The rapid technological transformations of recent decades have profoundly reshaped educational practices in higher education, and artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming a relevant tool for innovating teaching and learning methods. In fields such as communication, film, and media studies, the integration of AI opens up new pedagogical opportunities, facilitating both the personalization of the educational process and the development of students’ creative, analytical, and digital skills. This paper aims to analyze how AI-based technologies can be utilized within university programs in these fields, both as a support for teaching activities and as an environment for creative and critical exploration. It discusses AI applications in the development of course materials, the simulation of real-world professional contexts, the generation and analysis of visual and audiovisual content, as well as in providing rapid feedback tailored to students’ individual needs. At the same time, the research highlights the impact of these tools on the relationship between the teacher, the student, and the educational process, emphasizing the need to redefine the teacher’s role in the current digital context. This study employs a quantitative methodology, using an online questionnaire administered via Google Forms. The questionnaire items were formulated using a Likert scale to measure respondents’ level of agreement or disagreement with a series of statements relevant to the topic under investigation. The research sample consisted of 100 students from the Film, Photography, Media, and Communication programs. The findings suggest that AI tools can enhance student attention, facilitate the understanding of complex concepts, and contribute to more engaging learning experiences in technology-enhanced education.

The introduction of the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) marks a major policy shift in the governance of undergraduate education in Nigeria, which redefines the balance between regulatory control by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and institutional curriculum autonomy offered by relevant enabling laws. While implementation commenced across many universities in 2023, variations in institutional timelines reveal the complex realities of policy enactment within higher education systems. This paper presents a collaborative reflective analysis of the early-stage implementation of CCMAS in a Nigerian public university—the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, that began formal rollout in October 2025—almost two years after the latest timeline for kick-off. This present work, which is conceptually anchored in policy enactment theory and the micropolitics of educational reform, interprets implementation as a negotiated process shaped by institutional culture, governance structures, and professional identities. Drawing on the authors’ positionality as academic participants within the reform process, the paper critically examines how policy mandates are translated, mediated, and adapted within institutional contexts. The reflective analysis surfaces key thematic concerns, including tensions between compliance and autonomy, institutional readiness, procedural and bureaucratic layering, stakeholder sense-making, and emergent pedagogical and administrative challenges. By positioning delayed implementation not as inertia but as an instance of institutional interpretation and strategic adaptation, the paper contributes to theoretical conversations on policy translation, organisational change, and curriculum governance in higher education. It further illuminates how reform is enacted through situated practices and negotiated meanings, offering insider-informed insights into the dynamics of large-scale curriculum transformation in resource-constrained and tradition-oriented university settings.

Data literacy has become an essential competency for navigating the demands of modern education and a data-driven society. However, the psychometric defensibility of self-perceived data literacy remains unclear, particularly among adolescents whose metacognitive accuracy is still developing. This study aimed to validate the Data Literacy Self-Perception Questionnaire (DLSPQ) and examine the structure of students’ perceived data literacy across cognitive, technical, and attitudinal domains. Using a quantitative psychometric design, content validity was evaluated through Aiken’s V, followed by item-level diagnostics, polychoric Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), reliability estimation, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). A sample of 354 upper-secondary students completed the 53-item DLSPQ. Results showed high content validity, strong corrected item–total correlations, and excellent internal consistency (α = .88–.95; ω = .90–.97). EFA supported a six-factor solution consistent with the theoretical model, while CFA indicated good model fit, confirming the multidimensional structure of data literacy. Descriptive findings revealed strong operational spreadsheet skills and positive attitudes toward data, alongside weaker mastery of conceptual statistical reasoning and complex Excel functions. Gender comparisons indicated minor yet interpretable differences favoring males in technical domains and females in attitudinal dimensions. Overall, the DLSPQ demonstrates strong psychometric defensibility as an assessment tool for mapping students’ perceived data literacy. Its validated structure holds practical value for curriculum development, diagnostic assessment, and the design of instructional interventions targeting data reasoning, spreadsheet competency, and student engagement with data. Future studies are encouraged to complement self-perception measures with performance-based assessments and longitudinal designs to better understand developmental trajectories of data literacy.

This study investigated undergraduate students’ awareness and utilization of ChatGPT for academic purposes among undergraduate students at Obafemi Awolowo University. It also determined their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of using ChatGPT for academic work; how the students perceive the influence of ChatGPT on their academic performance and their development of critical skills; and students’ level of awareness of the ethical issues and concerns that may arise when integrating ChatGPT's outputs into their academic activities.

A descriptive survey research design was employed. The sample comprised 380 students selected across more than 8 of the 14 faculties in the study area. Data was collected through the use of an instrument that captured the demographic details, awareness and usage patterns, perceived benefits and challenges, and ethical concerns tthat surround ChatGPT for academic work. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

Findings revealed that awareness of ChatGPT was nearly universal, with 93% of respondents reporting familiarity or use. ChatGPT emerged as the most widely adopted AI tool, and was primarily employed for research assistance (69%), writing assignments (57%), summarizing articles (42%), and examination preparation (39%). Students perceived notable academic benefits, with 74% reporting improved performance and 77% recognizing contributions to skill development, although most rated these improvements as moderate. Challenges included inaccurate or misleading outputs (47%), difficulties generating effective prompts (37%), and contextual irrelevance (56%), alongside concerns about over-reliance and infrastructural barriers. Ethical awareness was relatively high, with 66% acknowledging the implications of AI use, yet ambiguity persisted, as only 43% viewed unacknowledged GPT use as plagiarism while others disagreed or were uncertain.

The study concludes that ChatGPT is widely perceived as beneficial but moderated by accuracy, ethical, and infrastructural concerns. It recommends the widespread dissemination and deployment of institutional AI policies, the integration of digital literacy programs, and investment in digital infrastructure to ensure responsible and equitable use in higher education.

A traditional view of scientific culture and the general public's attitude toward science is that they depend largely on the level of scientific literacy in a given population. However, more recent studies on scientific culture question this perspective and highlight the importance of social context and factors like family environment, cultural frame, and educational experiences in shaping disposition towards science. Especially important among these factors is trust, both in science as an institution and in the relevant actors involved in the production of scientific knowledge: from scientists, universities, and politicians to the science teacher who represents children’s first and frequently formative contact with science. Within this framework, religious beliefs or a lack thereof can be considered a relevant dimension of the sociocultural context that shapes the public’s view of science and its role in society. From the perspective of teaching and learning, exploring the impact of this factor can help understand what barriers and opportunities exist to the penetration of scientific knowledge within the wider society.

In this study, we used a quantitative, exploratory, ex post facto analytical methodology of data from the third version of the Chilean government’s Survey of the Social Perception of Science and Technology (EPSCT). We aimed to analyze the relationship between the degree of declared religious belief and its association with indicators related to interest in science, trust in scientific knowledge, and perception of the benefits of science and technology, among others. Our results show differentiated patterns between groups with different declared levels of religious beliefs in their attitudes towards science and technology. This highlights the relevance of cultural dimensions in the relationship between the individual and science, and how a better understanding of these sociocultural relationships can contribute to more inclusive educational strategies.

Technology-enhanced learning has significantly expanded access, flexibility, and scalability across higher education and professional development contexts; however, many digital implementations remain content-centered, emphasizing information delivery over developmental growth and reflective transfer. This study addresses this gap by embedding coaching-informed design principles directly into a technology-enhanced learning platform through structured reflective interfaces, dialogic coaching sequences, and adaptive feedback mechanisms.

Using a design-based research (DBR) methodology, the intervention was developed and progressively refined across eight implementation cycles over one academic year, involving 150 learners enrolled in structured professional development programs. Grounded in constructivist learning theory and reflective practice frameworks, the model integrated developmental dialogue within the digital instructional flow rather than positioning reflection as a post-task add-on. Data were collected using mixed methods, including learner-generated reflective artifacts, platform engagement analytics, structured perception surveys, and systematic facilitator observations. Cross-cycle comparative analysis informed iterative enhancements to the platform’s reflective architecture and feedback design.

Findings indicate sustained and progressive increases in learner agency, depth of reflection, engagement quality, and perceived transfer to professional practice across successive iterations. Compared with content-driven digital formats, the coaching-informed design demonstrated stronger alignment between intended learning outcomes and applied professional impact.

This study advances technology-enhanced education by empirically demonstrating how developmental dialogue can be systematically embedded within digital learning architectures to strengthen engagement and applied learning. The resulting framework offers scalable, research-informed design principles for institutions seeking to enhance the developmental impact of technology-mediated instruction.

Higher education increasingly encourages teaching approaches that promote student engagement and deeper understanding of course content. In business schools, instructors are often challenged to design learning activities that help students not only remember theoretical concepts but also organize and connect them in a meaningful way. In this perspective, active learning strategies can play an important role in supporting students’ cognitive development. Bloom’s taxonomy provides a useful framework to understand how different learning activities can stimulate several levels of thinking, from remembering and understanding to analyzing relationships between concepts.

This paper presents the use of mind mapping as an active learning and formative assessment tool implemented with a group of 40 first-year students in a marketing course at HESTIM Business School in Morocco. The activity was introduced at the beginning of a class session to assess students’ understanding of the concepts discussed during the previous lecture. Students were asked to create a mind map illustrating the main ideas of the course and the connections between these notions.

Through this exercise, students were encouraged to recall previously learned concepts, demonstrate their understanding, and analyze how different marketing notions are related. Classroom observations showed that the activity helped students structure their knowledge more clearly and enabled the instructor to identify possible misunderstandings. The exercise also encouraged participation and interaction among students.

These observations highlight the value of mind mapping as a simple yet effective tool to support active learning and formative assessment in business education.

Introduction:

Introduction: Indonesian youth face a converging syndemic crisis, with 87.8% demonstrating insufficient physical activity and elevated NCD risk intertwined with environmental degradation. Current traditional education does not provide an integrated response to these multiple and intertwined threats. So, this study develops, designs, and tests a new transformative pedagogy called Game-As-Reality (GAR) Education, which integrates planetary health education through the use of a hybrid reality for Indonesian youth.

Methods

We conducted a randomized pilot study, which consisted of forty university students who were randomly assigned (block randomization) to either an experimental (n = 20) or a control group (n = 20). Experimental group participants completed the Game-As-Reality intervention, which included a mobile VR/AR metaverse with AI-driven motion sensors to create the narrative of "Planetary Health Heroes." The control group received standard health education materials without gamified or immersive elements. Three measures of the syndemic effects were assessed: the Integrated Planetary Health Behavior Scale (IPHBS), physical activity (IPAQ) to represent active mobility, and affective engagement (PANAS), at Week 1 as the baseline and Week 5 as endpoint of the intervention.

Results and Conclusion

The experimental group demonstrated significant improvements across all syndemic outcomes (p < 0.05). Specifically, the experimental group showed significant improvement in all seven domains of the IPHBS, including active transportation and waste reduction. The experimental group also reported physical activity levels comparable to the WHO and exhibited a decrease in sedentary behavior. Affective engagement was 60 percent greater among the experimental group than the control group (p < 0.05).

This pilot study demonstrates that GAR pedagogy effectively enhances active mobility, planetary health behaviors, and educational engagement simultaneously. The hybrid reality aspect of this approach provides a culturally relevant and scalable solution for creating "Planetary Health Citizens" that support SDGs 3, 4, and 13 in Indonesia.

Extracurricular science activities have been identified as educational contexts that can broaden students’ opportunities to engage with scientific practices and develop interest in STEM disciplines. These initiatives may create learning environments that complement formal schooling by enabling participation in authentic scientific practices and fostering connections with science beyond the classroom. However, limited research has examined how teachers participating in these programs describe and structure these educational experiences from their professional perspective. This study analyzes teachers’ discourse regarding their participation in an extracurricular science program and identifies the educational elements that structure these experiences.

The study forms part of the first phase of a doctoral research project and corresponds to an exploratory qualitative design. The data corpus consists of semi-structured interviews conducted with four teachers participating in an extracurricular science program. The analysis followed a sequential deductive–inductive approach. In the first phase, a deductive analysis was conducted based on the proximal level of the STEM orientation model proposed by Reinhold, Holzberger, and Seidel (2018). Subsequently, inductive coding was carried out following Saldaña’s (2013) qualitative coding procedures to identify emerging patterns in teachers’ discourse.

The analysis identified two main analytical dimensions comprising six categories and twenty-seven subcategories that describe key components of the educational environment generated in these extracurricular experiences. Among the elements most frequently emphasized by teachers are learning experiences outside the classroom, opportunities to engage with scientific practices, student recognition, the development of learning communities, and the public presentation of students’ work.

The findings suggest that extracurricular science programs can create educational environments that extend learning opportunities beyond traditional classroom settings and support participation, recognition, and community-building around science. Within the framework of STEM orientation, these elements can be interpreted as proximal educational factors that may contribute to fostering students’ interest and engagement with STEM pathways.

Background:
Recently, the University of Pikeville transformed its pre-clinical curriculum from a traditional, discipline-based model to an integrated, system-based, two-pass hybrid design. Prior to this reform, pharmacology was delivered as two stand-alone second-year courses, primarily through didactic lectures. The curriculum redesign reduced pharmacology contact hours and redistributed content across organ systems.

Objective:
This study evaluates whether pharmacology contact hours can be reduced within an integrated systems-based curriculum while maintaining national licensing examination performance and strengthening clinical application.

Methods:
Pharmacology content was systematically mapped across the revised curriculum to eliminate redundancies and clarify disciplinary roles. Faculty developed explicit guidelines: pharmacology focused on mechanisms of action, adverse effects, drug interactions, and core clinical uses, while internal medicine emphasized diagnosis, guidelines, and drugs of choice. Previously underrepresented topics (e.g., immunopharmacology and pharmacotherapy in pregnancy and lactation) were incorporated. A longitudinal case-based course reinforced pharmacologic principles across both pre-clinical years, and a second-year Therapeutics of Infectious Diseases series was introduced to strengthen antimicrobial application in clinical contexts. Student outcomes were assessed using NBOME Level 1 pharmacology performance reports, comparing cohorts before and after curricular transformation.

Results:
Following curricular reform, pharmacology contact hours were successfully reduced from 124 to 90 hours (a 27% reduction) without deterioration in national benchmark performance. Pre-transformation pharmacology scores were comparable to national means (national mean 549.07, SD 155.21 vs. school mean 502.25, SD 140.76). Post-transformation performance remained at national average levels, indicating the preservation of pharmacology competency despite a 27% reduction in instructional time.

Conclusions:
Strategic content mapping and longitudinal integration allow for a meaningful reduction in pharmacology contact hours while maintaining national examination performance. Embedding pharmacology within a two-pass, hybrid systems curriculum promotes efficiency and strengthens clinical application. Continued longitudinal assessment will further evaluate retention and clinical impact.