Open Access Published by De Gruyter Open Access

Volume 5 Issue 1

January 2023

Issue of Open Education Studies

Contents
Journal Overview

Special Issue: Transforming Education in the COVID-19 Era

Open Access January 7, 2023

Digital Learning Ecosystem: Current State, Prospects, and Hurdles

Damira Belessova, Almira Ibashova, Lyudmila Bosova, Guldana Shaimerdenova

Article number: 20220179

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Abstract

The article is an analysis of the current topic – digitalization of the educational process. In the course of collecting and interpreting the known data, the authors cite the pedagogical foundations of digital literacy, the current state of digital learning and problems, and the prospects for the development of this direction in the future are also considered. In addition, the situations of creating a digital ecosystem in individual countries of the world were analyzed.

Special Issue: Building Bridges in STEAM Education in the 21st Century

Open Access January 19, 2023

STEMbach Experiences at Higher Education

Laura Castro-Santos, Félix Puime Guillén, Isabel Lamas-Galdo, Ana Isabel García-Diez, Joaquín Enríquez Díaz, Lucía Boedo-Vilabella, María Dolores Lagoa-Varela, Begoña Álvarez-García, Almudena Filgueira-Vizoso

Article number: 20220178

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Abstract

The aim of this work is to describe several experiences of STEMbach in different areas: engineering, economics, materials, etc. The STEMbach is a program carried out by high school students during their two years of study to obtain their High School Diploma (equivalent to A-levels), designed for both the Humanities and Sciences modalities, and created alongside the Galician strategy for digital education. It encourages the vocation of the scholars towards scientific and technological research and allows a connection directly with the college education. The STEM works explained in this work were developed between the University of A Coruña and several high schools located in the region of Galicia (North-West of Spain). Results were very constructive for promoting STEM careers.

Regular Articles

Open Access March 18, 2023

Motivators for University of Professional Studies Accra Students to Adopt a Learning Management System in Ghana

Samuel NiiBoi Attuquayefio

Article number: 20220182

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Abstract

The use of a learning management system (LMS) is believed to be significant for students’ academic performance, but students’ attitudes regarding its use are divided. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to apply a modified version of the technology acceptance model to determine the motivators for University of Professional Studies Accra students’ behavioural intentions (BIs) and actual use of LMSs using a convenient sampling technique to elicit data from first-year students in the faculty of information technology and communication studies. The investigation included a total of 188 samples. The study used structured equation modelling partial least squares to analyse the data. Specifically, the study employed the importance-performance map analysis to establish the factors that are important to students’ actual use of an LMS. The study’s findings suggest that REL and output quality significantly impact the perceived usefulness (PU). Also, perceived enjoyment and subjective norm exert a significant impact on the perceived ease of use (PEOU). Additionally, PEOU influences the PU, which in turn influences the BI. Furthermore, the findings reveal a strong link between BI and the actual use of the LMS. Finally, the study suggests that students’ BI to use the LMS is the most important factor for students’ actual use. PU is also an important determinant factor of students’ actual use. Following the study’s conclusion that BI and PU are important for students’ actual use of an LMS, higher education administrators must develop rules that increase the students’ PU of LMSs, while also ensuring that current measures that awaken students’ BIs are maintained or improved so that students can use the LMS for academic work.

Open Access March 22, 2023

Self-Confidence and STEM Career Propensity: Lessons from an All-Girls Secondary School

Alessandro Siani, Jasmine Harris

Article number: 20220180

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Abstract

Gendered barriers in education and attrition along the academic and professional pipeline are key determinants of the current STEM skills shortage. While enrolment in STEM undergraduate courses has been increasing in the recent decades, STEM degree choices still suffer from considerable gender imbalance, whereby women are underrepresented in maths-heavy subjects and overrepresented in biological and healthcare subjects. This study sought to investigate the relationship between maths/science self-confidence and propensity towards STEM careers during secondary education, a critical period in the university course decision-making process. Non-parametric analysis of cross-sectional survey data collected in an English all-girls secondary school revealed an overall decline in self-confidence over the 5 years of secondary education, which was statistically significant for science, but not maths. Self-confidence in maths showed a strong positive correlation with students’ propensity towards careers in maths and science, but not in technology/engineering. Likewise, self-confidence in science was positively correlated with maths and science propensity, but had no effect on technology/engineering propensity. These findings indicate that the teaching of maths and science is by itself not sufficient to promote engagement with STEM career pathways in engineering and technology. Secondary curricula should explicitly emphasise the links between the learning of mathematical and scientific concepts, their practical applications, and the career opportunities they enable.

About this journal

Open Education Studies is an international peer-reviewed Open Access journal that publishes original and relevant articles in all fields of education research. It publishes both theoretical as well as empirical and methodological contributions to education research. Its coverage encompasses all forms of teaching and learning at all levels, from early childhood development to lifelong learning.

The journal provides the readers with free and permanent access to all content worldwide; and the authors with article promotion, long-time preservation, language assistance, no space constraints and immediate publication.

Open Special Issues:

Volume 4, 2022:

Building Bridges in STEAM Education in the 21st Century
Lead Editor: Carla M.A. Pinto, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal
Guest Editors: Chris Brownell, Fresno Pacific University in California, USA; Zsolt Lavicza, Johannes Kepler University, Austria; Jorge Mendonça, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal; Ana Paula Lopes, Porto Accounting and Business School, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal; Filomena Soares, Porto Accounting and Business School, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal
Transforming Education in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond
Lead Editor: Carla M.A. Pinto, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal;
Guest Editors: Jose Manuel Diego-Mantecón, University of Cantabria, Spain; Zsolt Lavicza, Johannes Kepler University, Austria; Noah Dana-Picard, Jerusalem College of Technology, Israel; Jorge Mendonça, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal; Kristof Fenyvesi, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä

Published Special Issues:
Volume 1, 2019:

Design Thinking for Education
Editor: Stefanie Panke, University of North Carolina, USA
STEM Education with a Better Understanding
Editor: Ján Gunčaga, Faculty of Education, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia
Innovative Teaching Methodologies
Leading Editor: Carla M. A. Pinto, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal
Guest Editors: Jorge Mendonça, Susana Nicola, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal; Daniela Velichová, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia

Volume 2, 2020:

Stress, Distress and Drop-out Amongst Higher Education Students
Guest Editor: Prof. Wilfried Admiraal, Director, Chair in Teaching and Teacher Education, Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching, Leiden University, the Netherlands
Active Methods in Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Informatics in Science, Technology, Engineering and Arts
Editors: Ján Gunčaga, Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Education, Slovakia; Péter Körtesi, University of Miskolc, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Hungary; Elena Hadzieva, University of Information Science and Technologies “St. Paul the Apostle – Ohrid”, Faculty of Information Systems, Visualization, Multimedia and Animation, Macedonia
New Trends in STEM Education of the 21st Century
Leading Editor: Carla M. A. Pinto, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal
Guest Editors: Ken Brown, Letterkenny Institute of Technology in Ireland; Viola Larionova, Ural Federal University, Russia; Deolinda Rasteiro, Polytechnic of Coimbra, Portugal
Online Networked Learning Ecologies and Their Implications in Theory and Practice
Guest Editor: Aras Bozkurt, Ph.D., Anadolu University, Open Education Faculty, Eskişehir, Turkey

Volume 3, 2021:

Transforming Education in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond
Lead Editor: Carla M.A. Pinto, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal;
Guest Editors: Jose Manuel Diego-Mantecón, University of Cantabria, Spain; Zsolt Lavicza, Johannes Kepler University, Austria; Noah Dana-Picard, Jerusalem College of Technology, Israel; Jorge Mendonça, School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal; Kristof Fenyvesi, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä
Latent Variable Models in Education
Editors: Harsha Perera, Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), USA; Daniel Wright, Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), USA

The journal’s scope includes, but is not limited to the following areas of research:

Educational psychology
Sociology of education
Educational philosophy
Economics of education
Pedagogy

Educational policy
Educational leadership
Higher education
Early childhood education
K12 education
Vocational and workforce education
Teacher and trainer education
Faculty development

Health education
STEM education

Special education
Information literacy education
Teaching and learning with emerging technologies
Distance and e-learning
Games and simulations
Learning Design
Assessment and evaluation