E. Hanushek, Guido Schwerdt, Ludger Woessmann
et al.
Policy proposals promoting vocational education focus on the school-to-work transition. But with technological change, gains in youth employment may be offset by less adaptability and diminished employment later in life. To test for this tradeoff, we employ a difference-in-differences approach that compares employment rates across different ages for people with general and vocational education. Using microdata for 11 countries from IALS, we find strong and robust support for such a tradeoff, especially in countries emphasizing apprenticeship programs. German Microcensus data and Austrian administrative data confirm the results for within-occupational-group analysis and for exogenous variation from plant closures, respectively.
High rates of attrition make it challenging for schools to provide qualified special education teachers for students with disabilities, especially given chronic teacher shortages. We synthesize 30 studies from 2002 to 2017, examining factors associated with special educator attrition and retention, including (a) teacher preparation and qualifications, (b) school characteristics, (c) working conditions, and (d) teacher demographic and nonwork factors. Most studies examined working conditions (e.g., demands, administrative and collegial supports, resources, compensation) among special educators who left teaching, moved to other positions, transferred to general education teaching, or indicated that they intended to stay or leave. The majority of researchers used quantitative methods to analyze national, state, or other survey data, while eight used qualitative methods. Our critique identifies both strengths and weaknesses of this literature, suggests research priorities, and outlines specific implications for policy makers and leaders.
In the education process, students face problems with understanding due to the complexity, necessity of abstract thinking and concepts. More and more educational centres around the world have started to introduce powerful new technology-based tools that help meet the needs of the diverse student population. Over the last several years, virtual reality (VR) has moved from being the purview of gaming to professional development. It plays an important role in teaching process, providing an interesting and engaging way of acquiring information. What follows is an overview of the big trend, opportunities and concerns associated with VR in education. We present new opportunities in VR and put together the most interesting, recent virtual reality applications used in education in relation to several education areas such as general, engineering and health-related education. Additionally, this survey contributes by presenting methods for creating scenarios and different approaches for testing and validation. Lastly, we conclude and discuss future directions of VR and its potential to improve the learning experience.
A growing social science literature has used Twitter and Facebook to study political and social phenomena including for election forecasting and tracking political conversations. This research note uses a nationally representative probability sample of the British population to examine how Twitter and Facebook users differ from the general population in terms of demographics, political attitudes and political behaviour. We find that Twitter and Facebook users differ substantially from the general population on many politically relevant dimensions including vote choice, turnout, age, gender, and education. On average social media users are younger and better educated than non-users, and they are more liberal and pay more attention to politics. Despite paying more attention to politics, social media users are less likely to vote than non-users, but they are more likely to support the left leaning Labour Party when they do vote. However, we show that these apparent differences mostly arise due to the demographic composition of social media users. After controlling for age, gender, and education, no statistically significant differences arise between social media users and non-users on political attention, values or political behaviour.
Despite the benefits of using virtual reality (VR) in medical education and treatment, some challenges and limitations result in the uselessness or misuse of this technology. Therefore, recognizing potential challenges related to VR might be helpful in the strategic decision-making process to implement and develop this technology in the healthcare field. Accordingly, our review aimed to determine the challenges associated with the application of VR in the field of medical education and treatment. We searched Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PubMed databases for relevant papers using a defined search query. We restricted the search to articles in English or Persian language published by the end of 2018. The main challenges of developing and using VR with educational and therapeutic objectives are categorized as general and specific. General challenges include reduced face-to-face communications, education, cost challenges, users’ attitudes, and specific challenges such as designing, safety considerations, VR side effects, evaluation, and validation of VR applications. Challenges related to VR will have different effects, thus identifying each of them helps to determine the solutions for each challenge. Also, it is suggested to develop and update laws, standards, and protocols, which play an important role in increasing the effective application of VR at the national level.
In the year 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic turned both private and public life upside down. Teaching and learning at higher education institutions worldwide had to move online on very short notice. This Special Issue focuses on the academic practice of online teaching and learning in higher education in the current time of crisis. Online teaching and learning has been a prominent research topic for the last three decades, but online study programs at universities are still scarce. In this synthesis article, our considerations about online teaching and learning in higher education are positioned in the broad framework of communities of practice (CoPs). We establish a relationship between CoP-concepts and the integrative framework for learning activities involving technology in higher education (the C♭ model), as proposed by Sailer and colleagues in this Special Issue. We continue with some initial thoughts on online teaching and learning in higher education in general, and emergency online teaching and learning more specifically. After an overview of the international research compiled in this Special Issue, we derive a number of general insights on online teaching and learning in higher education, emphasizing, for instance, scaffolding of regulation processes or communication platforms as potential artifacts of an online teaching and learning CoP.
Through this article, I examine the challenges and opportunities of implementing culturally responsive teaching (CRT) in hyperdiverse general music education classrooms in the United States, where student demographics reflect increasing globalization and cultural intersections. Despite widespread recognition of CRT’s value, many educators feel underprepared due to limited training. Given the high level of diversity and intercultural variations in music classrooms, CRT’s practical applications may seem intimidating when striving for authentic connections. To address this, I propose a fluid integrational approach to CRT that emphasizes authentic relationships and rapport-building. By fostering trust through genuine curiosity about students’ interests and experiences, cultural connections can emerge naturally. Examples in music education illustrate how integrating organic connections fosters rapport, boosts engagement, and affirms identities, aligning with pedagogical goals. By cultivating authentic connections, educators can bridge gaps between students’ worlds and classroom content, promoting equity and joy in music education.
Introduction COVID-19 emerged as a global pandemic in 2020 and has affected millions of lives. Surgical training has also been significantly affected by this pandemic, but the exact effect remains unknown. We sought to perform a national survey of general surgery residents in the United States to assess the effect of COVID-19 on surgical resident training, education, and burnout. Methods An anonymous online survey was created and distributed to general surgery residents across the United States. The survey aimed to assess changes to surgical residents’ clinical schedules, operative volume, and educational curricula as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, we sought to assess the impact of COVID-19 on resident burnout. Results One thousand one hundred and two general surgery residents completed the survey. Residents reported a significant decline in the number of cases performed during the pandemic. Educational curricula were largely shifted toward online didactics. The majority of residents reported spending more time on educational didactics than before the pandemic. The majority of residents feared contracting COVID-19 or transmitting it to their family during the pandemic. Conclusions COVID-19 has had significant impact on surgical training and education. One positive consequence of the pandemic is increased educational didactics. Online didactics should continue to be a part of surgical education in the post-COVID-19 era. Steps need to be taken to ensure that graduating surgical residents are adequately prepared for fellowship and independent practice despite the significantly decreased case volumes during this pandemic. Surgery training programs should focus on providing nontechnical clinical training and professional development during this time.
Daniel Fischer, Jordan King, Marco Rieckmann
et al.
Teacher Education for Sustainable Development (TESD) is a niche innovation in teacher education that empowers teachers to prepare learners to address global socio-environmental challenges. To advance the diffusion of this niche innovation into general teacher education, this article offers a systematic literature review based on a qualitative analysis of 158 peer-reviewed publications on TESD research. Our results show that TESD research is a growing field characterized by five types of inquiry: designing learning environments, understanding learner attributes, measuring learning outcomes, promoting systems change, and advancing visions for the field. Major innovation potentials of TESD for more general teacher education are its emphasis on the grand socio-environmental challenges of our times, methodologies to engage with knowledge diversity (e.g., inter/transdisciplinarity), and sustainability science learning approaches (e.g., backcasting). We suggest that future work builds from this review to strengthen links between teacher education and TESD in enhancing quality education.
This article aims to reflect on the state of general education in Korean universities in the 1980s, focusing on the assessment of general education conducted by the Korean Council for University Education in 1984 and 1986 and the results of a study to improve the organization and operation of general education curricula in 1988. In the early 1980s, Korean universities began to pay attention to issues surrounding general education as a starting point for solving long-standing problems in higher education and as a prelude to exploring a new future. Studies by Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Hanyang University on how to improve general education are representative examples. Meanwhile, in 1984, the Korean Council for University Education conducted an assessment of the general education and the education of national ethics and ideological criticism as part of the assessment of each academic area, and in 1986, it conducted an assessment of the national courses and college courses along with the assessment of the general education as a whole. The two assessments summarized the state of general education in 1980s as follows. First, general education had two goals: the perfection of personality and basic education for majors, with more weight given to the latter than the former. Second, with the introduction of the pilot system, institutions dedicated to general education were abolished, and general education became the responsibility of the office of academic affairs or individual departments. Third, the general education curriculum consisted of two-thirds of compulsory courses such as national courses and college courses, and the remaining one-third was dominated by basic courses for majors. Fourth, as full-time professors and senior professors avoided teaching general education courses, part-time lecturers with short teaching experience were responsible for nearly half of general education. Fifth, general education courses had an average class size of more than 100 students, and were dominated by one-sided lectures by professors who focused on delivering fragmented knowledge. Sixth, while individual courses had their own problems, they were either organized by the departments involved or by the office of academic affairs, so there was no single entity dedicated to curriculum or course development. A policy study was conducted to improve this situation, and 14 proposals were made in six areas, including the essential status of general education, the goals of general education, the selection of contents of general education, the type and organization of general education courses, the number of general education courses, and the management system of general education courses, but it took time to be implemented. The abolition of national courses in 1989 paved the way for new changes, but as basic courses for majors took their place, general education went through another period of struggle.
Chris M. Harrison, James W. Trayford, Arron George
et al.
Sonification can be part of educational resources that can be accessible to those who prefer, or require, non-visual learning methods. Furthermore, sonification can contribute to an engaging multi-sensory learning experience, which are known to benefit general learners. Whilst some sonification can be relatively agnostic to musical culture, many sonifications are subject to culturally influenced choices, such as the chosen harmonies, rhythmic structures, and instrumentation. This is important when considering how universally inclusive and relatable sonification-based educational resources will be. Here we present a case study of translating a sonification-based educational show about the Solar System, that was originally designed with influences from Euro-American (Western-classical) music, to be more culturally relevant to the Caribbean region. We describe the motivation, approach, some of the challenges, and the initial feedback of the resulting output of the project. Finally, we provide reflections on the importance of further work exploring how educational sonifications can transcend international borders and musical cultures.
In this paper, we present an educational project aimed to introduce students to the technology behind Captive Portals infrastructures. For doing this, we developed a series of modules to emphasize each of the different aspects and features of this technology. The project is based on an open source implementation which is widely used in many computer network courses, making it well-suited and very appealing for instructors and practitioners in this field.
Computational Thinking (CT) is a key skill set for students in higher education to thrive and adapt to an increasingly technology-driven future and workplace. While research on CT education has gained remarkable momentum in K12 over the past decade, it has remained under-explored in higher education, leaving higher education teachers with an insufficient overview, knowledge, and support regarding CT education. The proliferation and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by educational institutions have demonstrated promising potential to support instructional activities across many disciplines, including CT education. However, a comprehensive overview outlining the various aspects of integrating AI in CT education in higher education is lacking. To mitigate this gap, we conducted this systematic literature review study. The focus of our study is to identify initiatives applying AI in CT education within higher education and to explore various educational aspects of these initiatives, including the benefits and challenges of AI in CT education, instructional strategies employed, CT components covered, and AI techniques and models utilized. This study provides practical and scientific contributions to the CT education community, including an inventory of AI-based initiatives for CT education useful to educators, an overview of various aspects of integrating AI into CT education such as its benefits and challenges (e.g., AI potential to reshape CT education versus its potential to diminish students creativity) and insights into new and expanded perspectives on CT in light of AI (e.g., the decoding approach alongside the coding approach to CT).
Remarkable advances in quantum information science and technology (QIST) have taken place in recent years. However, they have also been accompanied by widespread misinformation. This paper provides suggestions for how educators can help students at all levels and especially early learners including those at the pre-college and college levels learn key QIST concepts so that they are less likely to be misinformed, e.g., by online unvetted resources. We discuss findings from interviews with five college educators, who are quantum researchers, about their views on countering misinformation in QIST and provide suggestions for how educators can help their students learn QIST concepts so that they do not become misinformed.
With the rapid advancement of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents, agentic workflows are showing transformative potential in education. This study introduces the Agentic Workflow for Education (AWE), a four-component model comprising self-reflection, tool invocation, task planning, and multi-agent collaboration. We distinguish AWE from traditional LLM-based linear interactions and propose a theoretical framework grounded in the von Neumann Multi-Agent System (MAS) architecture. Through a paradigm shift from static prompt-response systems to dynamic, nonlinear workflows, AWE enables scalable, personalized, and collaborative task execution. We further identify four core application domains: integrated learning environments, personalized AI-assisted learning, simulation-based experimentation, and data-driven decision-making. A case study on automated math test generation shows that AWE-generated items are statistically comparable to real exam questions, validating the model's effectiveness. AWE offers a promising path toward reducing teacher workload, enhancing instructional quality, and enabling broader educational innovation.