Search Results for
"learning"

This study explores the factors influencing teacher performance in engineering and technology vocational schools, emphasising the pivotal role of teacher competence in determining the quality of Indonesian vocational education. Five key variables were evaluated: work motivation, work ethic, teacher performance, management innovation, and learning management. Data were collected using simple random sampling from 30 teachers in three vocational schools in Semarang, Indonesia. Factor analysis and regression analysis were conducted using second-order PLS-SEM to assess convergent and discriminant validity. Results indicate that work motivation (63.9%) and work ethic (28.2%) positively impact teacher performance, with all hypotheses accepted. The model achieved a Q2 score of 0.446, highlighting strong predictive relevance. Exogenous variables explain 69.8% of the variance in learning management. Therefore, schools are encouraged to enhance teacher performance by fostering work motivation and improving the learning process, from planning to execution. © © 2025 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

The ISO/IEC 29110 standard provides guidelines and best practices for small organizations dedicated to software development. This article presents a structured approach to implementing software development projects based on ISO/IEC 29110, specifically designed for student teams in professional internships with six-month rotation cycles. The proposed process is based on eight experience cycles, each lasting six months, involving a total of 112 students. The main objective is not only to meet quality and efficiency standards but also to provide a comprehensive learning experience. Additionally, project management is addressed through agile methodologies. The proposal includes evaluating student performance and documenting lessons learned for future projects. This comprehensive approach aims for students to acquire both technical and soft skills, while also contributing to the development of high-quality software aligned with international standards. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

Dual modes of Vocational Education and Training (VET), which include learning in the workplace and in school and especially dual apprenticeships as a systemic and long-term organised form of learning sites are today a substantial part of youth education in a lot of countries. It is nowadays a well-received concept, welcomed by stakeholders, policy makers and politicians in Europe, the US, Australia but also in many countries of the Global South. The promise of dual modes of VET is economic prosperity in reducing unemployment, guaranteeing a qualified workforce, boosting industrial development as well as being a useful instrument for poverty reduction. A main focus is social integration through a smooth transition from education to work. Furthermore, it is a pedagogical well-approved instrument for motivating young people to learn through practical tasks, thus avoiding school fatigue. © 2026 selection and editorial matter, Oscar Valiente, Srabani Maitra, Philipp Gonon and Matthias Pilz; individual chapters, the contributors.

Background/purpose. The Automobile Parts Manufacturing Industry (APMI) is currently facing rapid changes due to continuous technological innovations. These shifts are reshaping the skills required for future workforce participation in the sector. Consequently, it is essential to prepare students with future-oriented competencies that align with the demands of industry. This study aims to identify the key future skills needed in the APMI and to develop an Outcome-Based Education Module (OBEM) that incorporates blended learning methodologies. The research further investigates the effectiveness of the OBEM in enhancing students' future skills. Materials/methods. This research was conducted in three phases as follows: 1) an investigation into the expected future skills required in the APMI; 2) the development of an OBEM; and 3) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the OBEM in enhancing future skills. Results. The research findings revealed that future skills required in the APMI can be categorized into two main groups: Professional Skills and Soft Skills. Based on these identified skill demands, five modules were developed within the OBEM, specifically tailored for the APMI context. Students who participated in the learning process through the OBEM, which integrated OBEM with blended learning approaches, demonstrated statistically significant improvements in future skills required for the APMI. Conclusion. The research findings can be applied to the design of undergraduate courses or developed into training programs aimed at preparing students prior to their participation in work-integrated learning. This approach enhances students' competencies by equipping them with future skills that closely align with the needs of the APMI. © The Author(s), 2025.

Background/purpose. Islamic Religious Education (IRE) in higher education serves as a foundation for shaping students' spiritual insight, moral reasoning, and critical reflection. However, conventional instructional approaches often lack contextual relevance and fail to engage learners deeply. This study explores the transformative potential of Problem-Based learning (PBL) as a pedagogical innovation to enhance students' comprehension and application of Islamic religious concepts. Materials/methods. A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods design was employed, involving 143 undergraduate students from a public Islamic university in Indonesia. The study began with a pre- and post-test to assess changes in students' comprehension of core IRE concepts, followed by semi-structured interviews to explore student perceptions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Results. Quantitative findings revealed a statistically significant improvement in post-test scores, indicating PBL's effectiveness in enhancing conceptual understanding. Qualitative insights identified four major themes: increased conceptual clarity, improved critical thinking, enhanced classroom engagement, and challenges related to time constraints and facilitator support. These results underscore PBL's capacity to foster reflective and meaningful religious learning experiences. Conclusion. Problem-Based learning significantly enhances students' comprehension and engagement in Islamic Religious Education by fostering critical thinking, contextual understanding, and reflective learning. While previous studies have explored PBL in religious contexts, this research deepens the evidence by integrating quantitative improvements with rich qualitative insights from higher education learners. It highlights the pedagogical potential of PBL in bridging doctrinal understanding with real-life application. The study recommends curriculum-level integration, educator training, and time-structured implementation to optimize its use in Islamic educational settings. © The Author(s), 2025.

The ability to think creatively is one of the essential competencies that must be developed in the education process in the modern era. Creative thinking skills can be stimulated through the application of the right learning model. One of the learning models that can help educators stimulate creative thinking skills is the ACCA learning model. The purpose of this research is to analyze and describe the effect of ACCA learning model on improving creative thinking skills. This study used an experimental research design with pre-test-post-three-treatment conducted at one of the State Universities in Makassar, Indonesia. The implementation of ACCA learning model assisted by the learning Management System (LMS) to optimize the use of technology and improve creative thinking skills. The research instrument used in this study was an integrated essay test of creative thinking skills that had gone through a validity and reliability process. Data collection was based on the results of students' answers at the time of the pre-test and post-test. The statistical analysis used in this study was Ancova test with a significance level of 0.05. The results of the data analysis showed that the ACCA learning model assisted by LMS can improve creative thinking skills. The flexibility offered by this model provides opportunities for students to express themselves and be active in learning and solving problems faced both independently and in groups. Based on these findings, this research can be used as one of the innovative models in empowering creative thinking skills and other skills of students. © 2025, Politeknik Negeri Padang. All rights reserved.

Societal trends such as increased accountability, teacher shortages, and flexibility in learning paths affect the work of teacher educators. This study explores the collective agency of Dutch geography teacher educators as they enact the subject pedagogy curriculum within this rapidly changing context. Whilst teacher agency has been widely studied, research on teacher educators—particularly from a collective perspective—remains scarce. Drawing on Priestley et al.'s ecological approach, this study aims to disentangle teacher educators' collective spaces of agency by means of cultural, structural, and material resources. Using focus group interviews with three teams of geography teacher educators, we identified three key challenges that define their collective spaces of agency: (1) accommodating students' developmental phases, (2) gaining insight into students' internship learning, and (3) the growing divide between subject-specific and general teacher education. Thematic analysis revealed that teams of educators experience a different sense of agency in each of these spaces, depending on their ability to draw on the available resources. Our findings show that teams of educators draw on strong subject teacher identities (cultural resources) and experience collective agency when enacting subject pedagogy at the course level (structural resources). Their sense of agency is weak at the institutional level, particularly in relation to curricular change. This study contributes to a more profound understanding of teacher educators' collective spaces of agency. Disentangling these spaces can help teams of teacher educators to identify the necessary resources to restore their sense of agency in difficult times. © 2025 The Author(s). The Curriculum Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Educational Research Association.

Background/purpose. Interactions encompass various aspects that support group members during collaboration; therefore, maintaining and fostering interactions in collaborative research teams (CRTs) as communities of practice (CoPs) in terms of shared knowledge, collective goals, and participation is crucial. The purpose of this study is to explore the interactions of English studies majors in CRTs perceived as CoPs. Materials/methods. This study employed the phenomenological design, which relied on semi-structured interviews for data collection. The participants of this study consisted of 13 English major students from universities in EFL countries who had either participated in or were currently involved in CRTs for purposes such as graduation theses, publishing research articles, or university-level research projects. Results. The findings from the thematic analysis assist in deliberating proposed interactions related to shared knowledge, collective goals, and participation during the collaborative processes in research groups. Regarding those critical indicators, the interactions are divided into three categories, each accompanied by specific interactions within its respective category. Most of the findings are correlated with theoretical frameworks and related studies. Additionally, several emergent findings are absent in three of the categories. Conclusion. According to the research, English majors' Collaborative Research Teams (CRTs) in Vietnamese EFL contexts operate as socially motivated, goal-oriented learning communities where knowledge is jointly created via candid communication, shared accountability, and encouraging leadership. © The Author(s), 2025.

This study aims to develop Eco-STEAM, a digital learning website based on the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) approach, specifically designed to support ecosystem learning. The development process was carried out using the Research and Development (R&D) method, employing the 4D model, which includes the stages of define, design, develop, and disseminate. The developed media was evaluated for feasibility by experts in material, media, and language aspects, and the development testing involved teachers and students. The average assessment results by the experts across all aspects were categorized as highly feasible (94.75%). The results of the development trials conducted by biology teachers, small group trials, and large group trials also received an average rating in the highly feasible category (90.33%). The effectiveness of the media in enhancing students’ understanding of ecosystem concepts was measured on a small scale using a one-group pretest-post-test research design. The dependent t-test and effect size test results showed a significant improvement in students’ understanding of ecosystem concepts after using the Eco-STEAM media, with a strong effect size. These findings demonstrate that Eco-STEAM is a validated, feasible digital learning website that effectively enhances students’ understanding of ecosystem concepts. This product can also enrich biology learning media and support more interactive and contextual learning, particularly in ecosystem topics. © Article’s contents are provided on an Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 Creative commons International License. Readers are allowed to copy, distribute and communicate article’s contents, provided the author’s and JOTSE journal’s names are included. It must not be used for commercial purposes. To see the complete licence contents, please visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

This study explored how early years trainees in England develop knowledge, skills, and professional competence while completing Level 3 qualifications. Focusing on two training routes, the full-time early years educator diploma and apprenticeships, the research examined the role of formal teaching, workplace mentoring, and informal peer relationships. A multi-method case study approach was adopted, involving interviews, focus groups, reflective journals, and observations with eight participants across early years settings in England. Data was analysed thematically using Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological framework and the Process–Person–Context–Time model. Findings indicate that, while classroom-based input and structured mentoring remain vital, informal colleague support plays a critical role in shaping trainees’ professional learning. Relationships with peers and colleagues contributed significantly to bridging theory and practice. The research contributes to debates on vocational pedagogy by redefining the ‘third teacher’ as the informal professional relationships underpinning workplace learning and makes recommendations for policy and course design. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.