Search Results (651)

Contemporary education increasingly emphasises transferable competencies that enable learners to analyse situations, evaluate information, and make responsible decisions. This study examined the effects of a structured educational intervention based on inquiry, problem-solving, and role-play activities on the development of decision-making competence in primary school students. A quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test design with a control group was employed. The initial sample consisted of 64 second-grade students, with final analyses conducted on 39 complete cases. Decision-making competence was assessed using a researcher-developed multidimensional scale encompassing six dimensions: identification of alternatives, justification of decisions, anticipation of consequences, autonomy, collaboration, and responsibility. The results indicated a significant improvement in decision-making competence from pre-test (M = 13.23, SD = 1.68) to post-test (M = 20.05, SD = 4.49), t(38) = 8.45, p < 0.001, d = 1.35. Additionally, analysis of covariance revealed a significant effect of group on post-test scores, F(1, 36) = 9.82, p = 0.003, ηp² = 0.21, with the experimental group demonstrating greater improvement than the control group. A 2 × 2 repeated-measures ANOVA further indicated that gains were more pronounced in the cognitive domain than in the socio-emotional domain. These findings suggest that structured classroom activities involving inquiry, problem-solving, and role-play can support primary school students’ ability to analyse situations, generate alternatives, and justify decisions, particularly within the cognitive dimensions of decision-making competence. At the same time, the more moderate gains observed in collaboration and responsibility highlight the need for sustained, interaction-based learning contexts to support the development of socio-emotional dimensions. Full article

Background/Objectives: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common musculoskeletal conditions globally and a leading cause of disability. University populations may be particularly vulnerable due to prolonged sitting, academic stress, and frequently suboptimal ergonomics, especially in rapidly expanding higher education systems such as those in Saudi Arabia. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize evidence on the prevalence of LBP among university attendants in Saudi Arabia and to quantify its associations with key demographic and environmental risk factors. Methods: We systematically reviewed observational studies reporting LBP prevalence and/or risk factors among university students and faculty in Saudi Arabia published in English, following Cochrane methodological guidance and PRISMA 2020 reporting recommendations. The protocol was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD420250654048). We searched PubMed, Embase and CINAHL from inception to February 2025. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for analytical cross-sectional studies. Random effects meta-analyses were used to pool prevalence estimates across recall periods, regions, populations, and measurement tools, and to calculate pooled odds ratios (ORs) for age, sex, smoking, family history of LBP, and college seating conditions. Heterogeneity, subgroup, and sensitivity analyses were undertaken. Results: Thirteen cross-sectional studies were included. The overall pooled prevalence of LBP was 57% (95% confidence interval [CI] approximately 43–71), with substantial heterogeneity. Prevalence varied by recall period, region, population group, and measurement instrument; pooled prevalence was 58% among students and 50% among faculty. Increasing age (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.01–1.34) and poor college seating conditions (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.07–1.76) were significantly associated with LBP. Male gender, smoking, and family history showed non-significant pooled effects. These estimates are limited by substantial between-study heterogeneity, variable measurement tools, and exclusively cross-sectional designs, which restrict causal inference. Conclusions: LBP is prevalent among university attendants in Saudi Arabia, affecting both students and faculty. The consistent associations with age and seating ergonomics highlight the need for ergonomic classroom redesign and age-sensitive preventive strategies. Future work should adopt standardized LBP measures and longitudinal designs to clarify causal pathways and evaluate targeted interventions. Funding: This work was supported by the Deanship of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research at Jouf University (grant DGSSR-2026-NF-01-002). Full article

In Vietnamese primary mathematics education, geometry instruction often emphasizes rote calculation and formula memorization rather than meaningful contextualization, leaving students disconnected from abstract concepts and lacking opportunities to connect learning with cultural identity. This quasi-experimental study investigates how integrating generative AI tools (ChatGPT, DALL·E, Canva) with the culturally grounded Vietnamese folktale Bánh Chưng—Bánh Giầy can support Grade 5 students’ understanding of circle geometry. Employing a mixed-methods design with 30 students divided into experimental (AI + storytelling) and control (traditional instruction) groups, the study measured cognitive and affective learning outcomes through pre/post-tests, a validated 25-item questionnaire, interviews, and classroom observations. Quantitative results revealed significant improvements in the experimental group across all measured dimensions, learning interest, attentional focus, conceptual understanding, mathematics passion, and cultural preservation awareness, with large effect sizes. Qualitative findings confirmed enhanced engagement, multimodal conceptual clarity, and cultural affective resonance. The study demonstrates that low-cost, teacher-mediated generative AI can effectively support learning in resource-constrained primary settings when anchored in local narratives. Implications for ethical AI integration and teacher professional development in Vietnamese contexts are discussed. Full article

Classroom observation systems can be an important tool for understanding teaching quality. However, the wide range of possible lessons that can be observed raises concerns about whether fixed observation rubrics can measure the intended teaching quality constructs equally well in each lesson. This paper argues for exploring measurement invariance across lessons in observation systems, adopting an understanding of measurement invariance that emphasises the alignment between a theoretical construct and the measurement of that construct. We conceptualise teaching quality using the Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observation (PLATO). PLATO’s focus on individual items is misaligned to traditional measurement invariance approaches, so we emphasise the importance of detailed, qualitative considerations of how rubric operationalisations of a construct may or may not capture the intended teaching quality construct equally well across lessons with different characteristics. We discuss the affordances and limitations of this way of considering measurement invariance and argue for the importance of ensuring measurement invariance across lessons. Full article

Since 2000, the flipped classroom model has been widely adopted in higher education within the context of digital transformation; however, a comprehensive historical synthesis of review evidence remains limited. This study addresses this gap by conducting a review of reviews to clarify developmental trends, theoretical foundations, instructional designs, research methods, outcome variables, reported effects and implementation challenges, with the aim of informing sustainable education practices. Following the PRISMA framework, we systematically searched Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, and Google Scholar for studies published between 2000 and 2024. Predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, and 25 systematic reviews met the eligibility requirements. Risk of bias and reporting quality were assessed descriptively at the review level. The results indicate generally positive perceptions among students and teachers, particularly regarding learning performance, collaboration and motivation, with the strongest evidence observed at the teaching and learning levels rather than at pedagogical or institutional levels. Substantial variation in flipped classroom designs and inconsistent reporting limited cross-study effect size synthesis. Further analysis reveals a fragmented theoretical basis and uneven attention to post-class learning processes. In response, two integrative frameworks—the Instructional Design Analysis Model for Flipped Classrooms (IDAMFC) and the Transformative Activation Theory for Flipped Classrooms (TAT-FC) are proposed to align pre-, in-, and post-class phases with learning strategies, cognitive engagement, and assessment in digitally supported environments. This study highlights the need for longitudinal designs and more comprehensive outcome measures to support sustainable educational development. Full article

For vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccination uptake is among the best public health behaviors to prevent infection, disease and death. However, public confidence in this behavior has waned in recent years alongside the twin respiratory threats of influenza and COVID-19. Moreover, certain populations, such as emerging adults, may be amenable to vaccination attitude and behavior change as they navigate their path between adolescence and adulthood. The current investigation presents two studies that address influenza and COVID-19 vaccination uptake among emerging adults. First, among more than 2000 emerging adults during the years of 2022–2024, we examined rates of vaccination uptake and attitudes, as well as relationships of vaccine rates with other concomitant health behaviors. Second, we explored the efficacy of a classroom-based vaccination promotion experience in altering both attitudes and behaviors regarding vaccination uptake among 275 emerging adults at college. Results highlighted some health behaviors that are related to influenza uptake but not COVID-19 uptake. Moreover, results from Study 2 demonstrated that attitudes, but not behavior, seem to be most amenable to the classroom-based approach to encourage health behavior change, as a significant increase in positive attitudes toward both influenza and COVID-19 vaccines was observed. These findings are discussed further, considering theoretical and practical applications. Full article

The apprenticeship of observation is a form of anticipatory socialization that is experienced by all individuals who attend K-12 schooling, and is particularly consequential for the subset of this population that eventually becomes professional educators. Based on extensive interviews with professional teachers, sociologist Dan C. Lortie found that the 13,000 h of experience teachers had spent watching their own K-12 teachers constituted a sort of apprenticeship in teaching. This prolonged period of observation is thought to have a profound impact on the work of teachers. By observing their own teachers across thousands of hours, professional educators are said to make decisions in the classroom and in their teaching based on their own individual personalities and preferences instead of pedagogical frameworks or theories; the teacher learning brought about by the apprenticeship of observation leads professional educators to identify teaching they liked and disliked. Teaching decisions made by these educators in the classroom are ultimately based on a binary choice between replicating or rejecting the teaching they previously witnessed as K-12 students. Over time, the apprenticeship of observation has, for some researchers and teacher educators, served as shorthand for describing the replication of traditional teaching approaches across time, in effect suggesting that teachers teach the way they were taught. The power and negative consequences of the apprenticeship of observation have led teacher educators to devise multiple interventions within teacher education programs and pedagogies, which have sought to challenge and overcome the apprenticeship of observation and its negative influence on professional educators’ teacher learning and practice. Full article

This article presents a qualitative case study of two secondary school biology teachers who aligned their teaching to inquiry through an extended professional learning community (PLC) program. The case study used an inquiry-based knowledge mobility model developed within a sociocultural learning theory (SLT) framework, specifically, the zone of proximal development (ZPD). Data were collected from four PLC meeting transcripts, two lesson observations, and two post-lesson reflection interviews. Four main inquiry-based themes directly emerged from PLC dialogue: scaffolding student agency, phenomenon-based learning, prioritizing process over right answers, and managing students’ preconceptions. Overall, results from the ZPD component of SLT indicated that one teacher’s pedagogical shift was mainly driven by his willingness to take conceptual risks, whereas the other teacher was procedurally driven. The cyclical model challenges traditional views on professional learning and highlights the role of teachers’ epistemological stances on inquiry teaching. This study offers guidance for designing PLCs that support authentic inquiry-based learning in secondary school science classrooms. Full article

Video-based teacher professional development (TPD) offers teachers structured opportunities to examine their classroom practice, yet its role in supporting differentiated instruction (DI) in fully online formats remains underexplored. This longitudinal case study investigates how participation in a facilitated, fully online video-based TPD was associated with changes in the cognition and classroom practice of one lower-secondary mathematics teacher, with a specific focus on DI. Drawing on Major and Watson’s four-dimensional model of teacher cognitive change, we analyse developments in the teacher’s self-efficacy, self-evaluation, knowledge of teaching, and instructional beliefs, and link these to observable changes in differentiated classroom practice. Data were collected through six classroom observations, as well as a semi-structured interview focused on DI. The findings show that sustained engagement in structured video reflection and online professional learning community discussions supported a shift from predominantly teacher-centred instruction to more adaptive, student-centred teaching characterised by tiered tasks, embedded scaffolding for struggling students, enrichment for advanced learners, and increased collaborative problem solving. Full article

Although social emotional learning (SEL) is generally regarded as beneficial for children, there is an enduring tension between the need to observe fidelity to SEL programming (to reach desired outcomes) and the need to adapt SEL programming (to make implementation more feasible in a given setting). This tension can be heightened in out-of-school time (OST) settings, which are often not considered in the design of traditional SEL programming. The perspective presented in this paper examines the fidelity–adaptation dilemma by describing the SEL adaptations of one OST practitioner to illustrate integrity-centered, effective SEL implementation. As such, we consider this paper a “case illustration.” We begin by presenting the characteristics of OST settings that create unique opportunities and challenges for SEL implementation. We summarize the tension between fidelity, integrity, and program adaptations, and we position an intervention called SEL Kernels as a flexible, adaptable SEL solution for OST settings. Next, we describe recent research on SEL Kernels in OST settings in the American Midwest and present a compelling case illustration that centers the SEL Kernels implementation of one afterschool practitioner whose work strikes a noteworthy balance between integrity and adaptation. We outline our process for coding and mapping her adaptations onto high-quality SEL implementation practices, which are essential for effective learning. Finally, we present our findings as a series of classroom challenges surmounted by integrity-centered, effective adaptations to SEL Kernels. Possible future directions for this work include the continued collection and coding of integrity-centered adaptations to SEL Kernels in OST to learn more about what drives those adaptations, how they are implemented, and how to make them successful for a wider population of OST practitioners. Full article

Developing students’ systems thinking is important but challenging in middle-school ecology. This quasi-experimental study examined whether an instructional package combining case-based learning and concept mapping, as implemented under routine classroom conditions, was associated with different patterns of growth across levels of the Systems Thinking Hierarchy. A total of 177 eighth-grade students from six intact classes completed parallel pre- and post-assessments during an ecosystems unit. Student-level repeated-measures analyses showed no clear differential pattern at the level of identifying components and processes. Larger observed gains appeared in understanding relationships, organization, and matter-energy cycles, and a smaller pattern in the same direction appeared in generalization, temporal reasoning, and hidden dimensions. However, because students were nested within only six classes, each condition was taught by a different teacher, and the experimental teacher received targeted preparation, the findings should be interpreted cautiously as associations linked to an instructional package rather than as teacher-independent causal effects. The results suggest that classroom enactments combining cases and concept mapping may help students move beyond isolated ecological facts toward more relational explanations, while higher-order systems thinking remains difficult and likely requires longer-term scaffolding in routine middle-school biology lessons over a short instructional unit. Full article

Challenge-based learning (CBL) is a student-centered approach engaging learners in complex, open-ended problems. While such openness can foster deeper learning and creativity, it also demands high self-direction. Teachers must therefore provide sufficient scaffolding without undermining CBL’s authenticity. This study examines how secondary education teachers design and enact scaffolding in sustainability-oriented CBL projects, and how students experience this support. A multiple-case study of three projects distinguished soft scaffolding (adaptive, just-in-time support) from hard scaffolding (predefined tools and structures). Data included teacher interviews (n = 3), student focus groups (n = 18), and classroom observations. Findings showed the scaffolding type and function depended on project open-endedness, teacher readiness, and alignment with project focus. In the most open-ended project, the teacher mainly used soft scaffolding to guide thinking and decision-making, whereas more structured projects relied on hard scaffolds for procedural support. Students’ experiences varied: some thrived under autonomy, developing ownership and engagement, while others needed more explicit guidance. These results suggest that scaffolds should align with project goals, be explicit in their contribution to progress, match students’ readiness for self-directed learning, be enacted by teachers comfortable in a coaching role, and include affective support to help students manage frustration and uncertainty. Full article

Learning to write begins before formal schooling through everyday interactions where children construct ideas about print. Informed by socioconstructivist theory, this quasi-experimental study evaluated the impact of naturalistic, teacher-mediated cooperative invented spelling activities in Portuguese preschools. The participants were 88 five-year-olds from six classes in three schools. Classrooms were randomly assigned within schools to an intervention group (n = 43) or a comparison group (n = 45). For two months, the intervention group engaged in weekly spelling discussions integrated into regular activities, while the comparison group followed the standard curriculum. Pre- and post-intervention spelling assessments and classroom observations were conducted. The results showed a strong positive intervention effect. The intervention group demonstrated significantly greater improvement in representing sounds in their spelling than the comparison group. Observations revealed that when teachers scaffolded discussions with open questions, and children, with varying knowledge levels, helped each other by explaining their thinking. This transformed spelling into a shared problem-solving task. The study confirmed invented spelling as a valuable classroom activity that advances alphabetic understanding. It was demonstrated that early literacy can be effectively nurtured through structured dialogue and collaboration within the regular preschool day. These findings provided a practical, theory-aligned model for supporting literacy development through social interaction. Full article

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses primarily aim to cultivate academic communication, yet English-only norms and exam-oriented histories often discourage bilingual participation. This qualitative study traced Chinese graduate students’ language-belief development over one semester in a graduate EAP course and examined how the instructor mediated that process. Data included two rounds of open-ended surveys in two intact classes (N = 40), two interview rounds and end-of-semester reflections from ten purposively selected focus students (n = 10), and video-recorded classroom observations of 12 lessons. Findings show that the students increasingly legitimized bilingual participation and reframed English learning from test preparation toward academic communication. Beliefs nevertheless remained layered. Many still upheld an English-only ideal, treated English as the default language, and positioned the first language (L1) mainly as support when second language (L2) expression became difficult. Endorsement also exceeded uptake, with L1 use treated as a compensatory fallback rather than a co-equal academic resource. Instructor policy, conceptual framing, and interactional modeling reduced anxiety around bilingual moves and sometimes supported greater willingness to attempt more English, which identifies mechanisms for bilingual-aware EAP pedagogy in monolingual-leaning EFL contexts. Full article

Serving students with special educational needs (SENs) involves recognising that their learning is closely linked to their emotional needs. Self-esteem and socio-emotional well-being play a key role in their motivation and adaptation to school. In this context, physical activity-based interventions at school emerge as a possible way to strengthen their self-esteem and socio-emotional well-being. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of a web-based active break programme on self-esteem in students aged 6 to 10 years with SENs and on socio-emotional well-being in the subgroup of first–second-grade students. A pre-specified sub-analysis was conducted of a multicentre randomised controlled trial with a sample of 161 students with special educational needs (7.8 ± 1.1 years, 32% girls), divided into a control group (85 students) and an experimental group (76 students). A programme of video-guided active breaks was implemented in the classroom, applied twice a day, five days a week for 12 weeks, via a web platform. Self-esteem was assessed using the School Self-Esteem Test (SSET), and socio-emotional well-being was assessed using the Self-Report of Socio-Emotional Well-Being (SRSEWB). A significant Time × Group interaction was observed for self-esteem, F_{(1, 157)} = 5.43, p = 0.021, η²_p = 0.033, but no statistically significant effects were detected for socio-emotional well-being. These findings suggest that active break interventions may help strengthen self-esteem in students with SENs. Future research should examine the temporal stability of these improvements, determine the optimal intervention duration required to generate sustained changes, and evaluate longer-term socio-emotional outcomes. Full article