Teachers who can adapt and be ready for all changes will also be able to provide a balance to increase the competence of vocational high school students. This is also not denied when teachers become assessors in student competency tests. The objectives of this study were to produce an instrument for the readiness of teachers as assessors; to knowing good grain reliability; to know the characteristics of the instrument; and to know the difficulty level of the item. The method used in this research is instrument development. Respondents were vocational school teachers who were candidates for competency test assessors. Data collection techniques using a questionnaire. Analysis of construct validity using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Reliability using Cronbach’s alpha. Test the instrument items using the Rasch model. The results are the readiness instruments of the vocational teacher as an assessor has 19 indicators that have been grouped into 5 factors with consistency values being in the same construct (proven construct validity). The result of the calculation of the reliability of this instrument is 0.852, which means that the reliability coefficient is high; There are two items, namely numbers 24 and 18 which indicate the absence of a fit item in the overall item fit criteria; At the item difficulty level, items 8 and 6 have a difficulty score of more than 2, while this indicates that items 8 and 6 have a high difficulty level.

This article presents the findings of an action research study that evaluated the effectiveness of differentiated instruction in the subject of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in primary education in Greek primary schools. Effective teaching poses a challenge to all educators in all educational levels. The subject of ICT poses multiple challenges to educators due to its applied nature, the limited allocated time and the diverse needs of the students. A differentiated teaching intervention was designed and applied from January to March 2020 to 113 upper elementary students from two elementary schools in Athens. The findings of the research highlight the improvement of the quality of the students’ assessment and the level of students’ active participation due to differentiated instruction. Furthermore, the strategy of flexible grouping, the technique of “thumb it up” cards and the applied differentiated working routine proved to be highly effective. Lastly, the implementation of asynchronous working combined with hierarchical learning activities proved to be challenging to the educator due to its complexity. Based on these findings, the article discusses the importance of further research in the systematic implementation of differentiated instruction in mixed ability classrooms and in multiple subjects.

While previous studies on assessments focused on measurement of principles and constructs, existing attention is given to content validation involving vocational education and skills. The emphasis on content validation has prompted a holistic perspective of teaching and learning to demand alternative research approaches. Using evidence of content validity based on expert judgment and assessment items, this paper argues that vocational knowledge and skills could be determined via constructs and construct functions. Content validity analysis was studied in two major phases, namely, through an assessment of an electrical technology course at a Malaysian higher education institution and expert panels’ examination of items. It was found that to increase confidence in providing reliable instruments for future empirical studies, a careful process in item development and content validity analysis was considered important. Therefore, applying these findings on item analysis and expert panels to reflect content validity can enhance the validity of assessment items.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is regarded as one of the formulas to embracing many of our imminent challenges. STEM education benefits the learners by encouraging interest in STEM disciplines. This daunting task needs everyone’s concerted efforts in creating and innovating mathematics teachers’ classroom practices Therefore, a systematic review was conducted to identify best practices for STEM education following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) by Moher et al. (2015). The reviewed articles were published from 2016 to 2020 and accessed using the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases. Three themes for best practices were identified namely (a) core competencies encompassing 21st-century teaching skills; (b) instructional designs; and (c) requisite STEM execution. Results of PRISMA determined the dominant STEM practices were critical thinking, communication, collaboration, problem-solving, research-based pedagogy, problem-based learning and project-based learning, technological integration, accessibility, professional development and learning support, evidence of effectiveness, access to materials and practitioner support, and scalability. Mathematics teachers should determine the best STEM practices to employ even though there is a lack of studies on integrated STEM domains. When more students are interested in venturing and exploring into the field of STEM, the high demand for STEM related careers could be met by the younger generation.

Many studies have pointed out a proportionate relation between metacognition and reading strategies. This study advances such an understanding by arguing that this relation is comprised of several sub-relations. Metacognitive Awareness Inventory and Reading Strategies Inventory were conducted among 92 English as Foreign Language students at a Vietnamese university. This study highlights 3 major findings. First, metacognition processes do not merely mean “cognition about cognition”. Second, while previous studies tended to portray metacognition as a whole, it is argued in this study that it is constituted by two main clusters (knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition) which can be further specified into eight sub-components. Third, there seem to be some sub-linearities that underpin students’ metacognition and that influence their uses of reading strategies. These findings are hoped to shed light on preserving spaces and autonomy in curriculum/syllabus development for students to exercise their own metacognition.

The reason of to be of any educational model is to ensure that its students are self-regulated, which implies the setting of objectives, the monitoring of their actions in order to reach them, the control of their cognitive processes, the use of diverse learning and motivation skills. One way to collaborate in this is to evaluate the student's current situation in order to intervene. Due to the above, the purpose of the study is to determine validity and reliability of the scale Students’ Approaches to Learning (SAL) in Mexican students. The SAL was applied to 894 high school students. Considering the results, the SAL presents good functioning and acceptable psychometric properties. In relation to the internal structure, the results support the composition of the 14 sub-factors of SAL, which is consistent with the original study. The results obtained have enough empirical support to interpret the construct of learning approaches from a multidimensional point of view.

The discussion about the loss of nationalism values in the Indonesian migrant workers’ (IMW’s) children in border areas, has become an important issue in the world of Indonesian education. The purpose of this study is to describe the role of Community Learning Center (CLC) in fostering nationalism values in IMW’s children, as well as to reveal the teaching experience and meaning of nationalism from the perspective of teachers at CLC Sarawak, Malaysia. The research uses qualitative method with case study approach that focuses on factors that can foster nationalism of IMW’s children. Data collection obtained through observation techniques, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The results showed meaningful findings according to the conditions in the education system in CLC, as well as socio-cultural conditions that affect every activity in the border area. The first finding indicates that CLC has an important (central) role in fostering the nationalism of IMW’s children in border areas. The second finding shows the fact that teachers are still experiencing some problems in the field, such as; limited access to information and communication, teacher education background, school conditions, limited educational units, learning facilities, and family and social environments. The third finding emphasizes the importance of nationalism for teachers who devote themselves to teaching in border areas, because teachers have a crucial role in transferring knowledge, providing meaningful learning experiences, and fostering the nationalism of IMW’s children.

Problem-solving is considered one of the thinking skills that must be possessed in 21^st-century education because problem-solving skills are required to solve all problems that arise. The problem-solving stages that can be used are Polya's four steps, namely, understanding the problem, devising a plan, carrying out the plan, and looking back. Problem-solving skills are essential for solving word problems. Word problems based on arithmetic operations are divided into three types: one-step, two-step, and multistep. This qualitative research aimed to see problem-solving skills viewed from the type of word questions and elementary school students’ third, fourth, and fifth grades. A purposive sampling technique with 22 third-grade students, 28 fourth-grade students, and 21 fifth-grade students was used. The data were collected using documentation, testing, and interview methods. The findings of the study showed that fourth-grade students’ problem-solving skills are better than those of third-grade students, and the problem-solving skills of fifth-grade students are better than those of fourth-grade students. The percentage of Polya's steps always decreases because not all students master problem-solving. Based on the types of questions, the percentage of the one-step word problem is better than that of the two-step while the percentage of the two-step word problems is higher than that of the multistep.

This study aims to measure the effectiveness of “multiplex teaching method” in mastering vocabulary for deaf students. Multiplex teaching method consists of picture language, sign language, printed-word language, written language, and spoken language. The research was designed as a single subject research (SSR) with baseline, intervention, and maintenance phase (A-B-A’ design). The research subjects consisted of two deaf students in special school of SLB Bhakti Luhur Malang, Indonesia. In addition, a special education teacher and an observer were involved in this study. The intervention instrument comprised five lesson plans (LP), each containing a vocabulary of four words. The data were analyzed using intra-condition and inter-condition graphical inspection with a focus on data stability, trends, and score changes. The effectiveness was determined by the Percentage of Non-Overlapping data (PND). The change of score from A'/A achieved by Subject-1 was 7.86 points, while Subject-2 obtained 7.68 points. Subject-1 obtained an average PND B/A of 100% and average PND A'/B of 82.5%. Subject-2 achieved an average PND B/A of 99% and PND A’/B of 90%. Thus, multiplex teaching method is very effective in helping deaf students master vocabulary.

The aims of the recent study were; analyzing the effect of creative and online learning using Instagram on the ability to create new products in the technology and learning media course, and determining the level of users’ experience in processing visual media through the Canva application on android. Quantitative approach with this research was carried out through a quasi-experimental research model because it measured the post-test was applied to 58 students as the respondents in two experimental and control classes. This study used two instruments; the cognitive learning outcome questionnaire according to the subject to get the students’ ability to create new products, and the second instrument was taken from ueq-online.org in the Indonesian version to know the users' experience in processing visual media. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, mean and standard deviation assisted by IBM SPSS Statistics 24.0. The results demonstrated that the effect of creative and online learning using Instagram on the ability to create new products in The Technology and Learning Media course was found significant at 0.028 <0.05 which meant it could be applied well. Meanwhile, the level of users' experience in processing the visual media application Canva on Android had the highest score on the Stimulation scale at 1.59, categorized "Very Good" and the lowest score was on the Novelty scale at 0.93, categorized "Above Average". With the strong creative encouragement to create new products, the students were able to process their own visual media which were tailored to the agreed digital visual designs and were published on Instagram.

The initial period of young teachers' careers is always significant in developing their professional capability. This is when teachers start coming into contact with practical teaching, which is more diversified than the theoretical training at the University. In this research, the authors propose a process of combining the Lesson Study model with the micro-lesson teaching method. This process helps young teachers, especially those working in the Northern of Vietnam, improve their planning and implementation of a lesson plan following the Lesson Study model. It has four steps: (1). Plan a Lesson Study; (2). Organize demo teaching and attend lessons; (3): Self-evaluate and discuss lessons; (4): Apply for practical teaching. The methodology research is carried out on 62 young teachers in Vietnam to measure the pre-impact and post-impact results. The results reveal that the researched group has made significant progress on their teaching performances (the average points for their capability of planning lessons have increased from 2.54 to 3.28 and the average points for their capability of implementing lesson plans have increased from 2.48 to 3.18). This development can be considered as an excellent experience to bring the Lesson Study model into Vietnamese schools to improve teaching sustainably.

Assessment is a topic that continues to be developed in science education research. Assessment evaluates not only students' cognitive abilities but also their thinking skills. Therefore, in this study, an assessment that could measure students' chemical literacy was developed. Chemical literacy is a thinking skill that students must develop as part of their chemistry learning. The goal of this study was to assess item' quality, as well as student’ chemical literacy on the concept of chemical rate. The Rasch model was employed to analyze the data in this study. The results of this study depict that the developed assessment had sufficient reliability and validity to be used to assess students' chemical literacy. Furthermore, the analysis of the students’ responses to the items revealed that many students did not understand or were unaware of the context presented. These findings suggest that students' chemical literacy in the material for the reaction rate is still lacking and needs to be improved. As a result, the teacher's role in assisting students in improving their chemical literacy through chemistry learning is critical.

The research aims to develop an instructional tool based on Discovery Learning (DL) combined with a Metacognitive Knowledge Strategy (MKS) to enhance students’ Critical Thinking Skills (CTSs). In doing so, the study employed a Research and Development (R&D) method to develop such a tool. The developed instructional tool was tested for its validity by experts and practitioners’ evaluation. Further, the empirical data were collected from the results of implementation in learning and the student's responses, while the data of tools effectiveness were acquired from the critical thinking tests given to students (analyzed by related t-test). The developed instructional tools were implemented in a limited-scale trial of 32 students and a large-scale trial of 59 students. The results show that: firstly, the DL and MKS-integrated instructional tools are stated as valid in terms of the lesson plan, student worksheet, and critical thinking test. Secondly, the practicality criteria have been successfully met; the learning implementation, students’ activity, and students' responses were regarded as in accordance with the feasibility standard. Thirdly, the instructional tool was deemed effective in enhancing students’ CTSs (p = 0.05).

The main topic of the presented article is the pedagogical concept of self-reflection of students of Social Education. The authors understand the pedagogical concept as primarily educational determinants that influence and shape students’ self-reflection. To identify this aim, the authors formulate the main research question: How do social education students reflect on themselves as students, and what are the determinants of study self-reflection for social pedagogy students? The authors used the qualitative research strategy, specifically The Grounded Theory, through which sixty self-reflecting essays were analysed. These written self-reflections were further complemented with six in-depth interviews in which we acquired clarifying information on self-reflection and self-assessment of social education students. It was ascertained that students’ self-reflection is shaped through an awareness of internal and external study factors, which subsequently influence the overall concept of their study, motivation to perform, study style, and self-assessment.

Spatial thinking has roles to facilitate learners to remember, understand, reason, and communicate objects and the connections among objects that are represented in space. This research aims to analyze the spatial thinking process of students in constructing new knowledge seen from the field-independent cognitive style learners based on Action-Process-Object-Schema (APOS) theory. APOS theory is used to explore spatial thinking processes which consist of mental structures of action, process, object, and schema. This research is qualitative research with an exploratory method. It provided the students' opportunity to solve problems alternately until the method found the most appropriate subjects for the research objectives. The subjects were 2 students of Mathematics Education in the fourth semester of Universitas Muria Kudus Indonesia. The data collection techniques were started by distributing the validated and reliable spatial thinking questions, the cognitive style question, and the interview. The applied data analysis consisted of data reduction, presentation, and conclusion. The findings showed (1) spatial thinking process of holistic-external representation typed learners were indicated by the representative thinking element, abstract-illustrative figure expression to communicate and complete the tasks correctly, (2) spatial thinking process of the holistic-internal representation typed learners were indicated by the representative means, having ideas, connecting with the previous knowledge in the forms of symbols and numbers, and finding the final results correctly although incomplete.

Several concerted movements toward mathematical modeling have been seen in the last decade, reflecting the growing global relationship between the role of mathematics in the context of modern science, technology and real life. The literature has mainly covered the theoretical basis of research questions in mathematical modeling and the use of effective research methods in the studies. Driven by the Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) theory and empirical evidence on metacognition and modeling competency, this research aimed at exploring the interrelationships between metacognition and mathematical modeling and academic year level as a moderator via the SEM approach. This study involved 538 students as participants. From this sample, 133 students (24.7%) were from the first academic year, 223 (41.4%) were from the second and 182 (33.8%) were from the third. A correlational research design was employed to answer the research question. Cluster random sampling was used to gather the sample. We employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the hypothesized moderation employing IBM SPSS Amos version 18. Our findings confirmed the direct correlation between metacognition and mathematical modeling was statistically significant. Academic year level as a partial moderator significantly moderates the interrelationships between the metacognitive strategies and mathematical modeling competency. The effect of metacognition on mathematical modeling competency was more pronounced in the year two group compared to the year one and three groups.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic changed education conditions worldwide forcing all the parties involved to adapt to a new system. This study aimed to collect information related to the effects of teaching English online on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ achievement. Data were collected from EFL teachers and students enrolled in three different Ecuadorian Universities (Technical University of Ambato, Higher Polytechnic School of Chimborazo, and University of Cuenca) from five different levels: A1, A2, B1, B1+, and B2. This preliminary paper reports the results of 480 students regarding four major sections: pedagogical practice and assessment, learning outcomes, affective factors and perceptions of students about the advantages and disadvantages of online learning during the pandemic COVID-19; considering the Hierarchy of online learning needs of Justin Shewell. An online survey questionnaire with 17 questions and a 5-point Likert scale was applied. The Cronbach's Alpha test presented 0.84 and 0.73 level of reliability. The Kolmogorov Smirnov’s statistic and, the Kendall's Tau_b tests, and the Levene's test for homogeneity of variances were performed with the SPSS statistical program. The results made evident that online learning affects academic achievement in EFL students during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was confirmed after analyzing four main areas: pedagogical practices and assessment, learning outcomes, affective factors and students’ perceptions about the advantages and disadvantages of online learning. The importance of online learning was highlighted since it has been understood as a tool to face the emergency produced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of doctoral education is not only to produce a thesis but also to develop graduates who are highly competent in research, publications and the norms and values of being a researcher. Only a handful of studies have examined early-career academics’ perceptions of doing research at the doctoral level. This exploratory qualitative study sought to fill the gap and contribute to understanding of factors contributing to early career academics’ research capability development. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore in-depth the issues concerning research, publication, supervision, and networking among early career academics. The data were collected from 19 early-career academics in the first year of their career, who are attached with different universities and in different disciplines in Malaysia. The findings from the thematic analysis identified that supervision, individual’s participation in scholarly research activities, and institutional formal learning supported the development of the participants’ research capabilities. Although the PhD programme lay emphasis on independent learning, it should be seen as a process that occurs in phases; hence, the research courses offered and support from the supervisor are important to assist the transition to becoming an independent scholar. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that universities be more sensitive to the demands and expectations of academic career so that the PhD programmes offered do not merely focus on research but also develop the skills required of future academics at university.

The study focused on education students' learning experiences and the differences in their activities before and during the pandemic. This research was carried out at the NEUST Gabaldon Campus during the academic year 2020-2021 vacation. A study design that combines descriptive-comparative and descriptive-correlational elements. The descriptive-comparative design was used to compare the number of hours students spent sleeping, studying, using social media, and academic performance before and during the pandemic. The descriptive-correlation design, on the other hand, was used to determine the relationship between a student's academic performance (GPA) and the number of hours spent sleeping, studying, and using social media during the pandemic. The 171 education students who participated in the study were chosen through stratified random sampling. The findings revealed that there is a significant difference in the number of hours spent sleeping, studying, and using social media before and during the pandemic. However, there is no significant difference in students' academic performance before and during the pandemic. The study also discovered a highly significant link between the number of hours spent studying and academic performance and between the number of hours spent in social media and the number of hours spent studying. Nonetheless, there is no statistically significant relationship between students' academic performance and the number of hours they sleep and the use of social media during the pandemic. In addition, there is no link between the number of hours they sleep and the amount of time they spend studying and using social media. The students agree that there are benefits and drawbacks to flexible learning. The study's theoretical and practical implications were also discussed.

Critical thinking skills are one of the thinking skills needed to live in the 21st century and the era of the Industrial Revolution 4.0. This study aims to develop a Virtual Classroom Critical Thinking (VC2T) Model, which is valid, practical, and effective to improve students' critical thinking skills. VC2T model has six steps: problem orientation, formulation, group discussion, analysis, result discussion, and reflection. This study is a Research & Development (R & D) involving 33 high school students in Surabaya, Indonesia. Before being tested, the VC2T Model was designed based on the theory of Plomp and Nieveen and then validated by 3 (three) experts in physics education. Data were analyzed using validity by experts, implementation of teaching with the VC2T Model, paired t-test, calculation of n-gain, effect size and percentage of student responses. The results showed that the VC2T Model is: (1) valid with an average validity score of 4.14 in the high validity category; (2) practical with an average score of implementations teaching of VC2T Model 4.26 in the outstanding category; and (3) effective as indicated by increasing of students' critical thinking skills scores which are statistically significant at alpha .05, the average n-gain is .38 in the medium category, the effect size of 6.93 is in a strong category and the average students' response is 87.59 % with outstanding category.