The main thrust of the study was to explore the third-year English student’s sentiments on the application of the artificial intelligence (AI)-integrated paraphrasing tools. Specifically, it aimed to investigate the benefits and drawbacks brought by AI paraphrasing tools towards the writing skills of the students. The investigation utilized a semi-structured interviews with an open-ended questionnaire using an audio-video recorder. The data gathered were interpreted using the Thematic Analysis of Braun and Clarke. The study was carried out at one of the campuses of a state university located at Candijay, Bohol, Philippines. Using the Purposive sampling technique, twelve (12) respondents provided information on the research endeavor. The findings revealed that students had a positive opinion of AI-integrated paraphrase tools: they saw them as helpful resources that significantly improve their academic writing process; it includes plagiarism reduction, efficiency, and timesaving, and aids in rephrasing text. The findings also revealed the risks and issues of using AI-integrated paraphrasing tools, such as Prone to plagiarism, automated suggestions dependency, and loss of original meaning and context. With that, the students showed how they deal with those risks and issues, including as responsible users and thorough editing and reviewing. In accordance with the study, students are encouraged not to rely excessively on AI-integrated paraphrase tools, even though they can improve their writing abilities. This research emphasizes that students play a pivotal role in ensuring the appropriateness of texts generated by AI-integrated paraphrasing tools by mastering the art of proper paraphrasing.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a twelve-week Inquiry-Based Science (IBS) program on enhancing science process skills and scientific knowledge among preschool children in Morocco. Conducted in a quasi-experimental setting, it involved 105 children (M = 60.46 months, SD = 4.32), with 37 in the IBS group and 68 in the control group. The program utilized the 5Es instructional model and the Engineering Design Process (EDP) to engage children in active, hands-on learning experiences. Statistical analysis demonstrated that the IBS group achieved substantial improvements in both science process skills and scientific knowledge relative to the control group, with between-group effect sizes (Cohen’s d) ranging from 1.02 and 2.31. These findings highlight the significant impact of structured inquiry-based approaches in early childhood education. The study underscores the need for integrating such methods into the preschool curriculum to foster scientific understanding and skills from a young age, thereby better preparing Moroccan children for future academic and professional challenges. The results advocate for educational stakeholders to consider adopting inquiry-based learning frameworks to enhance the overall quality of early childhood education in Morocco.

Teachers’ access to technology in this day and age could have a positive effect on the teaching and learning of English first additional language (EFAL). This qualitative interpretive case study explored how limited access to technology resources affects the teaching practices of Intermediate Phase EFAL teachers in rural schools in Limpopo, South Africa. This study, underpinned by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), conducted semi-structured interviews to collect data from ten EFAL teachers who were purposively sampled. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The study revealed that three of the ten EFAL teachers sampled integrated technology into their teaching despite challenges such as insufficient projectors, lack of learners’ smartphones and data bundles, and Internet connectivity. However, the other seven sampled participants did not use technology, citing a lack of digital tools and knowledge as a contributing factor. The study concludes that the lack of resources contributed to limited or no use of technology and the motivation to integrate technology into their lessons. Based on these findings, it is recommended that technological resources that can help EFAL teachers with digital teaching be made available so that they can integrate them to assist learners in developing language skills. Furthermore, in-service training and ongoing support should be provided to EFAL teachers to give them knowledge and skill to use available technology resources effectively.

The study investigated the effects of utilising English as the primary teaching language on the academic development of Grade 4 (Gr4) learners, specifically focusing on the Life and Living (L&L) component of Natural Sciences (NS). Gr4 learners commonly transition to English as the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT), relegating native languages such as Sesotho to mere study subjects. This shift often results in comprehension and retention challenges, hindering students' academic achievements. By employing a quasi-experimental research design, the study used a purposefully selected sample of 80 Gr4 students from two primary schools. The control group (45 learners) received English instruction from Grade R to Grade 7, while the experimental group (35 learners) switched from Sesotho to English in Gr4. Both groups underwent pre-tests and post-tests, revealing statistically significant differences favouring the experimental group. These findings support the research hypothesis that introducing English as the LoLT as early as Grade R has a significant impact on learners' performance, particularly in NS. It is recommended that English be adopted as a medium of instruction for NS, as this better prepares students for future academic challenges.

This pilot study is part of a larger “Decolonization of Digital Learning Spaces” project, which aims to develop research tools for communities that are remote and/or excluded geographically, politically, economically, socially, culturally, and linguistically. The project’s ultimate goal is to work alongside these communities to design their own digital learning tools, networks, and online educational environments by accessing and leveraging their knowledge and skills. Testing the single-criterion card sorting method is the first step toward this goal. Card sorting is an easy, enjoyable, and cost-effective method for data collection and analysis, particularly for researchers working in remote areas with limited access to electricity or the Internet. The pilot explored single-criterion card sorting as a method to elicit knowledge from two diverse cultural and linguistic groups engaged in learning activities within their communities. These groups were from a Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) community in Canada (engaged in a bow-making workshop) and a rural Kabyle community in Algeria (engaged in a traditional cooking lesson). Despite low participant numbers, distinct patterns emerged, indicating the method's effectiveness. The results, though anticipated, were non-random, demonstrating the potential of card sorting in producing patterns indicative of how individuals and/or communities categorize their world(s). Kabyle sortings focused on ingredients, highlighting older individuals as teachers passing along knowledge, while the DHH sortings emphasized face-to-face contact and hand movements in communication. The findings, though modest, established relationships, provided insights into the research context and offered logistical understanding, paving the way for further work with DHH and Kabyle communities towards the design of digital learning spaces.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has changed human lives in myriad ways and one of its impacts has been the significant transition to distance learning that has occurred at all levels of education around the world. In this emerging system, teachers and parents have proved ill-equipped for the sudden changes involved, and a number of critical difficulties and issues pertaining to increased parental involvement have been exposed. Parents have been called upon to engage more effectively with the education of their children and to support them in various types and levels of distance learning. Parents have always formed a critical link between children and schools; however, alongside teachers, they have recently been required to assume new and unfamiliar roles and responsibilities, working together within an online educational environment. This study investigates the extent to which the transition to distance learning has affected the partnership between schools and families of students with disabilities. A qualitative research approach has been adopted, using semi-structured interviews with special education teachers. The findings are predominantly positive, with teachers believing that distance learning creates opportunities for developing stronger connections between schools and families, enabling more personalised communication, greater capacity and confidence within families, as well as opportunities for enhancing connections with the wider community.

The concept of sustainability in visual arts education is a relatively new way of looking at content. Therefore, it is important that the contents of sustainability are systematically integrated into the educational process at all levels of education. In this research, special attention was paid to the specifics of understanding the complexity of the term “sustainability" of pre-service teachers who come from a different educational background and who will also carry out visual arts activities with different aged students in their future work. A free association method with online interviews and artwork analysis was used in this study, with 5 female pre-service teachers from four different European countries. The study revealed that pre-service teachers recognize examples of good practice in architecture, the cultural landscape, and various other visual arts messages - they know what good sustainable practice in the environment and the arts is and what is not. However, they show less understanding of the specifics of materials as carriers of material cultural heritage or of the artworks themselves, as well as of contemporary artistic practices that emphasize themes related to sustainable issues or development. It can be concluded that further interdisciplinary approaches should be used in reaching sustainability goals in visual arts education and wider.

The process e-portfolio is a type of e-portfolio that helps students construct knowledge and familiarise themselves with their learning process through self-and peer assessment. Lecturers and students experienced difficulties when using the e-portfolio because Mahara 2019 was not updated. This qualitative research study proposes how lecturers should design e-portfolios for learning through formative assessment activities. Interpretivism was the researcher's standpoint, aiming to interpret how the study participants used e-portfolios for teaching and learning through formative assessment activities. This exploratory case study used semi-structured interviews and an e-portfolio checklist for data collection. It explored the use of the e-portfolio for formative assessment through the experiences of ten purposefully sampled lecturers. The findings suggest that an e-portfolio facilitates teaching and learning in open distance e-learning because it enables online delivery of the content and administering of assessments that afford students' learning of the module content through completing formative assessment activities. The e-portfolio facilitates co-teaching and co-learning because students become knowledge creators and active users instead of passive learners. This study recommends the use of process e-portfolios to facilitate assessment and learning in open-distance e-learning institutions.

This scoping review comprehensively explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is being incorporated into accounting education, examining the evolving educational setting and its potentially transformative impact on the development of future accounting professionals. Following the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) methodology and PRISMA-ScR guidelines (Tricco et al., 2018), this review synthesizes systematically a diverse set of academic literature to determine major trends, new opportunities, and long-standing challenges of integrating AI into accounting pedagogical practices. Key findings demonstrate AI's transformative potential in enhancing student engagement, fostering deeper learning, aligning educational curricula with contemporary industry demands, and improving teaching efficiency through innovative tools and techniques. However, substantial challenges persist, including faculty preparedness, the complexity of curriculum redesign, resistance to change, and critical ethical considerations surrounding the use of AI in education. These findings emphasize the multifaceted nature of integrating AI into accounting pedagogy. The review emphasizes the need for cooperation between academia, industry practitioners, and policymakers to develop adaptive, forward-thinking pedagogical strategies and establish robust ethical frameworks. These efforts are essential to improve learners with the skills and competencies required to thrive in a dynamic, technology-driven professional environment.

This study examines the impact of digital tools on fraction comprehension among 5th-grade students with learning difficulties in mathematics. It assesses the effectiveness of three teaching methods: educational software, video tutorials, and their combination. The research involved 252 students from 8 state-funded elementary schools, employing a quantitative experimental design with pre- and post-test assessments. Grounded in Constructivist Learning Theory and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), this research explored how technology can enhance mathematical understanding. Results indicated that the combined method achieved the highest improvement (58%, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 3.03), significantly outperforming educational software alone (33%, p = .015, Cohen’s d = 2.52) and video tutorials alone (7%, p = .987, Cohen’s d = 0.14). These findings highlight the substantial benefits of integrating diverse digital tools to effectively support mathematics learning among students facing additional educational challenges.

In recent decades, the work of teachers has been carried out in classrooms characterised by a high degree of diversity, necessitating the provision of pedagogical responses that promote the inclusion of students. This article is derived from the research, development and innovation (R+D+I) project 'Intergenerational Professional Development in Education Implications for the Professional Initiation of Teachers (DePrInED) and aims to analyse how teachers at compulsory education recognise, characterise and conceptualise the diversity and needs of students. A mixed methodological approach was employed, with information collected through focus groups and interviews with a total sample of 147 teachers from different educational levels (young, senior and retired). Thematic analysis, combined with a comparative analysis, was employed to analyse the data using ATLAS.ti software. The main categories analysed dealt with students' needs and their own diversity. The study's primary findings suggest that, in comparison to their retired counterparts, both young and veteran teachers make greater reference to the diversity and needs of students, and emphasise the scarcity of resources and support to effectively address the diversity of students in the classroom. Experienced teachers are found to make more frequent references to diversity and students' needs, while retired teachers make these references less often. This finding assumes particular significance in light of the paucity of studies that adopt a generational perspective to analyse how teachers perceive diversity.

In primary and middle schools in China, banzhuren is the teacher responsible for managing and overseeing a specific class of students. The lower job satisfaction of banzhurens has been a longstanding issue. This study employs a quantitative method to investigate the impact of banzhurens' self-efficacy and burnout on their job satisfaction. A total of 624 primary school banzhurens from G City (in Henan province, China) participated in an online survey assessing their perceived job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and burnout. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling analysis. The results revealed that (a) banzhurens' burnout negatively influenced their self-efficacy and job satisfaction; (b) banzhurens' job satisfaction was positively influenced by self-efficacy; (c) banzhurens' self-efficacy could mediate the adverse effects of burnout on job satisfaction. Therefore, we suggest that banzhurens' job satisfaction can be enhanced by increasing their self-efficacy, particularly in terms of communication with leaders, and by reducing their burnout.

Students are among the most vulnerable populations during periods of crisis, including war, economic collapse, and pandemics. These events extend beyond academic disruption, significantly affecting students' emotional and social well-being. Mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, and behavioural changes are commonly reported, particularly among youth living in conflict-affected areas or economically disadvantaged households. This review examines the consequences of crises on school-aged students across both local and global contexts. A structured search strategy was employed to retrieve peer-reviewed articles published between 2005 and 2024 from databases including PubMed, ERIC, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The selected studies were thematically categorized into three primary domains: pandemics, economic hardship, and war-related trauma. The review emphasizes the identification of common psychological outcomes, contributing factors, and resilience strategies implemented at the school and community levels. The findings highlight the urgent need for early interventions, trauma-informed pedagogical approaches, mental health support programs, coping strategies, and emotional regulation skills. By examining the interplay between crisis-induced stress and student support mechanisms, this review seeks to inform educators, policymakers, and practitioners in their efforts to foster resilience and promote academic recovery.

This study delved into Terry Borton’s reflective model and 7E instructional model to produce comprehensive and guided tools that fit as observation and reflective tools for enhancing learners’ engagement and outcomes in Mathematics lessons. The aim was to gather insights that can inform strategies to adapt Borton’s model to produce tools to be used to observe and analyse 7E model-based Mathematics lessons to contribute to improved student outcomes. Literature information was used to explore, analyse, and synthesise the study’s related existing theories and models to provide a deeper understanding of constraints and prompt question descriptors to produce 21st-century tools to observe and reflect on a Mathematics lesson. After comparing different prompt question descriptors from different literature and Borton’s model, concise descriptors were retained for educational purposes to be analysed, considering the 7E model phases, to produce the guided tools. As a result, two products. “Classroom Observation-Guided Tool”, which includes a guided tool table with a last column for the observer to write comments during class. This column is used to identify gaps in student engagement and learning practices across the 7E phases, which may have been misused. The “Post-Lesson Discussion Guided Tool”, to make a positive post-lesson discussion session, enabling teachers to identify areas for improvement in student engagement to achieve better outcomes next time. Other researchers can study the applicability of 21st-century observation and reflection-guided tools to other subjects, exploring their long-term impact on teacher professional development to improve overall student achievement across all school subjects.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping education across the Asia-Pacific, yet its integration depends on teachers’ readiness and perspectives. This study explores AI adoption among Vietnamese teachers, a critical lens for the region’s digital education reforms, using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), we analyzed responses from 246 teachers nationwide. Results show attitude strongly predicts adoption intention, with privacy and ethical concerns shaping acceptance, though fears of AI dependence hinder uptake. Uniform challenges across urban-rural and STEM-non-STEM contexts suggest systemic barriers in Vietnam’s education system. Teachers foresee AI as a pedagogical assistant but highlight insufficient training and privacy risks as key obstacles. These findings underscore the need for Asia-Pacific-relevant policies—AI literacy programs, ethical governance, and equitable access—to foster sustainable integration. This research informs regional educational policy by offering a Vietnam-centric model for balancing technological innovation with pedagogical integrity, addressing shared challenges in the Asia-Pacific’s digital transformation.

Self-report surveys are extensively utilized in educational research to understand students’ perceptions and experiences. However, younger children, particularly those in elementary school, may exhibit a tendency to provide socially desirable responses, potentially compromising the data quality. This study examined the prevalence and impact of socially desirable responses in self-report surveys administered to elementary school students. A total of 1,024 students from grades 4 and 5 in five elementary schools participated in the study. Socially desirable responses were measured using detection items embedded within questionnaires. The findings indicate that (a) more than 20% of elementary school students demonstrated socially desirable responses; (b) female students and those with higher academic achievement were more likely to provide socially desirable responses; (c) socially desirable responses skewed the sample distribution by inflating mean scores and reducing standard deviations; and (d) while internal correlations within scales remained relatively stable, external validity, as reflected in correlations between self-reports and academic performance metrics, was significantly affected after adjusting for socially desirable responses. These results underscore the importance of addressing socially desirable responses when interpreting self-report data from young students. The study concludes with practical recommendations for improving the validity of self-report surveys in educational research.

Teachers’ self-efficacy in classroom management is essential to their professional identity and teaching quality. While contextual factors shape these beliefs, the role of pre-service teachers’ perceptions of teacher education courses in influencing self-efficacy through their classroom management beliefs remains underexplored. This study expands self-efficacy theory by proposing an integrated model in which beliefs serve as both a mediator and a moderator between course perceptions and classroom management self-efficacy, particularly in inclusive classrooms. It builds on previous evidence that pre-service teachers’ beliefs about proactive strategies partially mediate the relationship between their course perceptions and capability beliefs in proactive management practices. This leads to the proposal of a moderated mediation model to explore a more nuanced relationship by investigating whether pre-service teachers’ punishment-oriented classroom management beliefs alter the strength and direction of this partial mediation effect. Data collected online from 480 pre-service teachers enrolled in State University and National Colleges of Education in Sri Lanka, which were used in the previous study, were analyzed using SmartPLS4 structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that punishment-based beliefs negatively moderated the indirect partial effect of pre-service teachers’ perceptions of classroom management training on their self-efficacy for inclusive classroom management, mediated by preventative beliefs. This positive indirect effect was significant only when reactive punishment-based beliefs were at low to moderate levels. These findings suggest that an overreliance on reactive strategies diminishes the beneficial influence of teacher education on self-efficacy in implementing preventive measures for inclusive classroom management. The results emphasize the importance of fostering proactive beliefs through targeted training within initial teacher education programs, supported by dedicated engagement from teacher educators and policymakers.  

Analysis of student grades and demographic data to understand the effects of modality and Covid-19 on academic performance is important for universities to understand the impact these factors may have on course grades. This study analyzes all the 615,964 complete undergraduate student-course records from Kennesaw State University (KSU) spanning from 2015 to 2024 to examine the impact of course modality and the Covid-19 pandemic on academic performance. The population dataset includes student demographics (e.g., sex, age, ethnicity), prior GPA, and course characteristics (e.g., department, modality). Descriptive statistics and trend analyses were employed to evaluate grade outcomes across in-person, online, and hybrid modalities over the 9-year period. Results indicate a temporary increase in mean course grades during the Covid-19 period, followed by a return to the pre-pandemic upward trend. Hybrid courses consistently exhibited the highest mean grades throughout the study period. However, consistent patterns across modalities, demographics, and academic units suggest that these factors have limited influence on grade outcomes. These findings raise questions about the reliability of GPA and course grades as indicators of learning success across different instructional contexts and student populations.