Search

Research on the role brand image plays in higher education (HE) suggests that it is crucial to understand students' perceptions of their university. This study builds on existing empirical work by Alcaide-Pulido, Alves, and Gutierrez-Villar (2017) exploring themes of national and international recognition, economic value, university campus facilities, and external communications and values. It employs a structural equation modelling approach with Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Decision Trees Analysis through a sample of 624 undergraduate students from England, Spain, and Portugal. The findings highlight areas of commonality as well as differences between the different cultures and nationalities examined as part of the study. They show areas that brand managers from each country should concentrate on, making recommendations that could help to shape the marketing direction of universities in each of the nations included in the research. The English and Portuguese should prioritise communication to students through their institutional website, whereas Spaniards should attend to ethical values and social responsibility. Economic value is an aspect that Spanish and English universities should focus on. Spaniards and English agree that campus facilities are important, whereas class size is key for Portuguese. Finally, Portuguese students' highly value the national recognition of their university.

This study examined several early childhood education and care (ECEC) factors and their relation to children's salivary cortisol slope and hair cortisol concentration (HCC). The study is part of the cross-sectional DAGIS study, conducted in 2015-2016, examining 66 preschools and 677 children aged 3-6 years in Finland. Two saliva samples from one childcare day and a hair sample were collected from the children. Educators' education level, perceived stress, and occupational well-being factors, group size, child-adult ratio, and amount of childcare per week were assessed by questionnaires filled in by educators and guardians. Higher educators' education level was associated with a higher likelihood of children having a declining salivary cortisol slope. Educators with higher perceived stress were associated with a lower likelihood of children having a declining cortisol slope, but the result was attenuated in the adjusted model. Child-adult ratio was negatively associated with HCC. The results indicate that educators' higher education level and possibly lower stress associate with a favourable cortisol profile in children, suggesting less stress. These factors should receive attention when considering children's stress at childcare.

The effectiveness of Tier 2 interventions may depend on the variability of student skills within an intervention group. We investigated the effect of pretest variability within intervention groups using data from a large-scale study of ROOTS, a Tier 2 kindergarten mathematics intervention. Our research questions were as follows: Does mathematics pretest variability within ROOTS groups predict student gains from the intervention, and is this relationship moderated by (a) intervention group size (two- vs. five-student groups), (b) quality of explicit instruction, or (c) group-level initial skill? We found that ROOTS groups with greater pretest variability on a closely aligned mathematics measure experienced smaller gains from the intervention. This association was more impactful in larger intervention groups (i.e., five-student groups compared with two-student groups) and in groups with higher quality of explicit instruction. We unpack these findings and conclude with recommendations for practice and future research.

This study sought to explain the differences in the computational thinking skills of primary school students. The survey model was adopted for the research. In the study, in which 780 primary school students participated, the relationship between computational thinking skills and factors at the student (gender, parent education status, internet access, attitude toward science, attitude toward math) and school level (school status, technology use, classroom size) were analyzed and a prediction model was tested. Personal information forms, computational thinking tests, and attitude scales toward science and math were used in the study. The findings of the study showed that primary school students' computational thinking skills were most closely related to the mother's educational level, attitudes toward math, and use of technology in lessons.

Understanding how individual students cognitively engage while participating in small group activities in a General Chemistry class can provide insight into what factors may be influencing their level of engagement. The Interactive-Constructive-Active-Passive (ICAP) framework was used to identify individual students' level of engagement on items in multiple activities during a General Chemistry course. The effects of timing, group size, and question type on engagement were investigated. Results indicate students' engagement varied more in the first half of the term, and students demonstrated higher levels of engagement when working in smaller groups or subsets of larger groups when these groups contained students with similar levels of knowledge. Finally, the relation between question type (algorithmic "versus" explanation) and engagement depended on the activity topic. In an activity on Solutions and Dilutions, there was a significant relation where algorithmic items had higher occurrences of Interactive engagement. The implications of this work regarding teaching and research are discussed.

Post-course instructor ratings are a common practice at universities in Europe, Australia, and North America. Rather than solely describing teaching practice, however, such ratings may be associated with a range of non-pedagogical factors. We explored engineering students' instructor ratings at a large United States institution, investigating relationships between overall instructor rating and some of those non-pedagogical factors, including subject area, class size, and students' course grades. Instructor ratings were more favourable in humanities courses than in science or math courses, and students gave higher ratings to instructors who taught smaller class sizes. The strongest relationship existed between overall rating and students' course grades: students who received A's rated instructors an average 0.84 points higher on a 6-point scale than students who received F's. Students who withdrew from a course provided the lowest instructor ratings. When instructor ratings are used as metrics of teaching ability in discussions related to promotion, tenure, or salary adjustments, there is an inherent inequity in the system that must be acknowledged beyond already well-documented biases, as non-pedagogical factors often outside of the instructor's control may be significantly associated with those ratings.

Today's teachers face intense stress (Robinson et al. in School Mental Health 15(1):78-89, 2023), which means they often need to regulate strong emotions, like frustration and anxiety, in the classroom. Given the importance of this skill for classroom life, it is essential that we gain a more nuanced understanding of teachers' emotion regulation (ER). The teacher ER literature is growing, and we aim to contribute meaningfully in three ways. First, we examine two general ER strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) descriptively in a sample of 190 public school teachers (grades K-6) from 33 elementary schools. Second, we explore whether these two ER strategies are correlated with important teacher (burnout, years of experience) and classroom (class size) factors. Third, we examine whether these ER strategies are linked to observed emotionally supportive classroom interactions. Teachers in this sample reported frequent use of cognitive reappraisal and relatively infrequent use of expressive suppression in general. These two ER strategies were not significantly correlated with one another. Teachers reporting greater use of cognitive reappraisal reported less burnout, while teachers reporting greater use of expressive suppression reported more burnout. Teachers with more years of experience also reported greater use of cognitive reappraisal. Contrary to our hypotheses, cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression were not related to class size and did not predict unique variance in observed emotionally supportive interactions. Implications for teacher supports and interventions are discussed.

The aim with this study was to examine how, from the teachers' and students' perspectives, the project-based learning approach was applied in science and technology lessons. The research was conducted through a case study with qualitative research methods. The data of the study were obtained from semi-structured interviews with 38 students and 11 science and technology teachers. This data were analysed by descriptive analysis which is a qualitative data analysis method. The results of this study show that the teachers described the project-based learning approach as an inapplicable approach in schools. Teachers advised a reduction of curriculum content and a reduction in class sizes. We understood that the other phases of the project processes that started with the selection of project topics at school were done with the help of the students' families at home. It also became clear that during the evaluation process, the teachers took the students' own efforts into consideration. We determined that most of the students who participated in the projects in the science and technology course were free to choose their project subjects. It also became clear that students preferred to do projects in the science and technology course. At the end of the research report, suggestions based on the results of the research are made.

This paper focuses on the most significant empirical studies on the topic of challenges facing the communicative language teaching approach in Saudi Arabia. The communicative language teaching method has been used for more than two decades in Saudi Arabia and research conducted during this period offers some insight into the main challenges of the implementation. The main goal of this paper is to synthesize findings from research studies conducted in the past and by doing so, suggest the possible avenues for tackling these challenges. Four broad categories of challenges have been adopted from Li's (1998) comprehensive framework in an attempt to structure the challenges under meaningful labels. This, in turn, enabled us to categorize the challenges according to their source which helped our understanding of how to resolve them. The findings suggest that the most frequently observed policy-related challenges are the current exam system, overcrowded classes, no AV equipment, and low quality of in-house training programs for teachers. Teacher-related challenges mostly relate to conflicting ideas about CLT, low confidence in these methods, preference for the traditional learning model, focus on developing skills that feature in the exams, and deficiencies in teachers' English. Student-related challenges are found to be their low-level proficiency, passive learning style, lack of motivation to learn the target language, and fear of their marks being negatively affected if they are paired with weaker peers during communicative activities. This paper concludes that these challenges are all interconnected, and a systematic approach is essential in trying to tackle these with the government intervention being a potential first step.

This paper explores the top ten issues and ideas for the future of teaching and learning in the post-pandemic world. The study uses the researcher's informed reflection as a method. The informed reflector role allows the researcher to explore realities from multiple dimensions by scanning existing teaching and learning scholarship. The subjective accounting, the lack of external verification of the thinking, overshadows limitations. The researcher devises phenomenological bracketing to reduce the researcher to a reflector. The researcher acknowledges that there could be other critical issues and ideas than those in this study. Nevertheless, the reflections shared in this study may contribute to the existing stock of all other contemplations, discussions, and debates.

Social distancing due to COVID-19 has necessitated the immediate implementation of Internet-based English language teaching (ELT) in developing countries. This abrupt transition from face-to-face to online learning and teaching environment has brought up many concerns, particularly about maintaining ELT education in crises, one of which is how teachers scaffold students in Internet-based classrooms. Although there is an extensive body of research devoted to scaffolding students' learning in face-to-face ELT classes, effective teachers' scaffolding strategies in online classes are still worth receiving further scholarly attention. Therefore, this article reviews contemporary research on scaffolding strategies for teachers to apply in their Internet-based ELT classes. After discussing the inherent difference between scaffolding and support, and the relationship of scaffolding, support, and linguistic competence, the author synthesizes and systemizes scaffolding functions, intentions, and strategies applicable to the Internet-based English class. The author also suggests practical recommendations that teachers can utilize to scaffold students in differential teaching and learning contexts on the Internet. Finally, this article addresses some common challenges and suggests solutions for teachers to conduct scaffolding strategies effectively in Internet-based ELT classrooms.

The violence, and instability because of civil war in Syria have caused millions of people to leave their country. Many countries have been affected from this migration. Turkey is one of the countries that has been significantly affected from this crisis. Turkey is trying to provide some services to Syrian people. Education is one of them. For education of this large population the schools called temporary education centers (TECs) were established by Turkish government. In this way, it is aimed to integrate Syrian asylum seekers children into the Turkish education system. But, TECs have major disadvantages on issues such as bureaucracy, school building, and student absenteeism. Simultaneously, various solutions are employed to overcome these disadvantages. In the current research, TECs' disadvantages, and solution proposal; which developed for Syrian asylum seeker children into Turkish education system were investigated. The investigations performed in a TEC, which located in Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province in Turkey. Phenomenology was used in the research, and a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher was used. Participants were determined through convenience sample approach. In this context, the opinions of six TEC employees, including Syrian educators who shared the same fate with Syrian asylum seeker children, were sought. The findings show TECs are intertwined with disadvantages such as lack of school building, overcrowded classrooms, limited social, and cultural activities, and lessening environmental support. The research intends to present firsthand solution proposals to the problems in the education provided for asylum seeker children. Results includes some clues on the relationship between mass migration, and education.

The main purpose in the study was to determine the knowledge and needs of pre-school teachers related to gifted children and the enrichment model. The study employs one of the qualitative research methods. The study group of the current research is comprised of 30 pre-school teachers selected by using the snowball sampling method from different regions of Turkey which ensures maximum variation. The data of the study were collected through semi-structure interviews. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers either face-to-face or online. The collected data were analysed inductively using the content analysis method in the NVivo 12 program. As a result of the analyses, it was found that the pre-school teachers' knowledge about noticing gifted children and enrichment practices are limited. In this study it is determined that pre-school teachers have sufficient knowledge and skills for noticing gifted children, taking into account the developmental characteristics of gifted children, but they do not take into account other features. It was concluded that the pre-school teachers' shortcomings that should be addressed in relation to noticing are lack of knowledge, the lack of information about different family structures and crowded classrooms. In addition, as a result of qualitative data analysis, it was found that the needs of the teachers are to get acquainted, support and guide children. Teachers also stated that their needs for enrichment practices are knowledge, equipment, less crowded classrooms, and financial support. According to the results of the research, it can be said that preschool teachers need information about identifying, supporting, and enriching gifted children.

This study was aimed to investigate the impact of several demographic variables and teacher burnout on teaching enthusiasm. The descriptive correlational model was used. The study sample was comprised of teachers from high schools (9th-12th grades) in Antalya, Turkey during the fall semester of the 2020-2021 academic year. 366 teachers fully completed the questionnaire in 52 high schools. Data were obtained through two scales, namely the Teacher Enthusiasm Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Two models were implemented for teaching and subject enthusiasm, separately. Each model included three demographic variables and three sub-dimensions of teacher burnout as predictors of teachers' teaching and subject enthusiasm. The binary logistic regression analysis was used in the study. The analysis showed that gender and seniority as demographic variables were found to be significant predictors in the teaching enthusiasm model. The average class size was the only variable which was not significantly effective on teaching and subject enthusiasms. Emotional exhaustion and decreasing sense of personal accomplishment were found to be significant predictors for teaching and subject enthusiasm, while emotional exhaustion was the dominant predictor. Also, depersonalization was not a significant predictor of teaching and subject enthusiasm as sub-dimensions of teacher enthusiasm. That the relations', which can directly and indirectly define the relationship between enthusiasm and burnout in the literature being greatly ignored forms the justification of the current study.

This study aimed at exploring factors affecting classroom participation among students in the English department of Laghman University, Afghanistan. More precisely, this research discovered factors related to teachers and class-size that hinder students' practice of oral participation in the classroom. In collecting the data, this study employed mixed-method research with concurrent design. An adapted questionnaire and a semi-structured interview have been used as the data collection instrument of this study. An online survey questionnaire was conducted with 110 respondents. In addition, a semi-structured interview was conducted with five of the respondents at the English Department of Laghman University. The data from the questionnaire was descriptively analyzed through using statistical package for social science (SPSS), and the semi-structured interview data were thematically analyzed and interpreted. The findings revealed that class-size related factor is the first influential factor in affecting oral participation among students and it is due to having large number students in a class. Teacher's related factor is the second influential factor that affects the oral participation of students. Majority claimed that teachers' approach, behavior, and qualification have prominent impact on their level of oral participation. Based on the finding, it can be seen that class-size related, and teachers' factors affected oral participation of the students at the English Department of Laghman University. It is recommended that the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan strive to decrease the number of students in each class and enforce teachers in implementing a student-centered learning approach while teaching.

This observation study documents the amount and quality of mathematics instruction provided to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in kindergarten through second grade in self-contained special education settings. We observed six special education teachers and their students (N = 12) during a total of 967 min allotted to early numeracy and mathematics instruction. Mathematics and early numeracy instruction comprised 61.2% of all observed time allotted for mathematics, followed by non-instruction (32.7%), mathematics assessment (5.7%), and instruction in other areas (0.3%). Observed mathematics content included Numbers and Quantitative Reasoning, and Measurement. Mean ratings of student engagement and instructional quality across areas were medium and low-average, respectively. Although student engagement did not differ by who was leading instruction, instructional quality differed between teachers and paraeducators. Class sizes were small, and teachers most often taught students as a whole class or individually. Students used technology, manipulatives, and printed instructional materials during learning.

In recent decades, informal project-based learning (PjBL) for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has gained immense significance. Though some meta-analytical studies have reported the effectiveness of PjBL models, none of them has been explicit for informal PjBL models executed for school students in STEM education. Therefore, this meta-analytical study sought to investigate the effect of the informal PjBL model on students' learning gains when compared to the traditional classroom setting. The study also intends to explore the effect of potential moderator variables that might impact the effectiveness of the model. For this, a systematic review aligning to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology has been employed, by incorporating 26 peer-reviewed empirical studies, encompassing data from 3202 students from eight countries. The meta-analytical results revealed overall moderate effectiveness (d = 0.248, p < 0.001), indicating that informal PjBL has moderately significant effects on students' gains when compared to the traditional classroom setting. Correspondingly the moderator analysis revealed that the overall effectiveness of informal PjBL was influenced by the teaching model, assessment method, students' group size, and course duration. However, the participants' educational level and study location (country) did not emerge as being significant. This study contributes to the bulk of literature that can help academicians to design, develop and implement effective STEM-based informal PjBL models, with special consideration for influential variables (teaching method, assessment method, grade, location, course duration, group size, and subject area).

The present study investigated how students' attitudes toward bullying were influenced simultaneously by personal and contextual factors in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Participants included 25,338 students (15-year-olds, from grade 7 to 12) and 663 schools from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taipei drawn from the Program for International Student Assessment 2018. Multilevel structural equation modeling with Bayesian estimation was conducted for data analysis. The results showed that, for personal factors, girls had stronger anti-bullying attitudes than boys in each sample. Resilience and self-efficacy predicted students' anti-bullying attitudes positively and significantly in all three regions. For family contextual factors, parents' emotional support had positive effects on students' attitudes toward bullying in three regions. For school contextual factors, there was no consistent result among the three regions. School location and school belonging were positive predictors of students' anti-bullying attitudes in Mainland China. By contrast, class size and student behavior hindering learning negatively correlated with students' anti-bullying attitudes in Hong Kong. In Taipei, students in public schools were more likely to form anti-bullying attitudes, and a positive association was found between the student--teacher ratio and students' attitudes toward bullying. Distinguishing the commonalities and differences in the factors influencing students' attitudes toward bullying in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taipei provides empirical evidence to understand school bullying prevention and control mechanism.

Background: Class size reductions in general education are some of the most researched educational interventions in social science, yet researchers have not reached any final conclusions regarding their effects. While research on the relationship between general education class size and student achievement is plentiful, research on class size in special education is scarce, even though class size issues must be considered particularly important to students with special educational needs. These students compose a highly diverse group in terms of diagnoses, functional levels, and support needs, but they share a common need for special educational accommodations, which often entails additional instructional support in smaller units than what is normally provided in general education. At this point, there is however a lack of clarity as to the effects of special education class sizes on student academic achievement and socioemotional development. Inevitably, such lack of clarity is an obstacle for special educators and policymakers trying to make informed decisions. This highlights the policy relevance of the current systematic review, in which we sought to examine the effects of small class sizes in special education on the academic achievement, socioemotional development, and well-being of children with special educational needs. Objectives: The objective of this systematic review was to uncover and synthesise data from studies to assess the impact of small class sizes on the academic achievement, socioemotional development, and well-being of students with special educational needs. We also aimed to investigate the extent to which the effects differed among subgroups of students. Finally, we planned to perform a qualitative exploration of the experiences of children, teachers, and parents with class size issues in special education. Search Methods: Relevant studies were identified through electronic searches in bibliographic databases, searches in grey literature resources, searches using Internet search engines, hand-searches of specific targeted journals, and citation-tracking. The following bibliographic databases were searched in April 2021: ERIC (EBSCO-host), Academic Search Premier (EBSCO-host), EconLit (EBSCO-host), APA PsycINFO (EBSCO-host), SocINDEX (EBSCO-host), International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (ProQuest), Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest), and Web of Science (Clarivate, Science Citation Index Expanded & Social Sciences Citation Index). EBSCO OPEN Dissertations was also searched in April 2021, while the remaining searches for grey literature, hand-searches in key journals, and citation-tracking took place between January and May 2022. Selection Criteria: The intervention in this review was a small special education class size. Eligible quantitative study designs were studies that used a well-defined control or comparison group, that is, studies where there was a comparison between students in smaller classes and students in larger classes. Children with special educational needs in grades K-12 (or the equivalent in European countries) in special education were eligible. In addition to exploring the effects of small class sizes in special education from a quantitative perspective, we aimed to gain insight into the lived experiences of children, teachers, and parents with class size issues in special education contexts, as they are presented in the qualitative research literature. The review therefore also included all types of empirical qualitative studies that collected primary data and provided descriptions of main methodological issues such as selection of informants, data collection procedures, and type of data analysis. Eligible qualitative study designs included but were not limited to studies using ethnographic observation or field work formats, or qualitative interview techniques applied to individual or focus group conversations. Data Collection and Analysis: The literature search yielded a total of 26,141 records which were screened for eligibility based on title and abstract. From these, 262 potentially relevant records were retrieved and screened in full text, resulting in seven studies being included: three quantitative and five qualitative studies (one study contained both eligible quantitative and qualitative data). Two of the quantitative studies could not be used in the data synthesis as they were judged to have a critical risk of bias and, in accordance with the protocol, were excluded from the meta-analysis on the basis that they would be more likely to mislead than inform. The third quantitative study did not provide enough information enabling us to calculate an effect size and standard error. Meta-analysis was therefore not possible. Following quality appraisal of the qualitative studies, three qualitative studies were judged to be of sufficient methodological quality. It was not possible to perform a qualitative thematic synthesis since in two of these studies, findings particular to special education class size were scarce. Therefore, only descriptive data extraction could be performed. Main Results: Despite the comprehensive searches, the present review only included seven studies published between 1926 and 2020. Two studies were purely quantitative (Forness, 1985; Metzner, 1926) and from the U.S. Four studies used qualitative methodology (Gottlieb, 1997; Huang, 2020; Keith, 1993; Prunty, 2012) and were from the US (2), China (1), and Ireland (1). One study, MAGI Educational Services (1995), contained both eligible quantitative and qualitative data and was from the U.S. Authors' Conclusions: The major finding of the present review was that there were virtually no contemporary quantitative studies exploring the effects of small class sizes in special education, thus making it impossible to perform a meta-analysis. More research is therefore thoroughly needed. Findings from the summary of included qualitative studies reflected that to the special education students and staff members participating in these studies, smaller class sizes were the preferred option because they allowed for more individualised instruction time and increased teacher attention to students' diverse needs. It should be noted that these studies were few in number and took place in very diverse contexts and across a large time span. There is a need for more qualitative research into the views and experiences of teachers, parents, and school administrators with special education class sizes in different local contexts and across various provision models. But most importantly, future research should strive to represent the voices of children and young people with special needs since they are the experts when it comes to matters concerning their own lives. [For the protocol, see EJ1323262.]

The aim of this study was to examine the cyberloafing behaviors of middle school students during the lesson or while studying. Within the scope of this aim, cyberloafing levels of middle school students were examined by comparing them with the web platforms they use. For this research; which was modelled with explanatory sequential mixed pattern, one of the mixed methods, 355 middle school students were selected through the convenient sampling method that is one of the purposive sampling methods. 24 students were interviewed for the qualitative part of the study. Quantitative data were collected via Personal Information Form, Cyberloafing Activities Scale; and qualitative data were collected via Semi-Structured Interview Form. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 program and content analysis. When the findings were examined, it was observed that the cyberloafing levels of middle school students were low. However, it was determined that students perform moderate cyberloafing in the "accessing content" and "sharing" sub-dimensions within the scope of the sub-dimensions of cyberloafing. It was observed that the cyberloafing behaviors of the students vary significantly in terms of their age, gender, and grade level. It was observed that middle school students mostly watch videos, listen to music, download applications, texting friends, etc., and perform cyberloafing on music websites, TV series websites, movie websites, YouTube, Instagram, and social media. In order to decrease the cyberloafing behaviors of middle school students, various suggestions were made, including the cooperation of parents and teachers.

This study deviates from the standard view of template-based training courses that have dominated the experience of in-service English teachers in Ecuador. Its purpose is to underscore the contextualization of training modules as a strategic method for duplicating and scaling up multi-level teacher training to sustain their knowledge and skills. The impact is assessed through a three-level survey administered to 394 teachers from three provinces. The results suggest that the influence of class size and the adaptability and replicability of training are factors that influence the effectiveness and sustainability of an English as a foreign language program. The study highlights the crucial role of collaboration that facilitates collective efforts to contextualize training to achieve profound insight related to classroom practices.

With the emergence of COVID-19, many educational pillars have been altered from conventional ways to online solutions. The educational assessment has been administered in online environments despite all encountered challenges. This descriptive study aimed to uncover the online assessment challenges that were confronted. Furthermore, it intended to display the impact of these challenges on the assessment principles. A mixed-method approach was adopted for data collection. A survey was used to collect quantitative data from 60 academic staff at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with four of them. The study found some challenges when applying online assessment such as learners' refusal to turn on cameras, heavy teaching loads, cheating, the long time required for developing online assessment instruments, impersonation/dishonesty, assessing practical experiences, plagiarism, grades' inflation, assessing group's work, academic integrity and a large number of students per section. The study concluded that these challenges respectively threatened assessment principles of validity, efficiency, fairness, reliability and variability. [Note: The page range (73-92) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct page range is 73-91.]

This study reports on teachers' perspectives of the drivers and constraints of ICT integration into Mathematics Education in 50 private secondary schools in five cities in the Niger Delta region. The study employed a descriptive survey design to obtain the data. The sample or respondents for the study were two hundred mathematics teachers who were drawn through a random sampling technique. The sample represents four Mathematics teachers per school. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire, which was administered and retrieved by research assistants. The instrument was validated for content and construct. The reliability coefficient was obtained using Cronbach's alpha. The study employed the use of descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation in analysing the data. From the results, it was discovered that the major drivers of computer integration into the teaching and learning of mathematics were changes in pedagogical practices, school, and national policy to meet global standards, ease of teachers' jobs and saved time due to students' enrolment and overcrowded classrooms, and the need to promote a student-centred approach to learning through the digital classroom. It was also revealed that mathematics teachers in private secondary schools used ICT, although superficially, in the teaching and learning of mathematics. It was also revealed that ICT contributed insignificantly to the teaching and learning of the subject due to the daunting impediments, primarily, lack of access, lack of support by management to access Internet services, lack of power supply, theft and vandalization, and inadequate training and skills of teachers to use ICT, which were all major constraints. Based on the findings, it was recommended that teachers be encouraged to use ICT by training them for ICT literacy and competency, and government should create an enabling environment that would reduce anti-social vices and the cost of access to Internet services.

A significant amount of research has been devoted to class size, in relation to student achievement. Success in the classroom is not only about increases in attainment. Fulfilment, and well-being, for teachers and students alike, is a more complete evaluation of improved achievement. The cost of reducing class sizes seems to be prohibitive, so teachers have adopted numerous strategies to cope with the increased numbers of students and their diversity. Teachers use educational assistants, resource teachers, specialized liaison assistants, and modern technology adapted for the classroom. Current research suggests that the use of subdued lighting and music can increase student focus. Innovative storage systems reduce congestion. Successful teachers use a combination of these strategies to reduce their own stress and to contribute to the overall achievement of all students in the classroom.

Teachers enter the profession with enthusiasm for the new adventure. Unfortunately, when they start working, they encounter circumstances that give rise to stress. The present study, which used a sample of 550 participants from 50 primary schools selected from the Kisarawe district in the Coastal Region of Tanzania, examines the extent of stress among primary school teachers and the factors influencing stress. Overall, the results indicate that teachers' levels of stress range from low to moderate. Moreover, the results from hierarchical regression analysis indicate that factors such as sex, class size, age, career intentions and teaching subject significantly predict teachers' stress. The study concludes that there is a need for the government, policymakers and school administrators to reduce teachers' workload. Furthermore, school administrators in particular should be supportive and should design mechanisms that could develop a sense of collegiality among teachers in order to improve teacher-to-teacher relationships.

This paper exposed TEFL basic schoolteachers' reflections on the use of Google Classroom amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a qualitative descriptive field research that tackled 82 TEFL teachers who responded to a reflection instrument which includes four questions tackled: (1) demographic general information, (2) uses of google classroom, (3) challenges teachers faced and ways they use to address these challenges, and (4) suggestions for best uses. The participants' responses were qualitatively collected and analyzed. The findings showed that most TEFL teachers used Google Classroom for three purposes: evaluating students' work using various assignments and tests, assigning useful homework and determining the participants in the course. The most common challenges that faced TEFL teachers were the weak e-learning skills they possess and the lack of suitable infrastructure, the huge number of students, thick textbooks and the negative psychological impact of the COVID 19. Several suggestions for the best uses related to lesson presentation, practice stage, follow-up and giving feedback on students' work, and synchronous meetings were presented by TEFL teachers. The researcher recommended the officials in the Ministry of Education conduct specialized training courses for TEFL teachers to help them use Google Classroom for developing EFL students' skills. Besides, it is essential to present general standards that guide EFL teachers to construct effective EFL courses.

The study measures the attitudes of preschool teachers towards inclusive education in Taiwan and Indonesia with the Scale of Preschool Teachers' Attitudes towards Inclusion (SPTAI). A total of 637 participants (Indonesian = 233 and Taiwan = 404) participated in the survey. SPATI, developed in the study, was composed of 18 items, designated in a five-point Likert Scale with a response spanning from "strongly disagree (1)" to "strongly agree (5)". Four factors were extracted from SPTAI via exploratory factor analysis which explained 62.56% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha for the overall scale was .93 and coefficients for the four factors were 0.83, 0.84, 0.82, and 0.70, respectively. Overall, the average scores of SPATI in Indonesia and Taiwan were 3.65 and 3.20, which exceeded the mid-point of 3.0; and the difference between the two countries was statistically significant (t = 10.98, p < 0.001). Results indicated that the preschool teachers in Indonesia stood between "neutral" and "somewhat agree" with leaning towards the latter. The "Taiwan preschool teachers upheld positive attitudes of inclusive education but yet their stance was more "neutral". Significantly, Indonesian teachers were even more favourable to inclusive education than their Taiwanese counterparts. Several reasons that might explain the difference between these two countries are discussed in the study.

Education is an essential component in maximizing the world's long-term competitiveness and social stability capacity. COVID-19 is now a major international public health crisis for our people, communities, and economies. It has infections and deaths reported worldwide. Learning through distance education is no longer optional; it is now a requirement. The goal of this study is to figure out the lecturers' and learners' perspectives on distance education, including their views on the benefits, drawbacks, and ways to strengthen the programs used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was carried out in a qualitative manner. To obtain in-depth information, data was obtained from open-ended questions, interview google forms. In Northern Cyprus, this google form was distributed to students and lecturers. The results obtained show that the advantages of distance education learning outnumbered the disadvantages during this pandemic. Proposals were also made by the participants on how distance education learning can be enhanced.

The importance of staying relevant when teaching communication and advertising courses is hardly a new concept nor is the use of modern and evolving technologies to achieve this goal. However, empirically assessing college students' perceptions of online learning when it is a forced choice is an underexplored area. To address this gap and consider the perspectives of diverse student populations, this paper analyzes data collected from a large communication class at a Hispanic serving institution. The purpose of this research is to better understand students' perceptions of teaching technologies, class sizes, benefits and hindrances of online learning, preferred course delivery methods, social adaptations, and perceptions of how their university has handled the transition. Data revealed face-to-face courses were the most desired modality with no race or first-generation (FG) differences; however, gender differences were present. Class size impacted modality preference as well as preference for the inclusion of specific online tools. Additionally, a longitudinal comparison of student data between 2018 and 2020, before and after the onset of the global pandemic, revealed significant differences in student preparedness, faculty interaction, and institutional communication.

The heightening public apprehension about instructional deliveries and the learning of science in Ghanaian schools have taken a different dimension as many shareholders keep interrogating the Government's pledge to ensure equity and quality science education for primary schools in the country. The study explored and defined the standing and quality of teaching, learning, and assessment of science and technology while finding the challenges faced by science educators at the JHS level in selected schools in the Ashanti region. The study randomly sampled science teachers' views and students in 27 schools from the 27 districts in the Ashanti Region in Ghana. Fourteen (14) and thirteen (13) schools were sampled from rural and urban areas. It was found that Government inadequately funds most schools. As a result, few qualified science teachers can handle the integrated science topics, among many other setbacks. It was concluded that the lack of infrastructure, TLMs, and other factors make the teaching and learning of science practically impossible. These challenges can be mitigated when specific, well-defined measures such as the provision of required infrastructure, teaching, learning materials (TLMs), and a few more are urgently implemented.

This study was carried out mainly to investigate the effects of class size and self-esteem on student achievement in--and attitude toward--English essay writing. The study was influenced by earlier research reports indicating that the large class sizes prevalent in Nigerian schools may be detrimental to student academic and emotional well-being. The study employed an ex post facto research design, as no attempt was made to alter the pre-existing conditions in the schools. Three hundred and thirty-five (335) Senior Secondary School 2 students from nine purposively selected schools participated in the study. An achievement test in essay writing (r = 0.7); attitude toward essay writing questionnaire (r = 0.72); and self-esteem questionnaire (r = 0.84) were the instruments used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using analysis of covariance. All hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that there was a significant effect of class size on student achievement in essay writing, whereas class size had no significant effect on attitude toward essay writing. Results also showed that there was no significant effect of self-esteem on student achievement in--and attitude toward--essay writing. Based on these findings, it was recommended that the government should ensure that classrooms are not overcrowded.

Low English proficiency among EFL learners refers to two main factors and these are internal and external factors. Internal factors such as not confident when using English, negative attitudes and anxiety, while the external factors like the lack of opportunities to use English language whether in or outside the classroom. The current study attempts to explore the factors that might hinder the Arab Open University EFL students who were asked to fill out a questionnaire and 59 responded. Using a descriptive analysis, it was found that the major factors which might hinder these learners to speak fluently are mainly (I) practical constraints (The huge number of students inside the classroom reduce the chance of speaking.), (ii) pedagogy and syllabus (Discussions are missing in the classroom. No use of the audio means, and focusing on arts courses, (iii) practice (Lack of practicing speaking in the classroom and a few chances for practicing and applying English in and outside the classroom), (iv) linguistic insufficiency, namely, linguistic gap between students and lack of knowledge of the English rules and vocabulary, and (v) affective factors related to anxiety, attitudes and motivation in particular students being shy and embarrassed and they are not encouraged to speak in English.

Developing the confidence to teach is one of the most challenging tasks in the teaching profession. Educators have recognized that the initial years of teaching is complex and challenging. However, no study examines novice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in teaching multiple subjects in developing countries like Ghana. Novice teachers in Ghana are often deployed to schools and classrooms with high number of students but less number of teachers. Hence, they are faced with teaching multiple subjects per semester (term) aside from the already outlined challenges of novice teachers in literature. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design. Using the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSEBs, long form), novice teachers in Ghana (n = 72) were assessed on how they perceived their efficacy in teaching multiple subjects. Results from the study indicate that novice teachers perceived themselves to be moderately adequate in their TSEBs. Efficacy in classroom management score was lower than in student engagement and instruction strategies. Males also recorded high TSEBs score than females. Majority of the teachers taught large classes (43-53). It is recommended that educators reduce the class size of novice teachers and organize more training and professional development programs for novice teachers.

Private educational institutions are established by social organizations, socio-professional organizations, economic organizations or individuals when permitted by competent state agencies. The source of investment in the construction of infrastructures and the maintenance of operating funds of private educational institutions is the non-state budget. The main purpose of this study is to empirically test the private upper secondary education in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The author collected secondary data from previous studies. The results of the research show that (i) Class and School size; (ii) Administrative officials and teachers; (iii) Facilities; (iv) Implementation of teaching and educating activities; including: The development of action plans; teaching activities; about extracurricular activities, job orientation and education outside the classroom. Based on the findings, some recommendations are given to improve the quality of private upper secondary education.

Adopting an "act-in-context" approach is helpful to researchers investigating situational variability in children's active engagement in preschool classrooms. Aligned with this approach, we propose an empirical pathway and a conceptual model to support examinations of contextual factors hypothesized to impact active engagement as well as the means by which adults promote it. We defined two overarching factors--cognitive and organizational--and explored the predictive nature of seven features within them. With video recordings from 31 classrooms (inclusive and self-contained) of three instructional routines on three different occasions, we derived averages for classwide active engagement during each observation. A series of linear mixed effects models revealed that instructional routines significantly predicted variability in classwide active engagement as did interactions of other contextual features with instructional routines. These findings provide a foundation for continued, systematic examinations of situational factors and conceptualizations of engagement within carefully specified pathways for improving active engagement.