The present study aims to investigate the problem-solving skills of the students getting professional music training. For this study, the problem-solving inventory was administered to participants from two different universities in Turkey. Participants’ problem-solving skills were assessed in relation to the overall inventory and subscales, and the differences based on grade level, gender, and universities were examined using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results revealed that participants occasionally used their problem-solving skills, rarely felt confident in their problem-solving skills, and occasionally performed the behaviors in the subscales of approach-avoidance and personal control. The grade level differentiated music students’ problem-solving skills in the overall scale and approach-avoidance subscale. It is also found that there are no significant differences in students’ problem-solving skills based on gender. However, the participants’ universities led to significant differences in the approach-avoidance subscale. The results were discussed considering the literature, and the recommendations were suggested due to the results.

This study explores the relationship among the internal locus of control, entrepreneurial alertness, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, and entrepreneurial intentions of college students. The scales of internal locus of control, entrepreneurial alertness, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, and entrepreneurial intention have been used to conduct a questionnaire survey among 921 undergraduates from four universities in China. The results show four key findings. First, the internal locus of control has a positive and significant impact on entrepreneurial intention. Second, entrepreneurial alertness plays a mediating role in the relationship between internal locus of control and entrepreneurial intention. Third, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition plays a mediating role in the relationship between the internal locus of control and entrepreneurial intention. Finally, entrepreneurial alertness and entrepreneurial opportunity recognition have a chain mediation effect on the relationship between the internal locus of control and entrepreneurial intention. The study proposes suggestions and future research directions based on the research results, serving as a reference for entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurship planning of college students.

Lecturers have different perceptions of the effect of internal continuous assessment (ICASS) on students at tertiary vocational education and training (TVET) colleges. This qualitative multiple case study explored computer practice module lecturer’s experience of internal continuous assessment (ICASS) in three KwaZulu-Natal TVET colleges. Six lecturers were purposively selected from three KwaZulu-Natal TVET colleges. Drawing from an interpretivist perspective, constructivist theory entailing cognitive and social constructivism guided this study. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Collected data were transcribed, categorized into codes and themes emerged using thematic data analysis method. The findings revealed that it was difficult to complete the curriculum due to limited time and assessments methods were limited and did not meet the diverse needs of students. Lecturers had to work beyond the set assessment schedules to cater students who missed or scored below average marks. Moderation and assessment feedback were not considered as a critical aspect in the ICASS. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis hindered the successful implementation of the ICASS. It is recommended that the policy makers should insist TVET college managements to offer specialized in-service training for lecturers’ professional development and upgrade the infrastructure and equipment. Time should be set for teaching activities to enhance effective learning so that extra lectures can be offered to students with limited or no previous computer knowledge and encourage them to follow the comments by lecturers as a corrective assessment feedback. It is concluded that lecturers should use diverse assessment methods to improve students’ ICASS.

There are pedagogical challenges for the ideal balance of online community building and interaction among students and instructors for HyFlex learning. One of the challenges focuses on how instructors can effectively select and design an online discussion modality to promote positive, vigorous, and encouraging online asynchronous discussion to engage students. This research study adopted an exploratory mixed method approach designed to investigate student’s satisfaction level and academic performance with different interface design platforms for online discussion in HyFlex delivery modality education courses. Study results indicated that different interface design for online discussion platforms had a significant impact on students’ academic achievement for online discussion assessment although there is no significant impact on students’ overall satisfactory levels toward the courses. Implications from the results suggest a need to design and integrate effective online discussion platform to engage students and promote social learning in HyFlex learning environments.

This study examined the effect of Yunnan’s ethnic minority college students’ acculturation on their academic achievement under the risk of the Matthew effect. Additionally, the role played by learning motivation in the relationship between ethnic minority college students’ acculturation and academic achievement was explored. A total of 403 valid questionnaires were collected from four areas in Yunnan province, China. Consequently, the Acculturation Scale, Academic Achievement Scale, and Learning Motivation Scale were used for measurement materials. These items of scales were evaluated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). SPSS (statistical package for the social sciences) and AMOS (analysis of a moment structures) softwares were used for data analyses. In addition, items were analyzed through item analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis and regression analysis. These results indicated that ethnic minority college students with low acculturation and learning motivation or high acculturation and low learning motivation can become objects of the Matthew effect. However, this study also observed that in certain students, high acculturation and high learning motivation can prevent the Matthew effect. Thus, high acculturation is crucial for improving academic achievement in ethnic minority college students. A level of high learning motivation is a powerful moderator promoting the academic achievement of students with high acculturation.

Students' intercultural competence and reading ability are an essential aspect of their education. Intercultural competence, defined as respect for the cultural views, beliefs, and traditions of others, is a necessary skill for effective and appropriate communication. Using a multidimensional model, this study investigated the effect of intercultural competence among Thai junior high school students on their resilience, well-being, and attitudes toward reading. A 2018 Program for International Student Assessment data set relating to 7,411 students from 289 schools in Thailand was analyzed using structural equation modeling. The research findings suggest that improved intercultural competence strengthens resilience, well-being, and attitudes toward reading.

Evaluation of the K-13 curriculum (2013 Curriculum) on the value of the national mathematics examination “Nilai Ebtanas Murni” (NEM) in every State Junior High School needs to be carried out thoroughly in order to improve the quality of education. This study uses spatial analysis to evaluate the curriculum and determine the development of NEM scores in the school year. Furthermore, the kriging interpolation method via surfer software was used to generate scores. The results showed that the 2015 K-13 mathematics curriculum did not give good results based on the 36-68 NEM score interval for the entire Pekanbaru area. In addition, the curriculum only gives good results for a small area in the north and south. In 2016, the curriculum which was accompanied by the entry of the new education unit level curriculum “Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan” (KTSP) showed a significant change in the NEM value. Although most of these areas experienced an increase in scores, the intervals still ranged from 36-68. The total revision of the K-13 curriculum carried out and used in 2017 showed a significant increase in scores for all regions with an interval of 68-84 scores. In conclusion, this study shows that the revision of the K-13 curriculum is the right step to produce quality mathematics learning.

Research shows that children's reading proficiency levels in the early grades positively correlate with students' future academic achievement. This study provides the first-ever analysis of reading achievement trajectories for a cohort of students in grades 3 to 5 in 2014–17 in Hawaii schools. Hawaii serves a diverse student population whose characteristics differ in ways often overlooked by standard US racial and ethnic classifications. Our analysis shows that Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students not only start at a lower reading proficiency than their peers in Grade 3, but the achievement gap widens as they move from Grade 3 to Grade 5. Moreover, we find a strong association between students' third-grade performance and reading achievement growth rate above and beyond all other factors in our longitudinal model. The difference in performance patterns between student subgroups across the elementary grades can serve as an accurate baseline for yearly monitoring. In light of our findings, we discuss implications for policy and practice.

South Africa, like other countries in the world, went into lockdown due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which meant closure of venue-based exam centres, university libraries and academic offices for more than three months. This encounter forced higher institutions of learning to review and reconfigure their assessment practices and conduct alternative assessment practises like timed exams, take home exams, randomised multiple-choice examinations and an online portfolio. Over and above that South Africa experienced load shedding (interruptions to electricity supply) and connectivity challenges which impacted the online examinations. This paper explores the experiences of lecturers whilst administering online examination at a South African Open Distance e-Learning university during COVID-19. Data collected from the lecturers who administered online examination through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analyses were used to analyse the data. Lecturers reported on student challenges related to time allocation, exam security, internet connectivity and data access, digital incompetency and support received from the information communication technology (ICT) department. Academics’ reflection suggests that the system and students were not fully prepared and ready to write the online examination. The researchers propose continued technical and technological education and support for academics and students. Therefore, in line with these experiences, it is important to conduct further the research.

Taiwan has been promoting its national health insurance (NHI), which provides people with appropriate medical resources; however, health insurance education is missing from schools, and teachers lack relevant teaching abilities. This study describes the development of the health insurance education empowerment program (HIEEP) to promote effective teaching on educators. A two-group parallel-controlled trial was conducted with health education teachers, in which participants learned to discuss its importance through demonstration and practice. The questionnaire measured their teaching effectiveness in HIEEP using a baseline measurement and a one-week follow-up measurement. Of 196 people that started the trial, 186 completed it. The intervention effects were evaluated using the Johnson-Neyman method. The results showed that in the experimental group, the program raised all teachers’ variable scores, which evaluated health insurance meaning, teaching competence, self-determination, and impact. The empowerment program can provide teachers will allow for more effective health insurance education.

Teacher professionalism is needed for quality education. The current practice for increasing teacher professionalism is to use skill applications. However, the implementation of skill applications has, in fact, not succeeded in significantly increasing teacher professionalism. This study aims to explain the importance of an effective skill application model coupled with a comprehensive approach to raise the level of teacher competence. This study is qualitative with its data derived from observations, interviews, and questionnaires. The paper's research findings show that existing programs are not sufficiently enhancing teacher competencies and professionalism. Various teacher professional development activities are conducted; however, there has been no continuous post-activity follow-up. These professional development activities tend only to fulfill the administrative requirements for teacher promotion. What is needed is a comprehensive and continuous teacher professionalism assessment model, which is underpinned by a system of mentoring. This study has implications for evaluating the teacher's professional competencies. More comprehensive skill applications need to be formulated as part of an integrated, sustainable, and mentoring [terpadu, sustainable, pendampingan-TSP] approach to develop teacher professionalism significantly.

This research aims to develop the product of the life skill education program (LSEP) which is accurate, credible, and effective. This research used the Plomp model. The model covers the input, process, output, outcome and consists of instrument, scoring guidance, and good or bad criteria. The instruments used in the model are the questionnaire, observation sheet and interview guide. The content validity of the questionnaire and observation sheet was proved by expert judgement and continued by using the Aiken Formula, the construct validity of the questionnaire was proved by the construct validity using the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The content validity of the questionnaire and observation sheet involved 9 validity experts. The questionnaire construct was done in two steps; the first step involved 65 students analyzed using EFA and the second step involved 199 students analyzed with CFA. The reliability of the observation sheet and questionnaire was estimated by using the Cronbach Alpha technique. The result of the trial model and its analysis shows that all the instruments are good. LSEP model is tested by involving 15 students in the course and training institute. The result of the trial model shows that the model is effective because the users explains that the model is: a) comprehensive, covering many components and sub component programs such as the input, process, output, outcome, b) practical, simple and easy in usage, c) economical, not needing much cost, energy, and time, also d) supported by valid and reliable data collection instrument.

This study aimed to determine the influence of critical thinking skills on misconceptions using a five-tier instrument in mixed-method research. The sampling technique used is simple random sampling. The data collection instrument used a critical thinking skills questionnaire, a misconception test of electric field material, and interviews. Data collection begins with quantitative data, providing a misconception test sheet and a critical thinking skills questionnaire. After that, the researcher took qualitative data in the form of interviews to strengthen data that had been obtained previously. Then from the results of the regression coefficients, there is an influence of critical thinking skills on misconceptions. The descriptive results of critical thinking skills data show that the mean of critical thinking skills is 68.50, which means that students' critical thinking skills are in a good category. Then from the results of the regression coefficients, there is an effect of critical thinking skills on a misconception, with the probability number obtained being significant. The limitations of this study are only to identify and see the impact.

The purpose of this qualitative research is to analyze the reflective thinking process of prospective elementary teacher in numeracy problems in terms of their mathematical disposition. The subjects in this study were 26 prospective elementary school teachers who had attended elementary mathematics lectures. The focus in this research is the process of mathematical reflective thinking in solving story problems of a two-variable linear equation system in terms of the level of mathematical disposition. The research instrument consisted of a disposition questionnaire, a reflective thinking ability test and the researcher himself as the main instrument. Good mathematical reflective thinking skills are supported by disposition, by constantly monitoring one's own performance, reflecting on one's own performance, reasoning on one's own performance, considering the overall situation, the habit of analyzing the relationship between variables, being flexible in various alternative solutions to mathematical problems and trying to solve mathematical problems. From the results of this study, lecturers can develop learning media, scaffolding, or teaching materials that accommodate different dispositional abilities of prospective teachers that can be used to improve the reflective thinking process.

This study aims to develop a learning model based on 4C skills to improve high school students’ mathematical critical thinking skills. Research & development is the design used in this research by applying Plomp’s development theory which consists of three phases, namely needs analysis, design and implementation, and evaluation. This research was conducted at Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Parepare, South Sulawesi, Indonesia involving five experts, four teachers, and 20 students. Data collection and analysis were carried out qualitatively and quantitatively. Analysis of interviews’ data and observations qualitatively with the thematic analysis technique. We also analyse data from validation sheets, questionnaires, and mathematical essay tests with the help of SPSS 20.00. The results show that students and lecturers need a learning model to improve mathematical critical thinking skills. In addition, other findings stated that the learning model developed was proven to be valid, practical, and effective to be used in general. Developing your learning model can further improve students' learning outcomes and mathematical critical thinking skills because they are designed based on the actual needs and problems. For this reason, a teacher must be able to design his learning model.

The purpose of this study was to increase student activity and learning outcomes by applying peer tutor learning methods combined with interactive case methods in online learning mode through Electronic Learning Aid (ELENA) and Zoom meeting. This study was carried out with a classroom action research (CAR) design in three cycles of implementation. This study was carried out in the even semester of 2020/2021 in the Cost Accounting course. Data collection methods used are documentation, observation, and tests. Student learning activities in online learning through ELENA and Zoom meetings have been recorded to show changes and improvements in the quality of student learning activities. The data analysis method used is quantitative descriptive analysis. The application of the peer tutor learning with the interactive case methods has been going well through the Zoom meeting and ELENA and is able to have an impact on student activities and learning outcomes in the Cost Accounting course. The increase in student learning activities can be seen in the increased ability of students to ask questions, provide responses or answers, and express opinions or ideas during lectures. Student learning outcomes also experienced a significant increase, which was 7.5%. Students who act as tutors can carry out their duties well.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of innovation leadership on teacher commitment through organizational culture as a mediating variable. A quantitative approach using the survey method was used, and the sample was selected using proportional random sampling. The respondent consisted of 180 teachers from public vocational schools in Magelang. In addition, data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by a structural equation model (SEM). The result showed that innovation leadership influenced organizational culture with a t-value of 2.95 > ttable (1.98) at .26. In contrast, organizational culture influenced teacher engagement with .27 and a t-value of 3.10 > ttable (1.98). Innovative leadership directly affected teacher commitment at .31 with a t-value of 3.41 > ttable (1.98) due to organizational culture being a mediating variable at .07. The overall influence on teachers' commitment through the organizational culture is .38. The analysis results explain that organizational culture can successfully mediate the relationship between innovation leadership to teachers' commitment. Therefore, these variables can be developed and implemented in schools to increase student achievement quality.

This study reviews 60 papers using a Likert scale and published between 2012 – 2021. Screening for literature review uses the PRISMA method. The data analysis technique was carried out through data extraction, then synthesized in a structured manner using the narrative method. To achieve credible research results at the stage of the data collection and data analysis process, a group discussion forum (FGD) was conducted. The findings show that only 10% of studies use a measurement scale with an even answer choice category (4, 6, 8, or 10 choices). In general, (90%) of research uses a measurement instrument that involves a Likert scale with odd response choices (5, 7, 9, or 11) and the most popular researchers use a Likert scale with a total response of 5 points. The use of a rating scale with an odd number of responses of more than five points (especially on a seven-point scale) is the most effective in terms of reliability and validity coefficients, but if the researcher wants to direct respondents to one side, then a scale with an even number of responses (six points) is possible. more suitable. The presence of response bias and central tendency bias can affect the validity and reliability of the use of the Likert scale instrument.

This study aims to understand international students' learning experiences in English as a medium of instruction (EMI) courses in a private Korean university. By using mixed-method research, this study collected two data sources, including 1) an online survey (n=46) and 2) an individual in-depth interview (n=4) at the end of the 2022 Spring semester. The study results are summarized as follows. First, EMI courses could enhance international students' content knowledge development effectively. Second, EMI courses could improve international students' English proficiency in terms of reading and vocabulary ability. Third, international students showed high satisfaction with EMI courses and are willing to take EMI courses continuously. However, the interview analysis showed that it was challenging for a few international students to improve their English speaking ability due to limited opportunities to speak English during graduate-level courses. These study results suggest several recommendations to provide practical EMI courses for teaching diverse international students, including English language learners in higher education.

The study discussed in this paper is a systematic literature review related to the role of dual language programme (DLP) in mathematics education which has been published within the last 5 years. This study was conducted to identify the distribution of DLP studies in terms of year of publication, the study context covered in previous studies, the context of study areas used, focus and trends of past studies, research methods used in previous studies and the role of language in school mathematics education. This review study followed the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA) to analyze articles from Scopus and Web of Science. The findings of the study indicate that research trends in the implementation of the DLP on mathematics education for secondary school students showed an increase from 2017 to 2019. Most DLP-related articles are widely developed in the United States and Germany. The findings indicate that previous studies are more interested in studying the implementation of DLP in rural areas. Past studies have also preferred to use the design of either a qualitative study or a quantitative study to be implemented. Questionnaires, tests and interviews are among the research instruments that are often used for a study.