Search Results (225)

Game-based learning (GBL) has increasingly been recognized as a valuable approach for supporting student engagement, motivation, and skill development in educational settings. However, comparatively little research has examined analog gameplay within informal, co-curricular higher education environments. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this exploratory study examined students’ perceptions of their experiences at a university’s Academic Skills Centre’s (ASC) Game Café (not course-based), with particular attention to motivation, social engagement, and perceived academic skill development. Using a descriptive, cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 44 student participants through a researcher-developed survey consisting of Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative responses were thematically coded. Internal consistency analyses demonstrated acceptable to strong reliability across survey scales (Q6 α = 0.70; Q7 α = 0.89). Findings indicated that students perceived a consistent association between the Game Café and positive emotional experiences, collaboration, peer interaction, and the perceived development of transferable skills such as communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Participants also described the café as a low-pressure and socially supportive environment that fostered motivation and informal learning beyond the classroom. Overall, the findings suggest that analog, co-curricular game-based environments may support students’ perceived engagement, belonging, and learning within higher education contexts. Full article

Background/Objectives: Collaboration between medical and dental professionals is essential for comprehensive, patient-centred healthcare, yet the two fields often remain separate in education and practice. This study explored attitudes, experiences, and perceptions of interprofessional relationships among medical and dental faculty and students at a Croatian university. Methods: A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted. Thirty-nine participants, including faculty members and students from medicine and dentistry, were interviewed. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes related to interprofessional perceptions and collaboration. Results: Participants generally reported mutual respect, although their accounts revealed subtle hierarchies, persistent stereotypes, and implicit biases. Overt animosity was rare, often limited to humour, though instances of disrespect and status differentiation were described. Educational collaboration was minimal, with siloed curricula and few structured initiatives, while clinical collaboration was described as largely case-dependent and centred on referral rather than coordinated care. Personal exposure to the other profession mitigated some biases, suggesting that social proximity influences professional perceptions. Conclusions: Despite overall respect, participants identified structural, cultural, and educational factors that limited opportunities for interprofessional engagement within the studied setting. The findings suggest that creating opportunities for structured interprofessional learning and collaborative clinical practice may strengthen professional understanding, support more integrated models of care, and ultimately contribute to improved patient-centred healthcare. Full article

This article examines how managers in the Norwegian construction industry—represented by bachelor’s students in construction site management—perceive and understand the concepts of Industry 5.0 and Society 5.0. The study focuses on participants’ interpretations, reflections, and expectations regarding these emerging frameworks. Using qualitative data, the research draws on insights from 70 part-time students with full-time industry positions, organised into 15 interdisciplinary groups. The findings show that participants were familiar with the core ideas of Industry 5.0 and Society 5.0 and were able to identify both opportunities and challenges. They emphasised the increasing importance of human roles in Industry 5.0 compared with Industry 4.0. A successful transition toward these paradigms will require strengthened competence, self-directed learning, and investment in both skills and technology, aligning with the needs of a knowledge-intensive and sustainability-oriented society. Participants highlighted the Norwegian working life model as an advantage, noting its compatibility with the human-centred principles of Industry 5.0. The article contributes to understanding how future construction managers interpret these concepts and offers an analysis of resilience, including vulnerability and capacity, within a Norwegian context. Full article

Academic emotions constitute a central component of students’ learning processes and overall academic satisfaction. Within English-Medium Instruction (EMI) contexts, learning through a foreign language may modulate students’ emotional experiences in complex ways. However, limited research has examined emotional profiles among students enrolled in EMI programmes. This study adopts a person-centred approach to identify emotional profiles based on students’ achievement emotions and to examine whether these profiles differ in terms of learning satisfaction. Participants were 128 undergraduate students enrolled in a bilingual degree programme at a Spanish university. Emotions were measured using the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire—Short Version (AEQ-S), and a k-means cluster analysis was conducted. The results revealed two distinct profiles: a more adaptive emotional profile, characterized by higher levels of enjoyment, hope, and pride, and a negative emotional profile, marked by higher levels of anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, and boredom. Students in the adaptive profile reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction, with a large effect size. No significant association was found between emotional profiles and students’ self-reported English proficiency, gender, and academic year. These findings suggest that fostering positive emotions—particularly enjoyment—and reducing deactivating negative emotions such as boredom and hopelessness may be key to enhancing student satisfaction in EMI programmes. Educators and institutions are encouraged to design emotionally supportive learning environments, going beyond a sole focus on language proficiency. Full article

Environmental sustainability has become an increasingly important concern within education systems worldwide, yet many initiatives remain centred on knowledge transmission rather than the everyday practices through which environmental responsibility is learned. This study examines Indonesian nature schools (Sekolah Alam), defined here as alternative schools that integrate the national curriculum with outdoor, experiential, character-based, and community-oriented environmental learning. Using a qualitative multi-case study of three schools in an urban and peri-urban Indonesian context, we interviewed 24 stakeholders, including principals, vice principals, teachers, and parents, to examine how ecological responsibility is understood, enacted, and perceived across school communities. Thematic analysis identified six interrelated dimensions: green education philosophy, experiential learning, ecological character formation, institutional support, community engagement, and perceived behavioural outcomes. The findings suggest that ecological responsibility is not produced by a single lesson or programme, but is perceived by stakeholders as emerging through mutually reinforcing institutional, pedagogical, and social practices. School leaders establish enabling conditions, teachers translate environmental values into daily experiential learning, and parents report reinforcing these practices in household contexts. The study contributes a socio-institutional framework for understanding environmental education as an embedded school cultures, while also acknowledging that claims about behavioural change are based on stakeholder perceptions rather than direct observation of students. Full article

Within a global landscape characterised by increasing fragmentation, community empowerment requires interdisciplinary, evidence-based and validated methodology for assuring collaborative and transformative action. This research addresses the need for equity and inclusion in underserved rural areas by investigating the CleanAir@Schools initiative in Romania. The study employed a human-centred, multi-stakeholder methodology, utilising exploratory workshops with educators and pilot implementations to develop a learning framework on Sustainability Education, in which students used passive sensors to measure local air quality. Results indicate that the project successfully mobilised entire school communities, catalysing a pedagogical shift from passive reception to active, inquiry-based environmental education. Furthermore, the strategic use of both digital and analogue technologies ensured accessibility for communities facing digital divides. The research concludes that participatory design acts as a catalyst for long-term community empowerment and social transformation by addressing localised challenges through inclusive, restorative practices. By intentionally centring society’s margins, design research fosters regeneration and care, serving as an essential resource for social innovators and policymakers. Full article

This paper examines the intersection between digital learning environments and multilingual education policies, with a focus on the linguistic integration of migrant students in Europe. It explores how technology, particularly mobile-assisted learning, artificial intelligence, and immersive tools, can strengthen language acquisition and promote social inclusion. Drawing on European and Greek policy frameworks, the study shows how digital pedagogies operationalize multilingualism as both an educational objective and a social justice priority. Based on a qualitative review of contemporary research and institutional reports, the findings indicate that digitally enhanced learning environments act as catalysts for equity, intercultural dialogue, and active participation when supported by coherent pedagogical design. The paper concludes by outlining policy recommendations for the development of multilingual digital ecosystems that align technological innovation with democratic, inclusive, and human-centred education. Overall, the analysis highlights that technology-mediated multilingualism can effectively reinforce participation, inclusion, and linguistic integration when embedded within robust policy structures and sound pedagogical practice. Full article

Over the last decade, augmented reality (AR) has been widely adopted in architectural education, yet it is still often treated as a visualization add-on rather than as an operative design medium. This paper argues that AR becomes pedagogically meaningful when it is anchored to physical or graphic artefacts so that overlays function not as final images, but as reversible instruments for testing, adjustment, and spatial verification. Building on reflection-in-action as a model of situated design learning, the study examines two teaching experiences: one focused on the AR-based translation of complex two-dimensional graphic fields into three-dimensional hypotheses, and another centred on kinematic reasoning through equilibrium and iterative adjustment. The article proposes that error within AR-based workflows has a double pedagogical role: first, as corrective feedback, when mismatch reveals imprecision, insufficient legibility, or unstable alignment in the target; and second, as generative design feedback, when recalibration and reconfiguration trigger new spatial hypotheses or bidirectional transfers between physical and digital models. Evidence is based primarily on analytic observation of documented episodes and on visual documentation of process transformations, complemented by a background evaluative scaffold and supplementary student feedback where available. Results indicate that AR can (a) increase the material and graphic precision of the supporting artefact; (b) strengthen spatial and kinematic understanding by making intermediate states and inconsistencies visible; and (c) turn mismatch and recalibration into operative parts of the design process itself. The paper therefore reframes AR in architectural education not as a representational endpoint, but as a medium of verification, adjustment, and projective transformation. Full article

Integrating sustainability into science education remains a key challenge for the design of contextualised, socially relevant instruction. Within this framework, integrated STEM education offers a promising avenue for connecting scientific concepts with socio-environmental problems through the analysis and development of technological solutions. This study examines the conceptual learning associated with a sustainability-oriented integrated STEM intervention implemented in real classroom settings in Primary Education and Compulsory Secondary Education. The intervention was designed based on a national curriculum analysis and was structured in two blocks: one centred on conceptual development of content related to water, energy, and waste, and another focused on applying this knowledge through the analysis and development of STEM projects. A single-group pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design was employed. The sample comprised 66 students: 43 in the third year of Compulsory Secondary Education and 23 in the sixth year of Primary Education. Conceptual learning was assessed using multiple-choice questionnaires adapted to each educational stage. The results indicate statistically significant improvements at both levels following the intervention, although the magnitude of the gains varied according to educational stage and conceptual domain. These findings provide empirical evidence of short-term conceptual changes associated with a sustainability-oriented STEM intervention and highlight the need for further research on its implementation in authentic school contexts. Full article

Engineering education is increasingly shifting toward data-driven and creativity-centred pedagogies that foster innovation, communication, ethical awareness, and teamwork. However, traditional Problem-Based Learning and Design Thinking approaches rely heavily on subjective evaluation and lack scalable mechanisms for monitoring learning progression and creativity development. These pedagogical limitations highlight the need for data-driven approaches that can support iterative learning processes, continuous feedback, and objective evaluation of creativity and performance. This study proposes a Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)-driven predictive analytics framework for modelling student performance and creativity in engineering design systems. The framework integrates deep learning architectures, including Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks and Transformer-based multimodal fusion, to analyze temporal and heterogeneous learning data. The novel Creativity Index (CI) is introduced to quantify design innovation by combining novelty and feasibility metrics derived from AI-assisted interactions and project milestones. The model was evaluated on a longitudinal dataset comprising 450 students across 10 semesters (~5400 time-series observations). Experimental results demonstrate strong predictive performance, achieving 89% classification accuracy and RMSE of 3.8. Comparative analysis shows significant improvements in engineering design (+15%), communication (+16%), ethical awareness (+17%), and teamwork (+16%) (p < 0.01). The proposed framework enables real-time feedback, early risk detection, and adaptive learning optimization. These findings highlight the potential of integrating generative AI and predictive analytics to develop scalable, data-driven intelligent learning systems. Full article

In the context of increasing water scarcity, the new paradigm in efficient water management relies on the digitalisation of water infrastructure to optimise resource use. One of the key factors in addressing the new challenges facing urban water cycle companies is the shortage of qualified technical staff. This context highlights the new training needs of technical personnel required by companies in the urban water cycle sector due to the increasing digitalisation of tools and the new technological requirements of jobs which are not yet sufficiently reflected in the existing training offer. Companies express their dissatisfaction with how poorly existing training programs meet their current needs. Vocational training has a fundamental role to play in providing high-quality, technically up-to-date training that is aligned with the needs of water management companies. This mission involves the adoption of innovative teaching strategies and methods and the development of innovative teaching resources. This paper presents the design of a bench-scale plant specifically designed as a teaching resource at a Spanish vocational training centre that offers intermediate-level training in water networks and treatment plants and advanced-level training in water management. The plant, occupying a footprint of 4 × 5 m, simulates a drinking water distribution network, from the intake to the distribution network via a pumping station with two pumps (1 + 1) of 0.75 kW each that provide a flow range of 4–12 m³/h with a range of 22–10 m water column and a regulating reservoir of 1 m³ located above the water network. The plant is equipped with sensors that allow operational data to be monitored: pressures, flow rates, consumption and levels, enabling multiple operational scenarios to be simulated: leaks, sectorisation, pressure and flow management, etc. Its design has focused on facilitating the acquisition by students of the skills and learning outcomes required in the curricula of the different professional modules that make up the aforementioned studies, through learning based on multidisciplinary collaborative projects. Full article

Urban tourism research has long recognised that understanding cities depends not only on accumulated knowledge but also on the ability to read space, interpret urban form and connect physical settings with cultural meaning. Although these ideas are well established in tourism geography, fewer studies have examined how such skills can be developed through structured learning activities in higher education. This article addresses this gap by analysing the Urban Hunting Game (UHG) as a place-based learning approach designed to strengthen students’ spatial awareness and analytical capacity to interpret urban environments through fieldwork and digital mapping. The UHG was implemented in two European cities, Porto and Kaunas, through distinct pedagogical structures shaped by local conditions. In Porto, students followed a collaborative process using uMap to co-create a single itinerary. In Kaunas, international student groups independently designed thematic routes using MyMaps. This differentiated methodological approach proved advantageous, as it showed how different levels of autonomy and digital engagement influence spatial decisions, interpretive strategies and the narratives that the students construct. Based on student-generated maps and observational notes, the findings show that the UHG enhances spatial literacy, encourages attention to detail and supports the translation of field observation into coherent tourism experiences. This study contributes to tourism geography by illustrating how map-centred, place-based learning methodologies can be adapted to diverse urban contexts and by highlighting their potential to develop interpretive and analytical competences relevant to urban tourism studies. Full article

Species literacy and awareness is in decline among both primary students and their teachers. This is of particular concern in the context of the current unprecedented collapse in global biodiversity that threatens our wellbeing and our ability to cope with other global challenges. In this article we present a Teaching–Learning Sequence (TLS) about biodiversity implemented with Prospective Primary Teachers (PPT) designed to address this problem. The development of the TLS, centred on-campus organic learning gardens, deployed an iterative process of design, implementation, evaluation and refinement. This application of Design-Based Research methodology ultimately produced a didactic unit. We evaluated the TLS against both quantitative and qualitative criteria, including student’s learning outcomes. The results show that the inquiry-centred TLS contributed to conceptual and procedural learning gains, particularly regarding invertebrate identification. Additionally, the participating PPTs reported a closer connection to and awareness of nature and biodiversity. However, specific knowledge, especially around plant taxonomy, remained low. The paper concludes by identifying a number of limitations that are being taken into account for future refinement. Specifically, activities aimed at imparting a deeper understanding of habitats, and improving knowledge on the identification and classification of living beings will be included in future iterations. Full article

In the contemporary educational landscape, quality education requires a shift toward pedagogical models that develop knowledge and prepare students for the complexities of professional careers. This manuscript is an exploratory investigation of an educational innovation centred on podcast production within a Master of Science course (21 students). By moving beyond traditional oral assessment, this intervention fosters active learning and soft skills, such as metacognition, scientific communication, and collaborative problem-solving, which are essential for contributing to a sustainable society. The study examines the translation of a written technical essay on sustainable materials into digital storytelling. Students engaged in a multi-stage process of research, synthesis, and peer review. Marks across three consecutive course editions using the same evaluation rubric were compared, and qualitative feedback was gathered from 15 students through a questionnaire. The learners reported enhanced topic mastery (93.3%) and critical thinking (80%). By bridging the gap between academic research and non-specialist communication, this activity provides a scalable model across diverse disciplines. This research showcases how podcasting can overcome traditional learning barriers, ensuring that higher education remains responsive to the evolving requirements of our global society. Full article

This study explores how pre-service early childhood educators imagine and anticipate their upcoming practicum experience before entering the classroom, focusing on how schooling is both remembered and reimagined in advance of practice. Drawing on qualitative data from open-ended prompts in a Google Forms survey with undergraduate teacher education students, the study examines expectations regarding childhood, schooling, the teacher’s role, and practicum challenges. Using thematic analysis, the findings reveal persistent tensions in how participants conceptualize teaching and learning. While students frequently articulate child-centred and democratic ideals—emphasizing care, participation, and experiential learning—their responses simultaneously reproduce elements of the schoolized mind, through which schooling is imagined as structured by control, transmission, evaluation, and teacher authority. Practicum is anticipated both as a learning opportunity and as a moment of exposure requiring competence, classroom management, and error avoidance. The findings suggest that pre-service teachers approach practicum through already sedimented and socially shaped imaginaries of schooling. These anticipatory frameworks highlight the need for teacher education to critically engage with how schooling is imagined, in order to better shape future pedagogical practice. Full article