Teachers play an important role in helping students improve their learning and achieve the intended curriculum outcomes. Therefore, it is essential to look at teachers’ knowledge, understanding, and perceptions of any educational innovation. The present study aims to examine knowledge, understanding and perceptions of Rwandan science teachers with respect to the competence-based curriculum (CBC) introduced in 2015. The 2015 curriculum framework included features like the rationale for its adoption, the concept of competence, different competences to be developed by learners upon CBC implementation, principles guiding CBC implementation, and cross-cutting issues to be addressed by CBC implementation. This research is a multiple case study that adopted a qualitative approach with interpretivism paradigm. Twelve science teachers from three secondary schools, selected based on their differing teaching experience, participated in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The data were transcribed and qualitatively analyzed using content analysis. The findings revealed some satisfactory knowledge, understanding and perceptions of science teachers. Further, knowledge and understanding gaps as well as negative perceptions of CBC were identified. Towards the effective and efficient implementation of the CBC, this research suggests appropriate training and establishment of the school community of practices for improving teachers’ experience of the CBC.

Several reforms have been introduced to help enhance Vietnamese people’s English competencies. However, research on what reforms Vietnamese teachers support or resist is limited. Also, the impact of teachers’ demographic information on their responses to reforms is underrepresented. This mixed-methods study used a questionnaire, responded by 102 English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers, and six semi-structured interviews to address the gap. The results revealed that the teachers supported the reforms in their teaching context. They preferred using their self-developed or self-adapted materials to using required materials. On the other hand, using the VSTEP framework for designing tests was not supported. Teachers’ demographic information, especially educational qualification, significantly differed one’s responses to reforms from those of another. Some practical implications were discussed at the end of this paper. Also, some recommendations were presented to be considered for further studies.

This qualitative study is part of a feasibility study conducted by State University of Malang (SUM), Indonesia, to determine stakeholder needs for a study program specializing in managing bilingual education. The study participants included one SUM lecturer who held a managerial position in the division of SUM laboratory schools and twelve teachers/leaders of bilingual schools in some cities in East Java and South Sulawesi. Data were collected using an online questionnaire and in-depth interviews with two selected participants. The results indicate issues related to teachers' English competencies, materials development, and integrating an internationally-oriented curriculum into the national curriculum. Teachers' low English competencies prevented them from conducting teaching and learning bilingually and developing instructional materials in appropriate English. In addition, the combination of national and international curricula was identified as the biggest challenge for bilingual schools. The teachers/leaders were never trained to manage the bilingual program. They learned based on their experiences, and it took years to figure out how to manage bilingual programs successfully. Therefore, the establishment of a new program of study is needed.

This study is qualitative with descriptive and aims to determine the process of generalizing the pattern image of high performance students based on the action, process, object, and schema (APOS) theory. The participants in this study were high performance eighth-grade Indonesian junior high school. Assignments and examinations to gauge mathematical aptitude and interviews were used to collect data for the study. The stages of qualitative analysis include data reduction, data presentation, and generating conclusions. This study showed that when given a sequence using a pattern drawing, the subjects used a number sequence pattern to calculate the value of the next term. Students in the action stage interiorize and coordinate by collecting prints from each sequence of numbers in the process stage. After that, they do a reversal so that at the object stage, students do encapsulation, then decapsulate by evaluating the patterns observed and validating the number series patterns they find. Students explain the generalization quality of number sequence patterns at the schema stage by connecting activities, processes, and objects from one concept to actions, processes, and things from other ideas. In addition, students carry out thematization at the schematic stage by connecting existing pattern drawing concepts with general sequences. From these results, it is recommended to improve the problem-solving skill in mathematical pattern problems based on problem-solving by high performance students', such as worksheets for students.

In today's World, data-driven methods are behind the determination of potential action plans in every area of life. These data-driven methods help individuals or policymakers to figure out the strengths and weaknesses on the subject that are worked on and to make a comparison to the best practices. Thus, actions can be taken immediately on the specific factors that have a huge impact on the topic investigated. In the educational area, countries are using the same approach to measure, monitor, and improve the quality of education by attending international studies. In this study, for both Turkish and Singaporean students, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model is performed to predict the students' mathematics achievement and to identify factors that have a high impact on achievement using Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2019 with the data of 3,586 Turkish and 4,750 Singaporean students. The reason behind comparing the results of Turkey to Singapore is that Singapore is the best-performing country in terms of mathematics achievement in the TIMSS in 2019. The model results show that the top two crucial factors in both countries are the frequency of absenteeism from school, and students’ confidence in mathematics with the accuracy of 75%. In addition, relevant policy implications are given based on the importance level of significant factors.

Numerous events occur in students' educational trajectories that are linked to school success. Some of these events are related to school-related factors. Moreover, these factors alter the quality of students' engagement, generating the risk of dropping out of school. The objective of this research has been to explore, compare and understand the different events that occur in the school trajectories of at-risk youths that are related to the existing dynamics in schools. In order to achieve this objective, a narrative research based on the life stories approach was developed. For the reconstruction of the stories, the technique of in-depth interviews and mixed data analysis was used, by means of different analysis techniques. The main conclusions reached after the research have been highly relevant for studies on educational trajectories of at-risk youth. The different factors associated with schools affect the trajectory and involvement of students. There are certain dynamics that have a greater presence in some stages or others, however, all of them can positively or negatively affect the quality of student engagement. Finally, it is shown that the key lies in the way in which the different dynamics of schools develop, i.e., how the dynamics associated with certain factors develop.

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are important for improving student achievement and school development. According to PLC research, teachers' knowledge and practice in teaching are significantly improved by various PLC forms and favorable working environments. This qualitative research was conducted to find out what forms of PLCs were popular and what challenges were facing three primary schools in a province in Vietnam. The study utilizes a multiple-site case study design relating to PLCs in those schools with the data from interviews with the principals, group leaders and teachers, observations of PLC activities and related policy documents. The two forms of PLCs were identified in this research, including professional groups and groups of core teachers. Besides, four challenges facing PLCS implementation in those schools included the old habit of professional learning in PLCs, structural conditions of schedules and facilities, economic conditions of teachers and motivation for reforms. The study provides recommendations based on the findings for PLC research and practice within and beyond the Vietnamese context.

‘Panic-gogy’ is a term that describes the educational situation during the pandemic due to the transformation phenomenon from face-to-face learning to distance learning. Various types of research are used to uncover the constraints of this phenomenon, but not many researchers use phenomenological studies with parents as participants. Therefore, we used a phenomenological study to describe parents’ views on the constraints, expectations, and approvals regarding the preparation of distance learning modules at the junior high school level (aged 13-15 years). Data collection was carried out using semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using NVivo-12-assisted thematic analysis. The main findings are that most parents experience problems. Namely, children do not understand mathematics material, incomplete explanations of material from teachers, internet disturbances, and quota limitations, and children cannot learn mathematics optimally during the distance learning period. Most parents want face-to-face learning to be carried out immediately, teachers to provide detailed explanations, and use digital learning platforms. In addition, 85% of parents agree that mathematics teachers should develop distance learning modules. However, because the pandemic is still not over, this study recommends using blended learning to maintain the quality of mathematics learning.

The Indonesian government has declared a strong commitment to information and communication technology (ICT) education reform but has made meager progress due to inconsistent education policies, fragmentary technological infrastructure, and ill-prepared teachers. Despite these obstacles, young people in Indonesia have embraced smartphones and related technologies as important means of maintaining their socially integrated lifestyles. This project sought to measure the adoption of smartphone technologies among pre-service teachers as part of their broader ICT consciousness and teaching. We examined the ICT competencies of 220 pre-service teachers at two state universities in western Indonesia. A questionnaire was distributed to the participants toward the end of the students' final practicum during the COVID-19 closure of the schools. Results showed very high use of smartphones in private contexts, infrequent use of laptops and desktop computers, a strong rejection of institutionally available (or often unavailable) devices and services, and a skewing of ICT skills toward tools available on smartphones, especially those accessible through social media platforms.

Ursula von der Leyen identifies diverse classrooms have different knowledges and ‘epistemologies’. A typology of epistemologies for democratising knowledge ‘A Blueprint for Character Development for Evolution’ (ABCDE) is offered to mainstream policy benefits for all by Higher Education as hubs i) credentialing educational leaders by doctoral-study and ii) propelling networks of Professional Educators and Administrators Committees for Empowerment (PEACE) across professions credentialed by Higher Education and chaired by educational leaders. PEACE builds robust evidence bases to inform redesigning curriculums and culturally responsive pedagogies as policy benefits that empower students to use ABCDE with Assessment for Personal and Social Learning (APSL) to problem solve across the quadruple-helix. Education Outcomes include students’ self-management of personal and social understanding and wellbeing for resilience within sustainable circular, entrepreneurial, green and digitised economies with products and means of production regulated by professions credentialed by Higher Education. Impacts include communities developing responsible historical social consciousness to reinvigorate democratic governance, accountability, transparency, effectiveness and trustworthiness of rule-of-law based institutions and policies to expand active and inclusive citizenship empowered by safeguarding human rights. Further research, building on the powerful European Commission funded platform ‘DocEnhance’ is recommended to inform effective and efficient investment into high quality education and training.

By the spread of COVID-19, the entire world shifted suddenly to e-learning including schools. This study aims to find ways to enjoy teaching. Gamification in education refers to the introduction of game elements in non-game environment. A case study was adopted for this study as a qualitative approach to investigate the possibility of improving motivation. The study was conducted in the first and second semester of the 2020/2021. The sample consists of (6) participants of pre-services teachers studying in special education course for 15 weeks. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The result of the interview showed that there is a clear desire among the students to succeed during learning using game elements. Their desire is very clear and higher. Most of them became active during their learning. They enjoyed learning in gamified learning environment. The researchers recommended that the Ministry of Education should train teachers to employ game elements to motivate their students.

The successful application of the problem-based learning (PBL) approach requires feedback from the tutor to the student to guide the latter's learning process. The aim of this study was to characterise the views of a group of Chilean undergraduate students of Primary Teaching and their tutors regarding PBL methodology, and the role of feedback in it. Qualitative research was carried out based on a case study that gathered the views of students and tutors through a focus group. The methods of analysis adapted to the needs of this study are those derived from discourse analysis and especially from discourse in interaction in its three dimensions: interlocution (framework of participation), thematic (topic of discussion) and enunciative (enunciative positioning). The results indicate that students' views emphasised the inter-student collaboration involved in PBL, while tutors emphasised the motivational value of the methodology. However, both recognised the important role that feedback plays in enhancing learning opportunities. Knowing the views of both tutors and learners is central to improving PBL and feedback practices.

This experimental research aimed to examine the effectiveness of the transformative learning program (TLP) on the active global citizenship (AGC) of 60 undergraduate students who had joined student affairs engaging in community development, working with a volunteer spirit, and community service. The participants were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups (n=30 for each group). The data were collected using the AGC Scale with a reliability of .968. Assessments were conducted three times: before, after the experiment, and follow-up. The TLP consisted of five steps: (a) Review social issues and crises contributing to disorientation; (b) Reflect critically to reach solutions; (c) Reformulate the meaning of perspectives to plan a course of action based on new perspectives; (e) Accept and improve new practices; and (f) Evaluate. MANOVA was performed to analyze the data. The results showed that students in the experimental group had a higher mean score of AGC than the control group, both after treatment and at follow-up (p < .05); the mean scores of the AGC of the experimental group after treatment and at follow-up were higher than the mean score before treatment (p < .05); and the mean score of AGC of the experimental group at follow up was higher than the score after treatment with no statistical significance. In conclusion, educational personnel could use this TLP to promote AGC for university students.

Digital puzzle worksheet (DPW) is innovative teaching material designed using open-source software such as Canva and Liveworksheets. Subsequently, puzzle games in the form of questions can improve problem-solving skills by engaging in metacognitive processes. This research used a case study method to describe the impact of applying the DPW to identify the metacognition levels of students through the assignment of contextual maths problems. The source of informants was third-grade elementary school students in West Java, Indonesia. Test instruments, observation sheets, and interviews were used, while data analysis adopted an iterative model. Furthermore, the method and time triangulation increased confidence in the resulting conclusions. The results showed that male students were at the metacognitive level of ‘strategic use’ and ‘aware use’ for females, based on the characteristics of the observed metacognitive level. The most prominent feature was identifying and determining problem-solving strategies with metacognitive awareness. The reaction of students to the DPW improved problem-solving abilities, expanded conceptual understanding, and enhanced digital technology competence. Therefore, this experience was applied when solving contextual mathematical problem assignments.

The increasing sophisticated learning technology and COVID-19 have pushed the teaching-learning process to use pedagogy, andragogy, and cybergogy approaches. The current research aims to investigate the relationship between the practices of these three approaches and student self-regulated learning. The structural equation model used indicates that pedagogy practices may affect the andragogy practices in teaching-learning process. Pedagogy approach shows no direct effect but has an indirect effect on students’ self-regulated learning. The indirect effect comes from the pedagogy-andragogy continuum and the impact of pedagogy instruction on cybergogy practices. Andragogy practices also gives a significant impact on students’ self-regulated learning and how the students use learning technology in cybergogy approach. Andragogy and the continuum of cybergogy promote students’ self-regulated learning. These results indicate that pedagogy-andragogy continuum can have an interplay with cybergogy. The interplay of these approaches may encourage students’ self-regulated learning. The current research can be a baseline to construct a new approach in teaching-learning process and its instructions in the classroom.

Many students have misconceptions about mathematics, so preservice teachers should be developing the skills to notice mathematical misconceptions. This qualitative study analyzed preservice teachers' skills in noticing student misconceptions about algebra, according to three aspects of noticing found in the literature: attending, interpreting and responding. Participants in this study were seven preservice teachers from one university in the capital of Aceh province, Indonesia, who were in their eighth semester and had participated in teaching practicums. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews, which were analyzed descriptively. The results revealed the preservice teachers had varying levels of skill for the three aspects of noticing. Overall, the seven preservice teachers' noticing skills were fair, but many needed further development of their skills in interpreting and responding in particular. This university’s mathematics teacher education program should design appropriate assessment for preservice teachers’ noticing skills, as well as design and implement learning activities targeted at the varying needs of individual preservice teachers regarding noticing student misconceptions, in order to improve their overall teaching skills.

The purpose of the current study was to analyze social media content related to physical education. In the context of summative qualitative content analysis, I took advantage of big data analytics to access the data. Machine learning of this big data mapped the large content volume from four major social media platforms. The data was collected by extracting social media posts from January to December 2020. The big data analysis process sorted, categorized, and classified the enormous data into several preeminent topics regarding PE. These computerized analyzes were used to identify themes that were further analyzed using qualitative methods. The results revealed two overarching themes. These themes were (a) PE representation as a school subject and (b) the images of PE teachers on social media. The second theme consisted of three subthemes: masculine traits of PE teachers and negative and positive sentiments toward these teachers. I concluded that key aspects of PE discourse in virtually mediated reality share topical characteristics with what people have previously socially constructed. However, the themes offer a new addition to the literature in that the analysis offers a new perspective on ongoing debates about the social construction of PE through enormous large data sets.

This research aims to describe secondary school students' functional thinking in generating patterns in learning algebra, particularly in solving mathematical word problems. In addressing this aim, a phenomenological approach was conducted to investigate the meaning of functional relationships provided by students. The data were collected from 39 ninth graders (13-14 years old) through a written test about generating patterns in linear functions. The following steps were conducting interviews with ten representative students to get detailed information about their answers to the written test. All students' responses were then analyzed using the thematic analysis software ATLAS.ti. The findings illustrate that students employed two types of approaches in solving the problem: recursive patterns and correspondence. Students favored the recursive patterns approach in identifying the pattern. They provided arithmetic computation by counting term-to-term but could not represent generalities with algebraic symbols. Meanwhile, students evidenced for correspondence managed to observe the relation between two variables and create the symbolic representation to express the generality. The study concludes that these differences exist due to their focus on identifying patterns: the recursive pattern students tend to see the changes in one variable, whereas the correspondence ones relate to the corresponding pair of variables.

The teaching of experimental sciences in high school contributes to the development of a set of cognitive, methodological, and psychomotor skills among learners. Combining, both theoretical and practical aspects, it involves an important use of scientific experiments in the process of knowledge construction. With the help of appropriate tools that include interviews and observation of teaching practices, data related to the constraints encountered in the implementation of scientific experiments in the high school life sciences classroom was collected as well as proposals of solutions to overcome these constraints. The results show the existence of a set of constraints that oppose the realization of experiments in class. These constraints are not only limited to insufficient or deficient external factors but also to the teachers' relationship to knowledge which influences their choice of teaching activities within a predefined curriculum.

The objective of the study was to develop a structural model that explores the relationship between Mathematics Performance and students’ self-regulated learning skills, grit, and expectancy-value towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The research collected survey data from 664 senior high school students from 17 STEM high schools, and conducted a covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. The results of the SEM analysis indicate that the Re-specified Self-Regulated Learning Skill – Expectancy-Value towards STEM – Grit – Mathematics Performance (Re-specified SRL-EV-GR-MP) model is the most parsimonious fit, offering the best empirical support for the theoretical model of the study. The research findings suggest that the mathematics performance of senior high school students in STEM curriculum is attributed to their high expectancies for success and perceived values of the STEM tasks, high grit, and high self-regulated learning skills. Moreover, the research also observed evidence of mediating and moderating grit effects in the concurrent effects of expectancy-values towards STEM and self-regulated learning skills towards students’ mathematics performance.