Show Us the Numbers: Countering the Culture of Disengagement in Engineering Education with Quantitative Data

Histology education relies on the visual interpretation of microscopic structures and requires repeated practice for effective learning. Advances in educational technology, particularly virtual microscopy, have created new opportunities for improving histology education. During the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning approaches became essential alternatives to traditional laboratory-based teaching. This study aimed to compare the effects of the eHistoLab web application and conventional e-lecturing on students' learning outcomes and perceptions in histology education among medical sciences students in Iran. This quasi-experimental study used a two-group pre-test/post-test design. A total of 100 medical, dentistry, and pharmacy students enrolled in a histology course at Smart University of Medical Sciences (SMUMS), Iran, during the summer semester of 2023 participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups. One group received instruction through e-lecturing, while the other group was taught using the eHistoLab web application, a bilingual virtual microscopy platform providing access to high-resolution histological slides, image magnification, search functions, and interactive communication with instructors. Learning outcomes were assessed using pre- and post-tests, and data were analyzed using paired and independent t-tests in SPSS version 24. The findings revealed that 50% of students preferred virtual microscopy alone for learning histology, while 30% preferred a combination of methods, and 20% preferred e-lecturing alone. Regarding educational resources, 58% of students preferred the eHistoLab application, whereas 26% preferred textbooks and 16% preferred recorded e-lectures. Meantime, 62% of students preferred the eHistoLab tool in terms of motivation for learning histology, whereas 30% preferred the combined approach and 8% favored recorded e-lectures. Moreover, the results indicated that the post-test scores in the group taught with the eHistoLab web application were significantly higher than those in the e-lecturing group (P < 0.001). The findings of this study suggest that the eHistoLab web application improved students' learning outcomes and was positively perceived as a learning tool in histology education. Virtual microscopy may therefore serve as a useful complementary approach to lecture-based histology teaching.

Biology educators increasingly teach in classrooms shaped by digital devices, projected media, bright artificial lighting, dense visual displays, and frequent movement between lecture, laboratory, and online learning tasks. These conditions are often treated as background features rather than as factors that may affect attention, engagement, and cognitive access. Cognitive load theory has helped educators analyze how instructional design can support or overload working memory; however, science educators have fewer practical frameworks for examining the combined sensory, physical, and technological demands of the learning environment. This Perspective uses the term environmental load to describe task-irrelevant cognitive demand produced by the physical, sensory, spatial, and technological conditions of biology learning environments, including lighting, noise, temperature, visual clutter, screen exposure, device interruptions, room arrangement, and limited opportunities for movement. The article situates this concept within prior work on cognitive load, student engagement, classroom design, lighting, and educational technology. It then argues that environmental load is particularly relevant in biology and laboratory learning because students must coordinate terminology, diagrams, models, procedures, safety expectations, and abstract systems while managing the physical space around them. Practical next steps include classroom environment audits, intentional screen breaks, reduced visual complexity during cognitively demanding tasks, research on sensory conditions in science classrooms, and professional development that treats cognitive access as both an instructional and environmental concern.

Introduction: Digital teaching competence is a key element for the pedagogical integration of technologies in higher education, especially in clinical training areas such as dentistry. Aim: To determine the digital teaching competences in the use of interactive tools for teaching in the Dentistry degree program at the Catholic University of Cuenca, Azogues campus. Methodology: A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional study was conducted with 44 teachers, using the DigCompEdu Check-In questionnaire. Descriptive analysis and non-parametric tests were performed. Results: The intermediate level of digital competence predominated (52.3%), followed by the advanced level (43.2%). The use of ICT in the classroom showed a significant association with the level of digital competence. Conclusions: Teachers have moderate digital competences, highlighting the need to strengthen their pedagogical integration

Multiple pathways to generative AI entrepreneurial behavior: A mixed-methods study of Chinese undergraduates

Broadband, as a high-speed Internet connectivity, is an essential enabler for digital preparedness. However, little is known, in the case of Tanzania, about the nexus between broadband diffusion and digital preparedness, particularly in the facilitation of the teaching and learning process. This study, therefore, aimed at investigating the nexus between broadband diffusion and digital preparedness in Tanzania by focusing on the country’s readiness to leverage the same for formal education. The study employed a systematic review, guided by the PRISMA framework, to obtain the empirical evidence from existing literature. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes, analyze, and interpret qualitative data from the reviewed literature. Findings show that, although Tanzania instituted several policies and initiatives regarding broadband diffusion, it still missed a few key policy documents that would help to foster the rollout of broadband. In addition, legal instruments tailored to promote and support broadband diffusion were still lacking. Furthermore, more infrastructural improvements and support for digital literacy were needed. Based on the study’s findings, a conclusion has been made that Tanzania still faces considerable work ahead to effectively leverage digital technologies in formal education. Among other suggestions, the study recommended that relevant policies on broadband diffusion should be established and operationalized throughout the country.

As generative AI (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot become pervasive in education, concerns are rising about students using them to complete rather than learn from coursework—risking overreliance, reduced critical thinking, and long-term skill deficits. This paper proposes a design-oriented conceptual model (named Guide-AI-Ed ) to support instructors in reasoning about how course and curriculum design choices may encourage responsible GenAI use in software engineering education. Using a design-based research approach, we applied the Guide-AI-Ed model in two contexts: (1) revising four extensive lab assignments of a final-year Software Testing course at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), and (2) embedding GenAI-related competencies into the curriculum of a newly developed SE BSc program at Azerbaijan Technical University (AzTU). Interventions included GenAI usage declarations, output validation tasks, peer-review of AI artifacts, and career-relevant messaging. In the course-level case, instructor observations and student artifacts indicated increased critical engagement with GenAI, reduced passive reliance, and improved awareness of validation practices. In the curriculum-level case, the model guided integration of GenAI learning outcomes across multiple modules and levels, enabling longitudinal scaffolding of AI literacy. The Guide-AI-Ed model has served as both a design scaffold and a reflection tool. It has helped us align GenAI-related pedagogy with SE education goals. It can offer a transferable approach to align GenAI integration with SEEd goals and can support broader curriculum innovation in response to rapidly evolving GenAI capabilities.

With the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the field of education, the ability of the traditional Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework to explain teacher competencies in the AI era has come under study. In this conceptual study, a new model aimed at explaining teacher competencies in the AI era has been proposed. The proposed Extended GenAI-TPACK framework draws its fundamental theoretical foundation from Demir’s model, which positions technology and theoretical framework as two inseparable facets in technology integration programs; it adapts this model to the AI era by transforming it into a tripartite core (Technology + Theoretical Framework + AI Agency). The proposed framework includes five new knowledge domains surrounding this tripartite core (Critical Evaluation, Prompt Engineering, Human-AI Role Sharing, Ethics and Social Judgment, Student-AI Interaction Management) and a Phronesis axis that anchors the entire system within the classroom context. Additionally, Hughes’ three-level technology integration model has been reframed through the Co-Agency axis to create a six-cell application matrix. The framework was developed to address the structural limitations of classical TPACK in the GenAI context and offers educational technology literature a conceptual tool that is both theoretical and operationally applicable.

The Plan A blocks framework was proposed in 2019 with the aim of promoting a small number of versatile, high-value regional anaesthetic techniques to build core competencies among all anaesthetists. Clinical practice, educational curricula and academic understanding have evolved since then. We aimed to provide a pragmatic and clinically focused narrative review on the current understanding of Plan A blocks and to explore their implementation and signpost future directions. We conducted a focused literature search for articles of relevance to Plan A blocks. We also searched online resources, including websites of societies and institutions, for evidence relevant to our primary area of interest. Plan A blocks have influenced the Royal College of Anaesthetists' curriculum and inspired several international consensus projects defining core blocks for adult and paediatric practice. Delphi studies have supported the inclusion of interscalene brachial plexus, axillary brachial plexus, femoral and sciatic nerve blocks as key techniques. Despite wide dissemination, challenges hindering clinical practice change persist, including resource limitations; lack of confidence; and variable access to structured training. Emerging educational technologies such as simulation, artificial intelligence-assisted ultrasound interpretation and augmented reality offer promise, but remain limited by cost and fidelity. The Plan A blocks framework has become an established concept and is accepted widely as a pragmatic, scalable strategy. Although barriers remain to clinical practice change, ensuring widespread competence in Plan A blocks and implementation into clinical pathways should improve patient access to regional anaesthesia globally.

Although the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has a great impact on education, students' learning effectiveness is still the ultimate goal of learners as well as educators. In this research, we aim to investigate the impact of the core drivers of learning effectiveness in the AI era. In particular, we explore the interplay among digital self-efficacy, digital attitude, and cognitive engagement, and how they contribute to learning effectiveness in a digitized learning process. In this empirical study, a dual analytical procedure incorporating structural equation modelling (SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) is applied to examine the associations between the drivers and to analyze the predictive power of the proposed model. The results confirmed the significance of all direct and indirect associations between variables. In particular, the mediating role of cognitive engagement on the relationship between digital attitude toward educational AI technologies and learning effectiveness, as well as the moderating effect of AI self-efficacy on the impact of attitude on learning engagement were demonstrated. The predictive power of the proposed model was analyzed by integrating ANN to take into account the model's nonlinearity and complexity. Not only this approach enables us to assess the predictive power, but also rank the importance of the independent variables' predictive effects on the dependent variable. The results found digital self-efficacy as the most crucial driver of students' perceived learning effectiveness, followed by cognitive engagement and digital attitude toward educational AI technologies.

ABSTRACT Much of the ongoing discourse on technology and education tends to prioritise either of the two over the other. Yet in the postdigital world of teaching and learning, education and technology are heavily intertwined. Following an entangled pedagogy logic, this paper explores how technology-influenced learning and learner agency operate differently across diverse global contexts. Drawing from collaborative ethnography that incorporates narrative inquiry and response community frameworks, this study investigates differences and similarities in the use, access to, and value placed on educational technology in teaching and learning across multiple contexts. The writing collaboration, conducted entirely online during an international doctoral research forum, arrived at four overarching themes: learning, spaces, education, and knowledge. Findings show how the global pandemic both exacerbated inequalities and accelerated opportunities, how narrow definitions of technology obscure the power of simpler tools like writing, and how access to technology does not ensure technological fluency.

This article examines the pressing issue of developing a secure, specialized online platform for distance learning for children with special educational needs. The digitalization of education has opened up new opportunities for inclusion, but mainstream solutions often fail to address the specific needs of this category of students, creating digital, cognitive, and social barriers. The goal of the study is to develop a conceptual model of a secure and adaptive educational environment that comprehensively addresses accessibility, personalization, and cybersecurity. The project took into account the usability of children with various developmental disabilities, including sensory impairments, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and based on this, the key principles of user interface and user experience (UI/UX) design were formulated. The proposed platform architecture includes an intelligent content and interface adaptation system, personalized learning paths, and secure communication modules with pre-moderation functions. Particular attention is paid to a multi-layered security system that ensures the protection of personal data, the prevention of cyberbullying, and access control. The article is of practical value to educational technology developers, educators, and administrators of educational institutions seeking to create an inclusive digital learning environment.

The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework has become the primary reference for teacher competence in integrating technology, pedagogy, and content amid the digital transformation of education. However, TPACK studies in non-formal Islamic education institutions such as madrasah diniyah using the Iqro’ method remain very limited. This study aims to describe the TPACK profile of ustadz/ustadzah, analyze forms of technology integration, and identify supporting and inhibiting factors at Madrasah Diniyah Al-Rachmat Bojonegoro. The research adopted a qualitative descriptive approach with an instrumental case study strategy, supported by a 30-item TPACK questionnaire on a 1–5 Likert scale covering seven dimensions. Subjects consisted of four Iqro’ ustadz/ustadzah (total sampling) and 25 Iqro’ students of volumes 3–4. Data were collected through questionnaires, observation, semi-structured interviews, and documentation, then analyzed using the Miles &amp; Huberman interactive model along with source and technique triangulation. The findings reveal an average TPACK score of 3.77 (high) with an asymmetrical profile: PCK (4.63), PK (4.56), and CK (4.55) were very high, while TCK (2.88), TPK (3.06), and TK (3.25) were moderate. The integration found was low-tech and non-substitutive—murottal audio, digital Qur’an applications, and WhatsApp groups—termed by the authors as adaptive-tradition TPACK. Supporting and inhibiting factors were distributed across three layers: personal, institutional, and cultural; the aspects of adab and salaf tradition emerged as distinctive features. These findings recommend contextual TPACK training and the development of simple Iqro’ digital media that align with the salaf learning tradition.

Contemporary Islamic education faces a crisis of meaning in the digital era, frequently reducing instructional media and tools into value-neutral, pragmatic instruments and neglecting their spiritual dimensions. This research aims to establish a rigorous ontological demarcation between educational tools and media and to construct an integrative philosophical framework for their use based on Islamic epistemology. This qualitative library research employs a philosophical approach. Data were collected heuristically from academic databases and classical texts, with a focus on the foundational works of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas and Al-Ghazali. The analysis technique employs hermeneutic interpretation, validated through source triangulation, to systematically dissect the esoteric layers of educational technologies. The findings demonstrate a novel theoretical contribution by proving that while tools are merely functional-technical instruments, digital media act as value-laden, meaning-making environments. Furthermore, this study offers a new integrative paradigm by contextualizing classical Sufi concepts to solve modern digital challenges: translating Al-Ghazali’s mujahadah and riyadhah into digital self-regulation, while operationalizing Al-Attas’s Ta'dib to design media that respect the hierarchy of knowledge. Conclusively, addressing digital disruption requires shifting from mechanical pedagogy to a holistic integration in which digital media serve as esoteric intermediaries, actively guiding students toward moral maturity, adab, and divine consciousness.

ABSTRACT This study explores a divergence in discourses about, and institutional approaches to, digital technology use in public and private K-12 schools in the United States. Offering a critical thematic analysis of the technology mission statements published on the websites of urban Waldorf schools and neighboring public schools in six U.S. cities during the Covid-19 pandemic, we show how public schools described digital technologies as essential to students’ learning, wellbeing, and career readiness while neighboring Waldorf schools eschewed the same technologies and positioned themselves as a sanctuary from screens. Bridging perspectives from critical scholarship on educational technology, disconnection studies, and the sociology of education and parenting, this article suggests that a “disconnection divide” has emerged in U.S. education during and in the wake of the pandemic. Whereas the digital divide refers to unequal access to and experience with technology, the disconnection divide, here, refers to unequal levels of opportunity, woven into the institutions of everyday life, to avoid technology use. As digital technologies become more powerful, persuasive, and integrated into education and everyday life, the disconnection divide may have implications for students’ data privacy, technology use practices, and educational outcomes.

We present results analysis of a study aimed at determining the features for research culture formation among future teachers-psychologists at a classical university in “Psychological and Pedagogical Education” (bachelor’s and master’s programs). Clarified concept for “formation of the research culture of future teachers-psychologists” is presented in the context of the formation of general and professional culture. It has been established that the research culture formation among future teachers-psychologists is a process that is integrated into the context of their personal and professional development in the educational environment of a classical university. The study provides a substantive definition of research culture as a systemic entity, highlighting its structural components: value-motivational, cognitive-competence, activity-based, and reflective, which comprehensively characterize this phenomenon and define the specifics of its formation. Based on the analytical study of the issue, it was concluded that the formation of the research culture of bachelor’s students should be based on the design of an individual educational trajectory, and the formation of the research culture of master’s students should be based on the design of an individual trajectory of professional development. It was proposed to use the results of the study to develop a pedagogical technology for the research culture formation. In the process-diagnostic block of the technology it is advisable to include an innovative tool that allows for the design of an individual trajectory for the formation of this holistic personal education, namely an electronic information platform that has been tested at the Faculty of Philosophy and Psychology of Voronezh State University.

ABSTRACT This study explored teachers’ perceptions of culturally responsive personalised learning (CRPL), a pedagogical approach which draws on practices associated with personalised learning and culturally responsive teaching to integrate students’ contexts into teaching. CRPL emphasises adapting teaching to meet students’ individual needs, fostering student engagement and agency, and promoting equity and inclusion in education. Drawing from a nationally representative survey of 1,087 K-12 public school teachers in the United States, this study examines educators’ perceptions of and reported practices related to CRPL and the role of educational technology in its implementation, and how these attitudes and reported practices vary by school and teacher background characteristics. Findings reveal a gap between teachers’ reported value of CRPL and its frequency of implementation, with differences observed based on experience, school context, and access to resources. Educators in urban schools and schools serving more racially or ethnically diverse student populations were more likely to value and apply CRPL, while experienced teachers reported lower engagement with such practices. These findings may underscore the need for targeted professional development, supportive policies, and equitable resource distribution to foster CRPL adoption.

Serious Games for HIV Prevention Among Adolescents in a Global Context: A Scoping Review.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being increasingly applied in higher education. This has given rise to the issue that, within the published literature, there is still a lack of widely established and psychometrically validated tools for assessing the actual perceived acceptance quality of AI tutoring systems in a comprehensive manner. Although previous studies have examined cognitive patterns in educational technology, few have adequately captured the multidimensional nature of learners' experiences with AI tutoring systems. Existing evaluation models mainly emphasize cognitive outcomes, with less attention given to motivation, relational experience, and trust in AI-assisted teaching contexts. This study aimed to develop and validate a learner-centered scale of AI tutoring acceptance quality. The scale was constructed through literature review, expert consultation, and pre-testing, and comprised four theoretically grounded dimensions: Feedback Quality, Instructional Effectiveness, Interaction Experience, and User Trust. Data were collected from undergraduate students at five universities in Shanxi Province, China. ESEM, bifactor modeling, and reliability analysis indicated a robust bifactor structure, good internal consistency, and acceptable construct validity. The validated scale may serve as a practical tool for AI-supported educational design and future intervention research.

ABSTRACT Students are essential stakeholders in the education system. However, there needs to be more focus on how their perceptions can be understood to improve or redesign the curriculum. Thus, this paper attempts to develop a comprehensive scale to measure the perception of engineering students of their curriculum specifically for marine engineering education. The study identified a 12-dimensional construct that covers aspects of a quality curriculum. The data collected using cross-sectional sampling supports this dimensional structure of the attributes of quality curriculum and the internal consistency and validity of the scale. The outcome of this paper will add to the existing knowledge pool by understanding students’ viewpoints about curriculum quality and further help accommodate these in designing curricula. Though this scale focuses on marine engineering education, owing to its proximity to other domains of technical education and the global nature of the primary construct, the same may be administered and tested for the quality of the curriculum of technical education in general.