This paper presents a comparative research project on pre-vocational education in lower secondary schools in seven European countries. The primary aim of the study was to better understand how the formal pre-vocational education curriculum is interpreted and shaped by individual teachers. The countries covered are Austria, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Scotland. Two research methods have been used. First, a content analysis of the relevant curricula was carried out, focussing on how, and to what extent, pre-vocational education competencies are embedded in the official curriculum in the seven countries covered by the study. Second, 75 teachers took part in qualitative expert interviews about their implementation of the relevant curriculum. This research builds upon previous studies in education and employment and in particular, on a theoretical framework that explores the differences between the ‘prescribed’ curriculum and the ‘enacted’ curriculum. This study will argue that, although it is possible to identify a distinct pre-vocational curriculum within each region in the seven countries, this curriculum is, in practice, taught very differently within the schools and that the differences in curriculum implementation can be explained, amongst other factors, by the availability of resources and the initial and further training of teachers.

The contribution of special needs assistants (SNA) is becoming increasingly important in inclusive and special classrooms. However, the profession itself has remained unexplored. The purpose of this article is to describe special needs assistants’ perceptions on their education, professional competence, the content and significance of their work within the school system of Finland, and the further development of their role and content of their work. 171 special needs assistants from the province of Lapland participated in the research. This research was a mixed methods research where the data was collected in 2010 through a semi-structured questionnaire that consisted both quantitative and qualitative elements and was, therefore, analyzed both by using qualitative and quantitative analyzing methods. The results highlighted the diversity, challenges and development needs of special needs assistants’ work. Special needs assistants are strength and can work as a support for teachers, students, and parents.

This research aimed to investigate relationships between quality of work life, burnout, school alienation, affective commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors. In this context, a model was proposed based on the literature review and the model was tested through structural equation model. The study group of the research consists of 314 volunteer teachers working in the state schools in Kilis in 2016-2017 academic years. The data was collected through work-related quality of life scale, burnout scale, school alienation scale, affective commitment scale and organizational citizenship behaviors scale. The analysis with descriptive, correlation, path and bootstrap methods were used to analyze the data. As a result of the analysis, it was found that teachers' perceptions for quality of work life have a negative effect on burnout and school alienation, whereas they have a positive effect on affective commitment. Besides, their perceptions for affective commitment have a positive impact on organizational citizenship behaviors. Another important result derived from the research is that teachers' perceptions for burnout and school alienation play partial mediation roles in the effect of their perceptions for quality of work life on affective commitment. Based on these results, it can be suggested that teachers' working conditions should be constantly improved.

Firstly, the researcher provides an insightful introduction into the phenomenon focused on to explicate the learners’ views about the role of school counselors in line with career selection. To attain the study objectives, the researcher used a multi-unit case study to investigate the perceptions among high-school students about school counselors’ roles and career selection. The investigator used open-ended questionnaires to harness information and then utilized the qualitative descriptive approach to analyze the data. Analysis of the information collected via open-ended questionnaires was done through thematic analysis, which was a subset of the broader qualitative descriptive technique. The findings denoted that high-school learners have varied perceptions with regards to the roles of school counselors and career selection.

The researcher investigated the mathematics learning styles of vocational college students during fall 2017 and spring 2018. 94 students enrolled in the vocational college of a public university completed the questionnaire "How Do I Actually Learn?" developed by Forster. Scale has four learning styles: reflective, inquisitive, diligent and user. The results of the research revealed that the most preferred learning model was user learning style in mathematics learning. Most of the students preferred to learn mathematics by writing the solutions, and reading through their notes or work. There were also statistically significant differences in mathematics learning styles among students according to their academic achievement. According to the results, students with high level of success were more inquisitive than students with low levels.

The major purpose of this study was to create a path analysis model of academic success in a group of university students, which included the variables of academic confidence and psychological capital with a mediator variable - academic coping. 400 undergraduates from Marmara University and Istanbul Commerce University who were in sophomore, junior and senior years participated in the study. The Academic Behavioral Confidence Scale, the Academic Coping Strategies Scale and the Psychological Capital Test Battery composed of the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, the Life Orientation Test, the Hope Scale and the Resilience Scale were utilized to disclose the predictive roles of these variables on academic success. The results of path analyses showed that academic confidence and psychological capital had pivotal direct and indirect effects on academic success via the mediator variable – academic coping. Academic coping had also a direct influence on academic success.  The findings of the study are essential for telling both vocational counselors and educational psychologists the fact that career interventions for university students should consider the non-cognitive factors on their academic achievements.

Some evaluation has been carried out in Vocational High Schools (VHSs), but most of it focuses on the documents or passive data rather than the processes happening in VHSs. Thus, this research focuses on the evaluation of VHS performances where the process is initiated with identifying the constructs and developing the instruments of performance evaluation for VHSs with Technology and Engineering expertise programs. Based on the problems found in the field, before conducting the evaluation, the researcher needs to, at first, develop the instrument of evaluation through three stages of development. The first stage is analyzing the concepts related to the evaluation by examining the factors affecting VHS performances. In the second stage, instrument development and instrument analysis (content validation) are conducted with the help of experts. The third stage is performance evaluation in VHSs located in Yogyakarta. The evaluation employs a set of instruments developed by the researchers. This research has produced a set of instruments for performance evaluation, which can be used extensively in VHSs. Based on the evaluation, it is found that the aspects of general management and academic management of the VHSs being studied are considered “Good”.

Vocational orientation is a concerned topic in the Vietnamese new general education program. However, the current high school vocational programs have not yet met the need for innovation in the student competence development orientation, thus leading to high school vocational orientation has not been effective. This study proposes a vocational school-based program approached from a new individual guidance. By using the pre-experiment and post-experiment questionnaire to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed program to the quality of vocational orientation, the results showed that students’ awareness of vocational school-based programs changed in a positive direction. The proposed program proves its effectiveness when applied in schools by combining the practical career experience and vocational counseling, or the combination of individual experience and social interaction in choosing a suitable career. This finding overcomes the disadvantages of the old vocational school-based program and can be applied to adapt the student competence development orientation in the Vietnamese general education program.

Owing to the rapid expansion and development of newly upgraded undergraduate colleges and universities in China, the Ministry of Education implemented the College English Language Teaching Reform (CELTR) to improve College English language teaching and learning at higher institutions. This reform aims to improve the quality of teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The present study aims to identify potential factors influencing the EFL teachers’ professional development in the context of the College English language curriculum reform in mainland China. In total, 92 EFL college teachers from a newly upgraded university located in Nanyang City, Central China participated in this study, and data were collected using a survey questionnaire. Overall, the findings indicate that the EFL teachers’ professional development improved during the implementation process of CELTR and the potential factors that contributed to their professional development were teachers’ understanding, self-reflection, and teaching practice.

This study conducted in Thailand examined the relationship between measures of social relatedness and motivational goal orientation as well as bachelor degree aspirations of vocational school students.  Data were collected from students enrolled in a vocational school near Bangkok (n = 386).  The analysis found that teacher support for students was the best predictor of students’ adoption of mastery goals, school identification was the best predictor of students’ adoption of performance approach goals, and peer involvement was the best predictor of students’ adoption of performance avoidance goals.  There was a significant interaction between school identification and peer involvement on the intention to pursue a bachelor degree.  The researchers interpreted the results in terms of self-determination theory and discussed the implications of students’ sense of relatedness to vocational school environment.

Despite being a popular research subject internationally, self-regulated learning is relatively under-investigated in the Indonesian context. This article examined student learning motivation and its use as an indicator to predict student learning strategies in an Indonesian school context. This article applied quantitative research design, with Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) used to collect the data. This questionnaire was completed by 408 public high secondary students randomly selected from the population in Lampung Province schools, and multiple regression was used to analyze the obtained data. Results show that student motivation and learning strategies were positively and significantly correlated; three predictor variables of student motivation could significantly predict learning strategies; and value components of student motivation best predicted learning strategies. In conclusion, these findings indicate that, when teachers apply learning strategies, such variables as motivation including value, expectancy, and affective components should be strongly considered to be in place. It is hoped finally that the students will be self-regulated learners for their success.

This research aims to develop Indonesian Language textbooks with multiculturalism and character education for traditional poetry writing learning. This research uses a research and development approach until the discovery of a proper textbook. The subjects involved in this study were 101 elementary school fourth-graders, 33 teachers, and 2 Indonesian language and literature learning experts. Data analysis techniques at the need analysis stage through interactive models, and data analysis at the product testing stage using quantitative techniques with non-independent t-test statistics. Preliminary studies found that teachers and students needed creative writing skills textbooks developed by integrating the values of multiculturalism and character education. Textbook development referred to aspects of content, language, presentation, and graphics. Limited textbook product testing using t-test showed that t-obtained= -4,265 and t-table on α = 5 % is 2,064, so H0 is rejected. Broad testing also resulted in    t-obtained= -6,426 and t-table = 2,004, so it can be decided that H0 is rejected. Students' traditional poetry writing skills after learning using textbooks are better than before learning using textbooks. Thus it is concluded that the textbooks developed are inferred worthy of use by teachers and students to improve their writing skills in elementary school.

The progressive integration of mobile technology in the classroom is generating new scenarios to innovate teaching methods. The aim of this study was to analyse the perceptions of university students toward the use of Socrative and its implications in gamified learning situations. This is a descriptive-survey investigation, complemented with content analysis techniques. The data were collected using a questionnaire designed ad hoc by Quiroga-Estévez et al. and structured interviews. The sample consisted of undergraduate students (n=472) of the degree of Primary Education from the Faculty of Education Sciences of a Spanish university. The results show significant changes in the learning process of the students, in social relations and in the teaching methodology.

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.

Teachers who can adapt and be ready for all changes will also be able to provide a balance to increase the competence of vocational high school students. This is also not denied when teachers become assessors in student competency tests. The objectives of this study were to produce an instrument for the readiness of teachers as assessors; to knowing good grain reliability; to know the characteristics of the instrument; and to know the difficulty level of the item. The method used in this research is instrument development. Respondents were vocational school teachers who were candidates for competency test assessors. Data collection techniques using a questionnaire. Analysis of construct validity using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Reliability using Cronbach’s alpha. Test the instrument items using the Rasch model. The results are the readiness instruments of the vocational teacher as an assessor has 19 indicators that have been grouped into 5 factors with consistency values being in the same construct (proven construct validity). The result of the calculation of the reliability of this instrument is 0.852, which means that the reliability coefficient is high; There are two items, namely numbers 24 and 18 which indicate the absence of a fit item in the overall item fit criteria; At the item difficulty level, items 8 and 6 have a difficulty score of more than 2, while this indicates that items 8 and 6 have a high difficulty level.

While previous studies on assessments focused on measurement of principles and constructs, existing attention is given to content validation involving vocational education and skills. The emphasis on content validation has prompted a holistic perspective of teaching and learning to demand alternative research approaches. Using evidence of content validity based on expert judgment and assessment items, this paper argues that vocational knowledge and skills could be determined via constructs and construct functions. Content validity analysis was studied in two major phases, namely, through an assessment of an electrical technology course at a Malaysian higher education institution and expert panels’ examination of items. It was found that to increase confidence in providing reliable instruments for future empirical studies, a careful process in item development and content validity analysis was considered important. Therefore, applying these findings on item analysis and expert panels to reflect content validity can enhance the validity of assessment items.

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

Measuring accounting teachers’ professional identity is significant to do as an alternative to measure the professionalism of accounting teachers in Indonesia based on their professional identity. This research was conducted in two stages of exploratory factor analysis involving 150 accounting teachers as sample in each stage. The data were collected in collaboration with an accounting teacher organization, comprising the Accounting Subject Teacher Deliberation (MGMP) in Central Java through a questionnaire. Data analysis was divided into several steps including face validity and content validity, inter-item correlation matrix, and exploratory factor analysis. The results showed that 23 question items encompassed five components of accounting teacher professional identity; Cultural Knowledge (pedagogical cultural identity), Blending (accommodating students' purposes for school in the learning objectives), Identity Experiencing (by the experience of working life in the past, present, and individual expectations in the future in accounting work setting), Inter-Personal Skill, and Active in Professional Communities. The scale development requires continuous development tailing various new findings in the teacher professional identity and accountant professional identity.

The study objectives were (1) developing a valid and reliable Affective Self-assessment Instrument of Chemistry for High School Student and (2) discovering the chemistry affective domain ability trend of high school students based on gender. The current development study utilized 10 non-test instrument development procedures from Mardapi. The study population was all high school students in Yogyakarta Special Region. The sample size was 405 students categorized into two stages and sampling techniques, i.e., the trial stage using cluster random sampling and the measurement stage using simple random sampling. The data analysis techniques were validity test using the Aiken index and construct validity and reliability using the second-order Confirmatory Factor Analysis model. The study findings were (1) the Affective Self-assessment Instrument of Chemistry for High School Student had 15 valid and reliable items and 15 available items to be utilized by teachers to measure students’ affective in the learning process and (2) the chemistry affective domain ability trend of male high school students was dominated by the “good” category and “very good” category for female students.

The purpose of the study was to identify what neuropsychological effect online learning had on psychology students and how it could be moderated. The study was descriptive and combined qualitative and quantitative methods to address the research questions. The study relied on three phases such as baseline study, experiment, and reporting. The experiment utilised neuropsychology tests adopted from the NeurOn platform. It was found that the Psychology students’ perceptions of e-learning and their emotional reaction to them were found not to be appreciative. The practices in breathing exercises, meditation, or yoga were proved to be able to moderate the impact of online learning on the experimental group students’ attentional capacities, memory processes, and cognition abilities. The above findings were supported by the results obtained for the neuropsychology tests and the experimental group students’ self-reflections yielded from the use of the MovisensXS App. The students confirmed that breathing exercises, meditation, or yoga reduced study stress and burnout caused by e-learning and improved their academic performance. The focus group online discussion also showed that integration of breathing exercises, meditation, and yoga helped the experimental group students keep emotional balance, concentrate on their studies easier, remember more information, and meet deadlines in completing assignments. The education scientists are suggested to study how the e-learning curriculum could be reshaped so that it used relaxation practices on regular basis.