REd Issue 14

New Perspectives on Educational Resources: Learning Materials Beyond the Traditional Classroom is an interdisciplinary book that examined how diverse learning resources can be leveraged to promote creativity, collaboration and critical thinking across all levels of educational settings. The book presents broad conceptualisation of educational materials that extends beyond traditional textbooks to physical places, cultural artifacts, digital media and experiential activities. The book aims to bridge the theoretical frameworks from pedagogy, didactics and curriculum studies with empirical research from Scandinavian educational contexts. The editors, Karl Christian Alvestad, Kari H. Nordberg, and Hege Roll-Hansen, argue that educators must evaluate and creatively employ the wide range of resources available to foster deep learning and support students’ development of 21st skills, Bildung; which has to do with the development of a person’s morals, behaviour and values, and the evolving knowledge society. They propose that educational practices should move beyond the narrow reliance on prescribed textbooks to embrace museums, heritage sites, natural environments, songs, video games, and social media as legitimate and valuable learning resources. The volume emphasises that effective use of these resources requires educators to be grounded in disciplinary knowledge and pedagogical expertise.

Curriculum fidelity ─ the degree to which teachers implement the intended curriculum ─ remains a persistent challenge in the context of ongoing educational reforms. This study examined how organisational readiness, resource adequacy, and curriculum literacy influence curriculum fidelity among senior high school teachers in Region XI, Philippines. Guided by the PRECEDE–PROCEED model, a quantitative, non-experimental design using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed. Data were gathered from 400 teachers through standardised instruments on organisational readiness, resource adequacy, curriculum literacy, and curriculum fidelity. SEM results using AMOS revealed that curriculum literacy (β = 0.62, p < .001) and organisational readiness (β = 0.35, p < .001) significantly predicted curriculum fidelity, while resource adequacy exerted only an indirect effect through literacy. The model demonstrated excellent fit (χ²/df = 1.25, CFI = 0.999, TLI = 0.998, RMSEA = 0.022), explaining 91 % of the variance in curriculum fidelity. These findings confirm that predisposing (literacy), enabling (resources), and reinforcing (readiness) factors collectively determine the degree of curriculum implementation fidelity. Strengthening teachers’ curriculum literacy and institutional readiness is therefore crucial to ensuring sustainable alignment with the revised K–10 curriculum and the objectives of SDG 4 on inclusive and equitable quality education.

Contemporary higher education increasingly emphasises performance, competencies, and employability, contributing to the instrumentalisation of education, in which learning is primarily valued for its utility. This study examines the relationship between perceived educational instrumentalisation and academic vulnerability among engineering students. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 82 students, using Likert-type measures of instrumentalisation and academic vulnerability. The findings indicate significant positive associations between instrumentalisation and academic vulnerability (r = 0.22 - 0.64, p < .05). Differences between first- and third-year students were significant for instrumentalisation (p = .01) and the performance culture dimension (p = .005), while differences in academic vulnerability were not statistically significant. Regression analysis showed that instrumentalisation significantly predicted academic vulnerability (R² = 0.38, p < .001). These results suggest that instrumentalisation is associated with students’ academic experience, particularly in relation to perceived pressure and meaning in learning. The study highlights the importance of balancing performance-oriented and formative dimensions in higher education.

Despite the growing relevance of computational thinking (CT), limited empirical evidence exists on how pedagogical approaches shape CT among students in Basic Education contexts. This study compares the relative influence of computer-based simulation strategy (CBSS) and the six thinking hats strategy (STHS) in enhancing CT, while the role of gender and school location was also examined. This quasi-experimental study involved 157 participants aged 12+ years, assigned to four intact groups/classes (two CBSS and two STHS) representing the urban and rural locations in both interventions. Data were collected at the pre-test and post-test stages using the computational thinking scale. The instrument was validated by three relevant experts and pilot-tested with 39 students, yielding a reliability value of 0.73 through Cronbach's Alpha reliability formula. Descriptive analysis was applied to answer the research questions, while the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the null hypothesis at the .05 level of significance. Findings revealed a significant main effect of instructional strategy on CT (F(1,148)=140.327, p<.05), with a large effect size (η²=0.49) in favour of CBSS. Whereas Gender had no significant effect on students’ CT scores in either group, school location exerted a significant effect in favour of students in urban areas. These results show that CBSS is more effective than STHS at improving basic education students’ computational thinking.

This study explores the contribution of multilingual public signage to societal education in Kibungo Town, Rwanda, through linguistic landscape theory. In particular, the study analyses how languages exhibited in public signage contribute to informal learning, language awareness, and access to information outside formal educational institutions. Adopting a descriptive qualitative and quantitative case study design, data were collected from 110 public signboards selected from commercial, administrative, religious, educational, project-based, and other public spaces in Kibungo. The results indicate that English is the most used language in public signage, followed by Kinyarwanda and French, with some signs showing bilingual and multilingual language practices. English appears mainly in administrative and educational signs due to its official status in Rwandan language policy, while Kinyarwanda facilitates accessibility and social inclusion in commercial and community communications. Furthermore, the study shows that multilingual signage serves as an important resource for societal education, promoting literacy, language awareness, and public access to information. The paper concludes that linguistic landscapes are not only tools of communication, but also crucial spaces of societal education and multilingual engagement in contemporary Rwanda.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisions assessment as a key driver of holistic and multidisciplinary education, but current evaluation practices in most education systems remain rote and summative. This systematic review synthesises research conducted between 2015 and 2025 to discuss the effectiveness of both traditional and innovative assessment methods to encourage holistic learning outcomes in multidisciplinary settings. Following PRISMA guidelines, 119 articles were identified from Scopus, ERIC, Web of Science, and Google Scholar; 45 met the inclusion criteria, and 21 empirical studies were included in final synthesis. Findings from this study indicate that traditional assessment methods remain accurate for content retention but consistently fail to assess higher-order thinking, creativity, and interdisciplinary knowledge transfer. Findings also highlight that innovative assessment practices, such as performance-based activities, peer evaluation, and technology-enhanced assessment, are positively associated with critical thinking, learner autonomy, and interdisciplinary competence. Evidence from Indian studies also indicates that NEP 2020-oriented initiatives accelerated the adoption of competency-based and formative assessment models, which led to enhancement of learner engagement and problem-solving skills. This study suggests that implementing innovative assessment methods requires systemic support, teacher assessment literacy, and policy-aligned implementation strategies to scale up such practices.

Education efficiency is influenced by many factors, including digitalisation. This process is bringing for education, many benefits, but also some risks. This paper has as a goal to identify and analyse the academic production made on digitalisation in university education; 7577 papers indexed in Web of Science and Scopus in total and 412 in Romania were found between 2016-2025 to determine the maturity of the research made on this subject. The obtained database was analysed using E-nformation, VOSviewer, and Excel programmes. The articles obtained were evaluated to determine which keywords were used for research, who are the first classified authors, from what universities, and in what type of journals and databases were published. The comparison-based analysis presented at total and Romanian level was made to observe the differences and build a clear vision for future studies. The results of this study indicate the need for more research outlining the importance of inter- and multi-disciplinary analysis. Future research could use larger data to better understand trends and development of digital university education.

Academic burnout is increasingly common in higher education and is frequently associated with stress reactivity, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, which are strongly interconnected. Few studies have examined whether each retains explanatory value once the others are held constant. This cross-sectional, mixed-methods study examined the concurrent associations of these three affective variables with academic burnout among Romanian university students and explored students’ own views on institutional support. A convenience sample of 209 students from seven universities in Bucharest (52.2% women; 62.7% aged 18-21) completed Romanian versions of three IPIP scales (Stress Reaction, Anxiety, No Depression) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey, together with one open-ended item. Burnout correlated significantly with stress reactivity (r = .52), depressive symptoms (r = .51), and anxiety (r = .45). In simultaneous multiple regression, the three variables jointly accounted for 29.9% of the variance in burnout; stress reactivity and depressive symptoms remained significant concurrent correlates, whereas anxiety did not. Thematic analysis of 61 open-ended responses identified seven themes, with requests for accessible and affordable counselling and peer support dominating. The findings support integrated rather than symptom-specific institutional responses.