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Genetics is one of the important topics in the high school biology curriculum. Genetics has been taught in the subject of biology at grade 9 and grade 12. To investigate the general understanding of genetics of high school students, a survey was carried out and got responses from participants of 901 high school students across the country. The data for the average score was 3.3; median 3.0; scores ranging from 0.33 to 8.33. The data analyses showed that there was no significant difference in the results between urban and rural regions. The general knowledge of genetics of high school students was low. In general, scores of students in gifted schools were higher than in non-gifted schools. In the group of gifted schools, the biological group gave higher results than others. In general, the students tend to choose the subject Biology and have high average scores, also got survey scores higher than those of other groups. Those results contribute to clarifying the reality of learning Biology in general and Genetics in particular of high school students, contributing to the basis for educational administrators to provide more appropriate educational policies.

The following research reports on a collaborative effort between two university field supervisors for an elementary teacher preparation program in the Pacific southwest. Utilizing practitioner inquiry and situated learning as conceptual frameworks, the authors qualitatively examine the experiences ten elementary education teacher candidates have with promoting student engagement during emergency response teaching because of the COVID-19 pandemic. An interpretive phenomenological analysis of 20 lesson reflections and supervisor observation notes reveals teacher candidates (TCs) need more support with questioning, feedback and formative assessment, and technology tools to keep students engaged when teaching at a distance. Recommendations suggest a need for teacher preparation programs to provide TCs with opportunities to practice engagement strategies in distance education settings.

Fears of COVID-19 covered humans on earth quickly since the first appearance of Coronavirus in Wuhan in 2019. Consequently, online learning has been deployed widely to ensure the continuity of education in the context of the pandemic. The mixed-method study was conducted to examine the extent of fears Vietnamese students’ perceived as well as their learning adaptability, using the Fears of COVID-19 Pandemic (FCV19) scale and Adaptability scale as research instruments. Data was analyzed relied on Mean statistics from SPSS22, combined with Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine the influences of fears of COVID-19 on students’ online learning adaptability. The results triangulated with qualitative data from open-ended questions showed that students were moderately afraid of the COVID-19 pandemic but had a high level of adaptability in online learning. Additionally, fears of COVID-19 also had little impact on students’ online learning adaptability. Instead, students showed off some other fears preventing their virtual learning, including (1) fears of wasting time and money for a shoddy online education, (2) fears of loneliness and laziness, (3) fears of distracting factors when learning online, and (4) fears of lacking learning materials.

This study was conducted to investigate student barriers to the prospect of online learning in Vietnam, in the context of Covid-19 pandemic. This mixed-method study attracted the participation of 1165 students from twelve universities and nine high schools across thirteen provinces in the Mekong Delta. The findings revealed the additional three obstacles from the qualitative data analysis including (1) geographical features, (2) the economic status of Vietnamese people, and (3) Vietnamese culture and traditions in addition to the six groups of barriers being re-confirmed from Berge's framework (2005). The results of Binary Logistic Regression testified the negative impacts of obstacles in Learner Motivation, Cost and Access to the Internet, and Social Interaction on the prospects of online learning, though it is predicted to go farther in education in Vietnam in the future.

Purpose Worldwide interest in principal instructional leadership has led to global dissemination of related research findings despite their concentration in a limited set of western cultural contexts. An urgent challenge in educational leadership and management lies in expanding the range of national settings for investigations of instructional leadership. The current study addressed this challenge in the context of Vietnam, a nation with a very limited formal knowledge base in school leadership (Hallinger and Bryant, 2013b; Hallinger and Truong, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to describe the perspectives of Vietnamese primary school principals toward their role as instructional leaders, illuminate instructional leadership practices perceived as important by the principals, and develop a preliminary model of instructional leadership within the Vietnamese education context. Design/methodology/approach This study was a qualitative inquiry that sought to illuminate the perspectives of Vietnamese principals toward their role as instructional leaders. The research employed semi-structured interviews with 27 primary school principals. Data analysis employed grounded theory in order to synthesize results gathered from the principals into a preliminary conceptual model. Findings The study yielded a preliminary model of principal instructional leadership in Vietnam. The authors’ model evidences similarities to western models of instructional leadership by including dimensions focusing on setting direction, managing curriculum and instruction and developing the school learning climate. Differences also emerged in terms of two additional constructs, building solidarity and managing external relationships. Other distinctive practices of Vietnamese instructional leaders also emerged in the findings which the authors suggest can be linked to the institutional, political and socio-cultural context of education in this society. Research limitations/implications Key limitations arise from the focus on primary schools, small size of the sample, absence of data from the Northern region of Vietnam, and lack of verification of principals’ perspectives with data from other stakeholders. Originality/value This study is one of the first empirical studies of Vietnamese school leadership submitted for publication in international refereed journals and the first study that has that sought to conceptualize the instructional leadership role of principals in Vietnam. Moreover, the study illustrates how conceptualizations of school leadership are shaped by features of specific societies. This lends credence to scholarly admonitions concerning the lack of universality of leadership theories.