Search Results (133)

Designing laboratory experiences that support both skill development and conceptual understanding is a persistent challenge in introductory chemistry education—especially within accelerated or compressed course formats. To address this need, we developed and implemented a systems-thinking-based laboratory module on error analysis for a large introductory chemistry course at Brown University, composed primarily of first-year students (approximately 150–200 students in the spring semesters). Unlike traditional labs that isolate single techniques or concepts, this module integrates calorimetry, precipitation reactions, vacuum filtration, and quantitative uncertainty analysis into a unified experiment. Students explore how procedural variables interact to affect experimental outcomes, promoting a holistic understanding of accuracy, precision, and uncertainty. The module is supported by multimedia pre-lab materials, including faculty-recorded lectures and interactive videos developed through Brown’s Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards (UTRA) program. These resources prepare students for hands-on work while reinforcing key theoretical concepts. A mixed-methods assessment across four semesters (n > 600) demonstrated significant learning gains, particularly in students’ ability to analyze uncertainty and distinguish between accuracy and precision. Although confidence in applying significant figures slightly declined post-lab, this may reflect increased awareness of complexity rather than decreased understanding. This study highlights the educational value of integrating systems thinking into early-semester laboratory instruction. The module is accessible, cost-effective, and adaptable for a variety of institutional settings. Its design advances chemistry education by aligning foundational skill development with interdisciplinary thinking and real-world application. Full article

Background: Nursing students face emotional and psychological challenges stemming from early clinical exposure, intense academic pressure, and persistent social stigmas. These stressors can contribute to mental health deterioration and increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior. Objective: To evaluate the psychosocial context and identify risk and protective factors contributing to suicidal behavior in undergraduate nursing students. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 433 undergraduate nursing students and utilized validated psychological instruments to assess suicidal behavior, emotional distress, impulsivity, anhedonia, mental health, and perceived social support. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate tests, exploratory factor analysis, and multivariate modeling to identify key predictors of suicidal behavior. Network visualization was used to integrate significant point-biserial correlations with factor loadings. Results: Among 433 nursing students (77.8% women, 93.8% cisgender, mean age 19), 15.2% showed clinically significant suicidal risk. Suicidal behavior was more frequent among women and students living away from home (p < 0.05). Higher levels of impulsivity, ADHD symptoms, and especially moderate-to-severe hopelessness (p < 0.001) were strongly associated. Hazardous alcohol use was also a significant risk factor (p < 0.01), while strong material and emotional support showed a protective effect (p < 0.05). Two psychological dimensions, emotional distress/impulsivity and hopelessness/low support, explained most of the variance. Conclusions: 1 in 7 nursing students show clinically relevant suicidal risk, particularly those with heightened hopelessness, emotional dysregulation or hazardous alcohol use. Protective social support plays a key mitigating role. These results underline the urgent need for tailored mental health interventions that specifically address emotional regulation and hopelessness, while reinforcing social support systems within nursing education contexts. Full article

Within the context of pedagogical renewal in Physical Education, Game-Based Learning (GBL) has emerged as a pedagogical model that can foster students’ motivation and engagement. This study explored university learners’ perceptions of a playful activity in a natural environment, entitled Autolycus’ Game, and its perceived contributions to their holistic development. A total of 114 undergraduate students enrolled in Early Childhood and Primary Education degrees participated in a two-hour session designed as a Breakout EDU in a university park. After the experience, their perceptions were collected through an online semi-structured questionnaire and analysed using qualitative coding techniques in Atlas.ti. Findings indicated that participants perceived Autolycus’ Game as motivating, creativity-enhancing, and supportive of social interaction and cooperative work. Most participants highlighted that this methodology helped them strengthen social and communication skills, while also valuing the use of the natural environment as a didactic resource. At the same time, participants identified areas for improvement—such as repetitive tasks, uneven difficulty across challenges, and limited supervision—that may reduce engagement if not carefully planned. Overall, participants described Autolycus’ Game as a valuable pedagogical strategy that may enrich learning experiences in Physical Education and support socio-emotional and motor competences, although the findings should be interpreted in light of the study’s limitations (single-institution sample, self-reported data, intact class groups taught by the researchers). Future work could examine outdoor Breakout EDU with mixed-methods and longitudinal designs to assess motivational processes and learning outcomes over time. Full article

Background: Mental health problems are increasingly common among children and adolescents, making schools a key setting for health promotion. Nurses can play a central role in prevention and support, but in Chile, the role of the school nurse has not yet been formally established. Understanding nursing students’ experiences in school-based mental health promotion can inform curriculum development and strengthen professional identity. Methods: A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach was conducted with third-year nursing students enrolled in a mental health course (N = 64). Data was collected through six individual interviews and one focus group, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using ATLAS.ti 25.0.1^®. To ensure rigor, the study was guided by the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ), and trustworthiness was ensured following Lincoln and Guba’s criteria. Results: Five main categories emerged: nursing’s role in mental health promotion; perceptions of health promotion as prevention; use of the educational process, with difficulties in formulating objectives; perceived self-efficacy, marked by initial uncertainty in working with children; and experiences in implementing projects, including reflections on the professional role, mixed feelings, facilitators, barriers, and coping strategies. Facilitators included faculty support, teacher collaboration, and group cohesion, while barriers were related to limited experience, challenges in managing children, and external conditions such as noise and unsuitable classroom conditions. Conclusions: School-based practicums in mental health promotion are valuable opportunities to integrate theory and practice, strengthen professional identity, and develop communication. Strengthening undergraduate curricula with systematic training in these areas is essential for preparing nurses for their role in school and community health. Integrating these experiences into clinical and assistive practice can enhance early detection, interprofessional collaboration, and the promotion of healthier school environments. Full article

The review examines the impact of structural literacy on learning the discipline of architecture at the undergraduate level, as well as its influence on design processes. To bridge the knowledge application gap between structural literacy and design application in architecture, this review synthesizes published work on learning through the application of structural literacy in design processes. It also considers learning outcome assessment, design effectiveness measurement, and new learning approaches. The review aimed to compare hands-on learning with traditional learning methods, measure teaching methods, identify new learning methods, measure the impact of structural literacy on design and learning outcomes, and observe collaborative practices across diverse disciplines. The review conducted a comprehensive survey of international research on undergraduate architecture education using mixed, qualitative, and quantitative methods. The results indicate that active, hands-on collaborative learning approaches are more effective than continuous lecture-based approaches in enhancing structural comprehension and design integration. Although financial and access constraints restrict large-scale applications, digital and physical modeling software enhances conceptual understanding and design exploration. Although institutional and curricular barriers limit its application, interdisciplinary working enhances communication skills and facilitates structural integration. Curriculum revisions that initiate structured subjects early, with design studio linkages, strengthen student motivation and design efficiency. These findings indicate the extent to which collaborative frameworks and integrated teaching impact the development of structural literacy. The review emphasizes the need for curriculum revisions and interdisciplinary instruction to equip architecture students with the skills necessary for practical, creative, and contextually aware design work. Full article

The prevalence of eating disorders (ED) has grown in recent decades, associated with sociocultural pressures that partly stem from body stereotypes and increased stress in daily life. However, even though college constitutes a high-risk life stage, this group has received little attention, leaving a significant gap in prevention and early intervention. This cross-sectional and comparative study included 610 Mexican college students aged 18–30 enrolled in two public universities in Mexico: one sample comprised undergraduate students from Yucatan’s UADY (n = 457), and another one from Mexico City’s UNAM (n = 153). Screening tools included the EAT-26, BES, BSQ, DMS, HADS and AUDIT. We determined the frequency of ED symptomatology across both universities. Linear and multiple logistic regressions were conducted to identify factors associated with ED symptomatology. Overall, 19.8% of participants displayed significant ED symptomatology (UADY 15.5%, UNAM 32.7%). Significant ED symptomatology was more common among women (31.8%) than men (11.7%). Non-cisgender students (27.8%) showed a higher frequency than cisgender women (24.7%) and cisgender men (11.2%). High BD was the strongest predictor of significant ED symptomatology (OR = 13.35; 95% CI 6.79–26.26), followed by symptoms of anxiety (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.03–1.19). Our findings highlight the need for early screening and targeted interventions among college students in Mexico. Full article

Persistent inequities in STEM education underscore the need for teachers who can integrate rigorous content instruction with equity-focused, socially and emotionally supportive practices. This study examined how preservice secondary STEM teachers conceptualize their emerging professional identities, beliefs about social and emotional learning (SEL), and the relationship between SEL and equity in shaping their pedagogy. Using a phenomenological approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with eight student teachers enrolled in an undergraduate credential program in the Western United States. Interviews were analyzed through a combination of deductive coding informed by the transformative SEL (T-SEL) framework and inductive open coding to capture emergent themes. Findings revealed that participants defined their professional identities as facilitators and advocates for equity, while navigating tensions between relational commitments and systemic expectations that privilege content delivery. Teachers consistently articulated SEL as essential to fostering engagement, resilience, and critical thinking in STEM classrooms, yet reported gaps between beliefs and enactment due to time pressures, credentialing requirements, and disciplinary norms. Participants further described SEL and equity as deeply interconnected, framing SEL as a tool for amplifying student voice and affirming cultural identity. These findings highlight the promise of integrating equity-centered SEL within STEM teacher preparation to support early-career development. Full article

University dropout poses academic, social, and economic challenges that call for effective prevention strategies. The objective was to identify determining factors of student dropout through educational data mining and machine learning models. A survey was administered to 527 undergraduate students, and the data were processed with classification algorithms (Adaboost, Gradient Boosting, Extra Trees, Random Forest, Decision Tree, and XGBoost), complemented with interpretation techniques such as SHAP and sensitivity analysis. The results revealed that, in addition to prior academic performance (GPA), psychological support emerged as the most influential predictor across all models, followed by institutional and socioeconomic variables, including academic program, age, and parental job stability. Integrating psychological, institutional, and family factors into predictive systems enhances model accuracy and provides practical evidence to inform educational policies, strengthen student support programs, and design early interventions to promote retention in higher education. Full article

Background: Perceived stress occurs when environmental demands are appraised as exceeding an individual’s coping resources, triggering emotional dysregulation and physiological hyperactivation with adverse mental and physical outcomes. University students are particularly vulnerable to psychological distress due to academic pressure, social transitions, and lifestyle changes. Despite increasing attention to mental health in higher education, data on perceived stress among Italian university students remain limited. This study aimed to assess stress profiles using the Italian Perceived Stress Scale—Revised (IPSS-R) and to explore associations with sociodemographic and academic variables. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted among 2.103 undergraduate and master’s students enrolled in Italian universities. Participants completed the 15-item IPSS-R, which measures three dimensions: general stress, coping, and academic stress. Sociodemographic and academic data were collected via a structured questionnaire. Non-parametric tests and Principal Component Analysis were employed to identify group differences and multivariate patterns. Results: Two principal components were retained through the principal component analysis, overall perceived stress (40.9% of the variance) and coping-related responses (13.7% of the variance). The mean total IPSS-R score was 30.6 (SD = 7.08, p < 0.001), reflecting moderate-to-high levels of perceived stress. Academic demands emerged as the predominant stressors. Higher stress levels were reported by female students, younger individuals, first-year undergraduates, and those enrolled in health sciences and STEM programs. Conversely, older students, postgraduate students, and those studying in Southern Italy demonstrated stronger coping abilities and lower academic stress. Students attending private universities reported elevated academic pressure, potentially due to heightened family and financial expectations. Conclusions: Italian university students experience substantial perceived stress, primarily driven by academic workload, performance expectations, and institutional pressure. Early identification using instruments such as the IPSS-R may enable targeted interventions to promote mental health and academic achievement in student support services, during triage, in wellness checks, and in psychoeducation. Full article

Student dropout remains a persistent challenge in higher education, with substantial personal, institutional, and societal costs. We developed a modular dropout prediction pipeline that couples data preprocessing with multi-model benchmarking and a governance-ready explainability layer. Using 17,883 undergraduate records from a Moroccan higher education institution, we evaluated nine algorithms (logistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), k-nearest neighbors (k-NN), support vector machine (SVM), gradient boosting, Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Naïve Bayes (NB), and multilayer perceptron (MLP)). On our test set, XGBoost attained an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC–ROC) of 0.993, F1-score of 0.911, and recall of 0.944. Subgroup reporting supported governance and fairness: across credit–load bins, recall remained high and stable (e.g., <9 credits: precision 0.85, recall 0.932; 9–12: 0.886/0.969; >12: 0.915/0.936), with full TP/FP/FN/TN provided. A Shapley additive explanations (SHAP)-based layer identified risk and protective factors (e.g., administrative deadlines, cumulative GPA, and passed-course counts), surfaced ambiguous and anomalous cases for human review, and offered case-level diagnostics. To assess generalization, we replicated our findings on a public dataset (UCI–Portugal; tables only): XGBoost remained the top-ranked (F1-score 0.792, AUC–ROC 0.922). Overall, boosted ensembles combined with SHAP delivered high accuracy, transparent attribution, and governance-ready outputs, enabling responsible early-warning implementation for student retention. Full article

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are disorders that affect bones, muscles, and joints, significantly impacting quality of life and academic performance. Medical students are particularly susceptible to these conditions due to academic overload, inadequate posture, and overuse of digital devices. Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and associated factors among medical students at a university centre in northwestern São Paulo State. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study involved administering a structured questionnaire and conducting clinical tests (Phalen and Finkelstein) to assess musculoskeletal disorders in 164 students. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test with a significance level of 5% (p-value < 0.05). Results: The results indicate a high incidence of musculoskeletal disorders primarily affecting the upper back, neck and shoulders. In addition, prolonged use of mobile phones and tablets and predominantly typing with the thumbs were found to be associated with an increased risk of De Quervain’s tenosynovitis. A high rate of self-medication was also observed among students, with few participants seeking medical care. These findings highlight the importance of implementing preventive strategies early in the undergraduate curriculum, emphasizing ergonomics and musculoskeletal health awareness. Conclusions: This proactive approach can significantly minimize the negative impact on students’ well-being throughout their training and subsequent professional careers. Further studies might explore ergonomic interventions and educational programmes to reduce the incidence of these disorders. Full article

Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection has emerged as a powerful, non-invasive tool for identifying aquatic organisms, particularly those that are rare, elusive, or invasive. Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel) is an invasive bivalve posing ecological and economic threats to North American freshwater systems. In April 2021, zebra mussels were discovered attached to a boat destined for Lake Sidney Lanier in North Georgia—a high-use recreational reservoir with no prior reports of infestation. To determine whether D. polymorpha had been introduced, we implemented a biomonitoring protocol leveraging eDNA collection and PCR-based detection. Sampling was conducted during summer 2022 across high-risk marina sites and potential habitats. Positive controls from the Tennessee River yielded expected results, while Lake Lanier samples showed no evidence of zebra mussel DNA. Our results validate using eDNA methodology for proactive biomonitoring and highlight the importance of molecular surveillance and community outreach to prevent the establishment of invasive species in vulnerable aquatic systems. This study demonstrates the utility of a scalable, replicable early detection framework that can be adopted by educational institutions, natural resource agencies, and community groups to mitigate the risk of biological invasions. Full article

The increasing integration of artificial intelligence into educational processes offers new opportunities to address critical issues in higher education, such as student dropout, academic underperformance, and the need for personalized tutoring. This scoping review aims to map the scientific literature on the use of AI techniques to predict academic performance, risk of dropout, and the need for academic advising, with an emphasis on e-learning or technology-mediated environments. The study follows the Joanna Briggs Institute PCC strategy, and the review was reported following the PRISMA-ScR checklist for search reporting. A total of 63 peer-reviewed empirical studies (2019–2025) were included after systematic filtering from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The findings reveal that supervised machine learning models, such as decision trees, random forests, and neural networks, dominate the field, with an emerging interest in deep learning, transfer learning, and explainable AI. Academic, behavioral, emotional, and contextual variables are integrated into increasingly complex and interpretable models. Most studies focus on undergraduate students in digital and hybrid learning contexts, particularly in regions with high dropout rates. The review highlights the potential of AI to enable early intervention and improve the effectiveness of tutoring systems, while noting limitations such as lack of model generalization and ethical concerns. Recommendations are provided for future research and institutional integration. Full article

Prompted by participation gaps in the tech industry, this study explores the relationship between recent college graduates’ college experiences and their perceptions of their tech work environments. Using survey data from 15 research universities across the U.S., the findings suggest that gender and racial/ethnic identity influence the likelihood of viewing the field of computing as inclusive. Participants who were computing majors or felt a strong sense of belonging within the computing community were more likely to view the computing career environment positively. Notably, positive predictors of perceptions of an inclusive tech work environment, including majoring in computing as an undergraduate and feeling connected within computing, directly related to early career professionals’ undergraduate experiences. This study’s implications are relevant to various higher education stakeholders, including STEM department leaders, career development staff, and student affairs staff focused on fostering a strong pipeline from computing undergraduate programs to computing careers. Full article

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is reshaping science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education by offering new strategies to address persistent challenges in equity, access, and instructional capacity—particularly within Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). This review documents a faculty-led, interdisciplinary initiative at the University of La Verne (ULV), an HSI in Southern California, to explore GenAI’s integration across biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Adopting an exploratory qualitative design, this study synthesizes faculty-authored vignettes with peer-reviewed literature to examine how GenAI is being piloted as a scaffold for inclusive pedagogy. Across disciplines, faculty-reported benefits such as simplifying complex content, enhancing multilingual comprehension, and expanding access to early-stage research and technical writing. At the same time, limitations—including factual inaccuracies, algorithmic bias, and student over-reliance—underscore the importance of embedding critical AI literacy and ethical reflection into instruction. The findings highlight equity-driven strategies that position GenAI as a complement, not a substitute, for disciplinary expertise and culturally responsive pedagogy. By documenting diverse, practice-based applications, this review provides a flexible framework for integrating GenAI ethically and inclusively into undergraduate STEM instruction. The insights extend beyond HSIs, offering actionable pathways for other minority-serving and resource-constrained institutions. Full article