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"Students"

Contribution: Results and conclusions on the use of a hybrid Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach to teaching programming in a higher education computing department. Background: PBL is a pedagogical approach that facilitates “learning by doing” and can create compelling educational experiences that enhance a student’s intrinsic motivation. Engagement can increase because students design their own unique projects, which have personal meaning and importance. PBL facilitates working with industrial clients to solve problems, which can create powerful extrinsic motivation. However, PBL can fail when students lack the experience and confidence to work as independent learners. Research Questions: 1) Can a hybrid PBL approach mitigate these problems by using a range of additional initiatives? These include, a wide range of on-demand learning resources, student mentoring, students collaborating with teachers to grade their own work, regular feedback milestones and scaffolding of learning via streaming. In this case streaming means offering students pathways through projects that require more or less independent research and project management. Methodology: A mixed methods study of a new hybrid approach to teaching programming. Findings: This article summarizes the author’s experience of implementing hybrid PBL within a university computing department, associated with improved student attainment and describes best practice, the advantages and the pitfalls. © 1963-2012 IEEE.

Background: Entrepreneurial intention among university students is influenced by multiple psychological and social factors, including entrepreneurial motivation, religiosity, and perceived stress. Understanding these relationships is crucial for fostering entrepreneurship among young individuals, particularly in Vietnam, where cultural and economic conditions shape entrepreneurial aspirations. Objective: This study aims to examine the effects of entrepreneurial motivation, religiosity, and stress on entrepreneurial intention among Vietnamese university students. Methods: A sample of 120 religious university students participated in a self-report questionnaire, which included the following scales: the Duke University Religion Index, Entrepreneurial Motivation, Entrepreneurial Intention, Perceived Stress Scale, and demographic information. Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-tests were applied to analyze the data. The PLS-SEM model was developed to establish the predictive model between variables. Results: The findings supported the positive impact of entrepreneurial motivation (self-efficacy beliefs, tolerance for risk, and desirability towards self-employment) on entrepreneurial intention. Intrinsic religiosity had a positive effect on entrepreneurial motivation, which in turn positively influenced entrepreneurial intention. Additionally, religious activities had a positive influence on entrepreneurial motivation through intrinsic religiosity. Furthermore, low self-efficacy negatively influences entrepreneurial motivation, and perceived helplessness negatively moderates the positive relationship between intrinsic religiosity and entrepreneurial motivation. Finally, differences in gender, family business background, and entrepreneurial club membership also revealed significant variations in entrepreneurial motivation and intention. Conclusion: The findings underscore how intrinsic religiosity and psychological resources interact to shape entrepreneurial intention. Recognizing the motivational role of religiosity, self-efficacy beliefs, and even perceived helplessness can guide the design of more effective, holistic entrepreneurship education and support systems. These insights are particularly relevant for countries like Vietnam and other Asian societies, where spirituality and collectivist values strongly influence students' career motivations and perceptions of entrepreneurship. © The Author(s), 2025.

This article focuses on the use of innovative and integrative approaches in the process of conducting practical training in mathematics in higher education institutions of a technical nature. Our goal is to introduce methods for implementing the principles of a synergistic approach in improving the methodology of teaching mathematics in technical higher education institutions. As a result, it is intended to increase the cognitive activity of students by strengthening the importance of mathematics in technology, develop independent thinking, systematic thinking and analytical approaches. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

This study explores how students with learning difficulties (LD) in Finnish vocational education and training (VET) perceive and experience feedback. While Finnish VET traditionally emphasizes inclusivity, recent policy developments after the 2018 reform have shifted the focus towards competency-based education, with less explicit emphasis on inclusion. This study examines how feedback practices affect students with LD in this evolving educational landscape. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected from 49 students across four VET institutions through focus group discussions and individual interviews. Content analysis identified three key themes: (i) the effectiveness of various feedback approaches, (ii) perceptions and emotional responses of students, and (iii) suggestions for improvement. The findings revealed that individual face-to-face feedback was the most effective and preferred method for providing students with personalized and action-able guidance. Peer feedback was valued in practical tasks for its immediacy, although it lacked the depth of teacher feedback. Although convenient, virtual feedback is often delayed and less interactive, reducing effectiveness. The study concludes that timely, specific, and personalized feedback is essential for supporting students with LD and recommends that VET educators prioritize one-on-one feedback and enhance the structure of virtual feedback. These findings contribute to understanding inclusive feedback practices and provide recommendations for improving feedback in VET settings. © 2022 Authors.

As we reach the second anniversary since the announcement of ChatGPT to the world in Nov 2022, the education sector, especially in the institutes of higher learning (IHLs) has seen an exponential growth in the use of Generative AI (Gen AI). The use of Gen AI in IHLs is warranted as it commits to preparing students for the workforce and is obliged in duty to embrace Gen AI in its classrooms. But the use of Gen AI in classrooms are not without challenges. A survey conducted in the US states that 85 % of undergraduates feel more comfortable using GenAI tools if they were vetted by academic sources, and a further 65 % agreed that AI will improve their learning. However, there are many factors that led to the student's agreement in the use of AI, in particular Gen AI. Among others, the student's own (i) performance expectation, in that using Gen AI will help improve their academic performance; (ii) or their social influence, in that people close to them encourage their use of AI for their academic work, (iii) or their perceived anthropomorphism of the AI tool, in that they find that they have a 'buddy' that is close to them and that they can confide in their buddy for any queries they have of their course contents, or (iv) that the institution policy encourages their use of Gen AI in their school work. This study reports on the use behaviour of two groups of students - full time versus part time students. The findings suggests that the full-time students' Gen AI use is driven by social influence and perceived anthropomorphism, while apprenticeship students are more driven by institutional policy. Both groups of students are equally driven by the use of Gen AI to improve their academic outcome. © 2025 IEEE.

This study examines how learning experiences shape the development of students’ creative competencies through the dual mediating roles of academic engagement and motivational factors. Focusing on students from the Department of Art and Design at a vocational and technical college in China, the study adopts purposive sampling to gather 287 valid responses. A structured questionnaire was designed encompassing four latent constructs: instructional quality, participation, drive to learn, and creative capacity. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to evaluate the model and test mediation effects. Results reveal no significant direct influence of instructional experiences on students' creative outcomes. However, indirect effects were observed via full mediation by academic engagement and partial mediation by motivation. The model explains 56.8% of the variance in the outcome variable (R²= 0.568) and achieves a strong model fit (GoF = 0.657). These findings emphasize the interplay between instructional design and internal psychological mechanisms, offering insights for pedagogical strategies and theory-building in creative education domains. © 2025 by author(s).

This study investigated the impact of the Murdoch Integrated Approach (MIA) on improving English reading comprehension and analytical thinking among Thai Grade 5 students, in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 4 on quality education. A one-group pretest-posttest design was implemented using eight structured learning plans over one semester. Two English reading tests were used to assess comprehension and analytical reading before and after the intervention. Results showed a significant improvement in both areas. These gains occurred because MIA promotes inquiry-based learning, active student engagement, and reflective thinking, enabling learners to interpret texts meaningfully and apply ideas critically. Although the absence of a control group requires cautious interpretation, the findings highlight the potential of MIA in enhancing essential language skills at the elementary level. This research contributes to language education by supporting pedagogical innovation aligned with global development goals. © 2025, Universitas Negeri Makassar- Faculty of Languages and Literature. All rights reserved.