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The study aims to explore factors that influence students’ academic performance in the context of physical ergonomics and assess the mediating effect of motivation between lighting, noise, temperature, chair design and students’ performance from the student’s perspective.

The research was categorised as a correlational study and employed non-contrived and cross-sectional methods to achieve its objectives. The target population was university students aged 18 years old and above enrolled in Malaysia’s higher education institutions. Due to the inaccessibility of the sample frame, convenience sampling, a type of non-probability sampling, was utilised. Data collection was conducted through an online survey primarily distributed among student groups.

The study’s findings reveal that only two exogenous variables, lighting and noise, directly influence students' performance. Additionally, motivation is a potent and significant factor in shaping students' performance. Motivation is also identified as a mediator in the complex relationship between lighting, noise, temperature and student performance. Surprisingly, although temperature does not directly influence student performance, it indirectly influences performance through motivation.

This study is an original exploration into the intricate factors shaping students' academic performance within the domain of physical ergonomics from a student perspective. The research uniquely investigates the mediating impact of motivation on the relationships between lighting, noise, temperature, seating arrangements and academic outcomes. The findings will contribute novel insights to the existing body of knowledge, offering a distinct perspective on the complex dynamics that influence student learning experiences and performance in educational settings.

The purpose of this study was to obtain valuable insights into students’ engagement and experiences within the virtual learning environment, especially in the context of crises. Among the innumerable challenges people throughout the world faced during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, those of students in institutions of higher education needing to engage in online academic studies are of special interest. Using an online survey, this study could predict students’ online engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic through three theoretical frameworks: the students’ academic motivation to study, the Big Five personality traits, and loneliness, and with a new tool measuring the participation in the Zoom platform.

To examine the psychological and technological factors predicting the students’ engagement, this study surveyed 547 students from different academic institutions of higher learning.

Findings show that the less lonely the students felt, the less neurotic they were, and the higher they scored in levels of extroversion, agreeableness, consciousnesses and openness to experience, the greater their engagement in their academic studies. In addition, students who were older, more educated, with higher intrinsic motivation and lower lack of motivation were more engaged in their online academic studies. Finally, participating in classes through the Zoom platform and experiencing it positively was a significant predictor of higher academic engagement.

Recognizing these factors can enable educators, institutions of higher learning, counselling services and students to obtain tools for higher engagement in online learning.

E-learning has demonstrated its value as a powerful tool for enhancing students' educational experience. This paper uses a quantitative approach to examine the impact of students' cognitive problem-solving skills on their e-learning management ability. In addition, it investigates the parallel mediation role of student psychological motivation and peer collaboration. Moreover, the moderating role of gender was examined to identify the difference in e-learning management ability among male and female students.

Data were collected from 214 Malaysian business students using an online survey. For the analysis, the researcher utilized both SPSS and a SMART PLS software.

The results show that cognitive problem-solving skills directly impact student e-learning management. Moreover, psychological motivation and peer collaboration mediate the relationship between cognitive problem-solving and student e-learning management. The study's results reported that female students' psychological motivation is higher than males in managing their e-learning environment. The study found that an e-learning environment helps students develop cognitive problem-solving skills, and students can manage their e-learning independently.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 worldwide has shifted the educational system from a traditional approach to an online context. There is a lack of studies examining students' cognitive problem-solving skills, their ability to manage e-learning and investigating gender differences. The findings reported here are novel in the context of Malaysia. Little evidence exists about the impact of problem-solving among business students on e-learning management ability while providing insight into gender differences.

Underpinned by social cognitive and ecological systems theories, this research explored higher education students' entrepreneurial intentions (EI). It begins by exploring how various factors, including entrepreneurship education (EE), entrepreneurial motivation (EM) and entrepreneurial environment (EENV), contribute to the evolution of EI of students. Second, it examines the role of EM as an underlying mechanism between EE-EI and EENV-EI. Finally, this research explores how EENV moderates the EM and EI relationship.

The data were gathered from 366 college students pursuing higher education around India using a convenience sample technique. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to SmartPLSv.3.3.9 software to analyze the data.

A direct relationship was found between EE, EENV and EM with EI. Moreover, this research found a partial mediation of EM between EENV-EI and EE-EI paths. Also, the results show that EENV strengthens the link between EM and EI links.

This study offers valuable insights that can guide government agencies and higher education institutions (HEIs) in reshaping the landscape of entrepreneurial education at the university level. This transformation encompasses the integration of work-based learning experiences as a conduit for equipping students with tangible skills and exposing them to the realities of entrepreneurship in the real world.

This research considerably contributes to the current literature on entrepreneurship at HEIs by merging social cognitive and ecological systems theories. This research is a pioneering input to examine the underlying mechanism of entrepreneurial motivation between EENV, EE and EI.

This study explores the impact of new technologies, such as simulation and virtual reality, on the pedagogy and learning of engineering students. It aims to compare the effectiveness of these digital tools against traditional teaching methods in enhancing student learning experiences.

Utilizing a quantitative research approach, the study involved third-year engineering students from the “Production Management” course at the School of Engineering of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Data were collected through an ad hoc questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software, focusing on student satisfaction, challenges in adopting new technologies and the evolving roles of students and teachers.

The research highlighted several key aspects. Firstly, it identified the need for adapting teaching methods to incorporate new technologies effectively. Secondly, the integration of simulation and virtual reality was found to facilitate a deeper understanding of real-world problems, as students could engage with these issues in a simulated, virtual environment. Finally, the study emphasized the importance of pedagogical approaches that leverage these technologies to increase student involvement and motivation. The results suggest a positive impact of digital tools on the learning process in engineering education.

The study’s scope was limited to one course within a single institution, suggesting the need for broader research across various disciplines and educational settings.

This research offers valuable insights into the integration of simulation and virtual reality in engineering education, underscoring their potential to enhance the learning experience and knowledge acquisition among students.

High turnover rates, delay and dissatisfaction among PhD students about the high efforts and low rewards are common problems in doctoral education. Research shows that many different factors are associated with the mental health crisis in graduate education, but these diverse aspects have not often been studied in relation to talent management and human resource management (HRM) strategies. Based on questionnaires and in-depth interviews, this chapter critically assesses the factors that influence doctoral students’ well-being, using as theoretical framework the self-determination theory, concerned with the social and other conditions that facilitate or hinder human well-being and flourishing, and the job demands–resources model, an occupational stress model that suggests strain is a response to imbalance between demands on the individual and the resources he or she has to deal with those demands. These theoretical frameworks help to explore the perceived job demands and resources, and motivations of a sample of 25 PhD students in the Netherlands, in order to recommend adequate talent management strategies to improve PhD work conditions at universities and reduce the increasing levels of ill-being. The study proposes a collegial model, focussing on the enjoyment of work, instead of the current managerial model, which focusses on strengthening knowledge and skills, and stimulating performance-oriented behaviour. A differentiated approach is needed, offering customized talent development for each PhD student in order to respond to his or her specific qualities, improving general well-being. This radical shift in talent management is needed to counter the mental health crisis in doctoral studies.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students' employability skills and give insights into preparation for future crises that may happen.

Employing an interpretative phenomenological approach with the frame of social cognitive theory, the current study examined the changes in environmental, behavioral and personal elements of human functioning for employability skills being affected by the conditions during the pandemic.

Findings based on ten in-depth semi-structured interviews with students at universities in Vietnam highlighted that the global pandemic performed as both challenge and an opportunity for employability skills development, yet the extent to which the students can benefit from the new studying conditions attributed to each individual's initiatives in taking advantages of resources and acting against difficulties.

Whether the pandemic became a hindrance or a motivation for students' employability skills to develop and whether students effectively utilized an agency to overcome challenges and improved their skills after the pandemic have not yet been investigated. This study added to the body of literature regarding self-regulated learners by demonstrating agency in the learning process as well as how to manage careers and improve employability skills by making use of resources in disconnected settings.

The COVID-19 pandemic started a new era in understanding the topic of resilience and adaptability. The human society has not faced such a widespread global challenge until now. This paper aims to address a context change influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, using a case study in high education. While the character of the issues emerging is the same as in any other domain, in high education, the principles and consequences can be more directly studied and analyzed.

This paper describes a framework to evaluate how the context of the tertiary education service has been disrupted and the influence on the adherence of the students to the educational process, via primary quantitative data collection. This paper tackles the problem of distinguishing the change in context and context change and the possibility of system reconfiguration.

To properly face the evolving conditions induced by the pandemic, the education service system must be aligned to the imposed emergency situations, trying to “find” where the changes have emerged, i.e. what kind of reconfiguration is, whether it appears in the goals or in the service system itself. Furthermore, this study discusses how the findings can be valuable and applied to situations beyond the pandemic, in other cases of context disruption to highlight how general the service activities are within our reconfiguration approach.

From a theoretical point of view, this work is in line with main assumptions of system thinking, by confirming several insights of service systems’ behavior, even in a logic of B2B interactions (from the offer side); first in terms of openness and adaptation, in addition to readiness to change and – when and how – this change can occur. From a practical point of view, this paper’s contribution is directed toward achieving the more successful change management process, as reached together by motivated partners working hard for a common final goal. Realizing that the pandemic has brought a completely new context of education, managers should focus now on monitoring all aspects of the education business, not only directly affected projects and processes.

The psychological theory of self-determination postulated that gamification enhances learning engagement by intrinsically motivating learners to undertake tasks spontaneously. Gamification has then been integrated into adult learning as part of the initiative of learner-centred pedagogies to curb the low retention rates of adult learners who struggle with heavy work commitments, family obligations and financial pressure. Gamification, being one of the technological mediations, assumes the crucial role of engaging and retaining adult learners. Adult learners have received less attention in research when compared with conventional university students. The purpose of this study is to conduct a bibliographic analysis to assess the past, present and future publication trends of gamifying adult learning and to identify the research gap.

This study included publications related to gamification and adult learning from 2014 to 2022, extracted from Dimensions. A total of 79,864 publications were retrieved initially, and 3,469 publications were ultimately selected for final analysis after the refinement of the keyword search. VOSviewer was used for bibliographic coupling, keyword co-occurrence, clustering and co-citation analysis of countries.

The number of publications related to gamification in adult learning has decreased since its peak in 2020. The saturation is mainly concentrated in the USA, the UK and China, with similar levels of national income and technology advancement skills. However, gamification in adult learning remains a popular and growing research area in developing countries like Malaysia, which has huge potential due to government investments in education, technology and lifelong learning. There is also an evident research gap on gamification, adult learning and personality traits, which have not been covered in previous studies.

Prior research mostly focused on systematic literature reviews, while the use of bibliometric analysis could be a missing link in this research domain. This paper unveils the evolution of publications on this topic over time by scientifically analysing a large number of publications and rigorously identifying research gaps contributing to future research avenues.

The present study’s goal is to assess the effect of a serious game on the development of entrepreneurial competence, self-efficacy and intention and thereby contribute to clarifying the usefulness of this approach in entrepreneurship education.

The study sample and method included 76 graduate students, selected through a convenience sampling technique and collected through a self-administered questionnaire. To examine the impact of the gaming session, a pre-test post-test design approach was employed. Consequently, all students completed a survey both at the beginning and end of the gaming session.

Our study found that game-based learning effectively enhances students' entrepreneurial competence, particularly in areas like generating ideas, managing resources and taking action, while also boosting self-efficacy. However, it didn't significantly impact entrepreneurial intentions. The effectiveness depends on students' prior gaming experience, especially in resource management and taking action. Additionally, it positively influences women's self-efficacy more than men. The field of study also plays a role, with design students showing notable development in idea generation, entrepreneurial intentions, and self-efficacy. Overall, game-based learning is a valuable tool for entrepreneurship education, but its effects vary based on prior experience, gender and field of study.

Several limitations of the study should be considered. First, the small sample size acquired through convenience sampling and the potential for social response bias, even with respondent anonymity, could limit the generalizability of the study's findings. Second, the study recognizes that the effectiveness of a serious game is greatly influenced by the game's design, making findings from studies with different game-based learning approaches potentially different. Lastly, the impact of student interactions during the game session was not evaluated.

The study's practical implications are significant. It demonstrates the effectiveness of game-based learning in cultivating entrepreneurial competence and self-efficacy, particularly benefiting women and design students. These findings emphasize the importance of integrating serious games (SG) into entrepreneurship education to nurture vital entrepreneurial competences essential for students' career development as entrepreneurs or employees. The study encourages the development of SG tailored for use in entrepreneurship classes. Additionally, it underscores the need to educate educators about the advantages of incorporating game-based learning into their teaching strategies, offering a practical pathway to enhance entrepreneurship education and better prepare students for the modern job market.

The study's social implications are substantial. It highlights the effectiveness of game-based learning in nurturing entrepreneurial competence and self-efficacy, particularly benefiting women and design students. This underscores the importance of integrating Serious Games (SG) into entrepreneurship education, emphasizing the need for more SG tailored for use in entrepreneurship classes. Furthermore, it calls for increased awareness among educators about the advantages of incorporating game-based learning into their teaching methods. Ultimately, these findings have the potential to positively impact students' career development, whether as entrepreneurs or employees, by equipping them with crucial entrepreneurial skills.

This study brings a novel perspective in three distinct ways. Firstly, it centers on the pivotal entrepreneurial competences outlined in the EntreComp framework by the European Commission, addressing the challenge of identifying which competences are most relevant for entrepreneurial education. By doing so, it ensures a focus on competence areas critical for entrepreneurs, such as ideas and opportunities, resources, and action. Secondly, it explores the impact of game experience on the development of entrepreneurial competences, entrepreneurial intention, and self-efficacy, a relationship hitherto unexplored. Thirdly, the study examines how students' demographic and contextual characteristics influence the development of entrepreneurial competence, intention, and self-efficacy through a game-based learning approach. These unique perspectives contribute valuable empirical data to both theory and practice in the field of entrepreneurship education.