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Changes in society, the economy and health require a response from higher education regarding the training of professionals, specifically, future teachers. In this sense, active methodologies constitute, in line with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, a key strategic element in teacher training, given the need to educate for sustainability and social responsibility (SR). This study aims to examine innovative teaching-learning experiences based on the use of active methodologies and the interaction with sustainability and SR on the part of university students in Education.

The methodology constitutes a systematic review of the qualitative, inductive and exploratory literature, on the basis of the PRISMA declaration principles. The sample is composed of research published between 2011 and 2021 in the world’s most important scientific databases in the educational context (WoS, Scopus and Eric-ProQuest).

This study reveals the methodologies that are most commonly used in ecological literacy, their implications for the acquisition of competencies in terms of curriculum sustainability and their relationship with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and SR. Higher education must reflect and demonstrate awareness of its social mission and pedagogical effectiveness, to transform education, taking as a reference the sustainability and SR in the university student’s curriculum.

One of the main limitations of this study is the scarcity of research studies that include, jointly, the key descriptors analysed in this contribution such as teacher training, active methodologies, sustainability and SR. Another limitation to observe in this work is related to having considered as inclusion criteria solely research published in open access journals, since other research published in closed access journals is omitted.

This work demonstrates the usefulness of active methodologies in the training and professional development of future Education students in “sustainability”.

This paper intended to explore the knowledge and use of the digital verbs and tools by the students and teachers for conceptual understanding in the virtual and conventional learning environment. The study also explored the use of such digital tools for lower- and higher-order thinking.

A survey research method was used for the study. All the students and teachers of the faculty of education from one virtual and one conventional university were the population of this study. Teachers were selected through census sampling. Student enrollment in the faculty of education of the virtual university during Spring 2019 was 1,139 while the conventional university had 1,809 students. In total, 20% of the students from each of the two universities were sampled by using a convenient proportionate sampling technique. A questionnaire was developed by the researchers and validated by three experts before administration. The reliability of the instrument was a = 0.934. Mean, SD, parametric and nonparametric statistics were applied for data analysis.

The study reveals that the students of ODL are far better in using digital tools and activities that is, googling, collaborating and Skyping. They are good at understanding and application levels and are involved in higher-order thinking tasks, that is, publishing and podcasting as well. Unlike the students, the teachers of the virtual university are using digital tools of lower-order thinking. The authors infer that the students and teachers of the online universities are using these tools regularly because of the demands of the ODL environment. These findings suggest further research to explore the factors that hinder the use of higher-order thinking skills by the teachers in the online environment.

The study suggests the adoption of Bloom's digital taxonomy in teaching–learning processes, that is, curriculum, instructions and assessment for the millennials. The findings may motivate the online and conventional higher education institutions to adopt digital pedagogy for instructional purposes as the students of the digital age are already extensively involved with digital tools.

This study experimentally aims to determine the degree of influence that mindfulness training exerts on learning capacity at the university level and contrasts it with previous observational or relational studies that have shown contradictory results.

A quasi-experiment was carried out to measure the variation of six academic learning abilities – a) self-efficacy, b) organization of and attention to studies, c) stress control due to time pressure and the environment, d) involvement with college activity, e) emotional satisfaction, and f) class communication – which together comprise the research questionnaire called the college learning effectiveness inventory (CLEI). The CLEI questionnaire was administered before and after the participants were trained in the mindfulness technique. The study was conducted in Ecuador, and the participants were selected from among the graduate students of a local university.

The learning ability measured by the CLEI was improved by a statistically significant margin in the two groups.

The treatment groups consisted of graduate students who did not have opportunities for full-time activities on campus, as they were limited to attending regular classes at specific times, usually at night. The dropout rate was 14% due to inconveniences caused by the pandemic. These conditions could have affected the study results both positively and negatively. In addition, the pandemic limited academic interactions, which are required to evaluate the learning results after applying the research instrument. This limitation was especially critical for people who had experienced online classes only.

Offering graduate students the opportunity to learn about and adopt a mindfulness practice helps to improve their academic outcomes, as reflected through the statistical measurement of the CLEI indicator.

This study is especially relevant within the context of sanitary conditions due to the pandemic and the intensive use of technology for managing academic interactions, both of which have replaced physical contact between participants.

The main contributions of this study are related to the determination of the practical effects of mindfulness training in postgraduate university settings and the identification of the mechanisms involving participants' reflecting upon, learning and understanding the importance of perfecting their soft skills to facilitate their learning processes and face today's uncertain environments.

本研究採用實驗方法、來釐定正念認知對在大學水平上的學習能力的影響程度，並對比於以往顯示了相互矛盾的研究結果的觀察性研究或關係研究。

研究人員進行準實驗、來量度六個學術學習能力的變化。這六個學習能力為：(一) 自我效能, (二) 學習的組織能力和注意力，(三) 控制因時間壓力和環境因素而產生的壓力, (四) 大學活動的參與，(五) 情緒方面的滿足、及 (六) 課堂之溝通。這六個學習能力合起來就構成本研究的調查問卷，我們稱之為大學學習效能清單。問卷調查工作分別於研究參與者接受正念認知技巧訓練之前及之後進行。本研究是在厄瓜多爾進行的，而參與者則選自當地一間大學的研究生。

研究結果顯示、根據大學學習效能清單的測量，有關的兩個組別均顯示明顯數據差額範圍上的學習能力提昇。

若為研究生提供學習正念認知技巧的機會，並讓他們應用這技巧，他們的學習成果將會得到提昇，這正是透過數據上量度有關的大學學習效能清單指標所顯示的現象。

本研究的結果，就現時的衛生狀況而言特具意義。這是由於大流行病的發生，以及在管理學術互動上大量使用應用技術，參與者之間的身體接觸也不需要了。

本研究的主要貢獻為、研究結果確認了在大學研究院的學習環境裡，正念認知的培訓是有其實用效果的;研究亦找出了參與者應如何有效地反省思考和學習提昇其軟技能的方法，並了解其重要性，以能增強他們的學習能力，以及更能應對今天不明確的環境。

The purpose of this study was to investigate challenges for new Western/Western-educated faculty and their responses to those challenges as they began teaching at a national women’s University located in the Arabian Gulf. Twenty-four new faculty were recruited for the study. Faculty were hired from America, the UK, Canada, and Australia to provide an American-like education to students. 75% percent of participants were native English speakers, and 54% had not taught in a foreign university before. Before arriving in the country to begin teaching, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire measuring their attitudes towards student learning and performance, and their teaching methods. Six to ten weeks after the beginning of their first semester they were asked to participate in focus groups. The focus group questions asked faculty to discuss issues and challenges they were facing and how they were coping. Results of the quantitative data and the focus groups show faculty were facing classroom challenges but were committed and creative in finding teaching/learning strategies. Focus group data further showed faculty were experiencing cultural differences that were challenging and frustrating. They were finding their teaching rewarding and were enjoying the experience of interacting with the students who were the first generation of women in the nation to be educated in a Western-style pedagogy.

There is a global concern about the effectiveness of vocational education and training (VET) programmes in developing job-related skills and competencies for real-world environments for disadvantaged and unemployed youths. Experiential learning (EL) is a major component of VET programmes. This article aims to examine the effects of facilitating VET through EL theory to promote youths' skills acquisition. The study looks at the effects of material resources on the use of experiential learning theory (ELT), the types of EL and the contribution of ELT to VET programmes.

The research design mainly entails a qualitative research design and research method to allow the researcher to view the reality as is experienced from the inside out by the trainees and training centre managers on important data for a thorough understanding. The study participants were 512 young trainees who completed different training courses from the VET programmes and 24 centre managers in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

The findings reveal that the use of ELT in VET programmes helped the trainees to gain real-world skills, hence contributing to their empowerment in terms of work experience and competence for their future employment. Based on the findings, the study concludes that ELT is an effective instrument to promote VET programmes for disadvantaged and unemployed youths.

The practical and social implications of the findings are that, while disadvantaged youths cannot access and afford higher education, public and private sectors can remedy their situation by providing non-school-based technical and vocational training to help such youths enter the labour market. The findings will motivate the providers of skills development for unemployed youths to use ELT in designing course curricula, planning resources and directing teaching-learning approaches to help trainees to acquire skills and competencies to perform tasks close to real-work situations.

The socio-economic implication of the article is that skills development plays an important role in poverty reduction. Investing in the skills development of citizens is vital to raise the incomes of poor groups and to reduce poverty (ILO, 2018). Although the causes of unemployment have also to do with economic factors in a country, skills development is an essential ingredient in developing capacities for labour market entry and increased income generation of a vulnerable group of people.

The article is significant because the study provides new insights into the use of ELT in VET programmes to improve their effectiveness in developing job-related skills and competencies for real-world environments for disadvantaged and unemployed youths. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by establishing a solid base for the evidence-informed practice of the effects of facilitating the VET programme through ELT to promote skills acquisition for the employment of unemployed and disadvantaged youths.

This study aims to identify the gap between the requirements of the accreditation bodies and the widely used learning management systems (LMSs) in assessing the intended learning outcomes (ILOs). In addition, this study aims to introduce a framework, along with the evaluation of the functionality of the LMS, for measuring the ILO.

A qualitative method was deployed to examine the gap between the requirements of the accreditation standards and the LMS functionalities. The researchers collaborated to design a mechanism, develop a system architecture to measure the ILO in alignment with the accreditation standards and guide the development of the Moodle plugin. The appropriateness and effectiveness of the plugin were evaluated within the scope of assessment mapping and design. Focus group interviews were conducted to collect feedback from the instructors and program leaders regarding its implementation.

The results of this study indicate that there is no standardized mechanism to measure course and program ILO objectively, using the existing LMS. The implementation of the plugin shows the appropriateness and effectiveness of the system in generating ILO achievement reports, which was confirmed by the users.

This study proposed a framework and developed a system architecture for the objective measurement of the ILO through direct assessment. The plugin was tested to generate consistent reports during the measurement of course and program ILO. The plugin has been implemented across Gulf University’s program courses, ensuring appropriate reporting and continuous improvement.

The state of science education is similar to that of other disciplines: research shows a clear need for new instructional strategies based on a constructivist model of learning emphasizing conceptual growth, conceptual change and the conditions that support conceptual change. Practice, however, remains anchored in behaviorist theory and rote methods of learning. “Serious constructivist approaches usually set out to reorganize traditional teaching by including changes of aims, setup of content structures, media, and teaching/learning strategies” (Treagust et al, 1996, p7). Maher and Alston (1990) discuss constructivist reform efforts and the implications for classroom teaching focusing on three issues that arise repeatedly: how to learn to listen to students’ thinking; how to organize classroom activities to support “listening and questioning”; and how to implement forms of assessment that document students’ questions.

This paper describes some constructivist teaching methodology and practices, and highlights their effectiveness as an aid to teaching and understanding in the classroom.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to find out the perspectives of students and English teachers on English Lingua Franca (ELF) at a tertiary level in one of the public universities in Lhokseumawe Municipality in Aceh and to find out the possibility of adopting the concept of teaching English as ELF to raise the students’ awareness of their identity as part of the ASEAN Economic community and as a means of communication among the Community.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The research employs basic interpretive study by delivering questionnaires to 40 students from different disciplines and conducting interview to 6 English teachers from targeted research university in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Indonesia.

Findings – The study addresses that the majority of the students are aware that English is no longer possessed by an inner circle of English users and realize the use of English as means of communication in globally context. However, the students do not understand the English as ILF. Besides, they do not enable to envisage themselves as part of the global community of English users as their identity. The research also indicates that majority the interviewed English teachers do not realize the concept of teaching ELF in the university.

Research Limitations/Implications – The findings of this research may shed light for other English teachers in Aceh to improve their teaching method in order to improve students’ speaking skill and their awareness of their identity as a part of global imagined community of English users within the ASEAN Community Economic context.

Practical Implications – The solutions offered in the paper could improve the teaching method of English teachers particularly in Aceh, Indonesia.

Originality/Value – The research of students’ and teachers’ perspective of ELF in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, has not yet been published.