The swift rise of generative AI in higher education is transforming how students complete academic assignments. In Indonesia's higher education sector, where AI adoption is growing faster than formal guidance, understanding this transformation is particularly critical for safeguarding academic integrity and learning quality. This study seeks to (1) describe patterns of generative AI utilization, (2) explore student views and experiences, and (3) identify implications for higher education in Indonesia. The study employed an exploratory qualitative approach, involving 131 students from a university in Jakarta—encompassing undergraduate, master's, and doctorate programs—who composed reflective essays regarding their experiences with AI. Employing Saldaña's two-cycle coding method, three primary themes were identified: AI as an academic assistance tool, AI for academic skill development, and AI for learning effectiveness. Students predominantly used AI for rapid information retrieval and summarization, improving their academic writing (e.g., refining structure, clarity, and grammar), and supporting their study practices (e.g., generating practice quizzes and organizing study plans). Although AI provided enhanced efficiency and accessibility, apprehensions emerged regarding excessive dependence, diminished critical thinking, and ethical dilemmas pertaining to academic integrity. These findings underscore the significance of AI literacy initiatives to assist students in the responsible integration of AI tools while preserving cognitive engagement and originality. The study is confined to a single institution and depends on self-reported reflective essays, indicating the need for careful interpretation of the findings. As one of the first qualitative studies on this topic in Indonesia, this research addresses a critical empirical and policy gap by offering context-specific evidence on AI's educational role and by outlining a balanced integration pathway for Indonesian higher education institutions. Future research ought to investigate cross-institutional comparisons, the long-term effects of AI adoption, and educators' viewpoints regarding its function in academic settings.

Editorial decision-making is a critical yet often opaque component of scholarly publishing, particularly in relation to manuscript rejection. While existing literature has examined peer review mechanisms and publication ethics, less attention has been paid to how editorial leadership is constructed, justified, and critiqued within professional and policy-oriented discourse. This study employs a document analysis approach to examine how editorial practices, ethical standards, and institutional power relations shape manuscript rejection processes in contemporary academic publishing. Data were drawn from editorials, reflective essays, policy documents, and peer-reviewed commentaries produced by major academic publishers and recognized governance bodies. Through thematic synthesis, the study identifies recurring concerns relating to transparency, editorial discretion, perceived bias, and the tension between formal ethical guidelines and lived editorial practice. Rather than presenting primary empirical findings, the study offers a conceptually grounded interpretation of documented perspectives on editorial leadership. The analysis contributes to ongoing debates on fairness, accountability, and trust in scholarly communication and provides reflective insights for authors, editors, publishers, and other stakeholders engaged in academic publishing. The study concludes that editorial leadership must be reframed as both a curatorial and ethical responsibility. To achieve greater equity, transparency, and accountability, it recommends the adoption of open peer review systems, diversification of editorial boards, targeted capacity-building, and formalized accountability frameworks. These strategies are essential for fostering a more inclusive and just academic publishing ecosystem.

The mental health crisis impacting youth communities has resulted in two calls to action: 1) to consider cultural meanings when developing solutions and 2) to engage minoritized youth in research to capture lived experiences. This reflective essay describes the qualitative phase of a project to support the well-being of South Asian youth living in the United States We illustrate the value of the Culture-Centered Approach and how incorporating the concept of communication infrastructures can address these two calls by 1) enabling thoughtful reflections of culture grounded in youth perspectives and 2) helping clarify the ideals of community-engaged praxis that foster youth engagement in research.

Despite efforts to implement disabilities curriculum into the four years of undergraduate medical education (UME), the absence of a mandated, comprehensive, longitudinal curriculum likely contributes to health disparities experienced by people with disabilities (PWD). We examine the impact of the first mandated four-year medical school disabilities curriculum on five cohorts of allopathic medical students' knowledge, confidence, and attitudes regarding care for PWD. During academic years (AY) 2020-2021 through 2023-2024, seven mandatory disability-specific interventions were interspersed throughout the UME program. Since curricula were developed over the four-year period, it was not possible for every student to experience all seven curricular interventions; collective survey respondents per session ranged from 58 to 899. Session content included: apparent and non-apparent disabilities; ableism, bias, and stigma; functional limitations, barriers, and accommodations; impact of bias on physical and sexual health; and supporting the transition of PWD from pediatric to adult care. Students were assessed objectively and subjectively at four timepoints and completed a reflective essay. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test was used to assess differences between pre- and post-session survey results. In AY 2023-2024, a validated attitudes survey was administered before and after a fourth-year intervention; students demonstrated statistically significant improvement in several areas. Optional eighth (n = 57) and ninth sessions (n = 8) were piloted to practice hands-on safe patient-transfer protocols and hone communication with patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities, respectively. Qualitative inductive content analysis was used to evaluate the essay question. Five cohorts (n = 899) demonstrated statistically significant increases in knowledge and confidence in various disabilities-related areas. Essays from two cohorts (n = 423) expressed commitment to addressing healthcare disparities and unconscious bias, promoting effective communication, and providing empathetic care to PWD. Validated student attitude surveys of one cohort (n = 58) demonstrated significant increases in recognizing the quality of life of PWD, comfort around a person who is blind or deaf, and comfort performing a physical exam on a patient who uses a wheelchair. Objectively and subjectively, medical students who engaged in curricular sessions reported increased knowledge and comfort caring for PWD, and many demonstrated statistically significant improvements in their perceived confidence in supporting PWD. This is the first mandated four-year UME disabilities curriculum to be published.

Cognitive and emotional dynamics of artificial intelligence-assisted English learning: A mixed-methods study in a dual instructional context.

ABSTRACT This article examines how Vietnamese English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers used end-of-course reflective writing (RW) to make sense of professional learning during educational reform. Drawing on biographical learning and narrative inquiry, it analyses seventy-two reflections written by secondary-school teachers in the Mekong Delta after an online professional development (PD) course. Rather than treating these texts as simple indicators of programme uptake, the study reads them as narrative accounts through which teachers interpret meaningful classroom experience. The analysis shows two interrelated patterns. First, teachers used RW to connect past habits, present reinterpretations, and tentative future practice. Second, these acts of continuity were shaped by place, relationships, and reform conditions, including exam pressure, material constraints, and local school cultures. The article argues that short, prompted reflections can function not only as routine PD artefacts but also as modest spaces for composing professional continuity under pressure.

Highlights The use of technology entails consequences such as unemployment and dehumanization, which impact family health care. In Nursing education, providing care based on scientific evidence and love is a priority; it is within this duality that the humanism of our profession is centered. It is necessary to identify the cohesion between smart technologies and nursing care during practice, while continuing to address the human responses arising from people’s fragility and vulnerability. At present, AI cannot displace care, which constitutes part of humanity’s heritage and represents a central and foundational axis of Nursing science. Introduction: It is argued that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is only a tool that facilitates work. However, its creators aim to surpass human activity, and little reflection is given to the implications this has for humanized care, which requires a deep connection rooted in empathy and compassion. Objective: To reflect on the possible implications of the use of AI in the distant future for the human care developed by nurses. Materials and Methods: An argumentative reflective essay on the use of intelligent systems in nursing from an ethical approach, with arguments supported by documentary research, a semi-structured interview with AI, and a personal interpretative position on the future of humanized care. Content Synthesis: The new toy (AI) should not lead us into such fascination that it prevents reflection on the many unresolved questions of care that still exist, or allow our talent to be taken away. AI should serve as a support for the professional and scientific development of nurses, but not as a bargaining chip. It is not reasonable to envision a future (which we will not live to see) in which robots can replace even a single nurse; however, the possibility exists. Therefore, we must consider the protection of new generations of nurses. Conclusions: Our vision remains centered on holistic, global care for the person throughout the entire life cycle; however, if robots replace human beings, where will humanity be? If robots replace nurses, where will humane treatment be? How to cite this article: Landeros-Olvera Erick, Martínez-Riera José Ramón. Artificial intelligence of the future: reflections on its possible impact on human Nursing care. Revista Cuidarte. 2026;17(1):e4938. https://doi.org/10.15649/cuidarte.4938

In a context of growing democratic fragility, education is increasingly called upon to cultivate democratic participation, relational responsibility, and civic engagement. However, dominant approaches to education for democracy continue to privilege cognitive knowledge and procedural participation, often overlooking the embodied, affective, and relational dimensions through which democracy is first encountered and lived. This paper advances the concept of democracy-as-becoming to examine democratic learning in Early Years and Primary Education, where democratic relations are enacted through everyday pedagogical encounters rather than transmitted as abstract knowledge. The study draws on a transnational Participatory Action Research (PAR) programme conducted within the Aesthetic and Embodied Learning for Democracy-as-Becoming (AECED) project across multiple European contexts. Focusing on four cases in Portugal and Croatia, the paper presents a cross-case analytical synthesis of professional learning processes in which educators participated as co-researchers. These cases combined aesthetic, embodied, narrative, and digital pedagogical practices across online and face-to-face professional learning environments. Data included reflective writings, online discussions, observation notes, and visual and narrative artefacts generated through iterative PAR cycles. The analysis identifies three interrelated pedagogical ecologies—embodied, aesthetic–narrative, and digital/hybrid—through which democratic becoming is enabled, negotiated, and constrained. Across these ecologies, democratic learning emerged through relational grounding, co-creation, and embodied participation, while also being shaped by institutional conditions and perceptions of pedagogical risk. The paper contributes a data-informed conceptual model of democratic becoming grounded in cross-case analysis, highlighting how democratic sensibility develops through the interaction of relational, embodied, professional, and institutional dimensions. It concludes by discussing implications for teacher education, curriculum design, and research on democratic education, emphasising the need to recognise aesthetic and embodied pedagogies as core infrastructures of democratic life.

ABSTRACT The challenge of planning effective professional development (PD) for language teachers is particularly pronounced in complex linguistic, cultural, and institutional settings. This narrative inquiry investigates a seven-month synergistic PD model involving 20 Iranian EFL teachers from private high schools. The seven-month model followed bi-weekly cycles: (1) classroom teaching + individual journaling; (2) 90-minute face-to-face CoP dialogue; (3) asynchronous WhatsApp/Telegram peer discussion; (4) independent ChatGPT engagement using CoP-generated prompts, with critical evaluation logged. This cyclical sequence – repeated 14 times – forced interdependence across modalities. Data from interviews, reflective essays, AI logs, and digital discussions were analyzed using MAXQDA. Six main themes emerged. First, relational trust and psychological safety were foundational prerequisites for honest dialogue and professional risk-taking. Second, ICT platforms functioned as ‘connective tissue’ – supporting continuous, asynchronous reflective dialogue across time and space and transforming reflection from an isolated event into a continuous collective process. Third, AI played a dual, experience-contingent role: it served as scaffolding for novice teachers, who valued its immediate instructional guidance and reduced isolation (coded 56 times), and as disruptor for experienced teachers, who critically questioned its decontextualized, often Western-centric outputs and found their entrenched assumptions challenged (coded 42 times). Fourth, teachers experienced professional identity renewal – reporting increased confidence, agency, and resilience. Fifth, systemic contextual constraints persisted, comprising institutional ambivalence, policy–practice gaps, and digital inequities. Sixth, teachers vigorously engaged in the cultural translation of technology, adapting AI-produced content to align with local curricula and collectivist norms, and developed informal community workarounds.

Engineering graduates must navigate an increasingly global workforce, requiring both technical expertise and intercultural competence. Yet engineering students remain underrepresented in study abroad, often limited by rigid curricula and internship demands. Faculty-led internship abroad programs offer a unique model that integrates professional experience, academic learning, and cultural immersion. This qualitative multi-case study explored the experiences of engineering students in three faculty-led internship abroad programs in Western Europe, Asia, and Africa. Drawing on interviews, reflective essays, and journals entries, five key outcomes were identified: career exploration, engineering skills development, global workplace adaptability, personal growth, and a broadened global perspective. Findings highlight how these programs foster global learning through authentic professional engagement, faculty mentorship, and structured reflection. This study underscores the potential of faculty-led internships abroad to bridge disciplinary gaps in global education and prepare engineering students for cross-cultural professional practice.

The development of socio-ecological values in adolescents often remains limited to awareness and does not consistently translate into stable everyday behaviour. This study examined the ECO-PROGRESS model, a school-based approach integrating Biology, Chemistry, and Geography with the elective course Foundations of Socio-Ecological Values and practice-oriented activities linked to local environmental challenges in Almaty. The study used an exploratory one-group pre-test/post-test design. Participants were 64 Grade 10 students from two classes. No control group was included, and anonymous data collection did not allow individual T1-T2 linkage; therefore, the analysis focused on group-level trends rather than within-person change. Data were collected using an author-designed questionnaire assessing socio-ecological values, behavioural practices, participation in environmental campaigns, regular pro-environmental actions, and family-related discussions and habits. The post-test also included evaluative items on perceived changes and the learning formats students considered most influential. Reflective essays were analysed thematically to identify how students interpreted responsibility, practice-oriented learning, local environmental relevance, and family-related reinforcement. Quantitative analysis was based on proportions, changes in proportions, Cohen's h, and confidence intervals interpreted cautiously at the group level. Across most indicators, the post-test distributions showed positive shifts in awareness, reported behavioural practices, participation in initiatives, and several family-context indicators. The qualitative findings likewise emphasized everyday responsibility, the importance of practice over declaration, the local salience of environmental problems, and the role of family discussion and support. The findings provide preliminary support for the use of integrated, practice-oriented environmental education within the natural science cycle. At the same time, stronger conclusions require comparison groups, follow-up measurement, and individual-level longitudinal tracking.

Purpose This study examines whether a structured, collaborative professional development model can help EFL teachers move beyond superficial technology use and develop the integrated knowledge needed for meaningful digital integration in language teaching. Design/methodology/approach Ten EFL teachers in Taiwan participated in an 18-week technology-facilitated lesson study (TFLS) cycle. This model integrates technology in two key ways: (1) using digital tools to enhance language instruction and (2) employing collaborative technologies to support the planning, observation and reflection phases among teachers. Data were collected through surveys, lesson plan evaluations, classroom observations, reflective essays and interviews. Analysis focused on measuring changes in teachers’ competencies and documenting their experiences with the TFLS process. Findings The intervention was associated with improvements in lesson planning and technology integration. Teachers expanded their instructional strategies, designed more student-centered activities and used digital tools more effectively for differentiation. They developed a more deliberate approach to selecting technologies based on pedagogical purpose rather than novelty and reported increased technological confidence and instructional efficacy. Research limitations/implications Findings are limited by the small sample and single context. Future studies should involve more diverse participants and explore long-term effects on student learning. Practical implications The study offers a replicable professional development model that integrates Lesson Study with technology use. Additional support is recommended for designing assessments for technology-enhanced lessons. Social implications Strengthening CALL/TPACK competencies through TFLS can boost teacher confidence and learner engagement in digitally mediated classrooms. Originality/value This research provides empirical evidence for a sustainable professional development model that unites LS, technology integration and teacher collaboration to support meaningful educational technology use.

Self-concept is a central developmental resource supporting children's psychosocial wellbeing, resilience, and school adjustment. In rural and low-resource educational settings, structured and scalable interventions that promote social connectedness and positive self-identity remain limited. Drama-in-Education (DIE), an arts-based group practice grounded in role-taking and collaborative enactment, has shown promise in enhancing socio-emotional competencies; however, evidence for short, high-intensity implementations under real-world school conditions remains scarce. This study evaluated the short-term effects and mechanisms of a structured DIE program on rural primary school children's self-concept. A quasi-experimental mixed-methods design was employed (N = 300) in a rural Chinese primary school. Classes were assigned to either a 10-day intensive DIE intervention or a waitlist control group. Children completed the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, Second Edition (PHCSS-2), at baseline (T0) and post-intervention (T1). Intervention effects were analyzed using ANCOVA, controlling for pre-test scores. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, volunteer logs, and reflective writings, and analyzed using thematic analysis. After adjusting for baseline differences, the intervention group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in total self-concept than the control group (p < 0.001), with a medium between-group effect (ηp2 = 0.051) and a large within-group pre-post effect (d = 1.16). Qualitative findings identified three proximal mechanisms: (1) embodied role-taking that fostered competence-based identity reappraisal, (2) emotionally safe spaces that expanded expressive and gender flexibility, and (3) collaborative peer interaction that strengthened belonging and perceived social support. Short, intensive DIE programs may offer a feasible, culturally adaptable, school-based strategy to enhance self-concept and social connectedness in rural contexts. By combining structured role engagement with reflective integration, DIE appears to activate both individual and relational pathways of psychosocial development. Limitations include non-random assignment, single-site implementation, and absence of long-term follow-up. Future research should incorporate randomized designs and longitudinal assessments to evaluate sustainability and scalability.

This reflective essay explores an episode of maternity care involving a woman who declined induction of labour for suspected small-for-gestational age (SGA). Using Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, it examines the ethical, legal and professional issues surrounding autonomy, informed refusal, advocacy and multidisciplinary working. Identifiable information has been removed in accordance with the NMC Code to ensure confidentiality. Reflection is vital for linking theory to practice, enhancing clinical judgement and supporting safe midwifery care. This essay analyses the care episode using guidance from NICE, the RCOG and UK legislation, and concludes with an action plan to strengthen future practice.

Critics of AI note its potential to foster passivity, intellectual dependency, and reproduction of inaccurate or plagiarized content. Strategies are needed to support nursing students to engage critically with AI. To develop teaching approaches that facilitate critical AI literacy, faculty need to understand what happens cognitively when students interact with various AI-based activities. In a curriculum design elective course for future nurse educators, 2 doctoral students explored cognitive outcomes of AI-based class assignments, which included comparing AI summaries of published articles; contrasting student and AI writing styles; reflecting on strategies of reasoning when using AI; and applying Bloom's taxonomy to code the cognitive complexity of reflective essays. A 4-stage instructional approach supported high-level reflection regarding AI impacts on thinking and writing and enabled students to learn about objectives-driven lesson planning. This model can inform AI-literacy lesson development and help prepare future educators for AI-permeated teaching environments.

ABSTRACT This reflective essay traces a 40-year research journey in historical family demography, exploring the interplay of social, economic, cultural, and biological factors shaping family life and demographic behavior. Beginning with early studies on illegitimacy and bridal pregnancy, I was initially drawn to statistical approaches that revealed hidden dynamics in serial records. Yet, aggregate-level regressions proved insufficient, leading to a growing emphasis on micro-level data, family contexts, and life course analysis. Major projects, such as the Historical Sample of the Netherlands, enabled the systematic study of biographies and life trajectories of thousands of individuals, connecting demographic events – marriage, fertility, migration, mortality – to family structures, norms, and broader contexts. Statistical advances increasingly opened possibilities to model family dynamics more realistically, though challenges remain in quantifying cultural norms, particularly religion, inheritance rules, and household strategies. Comparative projects across Europe and Asia further underscore the importance of family systems in shaping agency, gender relations, and intergenerational ties. Encounters with colonial records from Sri Lanka have broadened my perspective, highlighting how power, coercion, and administrative categorizations also shaped demographic patterns, while raising further questions about the limits of individual agency under conditions of forced migration, slavery, or displacement. Throughout, the question remains the same: how do socio-economic contexts, cultural norms, and biological factors interact to shape demographic behavior? While full answers may remain elusive, the continuing pursuit of our discipline generates richer data, sharper theories, and novel methods. The field can be seen as a search for ‘moving targets,’ where unanswered questions continually propel research forward, ensuring that the study of families in historical context remains both dynamic and deeply rewarding.

Critical reading strategies (CRSs) are crucial for developing students' understanding and analytical skills; yet, the durability and transferability of these strategies to multiple disciplines have not been widely researched. This study investigates how explicit instruction in CRSs develops the critical reading ability of undergraduate students, the determinants responsible for the durability of such skills, and the transferability of these strategies across different academic fields. Through a quasi-experimental longitudinal design, the research evaluated an experimental group that received CRS instruction along with a control group using pre-intervention, post-intervention, and a six-month follow-up test period. Standardized reading comprehension measures, analytical writing tasks, reflective essays, and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data. Quantitative data were analyzed using paired t-tests and ANOVA, and qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. Findings indicated that CRSs significantly improved comprehension (31% increase), yet long-term recall was less (12% at six months). Humanities students demonstrated greater CRSs transferability than STEM students, likely a result of the fact that their coursework involves frequent exposure to complex texts and argumentation. This provides more frequent opportunities to apply and consolidate these strategies across contexts, and adjustments have to be designed for each domain. It was concluded that a review of CRSs must be ongoing and part of the curriculum for successful long-term recall. These insights contribute to educational strategies that foster lifelong critical literacy across academic and professional contexts.

Qira’ah al-Kutub instruction in higher education has long been dominated by translation-oriented practices that emphasize grammatical decoding rather than interpretive understanding, limiting students’ critical engagement with classical Arabic texts. In the context of increasing AI integration in education, it is important to develop pedagogical models that strengthen, rather than replace, human interpretive judgment. This study therefore aims to investigate and analyze how and to what extent human–AI co-regulation can enhance students’ comprehension and interpretation of classical Arabic texts in Qira’ah al-Kutub learning. Employing a research and development approach, the study implemented a co-regulated instructional design that integrates AI-assisted linguistic analysis with instructor mediation, peer negotiation, and reflective learning activities. Participants were 56 (fifty-six) undergraduate students enrolled in a Qira’ah al-Kutub course in an Islamic Education Program of Universitas Islam Indonesia. Data were collected through reading comprehension assessments, student response questionnaires, reflective writings, and analyzed using research and developments methods. The findings indicated that human–AI co-regulation facilitates a shift from literal translation strategies toward interpretive, contextual, and reflective reading practices. Rather than fostering cognitive dependency, AI functioned as a provisional analytical partner that enhanced students’ critical engagement when guided by pedagogical mediation. This study contributes to the field by demonstrating that the educational value of artificial intelligence in classical text learning lies in instructional design rather than technological capability alone. The proposed model offers a principled framework for responsible AI integration in humanities-based language education and provides practical implications for Qira’ah al-Kutub instruction in higher education.

ABSTRACT This article examines how undergraduate students negotiate the use of photography as a pedagogical tool during an overseas field-based learning course in the Mekong Delta. While existing scholarship has established theoretical frameworks for ethical visual research and documented the benefits of field-based learning, a critical gap remains in understanding how undergraduate learners navigate the messy, affective dimensions of conducting visual research in cross-cultural contexts. Drawing on reflection essays written by 27 students across two cohorts at a university in Singapore, this study reveals how photography functions simultaneously as a site of ethical negotiation, a catalyst for affective-cognitive transformation, and a reflexive practice that shapes students’ meta-understanding of cross-cultural learning in an overseas field course. Findings demonstrate that visual engagement involves a recursive learning process where ethical struggles generate emotional responses that deepen understanding, which in turn prompts critical reflection on positionality and privilege. Informed by scholarship in geography education and beyond, this article contributes to field-based learning by documenting the subjective experience of learning through photography, revealing the development of visual competence through iterative reflection on embodied encounters with communities in cross-cultural contexts. It also offers a pedagogically informed model for teaching field-based pedagogy to enrich undergraduate visual learning.

This photo essay explores teh tarik [pulled tea] as an everyday practice through which cultural bonds, social encounters, and shared meanings are produced in Malaysia’s tropics. Rather than approaching teh tarik merely as a culinary tourism product, the essay understands it as a form of embodied communication shaped by gestures, heat, rhythm, sounds, and social presence. Drawing on visual ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2024 and 2025 across sites in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia’s Batam Island, the photographs presented here narrow our lens to the areas of Kuala Lumpur to capture moments of preparation, waiting, sitting together, and casual interactions in kopitiams, street stalls, markets, and urban spaces. The visual narratives reveal how teh tarik mediates everyday encounters among locals, migrants, and tourists, allowing diverse identities to coexist without formal negotiation. Through a reflective photo essay format, this work shows that culinary tourism experiences in the tropics often operate through intimacy, repetition, and a shared atmosphere rather than spectacle or promotion. In doing so, this essay highlights teh tarik as a living culinary heritage that connects bodies, spaces, and memories, offering insights into the emotional life of tropical urban streets and everyday cultural landscapes.