Search Results (203)

Positive teacher–student relationships in early childhood predict stronger academic and social–emotional outcomes, whereas conflictual or dependent relationships contribute to children’s stress and behavioral and academic difficulties. While prior research emphasizes teachers’ observable relational behaviors, fewer studies explore the internal emotional and cognitive processes that shape these relationships. This mixed-methods study examined how preschool teachers’ emotion socialization practices (i.e., emotion coaching and dismissing) and their classroom expressions of positive and negative emotions relate to their mental representations of their relationships with students. Quantitative analyses tested whether teachers’ emotional expressiveness moderated associations between their emotion socialization practices and relational representations. Complementing these analyses, qualitative narrative interviews with an independent teacher sample explored how educators described their emotional expressiveness, emotion-related practices, and perceived relationships with students. Informed by emotion socialization theory, attachment theory, and the prosocial classroom model, findings highlight the interplay of teachers’ emotional beliefs, regulation, and relational schemas in shaping classroom climate. Our integration of quantitative and qualitative insights provides a more comprehensive understanding of teachers’ emotional functioning and underscores the importance of supporting educators’ relational and emotional competencies to enhance classroom quality and student well-being. Full article

The basic renovation of old urban communities is an important livelihood project for urban renewal, but there are many problems in the decision-making of renovation schemes, such as strong dependence on experience, lack of quantitative basis for multi-objective trade-off, and difficulty in describing residents’ risk attitude. Combining Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) and utility theory, this paper constructs a set of intelligent decision support models driven by data and knowledge. First of all, through literature analysis and expert investigation, a decision-making index system is established, which includes four dimensions and 16 quantitative indicators: policy and financial support, residential conditions and needs, residents’ consensus and social coordination, and implementation management and long-term maintenance. Secondly, the framework representation method is used to describe the reconstruction case, a hybrid retrieval strategy combining inductive retrieval and nearest-neighbor retrieval is designed, and the subjective and objective data combination weights are calculated by using AHP and the entropy method. On this basis, a loss utility function and risk aversion coefficient based on accident and public opinion data (a = 0.02) are introduced to modify the similarity calculation results to describe the risk avoidance behavior of decision-makers. Through 40 real renovation projects, a case base is built, and two types of target cases, “typical inclusive” (F5) and “key renovation” (F35), are selected for empirical verification. The results show that the model can effectively retrieve similar cases, and the similarity ranking changes in line with risk aversion expectations after utility correction. Taking F5 as an example, by reusing and revising the reconstruction scheme of a similar case, targeted suggestions are generated, which give consideration to safety, economy and operability. This model provides a new quantifiable and reusable method for scientific decision-making in basic renovation of old residential areas. Full article

Representations of industrial life have long been understood to be essential to the Soviet project, and this article analyzes the distinctive, but overlooked, functions of narratives and images of women workers at the factory workbench in the 1920s, and their ramifications for understanding Soviet paradigms of gender. Examining the place of mechanized labor in Aleksandra Kollontai’s theory of women’s emancipation in conjunction with the programs of labor theorist Aleksei Gastev demonstrates the establishment of mechanized labor and its tools as essential to utopian representations of Soviet social and gender relations beyond the factory. In this light, the article traces the establishment of the stanok, or factory workbench, as a metonym for new collective labor, and an interface with other nascent Soviet institutions and the new byt, or everyday life, in the mass illustrated periodical for urban women, Rabotnitsa (The Woman Worker), in the 1920s. Full article

This paper presents a theoretically grounded integration of deterministic Q-learning with relational game theory (QLRG) for efficiently identifying minimal winning coalitions in Online Social Networks (OSNs). We address the fundamental challenge that coalition formation is NP-hard under traditional approaches by leveraging structural properties of relational dependencies and Armstrong’s axioms to transform the problem into one solvable in polynomial time. Our framework reduces the state space from exponential O(2ⁿ) to O(n²) through a sufficient statistic representation based on coalition size, follower reach, and terminal status, while achieving O(n⁴) time complexity under deterministic, static, and sufficiently symmetric influence structures. The QLRG framework introduces three critical innovations: (1) a principled agent selection mechanism derived directly from the Q-function that eliminates heuristic weight tuning; (2) a formal Boost action defined through temporal closure operators that captures influence spread dynamics; and (3) a constrained MDP formulation that enforces relational consistency through action elimination rather than penalty terms. We prove that the Bellman optimality operator forms a contraction mapping, guaranteeing deterministic convergence to optimal policies with established rates of O(1/√k) for decreasing learning rates or linear convergence up to bias for constant rates. To bridge the gap between this idealized model and the asymmetry inherent in real OSNs, we further develop a cluster-based sufficient statistics approach. By partitioning the network into communities with bounded internal variation, we relax the global symmetry requirement while preserving polynomial state space complexity, and obtaining a single within-community swap changes the optimal Q-value by at most ${\displaystyle \frac{{\epsilon }_i}{1-\gamma }}$, which is a local Lipschitz continuity result. The implications of this are both theoretical and practical, and they form the bedrock for relaxing the global symmetry assumption in the QLRG framework. Empirical validation on synthetic networks satisfying the symmetry assumption demonstrates that QLRG consistently identifies minimal winning coalitions matching the optimal solutions found by exhaustive search, while operating with polynomial-time complexity. Unlike conventional approaches, our framework simultaneously satisfies four critical properties: deterministic convergence, policy optimality, minimal coalition identification, and computational tractability. The work bridges computational social science and operations research, providing a mathematically rigorous foundation for strategic decision-making in influencer marketing and coalition formation. While the framework requires symmetry assumptions that may only hold approximately in real-world OSNs, it establishes an idealized baseline for future extensions addressing stochasticity, dynamics, and partial observability. This research represents a paradigm shift from empirical improvements to theoretically grounded convergence guarantees for coalition formation problems, demonstrating how structural mathematical insights can transform intractable problems into efficiently solvable ones without sacrificing solution quality. Full article

This study examined the critical sustainability challenge of regional demographic decline in South Korea by analyzing how young people’s mobility decisions are intricately influenced by structurally and socially constructed meaning systems. Countering strictly economic deterministic views, this research posited that youth out-migration is a complex socio-cognitive process mediated by social representations of place—collectively constructed and circulated meanings attached to regions. Applying a secondary analysis of Q-sort data from 24 undergraduate students at a regional national university, the study integrated Q methodology with Social Representation Theory to systematically identify youth typologies regarding regional identity, territorial stigma, and local extinction. Participants sorted 44 statements encompassing place attachment, local consumption, cultural experiences, and policy effectiveness. Rigorous factor analysis revealed four distinct perception typologies: identity-based strategic mobility, conditional leaving based on internalized success norms, re-anchoring toward alternative lifestyles, and skeptical leaving rooted in profound institutional distrust. The findings empirically demonstrated that identical structural constraints can produce highly divergent mobility trajectories—ranging from active retention to complete resignation—depending entirely on the region’s socio-cognitive representation. This study demonstrates that local extinction is not merely a demographic condition, but a socially constructed framework of meaning and an object of social representation that shapes youth perception typologies and mobility judgments. Accordingly, moving beyond conventional technical interventions, meaning governance, and strategic communication are needed to help reimagine regional futures. Full article

Despite strong evidence that gender-diverse leadership improves organizational innovation and performance, women remain underrepresented in leadership pipelines worldwide, particularly in Asia. While prior research largely examines the outcomes of gender diversity at the firm level, far less is known about the psychological and social factors that shape women’s leadership aspirations in the first place. Addressing this gap, this study applies Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to explain how contextual support and developmental experiences influence women’s leadership aspirations in a collectivist business environment. Using survey data from 400 adult women in Indonesia and structural equation modelling, the study examines how parental involvement shapes personal mastery, how personal mastery strengthens leadership self-efficacy, and how self-efficacy, role models, and perceived leadership traits jointly predict leadership aspiration. The findings show that parental involvement indirectly contributes to leadership aspiration through personal mastery and self-efficacy, while role models and leadership traits also play significant roles. Among all predictors, self-efficacy emerges as the strongest driver of women’s leadership aspiration. This study makes three contributions. First, it extends SCCT beyond traditional STEM career research into the domain of leadership aspiration. Second, it provides rare empirical evidence from a collectivist Asian context, highlighting the role of family and social environment in shaping women’s leadership pathways. Third, it shifts the focus of gender diversity research from representation outcomes to the formation of the female leadership pipeline, offering actionable insight for educators, families, and organizations seeking to foster future women leaders. Full article

Computational thinking (CT) has become a cross-curriculum priority in many educational jurisdictions, yet a growing body of research reports uneven integration in initial teacher education (ITE), limited preservice teacher confidence, and persistent misconceptions that equate CT with coding. Concurrently, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has rapidly entered university programmes, offering new possibilities for modelling problem-solving, generating multiple representations, and supporting iterative design. However, while constructs such as self-efficacy, cognitive load, and affect are well established in educational psychology, their specific application to the intersection of CT and GenAI in teacher education remains under-theorised: existing research has not systematically examined how these psychological dimensions interact when preservice teachers learn CT through GenAI-mediated tasks. This thematic literature review synthesises 54 sources across three intersecting domains: CT frameworks and their pedagogical implications, CT integration in preservice teacher preparation, and GenAI in teacher education and learning design. Drawing on Bandura’s social cognitive theory, cognitive load theory, and research on technology-related affect, the review foregrounds the affective, cognitive, and cultural dimensions of preservice teachers’ engagement with CT and GenAI. The review proposes the GenAI-Enabled Computational Thinking for Preservice Teachers (GECT-P) model, which integrates CT dimensions with GenAI-supported learning cycles, psychological mediators, and teacher education outcomes. The model positions prompting as an epistemic and pedagogical practice that can make CT visible, supports cycles of decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition, and algorithmic design, and embeds critical AI literacy, ethics, affective scaffolding, and classroom enactment. Design principles and practical pathways are offered for teacher educators seeking to prepare graduates who can develop CT with and beyond GenAI across diverse curriculum areas. Full article

In the context of advancing communication technologies and digital spaces, Moroccan youth are increasingly engaging with concepts of mobility, presenting both opportunities and challenges in a liquid modern digital landscape. While digital identities and mobility have been extensively studied among Western youth, non-Western youth, including those in Morocco, are often viewed through a lens of being “at risk,” which biases objective analysis. This study addresses this gap by examining how digital mobility fosters culturally hybrid identities among Moroccan youth in a globalised world. Methods: An interdisciplinary ethnographic content analysis was conducted on youth digital productions and interactions on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. The study draws on Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity and Stuart Hall’s theory of representation to explore identity formation. Results: Digital mobility enables Moroccan youth to navigate between local cultural influences (Amazigh, Islamic, African, and Arab) and global Western narratives, leading to hybrid identities. Challenges include cultural erosion through practices like Western-style dating shows and sexual freedoms that challenge social norms, potentially widening generational gaps. Opportunities arise from platforms like SAWT, where youth discuss taboo topics, create hybrid cultural artefacts, and engage in glocalisation, enhancing agency and global integration. Conclusions: Digital mobility acts as a catalyst for cultural hybridity, supporting global integration while highlighting the need for addressing accessibility disparities and unsupervised interactions. This framework contributes to digital youth studies by emphasising mobility’s role in identity evolution, advocating for balanced glocality over cultural protectionism or homogenisation. Full article

This paper examines the political dimension of architecture in developing and post-conflict economies by shifting the focus from representational aesthetics to the organisation of production. Drawing on critical theory and political economy, it contends that architecture is political not through explicit ideology but through its impact on relationships among labour, knowledge, material systems, and institutional authority. The paper challenges the historic divide between thinker and maker, rooted in Alberti’s ideas, and examines how frameworks such as critical regionalism often aestheticise marginality while overlooking construction labour and political economy. Empirically, the study analyses six architectural projects in post-war Sri Lanka from 2013 to 2023, employing a qualitative, practice-based case study approach. These projects are viewed as social processes, emphasising labour organisation, knowledge exchange, material choices, procurement, and tectonics. The results show how small architectural interventions can serve as civic and pedagogical infrastructures, revealing labour, redistributing expertise, and strategically engaging with state and donor systems. A normative framework is proposed to redirect architectural politics towards production rather than mere representation. Full article

The call to decolonize our teaching, research, and universities is gaining momentum, and change begins with our everyday actions. In this concept paper, I advance critical reflective praxis—grounded in critical race theory, decolonial thought, and Indigenous studies—as a heuristic for identifying and challenging colonialism, Eurocentrism, racism, and other biases and systems of power across the entire research process, and for moving beyond critique into praxis. I also advance research as a site of praxis, and I argue for reconceptualizing praxis as praxis-in-motion, and for diagnostically evaluating praxis rather than assuming it is inherently ethical. To exemplify the process of critical reflective praxis, I evaluate a travel-based study I conducted about urban health and sustainable development in northeast Thailand that utilized the Moving Worlds Framework (also known as the travelogue methodology), a critical and decolonial approach to research that positions travel as a dynamic condition of knowledge production. In this evaluation, critical reflective praxis is operationalized as a whole-of-process intervention, embedding critical analysis, reflexivity, accountability, and praxis throughout the research process, based on social justice perspectives. My analysis demonstrates how bias can infiltrate research planning, design, methods, representation, and publication, even within decolonial methodological approaches. Critical reflective praxis is proposed as an evaluative and diagnostic tool for evaluating research and praxis. Full article

This study examines the intercorrelations that exist between brand equity, expectation confirmation, and sustainable repurchase intentions within Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning e-commerce sector, emphasizing its cultural and digital transformation context aligned with Vision 2030. The main objectives are to identify how brand perceptions influence customer satisfaction, and to explore the applicability of integrated theoretical frameworks, namely Brand Equity Theory and Expectation-Confirmation Theory in explaining sustainable consumer behavior in an emerging market. Utilizing a quantitative research approach, data was collected through an online self-reported questionnaire distributed via social media platforms targeted at active e-commerce consumers in the Hail region. Convenience sampling combined with snowballing yielded a sample size of 361 respondents, ensuring broader demographic representation. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling with partial least squares (SEM-PLS), a technique suited for theory exploration and handling complex variable relationships. The findings demonstrate that brand awareness and brand image significantly positively influence customer satisfaction, which in turn positively impacts repurchase intentions in e-commerce platforms. Similarly, expectations and perceived performance also have significant positive effects on satisfaction, which in turn positively impacts repurchase intentions in e-commerce platforms. All hypotheses were supported, with significant relationships observed between the variables, with the model demonstrating robust validity and fit, evidenced by acceptable SRMR, d_ULS, and d_G values. The study’s originality lies in its culturally contextualized application of these theories to a less studied yet vital emerging market, providing novel insights into how cultural nuances influence digital consumer loyalty. These outcomes contribute to both academic theory and practical strategies for e-commerce firms aiming to build sustainable, trust-based relationships within culturally diverse digital environments, offering a valuable blueprint for similar markets undergoing digital transformation. Full article

This study is grounded in the premise that local media should be understood beyond a market-oriented framework, with their social role theoretically redefined through the concept of symbolic capital. The central thesis is that the survival of local media must be regarded primarily as a matter of public interest and as a prerequisite for strengthening the democratic capacity of communities in contemporary socio-communicative contexts. Representative examples of both active and defunct local media in Serbia were analyzed to assess how, across different historical periods, they contributed to the formation and transformation of symbolic capital in local communities. The theoretical framework draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic capital and Jürgen Habermas’ theory of the public sphere. The analysis indicates that local media functioned as institutional carriers of legitimacy during the socialist period, as spaces of resistance during the transitional period, and as sources of moral and professional capital in the contemporary era. Nevertheless, current project-based funding models and precarious working conditions undermine their autonomy and long-term sustainability. It is therefore concluded that the disappearance of local media represents not merely an economic problem but also a profound symbolic and democratic loss, as communities lose spaces of trust, dialogue, and public representation. Full article

University mathematics-support programs rarely test their theoretical foundations against student evidence, particularly in the Global South. This study addresses that gap by analyzing how students’ experiences in Mathematical Thinking Workshops (MTWs) at a South African university confirm, nuance, or challenge assumptions the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), Action–Process–Object–Schema (APOS) theory, Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), and constructivism. We conducted a qualitative secondary analysis of six focus-group interviews (n = 17), using abductive reflexive thematic analysis and an Assumption–Indicator–Evidence matrix that linked design rationales to student narratives. Student accounts strongly supported ZPD, with facilitation and peer norms fostering psychological safety and risk-taking, while also showing that equitable participation required explicit role-rotation routines. APOS-informed task sequencing enabled coordination across representations but operated recursively, with students calling for planned revisiting sessions to consolidate difficult ideas. CLT claims were affirmed where venue conditions and timing inflated extraneous load, highlighting the need for short debriefs and load-aware logistics. Constructivist activity fostered belonging, confidence, and more social views of mathematics but generated uncertainty when tasks ended without brief closure. We conclude by proposing context-aware refinements to these frameworks and outlining a replicable routine for testing educational theory through student evidence. Full article

Rumour propagation in online social networks poses significant risks to public trust, economic stability, and crisis management. Existing models often struggle with heterogeneous feature spaces, adversarial dynamics between rumours and debunking information, and data sparsity in early outbreak stages. This study introduces a cross-domain framework for group behaviour prediction that integrates unified representation learning, game-theoretic adversarial modelling, and transfer adaptation. A hybrid BERT–Node2Vec encoder captures both semantic richness and structural influence, while evolutionary game theory quantifies competitive interactions between rumour-spreaders and refuters. To alleviate data scarcity, Joint Distribution Adaptation (JDA) aligns heterogeneous feature spaces across domains, enabling robust transfer learning. Evaluated on simulated and real-world social media datasets, the proposed model demonstrates improved accuracy and interpretability in predicting rumour diffusion trends under adversarial conditions. These findings highlight the value of integrating semantic, structural, and behavioural signals into a scalable architecture, offering a practical solution for safeguarding digital ecosystems against misinformation. Full article

The development and deployment of robust technical solutions for sustainability improvement have become increasingly critical in response to growing environmental and social pressures while maintaining economic viability, particularly in industrial systems that require multi-stage technology implementation. Identifying such solutions requires the systematic treatment of significant uncertainties that affect sustainability-related decision-making. Among these, epistemic uncertainty, arising from incomplete or imperfect knowledge, is inherently subjective and, in principle, reducible. Fuzzy set theory provides an effective and well-established framework for representing and managing epistemic uncertainty in sustainability analysis. In this work, a fuzzy decision-making framework is proposed to support multi-stage technology development and deployment for dynamic sustainability performance improvement in industrial systems. The framework integrates comprehensive sustainability assessment with fuzzy representations of epistemic uncertainty to enable consistent comparison of alternative strategies at each implementation stage. It identifies the most appropriate strategy at each stage while ensuring alignment with long-term sustainability objectives. The proposed approach functions as a decision-support tool for guiding adaptive, stage-wise technology deployment under uncertainty. A case study of a nickel electroplating system is presented to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the methodology. Full article