Frontiers in Education: Digital Learning Innovations
7 hours 10 minutes ago
IntroductionDigital informal learning (DIL) has become increasingly important in higher education, providing a flexible complement to traditional instruction and supporting students’ academic and personal development. This study explores how Chinese university students engage with DIL through the lens of ‘possible selves’, examining how their envisioned identities motivate their informal learning behaviours.MethodsA mixed-methods design was employed at a Chinese university, combining quantitative survey data from 514 undergraduate students with qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 18 participants. The survey assessed students’ conceptual understanding, attitudes, and usage frequency of DIL, while interviews provided deeper insights into their motivations and experiences.ResultsSurvey findings indicated that although students had limited conceptual knowledge of DIL, the majority recognised its significance and routinely integrated it into daily learning practices. Interview data further revealed that students predominantly utilised DIL to compensate for formal education shortcomings, such as limited classroom time, outdated materials, and insufficient teaching quality. Additionally, students’ engagement with DIL was strongly influenced by their aspirations (ideal academic selves) and their fears of academic failure (feared selves), shaping DIL use as both a remedial strategy and a proactive measure for self-improvement.DiscussionThe findings underscore the dual role of DIL in addressing formal curriculum gaps and fostering self-directed personal growth, while also highlighting potential risks such as fragmented knowledge acquisition and information overload. The study extends the ‘possible selves’ theoretical framework into the digital learning context and offers practical implications for curriculum development, teacher professional development, and digital literacy initiatives. Ultimately, this research advances the understanding of leveraging digital learning innovations to create more responsive and equitable educational environments.
Zihao Liu
16 hours 30 minutes ago
This research on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) was conducted through a meticulous and structured systematic review. Initially, four academic databases were explored, merging key terms in both Spanish and English, identifying 1,942 articles. After a preliminary screening, publications were discarded for various reasons: duplication, access restrictions, irrelevance, or exceeding the 10-year age limit, reducing the corpus to 722 articles. A subsequent content review pinpointed only 100 articles directly relevant to CPD studies. A final review assessed thematic depth, research status, and educational relevance, leading to further exclusion and a consolidated set of 81 publications ready for an in-depth review. These articles, selected through a rigorous process, represent current and significant contributions to CPD knowledge in the academic context. All information is organized following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The methodology employed ensures the relevance and timeliness of the selected literature, providing a solid foundation for future research in the field and for the design of a Professional Development Program. It is concluded that implementing a CPD program focused on scientific and socially relevant topics requires a strategic combination of pedagogical innovation, expert collaboration, technological integration, and research orientation. These elements prepare teachers to face contemporary challenges and position them as agents of change in their disciplines and communities.
Cristian Merino
1 week 2 days ago
This study explores the profound impact of COVID-19 quarantine on social media usage among university students in the West Bank, revealing a dramatic surge in engagement driven by the shift to remote learning and the need for digital socialization. With motivations for entertainment (52%) and social communication (28%) dominating, students reported increased social media use, which coincided with heightened study hours, reflecting its dual role as both a tool for academic adaptation and a potential distraction. Quarantine conditions also fostered stronger family relationships, with students spending more time with their families, yet satisfaction with academic performance and daily achievements remained low, highlighting the challenges of balancing increased digital engagement with productivity. This research underscores the complex interplay between social media, academic performance, and social dynamics during an unprecedented period of global disruption, offering valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and mental health professionals aiming to optimize social media’s role in academic and personal development.
Salahaldeen Deeb
1 week 4 days ago
IntroductionDespite their many advantages, group activities can result in participation imbalance, especially when a participant joins the activity remotely. In this experimental study, we address the issue of imbalance in small groups, which consist of two co-situated participants and one remote student on a telepresence robot. The aim is to investigate whether using a robot to moderate group activities can affect engagement and balance participation.Methods84 participants were recruited and assigned to two conditions, namely baseline (without a robot moderator) and experimental (with a robot moderator). As participants engaged in completing a language learning task, the moderator implemented verbal and nonverbal interventions.ResultsData analysis shows that while nonverbal interventions mostly failed, verbal interventions had a success rate of 88.24% in encouraging participants to start speaking. Regarding the talking time of group members, results show significant differences between the mean scores in both conditions, indicating a more balanced participation of group members in the experimental condition. Participants also formed positive attitudes toward the robot moderator.DiscussionIn conclusion, using the robot moderator positively affected group dynamics by encouraging quiet participants to be more active and rendering the interaction to be more balanced.
Ali Asadi
2 weeks 1 day ago
Many developing countries, especially in Africa, depended on the traditional form of teaching and learning, which was reconfigured due to the restrictions that came with the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. In view of this, this study sought to explore technologically innovative teaching and learning strategies that can be employed by teachers in Zimbabwe to ensure that teaching and learning processes persist despite constraining circumstances, such as pandemics. A qualitative and instrumental case study design with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions was employed. The independence and autonomy theory was used to provide a grounding base for understanding effective technologies that can be used in the context of crises. The study sample of 12 general teachers, two information and communication technology teachers, two educational psychologists, and 24 learners was drawn from the target population through a purposive sampling process. It was revealed that the adoption of e-learning, the use of mobile learning, the use of social media, and the use of virtual classrooms could allow teaching and learning processes to continue in the context of crises. The study recommends that learning institutions should formalise the use of various electronic platforms in education. The research also recommends the adoption, control, and management of various platforms, such as e-learning, mobile learning, social media use, and the use of virtual classrooms in the teaching and learning process.
Logic Magwa
3 weeks 1 day ago
IntroductionTeaching climate change requires teachers to have the educational resources that will facilitate teaching this content and visualize how a global problem has various local implications. In Chile, the capacity for environmental data collection and use at the school level remains limited, hindering evidence-based and context-aware climate education.MethodsThis study follows a Design-Based Research (DBR) approach and comprises three main phases: (1) the participatory design of an environmental monitoring station based on the needs identified by in-service teachers for teaching climate change; (2) the development and implementation of a professional development course to support teachers in the appropriation of the technological resource; and (3) the analysis of learning experiences designed by teachers who integrated the technology into their pedagogical practices.ResultsTeachers successfully designed active learning experiences that incorporated local environmental data. These experiences promoted the development of scientific skills and 21st-century competencies, contextualized within local territories and cultures, with the potential of opening new spaces for learning beyond the classroom.DiscussionThe integration of the monitoring station transformed teachers’ views of technology, shifting from an instrumental perspective to one linked to key scientific inquiry processes. It also supported the design of active and contextualized learning experiences that promote scientific and 21st-century skills. The relevance and low cost of the resource make it a viable option for scaling, although challenges remain in teacher training related to basic statistics and environmental data management.
Sonia Pino
3 weeks 4 days ago
IntroductionEducational Data Mining (EDM) involves analysing educational data to identify patterns and trends. By uncovering these insights, educators can better understand student learning, optimise teaching methods, and refine curriculum. One of the main tasks in educational data mining is predicting the student’s academic performance because it makes it possible to provide appropriate interventions supporting students’ achievements. Predicting the student’s academic performance also helps to identify at-risk students and explore the possibility of providing intervention techniques.MethodsIn this paper, a deep learning model using a Bi-LSTM network is introduced to predict second term GPA.ResultsThe model had an average accuracy of 88.23% and was statistically better than traditional machine learning algorithms such as CatBoost, XGBoost, Hist Gradient Boosting, and LightGBM for accuracy, precision, recall, or F1-score metrics. The results are also analysed with the help of SHAP values for model interpretability to understand feature contributions, making the proposed framework more transparent. The performance of models is also compared using various statistical tests.DiscussionThe results demonstrate that BI-LSTM performance is significantly different from other models. Hence, the proposed model provides a way to prevent student dropouts and improve academic achievements.
Emi Kalita
1 month ago
IntroductionThis study examines the perception of presence among students using virtual reality (VR) compared to iPads. The research aimed to provide deeper insights into students' immersive experiences and identify factors influencing perceived presence.Method and resultsUsing a comparative approach, we show a significant difference between the two groups, with students using VR reporting a heightened sense of immersion. Additionally, participant's previous experience with immersive VR affect the presence significantly, while we report no detectable effects of age and gender.DiscussionThese findings contribute to the discussion on innovative teaching methods, supporting the development of more effective and inclusive virtual learning environments.
Christine Austermann
1 month ago
IntroductionThe growing importance of programming in higher education requires innovative approaches to facilitate learning. Video games have emerged as an engaging tool that enhances problem-solving skills and logical thinking.MethodologyThis study examines the effectiveness of Unity Visual Scripting in fostering programming competencies among university students. A project-based methodology was employed in the course “Physics for Videogames” during the third semester of the Engineering in Video Game Development and Virtual Reality program at the Universidad de Talca, Chile.ResultsThrough game development, students overcame challenges associated with text-based programming. The results indicate significant improvements in students' computational thinking, motivation, and collaboration.DiscussionBy reducing syntactical barriers, Visual Scripting promotes an accessible learning experience that supports the transition to advanced programming concepts. These findings suggest that integrating game development into university curricula enhances digital literacy and fosters an inclusive programming education environment.
Luis Castillo-Salvatierra
1 month 2 weeks ago
IntroductionIn the current era of digital information overload, individuals are inundated with content of varying quality and truthfulness. Critical evaluation of such content is essential to distinguish between legitimate information and misinformation or fakeness. Despite this need, there is limited empirical evidence on the effectiveness of training in critical thinking skills for enhancing such discernment.MethodsThis study operationalized critical thinking into six measurable concepts: causation and correlation, independent data and replicates, reproducibility, credibility of sources, experimental control, and statistical significance. A pre-registered randomized controlled trial was conducted involving educational video interventions aimed at improving participants’ understanding and application of these concepts. Participants were evaluated based on their ability to identify fake tweets and misinformation both before and after the intervention.ResultsA strong correlation was found in the pre-intervention phase between mastery of critical thinking concepts and the ability to identify misinformation and fakeness. However, the video-based intervention did not significantly enhance critical thinking skills nor improve the participants’ accuracy in identifying misinformation compared to the control group. The intervention’s inefficacy was consistent across various demographic and educational backgrounds.DiscussionThe findings suggest that while mastery of critical thinking is associated with greater resilience against misinformation, current educational interventions—such as short video lectures—are insufficient. There is a pressing need to develop and empirically validate more effective, possibly interactive, training modalities that can foster misinformation-specific critical thinking skills in the general population.
Simone Redaelli
1 month 3 weeks ago
In the specific context of geography and science teachers' training, socio-environmental problems, including climate change, highlight the need for professional development that facilitates the integration of social and environmental dimensions in favor of sustainability. This perspective seeks to promote wellbeing for all within planetary limits. This article addresses key questions: how has teacher education been structured to address climate change? What topics, methodologies and strategies have been used in this training? Where are documented research studies located on the disciplinary/transdisciplinary spectrum? This study will present the main results and knowledge derived from bibliographic research carried out in accordance with the Prisma 2020 protocol, aimed at identifying trends, challenges and good practices in education for sustainability. The results reveal multiple perspectives, contents, strategies and methodologies that enable us to determine the existence of a gradient ranging from disciplinary perspectives of climate sciences to interdisciplinary approaches that glean knowledge from several disciplines, such as ecology, economics and social sciences. In addition to a broader perspective of climate change, involving not only scientific knowledge, but also local and indigenous knowledge and associated ethical and moral perspectives, which bring these approaches closer to the transdisciplinary perspective.
Roberto Morales-Aguilar
1 month 3 weeks ago
Transversal competences, such as flexibility, collaboration or critical thinking, are proving to be key not only in academic performance but also in professional and personal performance. In response to a growing demand for research and training in these competences, this study originates from a teaching innovation project at the University of Granada (Spain) with the aim of designing the base structure of a psycho-educational intervention aimed at undergraduate students at the Spanish public university. For this purpose, the European framework for Personal, Social and Learning to Learn Key Competence, LifeComp, is used as the base line. This work proposes a coherent, pedagogically sound, general competence-based programme that blends with the official, more-specific competence-based curriculum, to deepen learning and proactively respond to the complex challenges our society is currently facing. In order to do so, different levels of proficiency for each of the nine LifeComp competences are suggested, as well as an outline for the design of the training action. This work has served as the basis for the creation of a psycho-educational training programme whose parallel study has been registered on www.clinicaltrials.gov under NCT05598944 and NCT NCT05775978 registries. The resulting programme is currently being taught to all undergraduate students at the University of Granada (Spain).
Meriem Khaled Gijón
1 month 4 weeks ago
Anila Jaleel
1 month 4 weeks ago
This study aims to explore students' associations with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how these perceptions have evolved following the release of Chat GPT. A free word association test was conducted with 836 German high school students aged 10–20. Associations were collected before and after the release of Chat GPT, processed, cleaned, and inductively categorized into nine groups: technical association, assistance system, future, human, negative, positive, artificial, others, and no association. In total, 355 distinct terms were mentioned, with “robot” emerging as the most frequently cited, followed by “computer” and “Chat GPT,” indicating a strong connection between AI and technological applications. The release of Chat GPT had a significant impact on students' associations, with a marked increase in mentions of Chat GPT and related assistance systems, such as Siri and Snapchat AI. The results reveal a shift in students' perception of AI-from abstract, futuristic concepts to more immediate, application-based associations. Network analysis further demonstrated how terms were semantically clustered, emphasizing the prominence of assistance systems in students' conceptions. The findings underscore the importance of integrating AI education that fosters both critical reflection and practical understanding of AI, encouraging responsible engagement with the technology. These insights are crucial for shaping the future of AI literacy in schools and universities.
Marvin Henrich
1 month 4 weeks ago
IntroductionAccording to the Digital Curricula Report on the status of online learning in higher education in the United States, about one-third of higher education is online, a number that has substantially increased after the pandemic (Analytics, 2022). As of October 1, 2024, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has accredited 3,611 programs across 702 institutions in the United States, but only 46 institutions offered 100% online programs, which is significantly lower than other fields. This study aims to explore the factors that influence the acceptance of online learning and teaching in engineering education from the perspectives of students and teachers after the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThis study followed the PRISMA guidelines and included only peer-reviewed articles published between 2020 and 2024, focusing on online engineering education. This systematic review explored the variables affecting student and teacher acceptance of online learning in order to more clearly define challenges in delivering online engineering education and to identify avenues to improve and strengthen it. The inclusion criteria focused on articles addressing instructional design and learning experiences in online education, while the exclusion criteria eliminated studies without key data and those outside the specified timeframe.DiscussionThe findings of this systematic review highlighted several factors influencing the acceptance of online engineering education, such as technology design, individual characteristics, and social factors. These factors are important for creating effective, engaging, and accessible learning environments that enhance student performance and satisfaction. Further research is needed to develop an approach to examine factor interactions in different contexts, and create a framework aligned with ABET accreditation standards for assessing long-term learning outcomes.
Yu-Ping Hsu
2 months ago
Despite a growing body of research on online teaching in psychotherapy training, existing studies focus on students’ experiences, leaving the perspectives of lecturers underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating lecturers’ views on the transition to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through 13 semi-structured expert interviews with lecturers at the Faculty of Psychotherapy Science at Sigmund Freud Private University, conducted between November 2022 and December 2023. Thematic content analysis was employed to analyze the data. The findings indicate that online teaching is suitable for specific components of psychotherapy training, such as theoretical foundations, research methods, supervision, and individual self-experience. However, practice-oriented training and group self-experience, which depend on direct personal interaction, were significantly hindered by the online format. Lecturers identified challenges in fostering engagement, sustaining attention, and maintaining relational depth, largely due to the lack of non-verbal cues and shared physical spaces. The study concludes that relational skills, central to psychotherapy training, are best developed through in-person interaction. Nonetheless, a blended learning approach that combines online and face-to-face teaching is recommended. Online tools provide flexibility and efficiency, particularly for theoretical components, but their successful integration requires thoughtful course design and targeted lecturer training. The findings underscore the need for a balanced approach to optimize the strengths of both online and traditional teaching formats in psychotherapy training.
Constanze Springinsfeld
2 months ago
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become popular and has changed how we do things. Generative AI has an impact on educational systems. One of the popular types of Generative AI is ChatGPT. Using ChatGPT presents both benefits and challenges for students. It is important to understand how our students are using this technology. This study examines Jordanian education students' use of ChatGPT for personal and academic purposes and the differences in usage based on gender and academic level. The study followed a descriptive research design in which 134 participants completed an online questionnaire. The results showed that students' use of ChatGPT for personal and academic purposes was generally moderate, with tasks such as generating translations and writing prompts to generate short, creative ideas or themes for writing assignments being the most frequently used features. Students' use of ChatGPT for personal purposes slightly exceeded their academic use of the tool, but no significant differences were observed based on gender or academic level. Despite the proven benefits of ChatGPT, the findings highlight that ChatGPT is not yet fully integrated into students' routines. Tailored training and awareness initiatives could enhance its adoption for personal and academic purposes among university students.
AlMothana Gasaymeh
2 months ago
Constructivist learning theory emphasizes the subjectivity, sociality, and contextuality of learning, promoting learning through the creation of problem situations and guiding learners to collaborate and interact. Museums conduct educational activities for visitors through exhibits composed of physical objects and other supplementary forms. This paper proposes a model that integrates constructivist learning with game-based learning design, exploring the intrinsic mechanisms and implementation paths of game-based learning in museums to enhance the promotion of cultural heritage. Based on a hypothetical game scenario and analysis of museum game design practices, the paper discusses museum game design schemes grounded in constructivist principles, delves into the design methods of game-based learning in museums, and clarifies the pathways for embedding game elements and mechanisms into the use of cultural heritage resources. Through the analysis of the hypothetical game and established museum game design practices, this study demonstrates that museum game-based learning offers an effective approach to enhancing visitor engagement and learning. The application of the proposed constructivist GBL framework reveals how its six dimensions: self-determination, contextualization, social interaction, knowledge construction, meaning-making, and immediate feedback are reflected in actual implementations to varying degrees. The results of the analysis indicate that constructivist game-based learning holds strong potential for enhancing museum education. It is recommended that museums consider using a game-based learning model to design educational activities and exhibitions. To strengthen its applicability, future work could integrate inclusive design, ethical reflection, and longitudinal strategies. These efforts will help museums create more adaptive, inclusive, and sustainable learning experiences.
Hui Li
2 months 2 weeks ago
Entrepreneurship education (EE) through digital transformation has recently received scholarly attention, with an exponential increase in publication and citation rates. A bibliometric analysis by visualizing connected networks using Vosviewer is used in the analysis to investigate trends, research topics, and notable works in the field of digital transformation in entrepreneurship education. The comprehensive review scans the evolution of this integrated topic based on 204 papers taken from Web of Science from 2018 to 2022. Results show that digital transformation has significantly impacted various industries and sectors, including entrepreneurship education. The increased scholarly activity in the domain of digital transformation and entrepreneurship education suggests that it is an active and vibrant area of inquiry, attracting the attention and contributions of a diverse range of researchers and practitioners. The integration of digitalization with entrepreneurship education is an important building block for entrepreneurship development. Future research could consider a wider data source to better understand trends in digital integration in entrepreneurship education and its development.
Tadesse Weyuma Bulto
3 months ago
This study examines the prediction accuracy of ensemble machine learning models by comparing local and global precision, recall, and accuracy for multiclass grading of engineering students. It also investigates the performance of various machine learning models in predicting the multiclass grading outcomes for these students. The primary goal is to address challenges in multiclass data preparation and evaluate the best machine learning models using both micro and macro accuracy metrics derived from baseline comparisons. The results highlight a significant comparative analysis of prediction accuracy across different algorithms, emphasizing the importance of employing multiple receiver operating characteristic curves, areas under the curves, and a one-vs-rest classification approach when target features are represented as letter grades. The algorithms examined include decision trees, K-nearest neighbors, random forests, support vector machines, XGBoost, gradient boosting, and bagging. Gradient boosting achieves the highest global accuracy for macro predictions at 67%. It is followed by random forests at 64%, bagging at 65%, K-nearest neighbors at 60%, XGBoost at 60%, decision trees at 55%, and support vector machines at 59%. When considering micro prediction accuracy at the individual student level, support vector machines, random forests, and XGBoost closely align with true student grades, with accuracies of 19, 22, and 33%, respectively, at baseline. Notably, these models accurately predict the C grade with 97% precision, whereas predicting the A grade proves more challenging, with an accuracy of only 66%. These findings are further corroborated by precision-recall error plots. The grid search for random forest algorithms achieved a score of 79% when optimally tuned; however, the training accuracy was 99%. The results have implications for both students and educational institutions, helping identify areas for improvement and recognizing high achievers, which ultimately contributes to enhanced academic outcomes for engineering students.
Yagyanath Rimal