Designing Conversational Agents to Support Student Teacher Learning in Virtual Reality Simulation: A Case Study

This study examined teachers' perceptions of Global Citizenship Education (GCED) in selected Rwandan Secondary Schools. It took a qualitative approach and was guided by two theories: Bourdieu's theory of practice (1972) and Mezirow's theory of transformative learning (1978). A case study research design was adopted. The target population included all teachers from ten selected Rwandan secondary schools. Purposive sampling was employed to choose ten teachers (one from each school) to complete an open-ended questionnaire, five of whom participated in semi-structured interviews. Primary data was collected using open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that teachers have positive perceptions towards GCED. Teachers learned about GCED through self-documentation, which led to differing understandings and interpretations. Respondents also acknowledged GCED as an important thing that should be taken into consideration in the journey of implementing global sustainable development through educating students to be good global citizens and having an appropriate understanding of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The challenge highlighted by respondents is the lack of appropriate common documents and techniques to be used for integrating GCED into teaching and learning practices in line with the Rwandan Competence-Based Curriculum. This study concludes that teachers’ positive perceptions of GCED are found to be good and helpful when it goes hand in hand with the National Curriculum Framework explicitly, to facilitate its integration into teaching practices. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) through The Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in charge of education should provide training and teachers’ guides to harmonize their understanding of GCED and techniques of integration into teaching practices. It is also recommended that during the incoming curriculum revision, GCED should be integrated into the Curriculum explicitly, either as a course or as a crosscutting issue. Future studies should expand the scope of the study and highlight the interdependence of GCED and the implementation of global sustainable development.

T fi eld of learning technologies has always been sensitive to the innovations in the computer, information, and communication areas. Such prominent innovations as compact discs, the Internet, mobile phones, or the World Wide Web were promptly recognized by early adopters and pioneers, fueling new research directions related to the use of these innovations in education and, in just a few years, provided a large impact on the whole fi eld. Can we expect that the time of innovation and rapid change is not over yet? Which modern research and technology advances will affect the fi eld of learning technologies in the next 10 years? Which emerging research directions should the readers of the IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies (TLT) pay attention to? Which innovative ideas should be noticed and explored? To answer these questions, we approached several established leaders in the fi eld of learning and information technologies and asked them to share their vision on some important emerging research directions which will likely drive the advancement of learning technologies over the next 10 years. In this attempt, we specifi cally targeted recognized “visionaries”—those who were recently invited to deliver a keynote talk at one of the leading research conferences on learning technologies. Each of these experts was asked to prepare a paper for our journal to present their vision: to highlight an interesting emerging area, explain its relevance for the fi eld, discuss associated research problems, and provide some examples of pioneer research which address these problems. To assure quality, all invited papers went through a regular peer reviewing process and were extensively edited after review. This vision issue of the journal is the fi nal result of this process and we are delighted to present it to the readers and subscribers of TLT. The issue features fi ve papers that highlight emerging issues in very different areas of the fi eld of learning technologies. In her paper “Toward Social Learning Environments,” Julita Vassileva rethinks different aspects of the traditional educational process in the context of Web 2.0 ideas and the needs of a new generation of learners. She discusses both new needs and new opportunities and presents a range of social learning environments designed to address them. Judy Kay discusses the impact of emerging trends in user modeling and pervasive computing on e-learning. Her paper “Lifelong Learner Modeling for Lifelong Personalized Pervasive Learning” presents a vision of a lifelong user model as a core of personalized lifelong learning. She reviews the state of the art in several related research areas and presents several projects which explore some critical features of the future lifelong models. The interoperability of learning infrastructures has been an important aspect from the beginning, yet is diffi cult to achieve. Erik Duval and Katrien Verbert, in their paper “On the Role of Technical Standards for Learning Technologies,“ discuss the role of technical standards for learning technologies, including lessons learned and how standards matter for research. The paper “Video Collaboratories for Research and Education: An Analysis of Collaboration Design Patterns” addresses new trends in the area of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). The popularity of digital cameras, along with the growth of video content available through both digital libraries and Web 2.0 sites such as YouTube, promise to turn digital video into the most popular type of educational content and is a growing medium for research discoveries. In this paper, CSCL experts Roy Pea and Robb Lindgren discuss “video collaboratories” as an emerging kind of collaborative learning environment centered on the need for interacting conversationally with video media and metadata. In the last paper of the issue, “Knowing, Communication, and Experiencing through Body and Emotion,” Kristina Hook explores the potential impact of the advancements in the fi eld of human-computer interaction (HCI) on e-learning. Through several examples, the paper presents modern HCI trends, such as emotional and embodied interfaces, and discusses their application in a learning context. We hope that these papers will be interesting for both researchers and practitioners in the fi eld of learning technologies and that this issue will help the readers to draw a broader picture of the fi eld development in the coming years.

Anthropomorphism, the attribution of human-like characteristics to non-human entities, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) or Human-AI Interaction (HAI) have become a significant topic of interest in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the rise of Large Language Models (LLMs). From this scenario, this article examines the concept of anthropomorphism in the context of chatbots, especially ChatGPT. Drawing on a range of contemporary research and use cases, various implications, benefits, challenges, and ethical considerations associated with anthropomorphism in AI are explored. The findings highlight the potential benefits of anthropomorphism in enhancing user engagement, trust, and acceptance. However, challenges such as overreliance, privacy concerns, and accuracy issues need to be addressed. Answer-Bot Effect and other psychological mechanisms experienced in HCI with ChatGPT reinforce the Computer-Are-Social-Actors paradigm, the Attachment Theory and the Media Equation hypothesis. Ethical considerations are crucial in ensuring responsible development and deployment of anthropomorphic AI systems. Frameworks such as HCAI, IFA, SPADE or SEEK can be of help in ensuring that the development and deployment of such models are responsible and ethical. The need for further research to understand the full potential and limitations of anthropomorphism in Conversational Agents is emphasized, particularly in the context of ChatGPT and Smart Personal Assistants (SPAs).

This study sought to assess the administration of teaching practice in a primary education teacher training institution in Zimbabwe. The chosen population consisted of lecturers, school mentors and student teachers. Convenience sampling was used to select primary schools in Gwanda town. These were four in total. From these, purposive sampling was used to select heads of schools, teachers who were student-teacher mentors and student teachers who were in teaching practice. There were twelve teachers in total, and there were twelve student teachers. Purposive sampling was also applied to select lecturers who manned the chosen institution's teaching practice department. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from the heads of schools and lecturers, while focus group discussion guides were used to gather data from teachers and student teachers, respectively. As one of the core findings, it unveiled that some students went for teaching practice inadequately prepared to meet associated demands. Furthermore, some mentors seemed burdened by constantly supervising the student teachers while at the same time executing other school duties done by other teachers who were not mentors. Based on these, the study recommends intensification of the assessment of the readiness of student teachers to engage in the teaching practice exercise before the institution releases them to schools. In addition, teachers who are assigned the role of student-teacher mentorship should be relieved of other school duties as this might enhance their commitment to student-teacher development.

This study explores student teachers' resilience in teaching practice in the COVID-19 era in Masvingo District, Zimbabwe. More specifically, the study was intended to gain insights into the significant teaching practice COVID-19-induced teaching practice stressors. This research study contributes new knowledge to the ongoing discourses about student teachers' resilience in teaching practice in the COVID-19 era. To explore student teachers' resilience on teaching practice in COVID-19 era, the study employed a qualitative social constructivist approach through a phenomenological research design. Data were generated through focus group discussions and in-depth semi-structured interviews. One teachers' college was conveniently sampled, and twenty-one student teachers and six student teachers' mentors were purposively sampled from three primary schools in Masvingo District, Zimbabwe. Data were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The thematic findings revealed that student teachers teaching practice in the COVID-19 era are subjected to teaching practice stressors induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as fear of contracting the COVID-19 virus, illness, isolation, stigmatization and death, anxiety, uncertainty, hopelessness, economic hardships, prolonged teaching practice period, school closures, transference of face-to-face teaching to online learning. Finally, thematic results revealed that the capacity for resilience can be developed during initial teacher preparation, so the study recommends that the teacher education curriculum include a module on resilience.

Denne artikkelen retter søkelyset mot praktisk-pedagogisk utdanning for yrkesfags (PPU-y) relevans for og i pedagogisk praksis, sett fra studentenes og praksislærernes synsvinkel.
 Det er begrenset kunnskap om hva praksisfeltet ser som relevant i studentens første undervisningspraksis. Formålet med denne artikkelen er derfor å bidra til mer kunnskap om dette feltet. Følgende forskningsspørsmålene ble stilt:
 Hvilke aspekter av sin utdanning oppfatter yrkesfaglærer-studenter som relevante for og i undervisningspraksis?
 Hvordan samsvarer studentenes forståelse av relevans med praksislærernes syn?
 Data ble innsamlet ved hjelp av et kvantitativt/kvalitativt spørreskjema, semistrukturerte intervjuer og fokusgruppeintervjuer, og representerer både PPU-y-studenters og praksislæreres synspunkter.
 Våre funn viser at studenters oppfatning av hva som er relevant å erfare i pedagogisk praksis, er noe forskjellig fra hva praksislærerne sier. Resultatene viser også forskjeller i erfaringer med yrkesdidaktikk. Resultatene indikerer videre at både praksislærere og studenter opplever utfordringer med veiledning, og praksislærerne ønsker og trenger mer støtte. Basert på våre funn vil vi si at det er et presserende behov for å etablere en mer formell dialog mellom universitetet og praksisfeltet, både på et personlig nivå så vel som på et organisatorisk nivå, med hensyn til innhold i PPU-y utdanning, retningslinjer for pedagogisk praksis, samt rolle og status for praksislærer.

Open distance e-learning (ODeL) has many benefits, combining opportunities for student teachers (STs) to acquire pedagogical knowledge, skills, and attitudes with flexible study. This study explores how ODeL STs view the “triumphant” moments experienced during teaching practice (TP). The study employed a qualitative case study approach, drawing on semi-structured interviews via videoconferencing. Ten final-year STs at an ODeL university were purposively selected to participate in the study. Data were analyzed thematically, informed by Gibbs’s (1988) Reflective Learning Cycle and Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory. The findings show that the participants experienced many triumphant moments during TP, which they recognized, often crediting their mentors for making these moments possible. Furthermore, they appreciated the feedback and guidance they received from their mentors, who supported their management and growth during TP. This study argues that encouraging, approachable mentor teachers make a significant difference to this foundational experience, creating conducive environments in which STs may reflect on lessons learned during practice. Further research could explore school mentors’ views of online assessments during TP.

Collective orientations about learners’ heterogeneity emerge on the basis of experiences which are unique to individuals but are in many aspects structurally similar. The aim of the presented project is to investigate such experiences and collective orientations among student teachers in Saxony (a Federal State in the east of Germany) and to develop sustainable concepts for seminars which reveal alternative ways of handling heterogeneity and render student teachers better able to regard learners’ heterogeneity as something profitable. The joint teaching of children with and without special educational needs is a recent innovation in the educational system in Saxony and is leading to many changes and uncertainties. Guided by the assumption that collective orientations are a central influence on the practice of (student) teachers, we want to reconstruct their ways of thinking in the context of heterogeneous learning groups. In the project, group discussions with student teachers of different school types are held and analysed using the documentary method. Initial results show that student teachers are aware of the tension between selection and the promotion of individual pupils’ development in the context of inclusive schooling within the current selective German school system. In addition, they feel unprepared for their future responsibilities teaching an inclusive class and wish to receive external support in order to ensure they are able to adequately deal with heterogeneity. After some theoretical considerations about heterogeneity and inclusion in mathematics classrooms and the significance of teachers’ and students’ orientations concerning these issues, this article provides a detailed analysis of a selected group discussion with student primary-school teachers.

This empirical study investigates the expectations and perceptions of final-year student teachers who are placed in unfamiliar schools during their teaching practicum. The research aims to understand how student teachers derive meaning from unfamiliar experiences, particularly those that challenge their existing assumptions and beliefs. The study utilises Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory as its lens. This theoretical framework provides a solid foundation for exploring the internal transformations student teachers undergo as they confront and adapt to novel teaching contexts during their teaching practice. Through qualitative data collected from semi-structured interviews, the study investigated how these student-teachers anticipate working in new and diverse educational environments that extend beyond their comfort zones. The research involved 20 final-year student teachers from a South African University of Technology, each assigned to schools that significantly differed from their previous placements in terms of location, language, and cultural context. Thematic analysis reveals that while initial expectations were characterized by anxiety, uncertainty, and concerns about classroom management and cultural adaptation, many participants also expressed a strong desire for professional growth, resilience-building, and exposure to varied teaching situations. The findings underscore the dual nature of unfamiliar school placements, presenting both challenges and opportunities for transformative learning. The study concludes with recommendations for targeted support mechanisms to better prepare student teachers for such placements, ultimately enhancing the effectiveness of initial teacher education programs.

Conversational agents (CAs) are rapidly advancing across industry and academia and it is crucial to consider the values embedded within these systems. Value-sensitive design practices have benefited AI-based systems, but have not yet been widely applied to CAs. This paper introduces the Value-Sensitive Conversational Agent (VSCA) Framework. The framework uses collaborative design (co-design) activities to guide CA creators and CA users to collaboratively create three key artefacts that elicit CA users’ values and are technically useful for CA creators to drive implementation forward, resulting in value embodied CA prototypes. The paper presents the practical framework and toolkit, followed by a mixed-method evaluation through design workshops, semi-structured interviews, and a comparative survey. Results show that the framework and toolkit increase CA creators’ value-sensitivity, empower CA users, enhance collaboration, and produce value-embodied prototypes. Based on this work, we offer 14 guidelines to practically support value sensitivity in CAs.

This study focuses on a particular type of knowledge which is referred to throughout as tacit knowledge and has been identified as a personal form of knowledge, which plays a key role in the practice and professional development of teachers. In the context of initial teacher education tacit knowledge is important to consider as what student teachers are learning and how they are learning it is of current, pressing concern to initial teacher education in England. The role of and access to tacit knowledge in student teacher learning were investigated using a case study approach employing stimulated recall interviews wherein mentors were asked to reflect upon their teaching and explain their teaching actions. Stimulated recall interviews involved student teachers taking on the role of interviewer. Thematic analysis of data revealed that student teachers probed key teaching episodes and encouraged mentors to reveal complex decision making which may otherwise have remained undisclosed. Main findings show that both student teachers and experienced teachers see tacit knowledge as useful in the learning to teach process. Interviews reveal that observable teaching actions had complex underlying reasoning and this was elicited via objective-led dialogue between student teacher and mentor, post-teaching. Student teachers were able to independently select teaching events to examine further, and were able to understand their mentor’s actions and judgements more deeply as a result of stimulated recall interviewing. The implications arising out of this study include a need for change to observation and debriefing practices in school, with student teachers and mentors becoming more aware of the value and purpose of tacit knowledge. The benefits of student teachers being instrumental in initiating and asking questions which can elicit experienced teachers’ tacit knowledge are clear; and findings show the potential for student teachers to become more pivotal in their own learning. Where stimulated recall interviews were used mentors were encouraged to reveal embedded reasoning underpinning their classroom practice.

Research shows that the sexual harassment of student teachers on teaching practice is a prevalent and seemingly insidious phenomenon. The Zimbabwean student teachers, regardless of their sex, are victims of sexual harassment but are generally reluctant to formally report the sexual harassment being perpetrated against them. The aim of the study was to explain the sexual harassment phenomenon as experienced and expressed by the victims who are the student teachers on teaching practice in Zimbabwe. The focus was on the phenomenon's prevalence and insidiousness. The study adopted a quantitative methodology. A sample of 127 student teachers, then fresh from a teaching practice phase of their teacher education course mainly in selected Zimbabwean rural schools, was asked to complete a questionnaire about their sexual harassment experiences during teaching practice. Chi-square tests were used to test hypotheses and in answering research questions on the prevalence and insidiousness of sexual harassment among the student teachers. Results showed that student teachers regardless of their sexes experienced sexual harassment of various forms from their superordinates but are generally reluctant to formally report the acts. The acts of harassment range from subtle or non-physical forms such as lustful stares that make the victim uncomfortable and to comply with the assertive acts that are the abuse of professional status. The study implores institutions to sensitise victims of their legal obligations in such cases.

This white paper examines the necessity and viability of integrating Emotional Intelligence (EI) into Conversational AI Agents (CAs) to address the limitations of traditional, sentiment-based customer support systems. Drawing upon affective computing and organizational psychology, the study establishes a theoretical framework for computational empathy, detailing the multimodal architectural requirements for robust emotion recognition across linguistic and acoustic channels.1 Synthesis of recent case studies indicates that advanced engagement strategies, notably Reinforcement Learning (RL), deliver significant performance gains, including a reported +15.2% increase in customer satisfaction (CSAT). Crucially, the deployment of these systems must navigate profound ethical challenges, including inherent algorithmic bias stemming from cultural variability and the critical risks of privacy invasion and emotional manipulation. The paper concludes by proposing a design framework centered on transparency, accountability, and cultural sensitivity, ensuring that EICAs transition the customer service domain from operational efficiency to one of genuine emotional resonance and relational value. Keywords Emotional AI, Affective Computing, Customer Service, Empathy Modeling, Conversational Agents, Human–AI Interaction, Algorithmic Bias, Multimodal Systems.

This case study examines teacher educators and student teachers’ experiences and perspectives in East Java, Indonesia, with the aim of investigating Extensive Listening (EL) integration to the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) as a prescribed language curriculum program. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with the three teacher educators and six student teachers. The results revealed variations in how EL programs are practiced among various institutions, underscoring the necessity for a standardized curriculum to incorporate EL into language teaching programs. Teacher educators performed resourcefulness by creatively using online resources to compensate for the absence of formal EL training. The independent listening practices of student teachers emphasizing the importance of authentic materials that align with their personal interests, using technology to promote self-directed learning. This research serves as an initial exploration of the potential of EL in the ITE context in Indonesia. Both teacher educators and student teachers hold crucial roles in driving curriculum innovation by advocating for the acknowledgment and inclusion of EL within the language curriculum.

The aim of this programme of research was to build upon prior work regarding the heuristic evaluation of mobile applications in two important areas. A mixed methods approach was taken to address the research questions using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, document analysis and statistical analyses. The first contribution of this programme of research was to adapt traditional usability heuristics, so they could be used to more effectively evaluate the usability of mobile applications. The resulting set of mobile application usability heuristics uncovered the highest number of usability issues in absolute terms, as well as the most critical issues within a well-known travel mobile application when compared to two other sets of usability heuristics. In addition, the set of mobile application usability heuristics defined within this programme of research was ranked as the most useful set by participants knowledgeable in the field of human-computer interaction when compared to two other sets of usability heuristics. The second contribution of this programme of research was to extend the set of mobile application heuristics allowing human-computer interaction researchers and practitioners to more effectively consider the potential impact of context of use on the usability of mobile applications. This addressed a gap in the literature as few effective methods existed for this purpose. The protocol was deemed easy to use, easy to understand and easy to learn by participants knowledgeable in the field of human-computer interaction. The beneficiaries of this programme of research are human-computer interaction researchers and practitioners, as well as mobile application users.