The teaching and learning in Indonesian elementary schools focus both on students’ concept mastery and character development.  Teachers are encouraged to implement a learning model that integrates character values and yet promote learning interest.  This study was aimed at investigating the mathematics learning interest of grade three elementary school students through the integration of thematic learning with character education, referred to as the character-integrated thematic learning model. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design, this study involved 70 students and employed a questionnaire to obtain data, which were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. Descriptively, the average scores of students' learning interest before and after the implementation of the character-integrated thematic learning model are respectively 117.54 and 140.69 with the gain index of 0.44 in the fair category. While score obtained for thematic learning model are 116.11 and 120.23 with the gain index of 0.07 in the low category. The results of the statistical inference analysis using the independent sample t-test were obtained t-count of 4.98 > t-table of 1,667. This indicates that there has been a significant increase in students’ learning interest scores with the implementation of character-integrated thematic learning model. Thus, this learning model can be applied to pay attention to the development of student’s character which has an impact on increasing student’s learning interest.

Cognitive is an essential developmental aspect for children. The cognitive barrier is one of the learning barriers experienced by children with autism. From educational perspective, teacher language input can appropriately develop cognitive abilities of autistic students. This study aims to describe (1) teacher’s language input for recognizing the cognitive abilities of autistic students in classroom interactions and (2) cognitive abilities of autistic students based on teacher language input in classroom interactions. The approach of the study was conducted qualitatively with case study, while source of data was oral texts from the teacher language input toward autistic students in classroom. The results shows that the cognitive abilities of autistic students can be recognized through teacher's language input in classroom learning by engaging interrogative speech acts, such as representative, directive, expressive, and commissive. The cognitive level is used to see the variants of the teacher's language input. Meanwhile, the acquisition of students' cognitive abilities based on teacher language’s input is developed through memorizing, understanding, applying, and analyzing skills with criteria student A and B in the medium category, and G in low category.

Teaching about biodiversity and its conservation could be an effective way to teach the importance of different species and human dependence on ecological support systems. This study compares the effectiveness of a digital and a paper-based dichotomous identification key for teaching pre-service teachers about plant species diversity. Twenty-four Slovenian teachers in pre-service training used a digital version of the key on tablet computers and twenty-nine used a paper-based version to identify woody species in the garden near their university faculty. Both keys contained the same species, identical photographs and the same sequence of steps to identify the species. The accuracy and time taken to identify the five species were measured. The participants also completed a questionnaire about the usability of the identification key. Overall, both versions of the key were equally good for determining species names. The digital version of the key was found to be more time-effective than the paper version only when multiple identification steps were required to identify species. The results confirm that those who scored better on the identification tasks have a better general opinion about the usability of the key; especially students using digital version of the key. Implications for teachers using or creating identification keys are discussed in the conclusion.

Industrial revolution 4.0 is currently present in various countries, including Indonesia. Indonesia responded quickly through technological developments, especially education. The actions of the Indonesian government to deal with industrial 4.0 are contained in the 4C principle, one of which is Critical Thinking. The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning approach has become an alternative in building critical thinking skills, especially in science learning. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively measure the impact of the STEM-inquiry model based on the K-13 Indonesian Curriculum towards critical thinking skills of 15-16 years old students. This study employed quasi-experimental with non-equivalent control group design at SMAN 1 (State Senior High School) Padang Cermin, Lampung, Indonesia. The research subjects consisted of 50 students. The critical thinking skill was measured through 10 items of an essay question on the momentum and impulse material. Based on the results of the non-parametric statistical hypothesis test Mann Whitney, the significance level of 0.004 was obtained (sig <0.05). The results of the hypothetical test showed that the student's critical thinking skills before and after using the STEM-based inquiry model were different. It can be concluded that the application of the STEM-based inquiry model was effective in increasing students' critical thinking skills.

Teachers are one of the professional classes most vulnerable to emotional instability and fatigue associated with their professional activity. The present study is a systematic review about burnout in Portuguese teachers and has two main objectives. The first is to understand the state of the art of the burnout phenomenon in Portuguese teachers from basic education to secondary education. The second is to analyze the types of variables considered in the exploration and understanding of the burnout phenomenon, from a three-dimensional structure: personal, organizational, and classroom. Results show that the set of personal and organizational variables are the most frequently analyzed in studies on burnout in teachers. Nevertheless, the results of the analyzed studies are unclear and inconsistent, highlighting the need for further studies that allow to clarify the role of different variables on burnout in Portuguese teachers. More studies are needed to determine the actual extent of burnout and, consequently, to design educational and psychological interventions to support teachers.

This study aims to develop a standard instrument for measuring mental health among urban adolescents in Indonesia. The objective is to produce valid and reliable school adolescent mental health instruments to be used by agencies or schools to identify students' mental health. The survey was conducted in Jakarta and South Tangerang with a total of 1007 respondents divided into two experiments where the first trial was conducted on 597 students and the second trial was conducted on 410 students. Measurements were made using a Likert scale questionnaire. Instrument testing begins with a theoretical validity test by 4 experts and 20 panelists who test the instrument material in terms of construction, content and language. Experts analyze and correct the instrument qualitatively. The instrument was then reviewed and analyzed quantitatively by panelists using the Aiken index. At this stage, 44 items, 9 indicators and 3 variable dimensions were obtained. The next test is done by testing the validity empirically, by analyzing the measurement model using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with the LISREL 8.80 Full Version program. By using the criteria for the SLF value ≥0.30 and t-value ≥1.96, and calculating the reliability with the construct reliability (CR) at the level> 0.70, the results of the second trial showed that 35 items were valid. The observations of the model fitness through Goodness-of-Fit test showed that there is a fitness between the theoretical model and the empirical model for the mental health instruments in this study.

Considering the low achievement of Indonesian students in international studies (PISA), which measures Higher-Order Thinking Skill (HOTS) in solving the problem, improving the quality of mathematics learning in Indonesia is very important. The purpose of this research was conducted to explore the variations in students’ learning strategies and students’ Self–Regulated Learning (SRL) in solving mathematical HOT problems. The study employed a mixed-method, namely quantitative and qualitative methods were applied through five tests and seven interviews for over eight weeks. Two types of instruments were employed in this study, and they include tests and interviews. At the initial stage, we randomly selected 30 students from all those in grade 10 (Senior High School ), after which 12 were chosen purposively after the pre-test for an interview, having satisfied all complete group, middle group, and lower group. All of them were treated using metacognitive questions. Data analysis techniques used were percentage, data reduction, presentation, and conclusion. The quantitative results showed the students could generally use orientation, organization, and elaboration learning strategies as observed with 68.3%, 60%, and 56.7% for complete, middle, and lower groups. Moreover, the students were also observed to have conducted three cognitive processes in selecting the rules for solving the mathematical HOT problem, namely using models and drawing, written texts, and combining both. Furthermore, their final solution failures were affected by their misconceptions and errors in creating the mathematical model. The interview results on designing the learning procedures, monitoring the progress, and evaluating the outcomes, show that the students’ SRL level is good for complete (89.3%), middle (75%), and lower groups (60.7%).

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.

One of the issues that hinder the students’ learning progress is the inability to construct an epistemological explanation of a scientific phenomenon. Four-tier multiple-choice (hereinafter, 4TMC) instrument and Partial-Credit Model were employed to elaborate on the diagnosis process of the aforementioned problem. This study was to develop and implement the four-tier multiple-choice instrument with Partial-Credit Model to evaluate students’ learning progress in explaining the conceptual change of state of matter. This research applied a development research referring to the test development model by Wilson. The data were obtained through development and validation techniques on 20 4TMC items tested to 427 students. On each item, the study applied diagnostic-summative assessment and certainty response index. The students’ conceptual understanding level was categorized based on the combination of their answer choices; the measurement generated Partial-Credit Model for 1 parameter logistic (IPL) data. Analysis of differences was based on the student level class using Analysis of Variants (One-way ANOVA). This study resulted in 20 valid and reliable 4TMC instruments. The result revealed that the integration of 4TMC test and Partial-Credit Model was effective to be treated as the instrument to measure students’ learning progress. One-way ANOVA test indicated the differences among the students’ competence based on the academic level. On top of that, it was discovered that low-ability students showed slow progress due to the lack of knowledge as well as a misconception in explaining the Concept of Change of State of Matter. All in all, the research regarded that the diagnostic information was necessary for teachers in prospective development of learning strategies and evaluation of science learning.

The current study aimed to identify the level of self-regulation and social intelligence among students of the College of Education at Prince Sattam University in Wadi Al-Dawasir, and to reveal the relationship between self-regulation and social intelligence, as well as the possibility of predicting social intelligence through self-regulation. A sample consisting of (204) female students at the College of Education, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University in Wadi Ad-Dawasir participated in this study. The measurement instruments included two researcher-made scales of self-regulation and social intelligence, and the SPSS program was used for statistical treatments. Results revealed that female students of the College of Education in Wadi Ad-Dawasir, Prince Sattam University, have a high level of self-regulation as well as social intelligence, and that there is a statistically significant positive correlation between the scores of self-regulation and social intelligence among the study sample. In addition, it was found that social intelligence can be predicted through self-regulation. It is possible to benefit from the results of this study in directing university planning officials to the importance of transforming the self-regulation and social intelligence of students into a culture and systematic practice through courses, symposiums and workshops, or integrating them into academic courses.

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.

The current study investigated Student-Teacher Relationship Measure (STRM) psychometric properties using Rasch analysis in a sample of middle school female students (N = 995). Rasch Principal Components Analysis revealed psychometric support of two subscales (i.e., Academic and Social Relations). Summary statistics showed good psychometric properties. The category structure and individual statistics (i.e., items and person infit and outfit) were not ideal. Category structure showed that the distances between adjacent thresholds were lower than optimal criteria. Even though findings indicated that items mean square statistics (MNSQ) were optimal, standardized fit statistics (i.e., ZSTD) reflected many misfit persons and items in each subscale. After eliminating the misfit persons and items, the two subscales met the Rasch optimal criteria. The updated short 22-item scale had good psychometric properties, high item and person separation, and good item and person reliability for the two subscales and can be used as a reliable and valid scale.

We investigated the effects of just-in-time guidance at various stages of inquiry learning by novice learners. Thirteen participants, randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 8) or control (n = 5) group, were observed as they learned about DC electric circuits using a web-based simulation. Just-in-time instructional prompts to observe, predict, explain, systematically test, collect evidence, and generate rules were strongly associated with diagnosing and correcting misconceptions, and constructing correct scientific concepts. Students’ repeated use of predictions, systematic testing, and evidence-coordinated reasoning often led to formulating new principles, generalizing from observed patterns, verifying comprehension, and experiencing “Aha!” moments. Just-in-time prompts helped learners manage embedded cognitive challenges in inquiry tasks, achieve a comprehensive understanding of the model represented in the simulation, and show significantly higher knowledge gain. Just-in-time prompts also promoted rejection of incorrect models of inquiry and construction of robust scientific mental models. The results suggest ways of customizing guidance to promote scientific learning within simulation environments.

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.

This paper explores misconceptions and errors (M/Es) of eighth-grade students in Nepal with a quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent control and experimental groups. The treatment was implemented with teaching episodes based on different remedial strategies of addressing students' M/Es. Students of control groups were taught under conventional teaching-learning method, whereas experimental groups were treated with a guided method to treat with misconceptions and errors. The effectiveness of treatment was tested at the end of the intervention. The results showed that the new guided treatment approach was found to be significant to address students' M/Es. Consequently, the students of experimental groups made significant progress in dealing with M/Es in mathematical problem-solving at conceptual, procedural, and application levels.

This study aimed to analyze the critical thinking skills of students in learning of environmental change material using e-learning madrasah. This study used explanatory sequential design by mixed-methods experiment. The data were collected by interviewing, observing, and essay testing that have indicators modified from critical thinking skills by Watson-Glaser, Facione, and Ennis. There were 67 participants in this study as 7th grade student at a junior high school in Sleman district. Quantitative data analyzed by determining average score and standard deviations and, qualitative data analyzed from interviews and observation. Quantitative analysis showed that there were 3 levels of student’s critical thinking skills which were 14 students (20.90%) in the high category, 38 students (56.72%) in the middle category, and 15 students (22.38%) in the low category. Qualitative analysis indicated learning model made students to learn actively, independently, and enthusiastically looking for several sources. This study provided information about student critical thinking skills in junior high school, especially in the environmental change matter which are still low. Thus, the alternative learning strategies to improve students critical thinking skills are very needed. Besides, information on the application of the discovery learning model with e-learning Islamic school was obtained in the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study addresses the effectiveness of learning via educational software. Recent decades have seen the integration of technologies, which are changing teaching and transforming teachers into mediating, facilitating, and guiding figures by means of digital learning methods that serve as a major tool in schools, colleges, and universities. The current study focuses on instruction provided within the Israeli Air Force and examined the effectiveness of instruction provided via educational software in terms of learning products: Bloom’s revised taxonomy, Te’eni’s affective-cognitive model of organizational communication and the STEM model. We randomly divided the learners into three groups who studied the same topic: one group studied with the educational software only, the second with the educational software together with an instructor, and the third with an instructor who used a presentation. The learners took a test and four months later they took another test to examine the effectiveness of the instruction over time. The research results show that the recall levels and performance levels on the tests were almost identical in all groups, but in the categories of understanding and applying the addition of an instructor strongly contributed to achievements: Those who received instruction via educational software achieved the best results in the understanding category, while those who studied with an instructor who used a presentation achieved the best results on the test with regard to application of the studied material. The findings of this study can illuminate the effectiveness of using educational software in learning processes in all educational systems.

Many problems in real life are full of uncertainty. Probabilistic thinking is one way to solve this uncertainty problem. The personality abilities that are interesting to examine include how independent the students are in facing probabilistic solutions. For this reason, it is necessary to study the probabilistic thinking profile of prospective mathematics teachers in solving probabilistic problems in terms of learning the self-regulation. The research method used in this research is qualitative research. In this study, the researcher conducted an analysis of students' probabilistic thinking with the scope of the probability material related to the sample space, the probability of events, and the probability of the random variable space. The profile of the level of probabilistic thinking is influenced by cognitive factors in the form of probabilistic knowledge obtained by students and personality in the form of self-regulated learning. Student learning self-regulated influences the mental activity in decision making. By studying the profile of probabilistic thinking, students are better prepare to face uncertainty with various aspects that influence it.

Creative thinking is the highest level of the kind of high order thinking. In observations at the schools in Indonesia, teachers overly equate all levels of achievement of students' creative thinking to obtain higher order thinking skill improvements in mathematics learning. This condition results in an imbalance in learning practices. Therefore, this research fills the gap of this imbalance by describing the student’s creative thinking profile as a high order thinking skill in the improvement of mathematics learning. These results can contribute knowledge to educators to manage teaching strategies that can improve mathematics learning which refers to high order thinking skill for all levels of their creative thinking. This research is qualitative descriptive research. The subject were junior high school students in Malang, Indonesia. Data collection methods are tests, observations, and interviews. Data analysis is conducted by reducing data, present data, and conclusions. These research results are descriptions of student’s creative thinking profiles as a high order thinking in mathematics learning improvement, namely students have problems planning problem solving; students take a break to make plans; identify the essence of the problem, provide original ideas, provide alternative problem-solving plans, combine previous ideas with problem questions; operate and implement their plans by creating various original solutions.