Search

COVID-19 is an unprecedented pandemic that has impacted the whole world. The pandemic made researchers and educators realize the critical need to prepare for future disasters. This study explored a context-specific case for elementary online learning where we investigated how elementary school teachers transitioned to emergency remote teaching (ERT) from face-to-face to online learning during the pandemic. A case study approach was used to explore South Korean elementary teachers' ERT approaches and experiences during COVID-19. Using the CIPP (Context, Input, Process, and Product) framework, we sought to understand how the transition occurred from the perspectives of the teachers. The analysis uncovered several themes that fall under each category of the framework. In terms of context, limited technological aptitude and lack of training in online instructional design as well as policy issues and socio-economic differences were identified as key factors in assessing the current state of the ERT. In terms of input, instructors' efforts as well as support from in and out of school were discussed. Student interaction and engagement were identified as key factors in understanding the process of ERT. Lastly, learning outcomes, instructional strategies, and systemic transformation emerged as products of ERT.

Over the past few decades, inclusive education in South Korea has continued to grow both in quantity and quality. The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to report on the legal basis and the current status of inclusive education in South Korea and (b) to synthesize policy tasks and prominent outcomes related to inclusive education in South Korea. The major findings are as follows. First, according to the 2022 Special Education Annual Report provided by the Ministry of Education, approximately 73% of students eligible for special education received either part-time (56% of students) or full-time (17% of students) inclusive education. Second, it was found that there were significant outcomes in the five elements of support (i.e., human support, social climate support, physical environment support, curriculum support, and financial and operational support), which are quality indicators of inclusive education. Based on these findings, we discuss issues of inclusive education, future directions, and suggestions for the further development of inclusive education in South Korea.

This study examines a case of union revitalisation based on business unionism, contrasting with the prevailing notion that union revitalisation occurs primarily through social movement unionism. The Korean Federation of Teachers Union (KFTU) was formed in 2017 to challenge the established Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), which we describe as an example of social movement unionism. Criticising the centralised organisational structure and radical political struggles of the KTU, the KFTU has rapidly expanded by absorbing a substantial number of teachers in their 20s and 30s. In 2022, the relatively new KFTU claimed that it surpassed the KTU in membership. This study investigates how the newly-formed union, based on business unionism, emerged and flourished quickly. To address this inquiry, this research analyses three critical factors that influence union revitalisation: context (social and political changes), agents (a new generation of teachers) and strategies (organisational strategies of the KFTU). We find that these three factors intricately interacted with one another, leading to the rapid success of business unionism, but at the same time, the union's long-term sustainability remains in question.

Teachers who know what, how and why to teach are essential for successful student learning. However, many preservice teachers (PSTs) lack teaching experience and the ability to integrate theory and practice. To help bridge this gap, this study employed a learning-by-design project approach in which 22 Korean PSTs developed lesson plans for middle school English classes, constructed virtual classrooms in the metaverse based on their English lesson plans, and conducted microteaching in the virtual classrooms. The study used a qualitative research method and focused on an emic perspective with multiple data sets, including the PSTs' reflection papers and post-interviews as primary data, and their lesson plans, virtual classrooms and recordings of microteaching as secondary data. The results showed that the project supported learning by design, and that it also helped PSTs understand learners and learning, redefine the teacher's role as a designer and facilitator, connect theories to practice and improve their teaching skills. The findings can be used as a reference for future teacher training.

Emerging adults are a crucial group in our society, and research indicates that they rarely consider themselves adults because their cognitive, social, and emotional capacities are undergoing transitionary changes, affecting how they learn. Prior studies have not considered sufficiently the characteristics and needs of emerging adult learners in an online environment. This study aims to address this gap in the literature by examining the psychological needs and academic burnout of emerging adult online learners during the Covid-19 pandemic. Through self-determination theory (SDT) and Stimuli-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory, the key arguments and constructs include the effects of structural and social bonds on emerging adult learners' psychological needs, the effect of psychological needs on academic burnout, and the moderating roles of mindfulness. A valid sample of 294 collected through the survey was the basis of the analysis. PLS-SEM was used to analyse and test the hypotheses. Findings indicate that structural and social bonds affect psychological needs at varying strengths, which is generally consistent with prior findings but with different groups of learners. The moderating roles of mindfulness, however, were mixed. The model robustness further highlights the predictive analysis, which complements the exploratory perspective. This study contributes to the literature by identifying the predictors that fulfill the basic psychological needs of emerging adult learners and examining the effect of this fulfilment on the burnout during the online learning. In addition, this study implies how online trainers and educational institutions can build an optimal environment to reduce the burnout and then improve the learning effectiveness for emerging adult learners. Limitations, and agenda for future research were further discussed to conclude the study.

Theoretically framed by public pedagogy, the study explores teachers' use of public sites for undocumented migrant children. The findings demonstrate that teachers utilized various non-school, informal, and public spaces including libraries/museums, open marketplaces, and public parks/squares as powerful platforms to foster children's learning, transnational connectivity, and local sense of belonging. The study provides implications for researchers and educators seeking to promote advocacy and empowerment for undocumented migrant students both within and outside of formalized/institutionalized schooling.

Sexual health education is mandatory in South Korea. However, gender equality, and the rights of sexuality and gender-diverse people are contentious issues in Korean society. This study describes school health teachers' experiences delivering sexual health education especially in relation to gender equality and the rights of sexuality and gender minorities. A descriptive approach based on grounded theory methodology was adopted. The participants included 23 elementary, middle, and high school health teachers certified by the Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education. One-to-one interviews were conducted with participants. Education authorities, students, other teachers, and parents create challenges for health teachers because of the tension between gender-sensitive and conservative perspectives on sexual health education. Social factors influencing these challenges include patriarchy, cultural misunderstandings regarding sexuality, conflicts between feminism and anti-feminism, heterosexual familism, and homophobia. Teachers' strategies to overcome these challenges include improving personal understanding, skills and attitudes, and asking other teachers and parents for their support. Addressing gender equality and power is the key to improving students' sexual and reproductive health. Educational authorities and civil society should support school health teachers' efforts to advance gender equality and prevent sexuality and gender identity-based discrimination.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has instigated educational changes and reforms globally, in particular, introducing and intensifying neoliberal logic and governance in test-taking countries and beyond. PISA outcome impacted upon the educational governance of South Korea as well, however, the changes deviated from what have been observed in other contexts. Framed by institutionalism, and drawing on research reports and literature published on Korea, the paper explores how PISA outcome was appropriated to sustain progressive educational agendas against conservative party's turn to elitism and competition at a critical juncture. After reviewing the context, Korea's responses to PISA outcome as captured in educational policies are presented, along with their shapers. The paper highlights how the policy responses parted ways with those of most countries by rehumanizing the curriculum, while acknowledging that its planned new relationship with PISA may turn their course.

Research in language learning indicates that process drama (PD), an educational approach where students and teachers work in and out of role to explore themes and issues, can be well suited to the Japanese higher education (HE) context. Despite the benefits highlighted in the literature, PD remains a niche approach to language teaching and learning, with a limited number of practitioners in Japan. This study seeks to uncover language teachers' experiences of becoming Process Drama Practitioners (PDPs) and using and sharing PD as an English language teaching approach in Japanese HE. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with six experienced PDPs. The findings indicate that prior positive experiences with drama was an encouraging factor of the adoption and self-directed initial use of PD in their teaching practices. Positive student outcomes and feedback were primary motivators for continued use of PD. Experiences of sharing PD led to a perceived need to distinguish PD from theatre-based approaches and establish connections to familiar approaches to language teaching.

Compared to the general population, university students experience unique demands and stressors that impact psychosocial distress. High levels of psychosocial distress can affect students academically, socially, and professionally. Strategies students use to cope with stress on their own, particularly problem- and emotion-focused strategies, can decrease distress levels. While individual coping strategies can lower distress, it remains unclear which strategies are most effective among students and whether distinct profiles of strategies and their effectiveness exist. This study aimed to explore how Australian university students use individual coping strategies to manage stress using Latent Profile Analysis. 376 students completed an online survey of coping strategies, psychosocial distress, and general wellbeing, between November and December 2022 (Mean age = 25.76; 68.62% female). Psychosocial distress levels were characterised by anxiety, depression, perceived stress, social isolation, and emotional support. Four coping profiles were extracted: no effective/no coping, problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and emotion-focused religion-dominant coping. Students endorsing problem-focused coping had significantly lower levels of psychosocial distress compared to the no effective/no coping and emotion-focused religion-dominant coping profiles, but showed no difference compared to emotion-focused coping. The no effective/no coping profile was associated with the highest levels of psychosocial distress. This underscores the importance of supporting students to endorse primarily problem-focused coping strategies, as well as emotion-focused coping strategies and educating students on how to effectively employ strategies, especially those not endorsing any effective strategies. These results may inform university support services and training for educators working directly with students on how to educate students about coping with stress.

This study presents an understanding of the influence of mindfulness in the educational field at student, teacher, and principal levels. The review includes a definition of mindfulness, value of mindfulness, and a new perspective of education based on physical and mental health. The prevailing COVID-19 pandemic subjects school academics to unexpected situations. I present in this paper the history, practice, and influence of mindfulness in both Eastern and Western traditions as a proven stress reliever. I also evaluate its impact on the training that students, teachers, and principals undergo, and are thus likely to provide, throughout their schools.

Background: The pathologisation of people with disability1 has long affected the educational quality of the sexuality education they receive. Whilst concern for people with disability has been growing in some comprehensive sexuality education settings, the quality of education in these spaces is variable and typically accommodations for people with disability are not made. The lack of accessibility fosters few opportunities to learn about and practise skills related to establishing and maintaining social relationships, including platonic, romantic and sexual relationships, thereby limiting informed decision-making. Moreover, the lack of good quality sexuality education significantly increases the risk of sexual abuse, assault, and family and domestic violence -- impacting people with disability's self-determination, autonomy and ultimately, ability to work, live independently, and maintain their mental and physical health. Objective: Few reviews of comprehensive sexuality education programmes for people with disability have been reported. Therefore, four current comprehensive sexuality education programmes for people with disability were reviewed, including their content and the topics included; the feasibility of implementation including costs; different accessibility considerations for varied learners and disabilities; and methods of delivery. This allowed an assessment of their strengths and opportunities for people with disability. Results: The review highlighted strong positive changes occurring within the field, as well as challenges due to funding limitations, and the extensive number of topics under comprehensive sexuality education that need to be addressed in teaching and delivering quality comprehensive sexuality education to people with disability. Conclusion: Informed by the evidence in this review, we advocate for the inclusion of a more comprehensive range of topics, including gender and sexuality diversity within accessible comprehensive sexuality education for people with disability, and the establishment of appropriate forms of teacher education and training to increase confidence and comfort when delivering comprehensive sexuality education to people with disability.

Given a lack of knowledge about the work happiness of PhD graduates across a range of jobs, we explored which employment sectors graduates were entering, their work happiness and what factors influenced their happiness. We surveyed PhD graduates from two US and one New Zealand university. Analysis of 120 graduate responses revealed that nearly 60% were employed in higher education, mostly in precarious positions. Eighteen percent were employed in government and 18% in the private sector (for-profit), with the remainder in private sector (not-for-profit) and teaching. Approximately 82% were happy with their work, with no significant difference between those inside or outside academia. Qualitative analysis revealed the main factors influencing work happiness were having fulfilling work, a good and supportive work environment, work security, a match between the work, their skillset and career expectation, and a desirable location. The study identifies implications for doctoral training and employers of PhD graduates.

This study investigates whether listeners' cue weighting predicts their real-time use of asynchronous acoustic information in spoken word recognition at both group and individual levels. By focusing on the time course of cue integration, we seek to distinguish between two theoretical views: the "associated" view (cue weighting is linked to cue integration strategy) and the "independent" view (no such relationship). The current study examines Seoul Korean listeners' (n = 62) weighting of voice onset time (VOT, available earlier in time) and onset fundamental frequency of the following vowel (F0, available later in time) when perceiving Korean stop contrasts (Experiment 1: cue-weighting perception task) and the timing of VOT integration when recognizing Korean words that begin with a stop (Experiment 2: visual-world eye-tracking task). The group-level results reveal that the timing of the early cue (VOT) integration is delayed when the later cue (F0) serves as the primary cue to process the stop contrast, supporting a relationship between cue weighting and the timing of cue integration (the associated view). At the individual level, listeners with greater reliance on F0 than VOT exhibited a further delayed integration of VOT. These findings suggest that the real-time processing of asynchronously occurring acoustic cues for lexical activation is modulated by the weight that listeners assign to those cues, providing evidence for the associated view of cue integration. This study offers insights into the mechanisms of cue integration and spoken word recognition, and they shed light on variability in cue integration strategies among listeners.

Parents' beliefs about the nature of ability are communicated to their children through parent-child interactions. Parental mindsets are one of the parental beliefs that have received increasing attention over recent years. However, their role in children's motivation and achievement outcomes remains relatively underexplored. Moreover, most existing studies have measured parental mindsets as either reported by parents themselves or perceived by children only, making it difficult to develop a comprehensive understanding of their role. Yet, parents' mindsets and children's perceptions of their parents' mindsets may not be identical, and one may be more important than the other in shaping children's motivation and achievement. Using the data from 507 third- and fourth-graders and their parents in Korea, we examined how parents' growth and fixed mindsets, both self-reported and child-perceived, predicted children's achievement goals, persistence, and achievement in mathematics. Whereas the growth and fixed mindsets of parents correlated negatively with each other, there was no significant relationship between self-reported and child-perceived parental mindsets. Parents' growth mindset positively predicted children's mastery goals. In contrast, parents' fixed mindset negatively predicted children's mastery goals and positively predicted children's ability-focused and normative performance goals. Children's mastery goals in turn positively predicted their persistence and achievement. The indirect paths from parental mindsets to children's persistence and achievement through children's mastery goals were also significant. In general, the child-perceived mindsets of parents demonstrated a stronger predictive power than the self-reported mindsets of parents. The underexplored role of parental mindsets is discussed concerning children's achievement goal adoption and learning.

The aim of this study is to explore the relation of morphological awareness to vocabulary, word reading, and reading comprehension for middle school students in Korea. A total of 121 students (73 boys and 48 girls) in Grade 7 from two middle schools in a metropolitan city in South Korea participated in the study. The students were assessed on the following skills in Korean: morphological awareness in three dimensions (inflectional, derivational, and compound morphological awareness), vocabulary, word reading, and reading comprehension. Using structural equation modeling, we found that students' morphological awareness predicted vocabulary, word reading, and reading comprehension directly. In addition, morphological awareness was also indirectly related to reading comprehension mediated by word reading. Interestingly, once morphological awareness was accounted for, vocabulary did not make an independent contribution to reading comprehension. Our findings illustrate the direct and indirect relations of morphological awareness to vocabulary, word reading, and reading comprehension for Korean adolescents.

The main objective of the study was to explore the main predictors that influence academic stress among fourth-grade elementary school students using data from the Panel Study on Korean Children via a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regularized penalty regression model. The study examined 280 explanatory variables using the LASSO model. After preprocessing the data, it finally selected 21 variables. Out of them, the study found that children's persistence, peer attachment, bullying, parental achievement pressure, and subjective socioeconomic status as significant predictors, which is consistent with previous studies. However, several variables, including children's overall happiness, frequency of using slang, preference for mathematics, school life preference, daily time spent for homework and study, average monthly cost of private education, parents' participation in school events, marital conflict, and residential area, which were newly explored in the study, were also significant. Finally, we presented the significance and implications of the results in relation to decreasing academic stress among fourth-grade elementary school children.

Despite stakeholders' desire for organizations to participate in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, some organizations do not invest in CSR due to uncertainty around the value it provides to performance. This research investigates the effect size of the relationship between CSR and performance via a meta-analysis of 17 articles. A series of performance-indicating groups emerged and effect sizes were calculated using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. These groups include in-role performance, extra-role performance, employees' affective attitudes towards organizations, and organizational-level outputs. Results suggest that CSR has a large effect on performance across a range of contexts. Implications for career counseling are discussed.

This study investigates the applicability of the system theory framework (STF) to Korean university students with regard to their career development and counseling. The STF-based career group program content consists of MSCI (My System of Career Influences) and MCC (My Career Chapter), and is conducted over ten sessions for two groups of college students in Korea. Following the program's conclusion, the participants were asked about its usefulness and their experiences participating. An analysis of the survey results revealed the participants to have rated the program as useful. Subsequently, a qualitative analysis was conducted using the Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) technique, and four domains and ten categories were derived. Further, the significance and the limitations of the research were discussed.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of intervention using graphic organizers on the cognitive and affective improvement of students with intellectual disability (ID), with learning disability (LD), without disability, and at-risk learners in Korea. A total of 49 peer-reviewed journals and dissertations for the last 20 years were included for conducting this meta-analysis. The overall effect size of intervention using a graphic organizer was 0.78 (d) (95% CI [0.63, 0.94], [tau superscript 2]= 0.28) using a random-effects model. In order of strongest to weakest effects, at-risk learners (d = 1.38), students with LD (d = 1.15), students with ID (d = 0.76), and students without disability (d = 0.52). Among student variables, there is no statistically significant difference by school level, but by school type. Among intervention variables, instruction in math (d = 1.43) and Korean (d = 0.96); cognitive mapping (d = 1.05); 1-19 times, 1-9 weeks, 3-5 times per week; and small-size groups were the most effective intervention conditions. While several variables showed significant subgroup differences, meta-regression analyses revealed that only group size and frequency were significant moderators after controlling for other factors. In summary, intervention using a graphic organizer was more effective for students with disability and at-risk students than it was for students without disability.

This study explores how English education developed in North Korea by analyzing the characteristics of secondary English textbooks published in the pre- and post-Kim Jong Un eras. We performed comparative analyses of textbooks for six secondary schools--three each for the junior middle and senior middle schools--published before and after Kim Jong Un's rule. The comparative analyses adopted Cunningsworth's textbook evaluation framework to examine the textbooks' composition and content: (1) aims and approaches, (2) design and organization, and (3) topic variety. The results showed significant changes in listening materials and activities, among others, as well as concurrent developments in teaching methods. Additionally, each unit significantly reduced the number of topics associated with the idolization of the Kim family and the deliberate vilification of capitalist countries and instead increased the integration of other subjects such as mathematics, science, and technology. This study showed that despite various changes, the aim of English education in North Korea continues to be the maintenance and further development of the socialist system through the improvement of students' English proficiency. This study also discusses the coexistence of different perspectives such as liberal ideas in English textbooks while emphasizing ideology education and its possible ramifications on the future of English education in North Korea.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of embedding special interest areas (SIAs) in whole-group (WG) instruction on engagement and out-of-seat (OOS) behaviors for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in general education classrooms. A multiple baseline across participants design was used to evaluate the functional relation between the SIA-embedded instruction and engagement and OOS behaviors of all three children. Non-targeted probes were conducted after every intervention session to investigate whether there was behavioral change when the SIAs were removed from instruction. Results indicated that embedding SIAs in WG instruction may increase the engagement behavior and decrease the OOS behavior of children with ASD; behavioral changes were maintained over time for all children.

This paper evaluates the use of Factor Analysis (FA) in English education research in Korea and suggests improvements in methodology. A detailed coding protocol was used to review 179 FA cases from 12 major English education journals (2014-2023). The review identified several key issues, including small sample sizes and lenient criteria for sample size selection, insufficient reporting on data appropriateness and normality, confusion between principal component analysis and FA, overreliance on the Eigenvalue > 1 criterion for determining the number of factors, inappropriate factor rotation methods, inconsistency between factor rotation and extraction methods, inadequate reporting on factor loadings and cross loadings criteria, and excessive reliance on SPSS as a statistical tool for FA. This study provides specific guidelines for applying FA appropriately and reporting results accurately.

This study addresses the scarcity of research examining technology's impact on learners of English as a foreign language in English for specific purposes (ESP) courses within English-medium instruction (EMI) programs. Focusing on a business communication course using a social question-answering platform, this study explores the interplay among English proficiency, motivational orientations, and online engagement. Surveying 126 university students via a mixed-method approach, this research identifies distinct motivational orientations (intrinsic, extrinsic, and self-efficacy) existing during class activities, influenced by proficiency levels, with notable differences in online participation between beginner and advanced learners. The findings suggest that while online activities enhance peer interaction and teacher feedback, they may trigger anxiety in beginners, potentially diminishing motivation and self-efficacy. These results emphasize the need to tailor technology integration to proficiency levels and motivational orientations in ESP/EMI settings. Practical recommendations are offered for educators aiming to implement effective online activities and provide targeted support, particularly for beginner learners, thereby bolstering their motivation and self-efficacy.

Despite increased research interest in improving students' scientific inquiry abilities, how to conduct scientific inquiry using science textbooks that are easily accessible to primary school students remains understudied. This study developed and verified an inquiry activity model (IAM) to improve the performance of primary school students in science textbook inquiry activities. Data were collected from sixth-grade primary students (n = 167) to analyze the difficulty level of textbook inquiry activities. An analysis tool was developed, focusing on inquiry skills and process flow. Expert analysis increased the tool's validity. The analysis revealed that students possessed low integrated inquiry skills, were partially aware of the inquiry process flow, and could not design experiments. Hence, the IAM was developed to enhance students' ability to perform textbook inquiry activities and understand the activity phases. It emphasized the flow and representation of the inquiry process for students to easily recall the contents as they learn the interconnectivity between phases. The post-test of the experimental group and the inquiry process flow chart showed significant improvement in all areas of inquiry ability. The scores for "connections" and "interconnectivity" in the inquiry process flow were high, reflecting the model's effectiveness in showing the interconnectedness of all stages.

This study aimed to investigate university students' evaluations of pre-recorded video and live online lectures, focusing on the factors that influence these assessments, particularly students' studying behaviors. We conducted a web-based survey to gather data from undergraduate students. The results revealed that students rated live online lectures higher than pre-recorded video lectures in learning efficiency, student-teacher connectivity, and student-student connectivity. However, a contrasting trend was observed for academic performance. The multivariate analysis indicated that students who reported higher levels of restraint from distractions while listening to online lectures evaluated both pre-recorded video and live online lectures significantly more favorably. Moreover, students who regularly turned on their cameras during live lectures tended to rate online lectures more positively. These findings underscore the significance of students' studying behavior as a critical factor influencing the effectiveness and outcomes of online lectures. It is important to foster and encourage students' active engagement with online lectures and promote the development of self-learning skills.

While existing studies have underscored the educational benefits of generating explanatory hypotheses (EHs) in response to unexpected outcomes, empirical research on the underlying mechanisms driving their effectiveness in science learning remains limited. Thus, this study aimed to empirically examine the effectiveness of generating an EH for incongruent results in enhancing science learning. Two studies were conducted with 208 students who faced incongruent results out of 578 fifth and sixth-grade students. Study 1 revealed through hierarchical regression analysis that generating an EH predicted enhanced science learning and uncovered the highest predictive power compared to other predictors, including prior knowledge and motivating variables. Study 2 explored the contribution of generating an EH for incongruent results to comprehending scientific concepts through think-aloud protocols and retrospective interviews. The results demonstrated that, unlike students who could not generate EHs and passively acquired information from the text, students who formulated EHs more actively organized information by verifying their hypotheses and paraphrasing the scientific concepts in the text during reading the learning material after generating their hypotheses. The study findings indicate science education direction for future research and broaden the discourse surrounding effective educational practices.

In this study we explored the experiences of students who completed a project-based, interdisciplinary capstone course that was offered at a large university in Southern Ontario, Canada. To do so, we interviewed students after they completed the course, adopting a constructivist perspective and a phenomenological approach. Interview transcripts were analyzed, resulting in four themes: (1) communication, (2) group dynamics, (3) successes, (4) differences between program requirements. In addition to revealing tension between fostering student autonomy and providing students with support, our findings also demonstrate that students valued the capstone course for the knowledge and experience gained from learning to work as an interdisciplinary unit rather than the tangible output of a given project.

This study examines the challenges faced by native English-speaking professors who teach general English courses in Korean universities, specifically focusing on the issue of social marginalization. Data were collected through online surveys and interviews. The findings indicate that these professors view themselves as a non-mainstream group within university faculties, often experiencing exclusion from decision-making processes and professional development opportunities, primarily due to language barriers. Moreover, cultural differences and structural discrimination exacerbate these challenges. Although the respondents did not report significant difficulties related to student education and exhibited a strong sense of efficacy in teaching English, some lacked sufficient understanding of the institutional curriculum. To address these issues, this study suggests that, for foreign professors to fully demonstrate their expertise in English education and foster a sense of belonging within the university community, they should be granted the authority and responsibility to participate in curriculum improvement research, along with administrative assistance.

Purpose: This study examined the factors influencing the tokenization of international faculty in Korean universities. It also explored how domestic faculty and staff perceive the role of international faculty and the process by which they adapt to the Korean education system. Design/Approach/Methods: The study used a qualitative design. Universities were arranged by region and objectives (research-oriented, teaching-oriented, or combined teaching and research) for sampling, and in-depth interviews were conducted with three groups: international faculty, Korean faculty, and Korean staff. Findings: First, Korean faculty and staff expressed low expectations of international faculty based on their different definitions of internationalization. Second, these low expectations resulted in role encapsulation, limiting the functions of international faculty. In addition, although Korean universities compete to hire international faculty, they do not provide them with adequate support post-hire. The burden of this lack of support is often passed on to Korean faculty, instilling a negative perception of international faculty. Originality/Value: Using the framework of tokenism, this study analyzed Korean universities' efforts to hire international faculty as part of university internationalization; it determined whether the latter ultimately became major actors in the internationalization strategy.

Students' adjustment and well-being in a cross-cultural context have become important topics in international higher education studies. This study explored the psychological mechanism underlying the impact of perceived discrimination and perceived health status on the subjective well-being of international students. The responses of 358 international students were analyzed using the survey datasets. The results indicated that the perceived health status of international students had a significantly positive impact on their subjective well-being. Conversely, perceived discrimination had a negative impact on subjective well-being and community satisfaction. Notably, community satisfaction mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being. Furthermore, the results revealed that the effect of community satisfaction on subjective well-being varied between the Asian and non-Asian students. These findings can assist higher education program providers in developing a community-oriented support system for students striving to adjust to cross-cultural environments.

The declining interest in science learning, along with students' perception that science is irrelevant to their daily lives, has been identified as a significant issue. This research aimed to help students connect abstract scientific concepts with their personal and everyday experiences. To achieve this, the research utilized the metaphysical principles implied by scientific concepts, a component of Kuhn's paradigm. To replace the abstract term 'metaphysical meanings', the term 'Meaning of Life implied by Scientific Concepts' (MLS) was introduced to make these metaphysical principles more accessible and comprehensible for students. Using MLS, activity sheets were developed and implemented with 57 lower-secondary students. The results showed that students could effectively identify real-life examples of the presented MLS, the number of students who successfully generated MLS increased with additional class sessions, and the content of the MLS expressed by the students was thoughtful and meaningful. Post-activity interviews indicated that students found this approach interesting and helpful for understanding concepts, and teachers were impressed by the quality of the students' work, expressing a desire to implement this approach in their classes. It is concluded that using MLS to connect abstract scientific concepts with students' everyday lives is both feasible and applicable in school science.

Many students have difficulty understanding the concept of lunar phase changes (LPCs) due to spatial ability problems such as perspective-taking (PT) and mental rotation (MR). Therefore, this study aimed to compare brain activity during PT and MR tasks while performing the LPC task to determine the involvement of PT and MR. This study measured brain waves using EEG in 20 participants while solving the 3 tasks. First, the power values in the theta band of all cortical areas showed a significant difference between MR and LPC tasks. Second, in the strategy execution section with a statistically significant difference, the occipital lobe and limbic system were mainly active during the PT task, whereas the frontal lobe was mainly active during the LPC task. Third, for strategy execution, during MR and LPC tasks, the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and limbic system were all activated to significantly different degrees. Therefore, both PT and MR, particularly PT, are required to solve the LPC task. Moreover, for students who have difficulty learning LPC, it is necessary to recognize the need for spatial ability, such as PT ability, and establish an appropriate teaching strategy.

The landscape of work continues to evolve post-pandemic, leading to a shift in focus within higher education from discipline-specific knowledge and skills to capabilities that are transferable and reflect real-world complexities. A review of higher education to meet future economic and social trends and skill sets is a feature of many countries including Australia, where work-integrated learning (WIL) has been identified as a priority. This research identifies how to successfully involve online students in interdisciplinary WIL to develop complex problem-solving skills, resilience, and adaptability -- all imperative for competing in a constantly changing and digitally reliant economy. Adaptable and scalable, online teaching provides an alternative to traditional student placements while supporting student collaboration on authentic real-world projects. This study reflects on student and industry feedback of an online, interdisciplinary WIL course over four years. The key learnings and, challenges of online interdisciplinary WIL are identified along with recommendations for further research.

This study investigated student engagement by conceptualizing learning engagement and examining the inner mechanism that operates in the university English learning context. This study administered a questionnaire to 376 college students, and data analysis was conducted with SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 24.0. The findings revealed that student engagement can be conceptualized into behavioral, cognitive, affective, and interactive engagement. The results confirmed that cognitive engagement positively affected behavioral engagement, whereas affective engagement did not. Affective engagement had positive effects on both cognitive engagement and interactive engagement. Interactive engagement positively affected cognitive engagement but did not affect behavioral engagement. Further, the results showed that cognitive engagement acted as a full mediator between affective engagement and behavioral engagement, as well as between interactional engagement and behavioral engagement. The findings of this study propose implications for optimizing English teaching to facilitate student engagement and ultimately enhancing their learning satisfaction along with improving academic outcomes.

English speaking accuracy is one of the most important aspects of Business English. While most studies are conducted to improve English speaking accuracy, they neglect phrasal semantics. This present study involves 30 participants from Phu Em Company. The study employs a mixed-methods design in which the quantitative approach helps quantify the speaking accuracy scores made by learners while the qualitative approach explores how learners perceive the use of interrogative constructions. The instruments are a questionnaire and an interview. Data analysis procedures include a theme analysis of the interview data, a statistical analysis of the test and survey data, and integrated findings. The findings from this research provide evidence that using interrogative constructions does not improve grammatical or phonological accuracy but improves expressing accuracy. The study also reveals that 58% of EG learners provide positive feedback on the use of interrogative constructions in learning English speaking skills. Based on the findings, several suggestions are offered to teachers and learners.

The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the scientific communication skills of Korean and Australian university students and identify areas that need improvement. As a result of the analysis, it was found that Korean students had higher overall science communication skills than Australian students. However, as a result of analyzing scientific communication skills by field, the type of legitimacy was higher among Australian university students than Korean university students. On the other hand, Korean university students showed higher ability to express letters and visual images than Australian university students. In addition, through a correlation analysis on the types and forms of scientific communication skills, it was possible to confirm the characteristics of scientific communication skills of university students in both countries. This study is significant in that it provides insight into the understanding of the characteristics of scientific communication skills of Korean and Australian university students.

Teaching is often regarded as a profession with a high probability of job burnout. Research has shown a close relationship between teachers' motivation and their burnout, but it has not been closely explored among EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers in Chinese contexts. Considering the large number of college English teachers in Chinese universities and recent changes in their role, the study explores the relationship between their motivation and burnout, as well as the factors that affect teacher burnout among Chinese college English teachers. For this purpose, a total of 261 college English teachers from ten Chinese universities participated in the survey. Among them, 68 teachers submitted their narratives on teacher burnout using the narrative frame. The results showed that high mastery and relational goals and a low level of work avoidance goals contributed to higher motivation and less teacher burnout. The demand for research, lack of autonomy, and guanxi-based practices influenced Chinese teachers' burnout. The results show that teacher burnout is highly context-dependent and affected by the organizational structure and cultural practices. An organizational support needs to be provided for teachers to maintain their mastery goal orientations and increase their autonomy as professional teachers.

This study explores the development of English textbooks in North Korea through corpus-based analysis aimed at illuminating the differences between materials produced during the Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un regimes. In the context of educational reforms and changing political ideology, this study investigates BNC/COCA-based lexical coverage and the key lexical features of North Korean middle school English textbooks, highlighting the complexity, vocabulary, and readability of the learning materials. The findings revealed that the Kim Jong-un regime had implemented reforms to improve English language education, with increased lexical diversity, textual complexity, and vocabulary exposure. Although no significant differences were found between the two regimes regarding the lexical coverage of textbooks, the Kim Jong-un regime's textbooks exhibited improvements in diversity, readability, and complexity. This study contributes to a broader understanding of the interplay between political ideology and English language education in North Korea, offering insights that have implications beyond the North Korean context and encouraging reflection on the nation-driven educational reform.

Developing Allied Health (AH) graduates who are skilled in responding to public health needs is crucial, particularly in rural areas where workforce shortages and poor health outcomes are common. However, workforce shortages make it difficult to provide rural work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities to teach these skills. This paper presents a model of Service-Learning (SL) that innovatively employs WIL for AH students while addressing rural health needs. The model was developed based on the experiences of a rural WIL team who implemented over 400 SL WIL experiences over six years. Key aspects highlight the importance of relationship building and meeting the needs of three key stakeholders, namely the community and host-site, students, and the enrolled university. Student support, interprofessional education and evaluation were also embedded in the model. This SL model adopts a flexible approach and provides a useful guide for developing SL for WIL despite challenges in rural areas.

An important educational goal is enabling students to learn scientific concepts. The scientific concepts learned in class are developed within students' cognitive structures. Despite the successful application of Semantic Network Analysis (SNA) to study these cognitive structures, there has been limited examination of students' concept networks based on their individual characteristics. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the differences in students' characteristics based on their cognitive levels, which influence their thinking and behavior. To analyze these differences, this study compares concept and connected concept networks, focusing on photosynthesis, a challenging life sciences topic. The study's results indicate that students could not clearly distinguish concepts by subtopic, but there were changes in the concept network after class. Although the types and number of concepts students knew were similar depending on their cognitive level, the concept network structure differed. Additionally, some students could not distinguish between similar concepts. Thus, teachers are advised to differentiate between similar concepts during instruction and address personal variables such as students' cognitive levels.

Bullying in placements is a phenomenon that is reported by numerous healthcare disciplines. The limited literature on occupational therapy and student bullying accounts that incivility during placement is both widespread and significantly impacts learning. This study aimed to 1) gather data on the prevalence, type, and effects of bullying that Canadian occupational therapy students experienced while on placement, and 2) explore students' perspectives on current reporting processes and potential mitigation strategies. Using a phenomenological approach, a mixed-methods descriptive and exploratory study was conducted. An anonymous Qualtrics survey consisting of multiple-choice, Likert scale and open-ended questions was completed by past occupational therapy graduates from the years 2018-2022 across Canada. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The results suggest that occupational therapy students across Canada experienced bullying on their fieldwork placements. Four major themes were identified in the data including types of bullying, impact on students, student responses to bullying, and the reporting experience. Bullying had both emotional and psychological effects on students with "loss of confidence", "dreading going to placement", and "self-doubt" as the most frequently reported impacts of bullying. Canadian occupational therapy programs and academic fieldwork coordinators must be proactive in preventing placement bullying. Findings from this study can serve to inform occupational therapy academic fieldwork coordinators and placement sites on how to create safe learning environments.

The pressing issue of climate change demands an informed future generation, yet how aware are students? This study dives into the varying levels of climate change awareness among 1,079 Korean and 2,507 Indonesian primary school students using a sophisticated survey tool developed by Lee et al. (2021). Surprisingly, while both groups exhibited high levels of awareness, significant cross-cultural differences were uncovered. Indonesian students demonstrated higher levels of action, concern, belief, attention, and policy. This stands in stark contrast to Korean students, who, despite having a higher understanding of causes and effects, showed lower levels of belief and attention to the issue. These findings not only challenge us to rethink our educational strategies but also underscore the critical role of cultural contexts in shaping environmental awareness. This comparative analysis reveals startling insights into the complexities of educating the next generation about climate change, setting the stage for urgent educational reforms.

Internationally representative data of middle-aged adults 45 - 65 years old [n(United States) = 2,150; n(Japan) = 2,318; n(South Korea) = 2,800] from the 2012 Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies were analyzed to examine the roles of education and literacy in relation to the digital divide. Results from survey-weighted binary logistic regressions showed that both educational attainment and literacy were positively associated with all four measures of information and communication technology (use of the computer, email, online information and transaction) use in all three countries. The middle-aged adults in the United States benefited more from the educational attainment than those in Japan, in terms of email and online information use. The middle-aged adults with lower education and basic skills (i.e., literacy) may benefit from the educational intervention and additional information and communication technology training, and in turn, improve the digital divide in later life, regardless of differences in culture and economy.

Background: This article emerged from a larger qualitative study, which revealed that children continue to be exposed to a complex range of risk factors with devastating consequences for their well-being. Gaps in services further hinder their development. The study concluded that there is a need for multidisciplinary teams to implement an early childhood home-visiting programme, and that such a programme would hold many potential benefits for the young and vulnerable children. Aim: This article presents a set of guidelines that can be used to support good outcomes for an early childhood home-visiting programme for vulnerable children aged 0-2 years. Setting: The study is set in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Methods: The guidelines were developed over three phases of the study, which used an intervention research design. Results: The guidelines emerged as a number of practice principles and include: engagement and advocacy; the recruitment of a multidisciplinary workforce; training of the home-visiting workforce; implementation of the programme; and monitoring and evaluation of the programme. Conclusion: The article suggests that the guidelines hold promise for both supporting the well-being of vulnerable children and shaping a programme that is preventative, focussed on early intervention, and both multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary in nature. Contribution: The guidelines are intended as a support to those working in the fields of both early childhood and vulnerable children, and can be used alongside the existing services.

The primary purpose of educational programs is to enhance students' knowledge and skills through pedagogical training activities. However, preschool teachers in Vietnam face limitations in their professional capacity. Thus, this study aimed to address issues by evaluating the level of implementation of pedagogical training activities for preschool education students. The study used a scale for students' pedagogical practice activities to gather quantitative data from 629 participants (managers, lecturers and preschool teachers) in Dong Thap province in Vietnam to assess the extent of implementation of pedagogical training activities for preschool education students. The results showed that preschool teachers may not possess the essential knowledge of pedagogical practices. Pedagogical training uses conventional work-and-activity techniques despite the fact that it prioritizes innovation. Moreover, all school managers, teachers and students recognized the necessity of developing the professional capacity of preschool teachers. These findings illustrate the critical need for revitalizing educational approaches that are consistent with Vietnam's developing preschool teacher professional development context. The present study proposes some measures to innovate pedagogical practice activities in order to meet the requirements for developing the professional capacity of preschool teachers in Vietnam. Such initiatives hold promise for reshaping the educational landscape and fostering a culture of continuous improvement within the primary education sector of Vietnam.

The application of artificial intelligence technologies, such as ChatGPT-4, offers a substantial chance to improve the learning process. The promising prospect of utilizing artificial intelligence and ChatGPT-4 to enhance educational interactions by offering tailored and engaging experiences is highly enticing. The promise of ChatGPT-4 resides in customizing teaching materials to correspond with the distinct learning objectives and musical preferences of individual students. Nevertheless, only a restricted amount of research has examined the effectiveness of ChatGPT-4 in improving students' learning outcomes. The present study aims to investigate the influence of ChatGPT-4 on augmenting students' learning outcomes concerning music. To this end, an experiment was conducted with 74 undergraduate students hailing from Chugye University for the Arts, Korea. The participants were randomly assigned to two distinct groups. One experimental group was assigned to utilize ChatGPT-4, while the control group received traditional teacher-led instructions. Additionally, a questionnaire was employed. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 22. The results reveal that the experimental group exhibits a higher level of musical knowledge acquisition in comparison to the control group. Moreover, the results reveal that the experimental group demonstrates enhanced proficiency in the acquisition of musical knowledge when assessing their scores prior to and following the implementation of the intervention. The results indicate that the students demonstrate a propensity to utilize ChatGPT-4 as a tool for enhancing their music learning abilities. The influence of ChatGPT-4 on students' music learning outcomes is noteworthy, as it possesses the capacity to foster a perception of tranquility and ease among students. A multitude of suggestions and recommendations were proffered.

Background: Research suggests that people with intellectual disabilities have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease than the general population. The aim of this study was to identify barriers for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disease for people with intellectual disabilities. Method: We conducted individual interviews with relatives and general practitioners and focus group interviews with staff working at an assisted home facility, a cardiac ward, an obesity clinic and two rehabilitation centres (n = 33) in Norway. Inductive approach and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data. Results: We identified barriers on an individual and a structural level. The underlying reason for these barriers is that health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, are regularly overlooked as the condition of intellectual disability "overshadows" other possible diagnoses. Conclusion: This focus on intellectual disability rather than other explanations leads to shortcomings in the prevention, diagnoses, and treatment of cardiovascular disease in this group.

Physical education teacher communities have been studied and implemented as a successful approach to teacher professional development. Despite a wealth of literature, less is known about three aspects: sustained nature of a community over time, power relations among community members, and a comprehensive case study. This study aimed to address these gaps in the literature by investigating the journey of a physical education community of practice (CoP) in South Korea. In this intrinsic case study, seven core members were interviewed using a timeline drawing method to elicit the stories behind the community's history. In addition, field notes from observations and documents from the official community website were used to corroborate the interview data. Inductive and collaborative data analysis organised the community's history into four phases: Beginning, Rise, Fall, and Comeback. Detailed explanations of each phase represent what happened and how the community evolved over time. Discussions suggested, first, that changing power relations facilitate different types of learning in CoPs. Initially, a strong leader drove learning as experiencing and doing, but as power shifted to members, the community changed to learning as belonging and becoming. Second, conflict can be a natural process to revisit the shared vision. Since the shared vision is not static but rather reflects contextual values, community members should revisit and discuss it as conflicts arise. Third, community engagement can be understood as an opportunity to gain recognition. This research underscores the significance of understanding long-term teacher motivation and the collective factors that drive it through community engagement.