Mathematics anxiety has always been an interesting topic to study and discuss in the world of education. This study aimed to (1) investigate the impact of teacher roles, mathematics content, and mathematics anxiety on learning motivation, and (2) explore how students manage mathematics anxiety as a stimulus in learning motivation. This research used mixed methods with embedded concurrent design. The research sample was 100 respondents. The questionnaire instrument was arranged based on a Likert scale with 5 answer choices. This study used a structural equation model and confirmatory factor analysis as data analysis methods. The research findings indicated that: (1) a significant direct impact emerged between mathematics anxiety and students' learning motivation, and there was an indirect impact between the teacher's role and mathematics content on learning motivation; (2) students could manage mathematics anxiety when they were in optimal anxiety or positive anxiety so that they could overcome mathematics anxiety as a stimulus for achievement and deconstruct anxiety into motivation according to experience and personal resources. Results of this study confirmed that the statements about mathematics anxiety which always has a negative impact on motivation and learning achievement is not universal, because mathematics anxiety does not always have a negative impact on motivation and learning achievement if this anxiety is managed effectively.

Character education is urgent in passing down the ethical and moral values in the cultured community life. The local cultural values are a source of ethics and moral education for elementary school students. The school keeps taking an essential role in cultivating the local values through online character education during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to analyze the effect of implementing online integrated character education and parental engagement in local cultural values cultivation outcome. The method of this study used an exploratory sequential mixed method design. Collect qualitative data using interview forms, observation, documentation, and quantitative data using questionnaires and portfolios. Qualitative data interpretation used content analysis, and inferential analysis used multiple linear regression. Results revealed that parental engagement, teachers’ performance, and online learning obstacles affect local cultural values cultivation outcome in character education partially and simultaneously for sixth-grade students in Padang City. We suggested teachers improve character education management based on local cultural values by building good synergy and collaboration between them and parents to cultivate noble character behavior among students.

The purpose of this study was to look into teachers' perceptions of code-switching functions and effects in English as a foreign language classroom. In the study, a descriptive survey design and an interview were used to investigate the functions and effects of code-switching in English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. 46 people responded to the survey questionnaire about code-switching functions and their impact in the classroom. Seven teachers participated in the group interview. The interview findings revealed six functions and four effects of code-switching. According to the survey findings, the majority of teachers supported the use of code-switching in their classrooms because it served a useful purpose in the process of teaching and learning English. The findings also revealed that teachers believed code-switching provided a clear purpose and had a positive impact on instruction and language development in EFL classrooms by creating a sociable environment. It was also demonstrated that code-switching to teachers was effective in EFL classrooms and played an important role in English learning and teaching. The implications of the findings for EFL teachers and language learning settings were discussed.

In the last decades, the notion of universal design for learning (UDL) has gained prominence in the Greek educational scene (former government plan in education, projects based on UDL). This educational philosophy is essentially a necessary inclusive practice given the new conditions, the extreme heterogeneity of the student population due to socio-political and economic factors, and the exceptional circumstances due to COVID-19 pandemic. The UDL aims to ensure access and equity in learning for all learners despite differentiating characteristics. With our study, we seek to investigate whether teachers in secondary and second chance schools (SCS) are ready to implement UDL, what their expectations are, what obstacles they face, and the results of implementation through their records in reflection journals, a practice that is fully consistent with the context of UDL.

Autistic individuals are commonly characterized by stereotypical behaviors, which affect their daily life, particularly social aspects. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of dance movement-based intervention in reducing stereotypical behavior among autistic children. The study used an experimental-based approach, which recruited 30 autistic children purposively between 9 and 15 years old, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder- level 1 (ASD [1]) or autism spectrum disorder- level 2 (ASD [2]) from one autism center in Jordan. The intervention sessions were fifteen sessions and lasted 60 minutes. The dance movement and music were selected cautiously by professional therapists. The observation was the study tool for collecting data performed by both author and care providers. The results approved the effectiveness of the suggested intervention in reducing stereotypical behavior. The children presenting ASD (1) showed significantly less stereotypical behavior than those presenting ASD (2). The result also showed that the difference was significant and obvious from the first three sessions, but the best reduction was in the fourth session. However, the results refuted any difference in reduction of stereotypical behavior attributed to gender or age group of participants.

This paper analyzes the key determinants of the quality of preschool education in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Based on the analysis of recent data, the paper indicates the status and development trends in this regard in the last decade. Although preschool education in Bosnia and Herzegovina has a long tradition, it is facing a number of challenges, mostly arising from the arrangement of the state system and post-war transition processes which have significantly impoverished this level of education. Therefore, the main goal of this paper is to point out the recent public policy efforts made in the attempt to ensure the quality of preschool education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the effects that are being achieved in this regard. Since quality can be approached from the aspects of structure and process, the elementary structural and process dimensions of preschool education will be taken as units of this analysis. Conceptualizing the results of this analysis, the status and quality of preschool education in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be positioned through an orientation towards the European framework for the quality and development trends of preschool education in Europe.

A socio-scientific issue is one of the learning techniques used today, which uses various scientific sources to make students think scientifically to conduct a dialogue and discuss solving a problem. Various problems in socio-scientific are controversial, requiring reasoning, and ethical evaluation in the decision-making process. A conflict between chemical reason and students' social point of view will cause students' different assessments and attitudes towards the socio-scientific issue. This study is a research and development (R&D) that focuses on the instrument's validity with the factor analysis technique to assess attitudes towards the socio-scientific issue in chemistry learning. CFA and EFA analysis found five factors in the tool: anxiety, interests, likes, benefits, confidence, validity, and reliability. The total reliability coefficient is .853. Of the eight instrument feasibility analysis requirements, seven instruments were declared fit to meet construct validity.

The decline in student character is the result of low student learning outcomes. The common student learning outcomes are influenced by several factors, and one of them is teacher-centered, monotonous learning model. For this reason, it is deemed necessary to conduct research that aims to determine the effect of project-based assessment on values clarification technique (VCT) learning on improving students’ learning outcomes by controlling the family environment. This study uses a 2x2 factorial experimental design. The sample was selected through multistage random sampling with 120 students. The two-way ANCOVA data analysis technique was used to analyze the data. The findings obtained after controlling the family environment are: 1) civics learning outcomes from the group of students who used value clarification techniques are higher than those using conventional learning models and 2) civics learning outcomes from the group of students who were given project-based assessments are higher than the group who are given conventional assessments. Thus, it can be recommended that civics education teachers used appropriate VCT and project-based assessments to improve learning outcomes.

The delivery of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning to improve an individual’s competence and future career interests has become a critical scientific undertaking for teachers and researchers alike. A plethora of research has proposed various hands-on robotics activities built on constructivist theories, thereby facilitating the development of knowledge based on reality for scientific and non-scientific stakeholders. Robotics may become an essential focus point within technology provision, which is an essential underlying characteristic for the seminal development of computational thinking (CT). However, despite the potential benefit of CT in developing an individual’s problem-solving skills, strategies for improving this ability through hands-on robotics activities largely remain underexplored. This paper highlights the constructs drawn from hands-on robotics activities in a STEM workshop designed for pre-service teacher students. The qualitative research design involved eight participants to investigate the responses of pre-service teachers to a hands-on robotics activity intended to provide STEM material. The research findings emphasise the correlations between the CT principles and STEM learning phases and underscore the roles played by educational robotics to enhance previous literature on learning experience.

The aim of this article is to highlight the history of social work in Kosovo, regarding the major political climate from 1945 to the present. Unfavorable political developments that have existed in Kosovo for a long historical period have made it impossible to develop the social work profession compared to the countries of the region. Although the Former Yugoslav Federation claimed to be a socialist country, the social differences between states and provinces within this were large. The findings of the paper show that social work did not develop in Kosovo as a profession until specific structures, such as the emergence of the University of Pristina as a legal structure of education for Kosovo Albanians, which has been offering a degree program in social work for almost a decade now. The political orientation and organizational infrastructure are highly relevant for the execution and education of social work. Literature review is the methodological framework of this paper. Education and social work have been shown to be an extraordinary opportunity for the transformation of society.

The main objective of this research was to study the effects of instructional management models and nominal variables on the development of students’ creative thinking. The researchers used the research synthesis of 400 studies on the development of students' creative thinking by a meta-analysis of research according to Cohen. The meta-analysis results revealed that the average effect size of the instructional management model (d = 3.43; [3.10, 3.17]) was positive and had a very high effect size with statistical significance. The most significant influence on the creative thinking development model was creative development theory (d = 4.217; [3.32, 5.11]). In addition, effect sizes varied with the attribute variables of the research, particularly the attribute variable of the research on instruction with the highest effect consisted of research with the focus on language, at the primary level, applied Torrance's creativity theory, designed between one to six lesson plans. Moreover, there was less than one hour per plan, the instructional period including the experiment conducted more than 31 hours and there were four weeks of instruction. In addition, there were six steps for instruction, there had quiz as an assessment tool, number of exams varied between 30 and 39 questions, and knowledge sheets were used as instructional materials. In the context of the meta-analysis, the findings indicated that the teachers should apply creative development theory in developing the students’ creative thinking for more effective instructional management.

COVID-19 pandemic forces training for principals to be conducted online. This study aims to evaluate the context, input, process, response, study, behavior, and outcome to determine the effectiveness and make recommendations for training. The approach used in this study was a mixed method with a concurrent embedded design and a qualitative method as the main method. The subjects of this study were the principals, committees, and instructors. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and questionnaires and analyzed using Miles and Huberman's model, descriptive analysis, and a t-test. The results show that e-training is effective in context, input, and process. Response, learning, and attitude assessments prove that knowledge, skills, and attitude have improved. Participants will be able to implement the experience gained and impact school quality improvement. This study contributes to the combination of the two evaluation models proven to produce a complete result. The study for the e-training recommends needed assessment before the training, the activity before the training to acquire the skills in using the learning management system, and the monitoring and evaluation after the training.

This study aims to explain the success factors of e-learning. The participants were 427 students in public universities in Indonesia. To demonstrate the success of this e-learning, we developed a more comprehensive e-learning evaluation model that considers the system's characteristics, students, and instructors. The results show that higher student performance is associated with higher student satisfaction. However, the increase in performance is not due to the use of e-learning. Social and cultural factors influence the use of e-learning. Culture and social environment influence students' use of e-learning. The instructor's ability to implement e-learning has been shown to influence student satisfaction. The difference in the implementation of e-learning compared to classroom learning requires different teaching methods that affect student performance. In addition, e-learning is used in all courses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The role of preschool teachers in supporting children’s language development is unquestionably substantial. To ensure the quality of preschool teachers’ performance in this specific task, various assessing instruments have been developed and justified in recent years. This study joins such efforts by investigating a new scale based on the “Framework for assessing preschool teacher competence in promoting children’s language development” proposed by a previous research. The scale’s psychometric properties are examined with a sample of 685 Vietnamese preschool teachers. The results supported the four-factor model suggested by the original authors and confirmed its reliability and validity. Finally, further usages of the scale are discussed.

The pandemic case has shifted away from face-to-face teaching to online blended learning. This phenomenon certainly causes various problems in the world of education. The online blended learning is good when applied with good internet connections and complete facilities. However, it differs from Indonesian coastal students who do not have supporting facilities. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the experience and readiness of Indonesian coastal students. It determines the facilities of the process using qualitative research with a phenomenological approach. Purposive sampling was used to collect data from 25 students living in coastal areas in Aceh, Indonesia. Furthermore, in-depth interviews were used to obtain instruments and techniques for data collection, observations, field notes, and audio-visuals. Data analysis was carried out qualitatively by reducing, displaying, drawing conclusions, and verifying data. The data processing was conducted using NVivo 12 plus software. The kappa coefficient is used to check the accuracy of the data since there was no bias during coding. The analysis results show that Indonesian coastal students are not ready to conduct the online blended learning process. Furthermore, it is recommended that future research focus on coastal students’ development. A Hypothetical Learning Trajectory design should be created to assist in independent learning and lessen their readiness.

Academic failure and school dropout, or early school leaving, are two of the situations that most concern countries and educational institutions worldwide, because of their prevalence and also their economic and social implications. Despite this prominent role that academic failure and school dropout have in societies, there seems to be no consensus on the literature on their conceptualization, definition, and relationship. Moreover, it is frequent to observe how both concepts are confused or overlap in the scientific literature and how many authors avoid defining these constructs, using them indistinctly. Therefore, this work analyses whether educational research considers them as two different concepts or if they are used indistinctly. For this purpose, 2,051 keywords from 450 articles were subjected to a systematic review and classified into the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) thesaurus´ descriptors. The results reveal statistically significant differences in the descriptors according to the type of paper to which they correspond (academic failure or dropout). Thus, academic failure is associated with sociocultural, personal, and academic factors, while dropout is linked to employment and educational trajectories. These differences evidence that, although academic failure and school dropout refer to closely related educational problems, there are remarkable differences between them and between the treatment given to each of them in the scientific literature. Therefore, they should be considered as two different concepts. For all this, keyword analysis has proved to be a relevant element for the study of the structure of knowledge, allowing to clearly establish the differences between the two closely related concepts.

COVID-19 and the expansion of distance learning pose new challenges to the educational system. Soft skills are imperative in this context, for children's effective and adaptive learning. The following study aims to discover teachers' representations by identifying their common conceptual framework of soft skills in primary school. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers. The teachers' comments helped identify and define a framework of soft skills that would help children learn effectively. The results illustrate that the lack of practice of soft skills activities depends on the teachers' perceptions of the importance of their role in transmitting disciplinary knowledge. The study concluded that the lack of a clear and shared vision of soft skills influences the representations and practice of teachers.

This mixed method case study examined potential influences of social agents or immediate environments on individuals’ metacognition. Via quantitative methodologies, 122 pre-service teachers’ metacognition was measured by the Turkish Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, and metacognitive components did not show any variations across majors, locations of previous studies, the highest degree of education in the family, frequently communicated friends, and regions. Regression analyses revealed that friends were a significant predictor for metacognition. Also, focus group interviews were analyzed thematically via deductive codes regarding the theory of metacognition. Findings confirmed that friends may support individual metacognition at all levels, metacognitive knowledge, regulation, and experiences through cooperation, modeling, reflections, discussions, feedback, and peer evaluation. Pre-service teachers’ engagement on the social media may also support their regulatory strategies due to models’ task performances or by their reflecting upon those performances. Teachers and family may support metacognitive knowledge, specifically career goals via expectations, anecdotes, and experiences. On the other hand, schools and the Turkish culture may impose some limitations on the youth, and they may engage in reflection and self-questioning to manoeuvre negative experiences or conflicts. Thereby, cross-national and longitudinal studies are highly suggested to explicate the social foundations of metacognition.

In this study we modeled the environmental literacy of Vietnamese preschool teachers. 324 in-service preschool teachers from Ha Noi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam contributed to the study via an online survey. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses of the relationships between environmental knowledge (KN), environmental awareness (AS), decision attitude (DA), personal behavior (PB) and environmental teaching activities (ACT) of these teachers. The results showed that the level of environmental literacy of preschool teachers in Vietnam was moderate with mean score for AS, DA, PB, and ACT ranged from 3.18 to 4.32 on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The results also indicate that the preschool teacher’s KN had a positive impact on AS and DA; PB was influenced by AS, but not by KN or DA. In addition, a correlation analysis showed AS and PB had a positive impact on ACT, while DA had a negative influence on ACT. These findings imply that preschool teachers with certain desirable environmental literacy had more tendencies to implement ACT. Based on the findings, recommendations and implications are provided for policy makers, preschool teachers, and researchers in Vietnam and other countries.

School placement plays a critical and complex role in student teacher development as well as in their professional dispositions and career attitudes. It is where theory and practice meet, teaching skills are developed, professional relationships formed and future careers envisioned. This mixed methods study explores student teachers’ experiences with and perspectives about new models of extended school placements developed in Ireland following significant policy and programme reform. Data was collected through interviews and questionnaires with one of the first cohorts to experience a reconceptualised initial teacher education programme, including extended school placement periods in a variety of school settings. This paper will explore student teachers’ perspectives regarding the value of the extended placement and factors influencing their professional learning, agency and sense of belonging. Overall, our findings confirm the pedagogical benefits of the extended placement in two different school settings for student teachers’ professional learning. However, they also highlight how a number of factors, including the existence (or absence) of school support structures, school culture, peer networks, paid or unpaid additional workload and financial pressures impacted on student teachers’ capabilities to develop their skills and professional agency, their sense of belonging and, in some cases, their physical and mental health.