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This study investigated the relationship between a metaphor-based approach to teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) and involvement of the brain's right hemisphere. Specifically, it examined learners' understanding of three levels of sureness associated with different expressions in English -- those that are "certain," "probable," and "possible" items. The three target items were chosen because they are frequently used by native English speakers although Japanese EFL learners often fail to distinguish between them. The metaphor-based learners and the control group engaged in computer-based explicit learning based on the meaning of the target expressions with three-dimensional (3D) animated illustrations. The images were based on the spatial concept of distance for the metaphor-based learners and a list of target items for the control group. At post-test, it was found that the metaphor-based learners performed better than the control group in both comparison and speaking tests. Obviously, the participants better understood the degrees of certainty in relation to distance. This shows that teaching the degrees of certainty by applying the spatial concept of distance could help in second-language (L2) learning. The metaphor approach allowed participants to link the spatial concept of distance to the degree of certainty associated with expressions of certitude. In addition, recordings of lip movements showed that participants remembered the target items better by opening the left side of their mouths more than the right side. This indicates that the brain's right hemisphere is involved in deep processing of expressions that reflect different levels of certitude and creating stronger memory traces.

This research investigated three synonymous adjectives "perfect," "flawless," and "impeccable" in terms of meaning, degree of formality, collocations, and grammatical patterns. The three synonymous adjectives were scrutinized through the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The findings suggested that these three synonymous adjectives share some similarities; however, they cannot be used interchangeably in every context. In hotel contexts, there seemed to be a preference for "impeccable" compared with the other two.

The paradigm on which a methodological approach is developed determines the situations in which its application will be most appropriate. The quantitative approach implies a positivist paradigm, the basis of which is cause-and-effect relationships, as well as the questioning and verifying of existing theories. Positivism aims to prove that phenomena from the field of social sciences and humanities are equally subject to measurement as natural phenomena. That assumption is also the epicenter of criticism directed at positivism, from which, in addition to its strengths, post-positivism developed, characterized by more flexible views on absolute objectivity. The aim of this paper is focused on the analysis of the basis of the quantitative approach, the possibilities and limitations of the positivist paradigm and the post-positivist paradigm that overcomes the limitations of positivism. The tasks are as follows: 1. Define the concept of paradigm and its role in pedagogical research, 2. Determine the connection between the positivist and post-positivist paradigms and the quantitative approach, 3. Analyze the strengths and limitations of positivism and post-positivism and the possibilities of overcoming its weaknesses. The authors applied the theoretical method with content analysis and accepted the facts and ideas of positivism as the primary paradigm for researching educational reality. They state that post-positivism is intuitive and holistic, flexible in research, while positivism is based on solid facts that are objective and do not depend on subjective interpretation.

This article provides a conceptual framework for considering both the theoretical and methodological factors that underpin the successful validation of a competency framework. Drawing on educational assessment literature, this article argues that a valid competency framework relates to an interpretive judgement of the credibility of the claims made. To establish a credible approach to competency framework validation, there is a requirement to align the purposes of the competency framework, the claims developers make concerning the uses of the framework, and evidence collection methods to substantiate or challenge these claims. This article concludes with a template of questions for competency framework developers to consider in determining the range of potential claims to be made concerning their framework, and in understanding competency framework users and contexts.

Feedback literacy in higher education has come as a reaction to the ineffective focus on teacher's delivery of feedback and its passive reception by students rather than on students' active participation in receiving feedback and constructing it (Nicol & Macfarlane-dick, 2006; Nicol, 2019). Therefore, the aim of this theoretical paper is to identify students' capabilities of feedback literacy. To meet this objective, three questions are targeted: (1) How is feedback literacy defined? (2) How is it characterized? (3) What are its practical dimensions from student's perspective? Based on the analysis of theoretical and empirical studies retrieved via reliable databases, a thorough description of the existing definitions of feedback literacy and its frameworks (Carless & Boud, 2018; Carless & Winstone, 2020; Molloy, Boud, & Henderson, 2020; Sutton, 2012) can be highlighted. Four dimensions of student feedback literacy and their adaptation to the writing context are also targeted: appreciating feedback, making evaluative judgments, managing affect, and acting upon feedback (Carless & Boud, 2018). This paper is relevant because it addresses the shift from feedback as a one-way process of transmitting information from instructors to feedback as a process of using diverse communication channels, through which teachers and students collaborate to improve learning outcomes.

This research is a bibliometric study that focuses on publications containing both terms "technological pedagogical content knowledge" (TPACK or TPCK) and "science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics" (STEAM). The former addresses knowledge that teachers are expected to gain, whereas the latter addresses a new integrating subject field. Both terms dominate contemporary education research, especially in relation to technology and its impact on education. These two terms have been researched individually by bibliometricians. The aim of this research is to examine articles that combine these terms, as there seems to be a lack of such studies. With the help of the Scopus platform, 2,608 articles published since 2007 were collected and analyzed.

Behavior analysts collaborating within interdisciplinary teams are likely to find themselves at difficult crossroads. Some of these crossroads include implementing alternative treatments, defining and determining risk and harm, and evaluating research and interventions. The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of these crossroads and provide guidelines on successfully navigating them. We contend that it is possible to navigate these crossroads while minimizing harm or risk for the client, adhering to the principles of science and behavior analysis, and remaining respectful of all members of the interdisciplinary team. That is, we can maintain the scientific tenets of philosophic doubt, empiricism, and experimentation, while remaining humble, and ensuring our clients access the most effective interventions available.

Leaf and colleagues (2016) provided a definition and description of progressive applied behavior analysis (ABA) in the context of autism treatment in which a behavior analyst takes a structured, yet flexible, approach to treatment that is responsive to the learner and includes on-going, in-the-moment analysis of teaching. Since Leaf and colleagues' publication, there have been many research and dissemination advancements across the domains outlined in the original paper. This includes advancements in the types of progressive procedures implemented, instructional arrangements, progressive reinforcement strategies, preventive functional analysis, progressive discrete trial teaching, data collection, progressive curriculum development, and staff training. The purpose of this paper is to highlight these advances citing peer-reviewed research where possible. Although many advancements have occurred, there is still a great need in the field of ABA for more clinicians and researchers to evaluate and implement procedures associated with the progressive approach to ABA. The paper will conclude with a call to action for behavior analysts to move away from rigid, protocolized, and conventional ABA practices and move towards implementing progressive ABA.

EdD programs affiliated with the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate encourage dissertations in practice (DiPs) focused on equity, social justice, and transformative practice. Conversations in our program revealed surface-level or late-stage social justice connections in our students' DiPs. Therefore, inspired by an existing framework that aimed at empowering EdD-activists, and needing more data from our own program, we formed a committee to design a program-specific EdD-activism framework. Through surveys, structured discussion, and other sources of qualitative data, an EdD-activism definition emerged that informed a programwide equity statement and catalyzed changes in our practice as educators. This essay presents our process, applications of our work, and our next steps.

Questions about trust between tutors in tertiary education and their students have not received much treatment in comparison to those of institutional trustworthiness or trust in the public education system. This reflective paper reviews and critically evaluates existing literature from the fields of SoTL, education and other relevant research domains in order to understand the nature of trust in higher education teaching; for, an understanding of the nature of trust allows tertiary educators and administrators to foster such trust, which has been shown to be a crucial ingredient for teaching effectiveness. The second half of this paper raises a set of sceptical challenges to the dominant understanding of trust in SoTL and in education (i.e. the 'service-management' conception of trust). It will be argued that the service-management conception of trust may not be practically helpful, contains vague prescriptions, is explanatorily deficient, amongst other worries. This paper then proceeds to recommend not so much a jettisoning of the service-management conception as the need to complement it with an alternative model of trust for higher education teaching. On the supplementary conception of trust (i.e. the 'network model'), the potential for trust is to be found in common social environments, institutions or spaces where individuals form the expectation that others may be relied on to behave in acceptable ways. Trust is not so much a relation between two individuals (who already know each other) but exists as a potentiality between individuals insofar as they share and interact in a common social environment, institution or space. What the network model of trust implies, then, is that trust between students and their teachers can be strengthened when they participate in co-engagement activities that aim at meaningful pedagogical ends. Our findings will have implications for the measurement of trust in future scholarship as well as, and more importantly, how it is that tutors in university and colleges and seek to foster trusting relationships between themselves and their students.

Effective assessment relies on comprehensive and inclusive stakeholder community building. However, developing such communities of judgement is a challenge that institutions regularly face. This argument presents faith-contextualized assessment as a powerful methodology for building robust assessment communities respecting of, and even stimulating, diversity. "Faith" is understood here to indicate an intellectual assent complemented by an act of trust, and is thereby suitable for persons of diverse beliefs, including and especially those committed to faith in the value of education. Though faith-contextualization does not refer here exclusively to religious institutions, research from the Roman Catholic higher education tradition is used to illustrate key points. This presentation has four key objectives: defining faith-contextualized assessment, identifying theoretical links between faith and assessment, applying faith-contextualized assessment as a hermeneutic (i.e., interpretive lens) to understanding stakeholder buy-in to assessment processes, and identifying strategies for applying faith-contextualized assessment to develop communities of assessment rooted in diversity.

This research aims to investigate the existential identity of creativity in Islamic philosophy. In order to achieve the goals of the research, the analytical-inferential method has been used. The findings of the research showed that Mullah Sadra considers creativity as a part of the human soul, that is, he considers it as one of the platforms for realizing personal perfection and becoming a human being, and even above that, he considers creativity as a platform for the possibility of reaching the highest existential perfection, i.e. reaching It refers to true love and encountering a true lover. According to the mentioned contents, Mulla Sadra has a different definition of creativity. Creativity has a high position in Mulla Sadra's philosophy and he considers it a kind of godliness and has a wide scope for it. Creativity is considered a part of the human soul, and humans have an existential form that requires creativity. That existential form of the human soul, which is the source of all three creativity, creative person, and creative work. In Mulla Sadra's philosophy, the soul, as the first order of existence, has the most and strongest closeness to the body. Mulla Sadra considers the soul and the body as necessary and the soul cannot exist independently of the body. The human spirit has the ability to create, and this capability leads to human evolution.

Background: The concept of school readiness is well-defined internationally. However, it is unclear how the concept is defined and used in South Africa or understood by preschool teachers. Aim: The aim of this analysis was to develop a clear and accessible summary of the concept of school readiness in South Africa for preschool teachers. Methods: An eight-step systematic approach, including the use of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis guidelines, was followed to identify research conducted in South Africa that defined school readiness, and to complete a concept analysis. A subsequent seven-step process was followed to create a Plain Language Summary (PLS) of the contextual definition of school readiness. Results: Using ATLAS.ti software, we identified 619 quotations related to school readiness. Through inductive thematic analysis we identified 48 unique concept codes followed by eight categories or attributes of school readiness. The contextual definition of school readiness was developed in plain language and is stated as children who are fully prepared for school can engage in meaningful learning, because they have developed the necessary behavioural, intellectual, language, literacy, numeracy, physical, socio-emotional and classroom skills for formal schooling. Conclusion: A South African school readiness definition, that is consistent with the way school readiness is understood internationally, was developed in plain language. Although the concept of school readiness is not unique to South Africa, the ways in which it is promoted is contextually bound. Contribution: This PLS may contribute to sustainable and affordable access to culture-centred preschool teacher training content.

STEM education is included in education programs by many countries on a global scale. Pre-service teachers are also expected to apply STEM education in their future classrooms. The aim of the research was to determine how pre-service science teachers perceived STEM education, whether they adopted it or not, whether they thought of themselves as sufficient, and the environment and situations that affected their STEM experience. The understanding of the pre-service science teachers was tried to be determined before the theoretical STEM education, after the theoretical education and after the STEM application. The study group of the research consisted of a total of 66 pre-service teachers. Content analysis results of the interviews were carried out in three stages. It was found that there was no single STEM definition that pre-service science teachers agreed on. The training provided increased the STEM competency levels of pre-service science teachers. However, the majority of pre-service science teachers defined themselves as having intermediate competence in STEM education. Pre-service teachers adopt STEM education and believe that it will contribute to students. Pre-service science teachers had the most difficulty in disciplinary integration during the STEM theory and practice education. The most preferred model after both theoretical knowledge and application was the problem-based STEM model.

Mission statements have become increasingly important for the accreditation of business universities and colleges. Thus, understanding similarities and differences in the content of business school mission statements is especially timely. The mission statement is also the first component of the strategic management process. It provides the framework or context within which strategies are formulated. This descriptive/informative study aims to present a background that describes and explains institutional mission statements and removes the so-called uncertainty encompassing the foci while preserving exceptional quality--a necessary quality for a compelling mission statement. We question whether all California State University (CSU) and The State University of New York (SUNY) business colleges/schools have developed enduring and inspiring mission statements for their employees and students? While no specific rule regarding length exists, we examined the word count length of these two school system mission statements. Institutions must not make their mission statements too long or too short, or they will risk losing focus and missing essential elements to guide their organization. The mission statement must be long enough to achieve its purpose. Based on our findings, we recommend that all CSU and SUNY campuses embrace a more straightforward, easy-to-understand, hard-hitting, lasting, and inspirational mission statement for their business colleges/schools, one directly relevant to faculty, staff, students, and their families.

During the summer of 2022, Ashley Greene, a professor at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and a co-author of this article, began a discussion on American Sign Language (ASL) literature with her doctoral students. The students, most of whom had backgrounds in K-12 deaf education or ASL education, explored what ASL literature means, how such literature can be identified and classified, how technology has changed its nature, and how it can be used in the classroom. The discussion was not easy, and a consensus was not reached. Pauline Ballentine, a long-time teacher and researcher and coauthor of this article, was among Greene's students. After several weeks of daily discussion, we--teacher and doctoral students, all of whom helped author this piece--concluded that the problem lies partly with the educational system.

This study examined 283 online learner dictionary definitions in terms of scores based on word frequency level and readability. Results revealed three findings. First, in terms of word frequency levels, definitions from the Cambridge learner dictionary incorporated fewer non-high frequency words (mid and low frequency words) compared to Oxford, Dictionary. com and Collins COBUILD learner dictionaries. Second, in terms of readability, definitions from the Random House learner dictionary were written at a significantly higher grade level compared to the other six online learner dictionaries. Third, in terms of both level of frequency words incorporated into definitions and readability grade level definitions, the Cambridge, Merriam-Webster and Longman online learner dictionaries were easier to understand compared to online learner dictionaries from Dictionary.com, Collins COBUILD, Oxford and Random House. Overall, the findings suggest both word frequency level and readability might contribute to the difficulty of online learner dictionary definitions.

What is active learning? While active learning has been demonstrated to have positive impacts on student learning and performance, defining the concept has been elusive. Previous research examining active learning definitions in STEM fields found that the vast majority of published articles did not define active learning, and those that did defined active learning as interacting, engaging, or not lecturing. The current research extends this STEM-focused work by examining both social science and STEM science publications. A restricted systematic review of literature was conducted using the SCOPUS database, resulting in 547 relevant articles focused on active learning from 2017 to 2022. An examination of the articles indicated that 71% of the reviewed articles did not define active learning and that the instructional strategies most often cited as fostering active learning emphasized social interactive learning strategies (e.g., small groups, team-based learning, discussion, and cooperative learning), as well as critical thinking strategies (e.g., problem-based learning, case-based learning, and inquiry-based learning). In addition, an in-depth qualitative analysis of the 161 definitions provided within the articles yielded three main emergent themes: (a) active learning is defined as grounded in student-centered constructivist theory, (b) active learning is defined as promoting higher-order thinking and deep learning, and (c) active learning is defined as an instructional strategy involving activity, participation, and engagement. Given these main findings, a representative definition was created: Active learning is a student-centered approach to the construction of knowledge focused on activities and strategies that foster higher-order thinking.

In line with the journal volume's theme, this essay considers lessons from the past and visions for the future of test validity. In the first part of the essay, a description of historical trends in test validity since the early 1900s leads to the natural question of whether the discipline has progressed in its definition and description of test validity. There is no single agreed-upon definition of test validity; however, there is a marked coalescing of explanation-centered views at the meta-level. The second part of the essay focuses on the author's development of an explanation-focused view of validity theory with aligned validation methods. The confluence of ideas that motivated and influenced the development of a coherent view of test validity as the explanation for the test score variation and validation is the process of developing and testing the explanation guided by abductive methods and inference to the best explanation. This description also includes a new re-interpretation of true scores in classical test theory afforded by the author's measure-theoretic mental test theory development--for a particular test-taker, the variation in observed test-taker scores includes measurement error and variation attributable to the different ecological testing settings, which aligns with the explanation-focused view wherein item and test performance are the object of explanatory analyses. The final main section of the essay describes several methodological innovations in explanation-focused validity that are in response to the tensions and changes in assessment in the last 25 years.

The performance evaluation of e-learning in medical education has been the subject of much research lately. Researchers are yet to achieve a consensus on the definition of performance or the suitable constructs, metrics, models, and methods to help understand student performance. Through a systematic review, this study put forward a working definition of what constitutes performance evaluation to reduce the ambiguity, arbitrariness, and multiplicity surrounding performance evaluation of e-learning in medical education. A systematic review of published articles on performance evaluation of e-learning in medical education was performed on the SCOPUS, Web of Science, PubMed, and EBSCOHost databases using search terms deduced from the PICOS model. Following the PRISMA guidelines relevant published papers were searched and exported to Endnote. Screening and quality appraisal were done on Rayyan. Three thousand four hundred and thirty-nine published studies were retrieved and screened using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. One hundred and three studies passed all the criteria and were reviewed. The reviewed literature used 30 constructs to operationalize performance. The leading constructs are knowledge and effectiveness. Both constructs were used by 60% of the authors of the reviewed literature to define student performance. Knowledge gain, satisfaction, and learning outcome are the most common metrics used by 81%, 26%, and 15% of the reviewed literature to measure student performance. The study discovered that most researchers forget to evaluate the "e" or electronic component of e-learning when evaluating performance. The constructs operationalized and metrics measured were primarily focused on learning outcomes with minimal focus on technology-related metrics or the influence of the electronic mode of delivery on the learning process or evaluation outcome. Only 6% of the reviewed literature applied evaluation models to guide their evaluation process -- mostly the Kirkpatrick evaluation model. Also, most of the included studies used randomization as an experimental control method, mainly using pre- and post-test surveys. Modern evaluation methods were rarely used. Only 1% of the reviewed literature used Google Analytics, and 2% used data from a learning management system. This study increments the existing body of knowledge in performance evaluation of e-learning in medical education by providing a convergence of constructs, metrics, models, and methods and proposing a roadmap to guide students' performance evaluation process from the synthesis of findings and the gaps identified through the systematic review of existing literature in the domain. This roadmap will assist in informing researchers of grey areas to consider when evaluating performance to ensure more quality research outputs in the domain.

Innovation is a ubiquitous term, and its use to promote neoliberal values such as competition, efficiency and its privileging of technology driven initiatives has been critiqued by educational researchers, including adult literacy researchers. This article argues that innovation in adult literacy (and perhaps in education generally) is a concept that needs to be problematized. While there appears to be a general agreement in the education and wider social science literature about the definition of innovation, the problem is the lack of specificity in "what the innovation is better for" when celebrating innovation as if it is inherently good.

Cognitive Diagnosis Models (CDMs) are a special family of discrete latent variable models that are widely used in educational and psychological measurement. A key component of CDMs is the Q-matrix characterizing the dependence structure between the items and the latent attributes. Additionally, researchers also assume in many applications certain hierarchical structures among the latent attributes to characterize their dependence. In most CDM applications, the attribute--attribute hierarchical structures, the item-attribute Q-matrix, the item-level diagnostic models, as well as the number of latent attributes, need to be fully or partially pre-specified, which however may be subjective and misspecified as noted by many recent studies. This paper considers the problem of jointly learning these latent and hierarchical structures in CDMs from observed data with minimal model assumptions. Specifically, a penalized likelihood approach is proposed to select the number of attributes and estimate the latent and hierarchical structures simultaneously. An expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is developed for efficient computation, and statistical consistency theory is also established under mild conditions. The good performance of the proposed method is illustrated by simulation studies and real data applications in educational assessment.

Since it was first published by the Council of Europe in 2001, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has become one of the most widely referenced documents in language education, particularly in English language teaching and assessment (Savski, in press). The recently released CEFR Companion Volume (2020), with its new descriptions of plurilingual and pluricultural competence and mediation, has done much to extend the potential of the framework, as it provides a more concrete foundation for using CEFR to support heteroglossic pedagogies. In this way, CEFR has acquired a greater level of potential relevance to innovative pedagogies in English language education, such as Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT), which seeks to equip learners with communicative skills and dispositions needed for success in a world where the target interlocutors are linguistically and culturally diverse (Rose & Galloway, 2019). In this paper, we examine the prospects for using CEFR to support heteroglossic pedagogies like GELT, highlighting points of convergence between descriptions of competence in CEFR and current scholarship in Global Englishes, as well as points of divergence between the two. We underline the need to embed CEFR in decentralizing educational reforms, in which the framework is used to facilitate teacher agency, rather than to impose objectives and methods upon them.

In this paper we present the analysis and interpretation of data collected during an intercultural virtual exchange undertaken in 2020 in which students from Argentina and the USA explored how trauma and suffering associated with COVID-19 can be channeled through collaborative artistic multimodal creations, and how approaching this in a productive way can lead to self-transformation in terms of intercultural and civic growth. To obtain unbiased data, we did not give the students information on the Council of Europe's Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC; 2018) which was fundamental to our conceptualization. Here, we apply an ex post facto research method to explore which of the 20 competences for democratic culture included in the RFCDC were mobilized and deployed by our students during this project. We do so by analyzing their multimodal artistic creations, social actions, and their civic statements from the perspective of the RFCDC definitions and descriptors. Findings indicate that the virtual exchange project contributed to the cultivation of 'democratically and interculturally competent citizens' as conceptualized in the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture.

This study aims to determine academicians' and post-graduate students' views on violations of ethics. It is a qualitative study in the design of a case study. It was conducted using the criterion sampling method, and the study group was composed of 72 participants; 22 academicians and 50 post-graduate students. The research data were collected through a semi-structured interview form and were analyzed inductively. Accordingly, the findings from the perspective of academicians were described in three themes labeled as ethical definitions, experiences in violations of ethics, and suggestions for solutions in this respect. The findings obtained from the perspective of post-graduate students were also described in three themes. Thus, the conceptual definition of ethics and morals was made, the violations of ethics experienced by post-graduate students were determined, and the suggestions for solutions to the violations were made.

There has been longstanding contention about how terms related to online and hybrid learning should be defined. In this study, we report survey findings on how administrators and faculty apply the following terms in practice: online learning, hybrid learning, hyflex learning, in-person learning, synchronous learning, and asynchronous learning. Drawing upon the literature, the research team developed survey definitions for each of these terms. The survey then asked participants to rate the extent to which they agreed with the survey definitions. A total of 987 faculty and 1,051 administrators participated in the study. Participants represented the full range of higher education institutions in the United States. The key finding from the study is that there was widespread agreement with the survey definitions, which is contrary to much of the literature that indicates confusion and contention about how online and hybrid learning terms should be defined. In light of the findings, we provide a framework for categorizing common learning modes and the variations that exist within these modes. This study provides a foundation for establishing common language and shared understandings as online and hybrid course offerings (and learning technologies, in general) continue to evolve.

This study explores Taiwanese junior high school social studies teachers' definitions of sustainability, using a qualitative semi-structured interview approach. Three themes explaining these teachers' definitions are cycling, cultural sustainability, and balancing, harmony, and coexisting. These definitions unveil an alternative worldview that is non-Eurocentric-based and multifaceted dimensions of sustainability. Findings suggest that instead of claiming that we should have a consistent definition to guide teachers to implement environmental and sustainability education across different subjects, it is important to acknowledge the fact that teachers trained in different disciplines and of different cultural backgrounds need a whole range of support to incorporate sustainability goals successfully in their teaching. Supported by results of this study, social studies teachers can reasonably support the teaching of controversial issues about tensions between cultural sustainability and economic development.

In post-millennial societies, creativity is heralded as crucial to individuals and societies, valuable for the economy, essential for leadership and vital for the future of work. In our unprecedented times, creativity is a necessary attribute that universities are embracing to ensure future-proof and employable graduates. However, there is a scant literature on how creativity is embraced in the assemblage of higher education. To ascertain if a common definition of creativity is used by higher education institutes, we conducted a systematic literature review that initially identified 2990 papers. Findings confirm that a definition of creativity in higher education does not exist nor is there a commonly cited definition, and several domains (e.g. social and cultural) influence the definition of creativity. Although creativity remains elusive, it is necessary for growth, survival and success. The potential dilemma of an agreed and shared definition of creativity applicable to the heterogeneous demands of higher education is presented.

In Swedish schools, the so-called 'Participation Model' is used to observe and analyse participation, with the intention of supporting an inclusive learning environment. While this model is widely promoted by government agencies, its theoretical alignment to the concept(s) of inclusion is not established. This article therefore compares and maps the six aspects of participation within the Participation Model (i.e. "belonging," "accessibility," "interaction," "autonomy," "involvement" and "acceptance") with a hierarchically ordered set of commonly occuring definitions of inclusive education (ranging from the lowest level, "placement," to the highest, "community"). The Participation Model was found to provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the lower levels of inclusion, as well as necessary conditions for the higher levels of inclusion. However, we show that the model suffers from construct underrepresentation and outline a few possible solutions intended to increase the theoretical alignment between the Participation Model and the higher levels of inclusive education. Finally, we suggest directions for further research.

This paper explores the meaning and use of inclusive curriculum design by operationally defining "inclusive curriculum" and delineating the characteristics of this curriculum design. A systematic review was conducted that incorporates both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed sources so that scholar and practitioner perspectives of inclusive curricula are considered. From this review, the development of inclusive curricula over the past 50 years is uncovered, inclusive curriculum is defined, and related theories and curricular designs are discussed. The systematic review resulted in the emergence of three core principles and six defining characteristics of inclusive curricula. Across K-12 and higher education settings, an inclusive curriculum (a) addresses discrimination, (b) meets the needs of all students, and (b) encompasses content, pedagogy, and assessment methods. Additionally, an inclusive curriculum is welcoming, accessible, challenging, flexible, intentional, and authentic. These principles and characteristics provide a framework for inclusive curriculum that educators can use to design and implement inclusive curricula across a variety of educational settings, as well as evaluate existing curricula to make them more inclusive.

Background: Understanding how policymakers define research and differentiate it from other sources of data is critical for scientists to improve how they conduct and communicate research to policy audiences. Yet, few studies have explicitly asked policymakers -- particularly state legislators in the USA -- how they define research evidence. Methods: We sought to fill this gap via in-depth interviews with 168 policymakers from two Midwestern states; 32 of whom were nominated by their colleagues as exemplar research users. Findings were triangulated via interviews with experienced key informants from both states. In-depth interviews were the preferred methodology for our research question, as they offered legislators the chance to describe research in their own words and elaborate on examples when needed. Findings: For many legislators, definitions of research largely aligned with how the scientific community might define research; both Republicans and Democrats defined research as peer-reviewed studies with specific qualities that distinguish research evidence from other types of information. However, some legislators defined research with a broader lens, including different types of information (for example, anecdotes) and qualities of information (for example, accessibility, relevance, credibility, and unbiased) as part of their definition. Discussion and conclusions: Researchers may better engage policy audiences by referring to the types and qualities legislators mentioned because policymakers prefer evidence from rigorous studies to those that are poorly executed or politically motivated. Legislators called this 'bogus' research, 'party' research or 'pseudoscience'. Researchers can signal their credibility by being transparent regarding funding sources and reasons or motivation for conducting studies.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) through strategic policy development has been at the forefront of institutional change, especially within the higher education sector. Canadian colleges have a large equity-seeking student population due to their open admission structure, but despite this, there are implicit biases and actions that impede students' learning experience. Limited literature exists around how Canadian colleges have approached EDI policy development; thus, this paper initiates the unpacking of the evident policy - practice disconnect by asking: 'How do colleges understand equity, diversity, and inclusion as articulated in policy documents?' To address this, the study employs Critical Policy Analysis (CPA) as its main research method to deconstruct the narratives found within purposefully sampled documents including: 1) EDI policies and procedure; 2) institutional multi-year strategic plans; and 3) EDI-based plans and performance reports. Results indicate that colleges tend to be selective in their usage of EDI definitions. There is also a tendency to use ambiguous language around EDI, which makes it difficult to mobilise knowledge effectively and approach equity directly. Policies often fail to address the privileges held by certain positionalities, reinforcing existing power structures rather than challenging them. The significance of this research is in its contribution to enhancing a theoretical understanding of how knowledge supports policy, as well as informing the future development of constructive EDI policies in higher educational institutions.

Applying established definitions of bullying to the more recent phenomenon of cyberbullying often results in an ill-fitting definition which is contested by academics. There are particular difficulties when applying the well-documented facets of intentional harm, repetition and power imbalance to the context of online bullying. A contested definition presents challenges when comparing studies and for building theory. This qualitative study investigates defining characteristics of cyberbullying, drawing on the lived experiences of young people (aged 11-17 years) situated in the north west of England. Young people's experiences point to a more nuanced experience with different characteristics incorporating: the intention to harm or humiliate; that the victim cannot escape from the activities perpetrated against them; an attempt to transfer power from the victim; and the perpetrator hides behind the screen.

While research on the opportunity to learn about mathematics concepts provided by textbooks at the secondary level is well documented, there is still a paucity of similar research at the undergraduate level. Contributing towards addressing this knowledge gap, the present study examined opportunities to engage in quantitative and covariational reasoning, in the context of the derivative concept, provided by two textbooks commonly used in the teaching of calculus in the United States-a regular calculus textbook and an applied calculus textbook. Analysis of expository sections, examples, and exercises related to the derivative provided in these textbooks revealed three main results. First, the applied calculus textbook provides plenty of opportunities to engage in quantitative reasoning. Similar opportunities are limited in the regular calculus textbook. Second, opportunities to engage in covariational reasoning are not only minimal in both textbooks, but also limited to low levels of covariational reasoning, namely coordination, direction, and quantitative coordination. Third, the applied calculus textbook consistently defines ordinary and partial derivatives as rates of change while the regular calculus textbook consistently defines these concepts as limits of a difference quotient. Findings of this research have implications for several stakeholders, including calculus textbook authors and calculus instructors.

Much cultural capital research has accumulated since its inception in the 1970s and researchers have charted the corresponding development of cultural capital theory in academic communities. This empirical study takes the further step of offering an account of cultural capital as it is interpreted in schools. This 'interventionalist account' is based on classifications of practices that had been explicitly implemented at 14 secondary schools in England in order to give students access to cultural capital. The collection of cultural capital practices was compiled from 38 interviews with senior leaders, teachers, and support staff. Practitioners justifiably believed these practices to be supported by research evidence. It was found, however, that a wide variety of cultural capital practices exist in schools today, with limited support from research evidence and theory. I discuss how the 'evidence pipeline' has broken down in this case and is sometimes an inappropriate metaphor for conceptualising research dissemination.