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.

Teacher professional development (TPD) is an important component of enhancing student learning and school education quality. Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training is reforming education, including curricula, teaching methods, and textbooks. Many requirements have to been done to effectively implement the reform, and TPD is considered a significant contribution. Using data from an in-depth interview with the principal, teacher questionnaires, and school policy-related documents, this qualitative case-study research in a selected high school for gifted students in Central Vietnam aimed to find out how TPD had been implemented in response to education reforms in Vietnamese high schools. TPD was widely perceived and respected by the principal and teachers in this case study, and these positive perspectives were transferred into practice with numerous effectively employed TPD strategies at this high school for students’ enhanced learning and achievements.

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.

Students are aware of the use of technology in the learning process, and they are generally referred to as digital natives. However, there are challenges associated with the availability of internet access as a learning process to both university students and teachers inside and outside the classroom. One of such challenges is students’ ability to access unrelated activities which is known as cyberslacking. In the education sector, this process refers to the use of technology for unrelated academic activities. Studies associated with this activity are significantly conducted in western countries, but it is still limited to the Indonesia education environment. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the cyberslacking behavior of students in Indonesia and its relationship to their academic performances. It also determines the relationship between media multi-tasking efficacy and self-regulated learning. The results showed that there is a significant influence between media multi-tasking efficacy and self-regulated learning with cyberslacking. Furthermore, there is a negative influence between cyberslacking and the academic performance of students in Indonesia. This research adds references to studies on cyberslacking in the scope of education and provides input for universities to develop the management of information and communication technology used in the learning process.

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 research delved into the assessment of integrating Learning Management System as an aid in teaching. Data were collected from 26 students at Rizal Technological University-College of Education, Philippines, through pretest-posttest quasi-experimental and normative survey design of research. Data were statistically tested using the frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test for dependent and independent samples, and paired t-test. Results of the research indicate that the respondents have optimistic attitudes towards the integration of learning management system in teaching. The respondents performed poorly in the pretest examination but performed very satisfactorily in the posttest examination. Furthermore, the research found out that there is no significant difference between the performances of the experimental group and control group in pretest and posttest, moreover, there is a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group and the pretest and posttest scores of the control group.

The purpose of the study was to identify how the instructional model that converges professional training and foreign language learning can influence the students’ professional mobility and students’ readiness to build their careers. The study used the methods of a quantitative kind for the evaluation study and descriptive research. The variables for the study were as follows: levels of student professional mobility skills proficiency that included students’ competence in their professional field, foreign language proficiency, students’ networking skills, personality qualities, and sampled students’ satisfaction with the reshaped course. The field phase of the study found that the Erasmus and Work-and-Travel programmes contributed to the former students’ adaptability and flexibility, the experience of work abroad, and practical specialism-related experience gained during study. The students developed their abilities to project a positive social image, ability to build and maintain relationships, foreign language proficiency, proficiency in presenting and negotiating, and theoretical knowledge. The English Language-delivered Professional Mobility course brought shifts in the levels of students’ professional mobility skills. The experimental group students reported that they improved their competence in their professional field, foreign language proficiency, networking skills, and personality qualities. The experimental group students’ judgements concerning the quality of the course were complimentary.

Understanding phylogenetic trees representing evolutionary relationships of living organisms is essential in school biology. Traditional instructions based on lectures and textbooks with pictorial presentations have been proven ineffective to promote students’ understanding of the concept. This study, therefore, developed a game-based learning activity called the VERT card game to enhance students’ learning of the phylogenetic taxonomy of chordates. The VERT card game was designed to lay the foundation for different characteristics of chordate classes, as well as to allow students to construct and interpret their evolutionary relationships based on the phylogenetic tree. The effectiveness of the VERT card game was verified by a pre-test and post-test design with 109 middle school students in Thailand. The statistical result revealed that students’ mean scores increased significantly in the post-test, compared to the pre-test, indicating their improved understanding. In addition, after participating in the learning activity, the student participants were found to increase their self-efficacy to learn evolutionary biology statistically. Also, it showed positive views towards the usefulness of the developed card game as a large number of them expressed that they would like to use it for their lesson reviews and wished to have this form of learning activity in other topics in biology.

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.

This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable instrument that measures the functional vision of students with low vision. Thus, an assessment tool and performance activities were developed for three vision skill groups (near vision skills, distance vision skills, and visual field) that include functional vision skills. The universe was 1485 students studying in various primary and middle schools (from 2nd to 7th grades) affiliated to the Ministry of National Education, and simple random sampling was used to select 310 students. The data were collected using the Gazi Functional Vision Assessment Instrument developed by the researchers. Many-facet Rasch model and generalizability theory were used for the rater reliability of the measurements obtained from the instrument, while discriminant analysis was used for the validity of the measurements. The analysis showed that the measurements were reliable, and the inferences based on these measurements were valid. Thus, this instrument can be used to identify and assess the functional vision status of students with low vision.

This article contributes to the evidence base on the significance of context in enacting social justice leadership. It draws on data from the International School Leadership Development Network of 20+ countries who adopted a common qualitative approach involving interviews with principals identified as being social justice leaders. The article focuses on four case studies of Irish principals in varying primary elementary school contexts. Findings reveal local contextual features significantly impacted principals' perceptions, actions, and self-efficacy as social justice leaders. While the actions and motivation of the principals is similar, two of the principals, working in school contexts where the values and norms are not consonant with broader society, appear to lack confidence in their practice of social justice leadership. This article extends the existing evidence base by arguing for enhanced critical consciousness of all stakeholders related to the personal, institutional and community contexts in schools. It recommends a more flexible and iterative process of policy development to facilitate a more nuanced understanding of the cultural and ideological struggles in schools. Finally, it calls for governments and policy makers to take responsibility for and support disadvantaged communities as education alone cannot solve the issue of inequity.

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.

English teachers had to retrain and build a new normal in order to prepare for an online classroom while keeping their teaching pedagogy and professional identity as a result of the sudden changes brought by the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in education. In this study, the effect of English teachers' professional identity transformations, attitudes toward online teaching was explored. The study's sample comprises 130 English as a foreign language (EFL) lecturers from a state and a foundation university in Turkey. The research data was gathered from a questionnaire, the Teacher Professional Identity scale, and a semi-structured interview with 12 volunteers. Qualitative data collected via semi-structured interviews were apportioned into pattern coding and analyzed through content analysis. EFL lecturers did not appear to be properly prepared for their online pedagogical and technological difficulties, which had a deeply corrosive effect on teachers' professional identities as they shift away from face-to-face education. The results showed that participants who were educated on EduTech during their undergraduate education or as professional development affected their perceptions of professional identity throughout the transition to online language teaching. Future studies can broaden the field of study by making use of exploratory action research, awareness of the teaching community, and continued professional development.

Students are more likely to obtain correct solutions in solving derivative problems. Even though students can complete it correctly, they may not necessarily be able to explain the solution well. Cognition and communication by the students will greatly affect the subsequent learning process. The aim of this study is to describe students’ commognition of routine aspects in understanding derivative tasks for heterogeneous groups of cognitive styles-field dependent and independent. This qualitative study involved six third-semester mathematics education students in the city of Palu, Indonesia. We divided the subjects into two groups with field-independent (FI) and field-dependent (FD) cognitive styles. The first group consisted of two FI students and one FD student, and the second group consisted of two FD students and one FI student. Moreover, the subjects also have relatively the same mathematical ability and feminine gender. Data was collected through task-based observations, focused group discussions, and interviews. We conducted data analysis in 3 stages, namely data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing-verification. The results showed that the subjects were more likely to use routine ritual discourse, namely flexibility on the exemplifying category, by whom the routine is performed on classifying and summarizing categories, applicability on inferring category, and closing conditional on explaining category. The result of ritual routine is a process-oriented routine through individualizing. This result implies that solving the questions is not only oriented towards the correct answers or only being able to answer, but also students need to explain it well.

In contemporary school systems, the concept of a teacher is defined as a socially and emotionally intelligent, pedagogically, and psychologically competent school leader. This would mean that not only the teacher's subject knowledge is sufficient, but also good knowledge of general pedagogical-psychological skills, knowledge, and management of the didactic approach, etc. Social and emotional skills/intelligence (SEI) restore the value of teachers as creators of learning and connect education to the larger social world in which SEI plays the most important role. This paper highlights the importance of social and Emotional Intelligence (SEI) in teacher education, examining the current state of research and the most important role of SEI in students' personal, social, and academic achievement, as well as teacher effectiveness and personal growth. By presenting the scientific evidence of SEI in teaching and teacher education, this study assesses the SEI level of student teachers at the University of Primorska, Faculty of Education, Slovenia. SEI is examined, through its main components: Self-awareness, Self-management, Social Awareness and Social Skills. In conclusion, this paper aims to show the need to develop SEI in future teacher education in Slovenia.

In recent years, integrating technology into education continues to attract more attention along with the rapid growth of information and communication technology. In the literature, teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) plays an essential role in successfully integrating technology into teaching and learning contexts. This study aims to provide a comprehensive view of prior literature and some possible directions for researchers and educators for further TPACK studies. A total of 106 papers were chosen from the Springer database and synthesized. Frequency of annual publications, number of documents with and without TPACK in the title, research methods, number of authors, major contributed countries, most cited papers, and most productive journals in TPACK research were reviewed. The results showed that TPACK has continued to receive attention from researchers in the past decade. Among the reviewed publications, each of the 53 documents included the term TPACK in the title and abstract. To date, qualitative methods were more frequently adopted in TPACK research than quantitative, mixed, and non-empirical methods. Most papers published in TPACK research have two authors. When ranked by country, the US has the highest contribution compared to other countries in this field, followed by Turkey, Australia, Singapore, and Taiwan. The authors with the most cited papers were Min-Hsien Lee and Chin-Chung Tsai with 210 citations. Based on the number of articles published in TPACK, The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher and TechTrends seemed to be the most contributing journal in this field.

Speaking skills have always been regarded as the most difficult skill out of the four skills that learners should master in language learning. The importance of learning speaking skills has also been highlighted by many researchers in recent years. With the use of technology in this modern era, learners can learn speaking skills through various resources. Therefore, there is a need to identify the learning strategies used by learners for speaking skills in the new learning environment. In this review, the most frequently used strategies in language learning for speaking skills has been examined. The articles reviewed were from 2017 until 2021 across two databases, ERIC and Google Scholar. The PRISMA 2020 methodology is used in the review. From the review, it was found that meta-cognitive and cognitive strategies were most frequently used for learning speaking skills, followed by compensation and social strategies. The least used strategies by learners were memory and affective strategies. The findings help teachers to look for the most suitable teaching method in the current learning environment. For future research, an extensive review of the use of learning strategies for other learning skills could be carried out.

Within the context of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL), a process of directing oneself to facilitate individual learning more effectively, the SRL instrument development is deemed necessary to measure students’ self-reliance in learning mathematics in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) framework. The research aims to develop and test the validity and reliability of an SRL instrument, namely a 14-item SRL questionnaire accommodating four aspects, namely planning, self-monitoring, self-controlling, and evaluation. The study involved 420 junior high school students in East Java, Central Java, and Yogyakarta Special Region. The results show that the questionnaire was developed as planned and that planning, monitoring, controlling, and evaluating aspects can reflect the SRL variable in a valid, reliable, and significant way supported by each aspect's behavior indicator. The SRL variable theoretical model corresponds (good fit) with the empirical data, and all of the items are likely valid and reliable to assess student's mathematics SRL in the STEM framework. The SRL questionnaire was also found suitable for use by teachers to measure junior high school students’ self-reliance in SRL.

The cooperative learning (CL) is an advanced instructional approach that uses different motivational procedures to make instruction significant and learners more responsible. This study aimed to investigate the effects of cooperative learning on students' achievement in chemistry among the advanced level in 12-year basic education schools; it engaged a quasi-experimental design with one treatment group and a comparison group (control); the first applied cooperative learning in teaching organic chemistry while in the control group, organic chemistry was taught by the conventional teaching methods (CTM). A sample of 257 students participated in the study. The data collected used an organic Chemistry Achievement Test, and its data were analyzed using SPSS version 23.0 and MS Excel 2016. The ANCOVA results showed that learners taught using cooperative learning achieved better than their counterparts in the control group (F=78.07, df=1, 256, p<.001) with the learning gains of 16.0% in traditional methods and 53.6% of cooperative learning approach, respectively. However, there was no statistically significant difference in gender of students. It is recommended that chemistry teachers be trained on cooperative learning and encouraged to apply it in their teaching methods to enhance students' academic achievement.