PUPIL: International Journal of Teaching, Education and Learning

VIDEOS IN INVERTED CLASSROOM SETTINGS – ADVANTAGES OF LIGHTBOARD LECTURES VERSUS LECTURE VIDEOS

2026-01-05T05:22:50+00:00

HTW Berlin has successfully designed and manufactured a Lightboard, enabling lecturers to create engaging and accessible teaching units. A Lightboard, or learning glass, is a high-refractive transparent glass panel surrounded by LED lights, typically made from high-quality Opti-Glass allowing instructors to write with fluorescent markers while being filmed from the front. Lightboard videos, which allow lecturers to face students directly, have proven superior to traditional lecture recordings and animated lecture videos. Advantageous Lightboard videos maintain lecturer-student eye contact, offer clear and manageable content, and are easy to produce with minimal post-production. These videos, typically under 10 minutes, prevent students from feeling overwhelmed, making them an effective alternative to traditional recordings.

PREDICTORS OF STUDENT DISENGAGEMENT IN FULLY ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS

2026-01-05T05:23:28+00:00

Introduction: The rapid expansion of fully online higher education has increased access for diverse student populations but has also intensified concerns regarding student disengagement. Disengagement in online learning extends beyond withdrawal or dropout and includes behavioral, motivational, psychological, and contextual dimensions that may precede formal attrition. This study sought to identify key predictors of student disengagement in fully online higher education programs within a globally diverse sample of online learners.

Methods: A cross-sectional, correlational design was employed, with data collected from 140 students enrolled in fully online degree programs across multiple continents. Participants completed a detailed sociodemographic questionnaire and a purpose-designed 46-item disengagement instrument assessing behavioral, psychological, instructional, and contextual dimensions of disengagement. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analyses, and multiple linear regression were conducted using STATA 18.

Results: Overall disengagement levels were low to moderate (M = 2.39, SD = 0.48). Psychological and contextual factors emerged as the strongest correlates and predictors of disengagement. Digital fatigue, mental well-being burden, and time-zone or external demands were each independently correlated with higher disengagement. Instructional and social factors, including course design clarity, instructor presence, feedback quality, and sense of community, also significantly predicted disengagement after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Among background characteristics, full-time employment predicted higher disengagement, while older age was associated with lower disengagement.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that student disengagement in fully online higher education is a multidimensional phenomenon shaped more strongly by psychological strain, instructional experiences, and contextual constraints than by static sociodemographic variables. Interventions aimed at reducing disengagement should therefore extend beyond course design improvements to include strategies addressing digital fatigue, mental well-being, and temporal flexibility in globally distributed online programs.

ACADEMIC REPRESENTATIONS OF THE FAMILY IN DOCTORAL RESEARCH: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TURKEY AND GERMANY (2019–2024)

2026-01-06T05:39:41+00:00

This study examines the representation of “family” in doctoral theses produced in Turkey and Germany in the field of social sciences from 2019-2024, with an eye toward implications for education, curriculum, and teacher education. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines bibliometric mapping and title-based content analysis, this study studied over 300 German and Turkish doctoral dissertations found in the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek and Council of Higher Education Thesis Center of Türkiye, respectively. The study reviews disciplinary prevalence, thematic subfields, and methodological frameworks to determine how family is conceptualized in two IDR academic traditions. Initial analysis reveals that Turkish dissertations largely center on family in the field of education sciences and sociology, also tracking themes like value transmission, intergenerational dynamics, and family-school collaboration. In contrast, the German dissertations are primarily aligned to psychology and social work, focusing on migration, multiculturalism, and integration in educational contexts. The uniqueness of this study comes from the cross-national dataset and the comparative methodology to develop understanding about emerging post-pandemic themes such as digitalization, family assistance for remote education, and cultural adjustment. The study then explains how a “Comparative Academic Trends Map,” develops policy-relevant knowledge and understanding for curriculum developers, teacher educators, and education policymakers. The results can provide insight into the larger conversation regarding international and comparative education, and can also support the Turkey 2025 “Family Year” initiative and the Turkey Century Curriculum Model, both of which situate the family in education. Presenting this project demonstrates ways in which doctoral research supports culturally relevant curricula, strengthens teacher education, and create opportunities for cross-national dialogue on the changing role of families in education systems.

‘LISTENING’ AS A RADICAL PRACTICE FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL LEARNING

2026-01-07T06:58:11+00:00

This paper, under the conference theme of ‘pedagogy,’ will discuss the findings of a qualitative research project that explored the impact of university teaching practices that use life and oral history methodology. The analysis relied on student impact statements as well as instructor assessments. It was conducted over 10 courses that focused on teaching students to conduct life and oral history interviews. The findings of the research demonstrated that focusing on training students to ‘listen’ while gathering stories was as an effective means of developing agency and confidence particularly among women students, while also giving voice to community members often not included in official records. While oral history is not a new methodology, the study found that students experienced it as a most radical practice that held space for inclusive dialogue, self-reflection and a reassessment and reconstruction of dominant stories and narratives. Women and other marginalized peoples’ complex lives have typically been invisible. Providing student researchers with the opportunity to engage directly with community members in retelling their life stories was an opportunity for them to be portrayed in more dynamic and complex ways. It was also a way for students to become active listeners and learners, and to feel inspired to become engaged civic actors in the future. As one student noted, this form of “research gives voice to those who are rarely heard, but have the most important and telling social commentaries to offer… my experience has been amazing… I plan to reach out and hear more voices because I have grown a stronger passion for listening.” Teaching students to ‘listen’ through conducting oral histories is a method that is transferable to learning across disciplines.

MOBILE PHOTOGRAMMETRY AS A TOOL FOR INDEPENDENT LEARNING: PEDAGOGICAL POTENTIALS OF POPULAR 3D SCANNING APPLICATIONS

2026-01-08T06:15:19+00:00

Mobile photogrammetry has the potential to become increasingly relevant in contemporary education, offering students accessible tools for exploration, visualization, and autonomous learning. This study investigates the pedagogical potential of four widely used and easily accessible mobile 3D scanning applications: Luma AI, Polycam, KIRI Engine, and the iOS based 3D Scanner App. The primary aim was to examine how these applications can support independent learning and enhance cross-curricular connections through the creation and analysis of 3D models. As part of the research, two objects of different structural and material characteristics, an HDD and a pine cone, were scanned in each application, allowing for a comparative evaluation across both technical and educational dimensions. A multi-criteria analysis was employed to assess the usability of the applications, focusing on the visual quality of the generated 3D models, user-friendliness, rendering times, and underlying technological mechanisms (e.g., AI-based reconstruction versus traditional photogrammetry). The findings indicate differences in both output quality and ease of use, suggesting that certain applications are more suitable for classroom environments and independent student projects than others. Luma AI and Polycam demonstrated strong performance in producing visually detailed models with minimal user effort, while KIRI Engine offered high mesh precision. The 3D Scanner App provided advantages in speed and ease of use, but showed limitations with smaller, complex objects. Overall, the results highlight that mobile photogrammetry applications can significantly enrich learning experiences by enabling students to create and analyze their own 3D representations. The study concludes by recommending specific applications for educational use, emphasizing their potential to foster engagement, autonomy, and interdisciplinary learning.

COMICS FOR UNDERGRADUATE SELF-EXPLORATION

2026-01-13T06:18:24+00:00

As well as being artifacts of popular culture, comics are powerful tools for education, persuasion, and exploration of identity. Iconic graphic communication overcomes linguistic and emotional barriers. Using critical examination, Communicating with Comics supports students in using comics to explore personal identity and their place in society. Based on McCloud’s Understanding Comics (1994), theory is augmented by articles on narrative, gender, race, disability, and graphic medicine. Students are exposed to a broad variety of challenging comics including Patti LaBoucane-Benson’s The Outside Circle (2015), Shobo and Shof Coker’s New Masters (2019), and Ellen Forney’s Marbles (2012). As a lower-level liberal, research, writing, and referencing are core course components; however, the capstone assignment is the creation of a 16-24 panel comic book. Student scripts include descriptions of each panel, the action, and speech considering questions like: Is there a conflict and a resolution? Why is this story important to share? What do you want readers to learn or reflect on from this story? Having been exposed to a variety of challenging comics, students see the potential for using comics to tell a range of stories and are given permission to be daring in their comic creation. They rise to the occasion, taking risks by exploring personal territory and exposing their own vulnerabilities. Students have reflected that as well as enjoying the creative aspects of the course, they also find the capstone assignment cathartic. Students are overwhelmed by social media and technology, and this assignment provides an opportunity for them to pause, reflect, and be creative.

REFLECTING ON THE ROLE OF THE LECTURER IN INVERTED CLASSROOM TEACHING SCENARIOS

2026-01-19T05:53:28+00:00

It has widely been reported that students` motivation and self-attentiveness increase when teaching students via “inverted classroom” teaching scenarios in a blended learning environment. Inverting the classroom is a method to encourage students to self-study the science and then take time to work on their questions and do extended hands-on lectures or exercises in class. Therefore, a sufficient number and variety of teaching material aiming at different learning skills of the students has to meet the diversity of the first year class as well as the overall learning outcome of the course. But, most important for succeeding in inverted classroom environments is to respond to the change of the role as a lecturer from in-front teaching to a more cooperative and collaborate way of teaching. Set-backs are common when starting this teaching method because despite the advantages there are many aspects that need to be taken into account, such as: what to do with unprepared students or easy questions where to go in class during group work. Only if these negative aspects are clear from the beginning and there are answers to problems arousing this teaching method will increase the fun of teaching and be of success for students as well as lecturers. In this practice paper, difficulties are named and possible ways of handling are suggested as the author is still in the procedure of professionalizing the teaching method.