REd Issue 12

Cultural Studies, an interdisciplinary field, has various bibliographic sources belonging to authors from different cultural backgrounds, creating a favourable environment for aligning Romanian higher education to an intercultural approach. Being marked by European or American theories, the presence of Asian bibliography in Cultural Studies from Romania, although not excluded, might be questioned. The article presents an interdisciplinary exploratory study in Cultural Studies and Education focused on analysing the bibliography of dissertations from a master's programme in Cultural Studies at a Romanian university. A sample of 31 dissertations between the years 2022-2024 was analysed. The research aim was to provide preliminary data about Asia’s presence in the bibliographies by exploring data on authors with names of perceived Asian origin, regardless of their nationality or citizenship. Using a mixed methodology and applying assumptions assisted by technology, the study gathered preliminary data about the names’ numerical and territorial distribution. The final results reflected a numerical underuse of perceived Asian names with a decreasing curve in most of the data from 2022 to 2024. Despite an overall higher territorial diversity in names’ places of origin, the average number per dissertation was low. Due to the challenges encountered, the results could only be approximated.

This study examines the correlation between the performance of primary school students following a gamification-based mathematics curriculum and their levels of anxiety during mathematics lessons, considering individual differences in intelligence types. The theoretical framework highlights the most important empirical studies that analyse the extent to which gamified interventions reduce anxiety. In addition, it emphasises the methodology for structuring a curricular educational programme centred on gamification as a complex educational strategy to promote specific values, attitudes, and behaviours. The quasi-experimental design involved a control and an experimental group, both of which were each subjected to a one-month curricular educational programme. Specifically, the experimental group's programme assumes solving didactic tasks related to the curricular content exclusively through gamification. Furthermore, the effect of gamification on school anxiety, moderated by the levels of logico-mathematical and intrapersonal intelligence, was also studied. The results of study indicated that statistically significant correlation existed between school-level efficiency and students' anxiety but the levels of intelligence did not moderate this correlation. Overall, the study highlighted that a school environment focused on the specific advantages of using gamification has direct effects through modelling an efficient learning environment, increasing the ability to understand mathematical phenomena, and decreasing anxiety regarding assessment situations in mathematics (operationalised by the McKenzie, Multiple Intelligences Inventory), without being statistically significantly moderated by logical-mathematical or intrapersonal intelligence levels.

Previous studies have documented the globalised educational challenges faced by international students; little has been written about the resilience pathways of master's students beyond Western contexts, such as China. This qualitative study fills this gap by addressing the experiences of 16 international master's students in China through semi-structured interviews. By employing Masten's (2001) process model of resilience, this study revealed that international master's students face challenges linked to language and instructional approach. In turn, these students were able to create resilience pathways, including a creative application of hybrid learning, which regained and adapted home and host academic cultures in novel ways, and self-regulation to tackle academic challenges. This qualitative research offers a new contribution by identifying "self-regulation" as a primary resilience pathway and recognising the salient role of cultural hybridity within these pathways. This study highlighted the implications of the findings for stakeholders to ensure that institutional support is culturally and temporally focused, whereby students experience academic persistence and success.

This study explored how personality traits shape the career choices of undergraduate students at Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti. Using a descriptive survey design, the research examined this relationship within a real-world academic environment without altering any variables. The target population included students across various faculties and academic levels, from which a sample of 300 was carefully selected through stratified random sampling to ensure broad representation. Data were gathered using a structured questionnaire—the Students’ Personality Traits and Career Choice Questionnaire (SPTCCQ) which featured sections on demographic details, the Big Five personality traits (based on McCrae & Costa, 1992), and career decision-making indicators drawn from standardised scales. Content validity was confirmed through expert review by professionals in Educational Psychology and Guidance and Counselling, and a reliability test conducted with 30 students from a similar institution produced a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.84, indicating strong internal consistency. The questionnaires were distributed during non-lecture periods with the help of trained assistants to encourage participation. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple regression, with a 0.05 level of significance guiding interpretation. Findings showed that ‘openness to experience’ emerged as the most prominent personality trait and the strongest predictor of students’ career choices. Students predominantly favoured careers in Medicine/Health Sciences and Business/Management, with personal interest, potential earnings, and job opportunities being the most decisive influences. Peer influence was found to be the least significant. Based on these findings, the study recommends incorporating personality profiling into university career counselling services to help students make well-informed career decisions aligned with their individual traits.

At the beginning of 2022, Romania faced an impressive wave of refugees from Ukraine, following the Russian invasion on the 24th of February. The extraordinary mobilisation of the civil society and authorities to receive war refugees from Ukraine – mostly women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities – led to a rapid change in the migration and asylum policy in Romania and in the European Union. By means of statistical data and legislative documents as well as content analysis of semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews with Ukrainian refugees, Romanian citizens from the business environment, academia, the public sector and NGOs, as a non-representative sample, the paper addressed the research question whether education influences human security in the context of the inclusion in Romania of Ukrainian war refugees. The present mixed methods study revealed that, despite the lack of a legal framework and linguistic barriers, the access of Ukrainian children, war refugees to Romanian schools and kindergartens was ensured, as part of human security. The Ukrainian refugee crisis enhanced the collaboration between the Romanian public and private sectors and civil society, which calls for a greater future involvement of the civil society, alongside competent authorities, in immigration policies.

This study assessed the pedagogical knowledge and metacognitive awareness of pedagogy of faculty (N = 107) at a large state university in the United States. The purpose was to ascertain whether faculty could distinguish effective learning practices from ineffective ones, as determined by empirical research in learning science. Faculty responded to items regarding the efficacy of effective practices and others shown by research to be neuromyths or misconceptions. Faculty across all colleges correctly identified most of the effective practices but also endorsed myths/misconceptions, ultimately showing limited pedagogical knowledge. Tenured faculty showed stronger pedagogical knowledge than newer faculty. Faculty were also assessed on their confidence in their knowledge of pedagogical practices. Respondents demonstrated poor metacognitive awareness as there was no relationship between confidence in pedagogical knowledge and actual pedagogical knowledge. Surprisingly, education faculty scored no better in pedagogical knowledge than faculty of any other college and also showed low metacognitive awareness. Results indicate that universities preparing doctoral students for faculty positions should ensure candidates are exposed to accurate information regarding learning science. The implications for colleges of education are more dire in that they may be failing to prepare candidates in the most essential aspects of the field.

Artificial Intelligence tools are increasingly utilised across various domains, including higher education, owing to their potential to enhance teaching and learning. This study examines how tutors in a UK higher education faculty adopt AI tools to help international students improve their academic performance. International students often encounter challenges, such as language barriers, cultural differences, and adapting to new educational systems, which can adversely affect their academic success and learning experience. AI tools can potentially mitigate these challenges and support international students. Findings from semi-structured interviews with four tutors reveal the types of AI tools used, factors influencing their adoption, and their perceived effectiveness. The study identifies challenges in integrating AI tools, framed as secondary contradictions through Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), and offers recommendations for effective integration. These insights can guide faculty policies and training programmes to improve international students' academic outcomes and enhance AI integration in teaching practices.

How People Learn is a seminal work that synthesises research on human learning, cognitive science, and instructional practices. It examines how neuroscience developments and empirical studies on cognition can inform instructional strategies to optimise learning. The book aims to bridge the gap between research and educational practice, providing insights into how teaching methodologies can support students in achieving their full intellectual potential. It highlights the critical role of well-structured curricula, effective instructional strategies, and an understanding of how people process and retain knowledge.