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As many universities in non-Anglophone countries have committed to internationalising their academic programmes, more content courses in Arts and Sciences are being taught in English. When content courses are taught in English in a country where English is not the first language, this is called English Medium Instruction (EMI). Using specific country cases, previous studies have confirmed that an EMI course can pose many challenges to the learning of course content by students. To date, there have been few attempts to examine these challenges through a large-scale qualitative prism, which would be useful for gaining new insights in order to inform policy as well as classroom interventions. In this systematic thematic synthesis we have aimed to identify the obstacles to implementing learner-centred pedagogy in EMI tertiary programmes, focusing on student perspectives. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) and Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ) were used to appraise and synthesise 40 empirical articles. The articles included 1769 participants in 20 non-Anglophone countries and jurisdictions. The participants were both local and international non-native English-speaking students enrolled in EMI courses. The synthesis yielded 46 descriptive themes stratified into six analytical domains. The suggested domains are meta/linguistic, instructional, meta/cognitive, socio-cultural, affective, and institutional obstacles. They suggest that students in different regions faced quite similar challenges in their EMI courses. The challenges consist of inadequate use of English by students and lecturers, and a lack of student-centred pedagogy, particularly in teacher–student and student–student interactions. The findings of most learner-centred EMI studies revealed that the main challenges came from English comprehension (the first three suggested domains); fewer studies included factors related to the learning environment (the last three domains). This review can inform university administrators, teaching staff and researchers engaged in internationalising higher education and aid in designing appropriate EMI programmes that offer better learner-centred educational experiences.

As a way to support teachers’ professional development activities and build communities of practice for teachers, education researchers and practitioners have put considerable effort into building an online learning community for K–12 teachers to create a venue to facilitate teachers’ joint knowledge construction. However, a substantial number of such online communities have failed due to lack of participation of members. Therefore, it is critical to understand how to design a sustainable community that fulfills members’ needs and elicits active participation of members. In this literature review, we adopted a sociological framework to investigate how to create a sustainable online community. This framework suggests that the sustainability of a community comes from individual members’ three types of commitments: instrumental, affective, and moral commitments. Such commitments are results of members’ cognitive, cathectic, and evaluative processes and lead to membership retainment, cohesive relationships, and socially regulated participation. Using this framework, we conducted a systematic literature review on online teacher community articles published from 1990 to 2018. Our findings provide insights on factors associated with teacher members’ instrumental, affective, and moral commitment to an online community. Based on these findings, we further provide design suggestions to build a sustainable community for teachers.

Response scales in auditory perception assessment are critical for capturing the true responses of listeners. Despite its impact on data, response scales have received the least attention in auditory perception assessment. In this study, the usability of visual analogue scales for auditory perception assessment was investigated. Five response scales (a unipolar visual analogue scale–negated to regular, a unipolar visual analogue scale—regular to negated, a bipolar visual analogue scale–positive to negative, a bipolar visual analogue scale—negative to positive, and a unipolar 11-point scale (ISO/TS 15666:2021)) for auditory perception assessment are presented. Music and traffic noise were presented to 60 university students at two different levels, i.e., 45 and 65 dBA, respectively. A web-based experimental design was implemented, and tablet pads were provided to the respondents to record their responses. The unipolar 11-point scale required the longest response time, followed by the two unipolar visual analogue scales and two bipolar visual analogue scales with statistical significance. All response scales used in this study achieved statistical reliability and sensitivity for the auditory perception assessment. Among the five response scales, the bipolar visual analogue scale (negative to positive) ranked first in reliability over repeated measures, exhibited sensitivity in differentiating sound sources, and was preferred by the respondents under the conditions of the present study. None of the respondents preferred the unipolar 11-point scale. The visual analogue scale was favoured over the traditional unipolar 11-point scale by young educated adults in a mobile-based testing environment. Moreover, the bipolar visual analogue scale demonstrated the highest reliability and sensitivity, and it was preferred the most by the respondents. The semantic labelling direction from negated to regular, or from negative to positive, is preferred over its opposite counterpart. Further research is necessary to investigate the use of response scales for the general public including children and the elderly, as well as that of semantic adjectives and their counterparts for auditory perception assessment.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is gradually influencing every aspect of everyday life, including education. AI can also provide special support to learners through academic sustainability or discontinuation predictions. While AI research remains in its early stages, we must examine how it evolves and exerts its potential over time. By utilizing AI in physical education (PE), we can increase its potential use in sports applications, and enact changes upon the nature of PE, its visualization, and repeatability. Based on the concept of AI and related research areas, this study explores its principles and use in PE, and presents a focused, in-depth analysis of the areas of PE technology where AI could be applied—customized PE classes, knowledge provision, learner evaluation, and learner counseling methods. Our findings highlight the expertise required for future PE teachers in applying AI. Regarding practice implications, this study addresses the topic of AI innovations affecting all life domains, including PE; it highlights AI applications’ relevance to PE technology, based on existing research; it proposes that the implications of AI for PE may apply to other educational domains; and finally, it contributes to existing literature and also shares future research prospects regarding AI applications in education and sports.

This study investigated the spatial and temporal distributions of particulate and gaseous air pollutants in a primary school in Beijing and assessed their health impact on the children. The results show that air quality inside the classroom was greatly affected by the input of outdoor pollutants; high levels of pollution were observed during both the heating and nonheating periods and indicate that indoor and outdoor air pollution posed a threat to the children's health. Traffic sources near the primary school were the main contributors to indoor and outdoor pollutants during both periods. Moreover, air quality in this primary school was affected by coal combustion and atmospheric reactions during the heating and nonheating periods, respectively. Based on the estimation by exposure-response functions and the weighting of indoor and outdoor pollutants during different periods, the levels of PM2.5, PM 10 and O3 at school had adverse respiratory health effects on children. Longer exposures during the nonheating period contributed to higher health risks. These results emphasized that emission sources nearby had a direct impact on air quality in school and children's respiratory health. Therefore, measures should be taken for double control on air pollution inside and outside the classroom to protect children from it.

In this era of rapid modernization, technology has changed people’s everyday lives globally but at a heavy price, as evidenced, for example, by the earth’s deteriorating environments. Environmental contamination has induced the adverse impacts of climate change, manifested as natural disasters. According to scientific predictions, if climate change continues at the current rate, irreversible damage to the planet’s ability to sustain life could occur by 2100. This disturbing scenario has prompted a wake-up call for promoting sustainability and initiatives, such as the Sustainable Development Goals formulated by the United Nations, which are aimed at influencing and penetrating every aspect of life. This article discusses the importance of pragmatic wisdom for our earth’s restoration through the achievement of sustainability, which requires a revolution in education. A new educational model, particular within higher education, which extends beyond most of the current educational models for acquiring knowledge, is required to promote pragmatic wisdom. Apart from the acquisition of scientific knowledge, philosophical thinking and critical thinking skills are essential for promoting pragmatic wisdom. In this context, an education that couples liberal arts with natural sciences could be one of the solutions for facilitating the transformation of knowledge into pragmatic wisdom, which can potentially foster sustainability.

Abstract Background Climate change is a problem which is global in nature, and whose effects go across a wide range of disciplines. It is therefore important that this theme is taken into account as part of universities´ teaching and research programs. Methods A three-tiered approach was used, consisting of a bibliometric analysis, an online survey and a set of case studies, which allow a profile to be built, as to how a sample of universities from 45 countries handle climate change as part of their teaching programs. Results This paper reports on a study which aimed at identifying the extent to which matters related to climate change are addressed within the teaching and research practices at universities, with a focus on the training needs of teaching staff. It consists of a bibliometric analysis, combined with an online worldwide survey aimed at ascertaining the degree of involvement from universities in reducing their own carbon footprint, and the ways they offer training provisions on the topic. This is complemented by a set of 12 case studies from universities round the world, illustrating current trends on how universities handle climate change. Apart from reporting on the outcomes of the study, the paper highlights what some universities are doing to handle climate issues, and discusses the implications of the research. Conclusions The paper lists some items via which universities may better educate and train their students on how to handle the many challenges posed by climate change.