Trends High. Educ., Volume 4, Issue 2 (June 2025) – 5 articles

Since the 1980s, wisdom as a concept, its dimensions, and its development have been researched intensively in many disciplines except in higher educational pedagogy. Owing to this theoretical gap in the literature, this paper asks, “What are the dimensions of wisdom in higher educational pedagogy?” The research philosophy is interpretivism with an abductive approach. The methodology uses constructivist Grounded Theory. The data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings revealed 352 wisdom-dimension-related keywords from 28 leading wisdom publications written by more than 60 authors in the educational philosophy and psychology literature. The findings culminate in an integrative framework of four dimensions of wisdom in higher educational pedagogy, namely, ‘knowing ourselves’, ‘connecting to others’, ‘knowing the world’, and ‘connecting to the world’ with their wisdom dimensions. This paper contributes to wisdom pedagogy research by addressing both theoretical and research gaps in the literature and by offering novel insights into the dimensions of wisdom in higher educational pedagogy. Full article

Given the rapidly changing job market in Canada and globally, there have been increasing calls to address the transferable skills gap between higher education graduates and the skills needed for the many new and changing jobs across the labour market. To investigate which fields of study in higher education in Canada produce graduates who go on to use more transferable skills on the job, we created an index of transferable skills use at work from several background questionnaire variables available in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) in Canada survey. A series of four least squares linear regression models were used to examine the impacts of variables such as field of study and occupation type on this transferable skills index. Teacher training and education programs were found to have the highest scores on the transferable skills index, suggesting that these programs (and other professional programs) should be considered as a source of inspiration for how all programs can promote transferable skill development in their students. We also found a connection between transferable skill use and management roles within the workplace, suggesting that transferable skills are important factors in promotion to management roles. Full article

The Professional Ethics course at King Saud University is part of the mandatory Islamic culture curriculum in Saudi higher education. While more attention has focused on the curriculum development of Islamic culture courses, less emphasis has been placed on teaching methods. This article initiates a discussion on integrating practical learning approaches to improve student engagement and understanding in these courses. The research explores undergraduate students’ perspectives of project-based learning (PBL) implemented in the Professional Ethics course. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a survey disseminated among students of this course (N = 113). The findings show that students found this learning experience engaging and enjoyable. They reported improvements in teamwork and leadership but faced challenges in time management, task division, and communication. Students suggested clearer guidelines, smaller groups, and flexible deadlines. The findings highlight the potential of practical learning approaches to enhance the teaching and learning in Islamic culture courses. Full article

The integration of artificial intelligence in education has the potential to revolutionize personalized learning by adapting instructional methods, content, and pace to the individual needs of students. This systematic review investigates the integration of artificial intelligence into personalized learning within higher education. An extensive literature search was conducted across multiple databases, yielding 17,899 records from which 45 studies met the inclusion criteria. The risk of bias was assessed using a standardized ranking system. This systematic review follows the PRISMA guidelines to ensure transparency in study selection, data extraction, and synthesis. The findings of the review are synthesized to examine how AI-driven solutions enhance adaptive learning, improve student engagement, and streamline administrative processes. The results indicate that AI technologies can significantly optimize educational outcomes by tailoring content and feedback to individual learner needs. However, several challenges persist, such as ethical concerns, data privacy issues, and the necessity for effective teacher training to support technology integration. This analysis reveals considerable potential for AI to transform educational practices, while also emphasizing the importance of establishing standardized evaluation frameworks and conducting longitudinal studies. The implications of these findings are critical for educators, policymakers, and university administrators aiming to leverage AI for educational innovation and sustainable transformation. Full article

Despite the affordances of professional development (PD) in teaching and learning in facilitating quality teaching and contributing to students’ learning outcomes, there is merit in exploring educators’ needs by enabling conditions to further develop their existing knowledge and practices. In fact, it is vital that PD in teaching and learning in higher education (HE) actively engages and meets instructor individual needs. This paper explores PD within the HE context and identifies corresponding categories common and in relation to quality teaching. Based on the review, most PD in teaching and learning could be identified within one of four categories that contribute to quality teaching: (1) assessment approaches; (2) instructional approaches; (3) communication and delivery approaches; and (4) affective responses. Equally important, instructor agency should be supported by encouraging instructors to identify and manage their PD needs via validated measures, which this review found lacking within the literature. With the expectation that such a measure would provide insights into the refinements of current PD in teaching and learning provisions, and enable HE institutions to facilitate PD in teaching and learning to better meet and fulfil instructor individual needs, it is recommended that such a measure be developed and deployed to identify instructors’ needs. Full article