Culturally Responsive Digital Pedagogy: Integrating Ethnomycology to Foster Scientific Literacy and Conservation Awareness in High School Students

The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the strategies, challenges faced, and experiences of science teachers and the scientific performance of students among rural and urban schools in Liliw, Laguna. This study aimed to answer the following questions What is the profile of science teachers in terms of Type of School where they teach, Age, Years in Teaching, Teaching Position, and Educational Attainment? What are the Strategies of Science teachers in rural and urban schools? What are the Challenges Faced by Science teachers in rural and urban schools? What are the Experiences of Science teachers in rural and urban schools? What is the level of performance of Grade 6 pupils in Science? Is there a significant difference between strategies, challenges faced, and experiences of Science teachers and the level of pupils performance in Science 6 in rural and urban schools? Is there a significant difference between the level of performance of pupils from rural and from urban schools? Is there a significant effect between the profile of the Science teachers and the level of performance of pupils in Science 6 from rural and urban schools? Is there a significant effect between the strategies of Science teachers and the level of performance of pupils in Science 6 from rural and urban schools? Is there a significant effect between the challenges faced by Science teachers and the level of performance of pupils in Science 6 from rural and urban schools? Is there a significant effect between the experiences of Science teachers and the level of performance of pupils in Science 6 from rural and urban schools? The respondents of the study were the forty-two (42) Science teachers and two hundred and fifty-two (252) students from the different urban and rural schools in the district of Liliw in Laguna. A descriptive survey method was employed in this study. The following were the significant findings of the study There is a significant difference between strategies, challenges faced, and experiences of Science teachers and the level of pupils performance in Science 6 in rural and urban schools There is a significant difference between the level of performance of pupils from rural and urban schools There is a significant effect between the profile of the Science teachers and the level of performance of pupils in Science 6 from rural and from urban schools There is a significant effect between the strategies of Science teachers and the level of performance of pupils in Science 6 from rural and from urban schools There is a significant effect between the challenges faced by Science teachers and the level of performance of pupils in Science 6 from rural and from urban schools and, There is a significant effect between the experiences of Science teachers and the level of performance of pupils in Science 6 from rural and urban schools. Based on the results gathered from the study, the following are being recommended: The strategies, challenges faced, and the experiences of teachers should be brought into consideration in improving the education system in the Philippines since they have an impact or influence on students academic performance, particularly in Science Discrimination between the performances of students from rural and urban is highly discouraged since there is no significant difference between where the school is located, whether rural or urban and, Implementation of such programs for teachers and students that are related to Science is recommended.

Existing literature has shown a disparity between the career aspirations of students from rural and urban schools. Unfortunately, no study has been conducted to investigate the differences in the career aspirations of senior secondary school students from urban and rural schools in Eswatini. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to compare the career aspirations of senior secondary school students from rural and urban schools in Eswatini. The target populations were Form 4 students, from eight schools in Eswatini: four rural and four urban schools. A total of 280 students were sampled. A questionnaire was developed and used for data collection. It was validated by three experts in the Department of Agricultural Education and Extension, one professional in the career guidance field, and one career and guidance teacher. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that the students from both rural and urban schools had their career inspiration to become medical doctors. However, the career aspirations of the students from rural schools were higher than those from urban schools in a few areas. Thus, the study recommends that career guidance and counseling officials should assist students from urban schools in careers where they have low aspirations. Keywords: career aspirations, comparative analysis, Form 4 students, rural school, sources of aspiration, urban school

To ensure inclusive, equitable quality education, and encourage educational opportunities for lifelong learning worldwide; the United Nations set sustainable development goals (SDG) to achieve quality education. Thus, using SDG 4 quality education and system theory, this research seeks to identify the effects of educational management on quality education in rural and urban primary schools in Ghana. Moreover, the mediating role of internet facilities in educational management and quality education relationhsip has been discussed. Thus, 745 urban and 471 rural head teachers and teachers from Ghana participated in an online survey. The data was compiled and executed by structural equation model using SPSS-AMOS. The result reveals that educational management has a positive effect on quality education in urban and rural schools. In addition, urban schools have more quality education than rural schools. Although internet facilities have a positive effect on quality education their absence weakens the quality of education in urban and rural schools. Moreover, it is recommended that the Ministry of Education should arrange professional training for supervisors and head teachers to boost their monitoring and supervision strategies. Furthermore, Parents Teacher Associations can provide funding to support the monitoring and supervision activities to achieve success. Lastly, quality internet facilities should be built with limited charges in rural and urban schools.

School principals were surveyed in rural and urban Nebraska schools to compare policies and procedures on school attendance, and to contrast the use of disciplinary procedures for attendance, violence and substance abuse. A survey was sent to a 50 percent random sample of Nebraska schools. Respondent school addresses in metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) areas were categorized as urban, and non-MSA respondents were classified as rural area schools. Of the 680 surveys mailed, 464 (68.2 percent) completed surveys were returned. Overall, 86.2 percent of respondents were from rural schools and 13.8 percent from urban schools. A list of disciplinary problems and procedures was reported for a first-time offense by rural and urban schools. Both an "occasional attendance problem" and a "chronic attendance problem" were most frequently addressed through parent contact in both urban and rural areas. For "fighting with another student," rural schools most commonly reported discipline by teacher, followed by discipline by principal and parent contact. In urban schools, discipline by principal was most common. For "using drugs other than alcohol or tobacco at school" in both areas, disciplinary procedures included parent contact and short-term suspension. A list of disciplinary problems and procedures was also reported for a second-time offense and third-time offense. For "fighting with another student," the most commonly reported procedure was discipline by principal and parent contact for a second-time offense, followed by short-term suspension and long-term suspension for a third-time offense. For "using drugs other than alcohol or tobacco at school," for a second time offense was long-term suspension and semester expulsion for a third-time offense. Principals were also asked in an open-response format, what program or procedures were currently in place to prevent violence in their school. Common responses were "conflict resolution training," followed by "the Boys Town social skills and behaviors model" and "a zero tolerance policy." School principals generally reported similar disciplinary actions for most disciplinary problems. For recurrent offenses and for serious problems, principals generally used tougher disciplinary procedures. Some of the discrepancies in disciplinary actions, however, suggest the need for consistent enforcement and communication of policies for both urban and rural schools.

This study aimed to explore the gap regarding technology integration between urban and rural schools based on theWill Skill Tool model. This study was guided by three main questions: 1) Is there any significant difference in termsof technology availability between rural and urban elementary schools?; 2) Is there any significant difference interms of teachers’ attitudes, competence, levels and experiences in technology integration between rural and urbanelementary schools?; 3) Is there any significant difference in terms of students’ attitudes, competence andexperiences in technology integration between rural and urban elementary schools? This was a survey study with 275teachers and 293 students as participants in southern Taiwan. Half of the participants came from regular urbanschools and the other half were from disadvantaged rural schools. T-tests and Chi-Square tests were done to examinedifferences. The results showed that there was a significant difference in technology availability between rural andurban schools, including the number of interactive whiteboards, desktops in labs, notebooks, netbooks, and tabletcomputers. There was also a difference in teacher overall high-tech integration level between rural and urban schools.Urban teachers reached the level of “familiarity and confidence” but rural teachers only stayed at the level of“understanding and application of the process.” Teachers’ experience, purpose and difficulty in technologyintegration between rural and urban schools were also slightly different. In addition, there was a difference instudents’ experience and preference in using technology to learn, especially using interactive whiteboards in learning.

Introduction: Adolescents can be key driving forces in building a future of dignity for all. They are an important resource for any country. Reproductive health covers all aspects of adolescent health. In order to lead healthy, responsible, and fulfilling lives, and to protect themselves from reproductive health problems, youngsters need adequate information about the physical and psychological changes that take place during puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth. Methods: A comparative survey was conducted among 90 randomly selected adolescent girls from urban and rural schools of Bankura, West Bengal. Information was collected by administering structured knowledge questionnaire and 5-point attitude rating scale. Results: The findings revealed that 46.67% of girls from urban school and 51.11% of girls from rural school had excellent knowledge score and 65.56% of adolescent girls from urban school had positive and 61.11% of girls from rural school had fair attitude score towards reproductive health. There was no significant difference in knowledge score (t = -0.555 at p > 0.580) but significant difference in attitude score (t = 4.98 at p < 0.00) was there. There was a weak positive correlation found between knowledge and attitude scores of adolescent girls in both urban (r = 0.46) and rural (r = 0.335) schools. No significant association was found between knowledge and attitude scores and demographic characteristics of adolescent girls in both schools. Conclusion: The study concluded that there was a gap in the level of attitude of adolescent girls of urban and rural schools. So there is a need to educate adolescent girls regarding some aspects of reproductive health.

The study aims to examine methods for developing technology to bridge the learning gap between rural and urban schools by adapting to changes in the educational environment and meeting the demands of modern education. It describes the design of a technology and a method for creating a language-focused educational environment based on the factors mentioned. This method uses a structured approach to describe business processes, enabling subject matter experts to present situations as an organized sequence of events while simultaneously detailing objects directly related to the process. The study surveyed 1,926 teachers from urban and rural schools across several regions in Kazakhstan, with an average participant age of 39.9 years. It used a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, and processed data through MS Excel and Statistica/R software. Data collection was conducted using Google Forms on the Google Cloud Platform. As a result of the research, the authors propose psycho-pedagogical technology "5F" to bridge the learning gap between rural and urban schools. The technology is based on evaluating five functions of building a language educational environment in urban and rural schools. The five functions are "Problem and conflict assessment", "Analysis of the school’s educational system organization", "Development of an action plan", "Implementation of the project solution based on a tutorial", "Marketing of project results". These functions were identified during the decomposition of the language learning environment and its interaction with the external environment. This technology adapts to changes in the educational environment, meets modern education requirements, and effectively identifies and addresses real-world problems and tasks related to language teaching and learning in specific schools. This study also provides insights into the language educational environment in Kazakhstan, highlighting significant disparities between urban and rural schools in assessing language preparation, resource availability, and the integration of technology. The findings of the study demonstrate that reliance on personal test materials rather than standardized assessments raises concerns about the objectivity and validity of language proficiency evaluations.

Saskatchewan in motion is a partner-based provincial initiative aimed at increasing physical activity for health, social, environmental and economic benefits. Given the rise in the prevalence in overweight and obesity among youth, engaging schools in this initiative has been an ongoing priority. An in motion high school is one that values and actively promotes the health benefits of physical activity and supports opportunities for students and staff to be physically active on a regular basis. Schools that adopt the in motion strategy commit to providing a minimum of 30 minutes of PA every day for every student purpose: To evaluate the impact of a 5-month school-wide PA intervention among high school students. METHODS: A total of 339 students in grades 9-12 from 2 urban and 2 rural schools in a prairie province in Canada participated in the study. One urban (n=124) and one rural school (n=46) participated in the in motion initiative while the remaining urban (n=140) and rural (n=29) schools did not. Self-reported PA was assessed with the IPAQ and data were collected at the beginning of the initiative (January) and the end of the school year (May). Compliance to the in motion initiative was assessed using teacher records and logs. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in PA scores from Time 1 to Time 2 in the urban in motion school. PA scores at the rural in motion school increased significantly from Time 1 to Time 2 (4,600.6 vs. 7,661. MET min/wk; p<.01). Among rural boys, participation in vigorous PA significantly increased (3,354.7 vs. 5,616.0 MET min/wk; p<.01), while among rural girls participation in moderate PA (821.5 vs. 1,655.8 MET min/wk; p<.05) and walking (1,000.2 vs. 2,021.7 MET min/wk; p<.05) was significantly higher. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the in motion initiative was effective at increasing PA levels among rural high school students. While boys increased their PA through vigorous activities, girls tended to increase their PA through low to moderate PA. Future research exploring gender differences and understanding more fully why such initiatives are more effective in rural vs. urban schools will enable programmers to further tailor such health promotion initiatives for high school students.

Background/Context Policy makers and scholars have long called for the large-scale recruitment of teachers of color, partly based on evidence highlighting the positive effects of racial/ethnic matching between students and teachers of color on various student experiences and achievements. A more nuanced understanding of racial/ethnic matching effects moderated by contextual factors may help policy makers’ and administrators’ assignment decisions on how to consider student and teacher race/ethnicity. Purpose/Objective/Research Question This study examined the contextualized effects of racial/ethnic matching between high school students and teachers, focusing on the urbanicity of schools in the United States, by asking two main research questions: (1) What are the associations between the racial/ethnic matching of students and teachers, and students’ math achievement and self-efficacy in the United States overall? (2) What are the associations among racial/ethnic matching, math achievement, and math self-efficacy in urban schools, and do these patterns differ for suburban and rural schools? Research Design This study used restricted-use national longitudinal data provided by the NCES High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. A strategy of disaggregating data by schools’ urbanicity and three separate analyses with fixed-effect models for each urbanicity (urban, suburban, and rural) was followed to capture the variations across different schools’ urbanicity and to obtain unbiased estimates of racial/ethnic matching effects. Findings/Results Relatively lower percentages of Black, Hispanic, and Asian students were matched with their same-race/ethnicity math teachers compared with White students in all communities. This study found no supporting evidence for positive associations between racial/ethnic matching and math achievement scores and self-efficacy without considering urbanicity. Within the context of urbanicity, positive associations for math achievement were mainly found in the racial/ethnic matching of Black and Asian students taught by same-race/ethnicity teachers in suburban schools. Conversely, the racial/ethnic matching among Asian students and teachers in rural schools was significantly and negatively associated with both math achievement and self-efficacy. Conclusions/Recommendations By focusing specifically on schools’ urbanicity contexts, policy makers and education leaders should consider the relatively lower percentage of racial/ethnic matching between Black students and teachers in urban and suburban schools, and Hispanic students and teachers in urban and rural schools. As rural Asian populations grow and diversify, Asian teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds are urgently needed in these communities. Contextualized policy solutions that consider school environments and cultural differences and that challenge the one-size-fits-all approach will ultimately better address the specific and diverse needs of students of color living in different communities across the United States.

Introduction. A significant number of migrant children in Russian schools from cities and rural settlements of Central Asian countries makes it relevant to study the possibilities of supporting their academic motivation, taking into account national and cultural characteristics. The aim of the study is to identify the features of academic motivation of adolescent students in rural and urban schools of the Fergana region. Materials and methods. The study involved 576 teenagers from urban and rural schools of the Fergana region. Methods: "Questionnaire of academic self-regulation of primary and middle school students SRQ-A", "Children's questionnaire of the optimistic style of explaining successes and failures", "Multidimensional scale of satisfaction with life of schoolchildren", "Scale of depression, anxiety and stress". Mathematical and statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out using the Kolmagorov-Smirnov K-S criterion, cluster analysis of the k-means method, the Kruskal-Wallis H-criterion and the Mann-Whitney U-criterion. Results of the study. Students of urban schools have higher rates on the scales of "cognitive motivation", "motivation for self-development", "identified motivation" and "introjected motivation". Using cluster analysis, motivational profiles of students in urban and rural schools were obtained. Motivational profiles of students in urban schools: a) with predominant external motivation; b) with predominant internal motivation, c) students whose learning activities are influenced by both external and internal factors. Motivational profiles of students in rural schools: a) with a high level of both internal and external motivation; b) with an average level of internal and external motivation; c) having a low level of internal and external motivation. A comparative analysis of the identified motivational profiles using the H Kruskal Wallis and U Mann-Whitney criteria made it possible to identify the characteristics of life satisfaction, an optimistic style of explaining the reasons for successes and failures, as well as the level of depression, anxiety and stress among adolescent students in rural and urban schools in the Fergana region. KEYWORDS Discussion and conclusion. The level structure of the learning motivation of rural schoolchildren can be explained by the appearance in their motivation profile of the "Alienated" group - teenagers with a low level of external and internal motivation, when the educational environment does not serve as an environment for satisfying their current needs and is not controlled by the people around them due to the fact that they do not see the importance of the child's education. A group of urban and rural teenagers “Value-oriented towards education” was identified - with a high level of external and internal motivation, whose values of obtaining education are supported by the adults around them.

This study investigates whether the flipped classroom approach enhances secondary-level students' learning achievement in a Secondary-level Physics course. It aimed to explore the effectiveness of the flipped model for students who have been primarily exposed to traditional lecture-based instruction throughout their schooling. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was employed. Quantitative data were analyzed using ANCOVA to compare pre- and post-test results between experimental and control groups of urban and rural schools in Gandaki Province of Nepal. The quantitative analysis was followed by qualitative interviews to interpret the quantitative findings. The results indicated that the flipped classroom did not significantly improve student performance in the urban school, but showed a near-significant trend toward improvement in student performance in the rural school. Notably, in the urban school, students in the control group, who received traditional instruction, outperformed those in the flipped group. These findings suggest that the success of the flipped classroom approach is highly context and lived-experience-dependent and influenced by factors such as students’ readiness and access to digital resources.

The purpose of the research is to assess the intra-environment indices in urban and rural secondary schools. In the course of special studies there was given the hygienic assessment of the climate, illumination and air quality of classrooms. In classrooms in rural schools microclimate indices were established to fail to meet hygienic requirements mainly on the temperature and humidity parameters. In rural schools, the temperature was decreased to 16-17 °C in 19.0 ± 8.6% of classrooms, humidity was elevated to 63.1% in 25.7 ± 7.4% of classrooms. Among urban schools the humidity in 49.6 ± 4.4% of classrooms reduced to 23.3 ± 0.3%, in 20.8 ± 5.4% of offices it was increased to 71.9 ± 0.9%. The coefficient of the natural illumination in rural schools has been reduced to 0.86-1.4% in 33.9 ± 14.2% of classrooms. In 25.1 ± 2.3% of classrooms in urban schools the level of natural light ratio was below the normative values and varied in the range of 0.32-1.3%. It is noted that in the offices of informatics natural light indices are significantly lower than in the classrooms for core subjects. The artificial lighting in urban schools was found to be lower than hygienic standards on the desks by 1.9 times, 2.2 times - at the board. There were obtained statistically significant handshaking health problems of urban schoolchildren due to intraenvironmental factors. The c dimate in surveyed gyms in rural schools is different in the low temperature and high humidity. The hygienic assessment of the air pollution classrooms’ medium was executed for a range of chemicals: formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter. Concentrations of formaldehyde; nitrogen dioxide, suspended solids in the air in classrooms in urban schools appeared to be higher than in rural schools. Carbon monoxide concentrations in classrooms in rural schools was found to exceed their values in urban schools. The air in classrooms of the one of the cities was found to be differed by a specific atmosphere for its chemical - hydrogen fluoride, in concentrations exceeding the maximum allowed concentration by 3-3.5 times.

BackgroundStudies in developed countries have reported that the prevalence of asthma and rhinitis is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and this phenomenon is associated with urbanization and changing indoor microbiome exposure. Developing countries such as China have experienced rapid urbanization in past years, but no study has investigated microbiome exposure and urban-rural health effects in these countries.MethodsNine high schools from urban and rural areas were randomly selected in Shanxi Province, China, and classroom vacuum dust was collected for shotgun metagenomic sequencing. A self-administered questionnaire was collected from 1332 students for personal information and health data. Three-level logistic regression was performed between microbial richness/abundance/functional pathways and the occurrence of asthma and rhinitis symptoms.ResultsConsistent with developed countries, the prevalence of wheeze and rhinitis was higher in urban areas than in rural areas (p < 0.05). Metagenomic profiling revealed 8302 bacterial, 395 archaeal, 744 fungal, 524 protist and 1103 viral species in classroom dust. Actinobacteria (mean relative abundance 49.7%), Gammaproteobacteria (18.4%) and Alphaproteobacteria (10.0%) were the most abundant bacterial classes. The overall microbiome composition was significantly different between urban and rural schools (p = 0.001, Adonis). Species from Betaproteobactera, Gammaproteobacteria and Bacilli were enriched in urban schools, and species from Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria were enriched in rural schools. Potential pathogens were present in higher abundance in urban schools than in rural schools (p < 0.05). Pseudoalteromonas, Neospora caninum and Microbacterium foliorum were positively associated with the occurrence of wheeze, rhinitis and rhinoconjunctivitis, and Brachybacterium was protectively (negatively) associated with rhinitis (p < 0.01). The abundance of human endocrine and metabolic disease pathways was positively associated with rhinitis (p = 0.008), and butyrate and propionate metabolic genes and pathways were significantly enriched in rural schools (p < 0.005), in line with previous findings that these short-chain fatty acids protect against inflammatory diseases in the human gut.ConclusionsWe conducted the first indoor microbiome survey in urban/rural environments with shotgun metagenomics, and the results revealed high-resolution microbial taxonomic and functional profiling and potential health effects.2wRPURVCNzispD2jVrrnAmVideo abstract

Throughout the world, educators are struggling to shift their delivery of services to children with disabilities from a segregated to inclusive approach. This shift creates substantial opportunities and challenges. This is particularly true in poor urban and rural schools. Although our experience is based in rural and urban schools in the United States, we know that poor rural and urban schools throughout the world face similar issues as inclusive education takes hold. This article describes a framework for building more effective and successful schools in poor rural and urban communities called “Whole Schooling.” In addition, we identify the multiple barriers to inclusive schools, articulate the commonalties and differences between poor rural and urban schools, and describe specific strategies for utilising available resources to build more effective and successful rural and urban schools in which inclusive education is a central component.

This study concerns competitiveness in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) performance between two different schools in Kedah, Malaysia, focusing on Mathematics scores. There are two different schools selected namely SMK Sungai Layar and SMK Bandar Sungai Petani. SMK Sungai Layar is a rural school while SMK Bandar Sungai Petani is an urban school. The objectives are to determine which schools between urban and rural schools perform better in mathematics subjects and classify students' performance on Mathematics subject using Fuzzy Logic. It is found that the performance of urban school was better than the rural school. As for rural school, the performance was moderate. The percentage of Mathematics value for SMK Bandar Sungai Petani is higher than SMK Sungai Layar. The number of students from an urban school who got a good score was double from the number of students from rural schools. The results show that the students from the urban school have excellent flexibility and reliability in Mathematics subject.