Formal school spaces are often limited in preparing youth for critical engagement and activism due to standardized curricula, constrained resources, and politicized pressures. Nonformal learning environments, specifically extracurricular clubs, remain underexplored as spaces for youth activism. This study investigates how extracurricular clubs in high schools function as third spaces for learning about social justice issues and engaging in collective action. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we analyzed twelve discussion groups with 63 high school students involved in extracurricular clubs. Findings suggest that club participation fosters critical engagement, activism-related knowledge and skills, and a justice-oriented approach to local and global issues, with promise for enhanced global citizenship. However, specific conditions influence youth interest, retention, and action. Implications highlight the need for educational institutions to support third-space opportunities for youth activism.

This paper reports on a workshop in which the students learned about IoT concepts and technologies through practice in monitoring of automated production processes using IoT. A production system model created for this practice was a remotely monitored robotic cell. The cell, located in the Technion Cognitive Robotics Lab was equipped with cameras, wireless sensors, and controllers transmitting sensory data to the cloud. The students, sitting in a remote classroom, watched the production process live broadcast and monitored the process using dashboards they developed on their smartphones. The students practiced in groups, where each group programmed one of the controllers and monitored the system using data transmitted from the related sensor. The workshop was implemented in two new courses, one for mechanical engineering students at Braude Academic College of Engineering and the other for industrial engineering students at Technion—Israel Institute of Technology. Both courses included students’ visits to enterprises that use modern digital technologies, and the workshop was conducted in preparation for the visits. The workshop evaluation indicated that the students in both courses acquired skills in IoT-based monitoring of production processes that helped them understand the real monitoring processes observed during the enterprise visits.

About the case: We suggest using Aristotle's rhetorical triangle, a tool for analyzing communication in terms of logos (logic), pathos (values), and ethos (identity), in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate classes. We investigate how the triangle can enhance students’ communication skills by developing awareness of pathos and ethos, and shed light on values, considerations, and professional identity at different stages of their studies. Situating the case: Developing communication skills among STEM students is imperative even in the age of AI-based tools. Although many books and platforms exist to help facilitate communication in general, STEM students require practical tools to foster the rhetorical skills needed for effective and persuasive communication. Methods: The rhetorical triangle intervention was implemented in two undergraduate courses to help students develop the other necessary elements of effective communication beyond logos: i.e., pathos and ethos. Results: Our results show that the intervention enhanced students’ ability to express shared values (pathos) with their audience and fostered the development of professional identity (ethos). Our findings also revealed notable differences in professional identity expression when comparing two different samples of future scientists and engineers in their freshmen and senior years. Conclusion: We suggest that incorporating the elements of the rhetorical triangle into STEM education can enhance students’ communication skills, particularly in expressing the value of their work and developing a strong professional identity. We recommend integrating these elements throughout various stages of the curriculum to deepen students’ understanding of effective communication and persuasion.

This study applies social movement theory to examine how young Italian activists embody and reconfigure global narratives within their specific contexts. Over 6 months in 2024, we conducted three in-depth interviews with each of 10 activists and analysed their online activities on social media. During the interviews, participants reflected on their social media posts related to their activism. Using a thematic analysis of the interview transcripts and their online posts, we illustrate how these activists strategically frame their agendas as both local and specific, while effectively employing the language of global justice campaigns. The study further investigates how their activities and perceptions are closely linked with their interactions with diverse actors (organisations and individuals), and how these young activists cultivate a range of connections to amplify their messages and engage with local audiences. The various modes of communication used by these activists show how local agendas resonate with global movements, ultimately fostering sustained collective action, particularly around environmental and gender issues.

In this opinion piece, we explore the idea that GenAI has the potential to fundamentally disrupt computer science education (CSE) by drawing insights from ten pedagogical and cognitive theories and models. We highlight how GenAI improves CSE by making educational practices more effective and requires less effort and time, and all at a lower cost, properties that have the potential to make GenAI a disruptive technology for CSE.

Each of the ten theories and models examined serves as a lens through which we observe and interpret the impact of GenAI on CSE. The ten theories and models are grouped into three categories: Learning (Constructivism, Cognitive Load, and Motivation), Pedagogy (Bloom's Taxonomy, Assessment, Personalization/Diversity /Equity, and Didactic Transposition), and Competencies (the KSA Model, Computational Thinking, and Metacognition).

This study used a qualitative approach to examine health promotion policies in the Israeli education system, analysing 24 written policy documents (2011–2023) and conducting semi-structured interviews with senior policymakers. The analysis revealed that policy documents did not address health promotion in a multicultural society, and programme evaluations have not been conducted for over a decade. Additionally, there is a lack of knowledge about policy implementation in schools serving minority or low-income students. Although the policy addresses minorities, practical responses for groups, such as immigrants and Israeli Palestinians in peripheral areas are inadequate. We also found significant involvement of external entities and third-sector organisations that implement these policies with limited oversight. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the policies emphasise urgency and place responsibility on schools for promoting healthy lifestyles, yet some health issues are omitted. Findings suggest potential health disparities between ethnic and socioeconomic groups, viewed through an intersectional lens.

Transitioning from traditional teaching to self-regulated learning (SRL) necessitates supporting 21st-century teachers by developing their self-regulated teaching (SRT) skills. This study explores teachers’ and students’ SRL. Our goal was to identify gaps and similarities between teachers' and students' SRL in the context of school and professional development programs. The research tool included the Teachers-Students Questionnaire for Self-Regulated Learning (T-SQsrl) alongside reflection for formative assessment and data collection. We culturally and professionally tailored a teacher version to enable self-assessment, emphasizing the reflection skill, while the student version was designed to map SRL for learning intervention and adaptations. Validation was done with 154 teachers and 208 students, employing factor analysis. The teacher version comprises 31 closed-ended items and an open-ended reflective question, while the student version features 15 closed-ended items. Both versions encompass SRL sub-processes, such as goal-setting, task-strategy, self-efficacy, help-seeking, elaboration, and reflection. Findings showed that teachers' SRL emphasized self-efficacy and task-strategy skills with lower levels of goal-setting and help-seeking skills. The students presented a lower level of future-oriented reflection, yet their help-seeking skill emerged as a strength. Methodologically, we developed an effective tool for assessing teachers' SRL with an emphasis on reflection along with assessing their students' SRL.

Children with Self-limited Epilepsy with Centro-Temporal Spikes (SeLECTS) display deficits in both listening and reading comprehension, as well as in executive functions (EF). The aim of the current study was to investigate differences in EF involvement during listening and reading comprehension in children with SeLECTS (ages 8-15 years, n=17), and compare findings to age-matched children with reading difficulties (RD, n=16) and to typical readers (TR, n=38). Functional connectivity of sensory and EF-related networks supporting both listening and reading comprehension was determined based on a resting-state fMRI scan. Behavioral data included both reading and EF testing batteries. Behavioral and functional connectivity within and between networks were compared between study groups. Children with SeLECTS achieved near normal scores in reading comprehension, but achieved below-normal scores in listening comprehension. Yet, engagement of EF networks during was decreased compared to both control groups. On the other hand, during listening comprehension, children with SeLECTS engaged EF and sensory networks in a fashion similar to the RD group, and to a lesser extent than typical readers. Children with SeLECTS performed worse than both control groups in phonemic awareness and in two EF-related abilities - speed of processing and visual attention. Children with SeLECTS display a unique pattern of language impairments that is more evident during listening comprehension. Yet, underlying functional connectivity of EF-related networks shows findings that are inconsistent in comparison to children with RD or TR. These may represent different strategies for performing linguistic tasks.

In this theoretical essay, I build on complexity theory and commognition to theorize the ways in which failure to teach/learn mathematics (FTLM) emerges through the dynamic interactions among teacher, learner, and curriculum demands. I focus on two main concepts of complexity theory: emergence in dynamic systems and attractor states (stable, self-reinforcing patterns), and link them to the commognitive terms of ritualization (rigid focus on procedures and lack of agency) and identity. The complexity-commognitive view of FTLM is first contrasted against common, more linear explanations of FTLM. This view is then illustrated with two case studies—one exemplifying in micro-scale the short-term stabilization of ritualization in the interactions between the author and Dana, a 7th grade student identified as failing persistently in mathematics; the second exemplifying the temporal emergence of ritualization as an attractor state across 2 years (grades 7–9) in the case of a student, Idit, who was originally identified as a strong student and over the years developed an identity of failure. Finally, I discuss methodological, empirical, and practical implications of this complexity-commognitive view of FTLM.

This study explores the role of ChatGPT in science-related information retrieval, building on research conducted in 2023. Drawing on online survey data from seven countries—Australia, Denmark, Germany, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States—and two data collection points (2023 and 2024), the study highlights ChatGPT’s growing role as an information intermediary, reflecting the rapid diffusion of generative AI (GenAI) in general. While GenAI adoption is a global phenomenon, distinct regional variations emerge in the use of ChatGPT for science-related searches. Additionally, the study finds that a specific subset of the population is more likely to use ChatGPT for science-related information retrieval. Across all countries surveyed, science-information seekers report higher levels of trust in GenAI compared to non-users. They also exhibit a stronger understanding of how (Gen)AI works and, with some notable exceptions, show greater awareness of its epistemic limitations.