International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education @ijcrsee
Journal articles - International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education
All articles: 525
Designing Language Activities for Young Learners Based on Human and AI-generated Stories
Scientific article
The article presents the results of a study conducted among novice teachers of English language, trained at two major universities in Bulgaria. The objectives of the study were: 1) to evaluate the extent to which students perceived stories, authored by human and artificial intelligence, as applicable in educational context; 2) to gain an insight into their competence to design story-based language learning activities for preschool and primary school children; and 3) to seek possible relations between their teaching competence, language proficiency levels, skills to use AI-tools and their perceptions of the usefulness and practical classroom application of the two types of narratives. Results showed that students viewed both types of texts as useful in foreign language teaching, but the displayed degree of usefulness was stronger for the AI-generated one. A tentative explanation of this finding could be the capacity of ChatGPT as a large language model to mimic human linguistic production fairly convincingly. Overall, students exhibited a reasonably high degree of understanding of language learning as a collaborative experience and showed abilities to apply interactive approaches and techniques in the activities they proposed. The higher the teaching competence of the participants, the stronger their awareness of the various interdisciplinary links a teacher can make in their language classes to other fields of knowledge. This is a promising indication for the capacity of teachers to capitalize on the affordances of story-based language learning and interweave cross-curriculum references in their teaching practices which brings added value to the learning process.
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Review article
This article focuses on the formation of pedagogical competence for the design of multimodal educational environment, the functionality of which is the foundation of the cognitive and creative activity of the child in pre-school age. It problematizes the need for adequate professional reflection of the teacher in the context of the transgressive approach and highlights the parameters of organizing pedagogical interactions that utilize multimodality as a communication phenomenon. The understanding that the competence of the teacher for designing a multimodal environment as well as cognitive and creative activities develops as transgressive and is continuously created in the cultivation of new knowledge and skills, while expanding the cognitive and practical limits of the subject, is affirmed. Based on this affirmation, the thesis that if a child has entered the “communicative state” and has engaged in multimodal educational interactions, the child appropriates the social experience by forming a transgressive attitude of behavioral response.
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Designing digital resources for multimodal composition in the kindergarten environment
Review article
In the contextual field of environmental composition in kindergarten, transforming it into a space for cognitive, social, emotional, i.e., holistic formation and development of the child, multimodality operates with authenticity, magnetism, multilevelity, multidimensionality, and dynamism to overcome schematicity and linearity of thinking, thus stimulating imagination. Leading the way is the understanding that the environmental composing of multimodality in kindergarten is the foundation of quality for the child’s cognitive, affective, sensory cognition and self-knowledge. This paper outlines the parameters of evaluating multimodal digital resources designed by students preparing for future kindergarten teachers. The starting points for their expertise in the relations of autonomy, coherence, justification, adequacy and authenticity as subjectively significant and objective wholes of multimodal composing are argued. Criteria and indicators for the expert evaluation of digital resources for multimodal environmental composing in kindergarten, as modeling and provoking and enriching the individual sensory experience of the child, as an opportunity to stimulate cognitive and personal activity are derived. It is necessary to conclude that through the design of multimodal digital resources, the existing contradictions in the starting conditions of the pedagogical interaction in the kindergarten will be overcome. The main recommendation points to the need for specific training of future children’s teachers for multimodal environmental composition of educational practices in kindergarten, synergizing different modalities, rather than their linear sequential environmental combination.
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Designing e-learning environment based on student preferences: conjoint analysis approach
Scientific article
The aim of this paper was to determine students’ preferences towards e-learning environment in order to select and design its components that suit the needs of student’s best. The research was implemented using conjoint analysis. Three dimensions of interest were considered: e-learning technology, teaching method and knowledge assessment and the results show that knowledge assessment is the most important e-learning attribute for both traditional and online students. Adding into consideration the teaching method as well, further analysis showed that students can be profiled in two segments: oriented on results or process, which can be used at the beginning of studies to adjust e-learning environment. Research findings emphasized student preferences as essential for designing e-learning system, while student satisfaction turned out to be a key factor determining their persistence for studying in e-learning environment. Finally, recommendations for improvement of existing e-learning system were given.
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Scientific article
The aim of this research is to determine, interpret and provide recommendations on instructional practices and evaluation of classroom teachers working with mainstreaming students at schools in the North Cyprus. A qualitative research method was used in the research. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews as one of the qualitative data collection methods. The interview form used in the research included 10 questions related to design and teaching practices as well as evaluation of the effectiveness of the instruction. Interviews were conducted with 12 classroom teachers working at mainstreaming classes under the North Cyprus Ministry of National Education and all interviews were recorded. These data were transferred to a digital environment where they were interpreted as code titles. The results showed that classroom teachers carry out in-class practices for teaching methods and activities of their mainstreaming students, and benefit from visual materials that they prepared with an assistant teacher. However, the classroom teachers also stated that they are unable to allocate time for their mainstreaming students because of the large numbers of students in the class and therefore they send their mainstreaming students to the special education teachers in their schools. It was determined that classroom teachers make their evaluations based on the level, interest and ability of students when evaluation the effectiveness of teaching.
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Determining professional mobility levels of secondary school teachers
Scientific article
Education has a great share in the development of a country. Countries that invest in education are developing in all respects. There are many factors that affect education, but the most important of them is the teacher. Because other factors affecting education do not make sense without a teacher. The better the teachers are trained, the more appropriate the working conditions, the better the quality of education, and thus the establishment of a modern, peaceful country. This study aims to determine professional mobility levels of secondary school teachers. Mixed research method was used in the study. A total number of 146 teachers including 60 teachers in the control group and 86 in the experimental group participated in the study. Results confirmed the effectiveness of activities to update students’ pedagogical experiences as a necessary step in the development of professional pedagogical mobility. Results are discussed with relevant literature and recommendations for further research and practices are provided.
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Scientific article
Increasing cultural diversity and globalization require higher education institutions to prepare future geography teachers who can work effectively in culturally diverse environments. Developing cultural competence has therefore become an important objective of geography teacher education, requiring instructional approaches that combine disciplinary knowledge with authentic learning experiences and digital innovation. This study investigated the effectiveness of integrating project-based learning (PBL) and digital technologies into a Cultural Geography course to enhance university students’ cultural competence. A mixed-methods quasi-experimental design was employed involving 73 second-year geography students, including 35 students in the control group and 38 students in the experimental group. The intervention was implemented over one academic semester. Quantitative data were collected using the Cultural Competence Questionnaire and analysed through mixed repeated-measures ANOVA, while qualitative data from classroom observations, reflective journals, and project reports were analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that students in the experimental group achieved significantly greater improvements than the control group across all dimensions of cultural competence, including cultural knowledge, cultural sensitivity, cultural skills, and cultural interaction. Qualitative findings further indicated that project-based learning, cultural mapping, and digital technologies, including NetLogo, AnyLogic, and Cesium, enhanced students’ engagement, spatial thinking, collaborative inquiry, and understanding of cultural phenomena. Although the study was limited by its relatively small sample from a single university and the one-semester duration of the intervention, the findings provide empirical evidence that integrating project-based learning with digital technologies represents an effective pedagogical approach for strengthening cultural competence in geography teacher education and offers practical implications for competence-oriented curriculum development in higher education.
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Scientific article
The increasing prevalence of contemporary social problems, together with citizens’ indifference toward these issues, indicates a deficiency in individuals’ social participation skills. This concern, which serves as the foundation of the present study, seeks to enhance secondary school students’ social participation skills while providing social studies teachers with a systematic framework to support the development of these competencies. In this context, this study designed the process of developing social participation skills for 5th graders by following the stages of the ADDIE instructional design model within the scope of the social studies course. The study adopted a mixed-methods research design that integrated quantitative and qualitative approaches. The analysis and evaluation phases employed a case study design, while the design, development, and implementation phases were structured around activity-based and problem-centered instructional design models. The sample group of the study consisted of social studies teachers and 5th graders in Gölcük District of Kocaeli Province. The findings indicate that the activities implemented to foster social participation skills enhanced fifth graders’ awareness of social issues, increased their level of social consciousness, and contributed to more positive perceptions of non-governmental organizations. In addition, a statistically significant difference was observed between students’ pretest and posttest scores on the social participation skills assessment.
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Development of Scientific Writing and Communication Skills in the Context of Forestry Research
Scientific article
This article is devoted to the investigation and experimental validation of a model for developing scientific writing and communication skills among students majoring in “Forestry”. The study included a scientometric analysis of scientific publications using CiteSpace software, which revealed key areas of research such as argumentation, inquiry-based writing, scientific communication, and metacognitive components. In parallel with the analytical work, a pedagogical experiment was carried out, involving students from both experimental and control groups. The skills were assessed across eight aspects: formulation of the scientific problem, text structuring, source citation, clarity and logical coherence, use of scientific vocabulary, data interpretation, visualization of results, and justification of conclusions. The results demonstrated a significant improvement (on average, 35%) in all components among students in the experimental group, while the control group showed minimal changes. This confirms the effectiveness of the practice-oriented model, integrated into the educational process through research-based tasks. The findings can be applied in the development of educational programs and methods for training forestry specialists.
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Scientific article
The development of real-time communication systems has become increasingly important for educational institutions seeking flexible, scalable, and cost-effective digital learning environments. This paper presents the design, implementation, and performance evaluation of a cloud-based WebRTC Voice over IP application deployed through Docker container technology and integrated into an educational e-learning system. The proposed solution enables secure browser-based audio and video communication between instructors and students, as well as among students, without requiring additional plugins or native software installation. The application architecture is based on multiple containerized microservices, including database, WebSocket, Apache, and Nginx components, hosted within the Microsoft Azure cloud environment. To assess the efficiency of the proposed model, performance testing was conducted across three deployment infrastructures: bare-metal server, virtual server, and Docker-based platform. The evaluation included application deployment time, startup time, system restart time, and response time under different numbers of concurrent sessions. The results indicate that the Docker-based implementation achieved the best overall performance, with substantially shorter deployment and startup times and lower response latency compared with both bare-metal and virtualized alternatives. These findings confirm that containerized WebRTC infrastructure can improve scalability, maintainability, and responsiveness in educational communication systems. The study contributes a practical implementation model for integrating real-time VoIP and video communication into e-learning platforms, particularly for institutions seeking open-source, cloud-ready, and resource-efficient communication solutions.
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Scientific article
Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 concepts are actively developing all over the world. The accelerating transition to Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 sets new requirements for the university education system in qualifications and competencies of engineering universities graduates. The article reveals the possibilities of using cognitive models in the professional training of research engineers for new industries. Authors used the modeling method for creating a cognitive and metacognitive model of the process. It can be used for the development of forming the optimal structure of higher professional engineering education. The article substantiates that the main tasks of modernization of pedagogical approaches in modern education, is to establish the compliance of educational products with the labor market requirements and transform the structure of vocational education, providing training for professional specialists required by specific employers. Conclusions are drawn about the important role of soft skills for engineering education in Industry 4.0. The results obtained in the study can be used for the engineering category of students.
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Development of social skills among elementary school children
Scientific article
The purpose of the research was to explore the development of social skills among elementary school children and identify similarities and differences based on socio-demographic characteristics. The research was conducted in 2017. This study used a sample of 1639 fifth and eighth-grade students from 17 primary schools in the area of the Central Bosnia Canton. The obtained findings provided significant results. The high level of self-assessment of social competence was determined. The results also showed that there is a statistically significant difference between the respondents in the assessment of social competence with regard to the gender and grade of the students. The correlation between social competence and students’ school performance was determined. These findings will have their practical application in teaching process, and help teachers and students in the development of social competence through teaching process.
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Development of transversal competences in school education (a didactic interpretation)
Review article
The contemporary socio-cultural and educational situation points the attention to the analysis and construction of opportunities for the formation and development of transversal competences in school education. It is expedient therefore that within the process of education in all school subjects and throughout all ages and cognitive activities the decisions for the design of a suitable educational environment should be systematized and specified in such a way as to guarantee that knowledge and skills can be continuously regrouped in accordance with context. In other words, these skills and the knowledge they are based on, should form the foundation of transversal competences that can be applied regardless of age and activities. The design of invariant technologies for the development of transversal competences is also related to the coordination of a variety of approaches, principles and conditions of education in such a manner as to provide effectiveness when these technologies are specifically applied as variants. This creates a necessity for a didactic interpretation of the means of development of transversal competences. Additionally, it poses a necessity to improve teachers’ special preparation and qualification to design educational environment that can guarantee the achievement of transversal competences as an educational outcome. The present research offers opportunities to realize this goal in an integrative and integrating process rather than as an isolated endevour on part of the teachers or as an unorganized effort on part of the students. This in turn poses some new requirements to the system of school education as a whole.
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Deviant online behavior in adolescent and youth circles: in search of a risk assessment model
Review article
The authors made an attempt to describe the problem of developing the concept of risk assessment of deviant online behavior of minors and young adults in social networks. The article looks into the psychological consequences of banalizing of the internet, analysis possibilities for offline and online behavior. Approaches for risk factors assessment of deviant behavior in real life are described: the qualitative (clinical), statistical (actuarial) and structured. The article systemizes the studies of risk factors, vulnerability, and deviant patterns in the context of phenomena such as aggressive, asocial, auto-aggressive, self-mutilating, suicidal, risk-taking and victim online behavior. Approaches and models of online deviant behavior are discussed; an attempt is made to build a structured model of risk assessment of deviant patterns of online behavior in the context of the cultural historical concept. On the basis of theoretical analysis, a hypothetical set of group, interindividual and intraindividual constructs is formulated, the combination of online and offline risk factors produces a model for risk assessment of deviant behavior. The article is written as part of the research project “Developing the profiling model of online behavior of minors and young adults in social networks” which was initiated by the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education.
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Dialogic learning: a social cognitive neuroscience view
Report
This paper represents an exploration of the educational value of dialogue as a teaching strategy in contemporary classrooms in light of recent evidences grounded in knowledge produced by social and cognitive neuroscience research. The relevant literature suggests that dialogue is a unique feature of humans and no other animal is able to dialogue as they do. Humans are biologically wired for dialogue and interaction with one another in socially and culturally shaped contexts. This dynamic interdependence of social and cognitive processes plays a critically important role in construction of knowledge and cognitive development. It is also well established that social processing in the brain is strongly interrelated with the processing of emotion. Children therefore, are social learners who actively construct meaning and knowledge as they interact with their cultural and social environment through dialogue. In conclusion, recent advance in cognitive and social neuroscience is providing a new basis for the communicative conception of learning in which authentic interaction and dialogue are key components. This suggests new avenues of research that need to empirically investigate the role of dialogue on students' mind and brain development.
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Dialogism of Generation Y and Generation Z in Online Communication
Scientific article
The article presents the results of research in comparing ability for dialogical communication of representatives of two generations: Y and Z of two orientations (collectivistic and individualistic). The personality traits which are the basis of dialogism in online communication are specified, the model of dialogism of online communication is presented and measured in order to highlight the difference of ability to build dialogical communication among representatives of generation Y and Z online. Dialogism in online communication is understood as a construct with core and periphery. We used the questionnaire of individualism and collectivism indicators (L.G. Pochebut), “System of Life Meanings” technique (SLM) (V.Y. Kotlyakov), multi-factor empathy questionnaire (V. V. Boyko), “Tolerance Index” questionnaire (G.U. Soldatova and other), “Social norms of prosocial behavior” (I.A. Furmanov), Freiburg Multifactor Questionnaire (Farenberg, Zarg, Gampel). When comparing the results of representatives from generation Y and generation Z the significant difference was stated between most factors. It was concluded that core of dialogism of two generations is different: Z representatives of collectivistic orientation and Y representatives of individualistic orientation have such elements as: aggressiveness, neurotic traits, depressiveness, irritation, emotional instability. The core of dialogism of millennials of collectivistic orientation and Z individualistic orientation is represented by tolerance, some kinds of prosocial behaviour and sociability. Both generations and orientations have altruistic and communicative meanings in the core. The periphery of dialogism of all groups is represented by empathy and some kinds of prosocial behavior.
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Didactic skills in the field of developing creativity and innovativeness of a student
Review article
The authoress of this article highlights the areas of mutual connections and dependencies between theory and practice of students’ creative development, making at the same time an attempt to show creativity against the background of didactic competence of a teacher. She describes the discussed creativity in the teachers’ attitude primarily as an incessant search for better didactic solutions, discovering new learning opportunities and challenging the hitherto accepted assumptions of working with students. She points out that the leading trait of the teacher’s creativity is also the ability to look for different ways of solving the same problem. In this article creative educational initiatives are analysed as well, they are perceived as a chance of creating more effective methods for a teacher to work with his or her students and facilitate their development and growth on many creative levels.
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Didactic trends and perceived teachers’ training needs in higher education: a case study
Report
Today’s world requires people who manage their learning and professional updating processes, which claims for a change in educational practices in all levels of education. However, in Higher Education, this transformation relies mostly on teacher’s efforts to innovate within the learning environments, requiring institutional efforts to generate strategies towards educational innovation. This paper presents the analysis of didactic trends and training needs of teachers at UNIMINUTO Colombia, based on the data gathered at the Annual Meetings for Innovative Pedagogical Practices and an additional survey applied on-line, to determine teachers’ training needs and, furthermore, institutional strategies to strengthen the teaching-learning process. The study uses a mixed methodology through a concurrent triangulation design with qualitative and quantitative methods, with an exploratory scope; both quantitative and qualitative parts of the study counted on a voluntary sampling method. Trend analysis shows that the most used didactic methods are Project-Based learning, Research-Based Learning, and Collaborative Learning. However, the analysis of teachers’ appropriation of knowledge about didactics, especially on those strategies, is low or basic, which compared to the training needs expressed by teachers demonstrate that training processes in educational innovation and new teaching methods is crucial to help educational innovation initiatives to evolve. The study stablishes a trend towards the use active-learning methodologies in pedagogical practices, highlighting the necessity of teachers’ training in how and when to use them, and setting the importance of including communication skills as a topic in teachers’ training programs.
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Scientific article
The ecological crisis, arising as a result of the highest aspirations of mankind for the production of goods, is getting wider and wider. The significance of the problem and a real threat to the environment, leads us to conclude, that today more than ever before, there is a need to develop environmental awareness and culture from the earliest period of life. This means that contemporary environmental issues should have a significant place and role in the organization of educational work in kindergartens. The need to start with environmental education at the preschool level results from the psychophysical characteristics of child development, and the fact that this is a period when the foundations for future personality are being formed. Taking into account the above listed requirements and findings, we intend to work on pointing out the importance of the environment studies in the course of institutional preschool education, and focus our attention on certain didactic-methodological assumptions and conditions, which should be respected, and to ensure the implementation of the environmental education in preschool period.
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Different self-attitude indicators in students and their self-realization in a university
Scientific article
The problem raised in the study is also due to the lack of a common conceptual framework explaining the conditionality of foreign students' realization by subjective characteristics. The purpose of the paper is to present and analyze the results of an empirical study of self-attitude indicators as subject predictors of students' self-realization in a foreign cultural environment. The study was conducted in 2019-20 among students of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia getting undergraduate and Master's degrees in Humanities. 412 respondents aged 18-25 took part in the survey. The authors used “Multidimensional questionnaire of self-identity” method by S. I. Kudinov; “Test - questionnaire of self-attitude” method by V. V. Stolin, S. R. Panteleev; the self-assessment diagnostic technique by Dembo-Rubinstein in A. M. Prikhozhan's modification; “Individual preferences of self-expression sphere” questionnaire by S. S. Kudinov; methods of mathematical and statistical analysis (descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, K. Pearson's correlation analysis, factor analysis, the program of standard statistical package “Statistica-7.0”. In the course of an empirical study of students in a multinational university it was found that the respondents' self-realization is carried out mainly in the course of educational activities. As a result of cluster analysis, three groups of respondents with dominant indicators of self-attitude have been identified, which were conventionally designated as positive-stable, negative-rigid and socially dependent type of self-attitude. It is determined that respondents with a positive-stable type of self-attitude demonstrate most successful self-fulfillment due to the expression of such personal qualities as self-acceptance, self-confidence, faith in their possibilities and abilities, self-management. At the same time, the greatest difficulties in self-realization are experienced by students with a socially dependent type of self-attitude, due to low self-esteem, external self-regulation and constant expectation that others would evaluate their activities, actions and reactions.
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