Search Results (865)

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education is reshaping institutional decision-making, governance, policy development, and educational innovation. Effective leadership in AI-enabled environments requires more than technical competence, extending to strategic awareness, ethical judgement, and the ability to critically evaluate the broader implications of AI technologies. Drawing on survey and interview data from 52 academic leaders across UK higher education institutions, this study examines current levels of AI literacy and explores how AI capability relates to institutional readiness and leadership practice. The findings reveal variation in participants’ self-reported AI literacy and engagement, identify technical, strategic, ethical, and organisational capability gaps, and highlight structural barriers including limited time, fragmented professional development, and insufficient institutional support for institution-wide AI adoption. In response, the paper presents the AI Literacy Leadership Framework (AILLF), which conceptualises AI literacy as a multidimensional leadership capability comprising technical, strategic, ethical, and applied dimensions that support four interconnected leadership domains: innovation, decision-making, ethical governance, and policy development. Informed by leadership theory, international AI governance frameworks, and the study’s exploratory empirical findings, the AILLF is accompanied by a proposed capability progression model and role-differentiated leadership competency guide to provide implementation guidance for higher education institutions. The study contributes an empirically informed conceptual framework that integrates AI literacy, leadership theory, and AI governance, providing a foundation for future research and institutional approaches to AI leadership within higher education. Full article

Background/Objectives: Adolescent substance use and mental health problems frequently co-occur and share common risk and protective factors. Some school-based prevention programs address substance use and mental health within an integrated approach. However, the characteristics and intervention components of these integrated approaches remain insufficiently understood. This review aimed to describe the program characteristics of school-based integrated mental health and substance use prevention programs for adolescents that were evaluated in randomized or cluster randomized controlled trials (RCTs/cRCTs), with particular attention to their intervention components, delivery approaches and prevention strategies. Methods: This review used a structured approach comprising a systematic literature search, predefined eligibility criteria, independent study selection, standardized data extraction and coding, and descriptive synthesis. Electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, KMbase, KoreaMed, ScienceON, DBpia, KISS, RISS, and PQDT) were searched for studies published between January 2016 and April 2026. Studies were eligible if they were randomized or cluster randomized controlled trials evaluating school-based interventions that incorporated both substance use prevention and mental health promotion components among adolescents. Data were extracted and synthesized descriptively at the program level to summarize program characteristics and intervention components. Results: Fifteen studies representing 10 unique programs were included. Mental health literacy was identified in 5 programs and emotional regulation in 4. Drug literacy and resistance skills were each identified in 6 programs, alcohol prevention in 5, and cannabis prevention in 4. A descriptive cross-domain analysis identified overlapping patterns involving literacy, self-regulation, help-seeking, social competence, peer support, and family-focused approaches rather than mutually exclusive program types. Conclusions: The school-based integrated prevention programs evaluated in randomized or cluster randomized controlled trials and included in this review combined substance use prevention with mental health promotion components, including psychosocial skill development, peer support, and, in one program, a family-focused approach. The descriptive synthesis of program characteristics provides an initial basis for understanding the diverse approaches used in integrated school-based prevention and may inform the future design and evaluation of programs targeting adolescent mental health and substance use. Full article

Learning from feedback depends not only on the feedback provided but also on how learners interpret, evaluate, and respond to it. This descriptive phenomenological study explored how preclinical medical students experienced receiving peer evaluation in a team-based learning (TBL) course. Forty-one reflective journals written by first-year medical students (27 men, 14 women) after receiving anonymous peer feedback were analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step descriptive phenomenological method. Five interrelated themes emerged: preparing to contribute, encountering oneself through peers’ eyes, making sense of emotional responses, transforming feedback into future practice, and becoming a responsible evaluator. Students described peer feedback as a social mirror that revealed differences between their self-perceptions and those of their peers. They reported a range of emotional responses and also reflected on the credibility and relevance of the feedback they received. Many students expressed intentions for future participation, and some reflected on their own responsibilities as evaluators. Taken together, the accounts described self-reflection, emotional appraisal, and intentions for future participation after peer evaluation. The findings suggest that peer evaluation accompanied by open-ended reflection may provide a useful context for examining how students experience and make sense of feedback. Whether such reflection contributes to subsequent changes in behavior, feedback literacy, self-regulated learning, or professionalism requires further study. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI) can be appraised simultaneously as useful, capable, threatening, and demanding. Yet research typically treats attitudes toward AI as a single favorable-unfavorable continuum, obscuring how these evaluations coexist within individuals. Using a three-wave, time-lagged survey of 379 first-year university students in China, we examined configurations of six AI-related appraisal indicators: perceived humanlikeness, adaptability, and quality of AI; AI use anxiety; awareness of smart technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and algorithms (STARA) as a career threat; and AI creative self-efficacy. Latent profile analysis supported four profiles: Positive Empowerment (19.2%), Anxious Acceptance (37.5%), Low-Perception Detached (37.2%), and High-Perception High-Vigilance (6.1%). R3STEP models showed that learning agility, digital literacy, future work self salience, and perceived university digital support were prospectively associated with profile membership, particularly in distinguishing the Low-Perception Detached profile from the more engaged profiles. BCH comparisons further showed that the Positive Empowerment and High-Perception High-Vigilance profiles reported relatively high levels of both career crafting and self-perceived employability, whereas the Low-Perception Detached profile reported the lowest levels of both outcomes. Notably, the High-Perception High-Vigilance profile combined elevated AI use anxiety and STARA awareness with strong career-development engagement, while the Low-Perception Detached profile combined comparatively low threat perceptions with weak career crafting and employability. These findings demonstrate that higher AI-related threat was not necessarily associated with weaker career preparation and, conversely, that low perceived threat was not necessarily associated with greater adaptive readiness. Overall, the results position students’ responses to AI as configurations of opportunity appraisal, threat, and AI creative self-efficacy rather than as uniformly positive or negative attitudes, thereby highlighting the need for differentiated university career education and AI-readiness interventions. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into healthcare education, clinical decision-making, and future practice. For medical students, AI literacy entails technical understanding, practical competence, ethical awareness, value-based judgment, and responsible engagement. This study examines how culturally embedded value orientations are associated with Chinese medical students’ perceived AI literacy, as assessed using a self-report instrument. In a cross-sectional sample of 1500 medical students enrolled at a comprehensive university in Henan Province, China, AI literacy was assessed using the 12-item Artificial Intelligence Literacy Scale (AILS), a self-report measure whose scores represented perceived AI literacy. Value orientations were measured using the 32-item Chinese Values Questionnaire (CVQ), comprising eight value dimensions. NCA and fsQCA were conducted to examine necessary conditions and configurational associations with membership in the high perceived AI literacy set. No single value dimension met the criterion for set-theoretic necessity with respect to membership in the high self-reported AI literacy set, and no individual condition met the fsQCA necessity consistency threshold of 0.90. Four sufficient configurations associated with high perceived AI literacy were identified, with an overall solution consistency of 0.867 and coverage of 0.383. Moral Self-Discipline and Public Interest repeatedly appeared as core or peripheral conditions. These results suggest that high perceived AI literacy was associated with multiple combinations of value orientations rather than with a single value dimension. High perceived AI literacy was associated with multiple value configurations rather than one dominant value orientation. Empirically, this study applies configurational analysis to understand how value orientations are associated with AI literacy, complementing existing research on knowledge, attitudes, and readiness. These context-bound associations may inform future research on whether medical AI curricula can integrate technical training with ethical reflection and public-oriented professional values. Full article

Spatial literacy and spatial thinking are fundamental skills for understanding space, interpreting geographical phenomena, and enabling active citizenship in a society increasingly driven by geospatial information. This review examines how digital tools and geospatial technologies contribute to cultivating spatial literacy and thinking within primary geography education. Following an integrative, PRISMA-informed review methodology combining searches of Scopus, Web of Science, and ERIC (n = 1373 records identified), this study draws on a corpus of 141 studies—comprising an original set of sources supplemented by newly identified, priority-ranked literature—examining digital maps, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Web GIS, StoryMaps, collaborative mapping, digital games, and augmented and virtual reality in geography teaching. This review proposes an explicit conceptual model clarifying the hierarchical and complementary relationships among spatial skills, spatial thinking, critical spatial thinking, spatial literacy, and spatial citizenship, together with a four-dimensional typology distinguishing technological platforms, representational formats, pedagogical approaches, and learning activity types; both are proposed as synthesizing heuristics for organizing the reviewed evidence and are offered as a basis for future empirical validation rather than as established models. The findings suggest that pedagogically grounded digital integration strengthens spatial skills, shifts learning toward active, participatory models, and helps cultivate spatial citizenship, though the strength of this evidence varies considerably by tool and by educational level, with primary-specific support remaining comparatively limited for higher-order outcomes such as critical spatial thinking. Crucially, the effective integration of these technologies depends on structured teacher training—addressing self-efficacy and confidence-related barriers alongside technical skills—and the adoption of innovative instructional approaches. Ultimately, digital tools provide effective means of deepening geographical learning and strengthening spatial literacy in primary schools. Realizing this potential, however, depends on matching the selection and use of each tool to the specific dimension of spatial learning it is evidenced to support. Full article

Background: Edible insects constitute a highly nutritious, environmentally sustainable and culturally significant food resource with considerable potential to contribute to food system transformation within academic and broader societal contexts. Although global interest in entomophagy continues to increase, there remains limited research exploring the knowledge, perceptions, attitudes and consumption practices of university populations within rural South African settings. Methods: Three concurrent cross-sectional quantitative studies were conducted at the University of Venda (UNIVEN), located in Thohoyandou, Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Study 1 evaluated the knowledge, attitudes and consumption patterns of edible insects among 200 students. Study 2 examined knowledge and utilisation of edible insects among 390 students. Study 3 investigated knowledge and perceptions regarding edible insects among 200 university staff members. Structured questionnaires covering socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, perceptions, attitudes and food frequency practices were administered across all studies. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 28 through descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentages. Analyses were descriptive only; no inferential testing, factor analysis or regression was undertaken, and the three studies are compared as a descriptive synthesis rather than pooled into a single dataset. Results: Findings across all study groups demonstrated high levels of awareness regarding edible insects, with awareness reported by 85% of participants in Study 1 and 100% in Study 2, and 98% of staff members acknowleded the ecological importance of insects. Mopane worms (Gonimbrasia belina), termites and grasshoppers emerged as the most recognised and frequently consumed edible insect species. Consumption prevalence was notably high, reported at 91% in Study 1 and 69.2% in Study 2 and 66.3% among staff in Study 3. General attitudes towards entomophagy were largely favourable, with 41% of students expressing excitement about edible insect consumption and 91.1% of staff supporting the commercialisation of edible insects. Key barriers influencing consumption included religious restrictions (25.1%, reported in Study 2 only; participants with religious dietary prohibitions were excluded at sampling in Studies 1 and 3, limiting cross-study comparability of this barrier), cultural taboos (3%), inadequate market availability and limited awareness regarding nutritional benefits. Staff members further demonstrated positive environmental and sustainability perceptions, with 84.1% recognising edible insects as environmentally beneficial and viable future food sources. Conclusions: Across three independent cross-sectional studies conducted at the University of Venda, broadly similar patterns of awareness, attitudes, perceptions and edible insect consumption were observed. Although the studies differed in sampling and measurement, they consistently suggest that edible insects remain culturally accepted among many students and staff. Nevertheless, challenges relating to nutritional literacy, market accessibility and policy integration continue to limit broader adoption. Strengthening nutrition education initiatives and incorporating edible insects into institutional food systems may enhance the contribution of edible insects towards food security, sustainable protein provision and nutrition sustainability within Limpopo Province and beyond. Full article

The increasing complexity of healthcare data ecosystems demands educational technologies capable of supporting data-intensive learning through advanced analytics, immersive interfaces, and learning analytics. This paper presents a cloud-based reference architecture and a prospective evaluation protocol for integrating Business Intelligence (BI), Extended Reality (XR), and learning analytics in health data science education. The proposed architecture is informed by a systematic literature review conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, which screened 613 records retrieved from four databases and retained 56 studies for qualitative synthesis. The review indicates that, although BI and XR technologies have independently been associated with educational benefits, empirical evidence supporting integrated educational architectures combining BI, XR, and learning analytics remains limited, particularly in health data science education. Based on these findings, the paper specifies a layered reference architecture comprising a cloud analytics engine, an immersive visualization engine, an interoperability layer, and a learning analytics pipeline designed to support adaptive and AI-assisted educational services during subsequent implementation phases. The reference architecture is partially instantiated within the curricular unit Health Data Analysis and Visualization of the Digital Health programme at the Polytechnic University of Porto, where the BI and XR components are currently deployed and used within the course, while the interoperability middleware, learning analytics infrastructure, and AI-assisted services remain under development or are specified as architectural capabilities. To support future empirical validation, the paper also defines a comprehensive prospective evaluation protocol comprising predefined outcomes, established instruments with published psychometric properties, together with an expert-developed health data literacy assessment undergoing content validation, research hypotheses, power analysis, a statistical analysis plan, and ethical and data-governance provisions. The manuscript makes four principal research contributions: (i) a cloud-based reference architecture for BI–XR integration, (ii) a computational learning analytics pipeline specification, (iii) an interoperable system design for health data science education, and (iv) a prospective evaluation protocol to guide the future validation of the proposed reference architecture. Full article

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) products play a vital role in preserving cultural heritage, supporting rural economies, and promoting local breed biodiversity. However, few studies have validated instruments capable of assessing consumer knowledge, perceptions, and trust regarding PDO labels and authenticity cues. This study validated and optimized a survey instrument designed to evaluate consumer attitudes towards PDO cheeses, using Majorero and Palmero cheeses from the Canary Islands as case studies. A total of 539 valid questionnaires were collected before and after structured educational sessions. Cross-validated Canonical Discriminant Analysis techniques were employed to assess the reliability, discriminatory capacity, and predictive accuracy of survey items. Results revealed significant improvements in consumer knowledge and perceptions following the educational intervention. Participants demonstrated greater understanding of PDO regulations, increased confidence in sensory evaluation, and enhanced ability to identify authenticity cues. The discriminant model achieved a classification accuracy of 96.23% (AUC = 0.9925), confirming excellent predictive performance. Consumer attitudes were primarily influenced by territorial attachment, familiarity, and trust in certification rather than technical knowledge. These findings support educational and marketing strategies to strengthen origin labeling, improve consumer literacy, reinforce authenticity perceptions, and promote PDO products’ cultural and economic sustainability while providing a validated framework for future consumer research. Full article

The expansion of wireless infrastructure has made anthropogenic non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMFs)—commonly described in public discourse as “electrosmog” or electromagnetic pollution—a pervasive feature of digitalized environments. This study examines how 81 pre-service science teachers in Türkiye conceptualized EMF-related sources, perceived risks, mitigation measures, and responsibility. A multi-source qualitative design combined inductive content analysis of nine open-ended questionnaire items with a document-informed deductive mapping based on authoritative EMF-exposure and risk-governance documents. The integrated framework distinguished diagnostic and risk-appraisal capacity, receiver–pathway–source intervention levels, governance and collective capacity, and responsibility attribution. Within a questionnaire primarily oriented toward awareness and daily-life action, responses concentrated strongly on receiver-level behavioral adaptation and attributed responsibility mainly to individuals and households. Source-level controls, monitoring, compliance, institutional responsibility, and evidence-based risk communication were not spontaneously articulated. Because these dimensions were not directly prompted, the findings do not establish a governance-literacy deficit; they define the boundaries of the mitigation repertoire elicited and generate a hypothesis for future research using explicit institutional and governance-oriented prompts. The study’s contribution lies in applying an integrated exposure-management and responsibility-attribution framework to an understudied teacher-education population and identifying curriculum needs concerning evidence appraisal, multilevel responsibility, and uncertainty-sensitive risk communication. Full article

Education for sustainability should connect planetary environmental change with local place, cultural meaning, and feasible collective action. Yet inclusive arts-based ocean-literacy education remains underexamined, especially for children from migrant backgrounds. This study examines Gyeongju Sea Rescue Team: Protecting the Sea through Minhwa, a five-session programme for elementary-school children from Koryoin and other migrant-background families in South Korea. A provenance-separated dual-strand design combined hybrid thematic analysis of programme documents and non-identifying artwork images with a fully synthetic 100-case corpus used only to audit a future artwork-elicitation protocol and codebook. The documentary strand identified four provisional mechanisms: the ecological reinterpretation of auspicious symbols, localisation through Gyeongju’s maritime heritage, multimodal participation across linguistic differences, and collective stewardship. The synthetic audit did not validate these mechanisms or programme outcomes. Instead, participant-correction and self-action prompts generated more clearly codable material on agency, cultural identity, multilingual meaning-making, and intercultural integration. Two designed perturbation passes yielded a quadratic-weighted kappa of 0.726 as a within-corpus stability diagnostic rather than human intercoder reliability. Diagnostic cases exposed adult projection, assimilationist interpretation, pressure to disclose private meanings, and advice without self-agency. The article proposes a provisional MIOL framework and four safeguards: child-led interpretation, reciprocal cultural exchange, appropriate consent and permissions, and continuity from symbolic expression to sustained action. Synthetic outputs concern method development only and do not represent children’s experiences or programme effectiveness. Full article

Background: Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption may be associated not only with nutrition knowledge but also with individuals’ practical food-related competencies and overall dietary patterns. Aim: This study investigated how cooking and food skills, dietary literacy, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet were related to UPF consumption among adults in İstanbul, Türkiye. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study included 293 (85.7% female, mean age of 22.63 ± 4.66 years) adults residing in Istanbul, Türkiye between 1 January 2026 and 30 June 2026. Data were collected through an online questionnaire comprising sociodemographic and food-related characteristics, the Cooking Skills and Food Skills Measure, the e-Healthy Diet Literacy Scale (e-HDL), the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS), and the Short Screening Questionnaire of Highly Processed Food Consumption (sQ-HPF). Validated Turkish versions of all instruments were used; no measurement tool was developed specifically for this study. Results: 57.0% of participants were classified as having a high level of UPF consumption. The high level of UPF consumption group was younger, cooked at home less frequently, ordered food more frequently, and had lower cooking skills, food skills, and MEDAS scores compared to the low level of UPF consumption group (all p < 0.05). UPF consumption was negatively correlated with food skills (r: −0.33), MEDAS (r = −0.28), cooking skills (r = −0.27), age (r = −0.21), and home-cooking frequency (r = −0.18) and positively correlated with food-ordering frequency (r = 0.18). In the final regression model, younger age (β = −0.144, p = 0.009), lower food skills (β = −0.325, p < 0.001), and lower MEDAS scores (β = −0.252, p < 0.001) were independently associated with higher UPF consumption. E-HDL was not independently associated with UPF consumption. The final model explained 18.4% of the adjusted variance. Conclusions: Among this predominantly young and female sample of adults residing in Istanbul, lower food skills and lower Mediterranean diet adherence co-occurred with higher UPF consumption. Although the direction of these associations cannot be determined, the findings may inform future strategies that integrate nutrition education with practical food preparation support and the promotion of Mediterranean-style food choices. Full article

Background/Objectives: Declining fertility rates pose a major demographic and public health challenge across Europe, including Croatia. Although health literacy and psychological well-being may influence reproductive decision-making, their relationships with fertility attitudes remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the associations between health literacy, psychological distress, and fertility attitudes among postpartum women and investigated whether anxiety and depressive symptoms mediate the relationship between health literacy and fertility attitudes. Methods: A cross-sectional study included 1656 postpartum women from seven coastal counties in Croatia. Participants completed validated measures of health literacy (NVS-HR), anxiety (STAI), depressive symptoms (BDI-M), and breastfeeding attitudes (IIFAS). Correlation analyses, multivariable logistic regression, and mediation analyses were performed. Results: Higher health literacy was associated with more positive fertility attitudes (r = 0.18, p < 0.001), whereas anxiety and depressive symptoms were negatively associated with fertility attitudes (all p < 0.001). Health literacy was also negatively correlated with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that higher health literacy (OR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.12–1.35), older age (OR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.05–1.12), and more positive breastfeeding attitudes (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.09) were independently associated with preferences corresponding to above-replacement fertility, whereas higher levels of depressive symptoms were independently associated with lower odds of this outcome (OR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.66–0.90; all p < 0.05). Mediation analysis demonstrated a significant direct association between health literacy and fertility attitudes (β = 0.020, p = 0.004), whereas no significant indirect effects through anxiety or depressive symptoms were observed. Conclusions: Health literacy was independently associated with fertility attitudes and with preferences corresponding to above-replacement fertility, while psychological distress did not mediate this relationship. These findings suggest that health literacy may serve as an important cognitive resource for reproductive decision-making and a potential target for future reproductive health promotion among postpartum women. Full article

Preparing future educators for technology-enhanced learning environments has become increasingly important as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to influence teaching and learning. Guided by the Intelligent Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (i-TPACK) framework, this mixed-methods study examined preservice teachers’ perceptions of AI and the competencies they considered necessary for effective AI integration. Participants included 108 preservice teachers enrolled in a teacher preparation program at a public university in the southeastern United States. Data were collected using a survey containing Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and independent-samples t-tests, while qualitative responses were analyzed using thematic coding. The exploratory factor analysis identified a four-factor empirical structure that partially corresponded with the original theoretical domains, with varying levels of internal consistency. Preservice teachers generally viewed AI favorably and recognized its potential to support teaching and learning. Participants with internship experience reported significantly higher scores for perceived changes brought by AI and reasons for using AI than those without internship experience. Qualitative findings identified five competencies considered important for responsible AI integration: AI literacy, prompt engineering, critical evaluation, ethical AI use, and pedagogical balance. Participants also expressed concerns about academic dishonesty, misinformation, overreliance on AI, reduced critical thinking, and loss of human interaction. The findings highlight the importance of preparing preservice teachers to integrate AI in pedagogically meaningful and ethically responsible ways. Full article

Pre-service mathematics teachers engage with AI as both geometry learners and future teachers, yet domain-specific instruments for measuring this usage remain scarce. This study developed and validated the AI Usage in Geometry Learning Scale (AIGLS) and compared usage between two Indonesian teacher-education institutions. A comparative survey covered 178 pre-service mathematics teachers at Universitas Negeri Makassar (UNM, n = 89) and Universitas Negeri Jakarta (UNJ, n = 89). The AIGLS operationalises five dimensions: Conceptual Understanding Support, Problem-Solving Assistance, Geometric Visualisation, Pedagogical Readiness, and Critical Evaluation of AI. A ten-expert panel established content validity (CVI = 0.976). Item analysis excluded all five negatively worded items; all analyses therefore used the final 20-item scale, which showed good full-scale (Cronbach’s α = 0.873) and subscale (α = 0.591–0.810) reliability. ChatGPT was the dominant tool (96.6%), and UNM reported significantly higher usage intensity than UNJ (χ²(4) = 27.917, p < 0.001). Mann–Whitney U tests with Bonferroni correction confirmed UNM scored higher overall (U = 4749.5, p = 0.022, r_rb = −0.20), with Geometric Visualisation showing the largest institutional gap (r_rb = −0.38, medium effect). The validated AIGLS supports measuring AI usage in geometry teacher preparation and informs AI-literacy policy. Full article