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The study explored the effect of information and communication technology-assisted instruction (ICTAI) on civic education (CE) students' academic performance and the effect of gender on students' performance. Specifically, the study addressed the facilitating effect of ICTAI on students' scholarly performance.

This study utilised the quasi-experimental approach. A sample of 255 senior secondary school students was the analysis unit. A teacher-made performance test was used as an instrument for the study. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics for the research questions, and hypotheses tested with paired sample t-test statistics.

The study results indicated that ICTAI improved student scholarly performance. The study also proved that gender had an impact on student academic performance.

Not all the students in intact classes that were used for conducting the study/research, and the background and gender of research assistants were not considered, and these could have affected the result of the study. The study implications are that this study is a piece of deeper ingenuity and innovation that provides an additional source of information to study. The study provided proof that innovative activity-based instructions such as computer-assisted instruction (CAI) boost students’ performance.

On the instructor, the study findings demonstrated the significant effect of ICTAI on the scholarly performance of CE students. Consequently, this study contends that CE instructors/teachers can benefit from the implications of these findings by comprehensively understanding that ICTIA usage enhances student performance and, thus, improves the students' performance. Additionally, the study's findings proved that gender affected students' performance when instructed with ICTAI. The study implies that CE instructors/teachers should pay special attention to students' gender, specifically female students, as gender affects the improvement of students' CE performance when instructed with ICTAI.

The study findings contribute to the literature on academic improvement and performance of CE students by enhancing the understanding of the effect of ICTAI on students' scholarly performance. The study recognises the existing gaps in previous literature and vivid understanding of the effect of ICTAI on students' performance and gender as a mediator.

The purpose of this paper is to share the lessons learned in teaching programming skills to refugees during a time when circumstances were changing quickly and constantly and the needs of the target group were not well known.

The integration of refugees poses serious challenges for the hosting society’s education system. A large number of refugees can put a strain on all kinds of public resources, and difficulties with differences in languages, previous curricula, falling behind due to having to spend time outside of education, and psychological traumas have to be expected. In response to the refugee crisis and in order to manage mass migration, the adaptive nature and rapid development of civic approaches can contribute to overcoming some of these challenges. To evaluate the impact of civic approaches, the authors have paid attention to refugees{code} an Austrian coding school for refugees which was developed by the civic community and which shows great potential in terms of providing rapid, innovative and adaptive kinds of educational support for refugees, as well as helping to combat the lack of programmers in the Austrian job market.

As the great potential that initiatives like refugees{code} have for education, there are also substantial challenges. As we learned from the first course, course completion rates were very low. Therefore, it is important to build an infrastructure and a learning environment around the course. This learning environment includes providing mentoring and support, creating spaces where participants can learn. It was also found that having a pedagogically trained staff who is sufficient in the English language, too, is necessary to cater to a heterogeneous group. Also varying teaching strategies according to the needs and skills of the learner is necessary. One of the issues that confronts projects like refugees{code} is also receiving legal status. The collaboration with universities and colleges can be greatly helpful because they are already familiar with the structure of public authorities as well as with heterogeneous groups. Initiatives like refugees{code} are agile and flexible and know how to take advantage of that. The authors conclude that bringing successful education to heterogeneous and culturally different groups is multi-faceted. It is not something any individual organization or project can do; it can only be the result of a system of different actors working together with traditional educational institutions.

This research study reports on two courses of programming for refugees and seeks to offer practical advice for further research and for the implementation of such courses into the educational system. Therefore a framework is proposed which should be taken into account in case of doing similar work.

During the last three decades or so, the introduction of gender studies into higher education in Romania as a field of teaching and research has proved to be a very uneven and sometimes precarious process. The notion of gender has not been properly integrated into scholarly research, and women’s and gender studies have therefore been seen as an appendix to mainstream research in the humanities and the social sciences. This chapter aims at providing a meaningful picture of how gender studies have become part of the higher education system in Romania, what challenges have been met on the way and what future gender studies have in the education landscape. It also provides a comprehensive overview of the significance and importance of the TARGET project for the implementation of the first gender equality plan in the Romanian higher education system.