Open Access

Article

Article ID: 4435

Problem analysis of curriculum development for application-oriented undergraduate art and design programs in Chinese-foreign cooperative education: a case study

by Zhiyong Wang, Wei Wang

Forum for Education Studies, Vol.4, No.3, 2026;

Based on the OBE (Outcome-Based Education) philosophy, this study examines the construction of curriculum systems for application-oriented undergraduate art and design programs in Chinese-foreign cooperative education, taking the Modern International Art & Design Academy of Chongqing Technology and Business University as a case study. The research identifies four core challenges in practice at present: a gap between application-oriented talent cultivation goals and OBE principles; an incomplete curriculum system that integrates local needs with an international perspective; a dual-standard issue in assessment and evaluation systems oriented toward students’ long-term career development; and the absence of an effective collaborative mechanism between Chinese and foreign faculty despite their physical co-presence. These problems essentially reflect the structural tension between internationalization and localization. The study proposes that the solution lies in constructing a new educational logic of integrated co-creation, applying an outcome-oriented approach throughout the entire process of goal setting, curriculum reconstruction, evaluation reform, and faculty development. This approach would promote the organic integration of international design education resources with local industry-education collaboration, and establish a career competency tracking and support system that runs through the entire cultivation process. This study also provides a problem definition and analytical framework for similar institutions seeking to advance high-quality development in Chinese-foreign cooperative education.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 4290

SINE: strategic integration of navigated engagement - a design thinking framework for technology integration in secondary education

by Anne-Louise Agnew, Jonathon Mascorella

Forum for Education Studies, Vol.4, No.3, 2026;

The integration of digital technologies in secondary education requires teachers to make principled decisions about when and how technological affordances serve learning. This paper introduces the SINE framework (Strategic Integration of Navigated Engagement), a design thinking scaffold that positions technology use as a pedagogical decision grounded in professional judgement, disciplinary epistemology, and learner need. The study examined approximately 80 learning design artefacts produced by preservice teachers across Mathematics, Science, English, HSIE, and Creative Arts (Drama) within an initial teacher education program. Qualitative content analysis examined how preservice teachers articulated pedagogical reasoning, positioned technology IN and OUT, interpreted technological affordances in relation to disciplinary purposes, and demonstrated developing teacher design thinking. Findings identified four themes: Pedagogical Reasoning During Design, Deliberate Positioning of Technology, Disciplinary Alignment of Technological Affordances, and Development of Teacher Design Thinking. The artefacts demonstrated varying levels of reasoning sophistication, with more developed responses explicitly connecting technology decisions to intended learning, disciplinary purposes, and anticipated effects on student understanding. Technology OUT decisions further demonstrated that purposeful integration can involve the deliberate exclusion of technology where other approaches better serve learning. Placement-situated artefacts from a subset of participants also provided evidence of the framework being applied within classroom-based planning contexts. The findings position SINE as a practical scaffold for making technology-related pedagogical reasoning visible and supporting context-responsive, discipline-aligned decision-making during learning design.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 4265

Transition to first employment: A survival analysis of university graduates from five cohorts

by Nam Hoang Tran, Thuy Thi Hong Dang, Van Hong Nghiem

Forum for Education Studies, Vol.4, No.2, 2026;

Graduate employability research often evaluates whether graduates obtain jobs, but the duration required to secure the first job is an equally important indicator of labor market transition. This study applies survival analysis to examine time-to-employment among graduates of a public university in languages, social sciences, and humanities in Vietnam. Using graduate tracer survey data from five cohorts, Kaplan–Meier estimation and Cox proportional hazards regression were employed to analyze the timing of first employment and factors associated with faster labor market entry. The outcome variable was time from graduation to first employment, measured in ordered intervals, with unemployed graduates treated as right-censored observations. Among 657 graduates, 607 (92.4%) had obtained first employment by the time of the survey. Most graduates entered the labor market rapidly: 526 (80.1%) obtained their first job within less than three months after graduation, and the median time-to-employment category was the earliest interval. Kaplan–Meier comparisons showed no statistically significant subgroup differences by sex, supplementary training, job–major alignment, or cohort. However, the adjusted Cox model identified a significant cohort effect: compared with the 2020 cohort, the 2022 cohort had a lower hazard of first employment, indicating a slower transition into the labor market (HR = 0.695, 95% CI: 0.532–0.908, p = 0.0076). Other factors, including sex, job–major alignment, supplementary training, knowledge suitability, and skills suitability, were not statistically significant. This study advances Vietnamese graduate employability research by shifting the focus from static employment status to the timing of first employment and by demonstrating the value of survival analysis for examining cohort-sensitive school-to-work transitions when overall employment rates are high.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 4090

Assessing social work students’ satisfaction with educational transitions within reasonable adjustments

by Paula Beesley, Ged McGurn, Anna Walkden

Forum for Education Studies, Vol.4, No.2, 2026;

Transitions in social work education constitute the process of change when starting a new university, course, year, module and placement. It is important that transition planning work is embedded in the support provision for professional students and is well-coordinated to enable students to engage effectively with all learning opportunities. This research was funded by Leeds Beckett University Teaching Excellence Project with the aim of exploring barriers and good practice to understand optimal transition support to enhance engagement and positive outcomes for students requiring a reasonable adjustment. The data was collected through completion of a mixed-methods survey in the form of a written questionnaire or an interactive interview based on the questionnaire, with 19 social work students from one English university responding. The data was thematically analysed and the themes of ‘preparation’, ‘staff understanding’ and ‘student coping strategies’ emerged. It is recommended that teaching staff, tutors and practice educators receive specific training on localised reasonable adjustment policy and on the impact that being neurodivergent, having a physical disability, physical health or mental health issue has on students’ ability to engage with learning opportunities. In addition, teaching staff should provide reasonable adjustment-friendly practice, where tutors and practice educators take time at the start of working with a student to familiarise themselves with the individual student’s reasonable adjustment needs and support students in developing coping strategies that enable them to be prepared for transition.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 4171

Influence of psychosocial predictors and school counseling interventions on female secondary school students’ learning outcomes in science

by Akilu Ismail, Adamu Umar Mohammed, Halimat Bashir Ibrahim, Olatunbosun Mujidat Lukman

Forum for Education Studies, Vol.4, No.1, 2026;

Efforts to address gender disparities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education remain limited in many developing countries, particularly where psychosocial barriers and inadequate school counseling systems intersect. This study examined the combined influence of psychosocial predictors and school counseling interventions on female secondary school students’ learning outcomes in science. A quantitative correlational survey design was employed involving 360 female senior secondary school students and 30 school counselors drawn from 30 public schools with functional counseling units. Data were collected using standardized instruments measuring psychosocial factors, counseling access, and science achievement records. Findings of the study indicate that psychosocial factors significantly predict science learning outcomes, with self-efficacy emerging as the strongest positive predictor, while internalized gender stereotypes exert a significant negative influence. Furthermore, higher levels of counseling access were associated with greater science self-efficacy, interest, and achievement among students. Among counseling strategies, self-efficacy enhancement workshops were rated as the most effective intervention. The results provide evidence for the integrated influence of psychosocial factors and school counseling interventions in explaining gender disparities in science education. It indicates that strengthening gender-responsive counseling systems may support improved confidence, engagement, and achievement among female students in science.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 2387

Teacher self-efficacy and principal support: Key factors in retaining Ohio educators during the Great Resignation

by Ariel A. Hayes, Karen H. Larwin

Forum for Education Studies, Vol.4, No.1, 2026;

Teacher retention continues to represent a significant challenge for educational systems in the United States,particularly following the disruptions associated with COVID-19 and the Great Resignation.This quantitative study examined the relationship between teacher self-efficacy, perceptions of principal support, and educators’intentions to remain in the profession among 146 public and community school teachers in Ohio.Participants completed the Teachers’Sense of Efficacy Scale and an adapted Principal Efficacy Scale,along with demographic and retention-related survey items. Results indicated that the pandemic and broader workforce instability substantially influenced educators’professional outlooks,with many respondents reporting consideration of career changes or departure from PreK–12 education. Teachers who reported stronger self-efficacy beliefs, particularly in student engagement,instructional strategies,and classroom management,were significantly less likely to consider leaving the profession. Similarly, educators who perceived higher levels of principal support, especially in instructional and moral leadership domains, demonstrated stronger retention-related attitudes. Significant grade-level differences also emerged,with secondary educators reporting lower perceptions of principal support than elementary educators. Although most respondents endorsed higher salaries and retention incentives as beneficial, financial considerations alone did not emerge as the strongest predictors of retention intentions. Findings suggest that improving teacher retention requires comprehensive strategies that extend beyond compensation and address leadership quality,professional support systems,workplace conditions,and opportunities for teacher growth and efficacy development.