resources operated collectively rather than in isolation. This review indicated a tension regarding explicit argumentation instruction: although it can establish shared repertoires at the beginning, excessive emphasis on structural understandings may divert students’ attention from the epistemic purposes of argumentation. These findings highlight the need for coordinated and context-responsive supports that help teachers understand how, when, and why particular instructional approaches can foster students’ epistemic engagement in argumentation practice.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101672

Authors: Romain Lerouge Mara Soncin

Graduate employability is increasingly relevant in Higher Education, yet its relationship with university administrative and support service quality remains underexplored. This study investigates whether broader configurations of administrative performance, jointly considering service effectiveness perceived and cost efficiency, are associated with differences in graduate employability. Using longitudinal data from the Italian Good Practice project (2014–2023), we analyze 45 universities across five support service areas (General Administration, Teaching and Learning Support, Campus Facilities, Research Support, and Library Services) through Latent Profile Analysis to identify distinct performance profiles and their evolution over time. Multinomial regressions assess institutional and contextual characteristics linked to profile membership, while analysis of variance examines differences in graduate employment outcomes, expressed one and three years post-graduation, across profiles. The analysis discloses three profiles of performance, with perceived service effectiveness showing a significant correlation with graduate employability. Findings highlight the role of the quality of the university environment experienced by students as associated with graduate outcomes, thereby extending employability research beyond individual skills or career services.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101671

Authors: Anikó Berta Lilla Makszin Gabriella Hild

This study explores Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) among medical students learning languages with different contextual roles within the same university and taught by the same teacher under comparable instructional conditions. A total of 213 students participated, including Hungarian students learning English for medical purposes (n = 130) and international students learning Hungarian (n = 83). The Short Form of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (S-FLES) was used. The ordinal confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed an overall adequate fit for the original three-factor S-FLES model in the full sample, providing support for this structure in the present study. A complete ceiling effect for Item 2 limited the psychometric assessment in the international cohort. No significant differences were found between the two groups in teacher appreciation or personal enjoyment. In contrast, Hungarian students reported higher social enjoyment, particularly in relation to group cohesion and shared classroom experiences. No statistically significant associations between the self-reported number of languages spoken and the S-FLES items remained after correction for multiple testing, either in the full sample or when the two cohorts were analysed separately. Overall, the findings show that social enjoyment differed between the two cohorts, but the cross-sectional design does not identify the factors responsible for this difference. The study contributes to research on positive emotions in multilingual higher education by highlighting the context-dependent nature of FLE.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101670

Authors: João Braga Santos Flávio Almeida Ernesto Filgueiras

Conversational artificial intelligence can provide individual study support, but the educational significance of its responses depends on how they are examined and used. We develop a conceptual framework comparing Individual Chatbot Interaction and Standard Classroom Interaction, then specify a Virtual Tutor with Physical Presence as a situated implementation of shared AI inquiry. The framework draws on selected scholarship concerning mediated learning, educational dialogue, self-regulation, cognitive engagement, pedagogical agents, and AI literacy. We define the unit of analysis as an interaction episode and distinguish private consultation, shared instruction, and hybrid activities through observable criteria. The tutor is specified as an animated avatar projected by video-mapping onto a static volumetric surface in the classroom; perceived presence and learning are treated as outcomes requiring measurement. The proposed contribution is a design specification linking public AI responses, teacher orchestration, evidence-based scrutiny, and individual reflection. An explanatory pathway connects these conditions to possible cognitive and metacognitive processes, with four propositions and matched comparisons for future evaluation. A projected avatar is neither necessary nor sufficient for collective verification, and its incremental value must be tested against simpler shared interfaces. No empirical effectiveness is claimed. The framework provides a basis for investigating when a situated conversational tutor supports disciplinary understanding and critical AI use.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101669

Authors: Rosina Nkadi Ngoako Mbazima Amos Ngoveni

Graphs are a conceptually demanding yet foundational component of school mathematics, yet their teaching is often shaped by procedural routines that can obscure weak conceptual understanding. A persistent concern is that teachers’ confidence in teaching graphs may be mistaken for secure topic-specific knowledge, even though graph teaching requires explanation, interpretation, and responsiveness to learner thinking. This study examined how teachers’ responses to graph-related tasks reflected their confidence, conceptual understanding, and perceptions of learner difficulties in teaching Grade 8 and Grade 9 graphs. The study was guided by the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching framework, which distinguishes between general mathematical competence and the specialized knowledge needed for teaching, including the ability to explain concepts, interpret learner thinking, and respond to misconceptions. A qualitative exploratory case study design was employed during the baseline phase of a broader engaged scholarship project in a rural circuit in the Capricorn North District, South Africa. The targeted group comprised nine in-service mathematics teachers participating in the professional development initiative. Data were generated through written responses to five open-ended diagnostic questions focusing on teachers’ confidence, conceptual understanding of graphs, and perceptions of learner difficulties, and were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings showed that teachers’ reported confidence did not always align with equally strong conceptual understanding, that some graph-related explanations remained procedurally oriented, and that teachers’ recognition of learner difficulty did not always reflect strong diagnostic insight into its conceptual roots. The study contributes to the field by showing that confidence, specialized content knowledge, and knowledge of learner thinking need to be examined together when evaluating graph teaching. Although the findings are context-specific, they offer insights that may be transferable to similar under-resourced professional development contexts where routine familiarity may mask conceptual gaps in mathematics teaching.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101668

Authors: John Qiong Wang

Agentic translation systems, autonomous multi-agent architectures capable of planning, tool orchestration, and end-to-end translation, increasingly perform routine translation tasks that translator education programmes were historically designed to teach. Without reform, programmes risk producing graduates for occupational categories that are projected to be increasingly automated. This design protocol paper proposes a framework for human-AI collaboration in translator education, redirecting training from routine translation skills toward four competencies: cross-disciplinary knowledge, AI orchestration competence, higher-order strategic judgement, and critical AI evaluation. The framework is grounded in distributed cognition, task-based automation theory, human-AI collaboration theory, AI literacy, and the EMT competence framework. We specify (a) a translation-task displacement inventory mapping 18 translation sub-tasks to current AI capability and remaining human role, (b) the four-dimensional competence framework with draft assessment rubrics, and (c) a 12-month design-based research (DBR) protocol with a 5-person co-design team and five separately recruited pilot participants, with pre-registered evaluation criteria on the Open Science Framework (OSF). The study contributes (a) a theoretically grounded four-dimensional competence framework, (b) a reproducible small-team co-design methodology, and (c) a transferable design protocol for institutions facing similar redesign challenges. Positioned within the Special Issue’s three pillars of new epistemologies, pedagogies, and research methodologies, the framework complements existing Special Issue contributions on AI curriculum design and educator-AI workflow design by addressing the learner-competence layer. The empirical evidence on the framework’s feasibility, acceptability, and educational effects will be reported in a subsequent paper following the pilot’s completion; the present paper’s contributions are the framework (whose operationalisation is developed through a co-design process rather than the framework structure itself), the reproducible co-design methodology, and the transferable design protocol.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101667

Authors: Ana Ramos Eduardo Santos Jéssica Mascarenhas Vera Braga Carla Nascimento

Public speaking anxiety (PSA) represents a significant challenge, with a notable impact on the development of technical-scientific and communication skills. Based on a quantitative, cross-sectional design, the present study aims to carry out the cross-cultural adaptation of the Portuguese version of the Public Speaking Anxiety Scale (PSAS), evaluating its psychometric properties and structural validity through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). A convenience sample of 348 nursing students from a higher education institution in the Lisbon region was used. The PSAS is a multidimensional instrument composed of 17 items, which evaluates the cognitive, physiological, and behavioral components of the PSA. The adaptation process followed the robust translation method developed by a panel of experts, ensuring semantic equivalence and internal consistency (n = 10; Content Validity Index Global 0.95). The results indicate that the mean PSAS score is 48.02 ± 13.03 (range 20–33). The cognitive dimension obtained the highest mean scores, followed by the physiological and behavioral dimensions (22.86 ± 6.13; 14.99 ± 4.26; 10.17 ± 3.68, respectively). In conclusion, the Portuguese PSAS is a valid and reliable instrument to systematically assess public speaking anxiety in Portuguese nursing students and contributes to the growing literature on culturally adapted measures of communication anxiety.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101666

Authors: Katlego Magabane Medwin Sepadi Karabo Molapo

Inclusive education depends on teachers’ capacity to adapt curriculum and assessment to accommodate diverse learner needs. However, teachers in rural South African schools continue to experience significant challenges arising from limited institutional support, inadequate professional development, and resource constraints. Despite policy commitments to inclusive education through White Paper 6, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), and the Screening, Identification, Assessment, and Support (SIAS) policy, limited empirical attention has been given to the specific support teachers require to implement inclusive curriculum and assessment practices in rural secondary schools. This study explored the support that teachers require regarding curriculum and assessment to facilitate the implementation of inclusive education in rural secondary schools in the Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Guided by Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, the study adopted an interpretivist paradigm and a qualitative case study design. Purposive sampling was used to select six secondary school teachers from three rural schools with experience in implementing inclusive education. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews lasting between 45 and 60 min, supplemented by field notes. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed inductively using thematic analysis. Trustworthiness was ensured through credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability strategies. Four interrelated themes emerged from the analysis: inadequate inclusive support systems, limited stakeholder collaboration, limited curriculum support, and structural constraints and limited flexibility in assessment practices. Participants described insufficient resources, limited collaboration with parents and specialist support personnel, inadequate context-specific professional development, and inflexible assessment practices as constraining their capacity to implement inclusive education effectively. Participants identified continuous professional learning, collaborative partnerships, differentiated curriculum support, and flexible assessment strategies as important for strengthening their inclusive practices. However, whether addressing these support needs would improve teacher capacity or learner outcomes requires further investigation. Participants’ accounts suggest that effective implementation of inclusive education in rural secondary schools may require coordinated institutional, professional, and collaborative support. Strengthening teacher professional development, enhancing stakeholder collaboration, improving curriculum resources, and promoting inclusive assessment practices may be necessary for translating inclusive education policy into meaningful classroom practice. The findings may inform teacher professional development, school leadership, and policy initiatives aimed at enhancing inclusive education implementation within resource-constrained educational contexts.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101665

Authors: Katinka Dijkstra Lesya Ganushchak Kim Ouwehand Liona Ionescu

Learning to evaluate information in digital contexts relies not only on critical thinking but also on how children acquire and apply knowledge when evaluating news content. In an era in which children increasingly rely on social media as a primary source of information, understanding how cognitive and social factors shape judgments is crucial. The present study examined how an inoculation intervention, cognitive reflection skills, and social context (social media use and adult support) influence children’s credibility judgments of real and fake news. Children evaluated news items before and after completing an inoculation quiz with or without feedback. Results showed that feedback was associated with a greater difference in credibility ratings between true and false news items, but no causal effect of feedback on changes in these ratings. Higher CRT-D scores were associated with credibility judgments overall, but were not associated with greater differentiation between true and false news items. Importantly, the combination of feedback, social media experience, and support from parents or school was associated with higher credibility for true news items, underscoring the role of social context in the evaluation of true and false news items. These findings highlight that learning to evaluate information is a process influenced by both individual cognitive mechanisms and social environments.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101664

Authors: Katarina Putica Jelena Stanišić

By enabling active hands-on exploration of structures and phenomena that are invisible or impractical to manipulate in real life, haptic technologies have the potential to enhance learning across multiple fields of higher education. However, a comprehensive understanding of their implementation, instructional impact, and students’ perceptions remains limited. This systematic review synthesizes evidence from 101 studies published between 2000 and April 2026 across 11 educational fields, extending previous reviews beyond their predominant focus on health sciences. The findings reveal that existing research is constrained by limited geographic diversity, small samples, predominantly quantitative designs, scarce longitudinal evidence, and heavy reliance on self-report measures. Only 24 studies explicitly grounded haptic-enabled instruction in theory, most commonly embodied cognition. Haptic activities are rarely integrated into regular curricula, are typically delivered in a single session lasting no more than two hours, and often lack pre-training, repetition, and instructional guidance. Nevertheless, students consistently report positive perceptions of haptic-enabled learning, while evidence indicates improvements in conceptual knowledge and psychomotor skills that are comparable to or greater than those achieved through traditional instruction. Based on the above-mentioned findings, recommendations for future research and practice are provided.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101661

Authors: Elvira Fernández-Ahumada Jesús Montejo-Gámez

This quantitative study examines the association between pre-university educational pathways and mathematical literacy among 227 first-year prospective elementary teachers at a Spanish university. Although experienced teacher educators are informally aware of this association, its relationship with specific dimensions of mathematical literacy has not been sufficiently investigated. Mathematical literacy was operationalized through processes and capabilities from the PISA 2012 framework and assessed using five released items. We combined descriptive and non-parametric group comparisons with principal component and cluster analyses, supported by qualitative inspection of written responses. Descriptive analyses indicated generally low and heterogeneous performance, whereas group comparisons suggest that the science and technology pathway is associated with higher performance across all processes and skills, and that social science students generally perform better than those who followed the humanities and other pathways. In addition, three profiles of students arose according to high, medium and low performances. These groups were found in correspondence to technological, social sciences, and humanities and other pre-university studies, respectively. Some implications of these findings for prospective elementary teacher education are also discussed.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101663

Authors: Roman Christiaens Allison BrckaLorenz

Rural LGBTQ+ college students remain understudied in higher education. This study provides one of the few large-scale, multi-institutional quantitative examinations of this student population. Using 2023–2025 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data from nearly 300,000 first-year and senior students across 872 four-year institutions in the U.S., we combined variable-centered regression analyses and person-centered cluster analyses to examine engaging interactions with others and engaging institutional environments. We found distinct patterns of engagement associated with rural background, LGBTQ+ identity, and their intersection. Rural students reported less frequent engagement in some interactions with others but generally had more positive perceptions of their environment. LGBTQ+ students, however, had more frequent engaging interactions with others but a less favorable view of their environment. The interaction between rural and LGBTQ+ identities was positive across all engagement outcomes. The person-centered analyses further emphasize the non-monolithic nature of rural LGBTQ+ experiences. Interpreted through an asset-based perspective informed by queer(ed) rural cultural wealth, these findings complicate prevailing deficit narratives while identifying the need for further research on the unique experiences and assets of rural LGBTQ+ college students. The study demonstrates the value of more nuanced, critical approaches to rural higher education research, policy, and institutional practice.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101662

Authors: Galiya Madybekova Tansholpan Zabynbekova

Learning analytical chemistry requires not only mastery of analytical and calculation methods but also the ability to make consistent experimental decisions. This study tested a process-oriented assessment framework based on the experimental decision-making pathway (EDMP) construct and the analysis of student-specific decision-making trajectories. A quasi-experimental study involved 60 second-year students, 30 each in a project-based learning group and a control group with a traditional laboratory format. During an eight-week module on determining total iron in water, 2317 individual decisions were recorded; independence, justification, use of data, and revision patterns were coded for each event. Dynamics were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models and sequence analysis, and trajectory characteristics were compared with educational and analytical outcomes. In the experimental group, the proportion of independent decisions increased from 35.7 to 61.5%, and the proportion of data-driven decisions increased from 32.0 to 58.2%. In the control group, changes were less pronounced. The between-group difference was greater for analytical problem solving (d = 1.26) than for subject knowledge (d = 0.84). The proportion of data-driven solutions correlated positively with the final problem-solving score (ρ = 0.52) and negatively with the relative error in iron determination (ρ = −0.44). Overall, the results supported the hypotheses and demonstrated that process analysis complements the final indicators, allowing us to trace the transition from dependent procedure execution to more independent and adaptive experimental reasoning.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101660

Authors: Diana Cristina Velásquez Rojas Esther Julia Olaya-Marín Miguel Barrios

This study examines research trends at the intersection of school mathematics education and education for sustainability during the period 2010–2025. Using a mixed bibliometric design based on 970 documents indexed in Scopus published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, the study combined quantitative bibliometric mapping with complementary qualitative content analysis. The results reveal sustained growth in publications, organized primarily around STEM/STEAM approaches and technology-oriented educational frameworks. Keyword and collaboration networks show thematic diversification alongside a concentration of scientific production in Global North countries. Qualitative analysis suggests that sustainability is frequently incorporated as an applied or contextual dimension rather than as an integrated curricular component of school mathematics, although some emerging studies demonstrate deeper forms of socio-environmental integration. The findings highlight the need for research with greater geographical diversity, higher empirical rigor, and a deeper pedagogical approach.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101659

Authors: Carlos Enrique George-Reyes Aracelly Nuñez-Naranjo Silvia Patricia Bustamante-Ruiz Sandra Martínez-Pérez

Curriculum internationalization has become a relevant field in higher education because it connects pedagogical design, intercultural learning, global competencies, and critical debates on knowledge production. However, the literature remains conceptually fragmented and unevenly represented across geopolitical contexts. This study conducted a systematic literature review combined with bibliometric analysis to examine the scientific configuration of research on curriculum internationalization. Following PRISMA guidelines, 160 publications indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus were analyzed using R packages, including bibliometrix, tidyverse, dplyr, and ggplot2. The analysis focused on scientific production, influential authors and works, collaboration networks, conceptual evolution, thematic organization, and emerging gaps. The findings reveal sustained growth in the field but also a strong concentration of citation-based influence among a limited group of authors and predominantly Anglophone countries. The literature has evolved from broad conceptual discussions toward more specific concerns related to competencies, internationalization at home, academic practice, and decolonial perspectives. Despite its expansion, the field shows persistent tensions between institutional discourse and pedagogical implementation. Future research should generate stronger empirical evidence on formative impact, incorporate non-Anglophone contexts, and articulate curriculum internationalization with epistemological diversity and educational transformation.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101658

Authors: Silvana Arriagada Anabalón Miguel Nussbaum Voehl Nicolás Navarro Joaquín Araya

Developing critical thinking skills (CTS) is a central goal of higher education, yet pre-service teachers often receive little explicit guidance on how to apply them in academic or professional writing. This study reports the design, implementation, and initial examination of IDEA, a purpose-built platform for technology-mediated scaffolding in academic writing. The scaffold targets four CTS subskills: interpretation (clarifying meaning), analysis (examining relationships among ideas), explanation (articulating and justifying reasoning), and evaluation (judging claims against criteria). Using a design-based research (DBR) approach, 57 fourth-year pre-service language teachers at a highly selective Chilean university completed three structured writing tasks during one semester. The first two tasks were completed without IDEA; the third used the full scaffold. Students’ texts were assessed with an expert-reviewed analytical rubric. Cohen’s kappa for independent pre-consensus ratings was 0.88 for interpretation, 0.79 for analysis, 0.84 for explanation, and 0.83 for evaluation; Cronbach’s alpha across the pooled 171 text-level observations was 0.790, reported as a descriptive indicator of score coherence. Omnibus repeated-measures ANOVAs were statistically significant for all four subskills, and 11 of the 12 Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons were significant. Because the study had no control group and IDEA use coincided with the final task, these changes cannot be attributed to IDEA on the basis of this design. Focus group participants (n = 12) reported that the scaffold made CTS more concrete, helped them organize disciplinary reasoning, and increased their awareness of planning, self-evaluation, and revision. These findings concern critical-thinking performance in writing; overall writing quality was not measured separately.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101657

Authors: Liina Kersna Kristjan-Julius Laak Liina Lepp Margus Pedaste

Supporting students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) in school is essential for fostering self-directed learners and depends largely on how teachers design learning environments and instructional tasks. The aim of this case study is to examine how SRL-supportive classroom practices manifest across two learning groups in a primary school implementing directed independent learning. Participants included 59 students from two multi-age learning groups and four teachers. Learning activities were observed over one school week in both groups, and teacher interviews were conducted before and after the observations. Data were analysed using qualitative deductive content analysis. Findings indicated that in both learning groups, SRL-supportive practices included supportive classroom structures, opportunities for student autonomy, scaffolding and co-regulation, and practices supporting a collaborative learning community. In Grades 1–3, teacher-prepared daily learning guides structured choices and provided opportunities for frequent feedback, whereas in Grades 4–6, weekly digital learning guides provided opportunities for co-construction of plans, peer-supported regulation and more individualised planning. The findings highlight how similar SRL-supportive principles were enacted differently across the two learning groups, reflecting differences in classroom organisation, learning guides, and opportunities for student participation and autonomy.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101656

Authors: Laura Schlottman

Instructional leadership is often displaced by compliance requirements, operational demands, and formal evaluation. This qualitative secondary analysis examined how teachers and principals described organizational pressures and relational practices during a 14-day Build Rapport, Inspire Feedback, Celebrate Success, and Exceed Results (BICE) leadership cycle across five Southern California public charter schools. Data included open-ended survey responses from 33 experienced teachers, interviews with nine teachers, and interviews with six principals. A role-by-source matrix and constant comparison were used to examine demands that displaced developmental work, valued leadership practices, and convergence or tension across participant groups. Two cross-cutting themes emerged. The compliance trap described how urgent operational and accountability demands displaced coaching, recognition, and relationship-building. Relational anchors—approachability, trust, feedback, recognition, collaboration, and human connection—helped preserve developmental relationships within these pressures. Structured, non-evaluative leadership routines may help translate relational commitments into dependable practice by protecting time for connection, observation, recognition, and collective next steps. The findings do not establish that BICE caused teacher retention; rather, they identify practical organizational conditions that may support professional connection and continued development across career stages.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101655

Authors: Inka Bormann Nicole Voss

The expectation of establishing an educational partnership with parents poses challenges for both parents and early childhood educators (ECEs). Structural conditions and diverging orientations often complicate cooperation between educators and parents. This exploratory qualitative interview study with 15 ECEs examines which situations in their interaction with parents they find challenging. Based on qualitative content analysis, tense situations in interactions with parents are interpreted through the lenses of vulnerability and dissonance theory. The results show that ECEs experience different dissonances, vulnerabilities, and varying forms of trust in their work with parents. While experienced ECEs report role-related tensions (dissonances), younger ECEs describe relational strains with parents. The findings highlight profession-specific challenges that are discussed in terms of their implications for ECEs’ (further) professional development.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101654

Authors: Nitza Davidovitch Zvi Shiller

Israel’s system of higher education, like many national research evaluation systems worldwide, contends with a constant tension between quantitative metrics and the need to promote significant scientific excellence. This article explores the relationship between quantitative and qualitative indicators at academic institutions by utilizing the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique. Based on analysis of 52 academic institutions (15 in Israel and 37 in other countries), we examine the performance of 47 Israel Prize laureates in the exact sciences (1978–2023), according to the criteria of Israel’s Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC) budgeting model. The main finding reveals that only 19% of Israel Prize recipients rank in the upper quintile under the current model. Adjusting the indicators by period and discipline raises this rate to 67%, indicating a widening discrepancy between quantitative indicators and the system’s ability to detect outstanding scientific excellence. This disconnect is particularly pronounced in theoretical fields such as physics and mathematics. We propose a combined model, based on DEA principles, that balances quantitative and qualitative indicators. Additionally, we introduce a quality indicator based on Ioannidis’ c-score index, which ranks the top 100,000 scientists worldwide, with adjustments for citations, self-citations, co-authorship, and research fields. We propose a quality indicator (QI) measuring the average contribution of a researcher’s publications to their c-score ranking. Validation against Nobel Prize laureates, MIT researchers, and Israel’s established universities shows results compatible with institutional reputations. While based on Israeli data, these findings have implications for research evaluation systems worldwide that employ similar quantitative metrics for funding allocation, particularly regarding the balance between efficiency measurement and support for breakthrough science.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101653

Authors: Sarah McManus Donna Pendergast Harry Kanasa

Education is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sustainable food literacy provides a powerful context for transformative Education for Sustainable Development, enabling real-world learning in secondary schools. This exploratory cross-sectional study used the Norwegian Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale to examine the perceived self-efficacy of home economics pre- and in-service teachers (N = 173) to teach sustainable food literacy, administered via a global digital survey. Through content analysis and parametric and non-parametric descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, the study reveals that teachers’ familiarity with the SDGs intersects with their willingness to integrate them into teaching. Self-efficacy for teaching sustainable food literacy was generally moderate to high, with lower levels among pre-service teachers. Teachers were also more confident teaching sustainable food literacy skills than attitudes, values, and beliefs. Respondents who had participated in food-sustainability-focused professional development reported significantly higher self-efficacy in teaching sustainable food literacy knowledge. Five recommendations for meaningful food sustainability professional development and advocacy are presented, targeting policy and school leadership support, along with stronger preparation pathways for pre-service teachers. These strategies are essential to disrupting societal norms and marginalizing perspectives that undermine sustainable food literacy education, alongside conservative teaching approaches, to equip young people to address complex food sustainability challenges.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101652

Authors: Max T. C. Wong Kai Tik Lee Yuanrou Chen Safayet Ahmed Humaira Binte Habib Hima Yaseen Shafayet Ka Lai Wong Shu Ping Lau Siu Hong Choy Kwok Lung Jim Chi Wah Leung Chee Leung Mak Jianhua Hao Yuen Hong Tsang

Static diagrams inherently flatten the dynamic, three-dimensional interplay of forces and motion, leaving secondary students reliant on imagination to grasp invisible vectors—a challenge consistently documented in high-stakes physics examinations. While augmented reality (AR) offers a promising medium to externalise these abstractions, rigorous classroom evidence comparing theory-driven, curriculum-aligned AR with standard instructional materials remains scarce. Grounded in Variation Theory, Cognitive Load Theory, and Constructivism, this study evaluated a smartphone-based AR application featuring seven 3-D models tightly mapped to the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) physics syllabus. Evaluating N = 171 Form 4 students (Grade 10 equivalent, aged 15–16) across nine classes in seven secondary schools, we employed a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test crossover design comparing AR against equivalent textbook images. Learning outcomes were measured using brief, 5-item HKDSE-aligned conceptual assessments, while classroom engagement was tracked through structured observations of visual on-task behaviour and spontaneous questions, supplemented by an 8-item student perception survey (N = 103). Paired- and independent-sample t-tests were used to evaluate pre-/post-test gains and group differences. Results confirmed that AR produced significantly larger conceptual gains than textbook images for both circular motion (d = 0.32, small-to-medium effect) and magnetic force (d = 0.48, medium effect). Furthermore, AR sustained significantly higher visual on-task behaviour and elicited more spontaneous content-relevant questions across classes (sign test, p = 0.008). Student perceptions confirmed that the majority found AR interesting (81.6%) and visually superior to textbooks (73.8%). We conclude that short, curriculum-embedded AR visualisations grounded in systematic variation enhance conceptual performance and foster an inquiry-oriented classroom atmosphere.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101651

Authors: Petra Kecskés Zsuzsanna Pálffy

Higher education institution (HEI) choice is increasingly influenced by digitalisation, internationalisation, intensified institutional competition, widening participation, and financial uncertainty. This study systematically reviews how institution choice has been conceptualised and examined across domestic and international contexts. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 56 English-language, open-access studies indexed in Scopus were analysed through descriptive mapping and thematic synthesis, with the literature search last updated on 17 September 2026. The review examined publication and methodological patterns, geographical contexts, student populations, research directions, theoretical foundations and reported choice factors. The methodological profile comprised 23 qualitative, 22 quantitative, and eight mixed-methods studies among the 53 empirical publications. Within the selected corpus of 56 studies, the literature is geographically concentrated, while comparative studies are limited. The synthesis identified six thematic emphases in contemporary research: student diversity and inclusion, digitalisation, international mobility, institutional marketing and rankings, financial considerations, and psychological aspects of choice. Despite these developments, established frameworks remain highly visible in the literature, although citation frequency alone does not indicate the extent to which these models are operationalised or used analytically. A total of 585 raw extracted factor instances were standardised into 239 standardised factors and synthesised into 58 first-order themes and 12 second-order dimensions. The study proposes a provisional taxonomy of reported choice considerations within the reviewed corpus, with potential relevance for future research and institutional recruitment and communication.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101650

Authors: Jeffrey Choppin Shaun C. Nelms Valerie L. Marsh

This study examined distributed leadership at a school that underwent transformation over a ten-year period beginning in 2014. Building on theory, we focused on capacity building as a key construct in distributed leadership, connecting it to the vision for school transformation and to the distribution of responsibilities outside central administration. We explored how this vision was enacted within the mathematics department, aiming to understand how educators translate theoretical notions of distributed leadership into a site-specific vision at the department level. We developed a leadership model with three interlocking components: visioning and revisioning, building capacity, and exercising autonomy with accountability. Using four protocols, we conducted 27 interviews with 19 participants, analyzing to generate themes. Initial visioning encountered implementation tensions, prompting revisioning around four tenets. The vision of a less hierarchical decision-making process entailed creating a teacher leader position, whose responsibilities included leading curriculum development and instructional reform. Administrators described their struggles letting go of key aspects of decision-making. The study contributes theoretically by tracing the bi-directional path from vision to capacity building to accountable autonomy; normatively, by capturing the EPO’s iterative, developmental nature of distributed leadership; and empirically, by documenting stakeholder perceptions of its enactment within one department.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101649

Authors: Jesús César Sandoval-Trigos Fabricio Miguel Moreno-Menéndez Diana Pariona-Amaya Vicente González-Prida Chris Estefanía Palomino-Lavado Julima Gisella Chuquin-Berrio Mercedes Rosario Canchan-Casas Edith Pilar Quispe-Espinoza

Digital education is now a core institutional condition of higher education, but technology access alone does not describe pedagogical practice. This study examines the association between perceived institutional digital education conditions and self-reported pedagogical innovation-related practice among 65 Business Administration faculty members at one private university in Huancayo, Peru. A quantitative cross-sectional survey used two study-specific 35-item Likert-type instruments. Total-scale internal consistency was adequate to strong (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.852 and 0.954), but factorial and discriminant validity were not established. The total scores were positively associated (Pearson r = 0.688, p < 0.001; Spearman rho = 0.572, p < 0.001). Continuous-score OLS analysis yielded B = 1.07 (95% CI [0.86, 1.27], HC3 p < 0.001; R2 = 0.473). A complementary ordinal model using study-specific, unvalidated categories yielded OR = 3.10 per 10 IDEC points (95% CI [1.94, 4.96], p < 0.001). Excluding the four items highlighted for content overlap yielded r = 0.662, but did not establish distinct constructs or remove common-method bias. Dimension-level results remain strictly exploratory because of weak subscale reliability and limited precision. The study contributes contextual empirical evidence from a regional Peruvian university. Same-source measurement, overlapping content, and voluntary participation limit interpretation of the observed association.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101648

Authors: Ibrahim A. Asadi Remah Abu-Ahmad Khaleifa Fathi Shamma Kamil Najjar Michal Shecter-Lerner

Social–emotional competence (SEC) is an important factor contributing to students’ academic success and psychological well-being. While research on SEC is widespread, studies within the unique demographic and ethnic context of the Arab minority in Israel remain scarce. This study examined SEC levels across three distinct educational subsystems (General Arab, Druze, and Bedouin), alongside gender and socioeconomic status (SES). A sample of 852 fifth- and sixth-grade students was recruited from 15 elementary schools in northern Israel. SEC was evaluated using an adapted 40-item self-report online questionnaire split into emotional and social subscales. A 3 × 2 factorial ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of the educational subsystem, with post hoc pairwise comparisons showing that Druze students scored significantly higher than both General Arab and Bedouin students. Intriguingly, independent t-tests revealed no significant differences in SEC based on gender, grade level or SES. These results suggest that cultural–ethnic background and distinct institutional contexts serve as the primary sources of variance in SEC in this cohort. However, given the regional scope and cross-sectional design of the study, these findings should be interpreted with caution. Key explanatory mechanisms, such as intergroup contact and communal belonging, were not directly measured and remain theoretical interpretations. Overall, the results highlight the need to move away from “one-size-fits-all” approaches in favor of culturally sensitive, localized interventions

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101647

Authors: Ioannis Zervas

Higher education is expected to develop digital capabilities that support graduate employability, but the labour-market relevance of those capabilities can change between acquisition and employment entry. This conceptual article develops the Dynamic Digital Skill Realisation Framework (DDSRF) to explain that transition as a time-sensitive process rather than a fixed skills match. A theory-building synthesis was constructed through targeted purposive searches spanning higher education, digital skills, graduate employability, labour-market alignment, skill decay and obsolescence, signalling, employer judgement, and unequal employment outcomes. The contribution lies not in introducing new individual constructs, but in integrating them into a temporally explicit process. The framework distinguishes capability formation from initial alignment, capability-side skill decay from demand-side obsolescence, and skill signalling from employer recognition and valuation. It further specifies how contextual conditions shape the conversion of recognised skill value into realised employability outcomes and how graduate outcomes can inform institutional renewal. The propositions and empirical research agenda provide a basis for testing these relationships. Higher education should therefore address not only skill formation and initial matching, but also the preservation, visibility, recognition, and realisation of digital capability value across university-to-work transition.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101645

Authors: Qingli Meng Rafizah Mohd Rawian

The skill of reading effectively can be viewed as an important academic requirement. The investigation aims to explore the impact of predictive reading strategy instruction on the reading speed and reading comprehension of Computer Engineering students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL).This study employed a quasi-experimental research method to conduct the investigation among 120 undergraduate EFL students in Shandong Province, China. The participants were divided into two groups, including an experimental group that received predictive reading strategy instruction and a control group that received conventional reading instruction for eight weeks. This study gathered data using three assessment tools, including a reading speed test, a reading comprehension test, and a Predictive Strategy Use Questionnaire. The researchers used descriptive statistics and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) as the main statistical methods for the analysis. The results showed that predictive reading strategy instruction led to significant improvements in reading speed, reading comprehension, and predictive strategy use. This study provides pedagogical implications for integrating predictive reading strategies into technical EFL reading instruction.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101646

Authors: Elisa S. Shernoff Sejal Chopra

Background: Teaching is a complex occupation that requires rapid decision-making across a variety of situations. Online, scenario-based professional development platforms can reach diverse users without facilitator support, making strong usability especially critical. However, formative evaluations of their usability and fit with teachers’ learning needs are rare. This study examines the usability of PRF4TeachersTM, an online scenario-based professional learning platform designed to support K-8 teachers to develop their instructional skills. Methods: Using a multimethod design, quantitative and qualitative data were collected in parallel and analyzed separately without integration. Participants were 18 female teachers (M = 8.24 yrs of experience, SD = 8.71), predominantly European American (61.1%) and teaching K-5th (66.7%) or 6–8th grade (33.3%). The System Usability Scale provided an overall index of teachers’ experience with the platform, while think-aloud and semi-structured interviews yielded component-specific feedback. Results: Overall, PRF4TeachersTM received an acceptable global usability rating. The dashboard and reflection components were identified as most in need of revision, with participants struggling to interpret data displays and engage productively with reflection prompts without sufficient guidance and structure. Conclusions: Implications for researchers and educators interested in leveraging technology-based professional learning tools are also discussed.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101644

Authors: Aakash Kumar

Pakistan has expanded teacher recruitment across its public education system over the past decade, yet policy and monitoring reports continue to document substantial rural, school-level, and subject-specific teacher shortages. In this article, I extend the concept of educational wastage to teachers, shifting attention from the loss of teachers to the loss or underuse of instructional capacity among formally employed teachers. I identify three forms of teacher wastage. Pre-deployment wastage occurs when appointment does not result in classroom instruction because teachers cannot take up or sustain placements, political influence directs placements away from school staffing needs, or teachers recorded as employed do not teach. Structural wastage occurs when teachers in schools are diverted from or misaligned with instruction through transfer instability, non-academic duties, or subject or grade-level misassignment. Erosive wastage occurs when teachers remain employed but lack adequate pedagogical preparation, induction, mentoring, or continuing professional support. Pakistan’s administrative systems track teacher positions, payroll, transfers, and attendance but provide limited evidence of whether employed teachers sustain classroom instruction. Illustrations from India, Nigeria, and Bangladesh suggest the framework’s relevance beyond Pakistan without claiming generalizability. Teacher wastage offers a basis for examining how education systems may retain teachers while losing instructional capacity.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101643

Authors: Alda Reyno-Freundt Mariana Durán-Fontecilla Lilyan Vega-Ramírez Nicolás Meirone-Matus Jessica Ibarra-Mora

Gender perspective (GP) has gained increasing legitimacy in initial teacher education, although challenges remain regarding its translation into conceptually grounded practices. In Physical Education (PE), the issue is particularly relevant due to the persistence of a masculinized disciplinary tradition and the centrality of the body. This study analyses how, in the discourse of teacher educators from two Chilean PE programs, the importance attributed to GP and the declared actions to implement it are distributed. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted using quantitative-oriented content analysis of 40 semi-structured interviews, corresponding to the entire eligible teaching staff. A total of 184 statements were analysed with a deductive category system. Of these, 63.1% referred to the importance attributed to GP and 36.9% to declared actions. Within the latter, 47.1% corresponded to inclusive language, 39.7% to practical strategies, and only 13.2% to theoretical-problematizing strategies, declared by seven of the 40 participants (17.5%). The same ordering of statements was observed in both institutions. In the analysed discourse, GP appears widely legitimized, while declared actions are concentrated at the operational threshold, understood as an analytical distinction rather than a pedagogical development scale, with little problematization of the knowledge and assumptions that produce inequalities.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101641

Authors: Vedrana Mikulić Crnković Bojan Crnković Martina Holenko Dlab Ivona Traunkar

This study examines programming achievement among Grade 4 students participating in a structured Game Development-Based Learning (GDBL) approach compared with students receiving traditional programming instruction. The intervention used a single coherent problem context derived from the [ai] explore! game to support the progressive introduction of programming concepts in Scratch. A total of 104 students aged 9–10 from five classes in a Croatian elementary school participated. Two classes were assigned to the experimental condition and three to the control condition. Students in the experimental group progressively developed a playable game over seven weeks, while the control group followed traditional programming instruction. An initial knowledge test was used to assess baseline programming knowledge, and a post-intervention assessment served as the primary outcome measure. Because the instructional condition was assigned at the class level, the primary analysis used an exact class-level randomization test. The experimental classes had higher average post-intervention scores than the control classes, with an observed difference of 0.140 and a two-sided exact p-value of 0.20. A secondary student-level Mann–Whitney U comparison also showed higher post-intervention scores in the experimental group (U = 581.0, p < 0.001, rank-biserial correlation = 0.560). Teacher observations provided contextual information but were not treated as validated measures of motivation or engagement. The findings show a descriptive pattern of higher programming achievement in the GDBL classes, while the class-level inferential evidence remains limited. The study also provides practical design principles for classroom implementation.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101642

Authors: Zhili Wang Baoxin Long

Teachers’ mental health problems have remained persistently elevated since the pandemic, yet system-level responses remain structurally inadequate. This systematic review synthesizes 66 peer-reviewed studies and policy reports (2020–2026). Meta-analyses of 54 studies (256,896 teachers, 22 countries) found stress prevalence at 62.6%, anxiety at 36.3%, and depression at 59.9%. Longitudinal evidence shows no recovery across 2021–2026; teachers fare worse than comparable professionals on all well-being indicators. Interventions show moderate effects (g = 0.42; trim-and-fill-adjusted g = 0.34), but the latter is an exploratory sensitivity analysis suggesting small-study effects, not a precise publication-bias estimate. Out of 24 intervention studies, 91.7% target individual-level coping; no peer-reviewed quantitative study evaluates macro-structural reforms. We propose the Evidence Hierarchy Mismatch Theory (EHMT) as one plausible explanation, alongside competing explanations. We introduce a three-tier framework (macro–meso–micro) extending the job demands–resources model with structural–social justice considerations. Moral injury is proposed as a speculative candidate mechanism linking structural constraints to burnout and attrition, not as a replacement for established constructs. The military–education analogy is heuristic, not ontological. Normatively, we call for a paradigm shift from individual remediation to systemic reform, methodological pluralism, mandatory null-results publication, and sustainability as an evaluation criterion. Empirical findings, theoretical interpretation, and normative proposals are labeled separately.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101640

Authors: Yanyan Li Tom Ritchie

University students’ loneliness has remained a persistent concern in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic and correlates with multiple mental health issues, yet little is known about how university students experiencing loneliness use conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) for emotional and relational support. This exploratory qualitative study addressed that gap by exploring how students in a UK university experiencing loneliness perceived their use of CAI for emotional and relational support, and how they positioned CAI alongside other coping strategies. Sixteen students scoring 3 or above on the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Situating loneliness within students’ wider social and relational lives at university, four themes were developed: CAI as a low-barrier emotional outlet, free from the social costs of human disclosure; a perceived objective reflective sense-making partner that helped organise overwhelming experiences; a pragmatic response to gaps in existing support networks; and a supplement rather than a permanent substitute for human care, approached with critical awareness of its limitations. Students’ use of CAI appeared to reflect unmet relational needs within their existing social networks, rather than an absence of social contact or a preference for AI over people. The study concludes by discussing implications for sector-wide institutional guidance on the responsible governance of AI in relation to student mental health and calls on universities to engage more openly with how AI is shaping students’ lives beyond academic work.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101639

Authors: Aija Ozola Gunita Delijeva Aina Strode

Child participation is central to rights-based early childhood education, yet it is often interpreted as verbal expression, choice-making or general engagement. Nature-based activities may broaden young children’s participation because they offer sensory, material and spatial forms of expression. Their participatory quality, however, depends on pedagogical mediation. This qualitative study analysed 24 interviews with preschool teachers in Latvia to examine how nature-based activities were described as becoming participatory in early childhood education. Deductive–inductive codebook thematic analysis was guided by six participation dimensions: access to information, being listened to, expressing views, discussing relevant matters, influence on decisions and independent decision-making. Findings identified four linked pedagogical processes: making participation possible through sensory and material access to information; recognising participation in children’s non-verbal and multimodal expressions; making participation consequential by allowing children’s ideas to affect materials, time and activity direction; and supporting agency through scaffolded decision-making and manageable consequences. The findings suggest that nature-based activities become participatory when teachers use professional judgement to mediate children’s access, expression, influence and agency. The study challenges the assumption that proximity to nature is inherently participatory and shows how pedagogical mediation can transform nature-based activities into opportunity structures for inclusive and consequential child participation.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101638

Authors: Daniela Pedrosa Andrea Lins Caroline Dominguez Helena Silva Eva Morais

Self-regulation of learning (SRL) is a key skill for secondary school students, placing them as active and conscious agents of their own learning. It enables learners to plan, monitor, and evaluate their progress, fostering autonomy and responsibility. Teachers play a crucial role by designing pedagogical interventions that guide and support students across different learning stages toward achieving personal goals. However, further research is needed to understand how different pedagogical strategies have been used to support SRL in secondary school contexts. This study conducted a systematic literature review using PRISMA with two goals: (1) to identify and describe teaching strategies in pedagogical interventions for SRL in secondary education, and (2) to analyze how these interventions support students’ self-regulation. From 12 selected papers, seven pedagogical approaches were identified. The findings highlight the diversity of pedagogical strategies, technologies and assessment practices and indicate the need for clearer methodological guidance, teacher preparation and future comparative research on SRL interventions.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101636

Authors: Haneen Wattad

Shared reading is recognized as an educational method that promotes language development and emergent literacy during early childhood. However, growing evidence suggests that it influences additional developmental domains. This review examined empirical and theoretical literature with the aim of uncovering the potential of shared reading as an inclusive pedagogical approach for supporting children’s cognitive development by integrating findings on adult mediation, dialogic interaction, repeated reading, mental state discourse, instructional adaptations, and shared reading across diverse learner populations. The reviewed literature indicates that the effectiveness of shared reading depends primarily on the quality of the adult–child interaction. Adult mediation, instructional scaffolding, collaborative dialogue, and active child participation were found to be key instruments for supporting learning across home, preschool, and inclusive educational settings. Studies involving children with developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, deafness, and deafblindness indicate that adapted shared reading promotes participation and advances language, communication, and broader developmental outcomes. Significant conceptual, methodological, and population-related gaps were found. Furthermore, few studies examined the contribution of shared reading to higher-order cognitive processes, such as executive functions, metacognition, inferential reasoning, cognitive flexibility, and critical thinking. Research on culturally and linguistically diverse populations, particularly Arabic-speaking learners, is also limited. This review proposes a reconceptualization of shared reading as an inclusive cognitive pedagogy in which adult mediation, dialogic interaction, instructional scaffolding, and collaborative meaning-making together promote children’s cognitive engagement and higher-order thinking.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101637

Authors: Rossella Suriano

The widespread use of social media among university students has raised increasing concerns regarding its possible association with academic behaviors, including procrastination. This systematic review aimed to synthesize empirical evidence on the relationship between social media use and academic procrastination among university students. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a systematic search was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO, ERIC, and PubMed and was last updated in August 2026. Quantitative peer-reviewed empirical studies examining the association between social media use and academic procrastination in university populations were included. Twenty-nine articles comprising 30 study samples met the inclusion criteria. Overall, the evidence indicated a recurrent positive association between social media use and academic procrastination, although the magnitude and form of the relationship varied across distinct operationalizations, including general use, problematic use, addiction, social media disorder, and platform- or behavior-specific forms of use. Several studies also reported indirect associations involving psychological variables such as self-control, academic self-efficacy, grit, and fear of missing out. However, the evidence was predominantly cross-sectional and characterized by substantial conceptual, measurement, and analytical heterogeneity, limiting causal interpretation and direct quantitative comparison across studies.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101635

Authors: Gibin Raju Trini Balart Kristi J. Shryock

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT have rapidly entered higher education, challenging longstanding norms around authorship, assessment, and disciplinary expertise. While early GenAI scholarship has largely emphasized student outcomes, adoption trends, and academic integrity, comparatively little empirical work has examined how faculty and staff make sense of this disruption over time. Guided by Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) as an interpretive lens for faculty discourse, this qualitative study examines how educators interpret GenAI as a “disorienting dilemma” and how patterns in faculty discourse differ across two cross-sectional cohorts during the first year of widespread adoption. We analyzed open-ended survey responses to the question, “How do you think AI tools like ChatGPT will impact the future of your discipline?” collected at a large U.S. R1 Hispanic-serving public research university. Two cohorts were examined: an early-adoption dataset gathered in 2023 (n = 104) and a follow-up dataset collected in 2024 (n = 313). Using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis procedures, we identified persistent themes and qualitative differences in how participants described GenAI-related concerns and opportunities. No educator-navigation theme differed significantly in proportional prevalence between cohorts. Accordingly, interpretations of cross-cohort differences rest on variations in thematic framing, tone, and illustrative detail rather than on statistically demonstrated temporal change. The 2023 responses more often foregrounded academic-integrity concerns and defensive assessment redesign, whereas the 2024 responses included more concrete descriptions of pedagogical experimentation and potential uses of GenAI to support faculty productivity and professional practice. Across both years, persistent anxieties regarding student dependency, erosion of foundational skills, and the potential dehumanization and homogenization of academic discourse remained salient. These results highlight faculty as active agents engaged in reflection and adaptation and show how aggregate patterns of faculty sensemaking are compatible with early processes described by Transformative Learning Theory. TLT is used here as an interpretive lens for cohort-level faculty discourse, not as evidence that individual instructors underwent internal perspective transformation. This underscores the need for institutionally supported, human-centered approaches to GenAI integration, including policy clarity, sustained faculty development, and communities of practice that enable ethical, reflective experimentation.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101634

Authors: Michelle Boyoung Huh Alp Tural Elif Tural

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping studio-based design education, yet relatively little is known about how students decide when and how AI should support their design process. This study examined students’ use, adaptation, and perceptions of generative AI, with particular attention to task-specific use, contextual adaptation, and factors associated with AI-related decision-making. An online survey of 112 undergraduate and graduate design students combined structured questionnaire items with optional open-ended responses to examine AI use across studio tasks, project stages, and learning contexts. Students reported higher AI use for concept development, research, and written articulation than for visual refinement, technical documentation, and later stages of design development. Students also reported becoming more selective in their AI use as projects progressed, while instructor expectations, peer influence, and concern about negative judgment were associated with students’ AI-related decisions. Qualitative responses further highlighted authorship, learning, and professional responsibility as important considerations. Together, these findings suggest that students’ selective and context-dependent AI use can be interpreted as boundary-setting around when and how AI participates in the design process. Rather than viewing AI use simply as technology adoption, the findings suggest value in a judgment-centered, process-based approach to AI pedagogy that emphasizes accountability and reflective decision-making.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101633

Authors: Michael Anthony DeNobile

This article reinterprets findings from a previously completed qualitative bounded case study of seven Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Mexican college students from the Bronx through the framework of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4). No new empirical data were collected for the present article. The original study examined how participants experienced meaningful teacher–student relationships across their educational journeys. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) serves as the principal interpretive framework, while familioso, used here as an emerging culturally grounded relational lens informed by familismo, helps illuminate family-like qualities of trust, belonging, mentorship, advocacy, mutual responsibility, and sustained support within educational relationships. The original study identified six themes concerning mentorship and identity development, relational learning communities, negotiated authority and authenticity, family-like relational structures, family cultural values, and cultural identity. Reinterpreted through SDG 4, these findings suggest that educational quality is experienced not only through structural conditions and academic opportunities but also through interpersonal relationships that can support inclusion, participation, recognition, and belonging. This reinterpretation positions culturally responsive teacher–student relationships as one relational dimension of educational quality that complements, rather than replaces, structural approaches to advancing equitable and inclusive education.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101632

Authors: Maria Karamanidou

Equitable science education in primary schools depends on whether all pupils can participate meaningfully in the distinctive practices of science, including inquiry, practical investigation, observation, evidence-based discussion, fieldwork, and the use of specialist resources. Yet access to these experiences can be uneven, as primary teachers vary in confidence, subject knowledge, resources, and preparation for organising science-rich learning. While research has examined primary teachers’ preparedness to teach science, less attention has been given to how primary science middle leaders develop the capacity to support equitable science teaching and learning across their schools. This study explores how primary science middle leaders understand and enact equity-oriented leadership in relation to science curriculum, pedagogy, resources, assessment, and pupil participation. Using semi-structured interviews with fifteen primary science subject leaders working in English primary schools, data were analysed thematically to identify factors shaping science-specific leadership capacity. Findings show that leaders foster equitable primary science by supporting inquiry and practical work, promoting curriculum progression, coordinating resources, developing teachers’ science-specific pedagogical capacity, and promoting pupils’ participation and belonging. Science leadership capacity itself developed through professional learning, collaborative networks, classroom experience, and school-based problem solving, while limited time, authority, and leadership preparation constrained its enactment. The study proposes five interconnected dimensions of equity-oriented primary science leadership that support pupils’ access to, participation in, and belonging within meaningful science learning.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101631

Authors: Rodrigo Narváez Miguel A. Rivera-Navarro Luis Medina-Gual

Research on generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education has shifted from students to teachers, yet available teacher instruments rest on technology acceptance models, professional knowledge frameworks, or AI literacy, and none articulates dispositional conditions, teaching activities, and contextual consequences within a single functional logic. This study extends to teachers an instrument previously validated with students and grounded in Functional Behavior Analysis and the Interbehavioral Model of Didactic Performance. Participants were 233 Mexican upper-secondary and higher education teachers (mean age 47.22 years, SD = 10.44). The study is strictly psychometric in scope: it reports initial reliability and internal structure evidence, not a profile of teacher practice. Reliability was estimated with Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega with bootstrap confidence intervals, and the number of components was determined through Horn’s parallel analysis. Alpha coefficients ranged from 0.703 to 0.957 (omega, 0.755 to 0.962). The benefits dimension split into two uncorrelated components, pedagogical benefits (α = 0.953) and risks to academic integrity (α = 0.771). Domains of didactic performance proved unidimensional (63.0% of variance); the consequences dimension behaved as a formative index rather than a reflective scale; and the dispositional dimension failed to separate individual from contextual variables and required redesign. A second-order analysis yielded two orthogonal axes, favourable pedagogical orientation and risk recognition, on which four quadrants are described for illustrative purposes only. The instrument discriminates across self-reported frequency of AI use. Because components were extracted from Pearson correlations on ordinal items in a single convenience sample, the structure reported here is provisional and requires confirmation with polychoric matrices and robust estimators on an independent sample.

Education Sciences doi: 10.3390/educsci16101630

Authors: Daliborka Luketić

Teacher education increasingly competes for candidates, which makes programme attractiveness a question of alignment between what programmes signal publicly and what their curricula offer. This study examines that alignment in the 14 Croatian university programmes through which candidates holding a disciplinary qualification acquire pedagogical competences (the consecutive model). Using a comparative desk-based design, qualitative content analysis and structured comparison were applied to publicly available sources through two lenses: communicated attractiveness (how programmes publicly frame the teaching profession, the student experience, and the transparency of demands and support) and designed attractiveness (what the curricula and intended learning outcomes formally offer). Alignment between the two dimensions was classified into four patterns. All programmes ensured baseline procedural transparency and most made curricular substance publicly visible, with intended learning outcomes available for 11 of 14, yet the professional value of teaching was actively communicated in only 5. The most common pattern (6 of 14) was curricular strength without communicated value; high alignment characterised 5 programmes, and none over-promised relative to its curriculum. The programmes are thus limited less by what their curricula contain than by how little of it they communicate. The findings suggest that institutions could strengthen the visibility and appeal of teacher education primarily through communication, without necessarily altering programme structures.