International Journal of Educational Qualitative Quantitative Research

Transforming STEM Education in Under-Resourced Contexts: A Conceptual Framework for AI-Supported OEP/Rs and Inquiry-Based Learning

2026-03-27T08:59:07+00:00

While digital innovation is rapidly transforming global classrooms, the pedagogical and resource divide in under-resourced STEM environments remains a critical barrier to equitable education. This conceptual paper aims to examine design-based practices (DBPs) for implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI)-supported Open Educational Resources and Practices (OEP/Rs) to promote inquiry-led teaching in STEM education within under-resourced contexts. Guided by the Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) model, it explores how AI-supported digital simulations can be designed to enhance learner engagement and conceptual understanding. The methodology employs a critical and integrative literature review anchored in the 5E instructional framework to synthesize pedagogical benefits, implementation barriers, and design principles. The results present three adaptable teaching scenarios (natural science, technology, and mathematics) demonstrating how generative AI tools create curriculum-aligned, multilingual, and contextually relevant digital simulations. These findings show that AI-generated simulations successfully transform abstract concepts into interactive experiences, helping overcome infrastructural, linguistic, and contextual constraints in rural classrooms. The main contribution of this research lies in establishing a novel conceptual framework that bridges generative AI co-design with open pedagogy. It offers a scalable, cost-effective pathway for digital inclusion and equitable STEM education, providing actionable guidelines for educators to design localized digital learning objects without requiring advanced programming.

Bridging Classroom Realities and School Governance: The Roles and Responsibilities of Teachers within South African SMTs during the Digital Era

2026-05-30T17:08:57+00:00

In the contemporary digital era, effective school leadership increasingly depends on collaborative approaches that can rapidly translate dynamic classroom data into responsive institutional strategies. Grounded in Distributed Leadership Theory, this study explores the evolving roles and responsibilities of teachers within School Management Teams (SMTs) in South African schools. A qualitative research design was employed, utilizing semi-structured interviews to gather in-depth insights from school principals, deputy principals, and department heads (DHs). Thematic analysis reveals that teachers serve as a critical bridge between micro-level classroom realities and macro-level school governance. Specifically, teachers enhance SMTs decision-making by transforming classroom-based insights and student assessment data into actionable school policies. Furthermore, teachers drive instructional adaptation through data-driven interventions, personalized learning support, and proactive classroom management, which directly foster student resilience and academic achievement. However, the study highlights that maximizing teacher leadership in this digital climate requires sustained, collaborative professional development to overcome persistent institutional resource constraints. These findings underscore the critical need for educational authorities to foster inclusive, technologically-adaptive leadership practices that recognize teachers as legitimate co-constructors of school improvement and learner success. Concurrently, this study offers a significant empirical contribution by conceptualising a modern framework of distributed governance that links immediate pedagogical datasets with strategic school administration in post-apartheid developing contexts.

The Interactive Learning Revolution: A Systematic Review on Balancing Memorization and Conceptual Understanding in Mathematics

2026-06-06T21:14:58+00:00

Amid growing emphasis on the interactive learning revolution and active student engagement, this study examines the relationship between rote memorization and conceptual understanding in mathematics education. The study is theoretically grounded in David Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning Theory, which suggests that meaningful learning occurs when new knowledge is connected to learners’ existing cognitive structures. In the context of ongoing curriculum reforms and learner-centred education initiatives in South Africa, understanding this instructional relationship is crucial for shifting traditional classrooms toward interactive practices. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a systematic literature review was conducted on empirical studies published between 2015 and 2025. A total of 36 studies were identified and synthesized using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that while memorization supports short-term recall and procedural fluency, its isolated use may limit higher-order problem-solving and active learner interaction. In contrast, conceptual approaches promote deeper understanding, mathematical reasoning, and longer-term knowledge retention. The review further suggests that a genuine instructional revolution is achieved through a balanced integration of memorization and conceptual learning, where procedural fluency supports interactive, concept-based exploration. In addition, the findings highlight the role of teacher leadership in adapting these interactive approaches to diverse and resource-constrained learning environments. These insights have implications for curriculum development, mathematics teaching practices, and teacher professional development.

Data Saturation in Digital Qualitative Interviews: A Critical Review of Influencing Factors and Methodological Rigor in Educational Research

2026-05-30T17:09:34+00:00

Data saturation remains a fundamental yet heavily debated methodological principle in qualitative inquiry due to persistent subjectivism and methodological laxity, a challenge that has intensified with the contemporary transition toward digital and virtual interview modalities. This study examines and contextualizes the critical factors influencing data saturation when digital qualitative interviews are deployed within educational research. Utilizing a critical literature review design, a thematic analysis was conducted on 18 international peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2025 to systematically identify the determinants of data sufficiency in interview-based data collection. The synthesis revealed six primary factors that dictate methodological rigor within virtual educational research environments, including data quality and thickness, the scope and complexity of the research, sampling strategies, the design of research questions and interview guides, the digital-pedagogical skills of the interviewer, and the homogeneity or diversity of the participants. Ultimately, this paper contributes a robust methodological control framework that enables educational researchers to validly operationalize data adequacy indicators, thereby mitigating the risk of premature data saturation when evaluating interactive learning systems and digital educational environments.

Integrating Augmented Reality with the RADEC Model to Enhance Elementary Students' Problem-Solving Skills on Climate Change Topics

2026-05-08T07:14:49+00:00

While the RADEC (Read, Answer, Discuss, Explain, and Create) model effectively structures active learning, its application to abstract environmental phenomena often faces cognitive visualization barriers at the elementary level. This study addresses this gap by pioneering the integration of Augmented Reality (AR) within the RADEC framework, shifting from traditional text-based prompts to immersive 3D ecological simulations. The study aims to investigate the impact of this integrated approach on the problem-solving skills of fourth-grade students regarding climate change topics. Utilizing a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design, the research involved 62 students divided into an experimental group (n=30, using AR-assisted RADEC) and a control group (n=32, using conventional methods). Data were collected via observation sheets and validated problem-solving essay tests, and analyzed using paired and independent sample t-tests alongside N-gain scores. The independent sample t-test revealed no statistically significant difference in final posttest scores between the two groups (p = 0.124). Crucially, however, the N-gain analysis demonstrated that the AR-assisted RADEC model achieved a substantially higher and moderately effective improvement rate (58.5%) compared to the conventional method (41.0%), which was less effective. Qualitative observations confirmed that the AR integration successfully lowered cognitive barriers and fostered collaboration during the discussion and explanation phases. This integration contributes a novel, technology-enhanced pedagogical framework that bridges the gap between structured instructional models and abstract science concepts, offering a superior acceleration pathway for fostering elementary students' environmental problem-solving capacities.

Deep Learning for Personalized and Interactive Learning in the Digital Era: A Systematic Review of Concepts, Applications, and Implementation Challenges

2026-05-13T13:17:41+00:00

As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly reshapes digital education, Deep Learning (DL) has emerged as a pivotal technological paradigm to drive adaptive learning environments; however, a comprehensive synthesis tracing the algorithmic architectures that successfully foster these personalized systems remains sparse. This study aims to systematically investigate the foundational concepts, computational applications, and implementation challenges of DL models within modern educational frameworks. Adhering to the PRISMA protocol, a rigorous systematic literature review was conducted by screening prominent electronic databases, analyzing 127 peer-reviewed publications spanning from 2015 to 2024. The synthesis reveals that personalized learning constitutes the primary application focus of educational DL, accounting for 29.1% of the total literature. Computationally, advanced architectures such as Transformers and BERT demonstrate the highest operational success rate (91.4%) in facilitating context-aware intelligent tutoring and automated assessments. Conversely, the deployment of these technologies is significantly hindered by socio-technical constraints, notably technological infrastructure deficits (68.5%) and substantial gaps in educators' digital literacy (62.2%). Beyond mapping the current state-of-the-art, this research contributes an integrated socio-technical framework that bridges computational capability with pedagogical design, offering actionable, evidence-based guidelines tailored for educational stakeholders to systematically navigate infrastructure limitations and optimize AI-driven personalization.

Enhancing IELTS Speaking Preparation: The Development of a Self-Paced Learning Model Integrating Edpuzzle and Authentic Materials

2026-05-16T17:20:15+00:00

High-stakes oral language assessments often present significant challenges for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners due to a lack of autonomous, context-rich speaking environments that support spontaneous lexical and grammatical development. To address this limitation, the present study developed and evaluated a self-paced learning model that integrates the Edpuzzle platform with authentic instructional materials specifically designed for International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Speaking test preparation. Operating within a Research and Development (R&D) design, this project applied the 4D framework across its four successive phases of define, design, develop, and disseminate to pilot the model with ten English Education majors from three Indonesian universities. Empirical data were collected and triangulated using evaluation questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and asynchronous user engagement logs extracted directly from the platform. The findings demonstrated noticeable performance enhancements across key evaluation criteria. Quantitative assessments indicated highly favorable participant reception regarding pronunciation tasks (M = 4.8) and contextual real-world relevance (M = 4.7), whereas real-time grammatical accuracy presented a moderate ongoing challenge for learners (M = 3.0). Qualitative responses corroborated these trends, revealing that the interactive multimedia architecture reinforced learner autonomy and reflective language use, which mitigated minor technical glitches and dialectal challenges. Conceptually, this research bridges a critical gap by shifting technology-mediated authentic learning out of traditional teacher-centered classrooms into a fully self-directed environment. Practically, it offers an accessible, scalable pedagogical framework for autonomous test preparation, thereby advancing multimedia instructional design within global EFL frameworks.

Digitizing the Canvas: Enhancing Early Childhood Fine Motor Skills through Touchscreen Finger Painting

2026-05-19T16:52:31+00:00

While empirical debates persist regarding the developmental impacts of screen time on early childhood, the pedagogical potential of touchscreen interfaces as positive motor stimulators remains under-explored. This study investigated the optimization of early childhood fine motor skills including finger flexibility, hand-eye coordination, and movement control through a structured touchscreen finger-painting intervention. Adopting a two-cycle action research framework, the intervention was deployed among 20 children aged 4 to 5 years. Data were gathered using a triangulated approach comprising systematic observation, practitioner interviews, and artifact documentation. Quantitative analysis revealed a significant developmental shift, where the percentage of children reaching high-level mastery of Developing as Expected and Very Well Developed increased from 65% in Cycle I to 80% in Cycle II. Beyond statistical gains, the qualitative insights demonstrated that the interactive haptic and visual feedback of the touchscreen interface significantly enhanced spatial control and visual-motor coordination. The primary contribution of this study lies in redefining digital interaction, demonstrating that touchscreen finger painting serves as an active pedagogical scaffolding tool rather than a medium for passive consumption.

Academic Librarians’ Student Engagement for Promoting Information Literacy and Artificial Intelligence Instruction in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

2026-05-22T07:34:00+00:00

As artificial intelligence (AI) platforms transform higher education, reshaping the instructional role of academic libraries has become critical. This study empirically examined the nature and effectiveness of academic librarians' student engagement strategies for promoting information literacy (IL) and AI instruction in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Anchored on the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the study adopted a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 412 academic librarians drawn from 38 federal and state universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education in Nigeria participated through a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that in-person reference consultations and formal library instruction sessions were the dominant modes of student engagement. Academic librarians reported moderate-to-high competence in IL instruction but comparatively lower confidence in delivering AI literacy content. Regression analysis showed that engagement frequency (β = 0.41, p < 0.001), perceived administrative support (β = 0.29, p < 0.01), and prior AI training (β = 0.33, p < 0.001) significantly predicted the effectiveness of AI instruction. Significant barriers included inadequate digital infrastructure, absence of formal AI curricula, and limited professional development. The study recommends institutionalising AI literacy within higher education library frameworks, implementing structured professional development, and driving policy reforms that embed IL and AI instruction into national library standards for Nigerian tertiary education.

Mitigating Digital Era Challenges Through Curriculum Integration: Islamic Education and Pancasila Student Profile in Primary Schools

2026-05-17T08:59:58+00:00

Amidst escalating digital disruptions and emerging ethical vulnerabilities among primary school learners, establishing robust self-regulatory character anchors has become an international educational imperative. Drawing on Values Cultivation and Digital Citizenship frameworks, this exploratory qualitative case study examines the operationalization of an integrated curriculum merging the Islamic Education Curriculum and the national Pancasila Student Profile to mitigate digital-era moral degradation in a peripheral public primary school setting. Data were accrued through prolonged participant observations, semi-structured interviews with key institutional stakeholders (the principal, educators, students, and parents), and extensive textual documentation, which were systematically processed using rigorous thematic analysis to ensure data trustworthiness. The findings illuminate a tripartite structural mechanism driving integration: spiritual-affective habituation (routine worship), behavioral modeling by educators, and institutional value-embedding within the school culture, structurally reinforced through the Pancasila Student Profile Strengthening Project (P5). This synergistic curriculum effectively fosters critical character tenets, including social discipline, moral accountability, honesty, and empathy, which serve as cognitive anchors that insulate students from virtual-space distractions and behavioral fragmentation. However, systemic bottlenecks persist, including pervasive digital inequities, pedagogical conservatism, and infrastructural deficits. To circumvent these barriers, the institution deploys multi-stakeholder synergetic networks and iterative character tracking. Ultimately, this study conceptualizes a 'Civic-Religious Synergistic Pedagogy' model, concluding that a symbiotic alignment between religious education and civic profiles provides a scalable, sustainable framework for developing nations navigating the critical nexus of rapid technological integration and youth moral stabilization.

Education Revolution via Immersive Media: Leveraging Cultural AR Maps to Enhance Elementary Students’ Cultural Literacy

2026-05-18T02:54:32+00:00

In the era of educational revolution, shifting from passive teaching to technology-driven interactive learning is crucial for cultivating cultural literacy in elementary education. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Cultural AR Map, an innovative immersive media tool, in enhancing fourth-grade students' cultural literacy regarding socio-cultural diversity. Employing a quantitative quasi-experimental design with a nonequivalent control group, the investigation involved 60 students divided equally into experimental and control classes (n=30 each). Data gathered via standardized pretests and posttests were rigorously analyzed using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank and Mann-Whitney U tests alongside Normalized Gain (N-Gain) analysis. The results demonstrated a profound learning transformation in the experimental group, with mean literacy scores surging from 53.87 to 92.67, yielding a high N-Gain of 0.84 with an 83.62% effectiveness rating. Nonparametric analysis confirmed highly significant within-group improvements (Wilcoxon, p=0.000) and a statistically superior post-intervention performance in the AR-assisted class compared to the conventional PowerPoint-based class (Mann-Whitney, p=0.020). This study concludes that integrating immersive AR media revolutionizes cultural education by successfully translating abstract regional heritage into concrete, interactive, and explorable digital learning experiences. Practically, this research contributes a scalable technological framework for cross-disciplinary pedagogy, offering a robust model for interactive, culture-based digital curricula globally.

Multimodal Language Stimulation: Integrating Digital Media into Early Childhood Morning Meeting Routines

2026-05-20T11:49:20+00:00

Early childhood language development requires active dialogic interaction; however, conventional morning meeting routines frequently default to passive, teacher-centered monologues. While digital media provides robust multimodal stimulation, it is rarely integrated directly into face-to-face collaborative routines to overcome expressive language constraints. This study investigates how the systematic integration of interactive digital media into morning meeting routines scaffolds both the receptive and expressive language capacities of young learners. Employing a cyclical practitioner-led action research design, the study involved 17 young learners aged between 5 and 6 years who initially exhibited severe communicative passivity. The intervention utilized interactive presentations, digital word cards, and audiovisual storytelling across two complete instructional cycles. Data were gathered through behavioral observation, dialogue transcription, and performance rubrics validated via inter-rater reliability protocols. Quantitative analysis revealed a significant acceleration in overall language mastery, escalating from a pre-intervention baseline of 41% to an optimal 86.2% by the conclusion of the second cycle. Furthermore, qualitative micro-analysis demonstrated that synchronized visual and auditory cues successfully reduced extraneous cognitive load. This cognitive optimization enabled the children to transition from silent peer mimicry to autonomous sentence construction and coherent narrative expression. By bridging the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning with sociocultural scaffolding principles, this research establishes that digital tools can function as collaborative social glue rather than isolating devices. Ultimately, this instructional framework provides a cost-effective and scalable blueprint for international educators seeking to optimize child-centered communicative agency in resource-constrained environments.

Digital Tool Integration in Hybrid Learning: Examining Pedagogical Practices through TPACK in a Private Islamic Higher Education Institution

2026-05-18T05:17:55+00:00

The integration of digital tools in hybrid higher education has become a defining pedagogical challenge in the post-pandemic era; however, private Islamic higher education institutions in developing contexts remain significantly underrepresented in the global literature. Grounded in the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, this study examines how digital tools are integrated into pedagogical practices within a multi-program private Islamic higher education institution in Indonesia operating a proprietary Learning Management System (LMS) across fully online, face-to-face, and hybrid delivery modes. Adopting a mixed-methods, descriptive-evaluative case study design, data were gathered through an LMS platform documentary analysis, a structured questionnaire administered to 30 lecturers (Cronbach's α = 0.84), and semi-structured interviews with eight key academic informants. Quantitative results revealed a high overall level of faculty perception regarding digital tool integration (M = 4.01, SD = 0.71), with perceived pedagogical impact scoring the highest (M = 4.20). Qualitatively, thematic analysis yielded four dominant dimensions: the LMS as a pedagogical enabler, digital attendance as an accountability mechanism, persistent integration barriers, and hybrid learning as an evolving institutional identity. Crucially, the convergent integration of these data strands culminated in a novel six-layer model of technology-enhanced pedagogical practice, introducing a "periphery-to-center" TPACK adoption trajectory. This model offers a theoretically grounded developmental dynamic tailored specifically to resource-constrained, faith-based higher education institutions. The study underscores the critical necessity for structured faculty development programs and formalized institutional hybrid policies to successfully optimize LMS-mediated pedagogical transformation.

Bridging the Training-to-Classroom Gap: A Kirkpatrick Evaluation of Teacher Professional Development in Rural Indonesia

2026-05-20T03:24:18+00:00

While global investments in teacher professional development (TPD) have surged, the "training-to-classroom" gap remains a persistent challenge in under-resourced, rural settings. This study evaluates the systemic impact of three primary TPD modalities, comprising formal certification (PPG), decentralized teacher working groups (MGMP), and centralized in-service workshops (Diklat), on instructional quality by utilizing Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Evaluation Model. Adopting a qualitative bounded case study design centered in East Lombok as a region emblematic of the infrastructural and pedagogical challenges in rural Indonesia, data were generated from 38 key educational stakeholders through semi-structured interviews, 48 rigorous classroom observations, and systematic document analysis. The findings unpack a non-linear decoupling across Kirkpatrick’s evaluative levels. While TPD initiatives successfully generated positive teacher reactions (Level 1) and conceptual knowledge gains (Level 2), behavioral transfer into actual classroom practice (Level 3) was severely bottlenecked by rigid institutional accountability, resource scarcity, and generic program designs. Crucially, measurable improvements in teaching quality (Level 4) did not occur linearly but were ecologically contingent upon active principal instructional leadership and localized peer-learning networks, with the decentralized MGMP model showing the highest adaptive potential. Ultimately, this study challenges the linear efficacy assumptions of standardized TPD models in the Global South, demonstrating that professional growth in rural contexts is structurally mediated. It offers a socio-contextual framework for policy-makers to transition from standardized in-service training toward school-embedded, leadership-supported professional development ecosystems.