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The motivation for conducting this study is to investigate the potential of Cloud e-learning to address the high-cost and high-complexity challenges of conventional learning methods for the upgraded learning processes in higher education. The overall direction of this research is driven towards how the actual usage of Cloud e-learning module affects students' perceptions and academic performance. A Cloud e-learning module is designed and developed to promote optimised resource utilisation in the e-learning processes in higher education. A pretest-posttest method was adopted to study the impact of Cloud e-learning usage among students and whether the diffusion of Cloud e-learning has caused a change in students' perceptions. The pretest-posttest results and students' academic performance were then analysed to examine the impact from the actual usage of Cloud e-learning module. The findings reveal that the change of students' perceptions is time variant, indicating students' mixed perceptions on the usage of Cloud e-learning module. Analysis evidently reveals that the use of Cloud e-learning improved students' learning performance in theoretical subjects. This research is useful to educators and ICT practitioners in making informed decisions in adopting the right ICT infrastructures to support e-learning in higher education.

Sleep problems are common in children with autism spectrum disorder. Although previous research has shown the positive effects of parent-based sleep intervention, it was mainly focused on face-to-face modality, which might limit accessibility. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of a telehealth-delivered parent-based sleep-focused intervention in treating insomnia in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. A total of 62 parents/caregivers with a child with autism spectrum disorder and comorbid insomnia (aged 3-6 years) were randomized to receive either three weekly group sessions of sleep-focused intervention via Zoom with telephone support (n = 30) or treatment as usual (n = 32). The intervention group had significantly greater improvements in overall sleep problems (Children's Sleep Habit Questionnaire total score; p < 0.05), bedtime resistance (p < 0.05), and sleep-onset delay (p < 0.05) at post-treatment as compared to the treatment as usual group. The intervention group also showed significant improvements in overall behavioral and emotional problems (p < 0.05), especially externalizing problems (p < 0.05) as measured by Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and parental stress level (p < 0.05) as measured by Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 as compared to the treatment as usual group (partial [eta][superscript 2] = 0.081-0.101). The findings supported the feasibility and promising effects of a brief parent-based sleep intervention delivered via telehealth.

This mixed-methods study compares how secondary teachers implemented Education Reform in China in 2012 and 2022. The survey asked how often a teaching or evaluation strategy was used. The conclusions indicate that even though teacher-directed lessons (teacher talk, individual work, and questioning) still dominated, subject teachers were using a variety of student-centered learning (SCL) methods (activities and group work) and integration of technology (ICT) in accordance with reform initiatives. Surveys also revealed that classroom management needs decreased as a result of the reforms. The problem lies with the examination system, as there is little room for introducing reform initiatives.

Media and Information Literacy (MIL) education can combat online misinformation by enhancing users' fact-checking skills. This action research study designed and implemented a problem-based learning MIL project for journalism undergraduates. The objectives are (a) to design a MIL project by using a problem-based learning methodology; (b) to implement the MIL project and to assess its effectiveness in improving students' fact-checking skills; and (c) to identify the challenges and limitations of implementing the project. Analysis shows that the MIL project successfully improved students' MIL skills, including critical analysis, media production, and personal growth. Despite facing challenges like time constraint and limited generalizability, the study suggests that the MIL project could be replicated in other journalism programs to enhance MIL skills and cultivate critical thinking to fight misinformation.

Past research on ethnocultural minority students indicates that persistent inequities require greater attention to the multiple learning supports needed to enhance school success. The present study was designed to extend research in this area by exploring school climate and emotional engagement among minority ethnocultural Chinese students in Malaysian secondary schools. We employed quantitative surveys with 724 students (M[subscript age] = 16.1 years; 47.9% female), followed by qualitative interviews with a subset of 25 students (M[subscript age] = 16.1 years; 52% female). Path analysis indicated that feelings of safety, socio-emotional support from teachers and peers, and student voice were predictors of emotional engagement for Chinese students, which further predicted cognitive engagement, academic performance, and school behavior. Thematic analysis further revealed that language and communication barriers and bullying negatively impacted students' sense of safety and engagement. Caring, respectful relationships with teachers led to students having opportunities to direct their own learning and make decisions on schoolwide activities, promoting students' feelings of engagement. Support from peers increased students' emotional engagement by reducing school-related stressors. The findings suggest that a mutually respectful, caring school climate and opportunities for student voice can enhance critical school experiences for ethnocultural minority high school students.

School teachers are susceptible to mental health issues due to the challenging responsibilities the teaching profession entails. While several interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in improving teachers' social emotional competencies and mental health outcomes, little work has examined the potential of dialectical behavior therapy-skills training (DBT-ST) in improving teacher outcomes. This study aimed to assess the effects of a five-session, Malay-translated DBT-ST on psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, stress, burnout), social-emotional competencies, DBT skills use, and dysfunctional coping in a sample of school teachers in East Malaysia. Fifty-three participants were recruited and assigned into DBT-ST or a control group, consisting of attending a mental health talk. Analyses showed that DBT-ST participants reported greater decreases in student-related burnout and dysfunctional coping, and greater increases in DBT skills use compared to the control group from pre- to post-intervention. There were no between-condition differences on changes in other mental health outcomes, though session attendance was linked positively to improvements in several outcomes in the DBT-ST condition. Analyses of post-intervention feedback indicated that brief DBT-ST was deemed acceptable and feasible among the research participants. In conclusion, DBT-ST holds promise as an intervention to lower student-related burnout and facilitate adaptive coping among school teachers.

Digital multimodal composing (DMC) allows students to mobilize a wide range of multimodal resources to make meaning. While studies in DMC tended to focus on language-learning contexts, few of them examine its use in content-based courses whereby students are proficient L2 users expected to demonstrate understanding of abstract concepts using DMC. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with English-major students who attended a writing course in an English-medium instruction university in Hong Kong, the study investigated how the students' view of DMC was transformed after exposure to DMC pedagogy. The study findings suggest that students developed an increased awareness of the affordances and constraints of (new media) writing, and they strategically bring in and bridge 'in-class' and 'out-of-class' digital practices. Students also reported on the opportunities and challenges of DMC pedagogy through reflecting on their DMC experiences. The study proposes suggestions for implementing DMC in diverse teaching and learning contexts.

TVET in Malaysia is geared toward providing quality education, training, and resources but it still needs to be strengthened and reformed toward producing a more quality and skilled workforce. This study aimed to procure feedback from TVET curriculum key-players' (automotive) on the integration of automotive case-based simulation (CBS) as TVET future learning strategies. Collective case-study research design was used with purposive sampling design which involved 5 curriculum key-players in vocational college and 16 automotive industries as study respondents. A set of questionnaires and interview protocols were used to gather quantitative and qualitative data. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to obtain an average measure agreement among raters. ATLAS.ti was also used through thematic analysis to produce models. The ICC showed high values of agreement for the process and structure of the CBS. The limitation of this research focused on one program (automotive technology) through the key-players' and industries' perspectives toward the implementation of CBS as a tool to enhance students' soft skills. The collation of both data showed the alignment between both parties against the CBS. The curriculum key-players agreed that CBS fulfilled its requirements as a tool to enrich TVET students' marketability skills, supported by the automotive industries' perspective which believed that using CBS would prepare TVET students' readiness to the workplace. Notably, the CBS provides an opportunity to stimulate thinking and learning preferences among students, in addition to being a learning tool for future TVET learning strategies that connect theory and practice in preparation for job training.

The main aim of this study is to examine the mediating effect of psychological capital (PsyCap) on the relationship between proactive personality and academic performance among undergraduates. A quantitative approach with a cross-sectional study was employed. The sample consisted of 390 undergraduate students from Malaysian private universities. Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling was used to confirm the proposed research model and test the hypotheses. Results revealed that proactive personality explained a significant proportion of the variance in PsyCap. Further, PsyCap partially mediated the relationship between proactive personality and academic performance. This study concluded that PsyCap could serve as personal resource to improve students' academic performance. The findings of this study offer valuable theoretical and practical implications. The university's management and academic staff need to work together to design effective training interventions and activities that can promote undergraduates' proactive personality and PsyCap.

Background: Dysphagia affects over half of adults after stroke. Dysphagia rehabilitation aims to improve swallowing and reduce negative outcomes for these adults. However, significant variability exists in dysphagia rehabilitation. Research is needed to explore the underlying clinician-specific and workplace factors that contribute to variability in dysphagia rehabilitation after stroke. Aim: To explore factors influencing speech pathology practice in dysphagia rehabilitation after stroke. Methods & Procedures: We used a phenomenological approach with an interpretivist perspective. Twenty speech pathologists working in dysphagia rehabilitation participated from different workplace settings around Australia. Five semi-structured focus groups were conducted online. Data were inductively analysed using thematic analysis with a coding reliability method. Outcomes & Results: Four themes were discussed within focus groups: (1) relationship between experienced and less experienced clinicians: 'Following what other people have done', (2) need for collaborative learning: 'A safe space to share and train', (3) variation between settings impacts on continuity of care: 'There's a difference between community and acute', and (4) working effectively with multidisciplinary teams (MDT): 'An MDT which can listen to the voice of speech pathology'. Conclusions & Implications: Relationships between senior and junior speech pathologists, within speech pathology and MDT, and across inpatient and community settings influenced speech pathology practice. Flattened hierarchies in speech pathology, collaborative learning in workplaces, mutual respect within teams and connection across inpatient and community settings could improve the quality and consistency of dysphagia rehabilitation after stroke.

Background/Context: COVID-19 changed how students learn, the challenges they face both in and out of the classroom, and the ways they access and engage with higher education. COVID-19 also highlighted inequalities in higher education. In response, faculty have also had to change their pedagogical approaches. Purpose/Focus of Study: This article presents ideas to address some of the challenges that COVID-19 has brought to the community college classroom. The focus of these strategies and pedagogical changes is to create a more equitable and successful environment for all students. Research Design: The author's praxis used Paulo Freire's 1970 work, "The Pedagogy of the Oppressed," as a guide to critically examine pedagogical practices and choices for sociological curriculum development at a medium-sized, urban, Hispanic-serving community college. Changes were evaluated through final grade analysis and student feedback. Findings: Ten changes were implemented: making the course mobile phone/ tablet accessible, incorporating audio transcripts for all, using additional video formats, engaging families/children, addressing student anxieties, incorporating more assignment choices, using Open Educational Resources for reduced costs, allowing more flexibility in assignments, extending submission times, and varying course length. These changes have reduced barriers, decreased student anxiety, and increased student success. Conclusions: The pedagogical changes made seemed to help students be more successful in their courses.

Translanguaging remains a timely and important topic in bi/multilingual education. The most recent turn in translanguaging scholarship involves attention to translanguaging "in context" in response to critiques of translanguaging as a universally empowering educational practice. In this paper, seven early career translanguaging scholars propose a framework for researching translanguaging "in context," drawing on the Douglas Fir Group's (2016) transdisciplinary framework for language acquisition. Examining translanguaging in context entails paying attention to who in a classroom wields power, as a result of their greater proficiency in societally valued languages, their more "standard" ways of speaking these languages, their greater familiarity with academic literacies valued at school, and/or their more "legitimate" forms of translanguaging. In our framework for researching translanguaging in context, we propose three principles. The first principle is obvious: (1) not to do so apolitically. The other two principles describe a synergy between ethnographic research and teacher-researcher collaborative research: (2) ethnographic research can assess macro-level language ideologies and enacted language hegemonies at the micro- and meso levels, and (3) teacher-researcher collaborations must create and sustain inclusive, equitable classroom social orders and alternative academic norms "different" from the ones documented to occur in context if left by chance.

This paper studies educational inequality in the Philippines from 1950 to 2015, examining changes in the association between social origin and educational attainment against a backdrop of educational expansions and fluctuating economic conditions. Using data from the World Bank STEP Skills Survey, the study employs a sequential logit model to illustrate trends in secondary and college completion, followed by a multinomial logit model to look into differences in college destinations (type and status) between advantaged and disadvantaged students. The findings indicate that despite sustained expansions in the past six decades, disparities in secondary and tertiary completion deepened in relation to social background. The paper also finds that although expansions occurred mainly in public higher education institutions, it did little to alter the trends in college destinations, with advantaged students still more likely to complete in "high-status" universities than disadvantaged ones. Finally, the paper sheds light on how economic recessions have varying consequences on educational attainment, routing disadvantaged students out of college in the short term, while resulting in significant declines in the likelihood of completing higher education for advantaged students enrolled in "high-status" public entities in the long term.

This cross-sectional observational study sought to examine the environmental correlates of physical activity and screen-time among youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Parents of youth with ASD (n = 1,165) from seven countries/regions provided responses to an online survey form measuring environmental correlates (i.e., physical activity neighborhood environment, social network, social trust and cohesion, bedroom media, social home environment) and outcomes (i.e., physical activity, screen-time). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to determine environmental predictors of the outcomes. Physical activity neighborhood environment (B = 0.15, p = 0.047), social network (B = 0.16, p = 0.02), and social home environment (B = 1.07, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with physical activity, whereas social trust and cohesion and bedroom media were not. Further, social trust and cohesion (B = -0.14, p = 0.001), bedroom media (B = 0.10, p = 0.001), and social home environment (B = -0.16, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with screen-time while neighborhood environment and social network were not. The identified environmental attributes of physical activity and screen-time behaviors should be targeted for health promotion among youth with ASD.

Background: There has been a rapid increase in the number of, and demand for, organisations offering behavioural science advice to government over the last ten years. Yet we know little of the state of science and the experiences of these evidence providers. Aims and objectives: To identify current practice in this emerging field and the factors that impact on the production of high-quality and policy-relevant research. Methods: A qualitative study using one-to-one interviews with representatives from a purposeful sample of 15 units in the vanguard of international behavioural science research in policy. The data were analysed thematically. Findings: Relationships with policymakers were important in the inception of units, research conduct, implementation and dissemination of findings. Knowledge exchange facilitated a shared understanding of policy issues/context, and of behavioural science. Sufficient funding was crucial to maintain critical capacity in the units' workforces, build a research portfolio beneficial to policymakers and the units, and to ensure full and transparent dissemination. Discussion and conclusion: Findings highlight the positive impact of strong evidence-provider/user relationships and the importance of governments' commitment to co-produced research programmes to address policy problems and transparency in the dissemination of methods and findings. From the findings we have created a framework, 'STEPS' (Sharing, Transparency, Engagement, Partnership, Strong relationships), of five recommendations for units working with policymakers. These findings will be of value to all researchers conducting research on behalf of government.

Childhood is a period when memory consolidation and knowledge base undergo rapid changes. The present study examined short-delay (overnight) and long-delay (after a 2-week period) consolidation of new information either congruent or incongruent with prior knowledge in typically developing 6- to 8-year-old children (n = 32), 9- to 11-year-old children (n = 33), and 18- to 30-year-old young adults (YA; n = 39). Both memory accessibility (cued recall of objects) and precision (precision of object placement) of initially well-learned object-scene pairs were measured. Our results showed that overnight, memory accessibility declined similarly in all age groups; memory precision improved more in younger children (YC) compared to older children (OC) and even declined in YA. After a 2-week period, both memory accessibility and precision became worse. Specifically, while age groups showed similar decline in memory accessibility, precision decline was less in YC than in OC and YA. The accessibility and precision of congruent and incongruent information changed similarly with consolidation in all age groups. Taken together, our results showed that, for initially well-learned information, YC have robust memory consolidation, despite their overall lower mnemonic performance compared to OC and YA, which is potentially crucial for stable and precise knowledge accumulation early on in development.

It is critical to investigate the major factors that influence the perceived value and satisfaction of international students in Malaysia, as the country has seen a decrease in international students since 2017 and strives to become an international education hub. This research aims to: (1) ascertain the level of satisfaction experienced by international students attending private universities (PrUs) in the Klang Valley; (2) identify factors and present a model that measures their influence on the perceived value and satisfaction of international students; and (3) propose policy recommendations to key stakeholders. An empirical study was conducted using a quantitative research methodology via physical survey using structured questionnaires. A total of 502 surveys from international students were collected from twelve private universities in the Klang Valley. The partial least squares structural equation modelling technique was employed to assess the measurement and structural model in validating the study model. Based on the empirical findings, the external environment, image, academic and non-academic constructs positively influence perceived value, which affects satisfaction. Results also confirm that the post-behavioural intentions of satisfied international students are word-of-mouth recommendations and loyalty. The results provided new perspectives on attracting and retaining international students to study in Malaysia. Theoretical, policy and practical implications are discussed.

Typically, departments and universities evaluate and/or provide feedback to college mathematics instructors on their teaching by conducting classroom observations. When these observations are guided by an observation protocol, the protocol provides a particular lens that focuses the observer's attention on certain aspects of instruction. To understand the way in which mathematics departments are currently evaluating teaching and investigate whether they align with inquiry-based mathematics education practices, we evaluated 24 observation protocols from universities around the United States. Through our analysis we found that protocols mainly include closed-response items that are evaluative, focus more on the instructor than the students or the content, and rarely attend to inquiry-based mathematics education practices. These results suggest that where we aspire the field to go and where it is currently at requires significant and targeted work to achieve. Moreover, our findings provide suggestions and have implications for both those who develop observation protocols and those who use observation protocols as a measure of teaching practices. Our study highlights the need for careful explicit and clear purposes when observations are used for performance measures.

COVID-19 changed university life worldwide as campuses closed or offered restricted inperson teaching. Whilst early evidence suggests that educational experiences were satisfactory, concerns were raised about the impact of COVID-19 on social and psychological elements of university including student loneliness. We conducted a UK-wide cross-sectional cohort comparison study using an anonymous online survey measuring loneliness and the factors which may predict it: belonging (need to belong and achieved belonging), social support, and social identity. We found that students who began their studies at the height of the pandemic (2020/21) or after restrictions largely lifted (2021/22) had a reduced sense of belonging compared to those who started earlier (2019/20), suggesting some longlasting effects on students. Whilst there were no significant cohort differences in loneliness, need to belong, sense of belonging, and social support were significant predictors of loneliness, suggesting these factors could be targeted to reduce loneliness in students going forward.

International graduate students reluctantly partook in the distance learning with the closure of national borders with the outbreak of COVID-19. Different instructional modes (in-person, online, and hybrid) and timing of the online learning exposure would play a role in international students' academic achievement considering the expectations and motivations to learn abroad. Based on 267 course-based panel data, for the same courses, online-mode teaching yielded worse Grade Point Averages (GPAs) and less of a sense of class community compared to the in-person mode. Similarly, students who started the program after COVID-19 (i.e., Class of 2022) performed worse than those who changed their mode of study during their study due to COVID-19 (i.e., Class of 2021). The more frequent interactions with schoolmates and professors partially mediated this detrimental effect of international online learning. Online learning, on average, decreases the GPA by 0.2 standard deviations (p<0.05). However, this effect became insignificant in the model with the frequency of interacting with classmates or professors that raise the GPA by 0.686 and 0.216 standard deviations (p,0.05), respectively. As the study sheds light on the predicament of emergent distance learning, the study addresses some cautious notes on designing effective and sustainable international education in the post-pandemic era.

Some researchers have questioned whether there is a causal connection between Advanced Placement (AP) STEM coursetaking and the choice of a STEM college major and a STEM occupation. Their research findings strongly suggest that if prior interest in STEM as well as other possible confounders are taken into account, the relationships of taking AP mathematics to expecting to be in a STEM major and/or a STEM occupation are small to nonexistent. Results from the current study, which uses data from a national longitudinal sample--actual measures of who majors in STEM--and prior interest in STEM along with other possible confounders, indicate that taking AP mathematics and AP science courses is significantly related to majoring in STEM and/or expecting to be in a STEM occupation at age 30--the sole exception being the taking of AP statistics.

This paper explores the impact of a tailored working memory training program on the mathematics achievement of secondary school students in Myanmar. While previous studies have investigated the relationship between working memory and mathematics, this study focuses on a context where computerized training programs are limited. Twelve Grade 8 students participated in a six-week program conducted via Zoom due to the pandemic. A Mathematics Achievement Test, aligned with the curriculum, assessed their performance before and after the program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather insights into the students' experiences. Results showed significant improvements in mathematics achievement, particularly in geometry, after the training program. Working memory strategies such as chunking, visualization, and concentration were found to enhance problem-solving abilities. This study highlights the potential of working memory techniques for enhancing mathematics education, particularly in areas with limited technology access.

Bangladesh's college sector is in crisis. Poor governance and leadership, staff and student quality, inadequate resources and a weak accountability and monitoring system are among the many challenges. In 2017, the Government of Bangladesh established large-scale Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training for leaders, teachers and policymakers from the National University affiliated colleges to build capacity and improve the overall quality of teaching and learning. This mixed-method study uses Holt's Readiness Instrument and Focus Group Discussions to identify participant readiness and leadership support in implementing quality assurance activities in these colleges. The study shows that CPD participants are generally more ready to implement quality assurance activities than non-participants. However, the study indicates a lack of leadership support for implementing quality assurance activities in the colleges. The article concludes that, irrespective of participant readiness, committed senior leaders are critical for success and improving institutional readiness to implement quality assurance activities.

Supporting a transition in Macao's senior secondary schools from individualized, informal music curricula to a government-led music curriculum, this qualitative and exploratory needs-analysis study reports the voices of three stakeholders - the government, teachers and their students. The findings a provide an understanding of Macao's music education context, from which emerges five contributions to the current Literature: 1) Wiggins and McTighe Understanding by Design supports differing approaches to curriculum development, 2) a "needs-analysis" approach mediates education change, 3) curriculum cohesion can retain music teachers' individual autonomy, 4) students' music learning and assessment expectations exceed those of their teachers' and 5) diversity in teacher training both empowers and dis-empowers these music-teachers' autonomy.

Language learning through online platforms is becoming increasingly popular. The technological affordances of YouTube provide a translanguaging space for learners and teachers alike to bring their different identities, experiences and histories and create a coordinated performance (Li 2011, "Moment Analysis and Translanguaging Space: Discursive Construction of Identities by Multilingual Chinese Youth in Britain." "Journal of Pragmatics" 43 (5): 1222-1235). Nevertheless, the existing literature on translanguaging space predominantly focuses on multilingual encounters in which language users draw on a repertoire of linguistic resources in making meaning, and more attention is needed to understand the role of translanguaging space in the light of the orchestration of different modalities (Zhu, Li, and Jankowicz-Pytel 2020, "Translanguaging and Embodied Teaching and Learning: Lessons from a Multilingual Karate Club in London." "International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism" 23 (1): 65-80). Drawing on two online English lessons and their comments, we focus on how the online teachers draw on different registers, styles of speaking and strategically orchestrating a range of multimodal resources to teach English vocabulary by means of role plays. We employed multimodal analysis and qualitative content analysis to unpack how two different yet interrelated translanguaging spaces are constructed in these online video classrooms. We argue that in such kind of digitally mediated learning setting, two translanguaging spaces are created: the 'interactional translanguaging space' and 'performative translanguaging space'. The study also offers some pedagogical implications to inform the future directions of developing teaching and learning materials in digital platforms.

To aid departments in growing and supporting the potential of novice instructors, this paper shares a peer-mentoring program that has been implemented at three universities over the last five years for graduate student instructors (GSIs, master, and doctoral) within mathematics departments. This paper provides frameworks, curricular topics, necessary conditions, methods of implementation, successes, and anticipated challenges from five years of research to help establish and sustain a peer-mentoring program for GSIs. Positive outcomes from this peer-mentoring program included improving support for Novices (resulting in anticipating teaching concerns), lowering the rate at which students received a D, F, or withdrew (DFW), having fewer complaints and concerns, and sustaining stewardship.

We present a multiple case study wherein one institution established new communities of practice supporting graduate student instructors teaching coordinated courses in the presence of minimal existing resources and funding. This was accomplished by partnering with and adapting resources from another institution; one with a well-established community-driven curriculum structure. In particular, we detail a potential model for similarly seeding a new community of practice by describing amounts of time and attention for adapting curriculum materials. We also detail how a professional learning community approach can be leveraged to build curriculum structures that can sustain an equitable community among instructors.

The teacher shortage is a critical issue in many rural areas around the world. This paper presents the findings of two studies that investigated the impact of financial incentives on teacher attraction and retention in rural schools in Western China. Using the theory of compensating wage differentials and a mixed-method approach, we found that providing living subsidies to student-teachers has an impact on teacher attraction but not retention, while tuition fee and loan reimbursements have a positive impact on both attraction and retention. For teachers already teaching in rural schools, the amount of the living subsidy, satisfaction with the policy, and identification of the policy are the key factors that affect the success of the policy. We argue that for the subsidy amount to be effective, it should be based on feedback from rural teachers and be at least 15% of their monthly salary.

This paper draws on my experiences as a doctoral student undertaking a project to examine the professional adaptation of Asian immigrant teachers in Australia. Using a reflexive narrative approach, I examine how my position influenced my access to participants, the understanding of their contexts, and the nature of my relationship and interaction with the participants. The paper discusses the tensions that resulted from my insider-outsider positions and how they shaped my qualitative study's research process and outcomes. I conclude with recommendations for researchers to carefully consider the possible influence of their positionality in any research setting and its implications for informing future research.

Background: People with an intellectual disability have a higher risk of developing mental disorders compared to the general population. Available evidence suggests those with an intellectual disability receiving inpatient treatment in general psychiatric wards may have certain unique characteristics. Method: Data gathered from a retrospective review of records of adults with intellectual disability admitted to general psychiatry wards in a tertiary psychiatric hospital in Singapore were analysed. Results: Of 290 adults with intellectual disability, 62.8% were males. The median age was 38 years. The median length of stay was 12 days and over 80% had at least one previous admission. Nearly 80% had a mild intellectual disability and 64.5% had at least one psychiatric comorbidity, the majority having schizophrenia or psychotic disorder. Physical aggression was the most common primary reason for admission. Conclusions: The specific profile of patients identified in the study would be helpful in determining priority areas for the development of specialist psychiatric services for people with intellectual disability.

The transnational movement of teachers has affected the education environment worldwide. Using a qualitative approach and conceptualising immigrant adaptation based on the differential adaptation theory, we examine the adaptation experiences of immigrant teachers in Australia. Our findings revealed that immigrant teachers' professional identity, the tension experienced in the adaptation process, and their sense of belonging are critical constructs that contributed to their differential adaptation experiences. Drawing on these findings, we theorise immigrant teachers' professional adaptation by presenting eight possible modes to explain immigrant teachers' experience trajectories through various combinations of these critical constructs.

While public consultation is a signature process of democratic policy formulation, many governments manoeuvre to refract citizen's opinions or conduct it perfunctorily. Using the case of a medium of instruction policy in Hong Kong, this article unveils the strategies that the state and citizens employ to put their opinion through to the final policy text, during a public consultation process. Recent literature has identified the mechanisms through which individual actors or organisations contribute to broad policy agenda-setting or policy programme development. However, yet to be investigated is how they -- sometimes with conflicting interests -- collectively negotiate a policy with the state via public consultations. This paper investigates this very phenomenon, building on previous work conducted in the public policy field, analysing 51 government-generated documents through both thematic content analysis and critical discourse analysis. The paper uncovers four strategies adopted by administrations ("non-commitment," "case closure," "disengagement for irrelevance," and "placation") to evade citizens' equity-oriented demands and stakeholders' three counter strategies ("mobilising" other stakeholders into a coalition, "reopening the case" pointing out a new problem, and "appealing" by affirming relevance). The state's discrete refusals and stakeholders' conjoint reengagement tactics draw our attention to the complexity and subtlety involved in negotiation via public consultations.

Home enrichment plays an important role in shaping children's development. In the current study, we inquired whether home enrichment was associated with pre-schoolers' visual working memory (VWM) function, a critical cognitive system necessary for maintaining information for short periods of time. Home enrichment was assessed using an adapted version of the Home Observation Measurement of the Environment Interview. VWM behavior and brain function were collected as children engaged with a color change detection task. Home enrichment was associated with right-lateralized fronto-parietal engagement. Specifically, greater home enrichment was linked to increased activation in the right angular gyrus, important for working memory maintenance, and suppression in the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), important for re-orienting attention to distracting events. Critically, home enrichment-related rIFG suppression was linked to better VWM performance. This work sheds light on potential mechanism(s) through which enrichment in homes might be involved with cognitive function during the preschool years.

"The Transporters" intervention contains 15 animated episodes that autistic children watch daily for a month and learn emotion recognition through stories depicting social interactions between vehicle characters with grafted human faces, expressing emotions. Its automated, home-based format is cost-effective. This study included four groups of young Chinese children in Hong Kong: two intervention groups (an autism intervention group and an autism + attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) intervention group), an autism control group and a non-autistic group. The autism + ADHD intervention group was one that had not been separately examined before. In this study, "The Transporters" episodes were delivered via an App instead of the dated DVD technology. Following "The Transporters" intervention, both autism and autism + ADHD intervention groups improved significantly and similarly on emotion recognition and were more like the non-autistic group, while the autism control group did not. Learning was generalizable to novel situations/characters. There was no dosage effect, with the standard recommended number of episodes viewed as sufficient for significant improvement. Besides confirming the effectiveness of "The Transporters" for young Chinese autistic children, this study contributes to the literature/practice by expanding the range of applicability of "The Transporters" to autistic children with ADHD, which is important given the high co-occurrence rate between autism and ADHD.

This scoping review examines the literature on teaching Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes. The study explores how these programmes integrate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into their curriculum and pedagogy to prepare teachers to work with Indigenous students and communities. The review identifies empirical studies focusing on the experiences of ITE students, faculty, and Indigenous knowledge keepers, highlighting common themes and best practices. The findings suggest that while many ITE programmes have incorporated Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into their curriculum, there is a need for greater attention to the pedagogical approaches used to teach this knowledge. There is also a need for programmes to build stronger relationships with Indigenous communities and to ensure that Indigenous knowledge is taught by teachers/educators who have received some training in consultations with the Indigenous knowledge keepers. The study highlights the importance of ongoing reflection and evaluation of ITE programmes to ensure that they are preparing the preservice teachers confident enough to embed Indigenous content in their teaching and, at the same time, meet the needs of Indigenous students and communities.

The global mobility and migration of teachers has affected the education environment worldwide. This study examines the professional transition of immigrant teachers and finds that teacher professional identity is a critical element in a complex process of professional transition. Using a qualitative inductive approach, this study reports on the professional transition experiences of ten teachers who migrated from Asia to Australia. Findings revealed that teachers' employment status, skills and knowledge, perceived social position, and beliefs and attitudes towards teaching are significant elements of teacher identity that either enable or inhibit immigrant teachers' professional transition. The findings relate to previous research and offer an enhanced understanding of how policymakers and educational leaders can support overseas teachers as they transition into schools within the Australian context.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has posed serious challenges to schools and teachers as it forced schools to close and traditional face-to-face teaching was suspended. How did Hong Kong geography teachers respond to these challenges in the first nine months of the outbreak? How did they adapt to the social distancing measures such as school closure? Why did they adapt in the way they did? The researchers interviewed 18 teachers with different lengths of teaching experiences and teaching students of different academic abilities to answer these questions. It was found that even though there were few specific suggestions from the Government and their schools, the teachers interviewed, as a whole, have taken self-initiated steps to adapt teaching strategies and proactively try various means to help their students continue to learn under the constraints of the Pandemic.

Plant-derived natural products are an important source of potential medicines and continue to have a major impact on the drug discovery process. Natural product discovery assignments provide an opportunity to present various experimental techniques to undergraduate students in introductory medicinal chemistry. This assignment was developed to serve as a meaningful hands-on exercise to introduce undergraduate Chemistry students to the common procedure in the early phase of drug discovery using inexpensive corn silk, in which the final year undergraduate student used Recycling Preparative High-Performance Liquid Chromatography to separate and purify steroids from corn silk. The student used advanced spectroscopic methods such as UV, IR, and one- and two-dimensional NMR to elucidate the structures of these steroids. The cytotoxic activity of these steroids was also evaluated and found to be non-cytotoxic to normal human MRC-5 cells at 60 µg/mL via 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. With this assignment, students gain meaningful multidisciplinary hands-on exercises with the common procedure in the early stages of drug discovery and understand the process of isolating natural compounds that may lead to the development of new drugs.

The quality of beauty treatment services will be evaluated by the clients subjectively whether they are satisfied or otherwise with the services provided. However, the reports and complaints related to customer dissatisfaction when receiving beauty treatment services at beauty centers are increasing. Unfortunately, the suggestions for improvement from the previous studies are still insufficient. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the importance of proficiency in communication skills and the need for training modules in the teaching and learning process (T&L). It is required to improve communication skills among cosmetology students for Upper Secondary Vocational Education Program (USVEP) in beauty arts course. The data were collected through the interview method on six USVEP teachers and a beauty salon entrepreneur. The findings of the study found that the proficiency in communication skills among the cosmetology students is an important requirement for employers in selecting their employees, increasing customer loyalty and the customer's frequency to visit beauty salons, and maintaining the excellent performance of cosmetology students in the workplace. In addition, there is also a high demand for the development of communication skills training modules in helping cosmetology students to constantly updated with new knowledge and skills needed from time to time. Therefore, adequate training is required to improve the competency in communication skills among the cosmetology students.

Recent studies show that many of the current and future careers involve some form of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) integration. The new development of school STEM education provides opportunities for students to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to face the challenges ahead. Involving students with different disabilities in STEM learning is of particular importance and usefulness because we should not deprive them of opportunities to engage in STEM fields in the future. However, how to expose students with intellectual disabilities (ID) to STEM learning have not been well explored. STEM learning can mean something different to each teacher, and how they integrate it into their classrooms may also differ. There are suggestions to use inquiry, engineering, and technology to support students with special needs. In the design of STEM learning for students who have ID, teachers from a special school constructed a 4E model of engaging, exploring, engineering, and explaining, which emphasizes inquiry and at the same time leverages technology and engineering to integrate learning content into a purposeful and informed way to improve student engagement in lessons. Lesson observations were conducted to study students' cognitive, affective, and behavioral engagement in lessons. Results showed that students with mild ID in the classes responded and worked actively, while those with moderate ID asked for more assistance. Moreover, it was found that students were less involved in explaining. This research provides a practical model and evidence of student engagement in STEM learning.

The General Education Foundation (GEF) Programme, consisting of two seminar courses, namely "In Dialogue with Humanity" and "In Dialogue with Nature," has been a common core requirement of The Chinese University of Hong Kong since 2012. Aided by selected classics, students from all faculties engage in dialogues with their teachers and each other to reflect on what it means to have a good life, what an ideal society is, and the nature of intellectual pursuit in the sciences. Reading classics and discussing serious questions in class, however, can be challenging for some students. To help students meet these challenges, Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) were introduced in the pilot stage of GEF in 2010 and, with subsequent refinements, continue to this day. The seminar-style and interdisciplinary nature of GEF makes it an atypical case for PASS. This paper will examine and evaluate how PASS can improve student learning in seminar-style courses like GEF with a mixed-method study from a student perspective. According to evidence from online surveys and focus group interviews, PASS successfully (1) improves students' understanding of the course content at a cognitive level; (2) assists and motivates them to prepare better for seminar discussions, effecting a behavioural change; and (3) facilitates affective learning outcomes in terms of confidence and motivation. Major challenges--including students' misperceptions about PASS, differences in leaders' approaches and organisational difficulties--are identified. Proposed solutions to these challenges will also be discussed.

The study using quasi experimental design involving 160 pre-university students, randomly assigned into experimental (n=80) and control groups (n=80), revealed science writing heuristics approach improved pre-university students' understanding of energy transfer in ecosystems and ability to produce quality arguments. After controlling the pretest scores, the one-way ANCOVA analysis indicates a significant difference between the experimental group's posttest scores taught using science writing heuristics approach, and the control group's posttest scores taught using a teacher-centered approach, in favor of the experimental group. The interview findings denote that the students acquired a comprehensive understanding of energy transfer as they provided holistic explanations describing the energy transfer. The science writing heuristics approach also enabled students to produce quality arguments. The study indicates that the science writing heuristics approach is a viable strategy to facilitate teaching and learning abstract concepts such as energy transfer in ecosystems that fundamentally require students to argue to connect and relate compartmentalized ideas to form holistic views.

To date, the Intentions to Seek Counseling Inventory (ISCI) is the most widely used instrument to measure psychological help-seeking intentions. However, the ISCI is yet to be validated with international students. In this study, we examine the dimensionality and reliability of the ISCI by performing exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach alpha reliability analysis, and split-half reliability analysis in a sample of international students (N = 183). We find a two-factor, 15-item assessment that explains 49.92% of the common variance. Our findings provide support for the use of ISCI with international students, albeit with different dimensionality. Implications of the findings for both research and practice are discussed.

Literature instruction may serve multiple functions. This case study aimed at investigating the perceptions on the use of online literature circles among 62 first year Teaching English as a Second Language pre-service teachers in a literature course at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The participants were assigned to read and participate in online literature circles about the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Based on cooperative learning, the participants rotated in playing the roles of the Discussion Director, Device Detective, Imaginative Illustrator, Creative Connector, and Passage Picker in each group. Data from a survey were analyzed in descriptive statistics, while data from the role sheets based on the five roles and the online video of 3 literature circle discussions were analyzed thematically. The findings are significant for teacher training institutions and in-service teachers. This study was able to show that online literature circles were perceived as interesting, engaging, challenging, and fun. The participants engaged in different learning processes involving cognitive, affective, and language skills. Though this study identified some challenges, online literature circles have many benefits and are recommended for literature instruction for pre-service teacher training.

The adoption of online learning approach in education is becoming more popular around the world to overcome the time and spatial barriers of traditional face-to-face learning. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the normality of learning and avoiding face-to-face activities is one tactic to minimise the spread of COVID-19. This study investigated the perception of online learning from students' and teachers' perspectives compared to traditional face-to-face learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ten focus group interviews were conducted, nine of which involved fifty-five students, while the remaining one involved eight full-time teachers. All informants were recruited from two Hong Kong tertiary educational institutions: the Hong Kong Community College, and the School of Professional Education and Executive Development of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The Community of Inquiry model and Pedagogy-driven, Learner-Centred, Objective-Oriented and Technology-Enable model were adopted as a framework to analyse students' and teachers' perceptions of social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence. Qualitative content analysis indicated that teacher-student and student-student interactions were the biggest challenge in online learning, and this affected the acquisition and application of knowledge in terms of cognitive presence. Other factors such as personality, learning environment, and technical skills affected the perception of both online and face-to-face learning.

This study investigated whether individuals with high autistic traits rely on psychoacoustic abilities in affective prosody recognition (APR). In 94 college students, Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and psychoacoustic abilities were measured. Results indicated that higher AQ, higher rapid auditory processing (RAP), and maleness were associated with a lower APR accuracy for low-intensity prosodies. There was a strong positive association between RAP and APR for participants with high AQ, whereas low-AQ participants showed no such pattern. The findings suggest a reliance on psychoacoustic abilities as compensatory mechanism for deficits in higher-order processing of emotional signals in social interactions, and imply potential benefits of auditory interventions in improving APR among individuals with high autistic traits.

Low student engagement and motivation in online classes are well-known issues many universities face, especially with distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online environment makes it even harder for teachers to connect with their students through traditional verbal and nonverbal behaviours, further decreasing engagement. Yet, addressing such problems with 24/7 synchronous communication is overly demanding for faculty. This paper details an automated Question-Answering chatbot system trained in synchronous communication and instructor immediacy techniques to determine its suitability and effectiveness in attending to students undergoing an online Chemistry course. The chatbot is part of a new wave of affective focused chatbots that can benefit students' learning process by connecting with them on a relatively more humanlike level. As part of the pilot study in the development of this chatbot, qualitative interviews and self-report data capturing student-chatbot interactions, experiences and opinions have been collected from 12 students in a Singaporean university. Thematic analysis was then employed to consolidate these findings. The results support the chatbot's ability to display several communication immediacy techniques well, on top of responding to students at any time of the day. Having a private conversation with the chatbot also meant that the students could fully focus their attention and ask more questions to aid their learning. Improvements were suggested, in relation to the chatbot's word detection and accuracy, accompanied by a framework to develop communication immediacy mechanics in future chatbots. Our findings support the potential of this chatbot, once modified, to be used in a similar online setting.

This paper examines the experience and role of negative emotions in facilitating university students' learning in world music courses. Based on a review of literature in music psychology and music education, we posit that negative emotions can engender a meaningful learning context. In this project conducted in an Australian university, we created a condition in which students were engaged in repeated listening to recordings of music from cultures different from their own, which they reported as sounding "unpleasant." We then analysed how they overcame emotional responses through a listening exercise. The findings suggest that the students developed enhanced motivation and cognitive reflection by facing their own negative emotions through repeated listening. The article finishes with a discussion about the positive side of negative emotions and the negative side of positive emotions as they relate to music education.