Changes and challenges in the highly dynamic world of education require postgraduate students to manage their learning well and create something from their creative thinking according to the needs of the field. One of them is the activity of students in developing integrated natural science teaching materials is very necessary because learning at the primary level still uses integrated or thematic learning. Furthermore, students also need to be encouraged to be adaptive to these challenges by empowering their independence in learning. The ability to manage learning and creativity to create something new is highly prioritized for college graduates to contribute generously to their environment. This study aims to describe the empowerment of self-regulated learning and student creativity in developing natural science teaching materials in collaboration through community-based project learning. This study used a quasi-experimental design with a single-subject design type. The instruments used to retrieve data are creativity assessment rubrics and self-regulated learning questionnaires. The conclusion is that students are intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to fulfill the given tasks. Learning is essential for increasing competence, and learning strategies have been adjusted to the material's complexity or the difficulty level of the studied content. The aspect of student creativity in developing Integrated Science teaching materials shows the existence of change from stage one to the next and good categories.

Teachers' learning styles are a crucial part of the learning process as they determine how teachers' brains capture and integrate information linked with the senses. Kurnia, identified as an auditory teacher, was expected to capture written information in a provided numeracy problem. Nevertheless, she prefers to capture visual information, like tables or figures, and utilize them to develop thought-provoking questions. Thus, this study intends to investigate her reasons and the factors affecting Kurnia's decision to utilize visual information as a reference in developing questions. This research adopts a qualitative design covering a case study. Kurnia was selected from 32 teachers from 28 schools; roughly 43% were from public schools, and 57% from private schools. Kurnia placed more emphasis on pictorial information before proposing questions, which was caused by situational factors: the subject matter, the grade level, the student's engagement in the class, the teacher's experience, the teaching experience, and the diversity of students' learning styles. This article recommends that teachers recognize their learning styles to know their strengths and weaknesses in teaching mathematics, and that they convey understandable information utilizing effective instructional methods that represent each learning style of students in the classroom.

Situational interest is an important factor that has a great influence on learning success in both in-school and out-of-school learning situations. Although there has been extensive research on interest in its diverse forms for decades, an evaluated measurement instrument for situational interest that covers the three theoretically defined components of interest (emotional, cognitive, value-related) is still missing. Therefore, in this study, based on person-object theory of interest, a short scale was developed that can be used in a variety of learning programs independent of content or methods. In study 1, eight suitable items were selected and their structure was examined using exploratory methods. In study 2, the results of study 1 were verified using confirmatory factor analyses. Study 3 shows an example of a practical application of the newly developed scale in two different learning settings. The findings provide evidence that the scale developed here is a practical instrument to measure situational interest taking into account all its components. On the one hand, the scale can help teachers evaluate their educational programs; on the other hand, it can be used by researchers to empirically investigate the construct of interest. Thus, the scale makes an important contribution to research and practice.

This study aims to analyze the effects of working memory capacity and learning styles of prospective mathematics teachers on their ability to solve higher-order thinking problems. In the present study, learning style was considered students' tendency to learn visually or verbally. In addition, the types of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) problems are complex and non-complex. Multiple regression tests were used to analyze the effects of learning style and working memory capacity. An ANOVA test was also conducted to analyze the ability of each group to solve each HOTS problem. In addition, one hundred twenty-six prospective mathematics teachers voluntarily participated in this study. The study found that learning styles only affected visual problems while working memory capacity (WMC) only affected the ability to solve complex problem-solving skills. Furthermore, WMC affected the ability to solve complex HOTS problems, not non-complex ones. The ability of visual students to solve HOTS problems will greatly increase when the problems are presented in visual form. On the other hand, the obstacle for visual students in solving verbal problems was to present the problem appropriately in visual form. The obstacle for students with low WMC in solving complex HOTS problems was to find a solution that met all the requirements set in the problem.

In this article, we present the results of empirical research using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodology, in which we examined the achievements and difficulties of sixth-grade Slovenian primary school students in decimal numbers at the conceptual and procedural knowledge level. The achievements of the students (N = 100) showed that they statistically significantly (z = -7,53, p < .001) better mastered procedural knowledge (M = 0.60, SD = 0.22) than conceptual knowledge (M = 0.37, SD = 0.17) of decimal numbers. Difficulties are related to both procedural and conceptual knowledge, but significantly more students have difficulties at the level of conceptual knowledge. At the level of procedural knowledge, or in the execution of arithmetic operations with decimal numbers, we observed difficulties in transforming text notation into numerical expressions, difficulties in placing the decimal point in multiplication and division, and insufficient automation of mathematical operations with decimal numbers. At the level of conceptual knowledge of decimal numbers, the results indicate difficulties for students in understanding the place values of decimal numbers, in estimating the sum, product and quotient of decimals with reflection and in mathematical justification. In relation to difficulties in justification, we observed an insufficient understanding of the size relationship between decimal numbers and difficulties in expressing them in mathematical language. The results indicate that to overcome such difficulties in the learning and teaching of mathematics, more balance between procedural and conceptual knowledge is needed.

Understanding graphs in the dynamics of market (DM) is a challenge to learners; its teaching demands a specific kind of teacher’s knowledge. This study aims to examine the topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) of experienced economics teachers in teaching graphs in DM to enhance learners’ understanding of the topic. It reports using a qualitative approach underpinned by the TSPCK framework for teaching specific topics developed by Mavhunga. Data were collected through classroom observations and analyzed thematically using a case study of two economics teachers. The study revealed that adopting a step-by-step approach and the use of worked graphical examples promote an understanding of graphs in DM. It also established that active learning is preferable to the predominant chalk-and-talk (lecture) method of teaching graphs in DM. The study proposed a Dynamics of Market Graphical Framework (DMG-Framework) to enable teachers, particularly pre-service teachers in lesson delivery, to enhance learners’ understanding of graphs in DM. The result of this study will broaden the international view in the teaching of graphs in DM.

This study aimed to assess the geometric knowledge of student teachers from a university in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The study used a sample of 225 first-year student teachers who completed school mathematics baseline assessments on a computer- aided mathematics instruction (CAMI) software. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design, using quantitative data to measure student teachers’ geometry achievement level, and qualitative data to explain the challenges encountered. The results show that student teachers exhibited a low level of understanding of school-level geometry. The low achievement levels were linked to various factors, such as insufficient grasp of geometry concepts in their secondary school education, difficulty in remembering what was done years ago, low self-confidence, and lack of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills along with the limited time for the baseline tests. These results suggest that appropriate measures should be taken to ensure that student teachers acquire the necessary subject-matter knowledge to teach effectively in their future classrooms.

The primary objective of this study was to determine how students and teachers in primary schools view the classroom climate and its dimensions: (a) peer relationships and (b) student-teacher relationships. Additionally, the study aimed to explore the role of students' age (11-12 years old - 7th grade students vs. 14-15 years old - 9th grade primary school students) and gender on their perceptions of the school climate. Classroom climate was measured with the "Classroom Climate Questionnaire", which was completed by a total of 1,531 students (792; 51.6% female) and 348 teachers (296; 84.6% female). The findings of the study indicated that both students and teachers generally perceived the classroom climate as being relatively neutral to positive. However, teachers tended to report more positive classroom relationships compared to students. Furthermore, the study found no significant gender-based differences in how students perceived the classroom climate, peer relationships, and student-teacher interactions. However, differences were identified based on the age or grade level of the students. The results were discussed in the context of the students’ psychological development characteristics and the aspects of socio-emotional learning within school environments, also considering educational policies for achieving greater school quality.

This research attempts to map the trend of research related to differentiated instruction (DI). The research was conducted in May 2023 by researching research articles in the Scopus database. The search data from Scopus used title, abstract, and keyword searches. Research articles were analyzed descriptively based on year of publication, journal name, affiliation, country, and researcher name. The article database from Scopus was analyzed through VOSviewer and RStudio software so that a bibliometric map could be depicted in research related to DI. Based on the Scopus analysis results, it showed that publications of articles related to DI had increased from 2011 to 2021, although it decreased in 2016. The journal with the largest contributor to the publication of research articles related to DI was the Teaching and Teacher Education Journal. Vrije Universitiet Brusel was the university with the most published articles on DI. The country that contributed the most to the research articles related to DI was the United States. Struyven was the most productive scholar related to DI. Through network visualization, it was revealed that the evolution map of research related to DI was divided into five clusters.

Mathematics test items in International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSAs) such as the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) are nested in contexts defined in their assessment framework (e.g., the Personal, Occupational, Societal, and Scientific contexts in PISA). This study followed the item-writing activities of four tertiary mathematics instructors in the Philippines as they constructed context-based mathematics items. They were tasked to write four items each, following a set of specifications for PISA content and context categories. The data consisted of transcripts from the focus-group discussion which was conducted days after the task. The transcripts were then analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of this study showed that the phenomenon of item-writing in the context of writing PISA-like mathematics items had two themes: the phases of item-writing and the dimensions of item-writing. Findings showed that the respondents struggled to find realistic contexts and that they engaged in a problem-solving task likened to solving a puzzle as they attempted to satisfy the content, context, and process categories in the table of specifications (TOS). This study contributes to filling in the research gap on item-writing activities, particularly those of mathematics teachers in the Philippines- a country whose recent mathematical performance in the PISA 2018, TIMSS 2019, and PISA 2022 was nothing short of dismal.

Given curiosity’s fundamental role in motivation and learning and considering the widespread use of digital stories as educational tools from the preschool age, we pursued measuring preschoolers’ curiosity when interacting with digital stories. Using 129 toddlers and preschoolers as a sample, three groups (one for each class) were given different versions of the same digital story to listen to: interactive, non-interactive, and animated. Toddlers' verbal and nonverbal behaviors were utilized to quantify curiosity as a condition brought on by the app. The participants' verbal and nonverbal behaviors were recorded during the digital reading aloud. Every child's data was encoded at one-minute intervals to examine concurrent behavior, and the results were then compiled. The findings show that interactive presentation formats encourage more touching and language use but less noise production and that interaction and the creative use of hot spots in digital illustrations are key elements in piquing viewers' curiosity while contributing to the strengthening of the engagement to the activity and the cultivation of critical thinking, creativity, and imagination.

One of the ways to enhance and improve the quality of learning delivery is through the use of technology, particularly the Internet, which facilitates faster and easier access to information. This research aims to explore the degree to which factors such as digital literacy, metacognitive awareness, meaningful learning, habits of using smartphones, and personal learning competence are related to one another. Both the relationship between metacognitive awareness and personal learning competence, as well as the relationship between smartphone habits and personal learning competence, are moderated by a moderating variable known as the fear of missing out. Fear of missing out is a moderating variable. Structural equation modeling, specifically partial least squares, was employed to analyze data from 597 engineering students. SmartPLS version 4 was the tool used for this analysis. The study found that the moderating variable, fear of missing out, significantly impacts metacognitive awareness, learning personal competence, and smartphone habits, making it a crucial factor to investigate. This result is significant because it is a variable that influences the learning that students go through for their education and because it is an extremely important thing to investigate.

With the current rate of technological advancements, higher education institutions around the world are increasingly adopting a wide variety of technology-related approaches to instruction. One of the teaching strategies used on digital platforms that has been successfully and widely adopted in higher education institutions is blended learning (BL). The objective of this investigation is to provide a comprehensive examination of the research efforts on BL in the context of higher education (HE) over the past 20 years, including the rise in publications, the most cited scientific journals and sources, and the upcoming research topics. This paper uses bibliometric analysis with a dataset of 651 documents from Scopus data, including 638 authors from 95 countries published in 271 journal sources. The results of the study show that the top three countries for BL research in higher education are the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia; the authors with the highest citation indexes are D. R. Garrison and B. Means, and the top two publishing sources are Education and Information Technologies and Internet and Higher Education. Based on the analysis, the main trends detected are (a) student participation and environment, (b) educational technology instructional innovation, (c) effective instructional strategies within the parameters of the COVID-19 pandemic, (d) effectiveness of evaluation in BL environments and (e) BL with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Learning Management System (LMS) in HE. These findings offer meaningful insights to early career researchers who consult the publications and research lists above, as well as to policy makers who develop suitable BL in HE policies.

In an era where diversity and digitalization significantly influence higher education, understanding and adapting to various learning preferences is crucial. This study comprehensively analyzes 394 scholarly articles from 1984 to 2022 using bibliometric methods, providing a dynamic overview of the research patterns in learning styles within higher education. We identified four stages of development during this period: 1984–1995 (Low-interest), 1996–2005 (Early development), 2006–2018 (Development), and 2019–2022 (Intensification). Our analysis highlights that the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia were the top three leading publishers of research on learning styles in higher education. The results reveal three main topics of publications: educational technology, learning environments, and subject behaviors. This research not only identifies emerging research topics but also underscores the importance of adapting instructional strategies to diverse learning styles to enhance educational outcomes in higher education.

Successfully solving reality-based tasks requires both mathematical and text comprehension skills. Previous research has shown that mathematical tasks requiring language proficiency have lower solution rates than those that do not, indicating increased difficulty through textual input. Therefore, it is plausible to assume that a lack of text comprehension skills leads to performance problems. Given that different sociodemographic characteristics and cognitive factors can influence task performance, this study aims to determine whether text comprehension mediates the relationship between these factors and competence in solving reality-based tasks. Additionally, it examines the impact of systematic linguistic variation in texts. Using an experimental design, 428 students completed three reality-based tasks (word count: M = 212.4, SD = 19.7) with different linguistic complexities as part of a paper-pencil test. First, students answered questions about the situation-related text comprehension of each text, followed by a mathematical question to measure their competence in solving reality-based tasks. The results indicate that: a) Tasks with texts of lower linguistic complexity have a significantly higher solution rate for both text comprehension (d = 0.189) and mathematical tasks (d = 0.119). b) Cognitive factors are significant predictors of mathematical solutions. c) Text comprehension mediates the relationship between the impact of students’ cultural resources and cognitive factors and their competence to solve reality-based tasks. These findings highlight the importance of linguistic complexity for mathematical outcomes and underscore the need to reinforce text comprehension practice in mathematical education owing to its mediating role.

This study aimed to optimize critical thinking by empowering reflective and impulsive students' collaboration, communication, and information literacy skills through information literacy-oriented e-books in STEM-integrated problem-based learning (PBL). The research method used was a descriptive explorative approach. The study subjects consisted of five reflective students and five impulsive students. The measurement of cognitive style used the Matching Familiar Figure Test (MFFT) instrument. Collaboration skills were assessed through observation sheets, critical thinking and communication skills were assessed through student worksheets based on problem-solving tasks, and information literacy was assessed through a questionnaire. The study found that reflective students excelled in critical thinking and information literacy, while impulsive students demonstrated superior collaboration skills. As for communication skills, reflective and impulsive students have different advantages for each indicator of communication skills. This study can conclude that implementing information literacy-oriented e-books through STEM-integrated PBL can optimize reflective and impulsive students' critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and information literacy skills. The implication of this study is the importance of integrating 21st century skills holistically in learning practices, especially in the digital era, to prepare the younger generation to face the challenges of the 21st century.

This study addresses global concerns surrounding elementary students' science performance following the COVID-19, as a result of international tests such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) highlight the ongoing challenges that urge the exploration of innovative educational approaches to improve science learning. This research employed gamification-assisted instruction and explored its impact on enhancing the understanding of science concepts and attitudes toward science class among fourth graders. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design and included an experimental group (ExG) that was taught using a gamification strategy and a control group (CoG) that was taught using a traditional method with a sample of 38 female elementary students from a public school in Jordan. Data were gathered using valid and reliable tools: the developed scientific concepts test and the Attitude Towards Science class measures. The ANCOVA analysis revealed that gamification significantly improves the acquisition of scientific concepts (η2=.208) and boosts a positive attitude toward science classes among elementary students (η2=.626). These findings encourage decision-makers to incorporate gamification into science teaching practices and methods.

The use of technology in education aims to improve students' problem-solving skills so that they have the skills needed by 21st century society in dealing with various kinds of challenges and problems. This study was carried out aiming to obtain the characteristics of augmented reality-based learning media for mathematics learning in student problem-solving skill, and obtain the results of the average difference in the problem-solving abilities of junior high school students. This research and development (R&D) study, employing the (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) ADDIE model, investigated Augmented Reality (AR)-based learning media for mathematics to enhance junior high school students' problem-solving skills. The aim was to identify characteristics of effective AR media and assess their impact on problem-solving abilities. Quantitative data, collected from student problem-solving tests, were analyzed using a t-test in SPSS. The AR media featured virtual manipulation, virtual measurement tools, and real-world problem exploration. While the experimental group using AR showed a higher average problem-solving score compared to the control group using Problem-Based Learning (PBL), the difference was not statistically significant (t (df) = 0.638, Cohen's d = 0.0876). This lack of significance, despite the higher mean, is likely due to a small sample size and the limited integration timeframe, coupled with pre-existing skill variations. Future research should address these limitations to further explore the potential of AR in mathematics education.

This study analyzes trends, collaborations, and research developments on augmented reality (AR) in mathematics education using a bibliometric approach. Data were collected from the Scopus database on July 31, 2024, identifying 542 documents published between 2015 and 2024. After screening, 194 journal articles were selected for analysis. Using VOSviewer, the study produced visualizations related to document types, publication trends, journal sources, research subjects, institutions, countries, keywords, and author collaborations. The results show that 88.7% of the documents are journal articles, indicating that this topic is predominantly published in scholarly journals. Publication trends reveal significant growth since 2016, peaking in 2024, reflecting increasing global interest. Education Sciences and IEEE Access are among the top journal sources. Subject-wise, social sciences and computer science are the main disciplines exploring AR in mathematics education. Chitkara University (India) and Johannes Kepler University Linz (Austria) are leading institutions, while the United States, Malaysia, and Spain contribute the most publications. Keyword analysis shows rapid growth in research using terms such as "augmented reality" and "mathematics education," emphasizing the role of immersive technology in enhancing student engagement and conceptual understanding through visual and interactive learning. Influential authors like Lavicza, Mantri, and Haas highlight the importance of global collaboration. Based on a thematic analysis of the most-cited articles, this study proposes the AI Mathematical Education Impact and Outcome Framework. In conclusion, although research on AR in mathematics education has significantly advanced, further studies are needed to evaluate its effectiveness across varied educational contexts.

Critical thinking is highly valued as an integral skill for promoting students’ development, and problem-based learning (PBL) is widely used as an essential method to facilitate the development of critical thinking. However, since individual studies cannot determine the precise overall effect size of PBL on the development of critical thinking, it is difficult to systematically analyze the various influencing factors that hinder PBL from achieving sufficient effectiveness. Therefore, this study adopts a meta-analysis method to examine PBL in depth, aiming to clarify the crucial methods and elements of applying PBL to enhance critical thinking and address the shortcomings of existing studies. This study investigates two primary questions: first, the efficacy of PBL in enhancing critical thinking skills in comparison to traditional pedagogical approaches, and second, the influence of moderating variables on the effectiveness of PBL. To address these questions, a total of 25 studies were selected for meta-analysis. The findings revealed an overall effect size of 1.081 under the random-effects model, with a confidence interval of [0.874, 1.288] and p < .05, indicating that PBL significantly outperforms traditional methods. The analysis demonstrated that the effectiveness of PBL is not significantly influenced by learning stage, sample size, or measurement tools, thereby broadening the applicability of PBL and challenging preconceived limitations associated with its implementation. However, the results also indicated that PBL effectiveness is moderated by teaching methods and subject types, which offers critical insights for educators seeking to adapt their instructional strategies when employing PBL.