The development of Creativity, Communication, Critical Thinking, and Collaboration (the 4Cs) is a central objective of contemporary competency-based education. However, empirical evidence on how these competencies evolve across learning modules and instructional phases remains limited. This study evaluates the evolution of the 4Cs from pre-pilot to pilot implementation phases across three educational contexts, using the project's 4Cs theoretical framework as an analytical lens. The analysis of three pilot cases (IASIS, EASD, and UPATRAS) compares the 4Cs scores to identify patterns of growth, stagnation, or decline over time. Results indicate that communication and critical thinking showed the most consistent and substantial improvements, particularly in pilots with lower pre-pilot baselines, suggesting that structured pilot interventions effectively support cognitive and expressive competencies. In contrast, creativity exhibited context-dependent outcomes, while collaboration emerged as the most fragile competency, often stagnating or declining during scale-up. Interpreted through the theoretical framework, these findings suggest that competency evolution is strongly shaped by instructional design, assessment alignment, and learning activity structures rather than learner ability alone. The study contributes empirical validation to the 4Cs framework and highlights the need for differentiated, competency-sensitive design and evaluation strategies when scaling educational modules.
This introduction to the special series, Examining the Special Education Research Base, situates the work within broader concerns about questionable research practices and the reproducibility crisis in science. We review lessons from other fields, summarize existing meta-research in special education, and provide an overview of three reviews examining publication bias, selective outcome reporting, and the scarcity of null findings. Shared themes suggest that although the special education field appears to have fewer problems than some disciplines, potential threats to the validity of the special education research base were identified. We conclude by highlighting the implications of the three reviews for research and practice, and calling for the greater adoption of open-science practices to strengthen the evidence base in special education.
We propose a framework to quantify and utilize interdisciplinarity in science and engineering curricula at the university-level higher education. We analyze interdisciplinary relations by standardizing large-scale official educational data in Korea using a cutting-edge large language model and constructing knowledge maps for disciplines of scientific education. We design and evaluate single-field and integrated dual-field curricula by adapting pedagogical theory and utilizing information theory-based metrics. We develop standard curricula for individual disciplines and integrated curricula combining two fields, with their interdisciplinarity quantified by the curriculum synergy score. The results indicate higher interdisciplinarity for combinations within or across closely related fields, especially in engineering fields. Based on the analysis, engineering fields constitute the core structure of our design for curriculum interdisciplinarity, while basic natural science fields are located at peripheral stems to provide fundamental concepts.
Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) is rapidly gaining interest from those within many disciplines and higher education needs to adapt to the changing landscape. Although QISE education still has a strong presence and roots in physics, the field is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. There is a need to understand the presence of QISE instruction and quantum-related instruction across all disciplines in order to figure out where QISE education is already happening and where it could be expanded. Although there is recent work that characterizes introductory QISE courses, there is no holistic picture of the landscape of QISE and quantum-related education in the United States. We analyzed course catalogs from 1,456 U.S. institutions. We found 61 institutions offering QISE degree programs, mostly at PhD-granting schools, with physics, electrical and computer engineering (ECE), and computer science(CS) as their primary contributors . Across all institutions, we identified over 8,000 courses mentioning 'quantum,' but about one-third of institutions in our study had none. We also found over 500 dedicated QISE courses, concentrated in PhD-granting institutions, primarily in physics, ECE, and CS. Physics leads in offering both general quantum-related ($\sim$4,700) and QISE-specific ($\sim$200) courses. Across multiple disciplines, we see that QISE topics are being introduced in courses not fully dedicated to QISE, which may be a productive strategy for increasing access to QISE education. Our dataset and analysis provide the most comprehensive overview to date of quantum education across US higher education. To ensure broad access, all data are publicly available and downloadable at quantumlandscape.streamlit.app. We hope these findings will support and guide future efforts in curriculum design, workforce development, and education policy across the quantum ecosystem.
Special educator shortages have threatened the provision of services U.S. to students with disabilities since the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, since reauthorized as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. We conducted a systematic review of studies that used administrative data to study the special educator workforce. We identified 12 studies addressing policies or practices related to the composition, distribution, or effectiveness of the special educator workforce. Together, these studies provide emerging evidence regarding policies and practices that could support the special educator workforce. We recommend that future special educator-focused research with administrative data address the composition, distribution, and effectiveness of the workforce in tandem, better attend to heterogeneity, and move from descriptive studies to studies evaluating the outcomes of specific policies.
Nicole L. Matthews, Hannah Honda, Melissa M. Mitchell
et al.
Abstract Background Research is needed to better understand the specific challenges for autistic learners in informal STEM learning settings. This study aimed to increase inclusion in STEM museums, with a larger goal of increasing the impact (i.e., learning and application of knowledge during and after visits) of informal STEM learning settings for autistic youth. We conducted an online parent attitudes survey with 93 parents of autistic adolescents and 53 parents of adolescents in the general population to better understand the experiences of autistic adolescents when visiting STEM-related museums. Parent responses informed professional development training for museum staff at four partner museums, which taught strategies to better support autistic learners. Then, autistic adolescents (n = 20) and their parents were randomly assigned to visit one partner and one control museum. They were asked to report their experiences through an online survey and semi-structured interviews. Results Participants who completed the parent attitudes survey indicated significantly lower inclusion, engagement, and general impact of STEM museum visits among autistic adolescents compared to the general population comparison group. Parents of adolescents who visited partner and control museums reported higher STEM impact during visits to partner museums; however, parent-reported inclusion, engagement, and general impact did not differ significantly between partner and control museums. Qualitative analysis identified four themes (Spectrum of Museum Impact; Adolescent-Environment Fit; Barriers to Engagement, and Barrier Breakers), providing context for quantitative findings. Conclusions Findings underscore the need for increased inclusion for autistic individuals in informal STEM learning environments like museums. This project demonstrated feasibility of professional development training of forward-facing staff and identified several themes that should inform future efforts to improve inclusion in informal STEM learning settings.
Herlina Febiyanti, Dwi Candra Yuniar, Mohammad Syukri Pesilette
et al.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh fasilitas belajar terhadap motivasi belajar dan minat belajar Taruna Manajemen Bandar Udara Politeknik Penerbangan Palembang. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan yaitu pendekatan kuantitatif dengan analisis manova. Populasi dalam penelitian ini ini sebanyak 100 taruna program studi manajemen bandar udaraa Politeknik Penerbangan Palembang dengan teknik pengambilan sampel menggunakan teknik sampel jenuh. Hasil penelitian adalah (1) Terdapat pengaruh fasilitas belajar terhadap motivasi belajar Taruna Program Studi Manajemen Bandar Udara Politeknik Penerbangan Palembang, (2) Terdapat pengaruh fasilitas belajar terhadap minat Taruna Program Studi Manajemen Bandar Udara Politeknik Penerbangan Palembang, (3) Terdapat pengaruh fasilitas belajar terhadap motivasi belajar dan minat belajar Taruna Program Studi Manajemen Bandar Udara Politeknik Penerbangan Palembang
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the evolution and impact of Artificial Intelligence technologies in today society. Beginning with a historical context while exploring a few general definitions of AI, the author provides a timeline of the used technologies, highlighting its periods of stagnation, commonly referred to as AI winters, and the subsequent resurgence fueled by relentless enthusiasm and investment. The narrative then transitions to focus on the transformative effects of AI on society at large, with a particular emphasis on educational applications. Through examples, the paper shows how AI technologies have moved from theoretical constructs to practical tools that are reshaping pedagogical approaches and student engagement. The essay concludes by discussing the prospects of AI in education, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that considers both technological advancements and societal implications.
Ulrike Genenz, Neelanjana Anne, Zeynep Kılıç
et al.
This paper examines the intersection of goals and values within grassroots organizations operating in the realm of quantum technologies (QT) education. It delineates a fundamental distinction between the objective to provide education and the drive to democratize learning through principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and diversity. The analysis reveals how these organizations navigate their nascent stages, grappling with the dual challenge of adhering to their foundational values while aspiring for sustainable growth and development in the highly specialized field of QT. The study uncovers the strategic approaches adopted by these entities, including efforts to create educational ecosystems and foster community engagement. The research underscores the potential vulnerabilities of these grassroots organizations, particularly in relation to the longevity and evolution of their initiatives as members transition into professional roles within the quantum sector. Through this investigation, the paper contributes to a nuanced understanding of how emerging educational organizations in the QT field balance their ideological commitments with practical growth considerations, highlighting the critical factors that influence their trajectory and impact.
With a growing interest in quantum technology globally, there is an increasing need for accessing relevant physical systems for education and research. In this paper we introduce a commercially available on-site quantum computer utilizing superconducting technology, offering insights into its fundamental hardware and software components. We show how this system can be used in education to teach quantum concepts and deepen understanding of quantum theory and quantum computing. It offers learning opportunities for future talent and contributes to technological progress. Additionally, we demonstrate its use in research by replicating some notable recent achievements.
Purpose: The teacher role in the classroom can explain important aspects of the student's school experience. The teacher-student relationship, a central dimension of social capital, influences students' engagement, and the teaching style plays an important role in student outcomes. But there is scarce literature that links teaching styles to teacher-student relationship. This article aims to: 1) analyze whether there is a relationship between teaching styles and the type of relationship perceived by students; 2) test whether this relationship is equally strong for any teaching style; and 3) determine the extent to which students' perceptions vary according to their profile. Design/methodology/approach: A structural equation model with four latent variables is estimated: two for the teacher-student relationship (emotional vs. educational) and two for the teaching styles (directive vs. participative), with information for 21126 sixth-grade primary-students in 2019 in Spain. Findings: Teacher-student relationships and teaching styles are interconnected. The participative style implies a better relationship. The perceptions of the teacher are heterogeneous, depending on gender (girls perceive clearer than boys) and with the educational background (children from lower educational background perceive both types of teaching styles more clearly). Originality/value: The analysis is based on the point of view of the addressee of the teacher's work, i.e. the student. It provides a model that can be replicated in any other education system. The latent variables, based on a periodically administered questionnaire, could be estimated with data from diagnostic assessments in other countries, which in turn would allow the formulation of context-specific educational policy proposals that take into account student feedback.
Bruna Karolaynne Martins Amorim, Mayrhon José Abrantes Farias, Adriano Lopes de Souza
This study aims to map the themes addressed in graduation projects of the undergraduate Physical Education course of a higher education institution in the Tocantins state. It is a documental research of historical nature with a sample constituted of twenty-six papers developed by the two first entering classes. The results were organized based on three specific subfields: biodynamic, sociocultural, and pedagogical. We conclude that the needs and challenges of the graduation projects transcend the particularities of the school context, as demonstrated in the productions analyzed, being that course responsible, as well as all other undergraduate courses, for promoting the proper interlocutions between the academic and the professional fields.
Special aspects of education, Theory and practice of education
Abstract Background We present an analysis of interviews with 27 self-identified progressive white-male physics faculty and graduate students discussing race and gender in physics. White cis men dominate most STEM fields and are particularly overrepresented in positions of status and influence (i.e., full professors, chairs, deans, etc.), positioning them as a potentially powerful demographic for enacting systemic reform. Despite their proclaimed outrage at and interest in addressing inequity, they frequently engage in patterns of belief, speech and (in)action that ultimately support the status quo of white male privilege in opposition to their intentions. Results The white male physicists we interviewed used numerous discourses which support racist and sexist norms and position them as powerless to disrupt their own privilege. We present and discuss three overarching themes, seen in our data, demonstrating how highly educated, well-intentioned people of privilege maintain their power and privilege despite their own intentions: (1) denying inequity is physically near them; (2) locating causes of inequity in large societal systems over which they have little influence; and (3) justifying inaction. Conclusions Despite being progressively minded and highly educated, these men are frequently complicit in racism and sexism. We end with recommendations for helping cis men engage the power they hold to better work with marginalized people to disrupt inequity.
Abstract Introduction Evidence suggests gender disparities in medical education assessment, including differences in ratings of competency and narrative comments provided in resident performance assessments. This study explores how gender manifests within the content of qualitative assessments (i.e., narrative comments or performance feedback) of resident performance. Methods Qualitative content analysis was used to explore gender-based differences in narrative comments included in faculty assessments of resident performance during inpatient medicine rotations at six Internal Medicine residency programs, 2016–2017. A blinded, multi-analyst approach was employed to identify themes across comments. Patterns in themes with resident gender and post-graduate year (PGY) were explored, focusing on PGY2 and PGY3 when residents are serving in the team leader role. Results Data included 3,383 evaluations with narrative comments of 385 men (55.2%) and 313 women residents (44.8%). There were thematic differences in narrative comments received by men and women residents and how these themes manifested within comments changed with training time. Compared to men, comments about women had a persistent relationship-orientation and emphasized confidence over training including as interns and in PGY2 and PGY3, when serving as team leader. The relationship-orientation was characterized not only by the residents’ communal attributes but also their interpersonal and communication skills, including efforts supporting others and establishing the tone for the team. Comments about women residents often highlighted confidence, including recommendations around behaviors that convey confidence in decision-making and team leadership. Discussion There were gender-based thematic differences in qualitative assessments. Comments about women resident team leaders highlight relationship building skills and urge confidence and actions that convey confidence as team leader. Persistent attention to communal skills suggests gendered expectations for women resident team leaders and a lost opportunity for well-rounded feedback to the disadvantage of women residents. These findings may inform interventions to promote equitable assessment, such as providing feedback across the competencies.
Abstract Speaking constitutes one of the main goals of learning a second language (L2). Despite the increasing attention on the role of planning and language transfer in L2 learning, the combined effect of using different languages and pre-task planning on language production remains unclear. This study investigated whether the use of different languages in planning affects speaking performance and whether the effect differs by language proficiency. A total of 84 students in Chinese universities learning English as a foreign language participated in several speaking tasks after planning using their first language (L1) Chinese or L2 English. Findings showed that using L1 in planning results in significantly higher syntactic complexity, accuracy, and fluency in speaking performance than using L2 in planning, while the difference in lexical diversity were not statistically significant. Further analysis shows that for speech accuracy, the facilitative effect of L1 was stronger among low-proficient than high-proficient learners. Findings from this study support the use of L2 learners’ entire linguistic repertoire in speaking activities and provides implications on speech production theories as well as translanguaging pedagogies.
Special aspects of education, Language acquisition
Generative AI technologies such as large language models show novel potentials to enhance educational research. For example, generative large language models were shown to be capable to solve quantitative reasoning tasks in physics and concept tests such as the Force Concept Inventory. Given the importance of such concept inventories for physics education research, and the challenges in developing them such as field testing with representative populations, this study seeks to examine to what extent a generative large language model could be utilized to generate a synthetic data set for the FCI that exhibits content-related variability in responses. We use the recently introduced ChatGPT based on the GPT 4 generative large language model and investigate to what extent ChatGPT could solve the FCI accurately (RQ1) and could be prompted to solve the FCI as-if it were a student belonging to a different cohort (RQ2). Furthermore, we study, to what extent ChatGPT could be prompted to solve the FCI as-if it were a student having a different force- and mechanics-related misconception (RQ3). In alignment with other research, we found the ChatGPT could accurately solve the FCI. We furthermore found that prompting ChatGPT to respond to the inventory as-if it belonged to a different cohort yielded no variance in responses, however, responding as-if it had a certain misconception introduced much variance in responses that approximate real human responses on the FCI in some regards.
Pumping lemma has been a very difficult topic for students to understand in a theoretical computer science course due to a lack of tool support. In this paper, we present an active learning tool called MInimum PUmping length (MIPU) educational software to explore the pumping lemma property for regular languages. For a given regular language, MIPU offers three major functionalities: determining the membership of an input string, generating a list of short strings that belong to the language, and automatically calculating the minimal pumping length of the language. The software tool has been developed to provide educational assistance to students to better understand the concepts of pumping lemma and minimum pumping length, and promote active learning through hand-on practice.
This article reviews the current state of teaching and learning mathematical modeling in the context of sustainable development goals for education at the tertiary level. While ample research on mathematical modeling education and published textbooks on the topic are available, there is a lack of focus on mathematical modeling for sustainability. This review aims to address this gap by exploring the powerful intersection of mathematical modeling and sustainability. Mathematical modeling for sustainability connects two distinct realms: learning about the mathematics of sustainability and promoting sustainable learning in mathematics education. The former involves teaching and learning sustainability quantitatively, while the latter encompasses pedagogy that enables learners to apply quantitative knowledge and skills to everyday life and continue learning and improving mathematically beyond formal education. To demonstrate the practical application of mathematical modeling for sustainability, we discuss a specific textbook suitable for a pilot liberal arts course. We illustrate how learners can grasp mathematical concepts related to sustainability through simple yet mathematically diverse examples, which can be further developed for teaching such a course. Indeed, by filling the gap in the literature and providing practical resources, this review contributes to the advancement of mathematical modeling education in the context of sustainability.
Murad Abdu Saeed, Atef Odeh AbuSa’aleek, Huda Suleiman Al Qunayeer
How teachers can provide effective feedback that promotes' students' active responses to and use of it is the question of the current debate in research. The need for teachers to formulate/compose their feedback in the form of questioning alleviates their authoritative roles in the process. Therefore, this study explored the role of teacher Google Doc-based feedback given in the form of questions on the assignments of 14 pairs of undergraduates in a Malaysian university in fostering their responses to feedback and uptake of it in writing. The results revealed that the feedback questions fall into single Yes/No questions, single Wh-questions, and a combination of both, which served as eliciting responses, eliciting information, seeking clarifications, requesting, checking certainty, and inviting learners to respond to and interact over the e-feedback before using it in revising their texts. Findings indicate that Google Docs functions as an interactive platform where students diversify their responses to e-feedback, such as commenting on the e-feedback, interacting around the e-feedback issues, seeking further feedback, resolving the e-feedback, and addressing the e-feedback through edits/text revisions. Furthermore, the way e-feedback questioning is formulated influences how students respond to and use e-feedback in revising their assignments. The study provides valuable suggestions for teacher feedback practices in graduate courses in higher educational institutions.
Special aspects of education, Language. Linguistic theory. Comparative grammar