Search Results (1,391)

Artificial intelligence has been considered as a transformative element capable of reshaping STEM education into equitable, resource-efficient, and scalable learning environments. However, realizing this potential requires striking a careful balance between technological innovation, pedagogical considerations, and ethical concerns. This study sought to examine the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools by STEM university faculty members in Saudi Arabia to promote Sustainable Development Goal 4 (quality education). While doing so, the study attempted to explore how Saudi STEM university faculty members integrated AI tools in their instructional practices and analyze their perceptions towards these tools. To achieve these goals, the study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. In the first phase of data collection, a close-ended questionnaire was applied to a random sample of (324) STEM university faculty members. The second phase involved gathering qualitative data using a semi-structured interview administered to 12 purposively selected experts. Key quantitative findings revealed an overall AI integration at a medium level with a mean of (2.71) and standard deviation of (0.36) across three instructional practices, namely planning, implementation, and assessment. The highest integration level was in assessment (M = 2.93, medium) while the lowest was in planning (M = 2.61, medium). The results also revealed that the participants’ perceptions towards integrating AI tools were highly positive (M = 4.00, high), albeit with some concerns regarding the effect of excessive and unguided use of AI tools on students’ higher-order thinking skills, particularly the risk of AI functioning merely as an information delivery mechanism rather than serving its more pedagogically valuable role as a brainstorming scaffold. Furthermore, the study unveiled a number of barriers to integrating AI tools, including the weakness of digital infrastructure, lack of professional development, the limited credibility of AI-generated content, and ethical concerns related to academic integrity and copyrights. The research suggests the establishment of a sustainable digital environment by improving the infrastructure, providing specific training in accordance with the principles of sustainability, and implementing policies that promote equitable, transparent, and responsible integration of AI. These strategies can coordinate the growth of technology with the larger needs of the quality of education, inclusion, and sustainability of STEM education in the long term. Full article

Breakthrough invasive fungal infections (bIFIs) are a challenging serious complication in high-risk hematologic patients and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients that may negatively impact their outcome. Despite advances in antifungal prophylaxis, diagnostics, and supportive care, bIFI occurrence reflects a complex interaction between host immunosuppression, emergence of resistant pathogens and pharmacological variables, including subtherapeutic drug exposure. Candida spp. have shifted towards non-albicans yeasts, whereas breakthrough mold infections more frequently involve non-fumigatus Aspergillus, Mucorales, Fusarium spp., and Scedosporium/Lomentospora spp. Early clinical recognition, rapid therapy escalation, aggressive diagnostic investigation, a switch to liposomal amphotericin B-based regimens in patients on azole prophylaxis, and therapeutic drug monitoring are essential to improve outcomes. Reducing the growing global burden of bIFIs will also require improved access to high-quality diagnostics and strengthened educational and stewardship efforts that prioritize antifungal resistance as an urgent health concern. Full article

Educational robotics (ER) and robotics competitions offer an effective context for developing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) competencies, technical skills, and soft skills in engineering degrees. However, current platforms reveal a pedagogical and technical gap: closed commercial systems restrict access to hardware, while open solutions frequently lack a robust and structured architecture for educational settings. Moreover, in both cases, many platforms do not achieve the hardware requirements of the most demanding competitions. To address this issue, the present article presents the design, implementation, and validation of EASYbot, a modular open-hardware robotics platform based on Arduino. The system integrates a microcontroller, a dual USB–battery power supply, high-performance motor power stages, and a plug-and-play interface for input/output and communication peripherals, enabling its use in several competition categories such as mini-sumo or maze robots. The platform is complemented by a state-based programming model and supports libraries that facilitate a learning assessment. The platform provides a scalable ecosystem, enabling students to progress from initial prototyping to optimised hardware control. The validation process encompasses a range of assessments, including technical tests, usability, and adoption evaluation through surveys. Full article

Since 1978, Chinese–foreign cooperation in running schools (CFCRS) has evolved from fragmented pilot initiatives into a policy-coordinated system of higher education internationalization. This study employs an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design to examine how national policy shifts reshaped the structure of CFCRS collaboration networks between 1978 and 2025. Integrating longitudinal policy analysis with Social Network Analysis (SNA), the research identifies five policy-driven stages: exploratory opening, legal institutionalization, regulated development, quality enhancement, and strategic repositioning. Network analysis shows that increasing density, expanding degree centrality of leading institutions, and greater diversification of international partners reflect growing integration into global transnational higher education networks. At the same time, persistent structural concentration in key institutional hubs and regulated entry into partnerships indicate strong path dependence shaped by state-steered governance. The network also exhibits a disciplinary shift toward engineering and STEM collaborations aligned with national innovation strategies, alongside gradual spatial diffusion from coastal regions toward central and western provinces. Conceptually, the findings demonstrate that state-coordinated internationalization can generate dense and diversified collaboration networks without fully liberalizing governance structures. The CFCRS case thus illustrates a model of hybrid governance, where centralized policy coordination coexists with expanding network-based international partnerships. Full article

Educational escape rooms have been widely used in education in recent years. On the other hand, capture the flag (CTF) competitions have been spreading from the cybersecurity area into other domains. In this paper, a fusion of both concepts is proposed in the form of a CTF-like escape room in order to carry out the assessment of a STEM course. Each puzzle within the escape room consisted of designing a short code snippet as part of a protocol engineering course, with up to three hidden hints available. Each hint incurred a 25% penalty, deducted from the score awarded for solving the puzzle, as is common in CTF environments. This approach can be applied to small problem-solving tasks across many disciplines and educational contexts. Data collection consisted of gathering the marks of all students enrolled in the courses on an anonymized basis, after they had provided informed consent, and data analysis was then performed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results suggest a statistically significant increase in average academic performance compared to the previous academic year, during which assessment was conducted through written exams. In addition, engagement was measured using the ISA Engagement Scale, showing a high level of student involvement. Nevertheless, further research with a larger sample of students is needed in order to confirm these findings. In summary, a novel approach to STEM assessment is presented, as the solution of each puzzle requires not only recall but also critical thinking, technical proficiency, and application. Full article

Across the United States, equity-oriented STEM initiatives are frequently launched through short-term grants, yet few persist once external funding ends, particularly in economically marginalized communities where institutional capacity is constrained. This longitudinal qualitative study investigates how an out-of-school-time (OST) robotics initiative developed the relational and organizational capacity to transition from a time-limited grant project into a functioning STEM ecosystem that has persisted for a decade. Drawing upon eight years of focus groups and field notes analyzed through integrated deductive and inductive approaches, the study traces how STEM ecosystem tenets were enacted, adapted, and reinforced as partners navigated resource constraints. Findings identify four mutually reinforcing mechanisms that stabilized the ecosystem beyond the grant period: relational infrastructure coordinating work across students, educators, families, university partners, and district leaders; community recognition and collective pride conferring legitimacy and mobilizing local support; parental validation and logistical advocacy; and youth identity development and near-peer leadership renewing commitment and circulating expertise. Together, these mechanisms converted initial grant-funded inputs into durable capacity by reducing coordination costs, strengthening shared responsibility, and embedding STEM participation within community meaning-making. The study contributes to STEM ecosystem research by advancing a theory-building, process-oriented explanation of how equity-focused initiatives achieve durability. Full article

The purpose of this instrumental case study, employing both qualitative and quantitative data, was to investigate how novice teachers from non-local and urban areas used community assets and local funds of knowledge (FoK) in their STEM instruction in a remote Montana town. While non-local teachers often make up a large share of many rural communities’ teaching workforce, those teachers might lack the social, cultural, and community knowledge that they need to teach with place-conscious approaches. Therefore, this study explored how “new-to-town” teachers, with limited personal ties to a community, learn about their rural community and how they apply this knowledge to their teaching context. Additionally, this study examined which research-established factors that improve rural STEM education were deemed most important for novice, rural teachers. The exploration employed a floodlight research approach, whereby a census of the authentic pedagogical actions of the subjects was documented rather than investigating the efficacy of a single method. Data sources included qualitative instruments like concept maps and semi-structured interviews, alongside quantitative measures like ranked best-practices data and place-conscious lesson ratios, to provide both depth of interpretation and breadth of comparison across participants. Results from the deductive thematic analysis suggest that novice teachers aspire to implement asset-based pedagogical approaches in STEM instruction and possess some methods for integration but struggle to learn of local community assets without modeling and mentorship. Additionally, an unexpected pattern emerged from the findings: Novice, newcomer teachers that employed place-conscious lessons were more likely to remain teaching in their position. While this association cannot be interpreted causally, it might suggest that place-conscious mentorship practices may play a role in improving instruction and support the retention of non-local teachers in rural communities however, further, more robust exploration is warranted of this exploratory finding. Findings from this study can be used to inform recommendations for school districts, post-secondary institutions, and rural communities on how best to support beginning rural teachers with limited community connections. Full article

Visualising data is a key analytical and communicative tool, particularly for complex phenomena such as school dropout. This article examines how national and international educational bodies (e.g., UNESCO, the EU and the Italian Ministry of Education) depict dropout, highlighting issues stemming from non-standard definitions, heterogeneous indicators and incomplete data. These limitations reduce the effectiveness of such representations, which often fail to capture the phenomenon’s dynamic nature or guide timely interventions. The article stresses the need to improve data accessibility through clearer communication and to adopt longitudinal approaches enabling more accurate tracking of educational trajectories, thereby supporting more effective educational policies. Full article

With the rapid technological advancements, persistent retention disparities, and career stability concerns among Generation Z learners, higher education in the United States needs a re-examination of student success. Student support efforts and previous student-centered frameworks require re-examination in light of the current socio-cultural context. In response, this paper proposes the CIRCLE model. This conceptual model is faculty-driven and includes evidence-based practices that predict successful outcomes by benefiting students’ socio-emotional factors. The model stems from an integrated conceptual framework that synthesizes established student success theories, contemporary research on faculty–student relationships, and digital integration in higher education. Traditional student-centered theories are merged with contemporary digital integration models and applied to the realities of Generation Z and first-generation college students. From this, the author delivers a clear, context-responsive plan for faculty supporting a diverse cohort of learners, as we all live in today’s post-pandemic, digitally immersed world. Full article

This scoping review critically synthesizes 34 studies (2015–2026) examining the metaverse’s role in fostering six core STEM competencies, moving beyond descriptive reporting to interrogate whether these technologies constitute genuine pedagogical transformation, whose learners are served or excluded, and how isolated interventions connect into lifelong learning pathways. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, our analysis reveals that while technology literacy and collaboration appear in 91.2% of our selected studies, mathematical application is addressed in fewer than half (44.1%), raising unanswered questions about whether this pattern reflects an equitable distribution of mathematical learning opportunities across diverse learner populations—a question the current evidence base cannot answer but one that warrants urgent investigation. The evidence demonstrates substantial immediate learning gains through embodied presence and risk-free experimentation, yet a deeper reading suggests this often represents technological optimization of traditional goals rather than epistemological transformation. More troublingly, the concentration of inclusivity evidence on select populations—while rendering students with physical disabilities, Indigenous learners, and refugee students entirely invisible—reveals an equity paradox where immersive technologies may inadvertently amplify existing disparities. The absence of any longitudinal data linking short-term engagement to sustained STEM participation leaves the field’s claim to transformative impact unsubstantiated. This review argues for moving beyond fragmented interventions toward designing coherent, equitable learning pathways that fulfill the metaverse’s potential for all learners. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between creative personality and academic achievement in first-year secondary education students, as well as the predictive capacity of creative personality on performance across different subject areas. The sample comprised 125 students who completed Garaigordobil’s Creative Personality Scale, and their academic grades were collected as performance indicators. Academic achievement was analyzed by distinguishing between STEM subjects (biology, technology, and mathematics) and non-STEM subjects (Spanish language, geography, arts, physical education, French, and English). The findings saw a positive association between creative personality and academic achievement in both STEM and non-STEM domains. Moreover, statistically significant sex differences emerged: female students obtained higher scores than male students on creative personality traits associated with problem identification and problem solving, as well as on dimensions related to enjoyment of diverse games and openness to new experiences. These results underscore the relevance of creative personality as a determinant of academic achievement across both scientific and non-scientific areas. They also highlight the importance of fostering creativity as an educational strategy aligned with sustainability goals. This study offers practical implications for the design of evidence-based psycho-pedagogical interventions that incorporate creativity as a means to promote responsible, equitable, and sustainable learning. Full article

This article examines the attitude–behaviour gap in sustainable consumption among young adults in Poland, focusing on the psychological and contextual mechanisms that hinder the translation of pro-environmental attitudes into everyday practices. The findings show that declared support for sustainable solutions does not translate into behaviour when decision costs are elevated, particularly in terms of price, limited availability of green alternatives and low label readability. Drawing on six focus group interviews and reflexive thematic analysis, this study identifies the dominance of transactional over normative factors, a reliance on simple heuristics (e.g., packaging material) rather than verified certifications, and the central role of habit and convenience in consumption choices. Interpreting these results through the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the analysis shows how price- and supply-related barriers reduce perceived behavioural control and undermine sustainable decision making. This article contributes to behavioural research on sustainable consumption by identifying key mechanisms underlying the attitude–behaviour gap in a Central and Eastern European context. Practical implications include simplifying environmental labels, low-cognitive-load consumer education and interventions that increase the accessibility and visibility of sustainable options. Limitations stem from the qualitative design and the urban profile of the sample, suggesting cautious generalisation and the need for replication using diverse populations and methodological triangulation. Full article

Students’ use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) to avoid engaging in generative processing can undermine the validity of higher education. In contrast, Flipped-Interaction Intelligent Tutoring Systems (FIITSs) may promote active engagement by leading a personalised dialogue. The underutilisation of FIITS may stem from the lack of a framework to guide prompt creation and from a dearth of published FIITS prompt examples. This article presents the Flipped-Interaction Prompt (FIP) Framework, abstracted from two validated prompts. To achieve this validation, 26 preservice science education students at a South African university engaged with either prompt in a free GAI five times over ten weeks. The resulting 114 engagements, each involving at least 10 flipped-interaction dialogue exchanges, were analysed for implementation fidelity and for students’ engagement in generative processing. Findings were triangulated against questionnaire and group interview responses, as well as written reflections. The technical implementation was closely aligned with the prompt instruction, with minor deviations noted for not providing answers outright. Additionally, students demonstrated moderate to high levels of generative processing. Findings support the efficacy of the abstracted FIP Framework in guiding the creation of FIITS prompts. Investigating instantiations for additional subject domains would further strengthen confidence in this framework. Full article

The rapid advancement of digital and mobile technologies has reshaped the educational landscape, fostering the adoption of interactive and learner-centered methodologies. Among these, immersive technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), when coupled with next-generation wireless communication systems, hold the potential to revolutionize knowledge acquisition and student engagement. In this paper, we present the design and development of an AR-based educational tool specifically oriented to teaching concepts of fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks. The tool provides a real-time interactive visualization of 3D network components on mobile devices, enabling learners to explore 5G NSA/SA architectures in an accessible manner with real-world environments through mobile devices and their integrated cameras. The application was developed using Blender for 3D modeling and Unity as the rendering engine, incorporating the Vuforia SDK for marker-based AR tracking, and it was deployed on the Android operating system. Unlike traditional static approaches, the proposed solution enables learners to explore complex network architectures and key functionalities of 5G in an interactive and accessible manner. To assess its perceived effectiveness, quantitative surveys were conducted with both university and high school students, focusing on usability, engagement, and perceived learning outcomes. Results indicate that the tool is user-friendly, enhances motivation, and supports conceptual understanding as perceived by participants of 5G technologies. These findings highlight the potential of AR, supported by advanced wireless networks, as a pedagogical strategy to improve STEM education and foster technological literacy in the era of digital transformation. Full article

Youth-led STEM programming depends on skilled adult facilitators who can support authentic teen leadership, yet professional learning for developing these specialized skills remains understudied. Through three cycles of design-based research, we iteratively developed and studied a professional development model that trained informal educators from museums, libraries, afterschool programs, and schools to launch Teen Science Café programs—a youth-led model where teens organize STEM events. Analysis of data from trainer reflections, trainee interviews, trainee surveys, and implementation tracking across three iterative design cycles revealed six interconnected principles essential for effective professional development: focusing on a committed adult leader; personalized training characterized by mutual respect; learning by doing; establishing accountability that builds momentum; enabling learning from peers and near-peers; and recognizing success to nurture professional pride. Implementing these principles to prepare educators to center youth voice requires substantial, coordinated investment across stakeholders—commensurate with the complexity of developing youth agency and STEM identity in informal settings. From our findings, we contrast this approach with the “efficiency trap,” in which scaled training without sustained support wastes resources when many educators are trained but youth-centered programs fail to materialize. Full article