Education & Pedagogy

In the June 2007 issue of "Phi Delta Kappan" (EJ767455), James Howlett and Brad Huff authored an article about the strong relationship between basic skills in math and reading and such technical skills as machining, drafting, and working with electricity or electronics. They also suggested that, as a result of No Child Left Behind, the public school curriculum was fast being turned into a two-subject curriculum. Beyond those key points, the article portrayed an overly vocational vision of technology education that left Litowitz and Warner feeling that an opportunity to explain the valuable role that technology education can play as part of the general public school curriculum had been wasted. In this article, Litowitz and Warner provide some historical and philosophical perspective on the differences between vocational education, industrial arts, and technology education. They state that the curriculum of industrial arts served its purpose when the U.S. was focused on an industry-based economy, but that it is necessary today to look ahead to a different type of future--one that is filled with the technological artifacts of human ingenuity and creativity, but has moved beyond the industries of the last century. They feel that it is critical for "Kappan" readers to be aware that contemporary technology education curricula are different from the outdated industrial arts model and represent a valuable asset in any forward-looking general education curriculum. Technology education provides all students with opportunities and experiences to develop technological literacy. It is for this reason that technology education should be a part of every student's intellectual diet as he or she moves through school. (Contains 7 endnotes.)

As experiential learning can play an important role in an individual's career decision self-efficacy, this descriptive study sought to describe and compare secondary agricultural education students' and secondary non-agricultural education students' perceptions of career decisions with the intent of improving access to experiential learning opportunities at the secondary level. Using a descriptive research design, the study utilized the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSES) to measure the five subscales of career decision-making: self-appraisal, occupational information, goal selection, planning, and problem-solving. Data was collected from two sample populations. The first sample was drawn from a population of secondary Agricultural Education students enrolled in one of eight programs in Central Pennsylvania. The second sample was drawn from a population of secondary students not enrolled in Agricultural Education from one suburban high school in Central Pennsylvania. Agricultural Education students reported higher means in all five subscales of the CDSES compared to the non-Agricultural Education students. Both the Agricultural Education and non-Agricultural Education populations reported the highest means in Self-Appraisal (M=3.83, M=3.69) and Problem-Solving (M=3.78, M=3.72), respectively. Data for overall SAE participation were consistent with prior research. Agricultural Education students with greater participation in SAE activities reported higher means in all areas of the CDSES. Recommendations from study results include a greater inclusion and implementation of Foundational SAEs into Agricultural Education programs, expand experiential learning opportunities for non-CTE students, and further research into quantifying the impact of experiential learning participation on future employment of high school graduates.

Kyrgyzstan, like other countries of the former Soviet Union, traditionally occupied a relatively high position in the world from the standpoint of the average level of education of its population. Any gender inequality when it came to obtaining an education was insignificant by international standards. However, the conversion to market relations, the problem of poverty that has emerged in the past few decades, and cutbacks in state funds could hardly fail to set back advances in the field of education and increase gender inequality in this sphere. Comparing the distribution of students in various specialties by gender, this study finds that the proportion of women is substantially higher not only in such "female" spheres as education (80.4 percent of the total number of college and university students), the humanities (69.1 percent), and health care (62 percent), but also in the normally "male" specialties (65.2 percent). These have become less popular among men, but they are being successfully pursued by women. The proportion of women is also a bit higher among students majoring in economics (52 percent) and interdisciplinary sciences (50.6 percent). Men regularly lead in agriculture and forestry (84.2 percent), the service sphere (83.1 percent), architecture and construction (78.9 percent), technical specialties (77.1 percent), and law (72.7 percent). Having examined changes in education in the period of transition the authors find that women in Kyrgyzstan pursue an education more actively. (Contains 14 endnotes and 2 tables.)

The historical Hindi-Urdu language strife intensified after the Indian 'Mutiny' in 1857 played a pivotal role in shaping the two-nation theory, culminating in the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. Under English colonial rule, English language education became synonymous with power and job opportunities, creating divisions within the Muslim community over language preference. Analyzing Pakistan's language education policy through Farley, Leonardi and Donnor's (2021) five components of education policy distraction framework provides a structured approach to evaluate its impact on social mobility and English language education access. The analysis highlights the distractors of English-medium education, which include hierarchical multilingual policy, prioritizing English as the official language, using limited budgeting excuses for not professionally developing public school teachers, reliance on traditional English language teaching methods, and treating English as merely a subject. The findings emphasize the need to reform Pakistan's language education policy to address socioeconomic disparities, promote equitable access to English language education and mitigate the distractors. Recommended reforms include reviewing the advantage of English Medium Education (EME) over public education, increasing funding, enhancing the professional development of English language teachers, drafting and implementing language policies, encouraging public-private teacher exchange programs, and introducing teacher certification and capacity-building initiatives.

Education in prison provides an opportunity for personal growth and increased professional opportunities upon release. As older people leave prison and return to communities, the need for education serves multiple functions including successful reentry and healthy aging. The aim of this research was to explore the current literature relevant to older people during incarceration and upon release. The authors conducted a systematic literature review on 15 years of research between 2008-2023 to understand how education in prison impacts older people while incarcerated and upon release. Articles published prior to 2008 were excluded from this study. Twenty-seven articles were included in the study. The study included articles both in the United States and internationally. Findings indicate that older people in prison already have a greater level of education upon incarceration and they are often excluded from opportunities like Federal Pell Grants, which are prioritized for younger learners. This limits their opportunities for further education during incarceration. However, education provides positive benefits for older learners including improved cognitive ability, increased social capital, and longevity. These benefits are pivotal to older people leaving prison who have limited opportunities for prosocial connections. Correctional and reentry efforts should emphasize learning for older adults to improve cognitive and social skills, reentry outcomes, and successful aging. Policy and research implications are discussed.

STEM education is gaining more attention due to its significant contribution to educational development. The authors employed bibliometric analysis to determine how STEM education research was developing. The study aims to present an up-to-date overview of the STEM education research landscape in the context of higher education from 2002 to 2022. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 1,282 papers were downloaded from the Scopus database for further analysis. Data analysis included publications and citations, the most frequently cited documents, sources, institutions, the most influential countries, the most prolific authors, co-authorship for authors and countries, and co-occurrence of author keywords using VOSviewer software. There has been an increasing trend in the number of publications from 2002 to 2022, peaking in 2020 with 180 articles. The work by Henderson et al. (2011) is the most frequently cited document, with 554 citations to date. In terms of the most productive source, the ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition leads the field. The United States and Purdue University emerged as the most productive country and institution, respectively. Carmen C. is identified as the most active author, while Wang X. is the most influential. Frequently occurring keywords include "STEM education", "STEM" and "Higher education." The findings highlight the practical need for higher education institutions to prioritise active learning strategies, diversity, and international collaboration to advance STEM education globally.

Research on equity has received a great amount of attention in the field of mathematics education. Although various review studies have focused on race/ethnicity issues in mathematics education, they rarely examined how the studies on race/ethnicity issues in mathematics education have evolved over time. This study examined research topics and trends of race/ethnicity studies in mathematics education while drawing on a social-ecological model. We collected 920 articles in the field of mathematics education that are relevant to the issue of race/ethnicity during the last 2 decades and implemented a topic modelling method. Findings include 11 latent topics, which were classified into 4 levels of the social-ecological model: individual ("Growth," "Identity"), interpersonal ("Immigrants," "English language learners"), community ("Kindergarten," "Course taking and college," "Culturally responsive teaching," "Intervention," "School programme and instructional practices"), and societal ("Stereotype threat," "Segregation"). Among the topics, "Identity" and "Stereotype threat" were getting more attention as hot topics, while "Course taking and college" and "School programme and instructional practices" are becoming gradually less popular. The implications were discussed related to equity issues in the field of mathematics education.

This article addresses the need to bring the museum environment closer to the students of the Faculty of Education at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). The motivation for this stems from an observed lack of artistic education among these students, specifically evidenced by a lack of familiarity with the resources and learning opportunities offered by museums. To address this issue, a mixed quantitative-qualitative methodological design was chosen, with a focus on the factors that define artistic education. The research was conducted with a population cohort of UCM students (N = 476) including future teachers, pedagogy professionals and social education professionals. The results confirm the initial hypothesis, as 82.2% of the students reported having limited knowledge of museums and their resources. Additionally, 48.3% of the participants considered their artistic education during compulsory education to have been inadequate, and of these, 78.6% stated that their teaching staff lacked the necessary knowledge. In UCM's Laboratorio Pantono innovation project (PID), 88.6% of the students of the Faculty of Education considered museum educational resources to be relevant to their education and recognised their usefulness at all educational stages. This is because these resources facilitate the acquisition of learning related to didactics and curriculum (63.3%), recreation (92.99%), expression (63.30%), and cross-cutting issues (90.3%). Based on these findings, this study underscores the need to integrate museum resources in teacher training programmes.

Background/purpose: Administrative bullying has become associated with inappropriate behaviors at work. This raised some concerns about how to define and measure it precisely. Nonetheless, there is a theoretical and practical gap in educational literature. So, this study explores the impact of administrative bullying on the quality of education. Materials/methods: The sample consisted of (300) employees selected randomly from employees working at Jordanian universities. To achieve the objectives of the study, Administrative Bullying and Quality of Education questionnaires were developed. Results: The results showed that the level of administrative bullying practiced at Jordanian universities was low (M=2.30, SD=0.13); that the level of the quality of education was moderate (M=2.69, SD=0.30). The findings also showed a negative correlation between administrative bullying and the quality of education (r=-0.047, sig. =0.413). Conclusion: The study examined the effect of administrative bullying on the quality of education and worked on identifying the level of administrative bulling at higher education institutions in Jordan, attempted to determine the level of education quality at higher education institutions in Jordan, and investigated the effect of administrative bullying on education quality at higher education institutions in Jordan, providing an instrument that can be used to determine the effect of administrative bullying on the quality of education. Limitations: The study was confined to employees at public and private universities in Jordan and this limits the generalization of the results to other populations in other geographical regions.

Gamification is seen as a paradigm shift, providing students different ways to engage, particularly in university music education, which usually does not engage all learners using traditional modalities. This study addressed the new movement of using gamified learning approaches to develop motivation, creativity and student academic success at the university level of music education programmes. The main aim of this investigation is to explore how gamification is affecting music education in institutions of higher education using a bibliometric and content analysis approach. The study will identify the dimensions of gamification in music education, how gamification has improved learning and what this could mean for the future of gamification in music education. The proposed system combines bibliometric analysis and content analysis while analysing publication trends, but also the pedagogical implications of gamification in music education. The simultaneous use of quantitative information about the prevalence of the use of gamified approaches in academic research and qualitative information about the variables contributing to student engagement with or performance depicted in these studies will be evident. Across the years represented, the study demonstrates fluctuating yet overall growth in publications about gamified learning strategies in university music education, with advanced elements consisting of points, badges and leaderboards being current and most frequently cited. While 52% of gamified strategies included advanced elements, 54.7% of respondents revealed they were not using gamification even in a trial process in their teaching practice. The future of gamification in music education is ambiguous, while 25.7% of respondents see broader adoption taking place, and 25% were unsure.

The use of game-based digital tools has become a highly relevant and dynamic element in the training of future educators, playing a pivotal role in shaping diverse teaching and learning processes. These tools offer a more engaging, effective, and interactive learning experience, designed to boost student motivation and provide immediate feedback. This study examines the impact of a didactic intervention using gamified digital tools (Genially, Quizizz, & WebQuest) on students' learning and motivation in online university classrooms. The intervention was implemented over five months with future teachers (n = 262) enrolled in Early Childhood and Primary Education programs, as well as Music and Physical Education specializations at a private Spanish university. A design involving measurements before and after the intervention was employed to assess its impact, including an exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis to validate the instrument's three-dimensional structure. The findings confirm that the use of digital games enhances students' perceptions of their own learning. Moreover, correlation analyses supported the robustness of the results, showing consistent relationships between the dimensions, while differences across age, gender, and degree type remained minimal or disappeared after the intervention. These results have practical implications for higher education, supporting the integration of such tools not only in music and physical education but across a range of curricular subjects.

Sustaining the interests of students to direct their learning capabilities has been the practice of science educators, policymakers, and academicians. However, a continuous dip in the enrolment of students in STEM in higher education is an issue of concern. In recent eras, STEM education has gained the attention of academicians, policymakers, and researchers due to a drop in student grades. The growing boom towards STEM makes it conceptual and contextual content to be discussed. The concept focuses mainly on strengthening the curriculum at the PK-12 level. The need to focus on the subject is the response to prepare the youth with the logical ability to deal with the global challenges that impact the economy, environment, and outcome-based knowledge system. Many researchers describe STEM education as an opportunity for future jobs. The significance of the study lies in preparing the youth with the skills required for the future. By fostering a deep understanding of STEM disciplines, the education system aims to develop a generation capable of driving economic growth, addressing environmental issues, and contributing to societal advancements. However, there is a continuous decline in learners' interest in taking up STEM education as their career. Thus, the paper focuses on the importance of STEM education, its pedagogy, and the reasons for the reduction in enrolment. It is time to take action on the school science curriculum because it no longer meets youth's needs, interests, and aspirations. Thus, the focus is to provide insight into the teaching-learning pedagogy and its impact on future career options to opt for STEM by students and carry it forward as a career.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the knowledge levels of mothers who received education on home accidents and prevention for children aged 0-6, delivered either face-to-face or via social media, and to evaluate the effectiveness of this education. Design: Quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test control group design. Method: Mothers of children aged 0-6 attending an outpatient clinic, who consented to participate in the study, were assigned to three groups (face-to-face education, social media, control) based on days of the week they attended, with 60 participants per group, totaling 180. All mothers completed a personal information form and the Identification of Safety Precautions for Home Accidents Scale for children aged 0-6. Face-to-face sessions were held in groups of five; social media education was shared on Instagram over 21 days, with no intervention for the control group. After 21 days, mothers completed the scale again. Results: The post-test scale scores of the face-to-face and social media education participants were higher than those of the control group. Among those receiving face-to-face education, the mean post-test scale scores were higher than those of the social media group. Conclusion: In this study, education provided to mothers on home accidents and preventive measures, both face-to-face and via social media, showed efficacy. Diverse methods can be employed to provide mothers with education about home accidents and home accident prevention. Future studies may find the use of social media particularly suitable for engaging larger groups.

The main purpose of this paper is to suggest the traditional and current status in Japan's teacher education from an international perspective in order to contribute to the global advancement of this field. This paper specifically consists of following sequence: 1. Historical Background of Teacher Education in Japan: Before the War, after the War, and into the Present, 2. Open System and Teacher Certification System as Fundamental Frame of the Current Teacher Education, 3. Policy Trends since the 2000s: Transformation of School Management and Alternative Pathways to Teaching Profession, 4. Current Challenges by Failure of Centralized Reforms: Facing Threat of Teaching Profession, 5. Suggestions of Latent Potential that Run Counter to the Mainstream. Insight into its historical development is essential in order to understand teacher education substantially. The inevitable gap between the ideals inherent in social institutions and their reality must be also critically examined. Regarding Japan's teacher education, the focus extends beyond the stated principles of the system to the culture that shapes reality and the resulting facts. This paper aims to reposition Japanese teacher education within an international context and reexamine its potential and challenges through such verification of the ideals and reality. As a symbolic case, in contrast to the many packaged top-down policies for teacher education and have become dysfunctional, a grassroots democratic education movement has emerged, attracting international attention, centered around a principal who was disciplined for sending a "proposal" to the governor to criticize educational policies from the school site. This grassroots democratic education movement can be an alternative to bureaucratization in teacher education for the modern profession.

Environmental education is essential for addressing environmental degradation, a pressing global concern. It forms the foundation for sustainable environment and the long-term survival of our planet. In Ethiopia, environmental issues are also a major concern, which led to the integration of environmental education into the formal education system beginning in 1994. This study aims to evaluate the extent to which Environmental Education topics, teaching approaches, activities, and review exercises in the Grade 9 Geography textbook, teacher's guide, and syllabus contribute to promoting students' capabilities for sustainable environmental management. The study is supported by constructivist theory and employs a quantitative research approach, using a descriptive research design with purposive sampling. Data were collected through a checklist used to examine the documents. The findings revealed a positive integration of environmental education content in the textbook. Most teaching approaches focused on education "about" the environment, while education "in" the environment was limited, and education "for" the environment was entirely absent. Additionally, activities and review exercises mainly aimed to develop students' knowledge and skills with minimal emphasis on practical engagement. The results suggest that while the Grade 9 Geography textbook, teacher's guide, and syllabus incorporate environmental education to some extent, they fall short in providing teaching approaches and activities that engage students in practical environmental management. To address these gaps, the study recommends enhancing teaching and learning methods by incorporating education about, in and for the environment in balanced way. It also emphasizes the need for activities and exercises that encourage practical environmental involvement, thereby better preparing students for sustainable environmental management in Ethiopian schools.