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Life and death education , as noted from the literatures, has been studied and researched extensively in China, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Our own research undertakings over the past several years, situated in different sociocultural settings have delved into aspects of life and death that could help advance theoretical understanding of the subject matters (e.g., does the meaning of "effective life functioning" connote differing interpretations for different cultural groups?). Situating within the framework of life and death education, we expand the study of trans-humanism by introducing an extended prefix or nomenclature known as "trans-mystical". Specifically, our philosophized concept of trans-mysticism considers a related concept, which we term as a "trans-mystical mindset". A trans-mystical mindset, differing from an ordinary mindset, from our philosophical rationalization, is defined as "a person's higher-order state of consciousness, espousing her perception, judgment, belief, and attempted interpretation of life and death phenomena that are mystifying and fall outside the ordinary boundaries of human psyche." Our focus of inquiry, as reported in the present article, seeks to advance our proposition: that a trans-mystical mindset, unlike an ordinary mindset, may help a person to rationalize, appreciate, and understand metaphysical contexts, mystical experiences, and the like. This focus, interestingly, serves to highlight an important discourse - namely, that there is a dichotomy in theoretical lenses (i.e., objective reality vs. individual subjectivity) that a person may use to rationalize the significance or non-significance of universal contexts, events, phenomena, etc. (e.g., a person's experience of "premonition"). As such, then, there is an important question that we seek to consider: whether philosophization, or the use of philosophical psychology, would yield perceived "scientific evidence" to support or to reject the study of metaphysicism, mysticism, and the like? For example, does our philosophization of an "equivalency" between a person's trans-mystical mindset and her experience of self-transcendence help to normalize and/or to scientize the subject matters of metaphysicism, mysticism, etc.?, Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Phan, Ngu, Hsu, Chen and Wu.)

Life and death education , also known as life education and death education , is an interesting subject that may coincide with the subject of lifespan development. In brief, from our theoretical perspective, which guides our teaching and curriculum development, life education considers personal understanding of life functioning on a daily basis, whereas death education explores matters that are related to death and dying. For example, how can a social worker utilize his life knowledge, or life wisdom, to assist a relative to understand the intricate nature of death? In a similar vein, how can a senior citizen use her personal experience of Buddhist meditation practice to overcome a minor Covid setback? Central to our teaching practice is the premise of 'active transformation' (i.e., transforming life knowledge into positive practice) and the premise of 'theoretical infusion' (e.g., the infusion of a distinctive epistemological belief in the teaching of life) that would, in turn, help to enhance and facilitate deep, meaningful understanding of life and death. The purpose of the present article is for us to discuss a proposition of a theoretical-conceptual model, which depicts the 'unification' or integration of three major viewpoints of life and death: the social viewpoint , the philosophical viewpoint , and the psychological viewpoint . We theorize that unification of the three theoretical viewpoints may help provide grounding for effective teaching and holistic understanding of the subject contents of life and death. Such discourse, importantly, may also assist to advance the scope and complexity of the lifespan development subject. Finally, in addition to our theoretical-conceptual model of life and death, we propose three major research inquiries for development: the meaning of situated mindset , the underlying nature of spiritual transcendence , and proposition of appropriate methodological accounts for usage. Overall, then, we purport that our conceptual analysis and discussion overview, based on philosophical reflection, may serve to stimulate interest, intellectual curiosity, scholarly dialog, etc., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Phan, Chen, Ngu and Hsu.)

Studying worked examples impose relatively low cognitive load because learners' attention is directed to learn the schema, which is embedded in the worked examples. That schema encompasses both conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge. It is well-documented that worked examples are effective in facilitating the acquisition of problem-solving skills. However, the use of worked examples to develop problem-solving expertise is less known. Typically, experts demonstrate an efficient way to solve problems that is quicker, faster, and having fewer solution steps. We reviewed five studies to validate the benefit of worked examples to develop problem-solving expertise for word problems. Overall, a diagram portrays the problem structure, coupled with either study worked examples or complete multiple example-problem pairs, facilitates the formation of an equation to solve words problems efficiently. Hence, an in-depth understanding of conceptual knowledge (i.e., problem structure) might contribute to superior performance of procedural knowledge manifested in the reduced solution steps., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Ngu and Phan.)

The paradigm of positive psychology is significant in introducing positive psychological concepts such as "flourishing," "optimal best," and "a state of flow." In terms of research development of positive psychology, the researchers of this article have made extensive theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions by advancing the study of optimal best. One aspect of this research, notably, consists of advancement of the psychological process of optimization . Optimization, in brief, provides a theoretical account into the "optimization" of a person's state of functioning. Non-academically, a Buddhist nun's seeking to successfully achieve an optimal state of enlightenment or, academically, a first-year student's seeking to achieve an A grade in Psych 101 would require some form of optimization. Recent research development has, interestingly, considered a related concept known as "goals of best practice" (GsBP), which may co-exist with the process of optimization and/or assist to account for the optimization of learning experiences. This conceptual analysis article, by utilizing the paradigm of philosophical psychology , advances the study of optimal best practice by focusing on three major aspects: (i) to consider conceptually and philosophically how and/or the extent to which GsBP could, in fact, relate to the nature of flow, flourishing, and optimal best; (ii) to consider a methodological account, which could help to measure and assess the concept GsBP; and (iii) to consider the potential practicality of GsBP in educational contexts, which may assist to facilitate and motivate the achievement of optimal best. These three aspects, we firmly believe, are of significance as they provide grounding for implementation and continuing research development into the area of best practice., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Phan and Ngu.)

We tested a theoretical-conceptual model that introduced our recently developed psychological concept, termed as psychological processes , which is defined as "a person's continuing frame of mind to focus on disposition toward strong resolute, structured thoughts and organization, and aspiration to strive for educational success." This proposition is innovative as it considers the notion that a person's mindset is malleable and, importantly, subjects to social experiences derived from a situated social context. Moreover, from our definition, we contend that psychological processes, as a distinct construct, is "latent," or underlying, with three comparable psychological attributes: personal resolve, effective functioning, and personal striving. Our conceptualization, acknowledging the importance of social contexts and individualized experience and personal belief, proposed that perceived social experiences (i.e., positive versus negative), as a source of information, would shape a student's psychological processes, his/her state of motivation, and engagement in different types of adaptive outcomes. Moreover, from our point of view, psychological processes would act as a predictor as well as a potential mediator of motivation and engagement in different types of adaptive outcomes. In a similar vein, from the positive effect of psychological processes, motivation could act as a predictor as well as a mediator of adaptive outcomes. Structural equation modeling, from Taiwanese university students' ( N = 739) responses to various Likert-scale measures, showed support for our original a priori model - for example, the positive effects of perceived social experiences on psychological processes (β = 0.81, p < 0.001) motivation (β = 0.61, p < 0.001), and adaptive outcomes (β = 0.36, p < 0.01), and the positive effect of psychological processes on motivation (β = 0.31, p < 0.01). Interestingly, we also found some interesting findings with regard to the effects of measured indicators - for example, the positive effect of personal resolve, as a measured indicator, on adaptive outcomes (β = 0.28, p < 0.001), and the effect of self-efficacy, as a measured indicator, on academic liking experience, also a measured indicator (β = 0.12, p < 0.01). Overall, the results established have a wide range of implications for consideration - for example, the development of an educational program and/or instructional design that could promote and foster positive learning experiences., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Phan and Ngu.)

Possessing expert schemas is a positive feat that may yield different types of adaptive outcomes (e.g., informing procedural understanding that may result in a student skipping a few of the solution steps involved). Limited schemas, in contrast, may deter progress of a novice learner, limiting his/her capability to flourish. Taken as a whole, it may be concluded that expert schemas are more advantageous than novice schemas, differentiating learners in terms of expert and novice. Having said this, however, more recently, researchers have argued that possessing expert schemas could serve as deterrence. Recently, researchers have acknowledged a theoretical concept known as cognitive entrenchment , which is defined as a high level of stability in domain schemas. This description interestingly suggests that "entrenchment" or "situated fixation" of a course of action (e.g., a subject matter) could hinder the progress and learning experience of a person, namely-his/her inability and/or unwillingness to adapt to a new context, and/or his/her inflexibility and insistence to stay on course without any intent to change. One example of cognitive entrenchment is observed in professional football, wherein it has been argued that some football coaches are cognitively entrenched within their expert schemas, resulting in their demised game plans and strategic acumen. We advance the study of cognitive entrenchment by proposing an alternative viewpoint, which we term as the "perceived zone of certainty and uncertainty." This proposition counters the perspective of cognitive entrenchment by arguing that it is cognitive appraisal, judgment, mental resolute, and determination of a person in cognitive certainty of his/her success or failure, or the cognitive uncertainty of success or failure, that would explain the notion of inflexibility and/or unwillingness to adapt, and/or insistence to stay on course without any attempt to deviate. Moreover, we rationalize that certainty of success or failure would closely associate with a feeling of comfort, whereas uncertainty would associate with his/her feeling discomfort. In this analysis, we strongly believe that willingness to change and adapt, reluctance and insistence to remain on course, and/or inclination to embrace flexibility may not necessarily relate to the concept of cognitive entrenchment; rather, inflexibility and/or reluctance to change for the purpose of adaptation has more to do with the desire of a person to seek a state of comfort. Finally, our conceptual analysis of cognitive entrenchment also considers an interesting theoretical concept, which we termed as "perceived optimal efficiency." Perceived optimal efficiency, similar to cognitive relevance theory , is concerned with the relationship between minimum investment of time, effort, cognitive resources, etc., and an optimal best outcome. The issue for discussion, from our point of view, is related to the extent to which the certainty of success or failure would associate with perceived optimal efficiency., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Phan and Ngu.)

One interesting observation that we may all concur with is that many experts, or those who are extremely knowledgeable and well-versed in their respective domains of functioning, become "mediocre" and lose their "touch of invincibility" over time. For example, in the world of professional football, it has been argued that an elite football coach would lose his/her air of invincibility and demise after 10-15 years at the top. Why is this the case? There are different reasons and contrasting viewpoints that have been offered to account for this observed demise. One notable concept, recently introduced to explain this decline, is known as cognitive entrenchment , which is concerned with a high level of stability in one's domain schemas (Dane, 2010). This entrenchment or "situated fixation," from our proposition, may act to deter the flexibility and/or willingness of a person to adapt to a new context or situation. Some writers, on this basis, have argued that cognitive entrenchment would help explain the demise of some experts and/or why some students have difficulties adapting to new situations. An initial inspection would seem to indicate that cognitive entrenchment is detrimental, potentially imparting evidence of inflexibility, difficulty, and/or the unwillingness of a person to adapt to new contexts (Dane, 2010). This premise importantly connotes that expertise may constrain a person from being flexible, innovative, and/or creative to ongoing changes. In this analysis, an expert may experience a cognitive state of entrenchment, facilitated in this case by his/her own experience, knowledge, and/or theoretical understanding of a subject matter. Having said this, however, it is also a plausibility that cognitive entrenchment in itself espouses some form of positivity, giving rise to improvement and/or achievement of different types of adaptive outcomes. Drawing from our existing research development, we propose in this conceptual analysis article that personal "entrenchment" to a particular context (e.g., the situated fixation of a football coach to a particular training methodology) may closely relate to three major elements: self-cognizance of cognitive load imposition , a need for efficiency , and the quest for stability and comfort . As we explore later, there is credence to accept the "positivity" of cognitive entrenchment-that by nature, for example, a person would purposively choose the status quo in order to minimize cognitive load imposition, optimize efficiency, and/or to achieve minimum disruption and a high level of comfort, which could then "optimize" his/her learning experiences. We strongly believe that our propositions, which consider eight in this article, are of significance and may, importantly, provide grounding for further research development into the validity of cognitive entrenchment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Phan and Ngu.)

The present study, using a non-experimental approach, investigated a theoretical concept of best practice, which we recently introduced - namely: a 'state of consonance' and a 'state of disconsonance' of best practice. Consonance of best practice posits that different levels of best practice (e.g., low level of best practice versus optimal level of best practice), as well as other comparable psychological constructs (e.g., motivation towards learning) would cluster or 'group' together. Disconsonance of best practice , in contrast, would indicate non-overlapping of contrasting levels of best practice (i.e., low level of best practice versus optimal level of best practice). Taiwanese undergraduates ( N = 831) from five private universities in Taipei City and New Taipei City, Taiwan took part in the study by responding to a suite of Likert-scale questionnaires (e.g., Best Practice Questionnaires, Motivation towards Learning Questionnaire), which took approximately 30-35 min to complete. Cluster analysis, commonly known as ClA , was used to analyze the data and seek theoretical understanding into the nature of the consonance of best practice. Results, overall, showed support for our proposition, resulting in four distinct profiles: 'a Balanced Profile,' 'an Intrinsic Motivation Profile,' 'a Current Best Practice + Interest Profile,' and 'a Current Best Practice + Motivation Profile.' This evidence, helping to advance further research development, has a number of practical implications for consideration. For example, how could we use the Balanced Profile to develop learning objectives and/or pedagogical practices that would encourage students to enjoy their learning experiences?, Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Phan and Ngu.)

Life education , also known as life and death education , is an important subject in Taiwan with institutions (e.g., high school) offering degree programs and courses that focus on quality learning and implementation of life education. What is interesting from the perspective of Taiwanese education is that the teaching of life education also incorporates a number of Eastern-derived and conceptualized tenets, for example, Buddhist teaching and the importance of spiritual wisdom. This premise contends then that life education in Taiwan, in general, is concerned with the promotion, fulfillment, and cherishing of quality life experiences (e.g., personal contentment, happiness). One example of life education, which resonates with other spiritual beliefs and religious faiths (e.g., Hinduism), is related to spiritual cultivation and the enlightenment of life wisdom. Our own teaching of the subject, likewise, places emphasis on the goal of teaching students to seek meaningful understanding of and appreciation for three major, interrelated components of life education: life wisdom , life practice , and life care . It has been acknowledged, to a certain degree, that life education has made meaningful contributions, such as the creation and facilitation of a civil, vibrant society, and that many Taiwanese individuals show dignity, respect for elders, and reverence for spiritual and religious faiths. For example, aside from high-quality hospice care, many Taiwanese engage in different types of benevolent acts (e.g., providing spiritual advice to someone who is dying), where possible. Life education is a beneficial subject for teaching and learning as its theoretical understanding may help individuals cope with pathologies and negative conditions and life experiences. One negative life experience, in this case, is the ultimate fate of humankind: death. Approaching death and/or the onset of grief is something that we all have to experience. How does one approach death? It is not easy feat, and of course, grief for a loved one is personal, and some of us struggle with this. We contend that spiritual cultivation and enlightenment, arising from life education, may assist us with the topic of death (e.g., the possibility of transcendence beyond the realm of life). More importantly however, from our own teaching experiences and research development, we strongly believe and rationalize that the subject of life education could, indeed, coincide with and support the paradigm of positive psychology (Seligman, 1999, 2010; Seligman and Csíkszentmihályi, 2000). Forming the premise of the present conceptual analysis article, we propose that a person's "spiritual and enlightened self," reflecting the convergence of three major aspects of life education (i.e., philosophical reflection, enrichment of personal well-being, and spiritual cultivation), would result in the initiation and creation of a number of virtues and positive characteristics, for example, having a positive outlook in life, having a perceived sense of spirituality , showing compassion , forgiveness , etc. These virtues and quality characteristics, from our philosophical reasoning, are equivalent to those qualities that the paradigm of positive psychology advocates for. In summary, we conceptualize that the subject of life education, from the perspective of Taiwanese education, may intertwine with the paradigm of positive psychology. A person's spiritual and enlightened self, or his/her "holistic self," from our rationalization, is the ultimate optimal life experience that he/she may have, enabling him/her to address the gamut of life conditions and experiences. The distinctive nature of life education in this case, as a point of summary, is that it incorporates spiritual beliefs and religious faiths (e.g., Buddhist faith), encouraging a person to seek nature and divine-human relationships, as well as to contemplate and to explore the complex nature of his/her inner self. The notion of Buddhist samsâra , for example, as "evidence" of spirituality, entailing the endless cycle of birth, rebirth, and redeath, may provide a person with hope into the afterlife. Such esoteric discourse, we contend, is positive and optimistic, allowing individuals to discard the dividing line between life and death., (Copyright © 2020 Phan, Ngu, Chen, Wu, Lin and Hsu.)

The subject of mathematics is a national priority for most countries in the world. By all account, mathematics is considered as being "pure theoretical" (Becher, 1987), compared to other subjects that are "soft theoretical" or "hard applied." As such, the learning of mathematics may pose extreme difficulties for some students. Indeed, as a pure theoretical subject, mathematics is not that enjoyable and for some students, its learning can be somewhat arduous and challenging. One such example is the topical theme of Trigonometry , which is relatively complex for comprehension and understanding. This Trigonometry problem that involves algebraic transformation skills is confounded, in particular, by the location of the pronumeral (e.g., x )-whether it is a numerator sin30° = x /5 or a denominator sin30° = 5/ x . More specifically, we contend that some students may have difficulties when solving sin30° = x /5, say, despite having learned how to solve a similar problem, such as x /4 = 3. For more challenging Trigonometry problems, such as sin50° = 12/ x where the pronumeral is a denominator, students have been taught to "swap" the x with sin30° and then from this, solve for x . Previous research has attempted to address this issue but was unsuccessful. Learning by analogy relies on drawing a parallel between a learned problem and a new problem, whereby both share a similar solution procedure. We juxtapose a linear equation (e.g., x /4 = 3) and a Trigonometry problem (e.g., sin30° = x /5) to facilitate analogical learning. Learning by comparison , in contrast, identifies similarities and differences between two problems, thereby contributing to students' understanding of the solution procedures for both problems. We juxtapose the two types of Trigonometry problems that differ in the location of the pronumeral (e.g., sin30° = x /5 vs. cos50° = 20/ x ) to encourage active comparison. Therefore, drawing on the complementary strength of learning by analogy and learning by comparison theories, we expect to counter the inherent difficulty of learning Trigonometry problems that involve algebraic transformation skills. This conceptual analysis article, overall, makes attempts to elucidate and seek clarity into the two comparative pedagogical approaches for effective learning of Trigonometry., (Copyright © 2020 Ngu and Phan.)

Positive psychology, as a distinctive paradigm, focuses on the remedy of pathologies and, by contrast, the promotion of positive experiences and conditions in life (e.g., encouraging a state of flourishing). Positive psychology, in its simplistic form, may provide evidence and insightful understanding into the proactivity of human agency (Seligman, 1999; Seligman and Csíkszentmihályi, 2000). Drawing from this emphasis, we have developed the theory of optimization , which attempts to explain the achievement of optimal functioning in life (e.g., optimal cognitive functioning: academic performance). By the same token, in the course of our research development into the theory of optimization, we have also delved into a comparable theoretical orientation, namely: the multifaceted nature of mindfulness , consisting of three interrelated components - the psychological component of mindfulness, the philosophical component of mindfulness, and the spiritual component of mindfulness. This conceptualization of mindfulness is rather unique for its incorporation of both Western and Eastern knowledge, philosophical viewpoints, and epistemologies into one holistic framework. The main premise of this conceptual analysis article is to advance the study of positive psychology by specifically introducing our recently developed model of mindfulness, in this case, the multifaceted structure of mindfulness with its three distinct components. Importantly, we make attempts to highlight the significance of this multifaceted model by situating it within the theory of optimization for academic learning. Using philosophical psychology and personal-based teaching and research reasoning, we provide a valid rationale as to how aspects of our proposed model of mindfulness (e.g., reaching a state of enlightenment) could act to facilitate and optimize a person's state of functioning (e.g., cognitive functioning). Moreover, we posit that our rationale regarding mindfulness as a potential "optimizing agent" for the purpose of optimal functioning could, indeed, emphasize and reflect the salient nature of positive psychology. In other words, we contend that an explanatory account of mindfulness from the perspectives of Confucianism and Buddhism could, in this analysis, coincide with and support the meaningful understanding and appreciation for the study of positive psychology in educational and non-educational contexts. We conclude the article by exploring the complex issue of methodology - that is, for example, how would a researcher measure, assess, and/or empirically validate the multifaceted nature of mindfulness?, (Copyright © 2020 Phan, Ngu, Chen, Wu, Shi, Lin, Shih and Wang.)

Time is an interesting concept. For some cultural groups, time is an entity that exists only in the here and now, whereas for others it can be linear, emphasizing a person's past, present, and future. Many of us, while living in the "present moment," may also anticipate and project future goals, dreams, hopes, and ambitions. Indeed, from a positive point of view, future orientations are healthy and may direct one's focus, instill motivation and persistence, and mobilize the expenditure of effort. Existing research has provided empirical evidence to support the promotion and encouragement of a positive future time orientation . From an educational point of view, the study of time may be useful for calculating achievement, given that a student may use future time orientation to guide and direct his/her academic and/or non-academic future. One notable question for consideration, in this case, relates to the importance of timespan - that is, how far into the future should one project? There may be a significant difference between, say, a timespan that scopes a 6-month period as opposed to a timespan that scopes a 2-year period. By the same token, over the past few years we have delved into an interesting line of inquiry, namely, the nature of optimal best - for example, what facilitates and/or causes a person to achieve an optimal level of best practice in particular subject matter? Our theory of human optimization, consolidated and recently published in Frontiers in Psychology , provides an in-depth theoretical account of an underlying process, which we postulate could help explain the achievement of optimal best. Optimization, in this case, is intimately linked to a person's achievement of optimal best. We rationalize that within the context of academic learning, cognitive complexity of particular subject matter could serve as an important source of motivation in the anticipation and projection a student's extended future timespan. In this analysis, the extremely complex nature of a learning task or a suite of tasks may compel a student to consider a longer future timespan for successful completion. We also argue, in contrast, that the specific duration of a future timespan (for e.g., 6 months vs. 2 years) could play a significant role in the successful optimization of a student's state of cognitive functioning., (Copyright © 2020 Phan, Ngu and McQueen.)

One notable concept that is of interest is a person's state of optimal functioning . Achieving optimal functioning (e.g., subjective well-being at school), aside from personal autonomy, requires some form of "optimization." Optimization , we argue, is more than just an "enhancement," a "predictive effect," and/or a "causal flow" between an independent variable (IV) and a dependent variable (DV). We note from existing literature that optimization has often been referred to without a clear, definitive explanation of what this term actually entails. At the same time, we acknowledge that unlike other areas of development (e.g., engagement), no theoretical article is available to explain the concept of optimization. This article considers a number of theoretical tenets for advancement: (1) the tenet of three major criteria that could assist in the explanation, assessment, and measurement of optimization, (2) the tenet of the development of a methodological conceptualization that could measure and assess optimization, and (3) the tenet of the "quantification" of optimization, and in particular, a proposed index of optimization and a corresponding scientific notation of " γ ", which we coin as an "optimizing effect." Overall, we contend that this examination is insightful and holistic, seeking clarity into an important topical theme in psychology.