In several shows prepared for children and adults in the media, the representation of “individuals with special needs” can ensure that other members of the society empathize with disability and the characteristics of disabled people, and make it easier that prejudices are replaced by social acceptance through gaining information. Finding a place frequently used in children’s literature, children’s reality satisfies the curiosity and experience-gaining demands of children about the cases they encounter for the first time using various examples, and helps them internalize the information and experience they gain. Children’s shows and cartoons have an effective power in influencing the viewpoint of children as target group for disabled people within the framework of “children’s reality” by means of the representation of children with special needs who are socially disadvantaged. In this context, the purpose of this study is to evaluate and examine in terms of various factors the social representation style of main characters with Down Syndrome represented in “My Brother Ozi” and “Punky” cartoons broadcasted on local children television channels and internet sites where cartoons for children can be found. 51 episodes of both cartoons (26 and 25) were viewed in the framework of the study and findings were analyzed using “document analysis” method which is a qualitative research method.

The research investigated whether there is a correlation between participation in a course entitled "Diversity and multiculturalism in the global era" as perceived by Jewish and Arab students in Israel and a change in the students' attitudes and behaviors and their performance of activities in a multicultural context in the education field. The course was part of a master's degree program in Policy and Administration in Education in an academic college in central Israel. Pre-course and post-course questionnaires were administered to the course participants. Participants were 528 students; 177 responded to the pre-course questionnaire and 351 responded to the post-course questionnaire. The research findings indicated a direct association between participation in the course and activities conducted in the education field. In addition, students’ acquisition of knowledge on multiculturalism mediated the association between participation in the course and performance of multicultural activities in the education field. Differences were found between Jewish and Arab students' reports: Jews reported a multicultural academic atmosphere significantly more than Arabs. Contrastingly, Arab students gave significantly higher grades than Jewish students to reciprocal relations between the groups in the college and reported a more positive change in their attitudes towards the other group and towards multiculturalism and were more convinced that the course contributed to their multicultural thinking. These findings have theoretical and practical implications that can inform policymakers planning education for multiculturalism as a permanent component in academic programs, while responding to different sectors' cultural uniqueness to promote equality between them.

Professional teaching competence is significantly influenced by beliefs about teaching and learning. Prospective teachers start their teacher training with quite persistent beliefs about learning processes. These beliefs are mainly influenced by the way they experienced their own lessons as a student at school. Previous biology lessons at school might be linked to the imagined biology lessons of prospective teachers. We interpret these future lessons as a representation of their beliefs about teaching and learning. The present study investigated how prospective teachers remembered their previous biology lessons as well as how they imagine the lessons they will conduct in the future. The drawings of 181 prospective biology teachers in Germany (Mage = 22.1; SD = 3.6; 64.1 % female) were analyzed using the Draw-a-Science-Teacher-Test Checklist (DASTT-C). Results of the study indicate that the lessons they experienced were mainly teacher-centered, whereas the lessons they imagined were mainly student-centered. Results of a chi-square-test indicate that there is no connection between these two drawings of biology lessons. This suggests that experiences from one’s own schooling may have no connection with the way prospective teachers would like to teach in the future. The results of this study might be used as a basis for further studies examining the development of prospective biology teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning.

The aim of this study is to find out the influence of online project collaborative learning and achievement motivation on problem-solving ability in the area of citizenship. This study uses a quasi-experimental design. The total of study subjects is 71 students of higher education; consist of 36 students as the experimental group and 35 students as the control group. Data of problem-solving ability is obtained by using an essay test, while data of achievement motivation is obtained by using a questionnaire. Data analysis is done with ANOVA (Analysis of Variance). The study results show that online based-project collaborative learning strategy has a positive influence on civic problem-solving ability. There is a difference in civic problem-solving ability between students with high achievement motivation and students with low achievement motivation. Online project collaborative learning strategy and achievement motivation interact in influencing the civic problem-solving ability of students. It is recommended that further study corroborate this finding by testing again the effectiveness of using online-based project collaborative strategy in the aspect of problem-solving in a similar field of study.

People have needed mental health services more and more during Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Due to the contagious nature of the COVID-19 virus, online counseling has been preferred more during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who need such mental health services might take actions to seek help by demanding psychological assistance from psychological counselors or mental health institutions. However, these people might avoid seeking and receiving such help when they think that they have a weak personality or they somehow will be criticized by the society or experience social stigma because they seek psychological help. This study aims to examine the mediating role of self-disclosure between attitudes towards online counselling and perception of social stigma due to receiving psychological help. Participants of the study consist of 519 adults who live in Turkey and are older than 18 years old.  The data for the study were collected through “Distress Disclosure Index”, “Online Counseling Attitudes Scale (OCAS)”, “Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help (SSRPH)” and “Personal Information Form”. The hypothetical model developed in order to determine whether self-disclosure mediates in the relationship between perception of social stigma due to receiving psychological help and online psychological counselling attitudes was tested through SEM (Structural Equation Modeling). The results of the study revealed that self-disclosure play partial mediating role between perception of social stigma and value of online counselling and discomfort with online counselling.

As a part of learning process, project-based assessment (PBA) is determined to be a potential approach in higher education evaluation that focuses on developing the important objectives related to critical thinking, team working and problems solving skills. The aim of the paper is to find out students’ reflection and teachers’ beliefs towards using this project-based assessment method in teaching Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC). To collect the data, a project-based assessment design was applied for 124 English major students at B University in the 9 weeks ICC course. This project was implemented from the beginning of the course, and at the end of the course, learners’ products were performed with specific activities regarding culture knowledge competition, online cultural community activities, talent performance, situational judgment ability, and eloquence skills. In addition, a set of questionnaires were delivered to the participants, plus the interviews with 36 teachers who have taught culture-related subjects from the universities in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. The findings revealed that although there were certain challenges, using project-based assessment in teaching culture had satisfactory effects on students’ intercultural competence, problem- solving skills, critical thinking, and learning motivation.

This research seeks to evaluate the degree of inclusion of the gender perspective and the promotion of education in and for equality in the historical narratives of students in Chilean Secondary Education (n = 105). The study focuses on the analysis of the discursive-narrative mechanisms employed by the students and, in particular, of their representations of gender relations. To this end, the place given to men and women in past and present societies is analysed in the narratives generated by the students (n = 780). A mixed methodology is applied, combining quantitative (descriptive and inferential) and qualitative analyses of the manifest content. The results obtained report the persistence of stereotypical, exclusionary and androcentric perspectives, evidenced in hegemonic gender attributions and in the maintenance of the sex/gender system. These data confirm the need to implement specific teacher training programmes aimed at the acquisition of critical competences and the effective inclusion of the gender perspective in history education.

The mastery of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is very important for teachers in order to achieve qualified learning. Analyzing the mastery of TPACK by teachers in Indonesia seems to be imperative to provide baseline data to Indonesian government. This study aimed to examine the mastery of TPACK, in particular among biology teachers in terms of their teacher certification status, educational level, and academic background. This research involved 68 biology teachers obtained through proportional random sampling in five districts of Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. The data collection was conducted through a multiple-choice test consisting of 33 items. The results showed that although the teacher’s mastery of TPACK was categorized as fair (60.13), it does not meet the work performance standards as a good teacher in Indonesia which has a minimum score of 76.00. Using Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis Tests (p< 0.05), the evidence revealed that the mastery of TPACK among biology teachers is likely influenced by the academic background, educational level, and teacher certification status.

The purpose of this research is to provide empirical evidence of the influence of perceived usefulness, convenience, experience, gender, and age on the intention to use e-learning after the government's school closure policy due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Our sample is junior high school teachers in Indonesia and the data are analyzed using the Structural Equation Model (SEM). We show that perceived usefulness has a positive influence on e-learning intentions. The perceived convenience is not the reason for the teachers to use e-learning because they have no other alternative in carrying out their duties apart from e-learning. Besides, we have also found that gender and experience influence e-learning intentions. The teachers with different genders and experiences continue to implement e-learning as their way of teaching during the pandemic. The younger teachers have a higher intention of using e-learning. They have adequate digital abilities and are more confident in using e-learning, so they have a great intention in implementing e-learning for the delivery of the materials. Experienced teachers will find it easier to find the use and convenience of e-learning. Apart from experience, male teachers also report that it is easier to grasp the ease of e-learning. However, older teachers show more concern about their perception of system usability as a reason for using e-learning than system convenience.

A large number of articles in the field of science education reflect on scientific literacy as the main goal of science education (SE), although often with varying viewpoints. Nevertheless, researchers have begun to highlight subject-specific teaching practices that are expected to specifically enhance science subject teaching, including biology. The main aim of this theoretical article is to come on consensus and to conceptualise the term biological literacy (BL) more clearly and to present a theoretical concept of BL, composed on the basis of systematically analysed articles. This theoretical concept includes two dimensions of BL: (1) cognitive (cognitive skills, conceptual understanding, biological inquiry) and (2) affective dimension, based on systematic literature review (SLR). This theoretical concept also includes in addition four dimensions of BL: (3) sustainability; (4) interdisciplinarity, (5) career awareness and (6) nature of biology (NOB), based on literature review (LR) of recent decades, that was conducted to write theoretical overview of this research.

Multicultural education improves educators’ understanding of the complexities of different cultures and the inherent intersectionality of race, gender, class, and exceptionality to liberate students from oppressive structures within society. The purpose of this study is to illuminate the perceptions of educational leadership graduate students regarding multicultural education and transformative leadership through the lens of critical pedagogy. During this qualitative case study, the researchers used course materials, including discussion and responses, book reviews, and presentations, to answer these research questions: What factors drove the graduate students to want to seek out further experiences for them or their students with multicultural education? What did the participants perceive as potential barriers to influencing educational reform? In what ways did the perceptions of the graduate students regarding multicultural education change over the course of a semester? Three themes emerged from the analysis, the illusion of inclusivity, cultural awareness, and the disconnection between theory and practice. This research could impact current and potential future educational leaders and provides information that would benefit school districts, teachers, and students.

Learning in high schools has used a lot of smartphone assistance to make it easier for students to understand the material explained by the teacher. However, with the many uses of smartphones in learning, of course, it must provide positive benefits to the ability of students, especially the science literacy ability. In this study, the objectives to be achieved are to examine how much the smartphone's usability in physics learning, examine students' science literacy and examine the effect of the smartphone’s usability on students' science literacy in physics learning. The method used in this study is a quantitative method with a research design used is a one-shot case study. The data on smartphone usability is obtained using a questionnaire, and science literacy of students is obtained through on physics science literacy test. The results of this study indicate that the smartphones usability and students' science literacy in physics learning are respectively in the high and medium categories with a respective percentage of 57.20% and 36.36%. The students' science literacy is influenced by the smartphone's usability in physics learning by 34.30%. These results indicate that smartphone usability by most students is very high, but has not been able to contribute optimally to students' science literacy. Therefore, special treatment is needed in utilizing the use of smartphones in physics learning so that students' science literacy can be optimized.

This study investigated the influences of social constructivist approaches on history teachers' opinions of social science education. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of social constructivist approaches and explore the views and practices of teachers in their current use of teaching approaches in social science education. For this study, a qualitative study approach was employed. The study was conducted at intermediate secondary schools in the city of Erbil. For open semi-structured interviews, eight teachers of social science education were purposely selected from eight intermediate secondary schools of grade ninth, and eight social science classes were observed. The results revealed that despite significant changes of the system of education, many challenges were identified in implementing social constructivist approaches in social science education such as the environment of fear, the shortage of proper public infrastructure, lack of care, and resources. Also, the study revealed several barriers like absence of sufficient well-designed teaching guidelines, lack of adequate clear instructions, inadequacy classroom teachers' autonomy, and no freedom. Lastly, the study ends up by specifying several conclusions.

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.

During the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, universities were obligated to transform from traditional classroom teaching environments to virtual ones. This sudden transformation highlighted the issue of low e-learning system usage amongst instructors of humanity faculties in Jordan's public universities. This study empirically investigated the moderating impact of technology anxiety on the relationship between the instructor's self-efficacy and the e-learning system's actual use to contribute to solving the problem. A survey was distributed to 468 instructors to test the theoretical framework, which yielded 285 valid and complete instruments analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results showed the positive direct effect of self-efficacy on actual use. Furthermore, the level of technology anxiety moderated the relationship. Instructors with low technology anxiety showed a higher level of e-learning system actual usage than those with a high anxiety level. To improve the use of e-learning systems, top management must understand the fundamental role of compulsory training as the Covid-19 pandemic, and the instructor's confidence must be increased by providing training and support.

The quality of the educational process within the humanistic concept and holistic-developmental approach is interpreted as the optimal adaptation to the individual needs and abilities of children, while inclusiveness presupposes equal inclusion and participation of all children. This article explores the opinions of teachers as bearers of pedagogical-educational process. The aim of this research was to determine how much importance teachers attach to certain dimensions of the educational process, and the procedures of inclusive practice. Empirical research included teachers in 5 preschool institutions (N=146). The research instrument was constructed based on relevant literature. Teachers in this sample recognize the importance: of individualized support to all children; of respecting the diversity; of collaboration with parents, and personal professional development. At the same time, the level of formal education and in-service teacher training is positively correlated with the assessment of importance towards child-oriented practice, and respect for diversity. Teachers with a higher level of education significantly value the importance of additional vocational training in the field of developmental and social risks, the use of community resources, and involvement of parents in planning individual support for children.

Academic optimism has an essential role in the adjustment of students in school. This study aimed to examine a model of academic optimism formed from democratic parenting, school climate, internal locus of control, and students’ self-concept. This a cross-sectional non-experimental design research design involved 335 Junior High School students in Kediri. The data collection tool was a scale while the data analysis technique was Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. The results showed that the theoretical model for developing academic optimism in Junior High School students was in line with the research data and obtained empirical support (X2 = 246.056 < 255.6018; p = 0.110 > 0.05), so this model is feasible and can be used in samples that have been studied. In general, this study adds knowledge about positive psychology studies and supports democratic parenting, school climate, self-concept, and internal locus of control as ultimate factors for creating students’ academic optimism.

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).

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.