Search

Technology development and the general availability of information have affected modern society in such a way that the educational system requires immediate and decisive changes. The situation escalated during the pandemic when distance learning became an integral part of life of every teacher and student. Modern researchers call the educational system built on the flipped classroom model a pedagogical breakthrough, so it is important to study its impact from all sides; this explains the relevance of this paper. The purpose of this research was to study the effectiveness of flipped classroom as a distance learning component for students. The study was conducted at St. Petersburg State University and enrolled 56 students in the control and experimental groups (n = 28 per group). The researchers used the questionnaire "Studying the motives of students' educational activities" by A.A. Rean and V.A. Yakunin and a cross-section of grades to obtain information about academic performance and a survey for feedback from students. The findings show that flipped classroom had a positive effect on academic performance and student motivation. The number of "excellent" students increased by 17.9% and the numbers of "good" and "satisfactory" students decreased by 3.6% and 14.3%, respectively. The overall motivation of the group increased from 4.8 to 5.0. At the same time, the number of students with low motivation decreased by 7.2%, with medium motivation increased by 10.7%, and with high motivation decreased by 3.4%. A feedback survey showed that the vast majority of students were satisfied with the flipped classroom. At that, 89.2% of students answered that this model is suitable for knowledge assimilation, 92.8% believe that flipped classroom arouses their research interest, and 82.1% call the flipped classroom model the most suitable for interesting learning. The respondents noted the following advantages of the flipped classroom: saving time (82.7%), the opportunity to discuss more interesting topics in class (64.2%), the absence of dependence on time and place (38.1%), and the possibility of a deeper study (53.5%). The disadvantages included the inability to independently study the material (10.7%), a large amount of material (17.8%), and technical problems (7.1%). These findings are of value for further study of the effectiveness of flipped classroom introduction into the educational system and may be used to compile statistics or as a basis for a similar experiment.

The computer-supported writing assessment (CSWA) has been widely used to reduce instructor workload and provide real-time feedback. Interpretability of CSWA draws extensive attention because it can benefit the validity, transparency, and knowledge-aware feedback of academic writing assessments. This study proposes a novel assessment tool, EduNERScore, which enables raters to identify different types of domain knowledge from unstructured educational texts and strengthen the interpretation of assessment through knowledge-aware evidence. This research uses an educational experiment to examine raters' validity, efficiency, interpretability and user perception with and without the support of EduNERScore. The findings show that the experimental group with the support of EduNERScore achieves human-expert validity, high efficiency, interpretability and good use perception, compared with the control group. Finally, based on the empirical results, this research discusses the technological and educational implications for developing and applying the interpretable CSWA system in education.

Generative AI may significantly disrupt the teaching and practice of business communication. This study of 343 communication instructors revealed a collective view that AI-assisted writing will be widely adopted in the workplace and will require significant changes to instruction. Key perceived challenges include less critical thinking and authenticity in writing. Key perceived benefits include more efficiency and better idea generation in writing. Students will need to develop AI literacy--composed of application, authenticity, accountability, and agency--to succeed in the workplace. Recommendations are provided for instructors and administrators to ensure the benefits of AI-assisted writing can outweigh the challenges.

The purposes of the research aim to 1) To study the components and indicators of digital leadership of school administrators 2) To study the current condition desirable conditions and necessities for digital leadership of school administrators 3) Develop a digital leadership development program for school administrators 4) To study the effect of using digital leadership development program of school administrators. Results of the research are as follows: 1) Digital leadership of school administrators consist of 7 components, 22 indicators 2) Desirable Conditions for Digital Leadership of School Administrators. The overall average was at a low level. Desirable Conditions for Digital Leadership of School Administrators Overall, it's at the highest level. and the necessity of developing digital leadership among school administrators, the highest value was digital vision leadership, 3) Program development of digital leadership for school administrators is suitable possible and is useful overall, it was at the highest level. 4) The results of using the program; 4.1) Program development of digital leadership for school administrators. The efficiency was 93.01/95.55, which was higher than the 80/80 threshold set. 4.2) The effectiveness index in the program was 0.9306 or equivalent to 93.06 percent. 4.3) Program development of digital leadership for school administrators has higher academic achievement after school than before with statistical significance at the .05 level. 4.4) Executives developed with the program was no difference in educational achievement scores after 2 weeks of study. 4.5) Satisfaction of school administrators, Overall, the satisfaction level was at the highest level.

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.]

The objective of this study is to determine the efficiency of psychological counselling and guidance services carried out at public schools regarding the remarks of the school administrators and students. This research was conducted in line with instant survey model which is one of the general survey models. 372 school administrators and 938 students participated in the research. The participants of the study determined via random sampling method. "School Guidance Services Scale" and "Student Scale" were used in data collection. The data obtained in the research was understood to show normal distribution. Arithmetic mean, standard deviation, independent samples t-test and ANOVA tests were used in analysis of research data. According to school administrators' remarks, psychological consultation, consultancy, individual recognition services are at good level; data collection and dissemination, orientation, monitoring, environment-parent relations, guiding and emplacement, research and evaluation services are carried out at medium level. Students receiving education in primary and secondary grades were seen to utilize from psychological counselling and guidance services than the students in high school grade. Besides, the finding that female students desire to utilize from psychological counselling and guidance services more than male students was obtained.

Both a student-centered instruction approach and a classroom management technique based on the learning protocol are known as protocol-guided learning. This paper describes the protocol-guided learning model's implications for classroom practice and its impacts on classroom reconstruction with the aim of ensuring that learning actually occurs on students. Its definition, advantages, and practical roles are described.

A current issue is the evaluation of the efficiency of various types of education service providers. This paper aims to evaluate the efficiency of the services of secondary education provided by a variety of types of providers. The evaluation of secondary education is performed on a sample of 26 grammar schools in the Prešov region of the Slovak Republic. The method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used. The results of the efficiency of 26 grammar schools in the period 2012- 2013 to 2016-2017 showed that grammar schools from the sample established by all providers (public, private, church entity) reached the full efficiency score. By contrast, six grammar schools were evaluated as the least efficient. The evaluation of the set of grammar schools based on the average efficiency score also showed that, from the viewpoint of the types of providers, public grammar schools reach higher efficiency scores, in comparison with church and private grammar schools. These findings expand on the theory of public goods with respect to their production and render valuable information for not only education providers but also creators of regional strategic plans in education policies.

This article examines how qualification frameworks for Bachelor of Education and the Thai Teachers Council regulations on teaching professional standard affect the status of knowledge of socio-cultural foundations in teacher education institutions. The researcher used document analysis, in-depth interview and field observations with 7 teacher educators from 7 teacher education institutions. Findings indicate that socio-cultural foundations courses are still present in the teacher education program, and there is integration of the subject matters of philosophy and sociology of education. In addition, the everyday life discursive practices of teacher educators are the implementation of the teacher education curriculum reflecting negotiation, resistance, or articulation process between policy and practices. As a critical active agent in their own cultural politics, teacher educators are the most important actors influencing the status of knowledge of the field of socio-cultural foundations in teacher education institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to recognize the special features of the flipped classroom and to explore the aspects of opportunities that the flipping concept can be applied to educational planning. The essential elements of the flipping concept are identified. A brief review of the key studies on flipped classrooms at both the college and high school levels was presented. Analysis is made on the basic flipping concept as it applies to educational planning meetings. Then, the flipping concept is incorporated with the stages of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Evaluation System (PPBES) to perceive how the flipping concept can help with strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning system. The authors conclude by confirming the key elements of the flipping concept, "increased interaction" and "practical application," as clear benefits to the educational planning process.

The profound and permanent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a global closure of universities and schools by transforming physical classrooms into online/distance settings. Such a sudden shift resulted in uncertainty in the educational context. During the pandemic, the only way to sustain education was to benefit from distance education, which is defined as Emergency Distance Education. Specifically focusing on English language education in these emergency circumstances, such a distance education might be defined as Emergency Distance English Language Education (EDELE). In such a rush, both challenges and opportunities have been experienced in EDELE. Therefore, recent studies focus on how to respond to those challenges to improve the conditions of EDELE. Thus, this scoping review study aims to first identify (a) challenges experienced during EDELE, and then (b) responses for those challenges during EDELE from the perspectives of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. Via NVivo 11 Plus, the scoped studies focusing on EFL students were inductively and thematically analysed. The results revealed the challenges during EDELE centred around five main actions: "changed," "caused," "revealed," "increased," and "decreased." Additionally, thematic analyses of the responses were organized around the implementations or recommendations by three stakeholders: "teachers," "students," and "institutions." The current study contributes to EFL settings in improving distance education circumstances.

The aim of this study is to present the general trend and direction of the research, both in terms of content and methodology, from a critical point of view by examining the studies on the efficiency of higher education in Türkiye and thus, to shed light on new research to be done and to make suggestions to researchers. Bibliographic analysis and descriptive content analysis methods were chosen in the research. Data was obtained from Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, Google Scholar, Sobiad, National Thesis Center of the Council of Higher Education, TR Index databases. 70 studies meeting the determined criteria are included in this study. As a result of the research, it has been concluded that there is an increase in the number of research on the efficiency of higher education institutions, and the research focused on universities, data envelopment analysis is used more as an analysis method, the number of methods used is low, the most output-oriented BCC model is preferred among the efficiency measurement models, current data are not used in research, the number of units examined is low, and state universities are examined more. In addition to that, it has been concluded that the number of personnel, financial inputs, number of students, physical resources, the unit numbers represent almost the entire input set, and the outputs used in research are basically represented by four different outputs, which are students, research, project and publication, financial variables, and academic success, and the purpose of this study is directed to different problems, but the scope of the research can be improved.

The higher education efficiency evaluation model using the data envelopment analysis method has interested many researchers. This paper uses bibliometric analysis on publications extracted from the Scopus database to provide a comprehensive overview of research publications on the measurement of higher education efficiency based on data envelopment analysis: its growth rate, major collaboration networks, the most important and popular research topic. A total of 169 related publications were collected and analyzed from 1988 to 2021. The analysis results show that: Publications published every year have increased sharply in the last six years; The quality of publications is relatively high as publications tend to be published in journals with high-ranking indexes; Countries with the most influence in studies on this topic are: Italy, China, Spain, the USA, and the United Kingdom; Authors with the most influence in this research direction are Agasisti T., Abbott M., Doucouliagos C., Avkiran N.K., and Johnes J.; The research cooperation among countries and among affiliations is not strong. Finally, the paper has provided recommendations for future studies based on the findings.

The article focuses on the relationship between the use of employee training and development and the competency-based approach. The objective of this article is to evaluate the use of the competency-based approach in employee training and development in organisations in the Czech Republic based on long-term research (n = 1,360) since the year 2013. The results showed that the competency-based approach in the management of organisations is utilized by only 21.8% of the organisations. An important finding is that 93.2% of organisations using the competency-based approach support employee training and development. The results confirmed that there is the relationship between the use of the competency-based approach and training and development in the organisation (p < 0.001, Cramer's V = 0.178) and also between the use of the competency-based approach and evaluation of training and development efficiency in the organisation (p < 0.001, Cramer's V = 0.299).

This article shares innovative practices from a workshop series called Teach and Thrive Learning Circles (TTLCs) offered to pre-service and recent graduates from the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at Colorado College (CC). TTLCs aim to proactively prime pre-service and early career teachers to navigate the pressures that can contribute to burnout and attrition. Inspired by the scholarship on teacher development and characteristics of thriving teachers, I invited twenty-two novice teachers ranging from pre-service through three years of experience to co-construct and co-facilitate the TTLC monthly workshops. In this article, I first share an overview of our co-construction process, the resulting workshop structure, and chosen topics. Based on trends from a pre-workshop questionnaire, the workshop topics included early career teacher development, maintaining purpose, self-care, navigating toxicity, and cultivating efficient systems. Next, I provide a detailed synopsis of the first workshop focused on early career development. I provide an overview of this workshop to offer readers an example of our TTLC structure and a glimpse into its value. I share the session workshop agenda, materials, and TTLC teacher reflection journal themes. Preliminary qualitative trends derived from the reflection journals suggest that understanding their development through the lens of the teacher lifecycle scholarship empowered them to be more patient with their pedagogical growth and to seek out mentorship and peer support to thrive. The TTLC framework, example session, and preliminary themes presented offer liberal arts teacher educators a dependable framework to establish similar offerings in their context.

This article presents a mixed method study on how to develop a participatory education management model as an alternative to the Turkish education administration system. Consisting of qualitative and quantitative methods, the mixed research method has been adopted to acquire the required data. Qualitative phase the education administration systems applied in OECD member countries, documents and reports available in the literature were evaluated. To reach wider masses, an online survey aiming at collecting the views of teachers and administrators was carried out by using the quantitative phase of the mixed method. This study has laid it bare that the principles of good governance, common sense, transparency, accountability, participation, democracy, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability stand forefront in educational systems that adopt the participatory education boards model. Eventually, a board/commission oriented local education administration model has been designed and developed as an alternative for the Turkish educational administration system.

Inclusive education for students with disabilities has become an important concern for educationists and scholars worldwide. Considering the significance of learning foreign languages to compete in every walk of life worldwide, the current study examines the impact of teachers' various strategic actions, including inclusive teaching practices, universal design for learning, and teachers' stroke in developing and enhancing students' motivation to learn English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and the resultant perceptions of their EFL teaching efficiency. Applying a quantitative survey methodology, the data was collected from 193 students with disabilities studying in six different universities in Indonesia. Using SmartPLS-3 software, structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data. The results revealed the significance of all three teaching strategies in enhancing students' perception of teachers' efficiency via an underlying mechanism of students' motivation to learn EFL. It is hoped that the study results will contribute to the existing body of literature regarding the teachers' application of strategic ways and the development of students' motivation and readiness for inclusion in EFL studies in the higher education sector. It will also help form a stimulating socio-cultural environment for efficient adaptation of people with disabilities having sufficient command in EFL.

This article offers a case example of how experimental evaluation methods can be coupled with principles of design-based implementation research (DBIR), improvement science (IS), and rapid-cycle evaluation (RCE) methods to provide relatively quick, low-cost, credible assessments of strategies designed to improve programs, policies, or practices. This article demonstrates the feasibility and benefits of blending DBIR, IS, and RCE practices with embedded randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to improve the pace and efficiency of program improvement. The illustrative case is a two-cycle experimental test of staff-designed strategies for improving a workforce development program. Youth enrolled in Year Up's Professional Training Corps (PTC) programs were randomly assigned to "improvement strategies" designed to boost academic success and persistence through the 6-month learning and development (L&D) phase of the program, when participants spend most of their program-related time in courses offered by partner colleges. The study sample includes 317 youth from three PTC program sites. The primary outcome measures are completion of the program's L&D phase and continued college enrollment beyond the L&D phase. The improvement strategies designed and tested during the study increased program retention through L&D by nearly 10 percentage points and increased college persistence following L&D by 13 percentage points. Blending DBIR, IS, and RCE principles with a multi-cycle RCT generated highly credible estimates of the efficacy of the tested improvement strategies within a relatively short period of time (18 months) at modest cost and with reportedly low burden for program staff.

This research aimed at 1) studying the second-year university students' achievement after using animated videos through Google Sites to enhance socio-culture of native English-speaking countries, 2) examining the efficiency of animated videos with an efficiency criterion of 75/75, and 3) exploring the students' level of satisfaction after using animated videos. The samples of the study selected purposively were 48 third-year students majoring in English for Communication program at a university in the southern part of Thailand. 15 aminated videos on Socio-culture of native English-speaking countries, pre-test, post-test, and a questionnaire asking for the users' satisfaction were used to collect data which were analyzed by means of average value ( ), standard deviation (S.D), T-test, and E1/E2. The results were as follows: 1) pre-test scores averaged to 13.81 ([x-bar] = 13.81) while posttests averaged to 22.52 ([x-bar] = 22.52). This revealed a statistically significant different level of 0.00, 2) the efficiency of the created animated videos on Socio-culture of native English-speaking countries was at 75.09/75.06 which was higher than the set efficiency criterion of 75/75, and 3) the students had a positive satisfaction towards the animated video at the highest level with the overall mean scores of 4.55 ([x-bar] = 4.55). The results pointed out that using animated videos to enhance Socio-culture of native English-speaking countries can effectively help the students increase their knowledge and understanding.

This study aims to identify teachers' views regarding the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practices. Having a phenomenological design in accordance with qualitative research paradigm, the study hosted a total of 55 teachers working in the central districts and villages of Kahramanmaras in Turkey during the academic year of 2021 and 2022. The research data were obtained using a semi-structured interview form, and descriptive and content analyzes were used during data analysis. Examining teachers' views on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), this study revealed that the majority of teachers reported positive views regarding Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practices. They also stated that UDL practices would contribute to support individual differences in education, high-level efficiency, equality of opportunities in education, addressing everyone, versatile learning, facilitating learning, ensuring permanence, facilitating access to information, increasing the quality of education, and improving self-expression skills. However, they were determined to lack the necessary knowledge and skills in this regard (teaching students with different disabilities, teaching students from different cultural backgrounds, etc.). They also concluded that their schools did not have the necessary infrastructure and equipment.

The study explored the e-teaching and learning experiences of lecturers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic at one of the University of Namibia satellite campuses. The study sample was 76 selected using the purposive sampling method from the population of 98. The study used a convergent parallel research design within a mixed methods research approach. A survey questionnaire and telephone interview were used to collect data. Data collected from open-ended questions and telephone interviews were analysed and categorised into themes while quantitative data were tabulated and analysed mainly by descriptive statistics with the use of Microsoft Excel. The study revealed that participants found using Moodle and other e-learning tools efficient as they save time and reduce the chances of spreading the virus since no gatherings were required. The study further revealed that participants had an opportunity to learn new skills despite not having prior experience in online teaching and learning as well as online course design. However, regular power outages and server incapacity to accommodate multiple devices caused many lecturers and students to miss virtual lessons. The study provided crucial information on the progress of lecturers and students' within the e-teaching and learning mode framework and recommended the campus server upgrading and the formal training of both lecturers and students on online teaching and learning tools to optimise learning.

This study aimed to explore the survival of school financing management during the COVID-19 pandemic, to assure the quality of teaching and learning continuously. This study used a qualitative design, and data collection is carried out by observing resource persons and in-depth interviews, analysis or analysis of documentation and a combination of the three as triangulation method. The collected data were analyzed using an interactive model. The results showed that financial management strategies in managing school finances effectively and efficiently, through transparency, accountability and responsibility, are considered to have contributed to the prospects, quality, progress and sustainability of education in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is based on the fact that many quality and good schools eventually experience setbacks due to the lack of transparency, accountability and responsibility in the management of education funds. Openness in schools can promote accountability and fight corruption in education, if it is implemented effectively and any malpractice is dealt with clear consequences. The implication is the strategies of education financing management in terms of transparency, accountability and accountability need to be carry out consistently to ensure the improvement of school quality runs in a sustainable manner.

Technology innovations have the potential to significantly strengthen the ability of higher education institutions to deliver on their core educational mission with greater quality, efficiency, and effectiveness. Not surprisingly, managing technological changes is among the chief concerns for institutional leaders, and yet there is a dearth of research that provides concrete frameworks for managing this type of change in a higher education context. Using Guerra-López and Hicks's Learning and Development Strategic Alignment (LDSA) framework, this qualitative study used a directed content analysis approach to develop a contextualized framework for planning and managing technology change in higher education institutions. The findings suggest that there is a meaningful fit between specific change management strategies found in the learning management systems (LMS) transition research literature and the LDSA framework. The various strategies were synthesized and grouped around LDSA dimensions and core functions, resulting in a technological change management framework contextualized for higher education.

Executive functions enable an individual to initiate and stop actions, track and modify behavior, and plan imminent behavior when faced with specific tasks and circumstances. This study, therefore, identified a connection between the executive functions and management efficacy of academic leaders of a State University in the Philippines. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version was used in a correlation analysis to gauge the executive functions of academic leaders and a researcher-made questionnaire was administered to determine their management efficacy. The study was conducted using t-scores, means, and Pearson r. The stronger the potential of academic leaders to carry out their management skills, the more their emotional regulation leans towards the borderline. As academic leaders' management skills become remarkable, the more they are predisposed to functioning on their own initiative and can control their actions in the light of the circumstances. Further, when academic leaders normally conduct change, self-monitoring, initiation, planning/organization, and task monitoring functions, they exemplify outstanding performance in their communication skills, adaptability, interpersonal relationships, and initiative, and imagination. But when their working memory, cognitive control, inhibition, and arrangement of materials is at the borderline, better interpersonal relationships, decision-making and judgment, and initiative and imagination are achieved.

Background: School nurses are rarely integrated into primary care teams to their full potential. We aimed to characterize school nurses' perceptions related to current and optimal collaboration with primary care providers (PCPs) and identify actionable solutions to improve efficiency, quality, and coordination of pediatric care. Methods: We conducted and qualitatively analyzed interviews with school nurses to characterize structures, processes, and perceived benefits of optimized school nurse-PCP collaboration. Results: School nurse interviewees (n = 23) identified factors important to school nurse-PCP collaboration within 2 domains: information sharing and relationship building. Information sharing themes included health information sharing laws, data sharing systems, and technology-based communication systems. Relationship building themes included health care sector understanding of the school nurse role, PCP knowledge of school health requirements, shared professional development opportunities, and time and personnel. Perceived benefits of optimized PCP-school nurse collaboration were identified for children, PCPs, school nurses, and parents. Implications for School Health Policy, Practice, and Equity: Needs assessments and action plans guided by the domains of information sharing and relationship building can inform local improvements to optimize school nurse-PCP collaboration. Conclusions: School nurses highlighted cross-sector solutions to enhance school nurse-PCP collaboration including integrated information sharing systems and intentional relationship building.

Due to increased need of professionals on the future labour market with competence in programming, many countries have integrated programming in kindergarten to grade 12 (K-12) education. In 2017, programming was integrated in Swedish primary and secondary school curriculum and the courses of Mathematics and Technology. Research has highlighted challenges in integrating programming and other new technologies, and the need for better teacher support. The aim of the study was to examine what programming affords secondary school courses in Mathematics and Technology according to teachers that use programming in these two courses. The study was conducted with a qualitative approach and collected data through interviews with 19 teachers that use programming in secondary school courses of Mathematics and/or Technology. Thematic analysis with inductive-deductive approach was used to analyse the collected data. Theory of Affordances was used to identify themes of interests in the collected material and group these into categories. Ten programming affordances are identified in this study: 1) flexibility, 2) creativity, 3) efficiency, 4) visualisation, 5) fun, 6) curiosity, 7) play, 8) holistic views, 9) fearlessness, and 10) interdisciplinary collaborations. Through discussion and comparison with previous research, these programming affordances are found to relate to three aspects of teaching and learning in secondary school Mathematics and Technology: A) support course content and learning, B) facilitate engagement and motivation, and C) foster developmental skills. The study concludes with a suggestion for a conceptual model on what programming can afford school courses in Mathematics and Technology, based on the findings of the study. Findings can be used by teachers, policymakers and other stakeholders in the integration and design of programming in secondary education.

The laborious and time-consuming nature of systematic review production hinders the dissemination of up-to-date evidence synthesis. Well-performing natural language processing (NLP) tools for systematic reviews have been developed, showing promise to improve efficiency. However, the feasibility and value of these technologies have not been comprehensively demonstrated in a real-world review. We developed an NLP-assisted abstract screening tool that provides text inclusion recommendations, keyword highlights, and visual context cues. We evaluated this tool in a living systematic review on SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence, conducting a quality improvement assessment of screening with and without the tool. We evaluated changes to abstract screening speed, screening accuracy, characteristics of included texts, and user satisfaction. The tool improved efficiency, reducing screening time per abstract by 45.9% and decreasing inter-reviewer conflict rates. The tool conserved precision of article inclusion (positive predictive value; 0.92 with tool vs. 0.88 without) and recall (sensitivity; 0.90 vs. 0.81). The summary statistics of included studies were similar with and without the tool. Users were satisfied with the tool (mean satisfaction score of 4.2/5). We evaluated an abstract screening process where one human reviewer was replaced with the tool's votes, finding that this maintained recall (0.92 one-person, one-tool vs. 0.90 two tool-assisted humans) and precision (0.91 vs. 0.92) while reducing screening time by 70%. Implementing an NLP tool in this living systematic review improved efficiency, maintained accuracy, and was well-received by researchers, demonstrating the real-world effectiveness of NLP in expediting evidence synthesis.

Academic advising is inhibited at most of the high schools to help students identify appropriate academic pathways. The choice of a career domain is significantly influenced by the complexity of life and the volatility of the labor market. Thus, high school students feel confused during the shift period from high school to university, especially with the enormous amounts of data available on the Web. In this paper, an extensive comparative study is conducted to investigate five approaches of recommender systems for university study field and career domain guidance. A novel ontology is constructed to include all the needed information for this purpose. The developed approaches considered user-based and item-based collaborative filtering, demographic-based recommendation, knowledge base supported by case-based reasoning, ontology, as well as different hybridizations of them. A case study on Lebanese high school students is analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the implemented approaches. The experimental results indicate that the knowledge-based hybrid recommender system, combined with the user-based collaborative filtering and braced with case-based reasoning as well as ontology, generated 98% of similar cases, 95% of them are personalized based on the interests of the high school students. The average usefulness feedback and satisfaction level of the students concerning this proposed hybrid approach reached 95% and 92.5% respectively, which could be a solution to similar problems, regardless of the application domain. Besides, the constructed ontology could be reused in other systems in the educational domain.

This article studies the relationship between the authorities of newly independent India and mission schools using the case of (and the perspective/sources from) the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in Chotanagpur (then South Bihar, now Jharkhand). These relationships were marked by much tension in the late 1940s and early 1950s. An abundance of issues--for instance on finances, appointments, recognition, and management--mirror the fight over the control of the mission schools. However, these debates faded in the late 1950s, inter alia because policy-makers became aware of the benefits of mission schools, both in efficiently educating and in collectively suppressing communism.

The purpose of this study was to investigate second-grade students' ("N" = 128) rhythm-reading achievement and retention after 5 or 10 min of weekly instruction for 3 weeks. Eight intact classes were placed into two groups. Group 1 received 5 min of rhythm-reading instruction during weekly music class, whereas Group 2 received 10 min of rhythm-reading instruction during weekly music class. Treatment lasted 3 weeks, after which students individually completed posttest I. After 2 weeks of no rhythm-reading instruction or practice, students were individually administered posttest II to measure retention. Results indicated that both groups successfully read rhythms after instruction and retained rhythm-reading skills after two additional weeks of no instruction. Between-group analysis suggested that 5 min of instructional time is equally as effective as 10 min on student achievement and retention. Implications include increased efficiency in planning and teaching, increased student engagement, and effective instructional practices in the elementary music classroom.

Science undergraduates' timely degree completion (TDC) has become increasingly important for students themselves, universities, and society, due to issues such as cost, efficiency, and productivity, respectively. This study investigated the potential effect of several variables on TDC of Bachelor of Science (BSc) students at an Australian research-intensive university. Results showed that two time-dependent variables (TDVs)--gender and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)--predicted TDC. Two time-independent variables (TIVs)--the number of discipline majors and specific year level academic achievement--also predicted TDC. Students who completed on time had a significantly higher mean weighted average mark (WAM) than non-TDC students, for each year of study, and more females than males completed their BSc in a timely manner. The primary determinants of TDC were gender, number of discipline majors, and WAM at each of years 2 and 3. Our conceptual model of TDC indicates the predictive interrelationships among these TIVs and TDVs. A more informed understanding of the study's outcomes among university stakeholders has considerable potential to enhance the engagement, scaffolding, achievement, and TDC of science undergraduates.

Previous research shows that children evaluate the competence of others based on how effectively someone accomplished a goal, that is, based on the observed outcome of an action (e.g., number of attempts needed). Here, we investigate whether 5- to 10-year-old children and adults infer competence from how efficiently someone solves a task by implementing question-asking strategies of varying expected information gains (EIG). Whereas the efficiency of a strategy defined as EIG is a reliable indicator of competence, the observed effectiveness of actions may depend on unrelated external factors, such as luck. Across two experiments conducted in Germany, we varied how efficiently and how effectively different agents solved a 20-questions game (Experiments 1 and 2) and a maze-exploration game (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1 (N = 121), only adults identified a more efficient agent as more competent, and all participants attributed higher competence to agents needing fewer questions even when they employed the same inefficient strategy. In Experiment 2 (N = 220), adults and children from about 8 years onward successfully identified the agents using the more efficient strategy as more competent. Overall, our results suggest that observed effectiveness is a powerful cue for competence even when such an inference may not be warranted and that the ability to make explicit competence judgments based on the efficiency of a strategy alone emerges around 8 years of age, although, as shown in previous work, a more implicit understanding of competence may already be present during the preschool years.

Children from low-income families face many social and economic disadvantages, and high-quality preschool can help to alleviate some of them. Is "preschool for all" the best way to extend preschool subsidies to unserved disadvantaged children? Fully funding such a policy would be costly, and it is likely that a significant minority of beneficiaries would be from relatively high-income families. A crucial policy issue is whether public resources ought to fund a universal or a targeted approach focused on extending coverage to unserved disadvantaged children. The case for preschool subsidies targeted to disadvantaged children is strong on both efficiency and equity grounds. The case for preschool subsidies for advantaged children is weak on both criteria. Most of the evidence shows minimal benefits of high-quality preschool for more advantaged children, thanks to the resources available to their families in the absence of subsidies.

This paper is based on the reflections from a telecollaboration project between English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Turkey and native or non-native speakers of English in the USA. The main purpose of the project was to help the participants to develop their intercultural communicative competence (ICC) via online (a)synchronous communication tools. Therefore, the participants were engaged in tasks, by which they could share their thoughts about cultural issues and expand their (inter)cultural knowledge. The findings showed that telecollaboration projects are potentially key to developing language users' ICC, helping them acquire and improve essential skills and attitudes. However, the study also showed that all the positive effects of the telecollaboration projects cannot be given to the project itself. The efficiency of such projects relies on certain dos and don'ts with which whoever will perform such projects in the future requires to be careful. This paper intends to provide precise guidance about designing telecollaboration projects together with an understanding of its constraints.

Risk of bias (RoB) assessments are a core element of evidence synthesis but can be time consuming and subjective. We aimed to develop a decision rule-based algorithm for RoB assessment of seroprevalence studies. We developed the SeroTracker-RoB algorithm. The algorithm derives seven objective and two subjective critical appraisal items from the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence studies and implements decision rules that determine study risk of bias based on the items. Decision rules were validated using the SeroTracker seroprevalence study database, which included non-algorithmic RoB judgments from two reviewers. We quantified efficiency as the mean difference in time for the algorithmic and non-algorithmic assessments of 80 randomly selected articles, coverage as the proportion of studies where the decision rules yielded an assessment, and reliability using intraclass correlations comparing algorithmic and non-algorithmic assessments for 2070 articles. A set of decision rules with 61 branches was developed using responses to the nine critical appraisal items. The algorithmic approach was faster than non-algorithmic assessment (mean reduction 2.32 min [SD 1.09] per article), classified 100% (n = 2070) of studies, and had good reliability compared to non-algorithmic assessment (ICC 0.77, 95% CI 0.74-0.80). We built the SeroTracker-RoB Excel Tool, which embeds this algorithm for use by other researchers. The SeroTracker-RoB decision-rule based algorithm was faster than non-algorithmic assessment with complete coverage and good reliability. This algorithm enabled rapid, transparent, and reproducible RoB evaluations of seroprevalence studies and may support evidence synthesis efforts during future disease outbreaks. This decision rule-based approach could be applied to other types of prevalence studies.

Organisational efficiency is a consistent quality that derives more from and thrives on strong internal culture than on isolated instances of timely and effortless accomplishments by corporate systems. This study sought to evaluate the relationship between organisational culture and enhanced productivity and efficiency among members of five universities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, which with its peculiarities provided a unique context for the study. The quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection among 104 respondents. Faculty were assessed on the direct impacts of their organisations' culture on their research and publication, creativity and innovativeness, among others, while students were assessed on learning, career prospects and others. The study suggested that most of the five universities had no well-articulated organisational culture. This significantly compromises their unique value addition to the educational system, implying that they risk losing their relative advantages unless they fortify their organisational cultural frontiers.