The purpose of this research is to experimentally evaluate how the “flipped classroom” model used to deliver Business English, which is commonly an integral part to the ESP course at tertiary schools of Economics in Ukraine, to the students majoring in Economics fosters students’ critical thinking skills and improved their academic performances and what students’ perceptions of this model are. The learning environment used a multimedia-based textbook entitled “Business skills through English”. This was experimental research which used a mixed-methods approach. Students’ critical thinking skills and academic performance (learning outcomes) were the variables for this study. Placement tests, needs analysis questionnaires, Course Satisfaction Questionnaire, a test to assess the students’ critical thinking skills were used to collect the statistical data. Cronbach Alpha coefficient was applied to interpret the test on critical thinking data and SPSS AMOS statistical package programme was used to analyse the consolidated data. The study found that the “flipped classroom” model used to deliver ESP and Business English to the students majoring in Economics has the potential to provide a better learning experience for the students and teaching experience for the teachers. This model fosters students’ critical thinking skills by involving them in problem-solving-based learning and improves their academic performances by increasing their responsibility for learning results and stimulating them to use different learning styles. Overall, the above model substitutes a teacher-centered with a student-centered approach that engages learners in the true-to-life business world and language environment. In this way, learning Business English and ESP at higher educational institutions in Ukraine is a move from just training memory (memorizing professionalism-related English vocabulary and doing grammar drills) to applying language as a learning medium in the specifically designed vocational contexts.

Mathematics is one of the most challenging subjects for many students. A similar problem is faced by special needs students, such as students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Various instructional strategies are implemented by specialists to help ASD students understand mathematics in schools. To explore the impacts of an instructional strategy of mathematics on ASD students, the authors conducted a review of literature from 2011 to 2017 using various databases including ProQuest Digital Dissertations and Theses Full Text, Google Scholar, and Science Direct. A total of 39 articles were found. Most of the instructional strategy aimed to assist ASD students in solving mathematics problems. The implications of the study are also discussed in this literature review, which indicates that teachers need to use the appropriate instructional strategy to meet the needs of students with ASD and maximize their mathematics learning outcomes in schools.

Problem-solving and mathematical communication are essential skills needed by students in learning mathematics. However, empirical evidence reports that students’ skills are less satisfying. Thus, this study aims to improve students’ problem-solving and mathematical communication skills using a Metacognitive-Based Contextual Learning (MBCL) model. A quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design was used in this study. The participants were 204 fifth-grade students; consisting of experimental (n = 102) and control (n = 102) groups selected using convenience sampling. This study was conducted in four Indonesian elementary schools in the first semester of the academic year 2019/2020. The Problem-Solving Skills Test (PSST) and Mathematical Communication Skills Test (MCST) were used as pre- and post-tests. In order to analyze the data, one-way ANOVA was used at the 0.05 significance level. The results showed that students in the experimental group had higher post-test scores than the control group in terms of problem-solving and mathematical communication skills. It can be concluded that the MBCL effectively promotes fifth-grade students’ problem-solving and mathematical communication skills. Therefore, it is suggested that MBCL should be used more frequently in primary school mathematics to further improve students’ problem-solving and mathematical communication skills.

Self-efficacy and critical thinking represent two vital components for university graduates in the 21st century learning. However, several studies reported that these two important outcome predictors were unsatisfactory. This study aimed at investigating the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) on pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy and critical thinking. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent pretest-posttest control group design was utilized. A total of 44 pre-service elementary school teachers (aged 19-22) at a private university in Indonesia were assigned as experimental (n = 22) and control (n = 22) groups. The experimental group learning received PBL, while the control group learning with traditional college instruction. The Self-Efficacy Scale (SES) and the Critical Thinking Questionnaire (CTQ) were administered before and after the intervention in both groups. Independent and paired samples t-tests were employed to analyze the pretests and posttests data. The results indicated that PBL was more effective in increasing self-efficacy and critical thinking of pre-service elementary teachers than traditional teaching. It is suggested that PBL should be used more frequently in science learning to further enhance students’ self-efficacy and critical thinking skills in higher education.

This research aims to reveal the pattern of the multiculturalism-based civics education at higher education institutions in Surakarta, Indonesia. It applied the descriptive qualitative method with the dual case study approach, conducted at State University of Sebelas Maret and Slamet Riyadi University in Surakarta. The data were collected through observation and interviews to find the answers to the research questions in the field. The data were analysed using the interactive technique, consisting of data collection, data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The result shows that the teaching of multiculturalism-based civics education at State University of Sebelas Maret and Slamet Riyadi University has almost the same pattern, that is media-assisted teaching pattern and is always conducted by considering the material integration dimension, knowledge construction dimension, prejudice minimization dimension, equal rights to education dimension, and the dimension of school culture empowerment and social structure from the planning stage to teaching implementation and evaluation stages. The research findings suggest that the students of universities in Surakarta should be able to implement the goal of the teaching of civics education in universities, and the lecturers should always improve the materials, content, method, and strategies of the teaching of multiculturalism-based civics education.

The Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice (TEIP) scale is an instrument created by Sharma et al. to assess efficacy of instruction in inclusive settings. Despite its increase in use, the TEIP has not been validated with a Spanish teacher population. The aim of this study was to: (1) analyze the psychometric properties and factor structure of the TEIP scale in a sample of Spanish preservice teachers (N = 475; 80% female, 20% male), and (2) examine the level of self-efficacy for inclusive practices that teachers experience when they graduate from their training programs. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicate that a Spanish version (TEIP-ES) consisting of 15 items with a three-factor construct explains 61.34 percent of total variance. Item total-correlations ranged from .488 to .778, and factor loadings from .590 to .790. Convergent validity with measures of quality of teacher education (TE) programs and self-report of preparedness to teach in inclusive settings was good. In contrast, self-efficacy for inclusive practices was rated moderately low. Overall, these findings support the construct and convergent validity of the TEIP-ES and suggest that it is a useful instrument to measure self-efficacy for inclusion in Spanish preservice teacher populations. This manuscript reports the findings, discusses the implications for the improvement of TE programs, and suggests possible avenues for future related research.

Research on critical thinking skills has been frequently carried out, but it has not shown maximum results. This problem is exacerbated by the differences in pre-service teachers’ academic abilities. A new learning model that can improve pre-service teachers’ critical thinking skills and reduce the gap in critical thinking skills among the upper, middle, and lower academic ability pre-service teachers is needed. This research aims at exploring the potential of the QASEE learning model on the critical thinking skills of different academic ability. This quasi-experimental research involved 107 pre-service teachers of Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Fatah, Indonesia. The research classes were divided into three classes, namely the QASEE class (experimental class), the RQA class (positive control class), and the conventional class (negative control class). Each class was further divided into upper, middle, and lower academic categories. The data were collected using an essay test supported by a critical thinking skill rubric. The data were analyzed by using ANCOVA and followed by LSD test. The research results show that the QASEE (Questioning, Answering, Sharing, Extending, and Evaluating) learning model can improve and equalize the critical thinking skills of pre-service teachers with various academic levels. Thus, the QASEE learning model can be used as a new reference to improve pre-service teachers’ critical thinking skills, especially the lower academic ability.

Learning models that can improve critical thinking, skills collaborate, communicate, and creative thinking are needed in the 21st-century education era. Critical and creative thinking are the two essential competencies of the four skills required in the 21st century. However, both are still difficult to achieve well by students due to a lack of thinking skills during mathematics learning. This study was conducted to determine the model of learning that is appropriate to develop students' critical and creative thinking skills. The study used three-class samples from eighth grade. The first class is given the problem-posing lesson; the second class is given contextual learning and third class as a control class. The results of the study indicate that improving students' critical and creative thinking skills are included in the moderate category for types using contextual learning and problem-posing. Also, it is found that contextual learning is more effective for improving critical thinking skills when compared with learning problem posing and expository learning. Meanwhile, learning problem posing is more useful to enhance creative thinking skills compared with contextual and expository learning.

In the last decade, learning from computer-supported collaborative technologies has been combined with social media (SM) and this has gotten a lot of attention. Also, there is a growing body of literature that suggests that SM is gaining a lot of attention because it has the perceived pedagogical affordances that could be used as a potential tool for teaching and learning. These perceived pedagogical affordances allow people to interact, communicate, collaborate and share resources among others. Most of the studies published on SM in education have focused on higher education (colleges and universities) with a relatively small body of literature on secondary education. Despite the wide use of SM in education, its benefits are still not clear across studies. We conducted a systematic literature review using the EBSCOhost database. Screening of abstracts and full texts resulted in the selection of 10 papers for the review. Seven approaches to using SM in learning in high schools have been identified: (1) interaction, (2) information dissemination, (3) communication, (4) collaboration, (5) teaching, learning, and resource sharing, (6) socialization, and (7) entertainment. Most of the articles claimed that the educational use of SM has a strong positive effect on social skills, but the evidence presented was rather weak. Subject-specific outcomes were not in focus in using SM in education. All studies followed a constructivist philosophical perspective. Based on this we provide a theory-based scenario for using SM in learning social skills and subject-specific outcomes.

Investigating critical incidents is one way to assist prospective teachers in expressing any developmental stage when accomplishing the teaching practice program. It is a significant component of reflective teaching in an educational framework related to continuing professional development (CPD), particularly self-directed learning. This study aims at exploring EFL prospective teachers’ field experience in cultivating their teaching competence through a critical incident analysis. A qualitative approach was applied. Three participants with different levels of English proficiency took part in this study by sharing their experiences through participating in and answering an interview and an opinionnaire. To analyze the data from the instruments, this study used descriptive analysis and coding techniques respectively. Results indicate that both negative and positive critical incidents contribute to the participants’ teaching development. The incidents support the learning process towards becoming a teacher and assist shaping their awareness of teacher identity. Further, the result of this study reveals that English proficiency level seems to take part in the strategy used for identifying critical incidents. This study implies that critical incidents provide a chance for prospective teachers to be more reflective. Thus, teacher education program stakeholders need to support critical incident analysis by giving relevant assignments while they are doing teaching practice, which in turn builds professional development in the context of prospective teachers.

This research aims to test (1) the effectiveness between problem posing learning model with Indonesian realistic mathematical education approach and problem posing learning model on written mathematical communication skills, (2) the effectiveness between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles on written mathematical communication skills, (3) the effectiveness between problem posing learning model with Indonesian realistic mathematical education approach and problem posing learning model on the written mathematical communication skills from each cognitive style, and (4) the effectiveness between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles on written mathematical communication skills from each learning model. This quantitative research employed a quasi-experimental method. The research sample consisted of 240 fifth-grade elementary school students in Jebres District, Surakarta, Indonesia. Data collection techniques included tests of written mathematical communication skills and cognitive styles. The data were analyzed using prerequisite (normality, homogeneity, and balance), hypothesis, and multiple-comparison tests. The findings prove that (1) PP model with Indonesian realistic mathematical education approach is more effective than the PP and direct instruction models, (2) field-independent cognitive style is better than field dependent, (3) PP with Indonesian realistic mathematical education is as effective as the PP model, but more effective than the direct instruction model, and the PP model is more effective than the direct instruction model in each cognitive style, and (4) in the PP learning model with Indonesian realistic mathematical education approach, field-independent cognitive style is same skill as with field-dependent, but field-independent is better than field-dependent cognitive style in the PP and direct instruction learning models.

The study aims to investigate the evaluation model of professional leadership and the characteristics of successful principals at an Indonesian secondary school. It is to further realize the effective learning and to produce instruments that meet the validity and reliability tests. It also aims to discover the correlation and the significance of the independent variables on the dependent variables, and the percentage of influence on the indicators in shaping the model of principals’ leadership. Quantitative data were obtained by distributing questionnaires to 100 students. The number of respondents was determined using a simple random sampling technique. The research findings showed that there was a significant correlation among the principals’ leadership, characters, and effective learning. It indicated that leadership evaluation influenced the school leadership and the principals’ characters on effective learning. The results of the measurement on formative relationships showed that the indicators of behaviour and actions of school principals who manage the teachers to conduct learning activity seriously in the classroom became a determining factor in shaping the effective learning paradigm in secondary schools.

The purpose of this research was to explore how effective the bottom-up approach to producing and shaping educational legislation is in Ukraine and to identify what observed changes take place in students if the bottom-up approach is simulated in the classroom. Qualitative instruments and observational data were used to yield the data. Those were a survey questionnaire, semi-structured interview questionnaire, and focus group discussion observation checklists and moderators’ and facilitators’ reports. The data were processed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0.0.1. Software. The results of the study suggest the bottom-up approach to shaping educational legislation can be considered an option or an alternative to the conventional law-making procedure, at least in the sphere of education, in Ukraine. The use of mock policymaking experience has proven to be an efficient teaching tool. The application of the simulation of the bottom-up approach in the courses entitled “Educational policy” and “National Education Policy” was found to have the potential to encourage students to participate in the processes of shaping education policy, legislation, and regulation. The approach accelerated the desire of the students to participate in the processes of shaping education policy, legislation, and regulation. It also brought a change to the students’ vision of the school structure, the content of education, and the way the teacher is motivated. The intervention also brought a positive change to the students’ behaviour as citizens and their motivation as teachers-to-be.

This study aims to identify students’ approaches toward courses lectured by visual arts teachers with elements of popular culture with a view to enabling students to attain 7th grade targeted achievements. To this end, the multiple-case design, one of the qualitative research methods, was utilized in the study. The sample of the study comprised 11 visual arts teachers working at secondary schools located in three central districts of the Bursa province of Turkey. As the data collection tools, two interview forms and document review were used. The obtained findings were evaluated through the thematic analysis technique and were compiled under the theme of ‘implications on students’. As per the research results, it was discerned that there were certain differences in the students’ approaches toward the course along with employment of elements of popular culture in the visual arts course. It may be alleged that, of these differences, the primary ones were attraction of students’ attention to the course, active participation into the course and facilitation of comprehension.

Covid-19 has accelerated the speed of technocratic transformation in teaching and learning. Previous researches on whether technology enhances students’ motivation towards learning or burdens them with additional layer of anxiety in learning the nitty gritty of technology itself have mixed results. The purpose of this study was to explore early undergraduate students’ beliefs about learning mathematics with technology. These research participants were first-year female undergraduate students in a public university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study comprised of phase one with qualitative task-based interviews with four female first-year undergraduate students. Phase two included a quantitative belief survey with a sample of 62 students from the same institution. I constructed four major belief categories from the iterative process of interview data analysis– technology for computing and graphing, technology for speed and accuracy, technology for a short-cut but not for meaning, and affective aspects of beliefs. The quantitative survey result demonstrated that a majority of participants (about 75.8%) were found to be using some kinds of technological tools while learning mathematics. About 90% of them reported using a calculator while learning mathematics. A majority of participants (54.9%) believed that technology helps them in learning mathematics, and about 50% of them also believed that the use of technology improves their learning of mathematics.

This study aims to analyze students’ creative thinking skills in answering the problem-solving questions. This study employs qualitative design, involving 110 fifth graders in Malang Municipality and Regency as the subjects. The obtained data were analyzed using the descriptive-explorative approach. The findings reveal that the high-achievers in Mathematics showed good skills in the aspects of fluency and flexibility, but were still struggling in the novelty aspect.  The average-achievers showed good skills in flexibility aspects but were lacking in the fluency and novelty aspects. They showed an understanding of Mathematics problems but found it difficult to decide the solving strategies, and thus their answers were lacking in structure and less systematic. When solving a problem, the calculation made seemed rushing, was less careful, and frequented with trial and error strategy. The low-achievers showed difficulties in understanding the problems. Their answers were not systematic, not well-structured, and not detailed. This indicates that the low-achievers had not shown creative thinking skills in fluency, flexibility, and novelty aspects.

New Inquiry-Based Learning (NIBL) was developed to improve students’ multiple higher-order thinking skills (MHOTS), such as thinking critically, analytically, creatively, and practically (CACP). This study aimed to examine the increase of students’ MHOTS ability, their perceptions of the NIBL model, and the contribution of the NIBL model to the learning outcomes.  A quasi-experiment of the nonequivalent control group design was implemented in this study. Research subjects were university students majoring in chemistry education and enrolling in the Organic Chemistry course. The experiment and the control groups consisted of 34 and 32 students, respectively. The collected data were analyzed by using t-test and ANCOVA procedures. N-Gain scores were calculated to measure the differences in the increase in learning outcomes. Eta square values measured the contribution of NIBL. The results of this study revealed that there were differences in the learning outcomes of the experiment and control group. The CACP thinking skills and the mastery of organic chemistry concepts of the experiment group increased significantly. The N-Gain scores of practical thinking skills aspect were on medium category, and for critical, analytical, and creative thinking, as well as for mastery of organic chemistry concepts were on high categories. For the control group, the N-Gain scores of all categories were on low or medium categories. The NIBL model effectively improved the prospective chemistry teachers’ M-HOTS in terms of CACP thinking skills and contributed significantly to the increase in the students’ mastery of organic chemistry concepts.

School system has not proven successful in educating gifted students. Artistically gifted students are a group of students requiring special education approach. The aim of this paper was to explore the extent to which classroom teachers and students as future teachers are able to identify artistically gifted students. The study involved a total of 160 respondents, among which 80 classroom teachers and 80 students at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Teacher Education in Split. The results showed statistically significant differences in the identification of artistically gifted students between groups of teachers and groups of students, future teachers. The results showed that there is a statistically significant difference in the assessment of several factors of giftedness of students in the surveyed teachers compared to students of Teacher Education. A statistically significant difference is present in Factor 1 (Art Abilities) where p (0.00) <0.05, and in Factor 3 (Motivation in Artistic Expression) where p (0.00) <0.05 and in Factor 4 (Use of Fine Arts) where p (0.04) <0.05. A statistically significant difference between students and teachers is not present in Factor 2 (Art Interests) where p (0.78)> 0.05. Furthermore, the results showed that teachers and students of Teacher Education share the opinion that gifted students will have a high level of learning, possess a large number of artistic ideas and show interest in figurative and abstract forms of artwork.

The purpose of the study was to explore how technological advances incorporated into the Philology Studies curriculum could impact the students’ research skills and the quality of their research projects and what students’ and teachers’ impressions of the reshaped research component of the curriculum were. The study used qualitative and quantitative methods with the dominance of qualitative methods. It employed the baseline study, checklist to assess students’ research papers, assessment criteria, and the Triangular Assessment Method to assess the students’ papers. The consensus meeting was held to allow the experts to express their reasoning for the scores. The semi-structured interview was administered to the students’ and teachers’ to identify their impressions of the reshaped research component of the curriculum of philology. The technological advances incorporated into Philology Studies curriculum improve the students’ research skills and the quality of their research projects. Both students and teachers appreciated the reshaped research component of the curriculum. The analytical software can be successfully incorporated in the corpus analysis-purpose student research. The students found the intervention a challenging experience that ‘pumped up’ their intellectual, research, and technical skills. They reported improvement in interpreting corpus using correlations, frequencies, distributions, and collecting information using software to organise it in a professional way. The lecturers agreed that the technology-based instructional model incorporated into Philology Studies curriculum improved both students’ research skills and the quality of their research projects.

Nowadays, teaching and learning activity employing the flipped classroom model has an important position in the process of providing education. This research aimed at identifying and analyzing articles examining the flipped classroom model that has been published in several reputable international journals issued in the 2010-2019 timeframe, which was conducted using bibliometric studies. The research was conducted using a 4-stages systematic mapping method: (1) searching for articles using the Publish or Perish application in the Scopus database, (2) classifying the articles for the bibliometric analysis, (3) checking and completing the metadata of those articles, and (4) conducting bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer application. The bibliometric analysis produced seven findings, as follows: (1) the trend of flipped classroom publications continued to increase from 2013-2019; (2) the ten most contributive journals has published 88 articles by 2019; (3) the ten most cited articles has produced 1,155 citations; (4) the three highest order of author keywords most widely used in flipped classroom articles were flipped classroom, active learning, and blended learning; (5) author collaboration with strong links only occurred in 21 authors through one document; (6) institutional collaboration with strong links formed through 28 collaborating institutions; and (7) state statistics were formed into three clusters and spread across various countries through contributions from authors who were in charge of 456 institutions. The flipped classroom model can be concluded as an educational model that is currently popular among researchers.