Search Results (110)

Assessing e-learning students’ satisfaction with lecturers’ interactions in asynchronous forums is essential for enhancing teaching and learning processes. The discussion forum allows students to share comments and ideas with peers or lecturers, stimulating diverse perspectives and improving learning efficacy. However, lecturers’ responses are often similar or redundant to previous students’ comments, limiting feedback depth and potentially reducing students’ perceived value of the interaction. Machine learning classifiers have been widely used to assess satisfaction based on sentiment or semantic similarity. However, integrating sentiment and semantic similarity between students’ comments or opinions and lecturers’ responses in asynchronous online discussion forums has received limited attention and may be improved. Through this research, we propose a novel model called E-learning Satisfaction Assessment using Textual Neural Network (E-SATNet). The E-SATNet model has two main sub-networks. The first sub-network employs a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to extract sentiment-related features from students’ reactions to lecturers’ responses. The second sub-network utilizes a Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) to extract semantic features from lecturers’ responses and compute their similarity with the overall discussion content. Evaluation results show that E-SATNet effectively assesses satisfaction, achieving an average F1-score of 88.12. Full article

As new technologies shape education, helping students develop historical consciousness remains a challenge. Building on Nordic curricula that emphasize students as both “history-made” and “history-making” citizens, this paper proposes an approach that integrates artificial intelligence (AI) with implicit digital game-based learning (DGBL) to learn and develop historical consciousness in education. We outline how traditional, lecture-driven history teaching often fails to convey the abstract principles of historicity (the idea that individual identity, social institutions, values, and ways of thinking are historically conditioned) and the interpretation of the past, understanding of the present, and perspective on the future. Building on Jeismann’s definition of historical consciousness, we identify a gap between the theory-rich notions of historical consciousness and classroom practice, where many educators either do not recognize it or interpret it intuitively from the curriculum’s limited wording, leaving the concept generally absent from the classroom. We then examine three theory-based methods of enriching teaching and learning. Game-based learning provides an interactive environment in which students assume roles, make decisions, and observe consequences, experiencing historical consciousness instead of only reading about it. AI contributes personalized, adaptive content: branching narratives evolve based on individual choices, non-player characters respond dynamically, and analytics guide scaffolding. Implicit learning theory suggests that embedding core principles directly into gameplay allows students to internalize complex ideas without interrupting immersion; they learn by doing, not by explicit instruction. Finally, we propose a model in which these elements combine: (1) game mechanics and narrative embed principles of historical consciousness; (2) AI dynamically adjusts challenges, generates novel scenarios, and delivers feedback; (3) key concepts are embedded into the game narrative so that students absorb them implicitly; and (4) follow-up reflection activities transform tacit understanding into explicit knowledge. We conclude by outlining a research agenda that includes prototyping interactive environments, conducting longitudinal studies to assess students’ learning outcomes, and exploring transferability to other abstract concepts. By situating students within scenarios that explore historicity and temporal interplay, this approach seeks to transform history education into an immersive, reflective practice where students see themselves as history-made and history-making and view the world through a historical lens. Full article

This article explores the implementation of a tandem course that integrates gamification and interactive teaching methods and investigates how this model affects teacher motivation and participant engagement, particularly in higher education contexts. This study also highlights the potential of tandem teaching beyond its traditional use in language learning and provides qualitative and quantitative insights into the experiences of both course participants and educators, showing how collaborative, gamified teaching strategies can inspire more effective, student-centered pedagogy. It examines how the course was developed, the outcomes in terms of teachers’ engagement and the enhancement in learning experiences, and proposes a new perspective on how education can be restructured. The study emphasizes that traditional, lecture-based teaching is no longer sufficient in engaging modern learners and teachers too. By adopting more digital, student-centered approaches, we suggest that subjects can be reimagined as more interactive and teacher–student-friendly. The main question stated in the article sounds like the following: “How does gamification and interactive teaching methodologies, like tandem course, affect teacher and participant engagement and motivation?”. To address this question, a study was conducted based on the tandem course titled “Gamification in the learning process and interactive teaching methodologies” prepared within the FORTHEM Alliance by three united universities. It was delivered online during four meetings in May 2024. Full article

Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC); domestic and commercial buildings; district energy; industrial processes and water treatment; municipal wastewater and water supply; and agriculture and irrigation, among others, represent a wide breadth of domains where pumps are used. From this perspective, the number of pumps that will be required to ensure future human demands is expected to increase significantly; accordingly, power consumption is also expected to increase sharply. Therefore, the energy efficiency of pumps will become an even more important topic of concern when designing a pumping installation. The objective of the present study is to introduce a user-friendly Excel workbook that enables the design of pumping systems with centrifugal pumps. It was initially conceived for use in Hydraulic Machines Master’s lectures, but its use might be examined from a wider perspective. The workbook includes 22 worksheets, all linked to each other, addressing different aspects of the design. Special attention is given to the calculation of the major and minor head losses, to the cavitation phenomenon, to the use of dimensionless coefficients to determine the rotation speed to obtain a specific operating point, and to the calculation of the system curve. Today, energy efficiency represents an important goal in every pumping facility; therefore, one of the objectives of this tool is to enable the user to quantify both the shaft power and the efficiency of different operating points, thus allowing a sustained definition of the best solution. Full article

This research investigates how community participation can be enhanced to support the sustainable reconstruction of residential heritage in the Old City of Aleppo. In the aftermath of the Syrian war, reconstruction interventions on traditional courtyard houses have been affected by several issues, such as a lack of knowledge among junior architects and craftsmen (regarding houses’ conditions, relevant regulations, and residents’ needs), and limited residents’ participation in decision-making processes. Drawing on international experiences in similar post-war contexts that highlight the role of education and a participatory approach as critical components for sustainable reconstruction efforts. This research conducts a comparative analysis of several international capacity-building and co-creation initiatives to identify effective methods of stakeholder engagement. Building on these findings, the study proposes an education programme tailored to the socio-cultural and regulatory context of the Old City of Aleppo. The proposed programme integrates academic knowledge with community perspectives using validated teaching and participatory methods, such as photovoice, walkthrough, and lectures etc., within a co-creation framework. It aims to raise awareness, build capacity, and enable residents through participation in all phases of the programme: co-diagnostic, co-design, co-implementation and co-monitoring. This way, residents are empowered to play an active role in interventions on residential heritage and to align these interventions with their needs and current regulations. Thus, the research presents a scalable model for cultural and socially sustainable residential heritage reconstruction. Full article

Background: Nursing students often face high academic and emotional demands, which can negatively affect both their mental health and academic performance. From a salutogenic perspective, the sense of coherence (SOC) is considered a key protective factor in managing stress and fostering resilience. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the SOC levels among nursing students and examine their associations with perceived academic stress and sociodemographic variables. Methods: A multicenter, cross-sectional, exploratory study was conducted in a sample of 1301 undergraduate nursing students from four universities in Spain and Chile. Participants completed the Orientation to Life Questionnaire, a validated instrument assessing SOC and its three dimensions: comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. Sociodemographic data and students’ perceived stress in relation to key academic activities were also collected. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed, including t-tests and ANOVA. Results: The mean SOC score was 62.65 (SD = 12.36), with no significant differences between universities. Significant associations (p < 0.05) were found between SOC scores and age, marital status, academic year, work status, and university entry path, but not with gender or caregiving responsibilities. Students aged ≥29 years and those who were married or working had higher SOC scores. Higher levels of perceived stress in lectures, seminars, clinical practice, group work, and written assignments were significantly associated with lower SOC scores. Conclusions: This study’s findings suggest that a stronger SOC is associated with lower perceived academic stress and certain sociodemographic characteristics. Integrating salutogenic approaches into nursing curricula could strengthen students’ SOC, promoting their mental well-being and academic resilience. Full article

Under the ideas of ‘hinges’ and ‘pictures’, as these relate to deep disagreement, Wittgenstein’s view of religious belief is a multifaceted challenge to conceptions of thought-world relations. In this article, I discuss Cora Diamond’s analysis of this challenge. Diamond herself is not particularly interested in hinges; I try to understand why. I first bring in a discussion between Michael Williams and Duncan Pritchard on how to read On Certainty. This allows me to identify Diamond’s perspective on deep disagreement and pictures: she concentrates on making sense, and not directly on knowledge. To further clarify her perspective, I introduce Hilary Putnam’s reading of the Lectures on Religious Belief, which proposes a cognitivist view of religion as ethics, centering on the notion of picture. Although Diamond is close to Putnam, for her, the most important challenge posed by religious belief lies not with epistemological issues of rational versus arational grounds of belief, or cognitivism versus non-cognitivism in ethics, but rather in making us drop the Fregean (and Tractarian) idea of the thinkableness of all thoughts, making place for ‘irreplaceable pictures’. I end by suggesting that Diamond’s analysis sheds light on often uncontested assumptions about the natures of thought and communication. Full article

This research is situated within the Irish tertiary educational space, between higher education (HE) and further education and training (FET). The higher education organisation in which this research is set is the Literacy Development Centre (LDC)—South-East Technological University (SETU), and the further education organisation is the Longford Westmeath Education Training Board (LWETB). This study focuses on the provision of a 30 Credit NFQ Level 6 qualification entitled Certificate in Adult Literacy Studies. Methods include multiple focus groups to capture the differing accounts of experience. The findings of this research present a unique 360-degree view of experiences of the blended delivery of this curriculum programme. Voices reported here include all stakeholders, specifically the people who logistically manage the programme from both the HE and FE perspectives, the lecturers and their students. The research focuses specifically on the opportunities, the positives, the challenges and the lessons learned for all the research participants involved in delivering this programme within this tertiary space. This article concludes with a discussion of the impact of this type of academic delivery upon the students and other respective organisational stakeholders from both the HE and the FE perspectives. Full article

Background/Objectives: Care-oriented perspectives in the LGBTIQ+ community are essential to ensure adequate and comprehensive health care. This population faces multiple barriers imposed by society, including discrimination in access to healthcare services. This research aims to analyse the perspective of nursing students in relation to the provision of care for people with sexual and gender diversity. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological research-action study was conducted. Data were collected using a semi-structured face-to-face interview consisting of 23 questions. The interviews were transcribed, read thoroughly and analysed. Results: Forty students were interviewed, and four main themes emerged: (1) personal perspective, (2) professional and disciplinary training, (3) nursing education and (4) health implications. The results show that students have mixed perspectives and attitudes towards LGBTQ+ populations, although they are interested in receiving more LGBTQ-focused training. Furthermore, respondents reported that the training received in the degree course and the preparation of lecturers in relation to caring for LGBTQ+ people are lacking. Finally, it emerged that inequalities in access to health services can still be observed and that there is a need for the development of manuals that are at the forefront of comprehensive health in this population. Conclusions: Based on the results, the implementation of Madeleine Leininger’s Sunrise model is suggested. Acceptance of sexual and gender diversity is essential to ensure the elimination of inequalities and make care a transformative process. Finally, education on these aspects needs to be implemented by including activities such as practical training scenarios, workshops and conferences to highlight the specific needs of the LGBTIQ+ population. Full article

Gender inequality remains a critical challenge in Vietnamese higher education, particularly regarding how academic roles and advancement opportunities are distributed. Despite existing policies promoting gender equality, gaps persist in leadership and career development, potentially limiting women’s representation and growth. This study examines Vietnamese educators’ perspectives on gender equality in higher education, focusing on academic rank awareness and attitudes toward gender-related issues. A quantitative research design was employed, using a structured survey distributed among faculty members across different academic ranks, including lecturers, senior lecturers, associate professors, and professors. Data were analysed through statistical measures, including frequencies and percentages, mean scores, standard deviations, the Mann–Whitney U test, the Kruskal–Wallis H-test, and post hoc analysis to assess variations in perspectives on gender equality based on academic positions. The findings reveal significant differences in gender equality awareness across academic ranks. Educators in senior positions reported greater recognition of gender disparities, especially in leadership roles and promotion processes, than those in junior roles, who exhibited less awareness of such issues. This study’s practical implications suggest that Vietnamese higher education institutions should adopt targeted interventions, such as gender awareness programs and transparent promotion processes, to foster a more inclusive environment. Additionally, mentorship programs for female academics could enhance their career advancement opportunities. This research contributes original insights into how the academic hierarchy affects gender equality perceptions within Vietnamese higher education, offering a basis for the development of policies that support equitable career pathways. Full article

The need to review maritime education has been highlighted in the relevant literature. Maritime curricula should incorporate recent technological advances, as well as address the needs of the maritime sector. In this paper, the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) and the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) are utilized in order to propose a fuzzy multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methodology that can be used to assess the importance of new technologies in maritime education and design a fuzzy evaluation model that can assist in maritime education policy-making. This study integrates the perspectives of the main maritime education stakeholders, namely, lecturers and maritime sector management. We selected data from a group of 19 experienced maritime professors and maritime business managers. The results indicate that new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), the Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins (DTs), and cybersecurity, as well as eLearning platforms, constitute a set of requirements that maritime education policies should meet by designing their curricula appropriately. This study suggests that fuzzy logic MCDM methods can be used as a human-centered AI approach for developing explainable education policy-making models that integrate stakeholder requirements and capture the subjectivity that is often inherited in their perspectives. Full article

Academies were a distinctive type of educational and cultural institution in ancient China, centers of private education, scholarly debate, and cultural preservation, and their architectural complexes typically integrated lecture halls, library buildings, ceremonial spaces, and gardens. The decoration of academy architecture embodies the essence of national civilization. In order to reveal the diversity of decorative patterns of traditional Chinese academy architecture and its cultural characteristics, this research focuses on traditional academy architecture in eastern China. This study uses diversity index determination to visualize and analyze the diversity of decorative patterns of academy architecture in eastern China and constructs a network model of decorative patterns using the social network analysis (SNA) method. This study reveals that in the traditional academy architecture of five provinces in eastern China, (1) the diversity of decorative patterns is remarkable, with regional characteristics, and shows a trend of unity within the region; (2) the network structure of decorative patterns shows remarkable stability on the whole, and the internal members of the pattern network system constructed with Confucian culture as the core are in close contact with each other; and (3) the cultural characteristics of decorative patterns are mainly reflected in the dominance of Confucian culture, the integration of Buddhist culture, and the uniqueness of regional culture, with Confucian culture occupying the main position that establishes the overall style and spiritual connotation of the decorative patterns in academy architecture. This study provides a new perspective and methodology for the study of traditional architectural decorative patterns, and by using comprehensive data analysis tools and quantitative methods, we are able to intuitively reveal the differences and connections of the cultural characteristics behind decorative patterns. Full article

There are calls for the democratisation of higher education in line with the principles of social justice. Collaboration with students offers the potential for creating a more inclusive higher education environment, and open textbook development initiatives can be a vehicle for change. This paper focuses on the experiences of students as co-creators in open textbook initiatives at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Drawing on interviews with 11 open textbook collaborators, this paper utilises Nancy Fraser’s social justice framework to explore students’ perspectives on injustices, challenges of collaboration and co-creation, and power dynamics in student–staff partnerships. The study shows that students experience and navigate various injustices in their classroom contexts related to economic maldistribution, cultural misrecognition and political misrepresentation. It reveals a complex interrelationship between student voice, power dynamics in the classroom, and the power of student–staff partnerships to build confidence and flatten hierarchies in open textbook co-creation. The student views presented here provide powerful evidence of a range of benefits they experience when the traditional hierarchies between student and lecturer are levelled through collaborative open textbook development processes. Results indicate that co-creation activities enabled them to have a voice through the power of publication and own their academic journeys. Full article

This qualitative study explores the complex landscape of entrepreneurship education by focusing on lecturer competency, entrepreneurship curriculum, and pedagogy. This study addresses critical gaps in the current literature by investigating key questions: ideal instructional approaches for entrepreneurship, essential components of the curriculum, providers of entrepreneurial knowledge, and overarching strategies to foster entrepreneurship in higher education. Employing the Gioia methodology, this research adopted a qualitative inductive approach by collecting data from 14 participants actively engaged in entrepreneurship education and development across various South African universities. The findings highlight the diverse perspectives of academics and underscore the importance of collaborative and interactive teaching methods in preparing students for entrepreneurial challenges. This research contributes valuable insights to inform policy and practice in enhancing entrepreneurship education within South African higher education institutions (HEIs). Full article

Higher education has witnessed a massive transformation due to the advent of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as ChatGPT. In essence, AI has transformed various aspects of society as a whole. Despite the growing interest in applying AI tools such as ChatGPT in higher education, there is limited understanding of lecturers’ perceptions regarding their use in teaching and learning contexts. Studies reported in the literature have not comprehensively explored lecturers’ attitudes towards AI adoption, particularly in terms of its impact on classroom activities, assessment, and feedback. This study aims to fill this gap by qualitatively studying lecturers’ perspectives. The findings reveal that the advent of AI was met with mixed feelings among lecturers. Some lecturers embraced AI technologies and developed mechanisms for utilizing them in the classroom, while others resisted the change. This research is significant, as it can inform best practices and guide future implementation strategies of technologies in education. Full article