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Transformative curriculum innovation is needed in engineering education programmes, to continuously keep up to date with developments in the professional and research disciplines, in society, technology and pedagogy, and in the characteristics and needs of its diverse students. To enable and facilitate such innovations, both the curriculum's design and its institutional organisation need to be easily adaptable. This paper introduces Curriculum Agility, a concept that has been developed between 2018 and 2023 in a series of focus group sessions with engineering education practitioners and experts. Throughout these co-creational and iterative sessions, Curriculum Agility was defined as a responsively organised education, with dynamic learning contents and flexible pedagogics and didactics, while all involved staff is continuously developing competency to deal with the necessary transitions. Ten principles of Curriculum Agility are presented to guide curriculum innovators at programme and course level towards continuous transformation that is desirable, feasible, and viable within their context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Two rising innovations in educational leadership development--using an equity lens and facilitating continuous improvement (CI)--depend upon leaders developing conducive mindsets for the work. However, little research has examined how educational leaders come to develop equity-focused CI mindsets. This is important given that countervailing habits of thinking are likely to develop within leaders' typical work environments. This paper traces the extent to which an Ed.D. program centered around a pedagogy of critical improvement science can foster shifts from typical habits of thinking towards equity-focused CI mindsets. Methods: Data consisted of 13 assignments and semi-structured interviews of six Ed.D. students participating in two parallel and interconnected courses during their first term. The two courses culminated in a common assessment: a White Paper about their equity-focused problem of practice and how their social identities shaped their understanding and role in addressing the problem. Through coding, analytic memos, and member checking, we traced patterns and shifts in students' thinking over time around five key domains of learning: problem identification, problem diagnosis, use of evidence, social identity, and equity leadership practices. Results: We found emergent mindset shifts for all six participants across all learning domains. Students demonstrated new insights about problem analysis and becoming evidence-informed and user-centered, challenging their initial framing of problems through a systems approach to diagnosing problem. These insights intersected with new understandings of their social identities and practices as equity leaders as they reflected on more oppressed and privileged aspects of their identity and wrestled with new understandings that acting as equity leaders would entail disrupting power dynamics and empowering others for collective learning and action. Discussion: The results reveal the potential of developing equity-focused CI mindsets through leadership programs that intentionally integrate methods of CI with critical analysis of one's social identity and leadership practices amid systems of oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed an alarming chasm between traditional higher education pedagogies and the lived experiences of students, posing new challenges to educators worldwide. Addressing this, our study proposes a curricular paradigm shift that foregrounds sensory and embodied learning. Influenced by a Critical Pedagogy of Place framework, we conceptualize the delivery of an urban studies module as an experience-centred encounter with the campus. Our research examines the implications of incorporating course activities and teaching styles that promote sensory-embodied forms of learning and their potential to break free from the confines of the physical classrooms. Empirical evidence from our study demonstrates a remarkable 87% increase in student theoretical comprehension, heralding the transformative potential of turning university campuses into sensorial and embodied critical spaces. Such a transformative pedagogical approach critically questions the outmoded banking education model and encourages students to interrogate deep-seated social and cultural norms and practices. In pushing the boundaries of traditional pedagogy, our study suggests the need to revamp higher education learning experiences to resonate more closely with contemporary students' lived experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, particularly the successful application of deep learning in various fields, its potential in education has gradually emerged. This study focuses on exploring the feedback mechanism of English translation teaching based on deep learning, aiming to improve teaching quality and learning efficiency. By integrating experimental design, data collection, model construction and optimization, as well as data analysis and model evaluation, the research demonstrates that deep learning feedback mechanisms have significant advantages in enhancing students' translation skills and improving the learning experience. Experimental results indicate that, compared with traditional instructional feedback methods, the deep learning-based approach performs better on key performance indicators such as accuracy, recall, precision, and F1 scores. Additionally, students expressed higher satisfaction with teaching feedback based on deep learning. This study not only confirms the application value of deep learning technology in education but also provides new perspectives and ideas for the future development of educational technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to quality education remains a significant global challenge today. In line with the goals outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its 2030 agenda, ensuring access to education is a fundamental objective. Consequently, it is imperative to undertake an investigation into the influence of technological innovation on educational practices. This study examines the impact of incorporating the 5G network into educational settings to improve learning experiences. The analysis covered 134 articles, 62 of which were deemed relevant, classifying the research as ongoing projects or pilot studies for future exploration. The main digital tools identified were artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, virtual reality, and machine learning. The use of the 5G network appears to have a more significant impact on higher education and universities. Research in this field is mainly concentrated in Europe, America, and Asia. In addition, it is clear that the adoption of 5G technology is influencing pedagogical methods, emphasising immersive learning, e-learning platforms, and flipped classrooms. This study argues for further research into the integration of technology in education, advocating a careful examination of the implementation of 5G infrastructure and its potential to improve access to high-quality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis paper reports the findings of a pilot project, Open Resources for English Language Teaching (ORELT), that aimed to introduce open resources for teaching English in Kenyan junior secondary schools alongside the traditional textbooks that until now have been the only teaching resources available to teachers and learners. The ORELT materials, which consisted of open content in the form of DVDs, books, and online content were developed by the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL), Canada, for use throughout the Commonwealth of Nations. Before the rollout of these materials, English teachers from selected schools were enlisted for an in-service workshop where they were trained on the materials and the concept of open resources, and were given a hands-on familiarisation with the resources. Two ORELT workshops were conducted for four days each between 18–21 March 2013, and 6–9 May 2013 at the Kenyatta University Conference Centre (KUCC). Participants of the first workshop were drawn from secondary schools within the urban and peri-urban areas of Nairobi. Participants for the second workshop were drawn from rural schools. This article views the introduction of these open resources in Kenyan schools as an educational innovation and investigates the effects of such an innovation on teachers’ pedagogical practice. The study found that this innovation had a generally positive impact on the teachers’ pedagogical practice in terms of their pedagogical content knowledge and skills, teaching methodology, and professional growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-stakes assessments continue to command a directing influence on education systems globally. While there is much research detailing the challenges associated with this curricular framework, there is little evidence of a move away from high-stakes assessment frameworks to date. Accordingly, attention is being drawn to spaces and opportunities where meaningful teaching and learning experiences may be fostered within high-stakes systems. This paper explores the case of the Transition Year Programme in Ireland through the lens of the poetry classroom as a case study of striking counter-cultural curriculum innovation set within a high-stakes assessment educational framework. Drawing on the perspectives of poetry teachers, the findings of the study highlight the joy, freedom and gravitational pull experienced by practitioners teaching on this programme. Curriculum and policy-based considerations supporting both the integration of counter-cultural educational innovations across high-stakes educational systems and within high-stakes educational programmes are advanced arising from the findings of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of variables related to the use of ICT in the classroom is a topic of interest that has been frequently researched. In this paper, after examining the importance of teacher training in explaining the use of ICT in the classroom, we focused on analysing the weight of variables related to teaching practices and the organisational context of schools, which are variables that are less frequently addressed in the literature. To do so, a secondary analysis was carried out using data provided by the Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS 2018). Specifically, we worked with a sample of 3,918 principals and 64,899 teachers from a total of 3921 schools in 21 countries. A multilevel binary regression model with random intercept, fixed coefficients and a two-level structure with teachers at level 1 and schools at level 2 was used. The results indicate that the presence of ICT in the classroom is associated with self-efficacy in teaching and the cognitive activation of students and with the organisational aspects of the school, which are scarcely addressed by the existing literature on this topic of interest, such as school climate, educational innovation and cooperation among teachers. Based on these results, we reflect on possible ways to promote the use of ICT in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil refineries play a crucial role in meeting global energy demands, and optimizing the efficiency of critical processes is vital for economic feasibility and environmental sustainability. Simulation is an essential tool for the optimization of valuable products. This work presents the rigorous simulation of a vacuum distillation unit (VDU) based on actual data from the vacuum distillation processes using Aspen HYSYS V10. The Peng–Robinson fluid package is used in this simulation, and an input assay with a standard density of 29 API_60 (879.8 kg/m3) is employed. True boiling point (TBP) assay data are the type that is being used. Methane, ethane, propane, i-Butane, n-Butane, i-Pentane, and n-Pentane are the components listed in the simulation. The research determines that achieving a yield capacity of 685 tons/h requires thirty stages in the atmospheric distillation unit and twelve stages in the vacuum distillation unit while operating at 420 °C temperature and 9 kPa pressure. Adjustments in the flash section temperature (FST) and steam flow rate (SFR) are proposed to enhance operational efficiency. Increasing the FST from 370 °C to 400 °C and adjusting SFR from 10 tons/h to 26 tons/h increases the Light Vacuum Gas Oil (LVGO) yield by 7.2% while elevating the FST from 400 °C to 430 °C and adjusting SFR from 10 tons/h to 26 tons/h enhances the High Vacuum Gas Oil (HVGO) yield by 7.4%. These optimization strategies offer a practical and effective approach for refineries to improve the economic benefits of vacuum distillation units. The implications of this research can act as a computational thinking exercise for higher education students considering the case study where only through changing the operational strategies can the yield be enhanced by 10.81% in the vacuum distillation unit of the oil refinery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an effort to advance the middle school movement, this paper examines the research trends from three organizations that support middle grades educational innovation, assessment, and research: The Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Educational Testing Service, and the Institute of Education Sciences. Using an instrumental, multiple case study design, trends within and across these organizations regarding research on middle grades education were identified. We found trends across these organizations that reveal the following: They privilege quantitative methodologies; the research topics examined are limited in focus; and the end-result for much of their work results in exclusive products for sale. Further, each of these organizations has deep pockets that provide significant funds for their research projects and products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A potential emerging shortage of veterinary medical educators requires the profession to acknowledge and understand the factors leading to this outcome. Expanding class sizes within existing schools and colleges of veterinary medicine and the expected expansion of new programs seeking AVMA-Council of Education accreditation have heightened the need to address an impending shortage of veterinary medical educators. A solution-oriented approach that accurately projects educator workforce needs and identifies factors contributing to the shortage requires effective collaboration across various partnering organizations to develop innovations in pedagogy and educational delivery methods. The veterinary profession must also identify and reduce disincentives that deter students and post-DVM trainees from pursuing careers in education. Finally, efforts at the state and federal level are critical to advocate for financial support and incentives for expansion of the veterinary medical educator workforce. Through these collective approaches and partnerships, the veterinary medical educator workforce can be strengthened to overcome obstacles for educating the next generation of veterinarians to meet societal needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how early childhood education and basic education teachers develop and develop innovations within the decentralised educational system of Finland. The comprehensive dataset of 20 field interviews provides a range of insights into teachers' goals, principles, inspirations and experiences when working with a variety of language-based innovations across Finland. The ecological perspective employed in the study highlights the complex relationships between the different ecosystems of education. With the particular focus on the educator-exosystem relationship, the findings indicate how Finnish teachers respond to the expectation to continuously develop and innovate as key change agents in education. The findings also outline ways in which teachers' development and innovation is fostered and disrupted within the educator-exosystem relationship. This study highlights the importance of pre-service teacher education in preparing teachers to innovate and to develop within a decentralised educational system. Moreover, this study highlights the need to ensure that the professional repertoire of teachers goes beyond pedagogical considerations to include interpersonal, organisational, critical and reflexive skills that mediate and sustain the development of teachers within the wider ecology of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objectives of this research study are to provide a detailed description of machine learning (ML) technology when applied to assessing innovation and to design a model that allows predicting an institution’s degree of innovation. Machine learning technology lacks assumptions or preconceptions and is capable of processing a large amount of data and variables. After data processing, the ML model is built using variables associated with educational context, training is performed, and a web is built to predict the degree of innovation of an educational institution. This model provides an innovation accuracy prediction of 66% and allows assessing the influence of the variables analyzed when predicting the use of active methodologies at a given institution. In conclusion, this approach can open new data analysis techniques supported by ML that complement traditional statistically based approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study aims to identify the state of well-being of a select group of women leaders in a Mexican university by analyzing the relationship between their perception of happiness and their satisfaction with their life and work. Through the application of a psychometric battery, this work examined how these leaders manage their well-being within an environment that is simultaneously empowering and demanding. Methodologically, a descriptive statistical analysis was performed, including a correlation analysis of all items. As a result, the research identified positive correlations between the variables age and positive perceptions of work and life, which are strongly associated with high personal and professional satisfaction. In addition, people who find their work rewarding and feel that their life is close to their ideal tend to be more satisfied in general. Although this study intended to be exploratory, it also sought to contribute a deeper understanding of the well-being status of women in university leadership positions in Mexico. In doing so, it filled an important gap in the literature on gender, leadership, and well-being in Latin American academia by highlighting the complexity of managing and supporting women in leadership positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) face new challenges in regard to technological development in light of necessary pedagogical and didactic innovations in educational action. This article proposes a Technological–Pedagogical Gamification Model (MGTP) that guides the design of gamified educational practices in Virtual Teaching and Learning Environments (EVEAs). The MGTP proposal is based on theoretical cores of Pedagogy and Computer Science theories, as well as works related to gamified experiences in EVEA where the social, cognitive, and teaching presences were analyzed. This work also presents an initial validation of the MGTP through expert judgment, and its results are analyzed from both a qualitative (content analysis and comments) and quantitative (using the Content Validity Coefficient method) perspective. These results reveal a high level of acceptance of the model by experts that is corroborated by reliability tests (Cronbach's alpha and split-half reliability test). The results facilitated the development of a final version of the model for its subsequent application and evaluation in university practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The higher education landscape is continually evolving, with educators adapting to meet the needs, aspirations, and expectations of their students. Data technology and virtual-learning systems have become vital components in higher education operations, with many institutions incorporating online frameworks and innovations. The aims of the study to evaluate the effectiveness of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) using university platforms for online teaching and learning in Indonesia and Malaysia, focusing on students' perspectives. The research utilizes the CIPP, which stands for Context, Input, Process, and Product appraisal framework proposed by Stufflebeam (Journal of Research and Development in Education, 5, 19-25, 1971). The study includes all students who take English as their subject in the English Department Program, as well as English lecturers. The stratified random sampling approach was employed for data collection. Qualitative data gathered through interviews with educators from both institutions, while written papers provide additional insights. For quantitative data, a modified questionnaire with 63 items divided into six sections and five score scales were disseminated online through the Survey123 program. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the questionnaire results. Smart-PLS was utilized for barrier element analysis, using PLS-SEM for causal predictive analysis and consideration of reflective and formative factors. Figure 1 presents the conceptual model, illustrating the connections between exogenous and endogenous latent components in the study. By integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches, this research provides valuable contributions to the understanding of CLT's impact on online education in these settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: China's global vision of education seeks to address various educational challenges from a global perspective. In terms of geopolitical education, China has geographical advantages for enhancing education collaboration with cultural and economic impact. Despite the global learning crisis, China will continue the opening-up of education and advancing of its global technology leadership. Amid unprecedented global change, driving innovation in education has become a pressing issue in China's education system. China is embracing the diverse opportunities arising from global changes and challenges, seeking to forge stronger international bonds through education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Innovation Education holds significant potential for driving economic development, its specific impact on Learner Innovative Behavior within Ghanaian higher education remains unexplored due to a lack of research in this area. We conducted a cross-sectional survey to explain the relationship between innovation education and learner innovative behaviour, and the role of entrepreneurial alertness and university support. We used a purposive sampling technique to select a sample of 574 participants. Findings revealed a positive relationship between innovation education and learner innovative behaviour, with entrepreneurial alertness and university support playing critical roles in fostering this relationship. The findings imply that solely relying on innovation education may not sufficiently impact learner innovative behaviour. The study, therefore, recommends integrating entrepreneurial alertness and university support to enhance innovation-oriented learning through innovation-focused curricula. By investing in innovation education and supporting student innovators, universities can contribute to the growth of local economies and address broader societal challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopting innovations in educational practice is a challenging task. In order to promote the use of technological innovations, acceptance of the technology by potential users is a prerequisite. Indeed, understanding the various factors that influence technology acceptance is critical for technology acceptance research. The use and acceptance of chatbots in education as a technological innovation is a topic that needs to be investigated. Chatbots, which offer close to human interaction between the user and technology through text and voice, can provide significant benefits in educational environments. The UTAUT2 model (extending UTAUT), which is widely used to evaluate technology acceptance, can serve as a framework for evaluating the acceptance and use of chatbots. This study aims to predict factors influencing students' use of chatbots in education within the UTAUT2 framework. PLS-SEM and machine learning tested the model, involving 926 students. According to the findings of the study, behavioral intentions were influenced by various factors including performance expectations and attitudes. Facilitating conditions and intentions significantly impacted chatbot usage time. Moderator effects were observed with age, gender, and usage experience affecting behavioral intentions. Support vector machine and logistic regression showed high prediction accuracies for behavioral intentions and usage time, respectively. These results provide insights for chatbot designers to meet user needs in educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Objectives Scope Methods Results Conclusion Clinician‐teachers, physicians with educational responsibilities in either classroom or clinical setting, are assumed to add value by virtue of their dual role. The clinical responsibilities are often prioritised over the educational tasks. How and under which circumstances clinician‐teachers are able to perform their educational role and create added value for different stakeholders is currently unclear.To identify for whom, how and under which circumstances educational activities executed by CTs by virtue of their dual role add value to others.CTs activities linking the system of education and clinical practice beyond direct patient interactions and purposefully executed.A realist review was conducted. Databases were searched in two stages: a narrow conventional search, followed by a comprehensive artificial intelligence‐aided search. Studies concerning clinician‐teachers' dual role were included. Realist analysis was applied to identify in which contexts resource mechanisms triggered reasoning mechanisms, which led to specific outcomes for different stakeholders.Sixty‐six studies were included. In contexts where clinician‐teachers' dual role was formally recognised and valued, clinician‐teachers benefitted from the credibility and legitimacy bestowed on them, making the transfer of domain‐specific knowledge more impactful. In contexts where sociocultural differences between both systems existed, CTs were able to mediate and adjust recommendations aligned with stakeholders' perceived relevance. Also, contexts organised to support both roles made resource mechanisms more impactful. Clinician‐teachers added value to students' clinical competency and learning environment, and to educational organisations' curricular innovation. In their clinical workspace, clinician‐teachers added value by enhancing colleague physicians' teaching expertise, implementing educational innovations and recruiting students for scarce specialisms.Clinician‐teachers add value to students, colleague physicians and the clinical and educational contexts at large. Domain‐specific knowledge of both systems was important to gain credibility and achieve added value. Openness, formal recognition and allocated time for both roles in educational and clinical contexts towards the dual role are important to strengthen the impact of the dual role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invention and innovation education and its associated practices (e.g., problem-finding, problem-defining, learning from failure, iterative problem-solving, innovation-focused curricula, collaboration, and maker spaces) are moving from the periphery to the center of education at an ever-increasing pace. Although the research and literature on invention and innovation education, collectively termed as Invention Education (IvE) in this research, is on the rise, to our knowledge no attempt has been made to systematically review the literature available on the topic. To address this gap, we identify, collect, and systematically review scientific literature on IvE. We conduct Bibliometrix-based and targeted analysis to identify the topics, sources, authors, and articles most cited, as well as prominent countries publishing IvE literature. Another objective of this research is to uncover the intellectual, conceptual, and social structures of IvE. A third objective is to identify the progress made and the challenges being faced in furthering IvE and propose future directions. Our review shows that the field has seen substantial growth, especially in recent years particularly in the United States. Research shows IvE’s importance in nurturing a well-rounded, innovative, and skilled future workforce, emphasizing creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, adaptability, and problem-solving skills. Although with a plethora of curricula and K-20 programs in United States, followed by South Korea, and China, IvE lacks unifying conceptualization, definitions and frameworks. The lack of commonly accepted terms and theoretical bases, and difficulties integrating invention into STEM coursework, are compounded by barriers like resource limitations, curriculum constraints, and the need for teacher training and support. The review underscores the need for IvE to address and dismantle inventor stereotypes and cultivate a diverse and inclusive generation of innovators. It points to the impact of gender and stereotypes on participation in IvE programs and the importance of promoting equity and access to IvE opportunities for all students. The article concludes with a discussion of challenges and future research directions to address them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era marked by rapid change and complex global challenges, Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) are tasked with preparing students to navigate and address these evolving demands. This paper explores the critical role of Higher Education (HE) in equipping students with the necessary skills and mindsets to tackle real- world problems through innovative solutions. Integrating critical thinking and design thinking within a Design Innovation module is central to this exploration. The study is undergirded by a conceptual framework that blends critical, design, and futures thinking, focusing exclusively in this paper on applying critical thinking (CT) and design thinking (DT). The research investigates two primary questions: (1) How do students' DT and CT mindsets change after participation in a Design Innovation module? (2) Is CT a prerequisite for developing DT? This study aims to illuminate the shifts in students' mindsets from before to after the completion of the module, highlighting the importance of developing key dispositions for ethical and socially responsible problem-solving. Results show a statistically significant increase in CT and DT disposition scores from pre- to post-test, suggesting a shift to more positive CT and DT mindsets after going through the Design Innovation module. In addition, a significant moderation effect of pre-test CT mindset on the relationship between pre-test and post-test DT mindset scores was observed, implying that CT was a prerequisite for DT. The findings offer insights into the module's effectiveness in fostering future-ready graduates' thinking capabilities on innovating for real-world challenges and highlight the need for our future-ready students to achieve critical competence and creative confidence. Finally, we conclude the paper with recommendations for educators to integrate CT skill development intentionally and in tandem with DT skill development for a balanced approach to developing critical competence and creative confidence in interdisciplinary courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning scientists have historically been interested in understanding how learning happens and in creating innovations to facilitate learning in real-world situations. Recently, the field has recognized that advancing standalone innovations is not enough to address systemic problems in education; instead, the focus must be broadened to sustain these innovations. Drawing on an interdisciplinary body of literature on infrastructure, this paper presents a framework—the IMPROV framework—that offers theoretical, methodological, and practical tools for infrastructuring innovations in the learning sciences. Infrastructuring can be defined as the ongoing process of creating functional infrastructures for activities in a particular context. I describe six inter-connected areas of infrastructuring to highlight ways that learning designers and researchers could surface existing infrastructures, facilitate coherence-making negotiation activities, engage practitioners in collaborative design, and continuously evaluate infrastructuring activities. It is hoped that such advances will increase the relevance and sustainability of innovations in education and provide infrastructure to further improve them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article performs bibliometric analysis to study the contributions of Saudi institutions in the education field in journals indexed in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED). Publications from 1991 to 2020 were assessed. Characteristics of document types, publication outputs, Web of Science categories and journals, and publication performances in terms of quantity for countries and institutes were investigated. To investigate performance quality, citation histories of the most frequently cited articles in the 30 years and the most frequently cited articles in 2020 were examined. The number of citations from the WoS Core Collection in the most recent year, total number of citations since the publication year 2020, and citations per publication were used to evaluate publication performances. Results showed that educational research articles were substantially published in the last decade. The most number of articles were published in the category of scientific disciplines education, followed by the education and educational research category. For international collaboration, Saudi Arabia had the most number of international collaborations with the US. However, articles that were collaborated with Germany had the highest impact. King Saud University was the most productive institution in terms of high-quantity and high-quality published articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tiny and affordable computers (e.g. Raspberry Pi and Arduino) have been widely applied to technology-enhanced hands-on learning (THL). However, little scholarly attention has been devoted to the key factors behind students' performance in THL contexts. Therefore, this study not only helped the participants learn computer science through THL, but also devised a research model to investigate the major factors affecting their learning performance. In this model, self-efficacy and social support serve as the independent variables, and perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and behavioral intention act as the mediating variables, while learning performance functions as the dependent variable. The research findings reveal that (1) self-efficacy is a more significantly influential factor than social support behind learning performance; and (2) perceived enjoyment is more significantly influential than perceived usefulness in affecting learning performance via the mediation of behavioral intention. These findings imply that students' self-efficacy in using technologies is more important than others' assistance in THL contexts, since the latter may not be offered in a timely manner, whereas the former will prompt students to solve problems independently and ergo deliver better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a study documenting managerial leadership within the schoolwork in tele-secondary institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic. The approach was qualitative with case study support. An exploratory stage was carried out, with the participation of management and teaching staff from the State of Veracruz, Mexico, and another in-depth stage, which resulted in the selection of two cases. The analysis presented focuses on a school principal and the center where he works; with the support of Atlas.ti, three categories were defined: teacher well-being, closeness to the students and professional learning community. The results show that what prevailed was the physical, labor and emotional well-being of teachers; the search for permanence and learning of the students, as well as the constitution of a professional learning community. We recognized that the possibility of innovation in education emerged, even amidst the health crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Constructing the first-class undergraduate specialty, deepening curriculum reform, incorporating innovation and entrepreneurship education throughout the entire talent development process, and consistently enhancing the standard of innovation and entrepreneurship education are crucial approaches to fostering scientific and technological aptitude among college students. This study, according to the nature and characteristics of the course "Comprehensive Utilization of Grain and Oil Processing By-Products", focusing on the objectives of course teaching, under the guidance of the concept of innovation and entrepreneurship education, aims to explore the development and implementation of a practical case teaching method tailored to grain engineering students within the framework of the provincial first-class undergraduate specialty construction. By improving challenges such as lecture-based teaching, limited practical links, and one-dimensional assessment, a collaborative education platform of 'trinity' innovation and entrepreneurship teaching is proposed based on the construction idea of "classroom-experiment-practice". This platform emphasizes several improvement initiatives, such as incorporating industry case-inspired teaching, conducting classroom presentations, fostering the development of innovative experimental designs in small groups, cultivating the spirit of scientists, expanding the teaching of science and innovation competitions on the extracurricular activities, implementing multi-dimensional assessment methods, and establishing continuity mechanisms. Our goal is to establish a collaborative platform that nurtures innovation and entrepreneurship through the professional curriculum. Ultimately, this platform seeks to promote balanced development between professional knowledge and entrepreneurial skills, elevating the cultivation of innovative talents in grain engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Among the challenges of the aquaculture sector, the present study tries to focus on the necessary modernisation and innovation of the Hungarian sector education by strategically outlining the possibility of a niche secondary-level fisheries PILOT (experimental) training. It is obvious that the "launching" of such a shortage training level is a very complex and long-term task, but in our opinion not unfeasible. To this end, we are considering the development of a multi-stage action plan, the first milestone of which will be a thorough situation survey of the aquaculture education community. The study applies a deductive approach to specific areas of education and training within the general trends in aquaculture, covering the main traces of PILOT training in fisheries as a niche discipline. Our first paper, targeted at educators, focuses on the results of a questionnaire survey of 94 educators. Our main objective was to assess the presence of aquaculture-related knowledge content and associated methodologies in the classroom and the general digital literacy of educators. Our objectives also focus on the general digital readiness of vocational trainers and on the patterns of "professional marketing" opportunities that aquaculture professionals can express. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst the intensified discourse surrounding universities’ societal impact, social innovation and entrepreneurship (SIE) has emerged as a way to refocus universities’ engagement in sustainable development, particularly through their core mission of teaching and learning. Growing interest in SIE education over the decades has led to a proliferation of courses and programs offered in various disciplines by universities worldwide. Nevertheless, scholarly research unpacking the SIE educational processes remains scant and lacks multidisciplinary perspectives. Educators of SIE continue to face challenges in designing curricula and adopting appropriate teaching approaches. This study fills this gap by offering ample empirical evidence based on a documentary analysis of 53 syllabi from 43 distinctive courses accompanied by interviews with the academics responsible for the design of these courses across all eight publicly funded universities in Hong Kong. The analysis identifies multiple patterns within two major themes: the changing scope and positioning of SIE education and the varying orientations of SIE curricula. The findings provide valuable insights and identify areas for further exploration for the design of impactful SIE learning experiences for students. Furthermore, by situating the examination of SIE teaching and learning within the lens of curriculum theory, this study establishes a foundation for future research to undertake systematic and rigorous comparative analyses of curricula in diverse contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-Portfolios in language education have emerged over two decades. Despite their popularity as an instructional tool, many cast doubt on their usefulness in second language classrooms, especially when scholars are not clear about how e-Portfolio artefacts can be converted into reliable learning evidence by students' active reflection and validation via multimedia feedback to inform language teaching and learning. This paper examines the usefulness of e-Portfolios by looking into how teachers attempt the tool to connect portfolio evidence, rationalisation, and feedback. Three novice teachers with three-year school experience (Jill, Jamie, and Jackie) undertook action research projects in their secondary schools. They participated in the study by trying out their individual e-Portfolio programmes for a year. Qualitative data, including two classroom observations and three reflective journal entries per teacher were collected by the author. Content analysis of qualitative data (i.e., lesson observation transcripts and journal entries) was performed deductively. The findings showed that except Jamie, Jill and Jackie hardly enhanced the usefulness of e-Portfolios, because they could not empower students to link artefacts, reflection, and validation properly owing to multiple reasons. Pedagogical implications concerning how to scale up the usefulness of e-Portfolio in L2 classroom contexts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher Education Institutions are expected to stimulate the innovation system and to contribute to the development of societies in a global perspective. Within this context, there is an increasing focus on internationalization. HEIs are developing institutional mechanisms to support internationalization while academics are expected to carry specific practices that allow them to improve the internationalization of knowledge production. At the same time, they are encouraged to engage with non-academic partners to co-produce and transfer knowledge, contributing, in this way, to economic and social development. Although there is some research on the impact of internationalization on academic entrepreneurship, studies on the effects in other dimensions of academic engagement with society are almost absent. This paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing the relationship between academics' internationalization practices and perceptions and the development of different types of academic engagement. Our analysis draws on quantitative analysis with data provided by an international survey (APIKS) and explores the Portuguese context. Findings show that the different practices and perspectives on internationalization impact differently on the way scientists engage. While there are positive effects of internationalization of research on engagement, the time academics stay abroad and the high focus on publishing in internationally high-rated journals may negatively affect academics' orientation towards the local community. This paper contributes to the debate on the role of the internationalization in the context of a knowledge-based society, considering different dimensions and a broad spectrum of knowledge-based engagement activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcripts and testamurs serve to confirm the award of a degree but offer limited information on what a student can actually do. This conceptual paper considers the problem of how graduate achievements are represented by universities in typically reductive and limited ways that do not enable student achievements and distinctiveness to be communicated to future employers, communities and students themselves. It argues that refinements to existing methods for the design and development of assessment are needed to encompass both university validated and contextualised credentials along with student-constructed portrayals of achievement and personas. Significant change is needed to assessment design, data capture and storage and the ways in which learning outcomes are tracked across a program and over time. Innovations in assessment representation should strengthen employer trust in the value of degrees, student trust in assessment processes and scaffold student agency in curating their employability narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authentic assessments are designed to evaluate knowledge and skills that are relevant for students' life beyond university, emphasising practical, applied skills. They offer an alternative to assessments that don't explicitly foster transferability of skills. The present study examined undergraduate student perceptions of authentic and traditional assessments (N = 150). We used a qualitative story completion methodology to examine three domains: student's emotional responses to authentic and traditional assessment forms, student's perceptions of how different assessment types may benefit their employability, and student's preferences for pedagogical support with authentic assessments. A qualitative content analysis revealed students generally perceive authentic, novel assessments to be exciting, motivating and inspirational; however, this was accompanied by feelings of uncertainty and unfamiliarity. More traditional assessments (e.g. essays and multiple-choice-question examinations) elicited feelings of comfort and preparedness, but students also felt worried, bored and unexcited by these assessments. Students appreciated creative freedom when lecturers set traditional assessments but would like more consideration of their feelings and need for support in authentic assessments. Hence, we argue, when advocating for authentic assessment, there is a balance to be struck between innovation and challenge, ensuring sufficient support for student's psychological safety and feelings of comfort. Implications for practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognition of teaching excellence has become a global trend in higher education as various schemes and awards are established as a way to assure stakeholders of the quality of teaching in universities. At present, there is a lack of research into what teaching excellence means from an institutional perspective. This study explores the conceptualisation of teaching excellence in 95 award documents from research-intensive and non-research-intensive higher education institutions as well as national and regional-level teaching excellence schemes. Data were collected from official institution websites and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that teaching excellence is defined by five dimensions of excellence (impact, innovation, inclusivity, scholarship of teaching and learning, and student-centredness) in six aspects of teaching (pedagogy, curriculum planning and design, assessment, student support, service to communities and professional development). A matrix is constructed based on the findings to explicate the concept of teaching excellence, and potential contradictions and tensions concerning the values emphasised in the dimensions of excellence are highlighted. The findings of this study have theoretical and practical implications for researchers, policy makers, staff development personnel and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Due to the fast changes in the availability of new technologies, partially accelerated by COVID-19, veterinarians and veterinary students faced the challenges of digital learning technologies embedded in practical laboratories. In particular, veterinary pathology courses transitioned from traditional methods to digital pathology, the viewing of slides on a computer screen. The aims of this study are to evaluate and compare the personal effectiveness and satisfaction, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of digital pathology, specifically digital cytology, as a teaching method among European veterinary students at the undergraduate and postgraduate level who attended digital pathology courses during and before the pandemic. Digital cytology refers to the visualisation of cytological samples on a screen. A Google Form survey consisting of 11 multiple-choice questions was emailed to pathology teachers and distributed to their students. From our results, the main differences emerged in training, the disadvantages of digital cytology, and the preferred method of learning cytology. Finally, all students consider digital cytology as a satisfactory primary teaching methodology; however, the importance of not completely replacing light microscopy, a common tool in everyday veterinary practice, emerged, especially from postgraduate students. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated technological changes in veterinary education, particularly in clinical pathology and anatomic pathology courses transitioning from traditional methods to digital pathology (DP). This study evaluates the personal effectiveness and satisfaction, as well as the advantages and disadvantages, of DP, in particular digital cytology (DC), as a teaching method among European veterinary students, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, who attended digital pathology courses during and before the pandemic. A further aim is to discuss the differences between the two student groups. A Google Form survey consisting of 11 multiple-choice questions was emailed to pathology teachers and distributed to their students. Results indicated that undergraduate students showed greater digital pathology training, favouring DC as the most effective learning modality. In contrast, postgraduate students reported less digital slide training, and their preference for learning cytology was split between DC alone and DC integrated with traditional microscopy. All students experienced whole slide imaging for learning cytology slides prevalently, and they stated that DC enhanced their learning experience. While DC demonstrates personal effectiveness and satisfaction as a teaching method, it is important to not replace pathology training with light microscopy completely, as almost a third of the students indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authenticity in schools has been highlighted as important for improving students' engagement and learning, and to prepare them for future job markets, especially in science and technology. This study investigates students' perceived authenticity of a developed innovation project when implemented in an upper secondary technology education program. Three cohorts of students (n = 199) attended a first-year technology course at a Swedish upper secondary school in 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively. In addition, eleven students from the 2016 cohort were interviewed two years later to obtain their views on how the innovation project in the first-year course influenced their performance in a subsequent advanced technology course taken in 2017–2018. Groups of students participated in the first phase of an innovation project in the first-year course, a five-week module, cooperatively designing solutions to real-world problems. A Likert scale questionnaire measured the degree of perceived authenticity in line with Herrington, Reeves and Oliver's (2010) key elements. Focus group interviews were conducted after the second phase – a 20-week follow-up module in the subsequent advanced course – about how authentic they perceived the first and second phases to be. A questionnaire measured the degree of perceived authenticity of the students for the first phase, for each of the three years. Coaching and scaffolding received the highest ratings across all three years, whereas Reflection was perceived as having the lowest authenticity. In a qualitative component of the study students found both phases positive, and five new themes of students' perception of their experiences were revealed. The similarities in perceived authenticity between the three cohorts suggest consistency in students' perceptions of authenticity. However, they did not feel that the project gave them the opportunity to reflect on their learning. According to interviews conducted two years later, they perceived their experiences of the innovation project as having induced creativity, commitment, ownership, motivation, and real-world connection, although at times it was also a challenge to think for themselves and to collaborate with others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]