Search Results (7,868)

Private tutoring has become an increasingly popular approach for improving academic performance by providing individual or group support outside regular school hours to enhance student outcomes. In the context of mathematics tutoring, we introduce the eMath4All platform, designed to replicate traditional teaching methods through virtual tools for distance learning. Despite the growing prevalence of private tutoring, research on online tutoring platforms and their use in practice remains limited. Accordingly, this study explores the application of the eMath4All platform in two different private tutoring scenarios involving secondary school students from Romania. Study A examines group tutoring with five eighth-grade students preparing for a national examination over a three-month period, while Study B explores individual tutoring with ten students from various secondary education levels over a 12-month period. The paper analyzes how the key components of the eMath4All platform (such as the virtual whiteboard, mathematical editor, real-time audio–video communication, virtual library, assessment tool, and personal student profile) support tutoring activities. The platform is examined through a combination of platform usage data, descriptive analysis of student progression, and student-reported experience collected via questionnaires. The results of the exploratory study indicate consistent usage patterns, high engagement with platform features, and high usability ratings, highlighting the platform’s potential for supporting both individual and group mathematics tutoring. Full article

This study addresses national shortages in school-based mental health (SBMH) providers, particularly in rural and high-needs areas, by examining two innovative training models designed to expand the school psychology workforce. The Grow Your Own (GYO) program respecializes practicing educators in rural communities to become school psychologists, while the Dual-Credentialing Clinical Training (DCT) model integrates school psychology training with supervised clinical experiences, leading toward educational certification and state mental health licensure. Program evaluation data were used to assess early implementation, feasibility, and success of both programs. In the GYO program, nine educators completed training, with eight employed in rural schools one to two years post-graduation, and average supervisor ratings meeting or exceeding the program’s competency expectations across all ten domains. In the DCT program, five trainees completed internship, four earned provisional mental health licenses, two progressed to independent licensure, and four became certified school psychologists. Together, findings indicate that place-based respecialization can strengthen rural retention, while dual-credentialing can expand clinical capacity and funding flexibility, creating complementary training models to help grow the SBMH workforce. Continued scaling and evaluation may enhance access to comprehensive SBMH services for students in under-resourced settings. Full article

Cooperation is an important influencing factor for individual morality and harmonious social development. Currently, most scholars select adult samples and adopt laboratory research methods. They have found that compared with asynchronous behavior, interpersonal synchronization (including both intentional and incidental synchronization) is significantly associated with higher levels of cooperative behavior. Does this conclusion apply to Chinese children? Childhood is a critical period for the development of cooperative abilities. Therefore, more effective educational approaches for fostering cooperation should be explored and adopted to promote children’s cooperative behaviors. This study randomly selected 193 students aged 8–11 (95 boys and 98 girls, M = 9.74, SD = 1.16) from 5 primary schools in a city. Based on a 2 (intentional synchronization, incidental synchronization) × 3 (measurement occasion) mixed design, a field experiment was conducted to explore the effects of different types of interpersonal synchronization on children’s cooperative behavior. However, the results showed that neither asynchronous behavior nor incidental synchronization significantly improved children’s cooperative behavior. However, the level of cooperative behavior under intentional synchronization conditions was significantly higher than that under incidental synchronization conditions. This characteristic may be related to China’s long-standing collectivistic education, which can help educators reflect on and optimize their cooperation education practices. This finding deserves attention from cooperation researchers. Full article

Many tertiary mathematics departments are seeking to improve equity in their programs; however, they may struggle to translate these goals for equity into action. This longitudinal, qualitative study focuses on a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) within the mathematics department at a public, doctoral degree-granting university located in the Southeast United States. This NIC worked together for two years (Spring 2023 to Spring 2025) to become more reflective practitioners and critically transform the mathematics program at their institution. We used Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to examine relationships between objects, tools, and outcomes for the NIC. Data included multiple interviews and journals from eleven (n = 11) participants, and was triangulated with observer field notes of monthly NIC meetings. Thematic analysis revealed three pathways that connected NIC members’ individual and collective goals (objects), NIC activities and resources (tools), and NIC members’ perspectives on teaching and students (outcomes). We found that sometimes objects, mediated by tools, led to aligned outcomes, but not always. Specific tools could lead the NIC to adopt a new and collective object (and outcome). In other cases, the lack of the right tool led to unrealized outcomes or even secondary outcomes within the NIC. Ultimately, the critical transformations that NIC members envisioned were not realized; however, the experience of examining student data and discussing with colleagues shaped their thinking about teaching and students in impactful ways that inform faculty development for institutional change efforts on a broader scale. Our findings highlight the importance of identifying the right tools to support critical transformation, including the value of examining data as a collaborative group. We also extend NIC scholarship by using second-generation CHAT to distinguish objects over time and specify pathway models linking tools to outcomes. Full article

Introduction: Financial support is a key driver of international student mobility. This study examines whether the financial incentives attracting international students to Hungary also translate into meaningful academic and social integration and a sense of belonging, comparing scholarship holders with self-funded students. Methods: A mixed-methods, cross-sectional online survey was conducted among international students enrolled in Hungarian higher education institutions (N = 232). The survey assessed motivations for choosing Hungary, academic and social integration, and willingness to recommend the country as a study destination. Group differences were analysed using independent-samples t-tests, Mann–Whitney U tests and multivariate analyses, while open-ended responses were examined using thematic analysis. Results: Scholarship programmes, academic quality, and Hungary’s relative affordability emerged as dominant motivational factors. While no significant difference was observed in overall academic integration (p = 0.127), scholarship recipients reported stronger inclusion within the Hungarian community (p = 0.032) and were markedly more likely to recommend Hungary (p < 0.001). Nonetheless, language barriers, limited interaction with host-country students, and social isolation persisted across groups, indicating that financial support alone does not ensure holistic engagement. Conclusion: Scholarship schemes yield the greatest impact when paired with institutional and social initiatives that actively foster integration, inclusion, and a sense of belonging. The study offers empirical insights from a non-traditional study destination, highlighting strategies to enhance international student experiences and strengthen Hungary’s competitiveness globally. Full article

Background: Health-related behaviors often cluster during young adulthood, potentially increasing the risk of long-term adverse health outcomes. Understanding how lifestyle risk behaviors co-occur among university students is essential for developing targeted health promotion strategies. Objective: This study aimed to identify lifestyle risk profiles among university students based on the co-occurrence of smoking behavior, alcohol consumption, sedentary behavior, and body weight status. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 147 university students enrolled in a physical education and sport undergraduate program (mean age: 20.58 ± 2.94 years; 80.3% male). Physical activity and sedentary behavior were assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form (IPAQ-SF), while smoking and alcohol consumption were self-reported. Body mass index was used to classify weight status. Lifestyle risk profiles were identified using two-step cluster analysis based on regular smoking, alcohol consumption, sedentary behavior, and overweight/obesity. Differences in cluster distribution according to sex and federated athlete status were examined using chi-square tests. A two-step cluster analysis based on the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and silhouette measure was used to identify lifestyle risk profiles. Results: Overall, 46.9% of participants had experimented with tobacco, 11.6% were current smokers, and 74.8% reported alcohol consumption. Participants accumulated an average of 3772.25 ± 1957.99 MET-min/week of physical activity. Three distinct lifestyle risk profiles were identified. Cluster 1 (46.9%), labeled the alcohol profile, was characterized by alcohol consumption without smoking and no prevalence of being overweight. Cluster 2 (20.4%), the multiple-risk profile, included participants who reported regular smoking, with nearly half presenting sedentary behavior and overweight/obesity. Cluster 3 (32.7%), the overweight profile, was characterized by overweight/obesity combined with alcohol consumption but no smoking. No significant differences were observed in the distribution of lifestyle profiles according to sex (p = 0.111) or federated athlete status (p = 0.087). Conclusions: Lifestyle risk behaviors cluster into distinct profiles among university students, with alcohol consumption appearing across multiple profiles and smoking concentrated in a specific high-risk group. These findings highlight the need for targeted health promotion strategies addressing multiple co-occurring behaviors within university populations. Full article

Background: Suicide prevention strategies in university settings largely rely on detecting explicit suicidal ideation. However, students experiencing severe psychiatric distress may not endorse suicidal thoughts and therefore remain unidentified by ideation-centered screening models. This study aimed to identify and clinically characterize university students with high depressive symptoms, poor sleep quality, and elevated impulsivity who deny suicidal ideation in order to examine whether they represent a vulnerable yet overlooked subgroup. Methods: This cross-sectional secondary analysis included 814 undergraduate students from the National Sleep Research Resource (ANSWERS dataset). Participants were classified into three groups based on median splits of depressive symptoms (CES-D), sleep quality (PSQI), impulsivity (UPPS-P), and the presence or absence of suicidal ideation in the past three months: Invisible (high symptoms without ideation), Visible (high symptoms with ideation), and Healthy (low symptoms without ideation). Group differences were examined using ANOVA and chi-square tests. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to assess independent predictors of suicidal ideation. Results: The Invisible group comprised 11.8% of the sample. Compared with Healthy participants, these individuals showed poorer sleep quality and higher levels of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness (all p < 0.001). Cannabis use was most prevalent in the Invisible group (54.2%), exceeding both Visible and Healthy groups (p < 0.001). In adjusted analyses, depressive symptoms (OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.08–1.12) and sleep disturbance (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01–1.12) independently predicted suicidal ideation, whereas impulsivity did not. Conclusions: A clinically meaningful subgroup of students experience severe psychological distress without endorsing suicidal ideation yet show behavioral and interpersonal vulnerability. These findings highlight a limitation of ideation-focused screening and support broader, symptom-informed mental health assessment strategies in university populations. Full article

Background/Objectives: Bullying victimization is a significant threat to adolescents’ psychological well-being and academic functioning. However, most prior research has relied on variable-centered approaches that may obscure meaningful heterogeneity in students’ victimization experiences. The present study aimed to identify latent subtypes of bullying victimization among adolescents in Saudi Arabia using nationally representative PISA 2022 data and to examine whether the structure and prevalence of these subtypes differed across gender. Methods: Data were drawn from the Saudi Arabian sample of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 and included 6709 adolescents. Bullying victimization was assessed using 11 categorical indicators representing different forms of victimization. Weighted descriptive analyses were first conducted to estimate the prevalence of specific bullying behaviors. Multigroup latent class analysis (LCA) was then applied separately across gender to identify victimization profiles and evaluate measurement and structural invariance. Sequential invariance testing was used to determine whether the latent classes had equivalent meaning and prevalence across males and females. This study involved secondary analysis of an existing large-scale educational dataset and did not require trial registration. Results: Weighted descriptive estimates showed that the prevalence of specific bullying victimization experiences ranged from 7.5% to 24.3%, with boys reporting greater exposure than girls on most overt and coercive forms. Class enumeration supported a parsimonious three-class solution for both genders, reflecting low, moderate, and high victimization severity. Approximately 71–79% of students were classified in the low-risk group, 14–18% in the moderate-risk group, and 3–14% in the high-risk group. Measurement invariance testing supported full invariance of item-response probabilities across gender, indicating that the latent classes represented substantively comparable victimization patterns for males and females. In contrast, structural invariance was not supported, as males were more likely to belong to the high-victimization class, whereas females were more likely to be classified in the low-risk group. Conclusions: The findings indicate that gender differences in bullying victimization are attributable to differences in the level of exposure rather than differences in the underlying structure of victimization experiences. Bullying victimization appears to be concentrated within a relatively small but highly vulnerable subgroup of adolescents. These results support the importance of universal school-based anti-bullying policies and prevention initiatives, while also highlighting the need for targeted psychosocial support and protective interventions for students experiencing chronic or multiple forms of victimization. Full article

This study examined the potential of rebus-based instruction as a visually enriched pedagogical approach for supporting gifted students’ learning of Mesopotamian and Anatolian civilizations. Within the framework of sustainable education, the study focused on instructional practices that promote meaningful learning, active cognitive engagement, and the short-term retention of knowledge, particularly in relation to cultural and historical understanding. A mixed-methods research design was employed. Quantitative data were collected through a pre-test–post-test quasi-experimental design, while qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews. The study group consisted of 18 gifted students enrolled in a Science and Art Center (BILSEM) in Istanbul during the 2024–2025 academic year. Of these, 11 students were assigned to the experimental group and 7 to the control group. The experimental group received rebus-based instruction, whereas the control group was taught using traditional teaching methods. Quantitative findings showed a statistically significant improvement in the academic achievement scores of the students in the experimental group compared with their pre-test scores. Qualitative findings further indicated that rebus-based instruction enhanced students’ motivation, creativity, visual perception, and analytical thinking, while also supporting meaningful learning and short-term recall over a one-month interval. In addition, students demonstrated an improved ability to recall and accurately identify historical civilizations. Overall, the findings suggest that rebus-based instruction may be a promising pedagogical approach for promoting engaging and meaningful learning experiences and for supporting the teaching of cultural and historical knowledge in gifted education. Full article

Background: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a cornerstone of high-quality and safe nursing care. However, undergraduate nursing students often experience cognitive, methodological, and contextual barriers to learning and applying EBP. Active teaching strategies, such as the flipped classroom, may support the development of EBP competencies, yet qualitative evidence exploring students’ learning experiences remains limited. Objectives: To explore nursing students’ perceptions and experiences of learning evidence-based practice through a flipped classroom model. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted at the Faculty of Nursing of the University of Murcia (Spain). Purposeful maximum variation sampling was used to recruit undergraduate nursing students from the second and fourth academic years who had completed an EBP course delivered using a flipped classroom approach supported by an online learning platform. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted via videoconference. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis with independent coding by two researchers and consensus procedures. Ethical approval and confidentiality were ensured. Results: Three main themes were identified: (1) transformation of the meaning of EBP learning and professional role, (2) cognitive and metacognitive processes in EBP learning, and (3) the learning experience as a catalyst for deep learning. Students described a shift from initial fear and perceived difficulty toward recognizing the practical value of EBP, accompanied by increased critical thinking, autonomous learning, and a growing evidence-informed professional identity. The flipped classroom model facilitated engagement and understanding, while the transfer of learning to clinical practice was influenced by contextual facilitators and barriers. Conclusions: Learning EBP through a flipped classroom was experienced as a transformative process that fostered critical thinking, self-regulated learning, and the construction of an evidence-oriented professional identity among nursing students. Strengthening information literacy skills and improving alignment between academic and clinical environments may enhance the sustainable application of EBP in clinical practice. Full article

The shortage of qualified teachers across Europe has increased interest in flexible and decentralized pathways into teacher education. This study examines pre-service teachers’ background characteristics and programme-choice priorities when selecting between two study formats at a Norwegian university: a blended learning programme and a face-to-face campus-based programme. Survey data from 108 pre-service teachers revealed significant differences between the groups in age, place of residence, region of origin, prior teaching experience, current teaching employment, and confidence in securing a permanent teaching position. Campus-based students were younger, less experienced, and reported lower confidence in obtaining permanent employment than students in the blended learning programme. Three of fifteen choice-related factors differed significantly between study formats, most notably the importance assigned to programme organization, which was rated higher by blended-learning students. No differences were found for geographic location or for eleven content-related factors. In this sample, blended-learning students were more often from rural areas, and they placed greater value on organizational flexibility, suggesting that flexible formats may be particularly relevant for students balancing work, distance, or other commitments. However, this study is cross-sectional, based on a single institution, and cannot determine broader policy implications or effects on regional teacher supply. Longitudinal and multi-institutional research is needed to assess potential long-term outcomes. Full article

This study examines how first-year Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students navigate early career development through critical turning points, the articulation of personal values, and the development of resilience. While teacher identity and professional formation have been explored conceptually, there remains limited empirical insight into students’ lived experiences at this formative stage. Adopting a qualitative design, in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 first-year ITE students from three UK universities, representing diverse cultural backgrounds and entry pathways, at the end of their first academic year. Data were analysed using a general inductive approach. Four interconnected themes emerged: clarifying purpose through critical turning points, negotiating tensions between personal values and institutional expectations, building resilience through community and reflective practice, and articulating meaning through spiritual perspectives in early teacher development. The findings demonstrate that formative experiences are not isolated events but are embedded within broader developmental trajectories shaped by relational support and opportunities for meaning-making. The study contributes to wider debates on early professional identity formation by offering an integrated, empirically grounded account of how purpose, values, and resilience interact to shape sustainable career pathways. Implications are discussed for ITE programme design and for supporting early-career development in the teaching profession and beyond. Full article

With the rapid economic development and social transformation in China, involution has drawn increasing attention across various disciplines. To test the generalizability of previous findings, the present research examined the relationship between upward social comparison and involution, the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation and the moderating role of self-construal in this link. Two studies were conducted. In study 1, 1549 Chinese college students completed four scales comprising Involution, Upward Social Comparison, and Fear of Negative Evaluation. Results indicated that upward social comparison was positively correlated with involution and fear of negative evaluation significantly mediated this relationship. In study 2, 392 college students participated in a priming experiment of self-construal and completed a battery of scales same as Study 1. A significant moderation of self-construal was observed between upward social comparison and fear of negative evaluation. Specifically, for individuals with the independent self-construal, upward social comparison had a weaker impact on fear of negative evaluation. For individuals with the interdependent self-construal, upward social comparison had a stronger impact on fear of negative evaluation. These findings highlight the complex interplay among upward social comparison, fear of negative evaluation, and self-construal in shaping involution among Chinese college students. Full article

Sexual cognitive schemas are central cognitive representations of sexual aspects of self that shape the interpretation of sexual experiences and may contribute to individual differences in sexual functioning. The present study aimed to validate the Questionnaire of Cognitive Schema Activation in Sexual Context (QCSASC) in a Hungarian sample and to examine whether sexual cognitive schemas mediate the relationship between personality traits and sexual functioning. A total of 256 university students (202 females) completed the QCSASC and the Zuckerman–Kuhlman–Aluja Personality Questionnaire. Moreover, the Female Sexual Function Index was administered. The factor structure was examined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and associations among personality, schemas, and sexual function were tested using correlational, regression, and mediation analyses. Results supported a five-factor structure of the Hungarian QCSASC, identifying Helplessness, Incompetence, Rejection, Unattractiveness, and Unlovability schemas, all showing good internal consistency. Sexual cognitive schemas were positively related to Neuroticism and negatively to Extraversion. Female sexual function was related to the Incompetence schema. Personality traits showed no direct link with female sexual functioning; however, through the sexual cognitive schema, there was a significant indirect link between personality (Extraversion, Neuroticism) and female sexual functioning. These findings suggest that sexual cognitive schemas can represent a pathway between personality traits and sexual functioning. Full article

Remote sensing image (RSI) semantic segmentation is challenged by high inter-class spectral similarity, significant intra-class scale variation, and limited availability of labeled data. Although semi-supervised learning has reduced the dependency on large-scale annotations, existing approaches still suffer from degraded boundary precision and incomplete geometric structures in complex remote sensing scenes. To address these issues, this paper proposes a Multi-scale Consistency and Cross-Attention Teacher–Student Network (MSCA-TSN) for semi-supervised RSI semantic segmentation. Specifically, an Adaptive Multi-scale Uncertainty Consistency module (AMUC) is introduced to model feature reliability across hierarchical levels. By leveraging Monte Carlo Dropout to estimate feature uncertainty and employing adaptive weighting for multi-scale consistency learning, AMUC effectively suppresses unreliable supervision and improves segmentation robustness under significant scale variations. Furthermore, a Cross-Teacher–Student Cross-Attention Module (CCAM) is designed to enhance cross-network feature interaction. In CCAM, student features act as queries while teacher features serve as keys and values to construct cross-attention, enabling the student network to reconstruct more discriminative feature representations and reduce confusion among visually similar land-cover categories. Extensive experiments are conducted on the LoveDA and ISPRS Potsdam benchmarks under both 5% and 10% labeling ratios. On the LoveDA dataset, MSCA-TSN achieves mIoU scores of 51.05% and 52.41% under 5% and 10% labeled data, respectively, outperforming several state-of-the-art semi-supervised methods. On the ISPRS Potsdam dataset, the proposed method further reaches 75.35% and 76.34% mIoU under the same settings. Ablation and parameter sensitivity analyses further verify the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed AMUC and CCAM modules. Full article