Problem-Based Learning (PBL) remains an actively researched instructional method, particularly in the context of evolving digital learning environments. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), there is a growing interest in how AI can support online collaborative learning and critical thinking. This study investigates how AI and online PBL support critical thinking and collaboration, while showcasing the implementation of online PBL in teaching web programming. A total of 60 s-semester students (35 female and 25 male) from a public university in Yemen participated in this study. The data were collected through individual interviews with a purposive sample of 20 students and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicated that online PBL effectively supports students in actively constructing knowledge, improving learning achievements, and developing essential skills. It fosters critical thinking, independent learning, and problem-solving skills, while also enhancing communication and collaboration abilities. Online PBL is a potential intervention that can provide a learning environment that better addresses students’ needs and aligns more closely with their motivational interests in web programming education. This study contributes to the recent body of literature by presenting empirical data on the effectiveness of online PBL and providing valuable insights for educators seeking to implement student-centered models in virtual learning environments.

Technical vocabulary instruction in Foreign Language for Specific Purposes (FLSP) contexts poses persistent challenges due to its low frequency in daily communication. Drawing on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and informed by the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML), this quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of digital game-based learning (DGBL) on the short- and long-term acquisition of French technical vocabulary, and on both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as on the predictive relationship between motivation and vocabulary retention. Fifty-nine undergraduates majoring in viticulture and enology participated in a six-week intervention through a WeChat-based mini program specifically designed for professional French vocabulary learning. Quantitative analyses, including a mixed-design ANOVA, non-parametric tests, and hierarchical regression, were conducted to investigate vocabulary performance and motivational influences. Results indicated that the DGBL group achieved significantly greater vocabulary gains and stronger long-term retention than the control group. Students exposed to DGBL also reported higher levels of overall, intrinsic motivation and identified regulation, demonstrating enhanced autonomy and competence as postulated by SDT. Regression analysis further revealed that DGBL moderated the relationship between motivation and retention, helping students with lower motivation attain comparable performance levels. Overall, the findings support the value of DGBL in technical vocabulary instruction and in fostering autonomous motivation.

The approach of digital game-based learning has gained prominence as an effective strategy for technical vocabulary acquisition in foreign language education. But its acquisition presents persistent challenges due to its specificity, contextual dependence, and limited exposure in general language input. In response, this systematic review investigates how digital game-based learning has been utilized to support technical vocabulary acquisition in foreign language education. The study explores trends in this field by examining the evolution of research from 2010 to 2024, the types of digital games employed, the technical domains targeted, the learner variables and outcomes investigated, and the gaps and emerging directions in existing literature. Following the PRISMA framework, 17 empirical studies were selected and analyzed. Findings reveal a marked increase in research since 2020, with most studies reporting positive effects on vocabulary performance, learner motivation, and attitudes. The reviewed literature highlights the effectiveness of game-based approaches, particularly in higher education contexts and English for specific purposes. However, notable limitations persist, including the dominance of English-language settings, a narrow focus on certain technical fields, small sample sizes, and a lack of longitudinal designs. This review underscores the pedagogical potential of integrating game-based learning into technical vocabulary instruction and calls for more theory-driven, diversified, and context-sensitive research. Future studies are encouraged to explore how game design features interact with cognitive and motivational learner variables and to expand the application of such approaches across varied languages, disciplines, and educational settings.

As disciplinary literacy grows across academic and professional domains, technical vocabulary acquisition presents a major challenge in foreign languages for specific purposes (FLSP) instruction. Technical vocabulary poses particular learning challenges due to its strong disciplinary specificity, and limited occurrence in natural language input. Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) offers flexible, multimodal, and personalized support, yet how to translate its potential into effective instructional design remains underexplored. This study, based on established theories, proposes a pedagogical framework that integrates five key instructional affordances: contextualization, multimodal input, repetition, learner self-regulation, and motivational support. The framework bridges technology and pedagogy, offering design pathways for FLSP instructors and platform developers to optimize technical vocabulary learning in mobile environments.

This study investigated instructors' perspectives on key factors influencing students' engagement in online learning environments. The aim was to uncover hidden relationships and understand the roots of low engagement among university students in virtual settings. The study sought to understand how these factors might mutually influence each other. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify factors influencing online engagement. The review informed a Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) framework, which was applied through expert interviews with instructors to model the cause-and-effect relationships among the identified factors. The analysis revealed eight core (causal) factors, including course content, instructor-student interaction, feedback, course design, prior experience, academic skills and abilities, LMS structure and interface, and university support, as the most significant drivers of student engagement. In contrast, seven secondary (affected) factors, including system interaction, time on task, student-student interaction, motivation, student-content interaction, course activities, and collaborative learning, were found to be less influential. The study also reported that relationships among the factors were interchangeable, reflecting mutual influence across interconnected elements. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by offering a structured, empirically grounded causal model that provides a comprehensive understanding of the elements influencing students' online engagement and their interrelationships. It paves the way for more targeted instructional strategies and future interventions to enhance engagement in online courses.

The pace of change in technology is relentless, and this has a profound impact on how educators' function. Information and communication technology (ICT), which is a significant component of digitalized learning components, has become an essential component of education, requiring all parties involved in the field of education, such as teachers, students, parents, administrators, and education policy-makers, to be fully engaged in their roles towards digitalized education. This chapter would seek to provide a conceptual comprehension of digital wisdom, its significance and methods of practical application within the educational context, and discuss relevant insights from previous studies.

Learning Management System (LMS) is widely used to support teaching and learning in higher learning institutions. This platform offers valuable information about the users’ usage data and behavior in the online environment. Thus, the evaluation of such a platform is necessary to maximize its effectiveness. The aim of this study is to investigate the use of LMS by instructors to evaluate their online activities, discover user behavior and engagement patterns, and to obtain some indicators. For this purpose, statistical and visualization technique are used to analyze the courses conducted through hybrid and fully online learning modes offered in four semesters at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The LMS logs data was employed in this study as an instrument to evaluate instructors’ usage pattern and engagement level in the online courses based on 13 main variables representing the common LMS tools and related activities. Based on the data mining analysis, the study found that the usage level of LMS was low during the blended semesters and relatively high during the online semesters because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, no significant difference was found during the two years in terms of the type of LMS tools used and activities. The study also found that resources and LMS assessment tools were the most used by instructors whereas communication and collaboration tools were the least used. To conclude, the findings of this study are expected to help the university administrators understand the status of the LMS usage and the level of engagement, and to identify the necessary strategies to improve the online teaching and learning activities.

Education needs to prepare learners for sustained, collaborative, and creative work with the knowledge that is essential to 21st-century society. Helping learners develop competencies in collaborative inquiry and knowledge building is crucial. The processes of knowledge building and interaction of learners in the Knowledge Forum (KF) are investigated. This study investigates the patterns of interaction in Knowledge Forum. In KF, the learners’ interaction can be measured and analyzed using embedded Analytic Toolkit tools. Various quantitative measures, such as the number of notes read, revised, and created, as well as the number of keywords created and KF scaffolds used, are calculated to provide overall patterns of learner interaction in KF. The study involved 24 postgraduate learners who were enrolled in a course at a public university in Malaysia. KF was integrated into the course for a duration of 14 weeks as a mandatory component. The findings of the study reveal a consistent increase in various Analytic Toolkit indices throughout the instructional period, indicating that the course, which incorporated KF, positively influenced learner interaction and learning. These findings have implications for the design of KF integrated with Analytic Toolkit tools in the context of 21st century classrooms and the needs of contemporary learners.

Nowadays, an increasing number of educational institutions across all levels are incorporating problem-based learning (PBL) into their pedagogical programs. These pedagogical approaches aim to enhance students’ skills in self-regulated learning, problem solving, collaboration, and innovation. PBL stands out as a unique learning process that intentionally designs the learning environment and utilizes suitable teaching tools. While PBL plays a significant role in higher education by supporting self-regulated learning (SRL), there is a lack of comprehensive studies that systematically examine the PBL approach in higher education and its potential to foster self-regulated learning. Therefore, this systematic review was conducted to address this gap. Consequently, the objective of the study is to explore the effects of PBL on students’ self-regulated learning according to traditional teaching. Several studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis, involving a sample size of 478 students. The results reveal that PBL has a significant impact on students’ academic achievement, especially regarding self-regulated learning. Finally, these results highlight the variation in levels of self-regulated learning.

Research in gamified learning is still needed to expound how gamification may be employed to realistically yield positive effects on learning motivation. It is essential to evaluate whether gamification can foster autonomous forms of motivation, such as intrinsic motivation, which has been related to learning persistence and performance quality, instead of non-autonomous extrinsic motivation, that has been shown to be unsustainable or at worse, harmful to learning. To explore this, the current study investigated how gamified learning affected various motivational dimensions such as the sense of competence, autonomy, valuation, intrinsic motivation, identified regulation and external regulation to provide a clearer picture of the motivational influence of gamification. This study involved a learning activity that was gamified in a long-term context. The findings showed that gamifying a non-graded learning activity increased the sense of autonomy and intrinsic motivation. Interestingly, the findings showed that gamification reduced non-autonomous motivation in an examination-oriented course. Nevertheless, gamified learning did not yield significant effects on the sense of competence and valuation. The relationships between the various motivational dimensions were discussed in this paper.

Contemporary distance higher education is hinged on modern technologies to deliver purely online and blended modes of learning mostly through learning management system (LMS). This is to bridge the transactional gap between students and instructors as well as among students themselves. However, the use of technologies such as LMS for dispensing distance tertiary education is at a cross-road of mandatoriness or voluntariness of use. Nonetheless, current literature supports the voluntary use of LMS by instructors in order to foster positive attitudes and personalization among instructors. Based on this, there is the need to unravel the determining facts that promote voluntary usage of LMS among tutors. This study thus, employs a quantitative approach based on a survey design to purposively collect data from 267 tutors in a blended distance education setting using a questionnaire. Generalized structural component analysis technique was adopted for structural equation modelling. Results from a structural equation modelling revealed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and social influence, all determine tutors' voluntariness of use of LMS for blended learning in distance education. Additionally, voluntariness of use predicted actual LMS use behavior among tutors. On the basis of the results, recommendations were made to reflect theory, policy and practice of voluntary integration of LMS by tutors for blended learning in distance education.

In this study, we examined articles focused on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) implemented in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) Higher Education context that describes the different models of MOOCs enacted as an initiative to provide access and opportunity to acquire quality higher education across different disciplines within the sub-region. In addition, the review aims to identify those factors that facilitate or inhibit the success and growth of MOOCs in the SSA context to understand how MOOCs has fared between the time 2012 to 2021. Based on this premise, 30 articles were included in the review in accordance with the authors’ set criteria. Results revealed that there are very few collaborations, linkages, and relations between MOOCs researchers in SSA, similarly there is a slow growth of MOOCs production, Narrative, Conceptual and Discourse analysis are the dominant analytical methods, while the perennial challenges of poor internet connectivity, lack of policy framework, poor bandwidth and electricity and lack of personnel with the requisite competences were the major hinderances to MOOCs growth in SSA. The inferences, implications and future directions were discussed.

Aim/Purpose: To gain insight into the opinions and reviews of Malaysian university students regarding e-learning systems, thereby improving the quality and services of these systems and resolving any problems, concerns, and issues that may exist within the institution. Background: This exploratory study examines the students’ perceptions of e-learning in Malaysia based on Sentiment Analysis (SA) to gain a clear insight into their feelings about the quality of e-learning systems and related services in Malaysian universities to determine whether these opinions are positive or negative. Methodology: The data was collected from Twitter; the Full Archive Search API Premium v1.1 tire was chosen to access the tweets from November 1, 2019, to December 30, 2020. The R programming language library package “rtweet” was applied to access the search API and query the tweets. To classify students’ opinions, sentiment analysis-based Machine Learning (ML) with Support Vector Machine (SVM) was utilized. Rapid Miner, a statistical and data mining tool, was used to determine the sentiment of tweets and the accuracy of the ML algorithm. After preparing the data, RapidMiner was used to pre-process and classify the final 1201 tweets based on sentiment, and National Research Council (NRC) word-emotion lexicon was used to detect the presence of eight emotions in the tweets. The confusion matrix is used to determine the classifier’s performance. Contribution: This research provided evidence for the effective use of sentiment analysis as an indicator that may contribute to the development of educational systems, specifically, e-learning systems in Malaysian universities. Findings: Based on the findings, the majority of students have a positive opinion about e-learning systems in Malaysian universities. Precisely, the results showed that 65% of sentiments were classified as positive and 35% as negative. Moreover, among the eight emotions, the majority of the tweets expressed a higher level of trust, anticipation, and joy. Recommendations for Practitioners: The study findings could help classify the teachers’ strengths and weaknesses graphically based on the students’ positive and negative feedback. These findings would also help decision-makers and educationalists be more aware of students’ feelings (sentiments) and concerns. Thus, using social media sentiment analysis should be encouraged as a valuable source of information that may assist their educational decision-making, e-learning development, and performance evaluation. Recommendation for Researchers: The findings may encourage other researchers to apply SA based ML approach and use Twitter as a data source to discover users’ opinions about certain issues in learning and teaching processes. Impact on Society: Our study confirmed that social media data could provide valuable and supportive information about educational systems and procedures in e-learning for appropriate decision-making regarding future development and strategies. Future Research: Future work can experiment with other classification models and different ML classification algorithms as well as other feature extraction methods and compare the results to find the best accuracy that can improve the classification results

Gamification has been reported to increase learning motivation and produce positive learning behaviors or outcomes. As gamification research continues to mature, more studies are investigating factors that may contribute to the varying effectiveness of gamification, as well as factors that may moderate its effects. This study investigated whether academic achievement levels moderated the effects of gamified learning among 118 students enrolled in a private higher education institution in Malaysia. Previous studies have shown that high, medium and low achievers do not respond equally to gamification. To explore this further, the current study evaluated gamification's effect on motivational dimensions such as the sense of competence, intrinsic motivation, valuation and engagement on different levels of achievers. The findings showed that academic achievement levels moderated gamification's effect on valuation. Nevertheless, there was no significant moderation effect on competence, intrinsic motivation and engagement. The findings also revealed that gamification produced more significant effect on low-level achievers compared to high level achievers.

This study sought to find out how previous technology use experience, technology self-efficacy, and use behavior relate among themselves towards learning management system (LMS) technology uptake. This is because LMS has been adopted by higher educational institutions during both the COVID-19 lockdown and post-COVID-19 era. Nonetheless, evidence shows lack of training of tutors in utilizing the LMS technology for pedagogical purposes during the emergency remote learning paradigm. Owing to that, most tutors relied on their previous technology use experiences to cultivate a self-belief towards the actual use behavior of leaning management system for their teaching and learning. Consequently, a quantitative approach based on a survey design was adopted, and questionnaire used to collect data from a purposive sample of 267 tutors in a traditional face-to-face distance setting. Results from a partial least squares structural equation modelling approach proved a positive statistically significant effect of both previous technology use experience and technology self-efficacy on LMS use behavior. Additionally, previous technology use experience positively determined technology self-efficacy with the latter having a significant indirect and mediation effect on the former towards LMS use behavior. The results of this study provided insights into the tripartite relationships existing among these three important variables. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to higher educational institutions towards the adoption of LMSs by tutors.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a learning method which has been proven to assist student learning. Since its introduction in the 1960’s in medical and dental schools in higher learning institutions, this method has been applied in various curriculum settings. The purposes of this review are to identify the most important principles of PBL design as reported in the literature and to identify the aspects that were significantly influenced by online PBL implemented in university context. In this systematic review, several databases were queried using numerous inclusion criteria. A total of 12 studies was extracted and identified from this review. Five PBL principles were identified from this review involving real problem, student-centered, instructor as facilitator, small group size and collaborative work. The finding also indicates that students’ perception, critical thinking, knowledge retention and academic achievement were the four aspects frequently studied and significantly influenced by the online PBL method.

The transition from the traditional form of teaching and learning to the information and communication technology-based educational system has aided effective interaction between students and their teachers However, despite the appreciable level of recognition of Learning Management Systems (LMS) as a new innovative educational model in the country, there exist wide research gap as a result of implementation and adoption. The study aims to examine the behavioural intention of teachers towards gamification in the Future Gate platform as it is one of the modern Learning Management Systems (LMS) in Saudi Arabian schools. A total of 328 respondents were conveniently sampled and a structured questionnaire was designed and administered using Google Forms and email the survey link to respondents. The data collected were analysed with SPSS (R) 23 and PLSSEM software. This study's findings showed significant influence for the effort expectancy, social influence, and hedonic motivation on the teachers' intention to use. Intention to use showed also significant impacts on the actual use of gamification. Both task and technology characteristics showed significant effects on the task technology fit. Intention to use play a significant role as a mediator for the influence of hedonic motivation, social influence, and task technology fit on the gamification actual use. (C) 2021 INT TRANS J ENG MANAG SCI TECH.

This study seeks to explore the key factors and barriers that impact the learners' participation and interaction and in the Knowledge Forum environment. Moreover, this study was performed in one of the public universities in Malaysia. A quantitative and qualitative research approach through a questionnaire and interview were used. A total of 28 participants were surveyed using the questionnaire. A 40-items questionnaire was developed based on a review of previous literature. Descriptive statistics were adopted for data collection analysis. Thus, the results indicated the most important factors that affected learners’ participation in Knowledge Forum: (a) classmates’ behaviors, (b) discussions needs, (c) learners’ characteristics, (d) restriction on the ongoing discussion, (e) deficiency of ideas, (f) ideas’ level (g) knowledge building level, (h) issues of technical, (i) limited time and (j) misunderstanding. Consequently, the results can enable higher education institutions to take the required steps to encourage successful activities of knowledge-building in computer-assisted learning. Many recommendations have been suggested to improve learners’ engagement and interaction in the knowledge forums environments.

The adoption of blended mode of e-learning is dominant basically because of the affordances of the combination of both the benefits of online and face-to-face sessions. In view of this, most traditional distance education institutions have acquired Learning Management System (LMS) for online learning to support the face-to-face aspect of lesson delivery to satisfy the blended mode. This has induced research into the acceptance of blended learning from both tutors’ and students’ perspectives. However, the gap in the literature is that, most of these researches employ instruments that measure only the LMS-based online aspect or the technology of the blended mode leaving the face-to-face aspect relegated. To fill the gap, data were collected from 267 tutors based on a cross-sectional survey design with the questionnaire as the instrument. The result was a development and validation through a partial least squares structural equation modeling of a Blended Learning Acceptance Scale (BLAS) that combines both LMS-based online learning and face-to-face aspects to measure blended learning acceptance in distance higher education.