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Background and Aim: At present, in the reform of higher education, the cultivation requirements for innovative people are increasing day by day. The learning results and desired characteristic behaviors of college students in ideological and moral education in many universities are not satisfactory. Student's learning attitudes and learning participation are poor and the ability of self-discipline and adaptability are generally weak. So in order to solve the problems, in this study, the blended cooperative learning instructional model was employed to improve the learning achievement and desired characteristic behaviors of college students. The objectives of this research were: 1) To compare the learning achievement of college students before and after learning through the Blended cooperative learning instructional model. 2) To compare the desired characteristic behaviors of college students after learning through the Blended cooperative learning instructional model with a criterion set at 65%. Materials and Methods: The sample used in this study was 30 year 1 student in Zhoukou Vocational and Technical College, Zhoukou City, Henan Province. They were selected by cluster random sampling. The research instruments were: 1) Six lesson plans of an Ideological and moral education course based on blended cooperative learning. 2) A learning achievement test paper. 3) A student's self-assessment 4) A teacher observation form. The researcher used the Ideological and moral education test paper to conduct pre-test and post-test on the sample. Then the pre-test data and post-test data were analyzed. The statistics used to analyze data were mean, standard deviation, t-test for dependent samples, and t-test for one sample. Results: The results of the study were as follows: 1) The learning achievement mean scores of students' protest were 16.13, S.D. = 3.25 and the posttest of students' learning achievement was M = 19.93, S.D. = 2.75. The result showed that after learning through a blended cooperative learning model in the classroom, posttest scores of students' learning achievement were greater than pretest scores at 0.05 level of statistical significance (t = 9.58, p = 0.000 < 0.05). The average scores of the study developed increasingly higher than the pretest. 2) The Self-assessment mean scores of 30 students' desired characteristic behaviors after learning through the blended cooperative learning model was 106.77 from full marks of 155 and the standard deviation was 6.20 which was statistically higher than the criterion of 65% at 0.05 level of statistical significance (t = 94.30, p = 0.000 < 0.05). The observation form mean scores of 30 students' desired characteristic behaviors after learning through blended cooperative learning model was 44.57 from full marks of 60 and the standard deviation was 4.16 which was statistically higher than the criterion of 65% at 0.05 level of statistical significance ( t= 7.33, p = 0.000 < 0.05). Conclusion: Through comparative analysis of learning achievement and desired characteristic behaviors scores before and after learning through the blended cooperative learning model in the Ideological and moral education course of first-year students in Zhoukou Vocational and Technical College, it revealed that students' learning achievement and desired characteristic behaviors have been significantly improved. Therefore, it is feasible to adopt a blended cooperative learning instruction model, which is helpful to improve the learning achievement and desired characteristic behaviors of the first-year students at Zhoukou Vocational and Technical College.

Mobile phone dependence refers to the excessive use of mobile phones by individuals, which may cause problems in study, work and life. We compared differences in mobile phone dependence among Chinese and Czech university students, and explore the relationship between mobile phone dependence and academic achievement among them in this paper. The subjects of this study included 358 Chinese university students and 282 Czech university students who were recruited during March to April 2022. We collected data through online questionnaires, using the Short Version of the Smartphone Dependence Scale (SAS-SV) to assess the level of students' mobile phone dependence and the Academic Achievement Questionnaire (AAQ) to assess the level of students' academic achievement. The results show that for the level of mobile phone dependence are negatively correlated with the scores of various dimensions of academic achievement and the total score of academic achievement, among them, Chinese students have more significant effect in the relationship between mobile phone dependence and study performance; moreover, the correlations between the three sub-factors of academic achievement in Chinese students were stronger. It can be concluded that mobile phone dependence may lead to lower study performance, more difficulty in handling study demands, and lower social adaptation, or lower academic achievement may also lead to more severe mobile phone dependence.

Using multiple methodological approaches in a sample of Chinese high school students (N = 1511), this paper reports on the development and initial validation of a 32-item Student Perceptions of School Guidance Support Scale (SPSGSS) initially intended to measure guidance support students perceive they receive from schools in four key areas of student development: academic development, career development, personal/social development, and college preparation. Results of factor analyses show that a bifactor model emerges as a best fit, indicating that students may have both an overall conception of what school guidance support is like and a separate understanding of specific aspects of school guidance support that contribute to the measurement of the overall conception. Examinations of ancillary bifactor indices reveal high reliability of the SPSGSS total score, suggesting that the total score is a reliable measure of the general SPSGSS factor. Moreover, this survey shows clear evidence of measurement invariance across genders and grade levels. Implications of these findings for educational research and practice are discussed.

Transfer payment is of great significance for poverty alleviation and balanced regional development. Based on the first-hand survey data from 18 key counties of 6 provinces in China's national poverty alleviation and development program, this paper uses propensity score matching to calculate the effects of transfer payment funds on the results of compulsory education in impoverished areas and uses Shapley value decomposition to decompose correlated factors. It finds that when the characteristics of students, families and schools controlled, transfer payment funds significantly lower student academic achievements in some subjects and aggravate the inequality of educational results, which may be the result of the reduction of local education funds caused by the "crowding out effect" of transfer payment. Suggestions are made in this paper to standardize the utilization of transfer payment funds, establish a linkage mechanism between the educational results of poor students and transfer payment funds, implement the assisting plan for teachers and students in poor areas, strengthen the "pertinent support for intelligence development", and unite multiple agencies to increase input in education, with the purpose of reducing the inequality of compulsory education in poor areas.

The rapid development of mobile Internet has brought new development opportunities to college education and teaching. Taking university English teaching as the research object, this paper analyses the characteristics of mobile Internet in the classroom, WeChat platform, English learning app and other forms of teaching, the changes and influence of mobile Internet on English teaching, and its application in university English teaching. According to the actual teaching situation, a comprehensive evaluation system based on the learning process and results was established. The results show that the university English teaching model based on mobile Internet and the innovative evaluation and examination system can effectively improve the teaching efficiency and students' independent and sustainable learning ability. Through the reform of university English teaching, students' academic performance and learning ability have been improved. The research results are of great practical significance for promoting the reform and innovative practice of university English teaching.

Since the twenty-first century, universities in many countries, including China, have introduced tenure-track employment to attract outstanding faculty. Through a survey of 1,099 faculty members from 21 high-level research universities in China, this study used a quasi-experimental method to examine the effect of the tenure track on faculty members' academic performance. The results suggest that the implementation of the tenure track led to an increase in the number of academic publications, but a decrease in the number of high-quality academic articles. The study further analyzed the underlying mechanisms by which the tenure track affected faculty members' academic performance, and found that introducing the tenure track increased cross-institutional collaboration, thereby promoting academic productivity. However, it resulted in a reduction in research collaboration within the institution, which hindered academic publication in high-impact journals. In terms of disciplinary heterogeneity, this study shows that the negative effect of the tenure track on publication quality was more significant in science than in engineering. Based on the research results above, this paper proposed several suggestions for improving the tenure system to ensure research excellence.

The existing literature mainly examines the impact of academic self-efficacy on academic achievement in educational psychology. Much less is known about the relationship between outcome expectations and adolescent academic achievement. This article applies the random intercept model to investigate the association between Chinese adolescent perceived value of effort as outcome expectations and academic achievement and employs the Karlson, Holm, and Breen (KHB) method to examine the underlying mechanisms. Additionally, this paper uses the random coefficient model to explore the heterogeneous association between the perceived value of effort and adolescent academic achievement across families and schools. Based on the Programme for International Students Assessment 2018 (N = 11751; 48.07% females), we found that the adolescent perceived value of effort was significantly and positively correlated with academic achievement. Adolescent educational expectations and academic engagement partially mediated the relationship between the perceived value of effort and academic achievement. Adolescents from disadvantaged families and schools benefited more from the perceived value of effort. These findings enhance existing literature by revealing how the adolescent outcome expectations contribute to academic achievement and provide a scientific basis for bridging the gap in academic achievement between families and schools to promote equity in education.

In 2017, China released its building list of First-class Universities and First-class Subjects (Double First classes), which should get great support for development for many years into the future. This paper examines the academic performance of eight universities that are currently listed as having First-class Subjects of economics, in international papers and domestic papers, and compares their academic performance with another eight non-listed universities. The comparison shows that in general only three listed universities have obvious advantages among the 16 sample universities, while four listed universities do not show advantages, with one of them unexpectedly lagging behind. In contrast, several non-listed universities perform obviously better among the sample universities. In addition, several other aspects of this Double First-class list are also found to be less objective, scientific, or rigorous.

This paper reports on an emerging type of international school, which we refer to as the Chinese internationalized school. This school caters to Chinese citizens and aspires to offer a fusion of national and international curricula. The majority of internationalized schools in China are to be found in large metropolitan centers. Accordingly, the literature has focused on relatively affluent urban centers, such as Shanghai, Suzhou, and Beijing. However, in recent years, internationalized schools have started to emerge outside of metropolitan areas in what have been described as tier-3 and 4 cities, which could also be described as non-urban or rural contexts, due to their remote location and proximity from metropolitan centers. This study adds to the scholarship on internationalized schooling in China by focusing on the struggles that schools in a non-urban contexts are likely to face. Focusing on one school, our interviews with 16 teachers and the school's principal revealed that the school's remote location made recruiting students and teachers problematic. Moreover, the effects of COVID-19 compounded this issue, with many prospective students abandoning their plans to study abroad and instead choosing to study in a local school offering the Chinese national curriculum. As a result, the school was forced to recruit students who did not possess the necessary English language ability to access the content of the Cambridge curriculum. This created a washback effect, which impacted on students' academic achievement, their motivation, and the teaching strategies employed by the teachers. The paper concludes by considering what implications the findings might have for teachers and school leaders in internationalized schools in non-urban contexts.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the impact of differences in educational traditions on conventions of teaching and learning, and on the measurement of learning outcomes. These are critical issues within the context of business schools that are steeped in one dominant tradition but have a large population of international students previously educated in other traditions. The paper argues that international students face the challenge of satisfactorily demonstrating learning according to foreign conventions that are different from what they would have been accustomed to within the framework of their home educational tradition. Design/methodology/approach: This study draws on a bilingual literature review to capture differences in educational traditions between Australia and China. It then uses logistic regression to analyze the performance of 800 domestic and international Chinese students across a range of different assessment formats at a large Australian business school. Findings: The study finds statistically significant differences in the performance of these two student groups on different assessment types. It concludes that the conventions on approaches to the assessment of learning shaped by a specific educational tradition can hamper the effective demonstration of learning among students from other educational traditions. Originality/value: The paper focuses on issues related to the assessment of learning in multicultural higher education contexts, which has received less attention in the literature compared to issues on teaching approaches in multicultural contexts. The paper also highlights important implications on the validity of the measurement of learning outcomes and on the subsequent impact on graduate recruitment.

Situational simulation teaching method (SST mentioned below) is a mature teaching method that has been applied. It has been widely used in foreign language, law, management, clinical and other fields, and has been proved to have good teaching effect. The quality of teachers is the key to improve the international competitiveness of China's education system. With the growth of China's population and the reform and development of education, the training of pre-service teachers has become a public concern. According to the existing research, most of the pre-service teachers have good academic and moral qualities, but there are still deficiencies in teaching ability, management ability and communication ability. In view of this phenomenon, this paper puts forward a scheme of training chemistry pre-service teachers by using SST method through the way of organic chemistry teaching reform. The results show that SST method can improve students' learning quality and cultivate students' comprehensive abilities (including pre-service teachers' professional skills).

This paper utilizes data from the China Education Panel Survey 2013-2015 to examine the effects of family time and money inputs in education on adolescent academic performance from the perspectives of home social capital, cultural capital, and shadow education. Home time input in education is more vital to teenager academic progress than money input. Domestic social capital and cultural capital as well as weekend shadow education positively impact child academic results. Home-based parental participation as a key component of domestic social capital has the most significant influence on teenager academic improvement, while weekend supplementary tutoring generates the weakest effect; workday extracurricular tutoring even negatively affects student academic achievement. School-based parental involvement differs among families of different classes, with a significant negative effect on academic results of teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds. Due to the absence of heterogeneity effects of home time input in education on academic progress of students from various social backgrounds, parental time investment should be taken as the most effective means to improve academic performance of adolescents from underprivileged classes.

This article mainly focuses on comparing motivation and anxiety levels in native versus non-native English teacher classes based on survey results from Chinese university students majoring in English. Using a 5-point Likert Scale, the participants responded to 48 close-ended survey items regarding English language learning motivation and anxiety. The overall results indicated that they tended to have high motivation level and low anxiety level in their English classrooms, but several survey items suggested that they were significantly more motivated and less anxious in native teacher classes than non-native teacher classes, which led to higher achievement levels in native teacher classes. Although the result seems to suggest that students prefer native English teachers, this does not imply that non-native teachers are not as qualified as their counterparts, as some survey items indicate that both teachers are equally prepared for classes and accessible for assistance. Based on the survey results, this paper makes some suggestions on how English teachers can better help their students' English learning.

With the advent of positive psychology, the role of positive emotions has received more attention. This study explores the relationship among teacher-and-peer support, mindfulness, and positive academic emotions in EFL learning among non-English majors in China. The results reveal that teacher-and-peer support and mindfulness positively predict positive academic emotions. Besides, mindfulness plays a mediating role between teacher-and-peer support and positive academic emotions. Based on the findings, this paper suggests that teachers could try to enhance teacher-and-peer support and improve students' mindfulness so as to help learners regulate their emotions as well as achieve better academic performance in English learning.

Reading is one of the crucial aspects of the learning process. The learning efficiency depends on the motivation and involvement of students. The paper aims to determine whether the developed online course enhances student motivation and engagement in contemporary American literature. For this purpose, questionnaires were used. The sample consisted of 126 students enrolled in Yulin Gaoxin Secondary School, who had English proficiency at a high enough level to read English literature in the original language. Before and after the course, the Reading Motivation Questionnaires test was administered, with its scores validated using Student's t-test for dependent samples. Significant progress is observed in the internal and social components of motivation (23-25%), as well as in the Engagement category (31%). The course also positively affected learning effectiveness. None of the participants scored less than half of the possible points for the course assignments. Most children obtained high (95-119 points) and very high scores (120-140 points). This finding demonstrates the suitability of the tools used (videoconferencing, learning management systems, discussion forums, and interactive exercises) in online learning when studying modern literature. The research findings are of interest, first of all, to instructors who adopt technological innovations in their lessons or want to motivate students to read. Second, school administrators and education sector officials can draw information from the findings for corrective action. Third, software developers may be inspired by the data and create new technology solutions.

This research was designed to examine how teachers and students from various cultures (China vs. USA) might present distinct behavioural features in learner-centred classrooms. The findings of the research would serve the purpose to answer the question regarding whether and how learner-centred instruction could better support the learning of students from non-Western cultures. Chinese students experiencing learner-centred instruction (the experimental group), Chinese students from traditional classrooms (the control group), and American students responded to measures assessing their perceived teacher behaviours, and their own learning behaviours along with other two highly relevant variables, namely academic motivation and self-efficacy. The results indicated that Chinese teachers and students in the experimental group presented certain distinct behavioural features in comparison to both control group and American group. It suggested that the implementation of learner-centred instruction brought certain behavioural changes for Chinese teachers and students. However, on the other hand, their behavioural changes were not completely consistent with expectations. For instance, Chinese teachers in the experiment group did not present better performance in empowerment and individualized instruction, and their students did not exhibit more autonomous and self-directed learning behaviours as expected. The implications of the research were discussed in the paper.

Informed by emergent learning theories and multiple evidenced benefits, cooperative learning has developed into a widely accepted organization mode of class in the Western context. For the same reason, cooperative learning is transferred, during the past decade, into classrooms of Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) contexts. Concerns, however, are raised regarding the effectiveness of the transfer, for contextual factors have long been acknowledged as a powerful barrier to borrowed initiatives, especially those that are not compatible with the deep-rooted cultural values in the situated contexts. This paper is built on Thanh-Pham's (2014) review of literature, which is on the impact of cooperative learning on the CHC students' learning achievements and conducted during 1990 to 2006. This paper has expanded Thanh-Pham (2014) with a similar review on available literatures, which were published from 2007 up to 2016. This review of 39 publications shows up noticeable changes regarding the impact of cooperative learning in the CHC contexts. Specifically, the positive findings have risen from 47.2% to 86.9%, whereas negative and null change studies fall considerably. Influencing factors are analyzed via SPSS22.0 Software and verified with exemplars. Reasons for these changes point to the changing context and adaptive agency.

Based on the baseline data of the China Education Panel Survey, this paper explored the relationship between teacher training and academic performance in urban and rural samples respectively and the impact of teacher training on the urban-rural gap of students' academic performance. The results showed that: firstly, there was a significant urban-rural gap in academic performance, and the gap in high quantiles and language subjects were even larger. Secondly, the results of unconditional quantile regression showed that teacher training could improve the performance of urban students with different academic levels and rural students with intermediate or above academic levels, but it cannot improve the performance of rural students with lower academic levels. In addition, the overall effect of teacher training in urban areas is significantly higher than that in rural areas. Thirdly, different quantiles of Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition found that the endowment effect and the coefficient effect of teacher training were the important causes of the urban-rural performance gap, but the relative sizes of the two were different according to the different grades and different quantiles of performance distribution. Therefore, to increase the training opportunities and improve the training quality of rural teachers as well as enhance the resource conversion rate of rural students are of great practical significance for narrowing the urban-rural performance gap.

While education equality is considered crucial for broader social equality, policies that aim to equalize educational resources are sometimes suspected of discriminating against high achievers. Such potential discrimination should be examined empirically to provide robust evidence for policymakers and the broader public. Using a quasi-experimental design and longitudinal dataset, this paper reports on research which has investigated potential discrimination arising from China's high school quota admission policy, which is considered a successful initiative for distributing high achievers across middle schools in ways that equalize achievement, and hence improves overall quality. The results presented in this paper indicate there is basically no such discrimination after controlling for self-selection bias. The paper also reveals the broader value of evaluating potential discrimination as part of similar forms of education development.

Social media use can bring negative effects to college students, such as social media addiction (SMA) and decline in academic performance. SMA may increase the perceived stress level of college students, and stress has a negative impact on academic performance, but this potential mediating role of stress has not been verified in existing studies. In this paper, a research model was developed to investigate the antecedent variables of SMA, and the relationship between SMA, stress and academic performance. With the data of 372 Chinese college students (mean age 21.3, 42.5% males), Partial Least Squares, Structural Equation Model was adopted to evaluate measurement model and structural model. The results show that use intensity is an important predictor of SMA, and both SMA and stress have a negative impact on college students' academic performance. In addition, we further confirmed that stress plays a mediating role in the relationship between SMA and college students' academic performance.

Purpose: This paper aims to use a quantitative approach to explore the role of online learning behavior in students' academic performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the authors probe its mediating effect in the relationship between student motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic) and academic performance in a blended learning context. Design/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 148 students taking an organizational behavior course at one Chinese university. The data were paired and analyzed through regression analysis. Findings: The results show that students should actively engage in online learning behavior to maximize the effects of blended learning. Extrinsic motivation was found to positively influence academic performance both directly and indirectly through online learning behavior, while intrinsic motivation affected academic performance only indirectly. Originality/value: Through paired data on extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, online learning behavior and academic performance, this study provides a more nuanced understanding of how online learning behavior affects the focal relationship, and it advances research on the mechanisms underlying the focal relationship. Practitioners should enhance students' online learning behavior to boost blended learning effects during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is one of the most important learning strategies. Augmented Reality (AR) is an effective way to support this strategy, which is considered conducive to enhance academic achievements of students during IBL. This paper investigated teacher-student interactions during AR-supported IBL by comparison and case study. First, four video clips carried by two high schools were coded by improved Flanders Interaction Analysis System (iFIAS) with two clips in AR-supported class and others in no AR-supported class. Then, Lag Sequence Analysis (LSA) was used to extract sequence features based on the codes. Finally, suggestions on using AR in IBL and details about study were discussed. Results show that AR-supported IBL has more active responses from students and a higher response rate from teachers. Student responses in AR-supported IBL have more tendency to be approved by teachers. The interactive component of AR software is in positive relation to its capacity of flexible inquiry, but it requires more time to learn to operate and demands more demonstration behavior from teachers. Teachers should develop skills of asking questions to guide and give timely feedback when carrying out IBL supported by AR.

In recent years, Chinese college graduates have faced a challenging employment situation, calling for an analysis of the social stratification function of higher education. This paper used linear regression to analyze factors influencing the occupational status attainment of college graduates. The social stratification function of higher education was found to be significant. Educational factors were essential for occupational status attainment. Nevertheless, new graduates' occupational status could also be affected by individual and family factors. On the whole, college graduates achieved stratum promotion. Men had higher occupational status and longer mobility distance than women, and rural graduates had higher occupational status and longer mobility distance than urban graduates.

Shadow education helps students become academically competitive. Currently, little is known about whether shadow education can effectively fulfill either remedial or enrichment purposes in China. Using the nationally representative data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) collected in 2013 and 2014, this paper explored the opportunity gap in shadow education and its impact on Chinese eighth-grade students' mathematics and English reading performance. This study further examined how this effect differs by students' prior performance and school ranks by hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). The results show that affluent socioeconomic resources and parental pressure predicted larger chances of students using shadow education. On average, supplementary tutoring had a positive effect on academic achievement. After re-estimating the effect by groups, this study found that students disadvantaged by prior knowledge and quality of schooling benefited more from supplementary tutoring. The findings suggest that the expansion of shadow education may contribute to social reproduction within the current education system.

Non-cognitive abilities, also termed as Social and Emotional Skills (SSES), are believed to have a profound and far-reaching impact on individuals' growth and development. Previous psychological experiments confirmed that non-cognitive factors could have an impact on education, health and social well-being. The SSES reports by OECD offer insights on multiple facets of non-cognitive information during adolescents' growth, which seeks further understanding of the mechanisms and contextual features influencing the formation and development of students' non-cognitive skills as well as subject learning. Based on the OECD 2019 Suzhou data, this study tested a number of hypotheses concerning social and emotional skills and subject learning achievements, including mathematics, reading literacy and arts. The results confirmed that various social and emotional non-cognitive constructs emerged to be facilitating disciplinary learning, including mathematics, reading literacy and arts achievements. This paper offers some reflections on the integration of non-cognitive skills in designing the education policy guidelines.

This paper reports preliminary findings on students enrolled in a massive open online course, who were also assigned to work in groups. Part of a larger study on the effect of groups on retention and completion in MOOCs, the paper provides students' demographics (i.e., location, gender, education level, and employment status), and motivation for taking the course. Findings show that women outnumbered men and that students mostly enrolled into the course because of a friend. Indeed, research on MOOCs demonstrates that men outnumber women and that educational pursuit and professional development are the main motivators for taking MOOCs. Yet, this paper shows that when group work is included in a MOOC, women participate more. Furthermore, for students assigned to groups in a MOOC, friends are the principal incentive for enrolling into the course. These results are discussed in light of previous research, and implications for teaching and learning in online environments addressed.

The seven papers in this issue address a variety of challenges that parents in several different cultural places encounter as they do their best to ensure their children's safe, happy, and successful development from infancy through middle childhood: infant sleep, developmental agendas, temperament, preschools, academic success, and learning to be a parent in a new cultural environment. The authors use a varied of methods -- qualitative and quantitative -- to understand how parental figures in Botswana, China, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United States think about the needs of their children, their own role as parents, and the caretaking practices that follow. A final Commentary focuses on the power of parental ethnotheories in changing societies, and on the complexities and importance of cross-cultural research.

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have been recognized as a promising infrastructure for teacher professional development and student achievement. There has been increasing research interest in PLCs outside mainstream Western contexts. Based on literature and documentary analysis, this paper outlines the historical development of PLCs in mainland China over the past seven decades. It further analyses the continuities and changes in the development of PLCs in mainland China since its establishment. The main changes identified include increased administrative duties, a shift in the orientation of collective work, and increased integration with other professional development efforts, though PLCs in China remain a top-down teacher collaboration strategy for their professional development. Lessons from the development experiences of China highlighted in this paper enrich the global discussion of PLC implementation for promoting teacher professional development across different educational systems.

Educational data mining (DEM) provides valuable educational information by applying data mining tools and techniques to analyze data at educational institutions. In this paper, tree-based machine learning algorithms are used to predict students' overall academic performance in their bachelor's program. The transcript data of the students in the same department in a Chinese university were collected. All the courses in the bachelor's program were then divided into six typical categories, and the mean GPAs of each category were taken as primary input features for prediction. Three tree-based machine learning models were established, i.e. decision tree (DT), Gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) and random forest (RF). Results show that we can successfully identify more than 80% of the students at low-performance risk using the RF model at the end of the second semester, which is meaningful because the global quality of teaching and learning of the department can be improved by taking targeted measures in time according to the machine learning model. Feature importance and the structure of decision tree were also analyzed to extract knowledge that is valuable for both students and teachers. The results of this case study can be used as a reference for other engineering departments in China.

While infusion of technology into schools has been one of the top priorities of the education reform agenda across the world, findings from many large-scale international assessments indicate that students' use of information and communication technology (ICT) has mixed effects on their academic achievements. In this paper, we argue that these ambivalent findings were due to the oversight of the indirect effects of ICT use mediated by other ICT-related variables. We employed multilevel structural equation modelling to unfold the relationship between students' ICT use and their academic achievements based on PISA 2015 data. The results indicated that students' autonomy in ICT use and students' interest in ICT use were found to have significant positive direct effects on students' academic achievements at both within-school and between-school levels. These two variables played a significant role in mediating the indirect effects of ICT use outside school for schoolwork and ICT resources on students' academic achievements. On the contrary, ICT resources and ICT use at school exerted either no direct effect or a negative direct effect on students' academic achievements and students' perceived autonomy related to ICT use, suggesting that mere provision and use of ICT resources in school did not necessarily guarantee success in student performance. At the school level, school's transformational leadership and collaborative climate helped promote students' autonomy in ICT use.