Search Results (273)

Higher Education is facing a transformation of the teaching profession due to the confluence of active methodologies, learning management systems, and artificial intelligence. However, existing research tends to address these elements in isolation, lacking integrative analyses that examine their combined impact on the teaching role in higher education. Through a narrative review and thematic analysis of 49 articles, opportunities and challenges in this intersection are identified. The results indicate that the teacher is not merely a content transmitter but a designer of formative experiences, a critical guide, and an ethical reference in the use of AI. More than a replacement, technology proposes a teacher profile as an architect of critical and adaptive learning that combines pedagogy, technology, and ethics. Full article

Global research on social–emotional learning (SEL) demonstrates robust benefits for student well-being and academic outcomes, yet SEL is still largely treated as gender and culturally neutral, with little attention to how it intersects with locally specific constructions of masculinity. We address this gap through a qualitative study in three urban secondary schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, combining focus groups with boys aged 13–16 (n = 18), student interviews (n = 10), and teacher/counsellor interviews (n = 10). Using critical masculinity theory, the sociology of emotions, and transformative SEL, a reflexive thematic analysis identifies four patterns: (i) sadness and fear framed as status risks while anger signals strength, (ii) “switching off” feelings as masculinized emotion work tied to locally valued ideals of sabar (endurance) and izzat (honour), (iii) fragile “islands of care” where privacy and dignity enable conditional vulnerability, and (iv) SEL-like practices fostering empathy but also reinforcing stigma when emotions are labelled unmanly. We argue that SEL is a contested site where masculinities are reproduced and renegotiated, and we propose five findings-grounded design principles, including graduated emotional entry points, anti-ridicule norms, and indirect pedagogy for gender-attentive SEL that reduces stigma and supports non-violent masculinities in Pakistani secondary schooling. Full article

The European Green Deal is Europe’s ambitious and multi-layered response to climate change. Translating its objectives into action for a green transition has created a need for new skills and competencies. Vocational and Education Training (VET) systems are uniquely positioned to equip learners with these emerging green and transversal competences through their dual focus on knowledge dissemination and applied practice. However, current VET curricula remain oriented towards traditional occupations and are not adequately aligned with the sustainability and skills needs of the agri-food sector. This study, as part of a joint European-funded project (2023-1-IE01-KA220-VET-00156916: Train to Sustain), aimed to: (1) identify practical strategies for integrating sustainability concepts and innovative pedagogy into VET programs, and (2) gather multi-stakeholder perspectives on how VET agri-food education can be adapted for greater alignment with the green skills required by the sector. Following ethical approval, data were collected through semi-structured focus groups involving key agri-food stakeholder groups across Ireland, Slovenia, Poland and Italy. The data were qualitatively analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA). Five themes were identified: (1) Innovative and Sustainable Practices in Agri-Food systems, (2) Education, Awareness and Consumer Engagement, (3) Institutional and Structural Approaches, (4) Community and Localised Responses, and (5) Barriers, Opportunities and Future Directions. The findings highlight the significant potential VET offers in preparing a workforce with the cross-cutting sustainability competences and sector-specific skills needed to drive the innovation and growth of the agri-food sector. However, achieving this requires institutional change, strengthened collaboration, and a shift from traditional technical training toward curriculum models that embed sustainability principles across diverse local and regional contexts. Full article

This study explores the effectiveness of Baskin—an inclusive sport discipline—as a pedagogical tool to promote school inclusion, social cohesion and motivation in secondary school students. The intervention, conducted on a sample of 600 students in four Italian institutions, adopted an experimental design with pre–post measurements and a mixed methods approach. The quantitative results, obtained by means of validated psychometric instruments (PIQ, Classroom Cohesion Scale, AMS), showed significant improvements in all variables investigated in the experimental group compared with the control (p < 0.001). The qualitative analysis, based on interviews, focus groups and reflexive diaries, highlighted five thematic areas: revaluation of diversity, improvement of the classroom climate, development of self-efficacy, restructuring of interpersonal relationships and request for project continuity. Baskin emerged as a comprehensive educational practice, capable of integrating corporeity, citizenship and critical thinking. The systematic inclusion of inclusive sport in the curriculum and initial teacher training is suggested, as well as the promotion of school networks and longitudinal studies. Baskin emerges as a pedagogy of participation that contributes to transforming school culture, making inclusion concrete. Full article

Architecture exists at a moment of instability as economic forces narrow professional agency, as knowledge domains challenge disciplinary boundaries, and as calls for decolonisation and sustainability demand epistemological reorientation. Architectural education occupies a strategic position within these dynamics, simultaneously shaped by professional uncertainty and actively constructing alternative futures. This article examines contemporary architectural education as an experiential lens through which a perceptive understanding of how the discipline negotiates transformation can be developed. It draws on a global survey of 345 architecture schools across 159 countries, conducted by the Architectural Education Commission of the International Union of Architects (UIA), and investigates institutional responses to economic constraints, transdisciplinarity, technological transformation, labour precarity, and ethical imperatives. Employing a nine-dimensional framework and six thematic lenses to map global patterns, the findings reveal a convergence–divergence paradox where schools converge around studio pedagogy (78%), national accreditation (92%), and professional degrees (62%), while diverging substantially in thematic priorities. Near-universal engagement with allied disciplines (99%) and SDG integration (88%) contrast sharply with limited efforts at decolonisation (29%) and a health focus (26%), revealing selective adoption of key ethical imperatives. The analysis unveils systematic gaps between declared commitments and enacted practices, with high adoption rates masking shallow implementation, a pattern evidenced by the gap between near-universal SDG declarations (88%) and the persistence of individual-authorship assessment structures (76–78%). Regional patterns reflect resource stratification, reinforcing colonial or dominant knowledge hierarchies. The study concludes that architecture’s agency remains constrained where schools perform transformation rhetorically while reproducing conventional professional formation structurally. Full article

This article examines the Unité Pédagogique d’Architecture in Toulouse (UPAT) as a paradigmatic example of the palimpsestic architectures that characterize many contemporary university campuses. Conceived in the immediate aftermath of May 1968, the school emerged at a moment when pedagogical reform, political commitment, and architectural experimentation became closely intertwined. These conditions gave rise to a singular spatial organization based on a combinatory grid, intended to give architectural form to a democratic ideal of education grounded in openness, flexibility, and collective agency. The study adopts a historical–critical methodology based on the systematic analysis of primary and secondary sources, complemented by original graphic interpretations. This approach makes it possible to read the UPAT simultaneously as a didactic instrument and as an ideological manifesto, one whose ambitions were inherently marked by internal tensions and contradictions. A diachronic examination of subsequent extensions and transformations reveals how these founding intentions were progressively reinterpreted, constrained, or displaced in response to changing institutional, social, and cultural conditions. Taken as a whole, the evolving trajectory of this “manifesto school” illuminates the ways in which architectural ideals—particularly the pursuit of openness—are negotiated over time, offering a critical perspective on the reciprocal shaping of architecture, pedagogy, and institutional identity within the history of university buildings. Full article

Universities are struggling in a continuously changing environment surrounded by both accelerated digitalization and increasingly influential Artificial Intelligence. However, experiential learning stemming from direct visualization still relies on traditional tools and supporting materials. This work presents how a historic geology museum can serve as a pedagogical innovation for Civil Engineering students despite the challenges universities face amid accelerating digitalization. The geological collections of the School of Civil Engineering at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, neglected for decades, have recently been restored and transformed into a dynamic university museum that now plays a significant role in both degree and MEng education. This museum preserves several Paleolithic collections assembled by its professors since the school’s establishment in 1802. Historical and museological research confirms that these holdings—2471 minerals, 4555 rocks, 2012 fossils, archeological materials, and a unique set of 1200 formatted stone samples from 19th- and early 20th-century Spanish quarries—constitute one of the oldest and most comprehensive geological collections preserved in a Spanish engineering institution. The museum’s revitalization is implying new research on several sub-collections, still in progress. In summary, the historical museum has been integrated into Civil Engineering teaching, supporting experiential and lifelong learning in geology and geotechnics. Furthermore, the museum serves as an innovative tool for teaching geology to secondary school students, promoting innovation in teaching practices and scientific dissemination, and encouraging interest in Earth sciences. Overall, the museum is becoming a valuable resource for innovative pedagogy to respond to the lifelong learning implications of STEM educational practices. Full article

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has rapidly emerged as a transformative educational technology, raising questions about how educators and pre-service teachers critically engage with AI-produced content. This case study investigates how WebQuests, a long-established, inquiry-based pedagogical model, can foster critical engagement with GenAI tools. Situated within an initial teacher education programme, a WebQuest, incorporating GenAI sources, was implemented with 24 pre-service language teachers, who engaged with curated resources alongside ChatGPT and Copilot to produce infographics for secondary school audiences. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. Findings indicate that scaffolded engagement with GenAI encouraged participants to compare AI-generated outputs with trusted sources, critically evaluate accuracy and reliability, and reflect on integration into their future practice. Whilst pre-service teachers valued GenAI’s accessibility and efficiency, they expressed concerns about clarity, verbosity, and trustworthiness. The WebQuest model effectively supported synthesis of multiple information sources, fostering functional AI engagement and critical evaluation of its affordances and limitations. This case study concludes that integrating GenAI within structured, inquiry-based pedagogies advances digital and AI literacy in initial teacher education, whilst highlighting the need for institutional guidance, professional development, and further research in this area. Full article

The accelerating digitalization of education has heightened the need for instructional approaches that are developmentally appropriate for young learners and capable of supporting both linguistic growth and creative speech production. This study investigates the pedagogical potential of integrating adapted English-language podcasts and media-based tasks into primary English instruction to foster originality, contextual coherence, expressive flexibility, and emotional richness in learners’ productive speech. The research employed a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design implemented in intact classroom groups and involved 233 third- and fourth-grade students (experimental group, n = 116; control group, n = 117). Over one academic semester (January–May 2025), the experimental group participated in a structured programme embedded within regular lessons that combined short podcast episodes with dialogic and narrative tasks, while the control group followed the standard curriculum without podcast integration or comparable multimedia enrichment. Data analysis combined quantitative comparison of pre- and post-intervention speech outcomes with qualitative evaluation of learners’ oral and written products, supplemented by student and teacher feedback. The results showed statistically significant improvements in the experimental group across key indicators of creative speech performance. Qualitative evidence further indicated a shift toward more independent, personally meaningful language use, with learners demonstrating greater willingness to experiment with narrative transformation, evaluative retelling, and expressive variation. Taken together, the findings suggest that adapted podcasts, when systematically integrated into routine classroom practice, can serve as an effective and feasible tool for strengthening creative speech development in primary English language education and for enriching contemporary media pedagogy in digitally evolving learning environments. Full article

This study conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) of 406 peer-reviewed studies on sustainability in higher education published between 2014 and 2025. Guided by the PRISMA 2020 framework and the PICo criteria, this review identifies thematic patterns, institutional enablers, and barriers shaping sustainability integration. Data were manually screened and thematically coded using a structured extraction template. The findings reveal a conceptually active yet uneven field, with curriculum and pedagogy dominating discourse, while leadership, policy coherence, transformative learning, and global citizenship are less examined. Barriers such as institutional inertia and fragmented policies persist, but enabling factors, including digital agility, collaborative governance, and community partnerships, are attracting attention. Resilience and climate change education remain underexplored, indicating a gap between institutional strategies and sustainability goals. This review contributes by (i) identifying critical under-researched areas, (ii) refining a keyword framework to guide future inquiry, and (iii) introducing the Sustainability in Higher Education (SHE) Institutional Maturity Matrix (SHE-IMM), a conceptual model categorising institutions into foundational, transitional, and transformative stages of sustainability integration. The review received no external funding, and the authors declare there are no competing interests. Full article

Rural higher education in Latin America plays a crucial role in advancing both human and sustainable development. However, it continues to face persistent barriers related to access, equity, and systemic inequality. This scoping review investigates how rural higher education contributes to integral human development in the region, focusing on its theoretical underpinnings, contextual specificities, and methodological approaches. Following the PRISMA-ScR protocol, we analyzed qualitative and quantitative studies published between 2015 and 2024, drawing from Scopus, EBSCOhost, ERIC, Redalyc, and SciELO. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251075119). After applying rigorous inclusion and exclusion criteria, seven peer-reviewed articles were selected. These studies address key issues such as educational access, territorial rurality, and human development, and highlight innovative strategies including community-based pedagogy, values-oriented curricula, and student support during crises. Our findings underscore the transformative capacity of rural universities in fostering students’ analytical, emotional, and civic competencies. To ensure inclusive and meaningful impacts, rural higher education must perform context-sensitive, integrative strategies aligned with local realities and broader sustainable development goals. Full article

This article explores the construction of women’s authority in Israeli pluralistic Batei Midrash (houses of learning). Drawing on qualitative interviews with experienced women facilitators, it examines how they enact a form of authority that differs significantly from traditional models. Beyond deriving legitimacy from institutional position or textual mastery, their authority is built through professional vulnerability and relational work. The article develops the concept of Transformative Pedagogical Authority: a stance grounded in ‘power-to’ rather than ‘power-over.’ It argues that facilitators utilize active contraction (Tzimtzum) not as a retreat, but as a deliberate pedagogical strategy to create a ‘hall of Mirrors’, a site of multivocal engagement and interpretive resonance for learners. By analyzing how women navigate questions of legitimacy and authority, the study contributes to broader conversations about gender and pedagogy, offering a model in which authority is reframed not as hierarchical control but as the capacity to enable collective ownership of the knowledge and its production. Full article

This study explores the impact of low-cost environmental laboratory materials on university students’ knowledge and attitudes toward waste recycling. Anchored primarily in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and informed by Situated Learning and Constructionism, the study conceptualizes low-cost materials as cultural tools that mediate learning through social interaction, authentic contexts, and material transformation. A quasi-experimental design was adopted to evaluate changes in students’ cognitive and affective domains. Findings revealed a statistically significant improvement in students’ knowledge following the intervention, indicating the effectiveness of the instructional approach in enhancing conceptual understanding of recycling. However, no significant change was recorded in students’ attitudes toward waste recycling. While the intervention succeeded in advancing knowledge, which is a foundational element for environmental stewardship, our findings highlight the limitations of cognitively oriented pedagogies in influencing pro-environmental attitudes. Nevertheless, our study underscores the importance of continuing to seek ways of integrating affective, experiential, and context-sensitive learning approaches into environmental education to foster holistic sustainability competencies. Full article

The present article explores how the development of inner resources can serve as a decisive lever to initiate and sustain individual, organizational, and societal transformations. (1) We first examine the concept of emotional capital, understood as the ability to mobilize emotional competencies defined by models of emotional intelligence, a capital that boosts other forms of capital and enables transformation. (2) We then link this to a capacitating approach, grounded in the work of Sen, which focuses on valuing and expanding human potential. (3) We will introduce the paradigm of bienvivance as an economic and social perspective that ensures a better way of co-vivance, a bienvivance economy; a societal model which proposes to reorient our systems toward a collective dynamic of vitality and meaning, shared living, sustainability, and regeneration. Taken together, these three dimensions pave the way for transformations that connect inner growth with outer change, across educational, organizational, and societal practices. In this article, (4) we will illustrate such a bienvivance approach focused on capacitating pedagogy and emotional capital development via collaborative learning and co-construction of competencies’ student portfolio exercises, as an intrinsic part of development of learners’ lifelong competencies and a lever of potentials’ unlocking, and recognition’s decolonization. Full article

Over the last three decades, architecture has undergone a sustained digital transformation that has progressively displaced the ontology of the geometric generator, understood here as the primary artefact through which form is produced, controlled, and legitimized. This paper argues that, within one extended digital epoch, three successive regimes have reconfigured architectural agency. First, a digital model regime, in which computer-generated 3D models become the main generators of geometry. Second, a parametric code regime, in which scripted relations and numerical parameters supersede the individual model as the core design object, defining a space of possibilities rather than a single instance. Third, an emerging latent regime, in which diffusion and transformer systems produce high plausibility synthetic images as image-first generators and subsequently impose a post hoc image-to-geometry translation requirement. To make this shifting paradigm comparable across time, the paper uses the blob as a stable morphological reference and develops a comparative reading of four blobs, Kiesler’s Endless House, Greg Lynn’s Embryological House, Marc Fornes’ Vaulted Willow, and an author-generated GenAI blob curated from a traceable AI image archive, to show how the geometric generator migrates from object, to model, to code, to latent image-space. As a pre-digital hinge case, Kiesler is selected not only for anticipating blob-like continuity, but for clarifying a recurrent disciplinary tension, “ form first generators” that precede tectonic and programmatic rationalization. The central hypothesis is that GenAI introduces an ontological shift not primarily at the level of style, but at the level of architectural judgement and evidentiary legitimacy. The project can begin with a predictive image that is visually convincing yet tectonically underdetermined. To name this condition, the paper proposes the plausibility gap, the mismatch between visual plausibility and tectonic intelligibility, as an operational criterion for evaluating image-first workflows, and for specifying the verification tasks required to stabilize them as architecture. Selection establishes evidentiary legitimacy, while a friction map and Gap Index externalize the translation pressure required to turn predictive imagery into accountable geometry, making the plausibility gap operational rather than merely asserted. The paper concludes by outlining implications for authorship, pedagogy, and disciplinary judgement in emerging multi-agent design ecologies. Full article