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Isolated within the communist Eastern Block until 1989, Romania has been experiencing numerous educational reforms, initiated by the National Ministry of Education and generally aligned with the European Union goals through the Bologna Treaty. The socioeconomic macrosystem is an important source of influence and we are looking at its main directions. Scholarship on the topic of teaching and learning in Romania is emergent but Computer-Assisted-Teaching (CAT) education in Romania remains insufficiently explored, despite the ever-growing need. This chapter analyzes the state of CAT formative programs for the preservice and the in-service teachers at Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu, Romania. We are now using the lessons learned from the Covid-19 crisis to reflect on new needs for digital competencies, Professional Development (PD), and proposed systemic changes. Such professional training is offered first during the university years, during the BA and MA studies. At the university level, the teacher training curriculum includes CAT, while for the in-service teachers, the PD continues through a combination of self-pursued and mandatory teacher training sessions offered by the regional school districts, universities, and professional organizations. CAT PD is not usually the focus of teacher preparation degree programs; the computer-assisted teaching course during teachers' training program offers a general, introductory perspective on using technology in teaching. For in-service teachers, most specialized PD happens independently and/or through self-teaching. The Covid-19 crisis created not only the urgent need to learn how to teach online but also the awareness that computer-assisted teaching PD needs certain changes.

This research aims to investigate the leadership strategies employed by two higher education institutions in Malaysia as they navigated the shift to online delivery of their computer science programs in response to the demands of Education 4.0.

A phenomenological, comparative case study approach was used to delve into the leadership and management practices of these institutions during the transition to online learning. Data were collected through interviews and document analysis.

This study explores the leadership strategies employed by two higher education institutions in Malaysia during their transition to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Five key themes emerged from the data: leadership and team coordination, training and skill development, adaptation to new assessment methods, resource management and work culture and environment. Both institutions demonstrated effective leadership, continuous training and adaptability in assessment methods. However, differences were noted in resource management and work culture. Institution A's leader had to liaise with various departments and personally invest in equipment, while Institution B was already well-equipped. The work culture at Institution A demonstrated flexibility and mutual understanding, while Institution B used key performance indicators to measure progress. Despite these differences, both leaders successfully managed the shift to online teaching, underscoring the importance of effective leadership, continuous training, flexibility, resource management and a supportive work culture in managing change. The study also highlighted the distinct roles of curriculum leaders in both institutions, with Institution A's leader focusing on multiple activities, while Institution B's leader was able to focus solely on curriculum change due to their institution's preparedness.

This study provides a rich, qualitative exploration of the strategies and challenges faced by program leaders in managing the shift to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research could build on these findings by conducting similar studies in other educational contexts or countries to compare and contrast the strategies and challenges faced by program leaders. Additionally, future research could also employ quantitative methods to measure the effectiveness of different strategies in managing the shift to online teaching. This could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that contribute to successful change management in educational institutions.

This study provides valuable insights for program leaders, educators and policymakers in managing change in educational institutions. The themes identified in this study – effective leadership, continuous training and skill development, flexibility in adapting to new assessment methods, effective resource management and a supportive work culture and environment – can serve as a guide for program leaders in managing future changes in their institutions. Moreover, the strategies employed by the program leaders in this study, such as forming a powerful coalition, providing training on online tools and prioritizing student welfare, can be adopted or adapted by other program leaders in managing change.

This study presents a unique contribution to the existing literature by offering a comparative analysis of change management strategies in two distinct educational institutions during the shift to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It uncovers the nuanced differences in leadership styles, resource management and pedagogical adaptations, providing a rich, context-specific understanding of the change process. The study fills a research gap by examining the practical application of Kotter's 8-Step Change Model and the McKinsey 7S Model in real-world educational settings. The findings offer valuable insights for other institutions navigating similar changes, thereby extending the practical and theoretical understanding of change management in higher education.

Faced with the existential threat of COVID-19, the College of Business Administration (CBA) at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) decided to work toward the dual goals to achieve accreditation and an effective social and educational response to the pandemic. CBA’s quality improvement process was implemented synergistically with Seligman’s (2011) PERMA well-being model, namely positive emotions, engagement, relationship, meaning, and accomplishment/achievement. The case study methodology, which was based on direct observations, faculty and students’ interviews, surveys, feedback, documents, and archival data records, allowed to capture the context and lived reality of all the participants in QAA processes. Results showed that quality improvement was facilitated through three domains: (1) governance and academic leadership, (2) teaching and learning, and (3) digitalization and technology. Within each domain, specific programs, activities, human resources, and networks were enabled through a framework based on the PERMA well-being model. As a result of this hybrid QAA well-being implementation process, CBA achieved NCAAA accreditation for its offered programs, while experiencing high levels of well-being and commitment to teaching and learning by the staff members and students. The description of CBA’s accreditation journey might be insightful for other higher education institutions (HEIs).

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel improved teaching and learning-based algorithm (TLBO) to enhance its convergence ability and solution accuracy, making it more suitable for solving large-scale optimization issues.

Utilizing multiple cooperation mechanisms in teaching and learning processes, an improved TBLO named CTLBO (collectivism teaching-learning-based optimization) is developed. This algorithm introduces a new preparation phase before the teaching and learning phases and applies multiple teacher–learner cooperation strategies in teaching and learning processes. Applying modularization idea, based on the configuration structure of operators of CTLBO, six variants of CTLBO are constructed. For identifying the best configuration, 30 general benchmark functions are tested. Then, three experiments using CEC2020 (2020 IEEE Conference on Evolutionary Computation)-constrained optimization problems are conducted to compare CTLBO with other algorithms. At last, a large-scale industrial engineering problem is taken as the application case.

Experiment with 30 general unconstrained benchmark functions indicates that CTLBO-c is the best configuration of all variants of CTLBO. Three experiments using CEC2020-constrained optimization problems show that CTLBO is one powerful algorithm for solving large-scale constrained optimization problems. The application case of industrial engineering problem shows that CTLBO and its variant CTLBO-c can effectively solve the large-scale real problem, while the accuracies of TLBO and other meta-heuristic algorithm are far lower than CLTBO and CTLBO-c, revealing that CTLBO and its variants can far outperform other algorithms. CTLBO is an excellent algorithm for solving large-scale complex optimization issues.

The innovation of this paper lies in the improvement strategies in changing the original TLBO with two-phase teaching–learning mechanism to a new algorithm CTLBO with three-phase multiple cooperation teaching–learning mechanism, self-learning mechanism in teaching and group teaching mechanism. CTLBO has important application value in solving large-scale optimization problems.

Co-teaching is a foundational mentoring model used in teacher residency programs in urban classrooms throughout the United States of America. Beyond the basic understanding of co-teaching in categorizing classroom models, the purpose of this qualitative case study is to investigate the dialectical tensions manifested in mentored co-teaching activities through the lens of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT).

Designed as a qualitative case study of 17 pairs of teaching-residents and mentor-teachers, the authors used thematic analysis to scrutinize archival interview data in an urban teacher residency program located in the largest megalopolis of the USA Northeast. The authors used CHAT-based concept coding to analyze the interview narratives from participants across different secondary school placements as they reflected on their co-teaching philosophy and the relationships they built.

The authors found that for teaching-residents and mentor-teachers to co-develop as co-teachers, they jointly must learn to resolve the dialectical tensions of unbalanced classroom ownership vs added co-working responsibilities, breaking from routine so that a partnership can grow. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the prefix co- should be understood as (1) shifts in thinking that transcend the status quo and (2) the orchestration of human capital to change norms.

This new understanding of the prefix co- allows teacher education programs to better mediate the dialectical tensions experienced by co-teachers in a mentored co-teaching activity, from individual teacher learning (e.g. a pair/dyad comprising one teaching-resident and one mentor-teacher) to collective co-learning across activity systems (e.g. partnership-based teacher education).

Due to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, primary and secondary schools worldwide are deploying online teaching/learning practices, fostering and thus innovation practices. The purpose of this study is to determine the degree to which practices reflecting educational innovation are implemented in the Greek public primary and secondary schools operating under conditions characterized by the COVID-19 pandemic. Determining the relationship among these educational innovation practices is also an aim of the present study.

A research study was conducted in the Greek public primary and secondary schools. 522 teachers fully completed a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to analyze the data.

The findings reveal that administration-related innovation practices, teaching-related innovation practices and online teaching/learning practices are implemented to some extent in primary and secondary schools in Greece, but there is still scope for continued development. The online teaching/learning practices set the foundations for further developing a culture of fully adopting other educational innovation practices in these schools to improve education.

Limited research concerning educational innovation practices has focused on primary and secondary schools. The need for more studies on teaching and learning innovations that have resulted from the COVID-19 crisis is highlighted by the literature. The results of this study support the fact that online teaching/learning implemented in primary and secondary schools is positively associated with administration-related and teaching-related innovation practices, concluding that this forced change in the educational process can act as a catalyst for more changes and innovative actions.

The present study examines the foremost determinants of teachers' perception, i.e. teachers' satisfaction, attitude and continuance intention towards adopting e-learning in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in India during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data were collected through online Google forms from 1,111 (1,060 considered useable) teachers of different HEIs in India using the purposive sampling technique and was analyzed by PLS-SEM (performing partial least squares-structural equation modeling).

Results of this study show that perceived usefulness (PU) followed by institutional support, perceived ease of use (PEOU), and teacher-student interaction positively and significantly impact teachers' satisfaction. Results also revealed that perceived usefulness (PU), institutional support, and satisfaction significantly affect teachers' attitude. Finally and most notably, teachers' continuance intention towards using online teaching in HEIs is most significantly influenced by teachers' satisfaction than perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), and attitude.

The authors anticipate that this study brings a significant and valuable input to the existing literature by providing inclusive research in a more harmonizing understanding of the teachers' satisfaction, attitude, and continuance intention with online teaching-learning practices in diverse educational institutions.

This study aims to explore how educational leaders in South Korea adopted equity mindsets and how they organized changes to support students' deeper learning during COVID-19.

The authors developed a comprehensive framework of Equity Leadership for Deeper Learning, by revising the existing model of Darling-Hammond and Darling-Hammond (2022) and synthesizing equity leadership literature. Drawing upon this framework, this study analyzed data collected from individual interviews and a focus group with school and district administrators in the K-12 Korean education system.

The participants prioritized an equity stance of their leadership by critically understanding socio-political conditions, challenging unjust policies, and envisioning the big picture of equity-centered education. This led them to operationalize equity leadership in practice and create a more inclusive and supportive environment for student-centered deeper learning. District leaders established well-resourced systems by creating/developing instructional resources and making policies more useful. School leaders promoted quality teaching by strengthening access, developing student-centered curricula, and establishing individualized programs for more equitable deeper learning.

This study builds on scholarship of deeper learning and equity leadership by adding evidence from Korean educational leaders during COVID-19. First, the findings highlight the significance of leaders' equity mindsets in creating a safe and inclusive environment for deeper learning. This study further suggests that sharing an equity stance as a collective norm at the system level, spanning across districts and schools is important, which is instrumental to scale up innovation and reform initiatives. Second, this research also extends comparative, culturally informed perspectives to understand educational leadership. Most contemporary leadership theories originated from and are informed by Western and English-speaking contexts despite being widely applied to other contexts across the culture. This study's analysis underscores the importance of contextualizing leadership practices within the socio-historical contexts that influence how education systems are established and operate.

Leaders' adopting equity mindsets, utilizing bureaucratic resources in creative ways and implementing a school-wide quality curriculum are crucial to supporting students' deeper learning. District leaders can leverage existing vertical and horizontal networks to effectively communicate with teachers and local communities to establish well-recourced systems. As deeper learning is timeless and requires high levels of student engagement, school leaders' efforts to establish school-wide curricula is critical to facilitate deeper learning for students.

The study provides a nuanced understanding of how equity focused leaders responded to difficulties caused by the pandemic and strategized to support students' deeper learning. Existing studies tend to prioritize teacher effects on student learning, positing leadership effects as secondary or indirect. Alternatively, the authors argue that, without leadership supporting an inclusive environment, resourceful systems and student-centered school culture, deeper learning cannot be fully achieved in equitable ways.

This article presents our experience in implementing the assessment for learning process (AfL) to enhance the teaching–learning quality, which has faced numerous challenges impacting educational quality. The effectiveness of this technique is demonstrated through a case study conducted in a core course of chemical engineering.

The article shares insights into the systematic course design and planning processes that were discussed and developed through AfL practices. Significant emphasis is placed on implementing formative and summative student self-assessment surveys as simple yet effective methods to meet this purpose. Quantitative data were collected and analyzed over three consecutive academic years (2020–2022) using various statistical parameters such as percentage, interquartile range and the program’s numerical goal (%G).

The AfL process via formative and summative surveys could significantly and effectively improve teaching–learning quality. These findings assist educators in identifying appropriate teaching methods and recognizing areas of weakness and strength, thereby facilitating continuous improvement in the teaching–learning quality. Validation methods, including quizzes and numerical grades, were employed to practically verify the outcome obtained from the questionnaires.

The AfL techniques demonstrated in this study can be directly implemented or adapted for various educational fields to enhance the teaching–learning quality.

The practical implementation of AfL in an engineering context has hardly been reported, particularly in chemical engineering. This work represents the practical implementation of AfL to enhance engineering field education.

When it comes to special education, teachers are the cornerstone of children's development. A special education teacher (SET) who possesses correct perceptions to teach students with special education needs (SENs) in inclusive education and ability to maintain balance that works best for children with physical and emotional disabilities are expected to thrive. This requires several skills that are entirely different from traditional teaching, often depicted as ‘chalk and talk’ – keeping control and making decisions about what is the right thing to do for students. This trait is just an illustration of many myopic characteristics that will no longer work well for both SENs and regular students. An effective SET in the twenty-first century must be able to adapt and respond rapidly to the changing society and is more likely to be open to learning. These character qualities are typical among millennials and Generation Z or Alpha, who are more prone to be digital native, that will future-proof them in the upcoming era of ubiquitous technology. As such, new generation SETs are significant precursor to create a new special education system that responds well to the challenges encountered by the pervasive future ahead.