National Institute for Education

Extensive research has reported that Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines are perceived as “male fields”. This erratic belief is largely responsible for gender gap observed in school and to the underrepresentation of women in STEM majors at university and in the labour market. This paper examines the factors that influence boys’ and girls’ decisions to enrol in STEM, making use of a longitudinal population dataset obtained by joining together Italian data from Ministry of education, University Register and INVALSI census test. We investigate the role of math skills, as well as individual and family characteristics, as predictors of STEM academic choices. Key findings highlight the central influence of math ability on the choice of STEM studies, particularly when assessed through teachers’ grades, and reveal an opposite effect of mother’s education on STEM enrolment by gender: increasing the likelihood of STEM selection for girls while decreasing it for boys.

Education policy must prioritize research-driven mathematics textbook development to ensure rigorous alignment with curriculum reforms. The purpose of this study was to investigate research trends on Indonesian Government Provided (IGP) mathematics textbooks. This literature review examined the Science and Technology Index (SINTA), an Indonesian research database that includes researchers, institutions and journals in Indonesia. The use of several frameworks helped to capture the nature of research in this area. First, we classified textbooks based on their role as either research objects, dependent variables, or independent variables. Then, we applied content, theoretical, and problem analysis. In general, the number of studies on IGP mathematics textbooks has fluctuated from 2016 to 2024. Furthermore, they have focused on specific mathematics subjects and educational levels. Interestingly, the results also showed that all the studies on IGP mathematics textbooks treated them as a research subject. Their distribution in terms of content, theoretical and problem analysis varied considerably. The impact of this study is not just academic; it is a pragmatic step to ensure that research-driven textbook regulations translate into measurable improvements in learning materials.

Learning Analytics (LA) is increasingly applied to assess and foster creativity in educational settings. Whereas existing applications have shown promise in STEM contexts, less is known about the diversity of approaches across educational domains. Therefore, we conducted a scoping review that systematically mapped LA applications for creativity in educational contexts. Searches returned 278 articles, with 41 studies meeting eligibility criteria. Analysis revealed five fundamental mechanisms through which LA fosters creativity: process visualization, adaptive feedback, automated pattern recognition, behavioural analytics, and real-time intervention. Computational creativity (10 studies) was the most prevalent conceptualization, with log data as the primary source (12 studies) and automated assessment via platform-based metrics as the leading approach (10 studies). Programming platforms represented the main technological applications (11 studies), while collaborative learning was the most common pedagogical strategy (7 studies). Problem-solving emerged as the most frequently linked complementary skill (17 studies). However, research showed extensive STEM focus; methodological fragmentation, with 38 studies lacking specified study duration; and theoretical gaps, with nine studies missing explicit theoretical frameworks. These findings highlight LA’s transformative potential for creativity assessment and fostering while revealing opportunities for interdisciplinary expansion and methodological standardization.

Social media's integration into education prompts exploration of its effects on mathematics learning outcomes. While Mathematics Learning with Social Media (MLSM) can create engaging environments, its impact on key factors such as mathematics self-efficacy (MathSE), mathematics interest (MathI), and self-regulation in mathematics learning (SR) remains underexplored. This study investigates the direct and indirect effects of MLSM on these variables to enhance mathematics education. A quantitative research design was employed, involving 398 university students who engaged in Mathematics Learning with Social Media (MLSM) activities. Participants were randomly selected from two universities in China, with a gender distribution of 43% male and 57% female. The sample included students from diverse academic programs, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) (37.9%), economics and management (43.7%), and humanities and social sciences (17.3%). Data were collected through validated survey instruments that measured mathematics self-efficacy (MathSE), mathematics interest (MathI), and self-regulation in mathematics learning (SR). A two-step structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to analyze the relationships between MLSM and the three variables, examining both direct effects and mediation pathways. The findings revealed that MLSM had significant direct effects on both MathI (β = 0.343, p < 0.001) and SR (β = 0.578, p < 0.001) indicating that the use of social media in mathematics learning fosters students' interest in mathematics and enhances their ability to self-regulate their mathematics learning processes. Furthermore, while the direct influence of MLSM on MathSE was not substantial, its indirect effects through MathI (MLSM→MathI→MathSE, β = 0.092, p < 0.001), SR (MLSM→SR→MathSE, β = 0.418, p < 0.001) and both SR and MathI (MLSM→SR→MathI→MathSE, β = 0.115, p < 0.001) were found to be significant. These results highlight the mediating roles of interest and self-regulation in strengthening students' confidence in their mathematics abilities. This study underscores the transformative potential of social media as a valuable tool for mathematics education. By effectively integrating MLSM into instructional practices, educators can foster students' interest, enhance their self-regulation skills, and indirectly build their self-efficacy in mathematics. The findings provide actionable insights for designing innovative educational strategies and policies that leverage social media to create dynamic and learner-centered environments, particularly in mathematics. This research contributes to the broader understanding of social media's role in the digital age, emphasizing its capacity to support self-directed and effective learning in academic disciplines.

Growth mindset, consistency of interest, and perseverance of effort have been demonstrated to positively influence students’ mathematical abilities. This study investigates how these characteristics interact and affect non-cognitive skills, enabling mathematics teachers to develop tailored interventions that enhance learning and persistence among rural students. We examined the profiles of growth mindset and Grit among 1495 rural Chinese students from three secondary schools in China, analyzing their relationships with math anxiety, motivation, and self-efficacy in mathematics lessons. Our analysis identified four distinct profiles: Fixed-Oriented Mindset, Lower Tendency Toward Growth, Tendency Toward Growth, and Growth-Oriented Mindset. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in students’ mathematics motivation between the Lower Tendency Toward Growth, Tendency Toward Growth, and Growth Mindset profiles. However, increases in mindset are associated with increased math anxiety among rural students. This research offers new insights into the effects of cultivating a growth mindset and Grit on mathematics anxiety among rural students.

This study explores the effectiveness of data-driven pedagogical translation (DDPT) in enhancing the grammatical and collocational competence as well as the reading comprehension skills of first-year secondary school EFL students. The study also aimed to promote students’ critical thinking dispositions. The research investigates the role of translation as a pedagogical tool to address the academic challenge of improving language proficiency among students, particularly in Arab countries. While traditionally viewed as a hindrance in language learning, modern studies highlight translation's potential for enhancing cognitive processes by leveraging the mother tongue in a pedagogical context. The research uses a quasi-experimental design with two groups: an experimental group using DDPT and a control group undergoing conventional instruction. Data was collected through pre- and post-tests assessing grammatical, collocational, and reading comprehension skills, as well as a critical thinking disposition scale. The results demonstrate statistically significant improvements in the experimental group's grammatical and collocational competence and inferential reading comprehension. Furthermore, most critical thinking disposition dimensions improved subsequent to the treatment, compared to the control group. This highlights the beneficial role of pedagogical translation in EFL instruction. The study suggests that integrating machine-assisted translation and translation activities into the EFL curriculum can significantly support language acquisition and foster deeper cognitive engagement among students.

This research aims at exploring the theme of time and existential agony in Thomas Stearns Eliot’s (1888-1965) Ash Wednesday (1930). It highlights how Ash Wednesday marks Eliot's deep examination of both time and mortality, uncovering the deep aspects of his existential reflections. Through placing this poem within a broader literary and spiritual perspective, this research illustrates Eliot’s "chromophobia" fears and meditations on progress in age, loss, and spiritual ascent; not only does it mirror his personal struggles but also engage with philosophical questions about existence and the mortal condition. Therefore, this study contributes to understanding Eliot's poetic career and highlighting how it deals with time that informs his pursuit for meaning and improvement in a fragmented world.

Religiousness has been proposed to promote prosociality among young people. Few investigations, however, have examined the underlying processes that facilitate these links, especially in non-Western and collectivistic societies. This study investigated the mediating role of the 5Cs (competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring) of positive youth development on the associations between religiousness, empathy, and altruism, while controlling for age and gender, among Southeast Asian emerging adults during COVID-19. Data were obtained from 1,888 emerging adults ( M age = 21.85; SD age = 2.81) from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand. Structural equation modeling showed that confidence, connection, and character mediated religiousness and altruism while confidence, connection, character, and caring mediated religiousness and empathy, even after controlling for the covariates. However, confidence yielded negative relations with both outcomes. The results highlight the importance of distinguishing self-oriented and other-oriented thriving characteristics in facilitating empathy and altruistic behaviors in difficult situations.

The Delaware School Climate Questionnaire (DSCQ), initiated by Delaware and his associates, has been utilized as a common tool to explore and evaluate school climate in different countries. The purpose of the current study was to adapt the DSCQ into Mongolian and examine its psychometric properties with a sample of 1,174 secondary school students. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis verified the uni-dimensionality of the scale and confirmed the Mongolian version of DSCQ fit the three-factor model. The Cronbach alpha value of the total scale was 0.92, whereas correlation coefficients representing convergent validity varied from 0.30 to 0.72 (p &amp;lt;.01). The criterion validity of the scale was determined to be 0.3 when the Mongolian language and math achievement test score was used as a criterion in concurrent validity analysis. The results suggest that the Mongolian version of the DSCQ is a valid and reliable tool to evaluate school climate in Mongolian samples.&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/soc/0258/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Introduction: Managers in the field of healthcare face many challenges that are specific to this area and are caused by the dynamic and constantly changing healthcare environment. Research sample and research objective: The main research objective was to evaluate significant aspects of financing and organizing healthcare systems, summarize assumptions for the successful functioning of a healthcare system, assess factors influencing healthcare spending, and predict the challenges that healthcare managers will face in 2023 at both the micro (individual healthcare facilities) and macro (healthcare system in Slovakia) levels. The research sample was selected by deliberate selection and consisted of 109 respondents: healthcare managers (n=16), experts from the field of health management (n=15), experts from the field of human resources (n=19), directors of health facilities (n=10), medical (n=28) and paramedical staff (n=21). Methods: Statistical testing was carried out using the methods of inferential statistics: the independent samples t-test was used to compare mean scores between two groups (RQ1 and RQ2) and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare mean scores among three groups (RQ 3). Results: We found out there are no differences in the respondents’ opinions on the challenges for healthcare managers in 2023 based on their job titles, the type of health facility in which they work or according to the length of practice. Conclusion: According to the respondents, the most current trends and challenges for Slovak healthcare are: the need for qualified medical personnel, a focus on retaining employees and solving the growing costs of healthcare.