Research on instructional quality has been of great interest for several decades, leading to an immense and diverse body of literature. However, due to different definitions and operationalisations, the picture of what characteristics are important for instructional quality is not entirely clear. Therefore, in this paper, a scoping review was performed to provide an overview of existing evidence of both generic and subject-didactic characteristics with regard to student performance. More precisely, this paper aims to (a) identify both generic and subject-didactic characteristics affecting student performance in mathematics in secondary school, (b) cluster these characteristics into categories to show areas for quality teaching, and (c) analyse and assess the effects of these characteristics on student performance to rate the scientific evidence in the context of the articles considered. The results reveal that teaching characteristics, and not just the instruments for recording the quality of teaching as described in previous research, can be placed on a continuum ranging from generic to subject-didactic. Moreover, on account of the inconsistent definition of subject-didactic characteristics, the category of ‘subject-didactic specifics’ needs further development to establish it as a separate category in empirical research. Finally, this study represents a further step toward understanding the effects of teaching characteristics on student performance by providing an overview of teaching characteristics and their effects and evidence.

Many researchers have separately developed instruments to measure environmental characteristics such as attitudes, values, and knowledge. However, there is no instrument used to measure all these aspects in one comprehensive instrument. This study is meant to develop and validate a green character instrument which reveals student behavior and awareness of the environment. The instrument consists of 40 statement items consisting of 5 aspects, namely private pro-environmental behavior, public pro-environmental behavior, environmental knowledge, environmental values, and environmental attitudes. It was implemented on 1,398 students from 15 universities in Indonesia. The instrument content validation was analyzed by three experts using content validity index (CVI). The construct validity was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and RASCH analysis. The content validity results obtained CVI scores ranging between 0.8 and 0.9 with a good category, while item reliability was in a fairly good category with a high level of separation index. Construct validation resulted in 34 items (4 items were eliminated after Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and 2 items were eliminated after RASCH analysis) spread over five constructs, namely environmental behavior, environmental knowledge, environmental values, environmental attitudes, and environmental habits. The resulting instrument has a good level of item difficulty, with a well understood response set which can be understood easily by respondents, and without bias. Therefore, it can be used to measure the students’ green character on both male and female.

The government has imposed social restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the education sector, including the early childhood school. Distance education offers different methods from the conventional methods, as the students are expected to gain the same skills, including critical thinking skills. Therefore, teachers must provide distance learning innovations using relevant learning media, such as multimedia-based learning. This research aims to assess the efficacy of multimedia learning in early childhood distance learning. This research is a quantitative model with a quasi-experimental pretest and posttest design. The data collection technique utilized questionnaires given to 30 samples of early childhood children. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS software. The results confirmed that multimedia-based learning for distance learning could develop critical thinking skills in early childhood children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this study offer exploration of learning strategies to improve children’s critical thinking.

Teachers play an important role in helping students improve their learning and achieve the intended curriculum outcomes. Therefore, it is essential to look at teachers’ knowledge, understanding, and perceptions of any educational innovation. The present study aims to examine knowledge, understanding and perceptions of Rwandan science teachers with respect to the competence-based curriculum (CBC) introduced in 2015. The 2015 curriculum framework included features like the rationale for its adoption, the concept of competence, different competences to be developed by learners upon CBC implementation, principles guiding CBC implementation, and cross-cutting issues to be addressed by CBC implementation. This research is a multiple case study that adopted a qualitative approach with interpretivism paradigm. Twelve science teachers from three secondary schools, selected based on their differing teaching experience, participated in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The data were transcribed and qualitatively analyzed using content analysis. The findings revealed some satisfactory knowledge, understanding and perceptions of science teachers. Further, knowledge and understanding gaps as well as negative perceptions of CBC were identified. Towards the effective and efficient implementation of the CBC, this research suggests appropriate training and establishment of the school community of practices for improving teachers’ experience of the CBC.

It is important for students who learn history to have the skills to think, read and analyze historical sources because past events can only be reconstructed and understood from these numerous resources. Various media methods are needed to support the development of these skills, especially in online learning. Therefore, this research aims to create a virtual field trip (VFT) based history learning media to help students improve their thinking skills using primary source evidence. It was carried out by using the research and development (R&D) method consisting of four stages, namely analysis, designs, conducting trials, and testing media effectiveness. The sample subjects consisted of six teams as expert validators, seven history teachers, 70 and 280 Class X students who assessed the product's practicality and determined the developed media's effectiveness. Data were collected through expert validation, student and teacher response questionnaire sheets, as well as description exams. The level of validity and practicality of the medium were determined using descriptive analysis, while the N-Gain approach evaluated the media's effectiveness. The expert validation result is very good, with an average score of 3.77. The teacher and student response tests showed an average score of 4.67, indicating that the VFT medium is practical for learning history. The N-Gain value of 72% showed that the students' abilities to use primary source evidence are increasing. Therefore, using VFT based history classes to develop explanation skills using primary source evidence is feasible, practical, and useful.

Many students have misconceptions about mathematics, so preservice teachers should be developing the skills to notice mathematical misconceptions. This qualitative study analyzed preservice teachers' skills in noticing student misconceptions about algebra, according to three aspects of noticing found in the literature: attending, interpreting and responding. Participants in this study were seven preservice teachers from one university in the capital of Aceh province, Indonesia, who were in their eighth semester and had participated in teaching practicums. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews, which were analyzed descriptively. The results revealed the preservice teachers had varying levels of skill for the three aspects of noticing. Overall, the seven preservice teachers' noticing skills were fair, but many needed further development of their skills in interpreting and responding in particular. This university’s mathematics teacher education program should design appropriate assessment for preservice teachers’ noticing skills, as well as design and implement learning activities targeted at the varying needs of individual preservice teachers regarding noticing student misconceptions, in order to improve their overall teaching skills.

A virtual-based disaster learning model was created to enhance understanding of COVID-19 disaster mitigation following the characteristics of elementary school students because the high number of child deaths brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic served as the driving force behind this research. The virtual-based disaster learning model had been deemed valid, but more study is required to ascertain its impact on primary school pupils' comprehension of COVID-19 disaster mitigation. This study sought to determine how the virtual disaster learning model affected elementary school pupils' understanding of COVID-19 disaster mitigation. This study was a quasi-experimental investigation. Non-equivalent control group design was the type of experimental design employed. The t-test showed that students who studied using virtual-based disaster learning models and those who used conventional learning had different average levels of understanding of COVID-19 disaster mitigation. According to the findings, primary school children who learned using virtual disaster learning models had higher scores than students who used conventional methods. This finding revealed that virtual disaster learning models could improve understanding of COVID-19 disaster mitigation. The results of this study's implications can be applied as a different approach to enhancing elementary school kids' comprehension of emergency planning for COVID-19.

This study aimed to compare and examine the effectiveness of interactive STEM learning and paper-and-pencil STEM learning in terms of mathematical literacy skills of elementary school students. This research is of a quasi-experimental type with a non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design. Sampling was carried out on the elementary school populations in Bengkulu and South Sumatra Provinces in two stages. In the first stage, schools in rural and urban areas were selected, and in the second, classes in each school were randomly selected. The selected sample consisted of fifth-grade students of the Public Elementary School of Terawas, Musi Rawas, with an experimental class A (n = 20) and an experimental class B (n = 19), as well as fifth-grade students of the Public Elementary School of Bengkulu City, with an experimental class A (n = 25) and an experimental class B (n = 22). Data collection was conducted using mathematical literacy skills tests in reference to the PISA and Minimum Competency Assessment (level 1–3). Data analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics; it employed an independent t-test for the comparative testing and an N-gain test for testing the effectiveness of STEM learning. The results showed that there were differences in math literacy skills between interactive STEM and paper-and-pencil STEM for students in urban schools, but not significantly different for students in rural schools. General STEM learning was effective in increasing the literacy of elementary school students, and interactive STEM in particular demonstrated the highest level of effectiveness in the urban school.

This meta-analysis study investigates the effect of computer-based tests on motivation. The random effect model is the basis for calculating the summary effect, and it is found that the 30 articles obtained through the PRISMA method, which consist of four parts, namely identification, screening, eligibility, and included, can be generalized. Data analysis was performed using R studio and OpenMEE. Based on the research results, the p-value <.05 was obtained, so it was concluded that using a computer-based test significantly affected motivation. In the moderator analysis, it was found that computer-based tests were most effective for intrinsic motivation for the motivation variable, university students for the participants variable, and the country of Iran for the region variable. Evaluation of publication bias using the funnel plot and regression method shows no publication bias, proving that the 30 articles analyzed represent all existing studies on computer-based tests.

Limited latest studies circulated in the 21st century of world university ranking reveal that well-designed mentoring programs will not increase mentees’ leadership development if mentors have not implemented effective roles in the mentoring programs. Although many studies have been done, the mediating effect of mentors’ roles is little known in the tertiary education mentoring research literature. This study is done to examine the correlation between mentors’ roles, mentees’ self-efficacy, and mentees’ leadership development. This study employed a cross-sectional research design. A purposive sampling plan was employed to collect 761 survey questionnaires from undergraduate students at non-research-based public universities in Sarawak. The survey data were analyzed by the SmartPLS package to determine the validity and reliability of the study instrument, and thus test hypotheses for the direct effects model and mediating model. The outcomes of the SmartPLS path model analysis showed that the majority of participants felt that the levels of information exchange, help, self-efficacy, and leadership development are high. This situation explains that the ability of mentors to appropriately implement information exchange and help in mentoring programs has strongly evoked mentees’ self-efficacy. Consequently, this self-efficacy can lead to higher leadership development. This finding can help practitioners to understand the diverse paradigms of mentees’ self-efficacy concept and plan the integration of academic and social-based approaches in formulating mentoring programs to prepare successful graduates in a time of rapid global change.

The teaching of speaking in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes in the Province of Aceh did not rely on the suggested techniques and methods. This teacher-designed technique, which was mainly textbook-based, has left an unpleasant learning experience among students. Therefore, we conducted a quantitative research study to experiment with how students responded to contextual teaching and learning (CTL) to see the effect of transitioning from a teacher-established method to a systematically planned learning approach and compare how students progressed over time. The experiment was carried out by teachers who had received assistance in preparing the lesson and practicing the lesson plan. The six-meeting experiment was conducted in 11 small classes, with a total sample of 132 students. The student improvement after the first four meetings (cycle 1) was compared using inferential statistical analyses with that after eight meetings (cycle 2). The results show that the student’s achievement significantly improved in the first cycle and continued to improve, although at a lower rate, in the second cycle. This result suggests that CTL can be used to transition from a traditional teaching method to a more established method in EFL teaching. Therefore, teachers need help planning their teaching and practicing how to implement the teaching plan accurately.

This study aims to produce a product to evaluate students' critical thinking skills that departs from physics content where students often have misconceptions. This research is a development research with research stages covering a) research and review literature; (b) planning chapter objectives; (c) developing a preliminary form; (d) field-testing the preliminary form; (e) Revise the preliminary form; (f) conducting a main field-test. The Waves Critical Thinking (WCT) test developed consists of 7 questions with 15 specific domains. Total percentage of content validity test was obtained 87.98% with appropriate criteria and based on the construct validity WCT test, the Goodness of Fit criteria were obtained which were classified as fit. The test instrument being tested consists of 15 objective items. The reliability of WCT test results 0.597 as a Cronbach's alpha score with the medium category and all the components have a good level of composite reliability. The outcome of the study was the WCT test with a valid state for measuring students' CT in a specific domain of physics wave material.

This study aimed to explore the implementation and impact of the Flipped Learning Model (FLM) and STEM Approach in elementary education. The advancement of technology and the Covid-19 pandemic has increased the importance of e-learning, including in elementary schools. The literature review analyzed 193 academic works published in the past six years using NVivo, Mendeley, and VOSviewer software. The validity of the data was verified through the analysis of five online databases. The results showed that STEM research has been well-developed with innovative approaches that improve learning outcomes, while FLM research in elementary schools is limited. The study suggested that combining FLM with STEM Approach (FLM-SA) can optimize learning in the technological era. By integrating FLM-SA, students can engage in active learning experiences in class and acquire fundamental knowledge outside of class, offering a solution to e-learning challenges. The study emphasized the strong connection between FLM and STEM Approach and how they can support each other to enhance student learning.

21st-century learning requires teachers and students to integrate literacy skills, scientific literacy, mathematics, reading, writing, and technology in the learning process. Students must have initiative, discipline, responsibility, confidence, motivation for independent learning, and the ability to think critically about the problems presented. This study aims to determine students' autonomous knowledge and critical thinking abilities (CTA) using mobile learning technology (MLT). This research is a quantitative study involving 83 students from four junior high schools in the city of Mataram. The data collection for independent learning and students' CTA was carried out by giving tests and non-tests to students. The test conducted was a written test in the form of a description of 10 questions covering indicators of CTA. The non-test was conducted by giving a student learning independence questionnaire with as many as 15 statements, including five indicators of learning independence. This quantitative research data analysis uses the Rash modeling application with the help of Ministep software. The analysis results show that the learning independence of male and female students in the four junior high schools obtained a percentage of 77.38% in the “good” category. Each indicator of learning independence accepts a percentage above 70%, which is in the excellent category. Meanwhile, the CTA of male and female students from the four junior high schools obtained 75.28% in the “good” category. Each indicator of CTA also gets a percentage of more than 70%, meaning that each indicator is in a good category.

Momentum-impulse requires critical thinking skills, and teaching should be encouraging for students. Critical thinking skills can be fostered through inquiry-based learning. During the COVID-19 pandemic, familiar learning media were used for students. Therefore, it is necessary to develop creative learning media. This developmental research aimed to create a momentum-impulse e-book based on inquiry supported by infographics (MIB -In-graph) to enhance students' critical thinking skills. The developmental model was a 4D model with field testing, i.e., a pretest-posttest control group design with three classes. Descriptive analysis showed that MIB-In-graph, an Android application, received a good average rating in content, worksheets, and forms. Students’ responses were very positive. Mixed design ANOVA showed that the mean score of students’ critical thinking skills increased significantly from the pretest to the posttest in each class and students’ critical thinking skills in the experimental class was more salient than control class 1 and control class 2. The highest difference in mean scores was in the experimental class. The differences were influenced by various factors such as learning approaches, media use, pictures, and collaboration.

Situational interest is an important factor that has a great influence on learning success in both in-school and out-of-school learning situations. Although there has been extensive research on interest in its diverse forms for decades, an evaluated measurement instrument for situational interest that covers the three theoretically defined components of interest (emotional, cognitive, value-related) is still missing. Therefore, in this study, based on person-object theory of interest, a short scale was developed that can be used in a variety of learning programs independent of content or methods. In study 1, eight suitable items were selected and their structure was examined using exploratory methods. In study 2, the results of study 1 were verified using confirmatory factor analyses. Study 3 shows an example of a practical application of the newly developed scale in two different learning settings. The findings provide evidence that the scale developed here is a practical instrument to measure situational interest taking into account all its components. On the one hand, the scale can help teachers evaluate their educational programs; on the other hand, it can be used by researchers to empirically investigate the construct of interest. Thus, the scale makes an important contribution to research and practice.

STEM education is an irreplaceable movement of educational systems across the globe in the 21st century. Both Pre-K, K-12, and higher education institutions consider STEM as an innovative approach to integrate and reform the teaching and learning processes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of studies on STEM in the Early Childhood Education context from 1992 to 2022. We investigated a dataset of 308 scholarly works from the Clarivate Web of Science database and figured a diversified collection of research focuses on topics such as children’s readiness, outcomes, teachers’ competency in designing and implementing STEM activities, and the role of computational thinking and robotics. The findings of this paper revealed the dominant contribution of researchers from the USA regarding research quantity and impact, as well as their collaborations with researchers from Western countries. In addition, we also figured out the top influencing authors, documents, and journals as a suggestion for scholars who are new to this topic. However, we would like to note that our findings depended on the quality of the imported database from the WoS system, which covers top-tier journals only.