Serçin Karataş

Feedback plays a critical role in learning; however, its structure and implementation in distance education differ significantly from traditional educational practices due to the unique nature of online environments. This necessitates a systematic investigation into feedback mechanisms in distance education. This systematic review aims to explore the literature on feedback in distance education, focusing on the types, purposes, and timing of feedback, as well as their implementation and impact on students. We conducted a systematic search of relevant databases on May 5, 2024, without applying a publication year restriction, thereby including all eligible studies published up to that date in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, we included 91 studies and subjected them to content analysis. Existing literature guided the categorization of feedback, examining three dimensions: feedback types, purposes, and timing. Automated systems emerged as the most common source of feedback. Formative feedback was the predominant type, evaluation was the primary purpose, and academic performance was the most frequently measured outcome. Findings highlight the emphasis on feedback’s role in 1 improving student learning outcomes, engagement, and instructional practices. This review synthesizes key findings on feedback mechanisms in distance education, focusing on their critical role in enhancing learning outcomes. It underscores the need for innovative feedback strategies that balance personalization and scalability to address diverse learner needs across contexts. Future research should explore adaptive feedback approaches to ensure inclusivity and effectiveness in distance education settings.

Human behaviour in cybersecurity is often assessed through self‐reported measures, which may obscure the gap between individuals' intentions and actual actions. This study takes an interdisciplinary approach by combining psychological measurement and machine learning to investigate the role of individual differences and other factors in this intention‐behaviour gap within cybersecurity contexts. Using a decision tree classifier, we analysed the impact of demographic and sociodemographic factors, personality traits, individual differences, internet usage patterns, exposure to offences, risk‐taking tendencies and risk perceptions on cybersecurity behaviours. In the first phase, 619 participants completed validated psychological assessments to evaluate their characteristics, personality traits and cybersecurity intentions. In the second phase, 301 participants interacted with a purpose‐built website designed to assess whether their reported intentions aligned with their observable behaviours. The results revealed a significant divergence between intentions and actions, with individual differences, personality traits and conservative behavioural tendencies emerging as key predictors of this gap. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating psychological frameworks to understand complex human behaviours in cybersecurity better. This research offers valuable insights into the psychological mechanisms and individual differences driving digital behaviour, emphasising the need for tailored strategies to bridge the intention‐action gap and improve cybersecurity practices.

This study aims to adapt the Volitional Competency Scale (VCS), developed by Keller, Uçar, and Kumtepe (2020) based on the ARCS-V model, for use with middle school students. After consulting with experts with doctoral degrees in distance education, Turkish language teachers, and middle school students, the scale was revised. In the second phase, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted with a sample of 156 middle school students to determine the factor structure of the scale. In the third phase, the factor structure obtained as a result of the exploratory factor analysis was examined with a confirmatory factor analysis in a new sample of 272 middle school students. In the final stage, the test-retest reliability of the scale was examined in a sample of 20 students. The exploratory factor analysis revealed that the scale has a single-factor structure for middle school students. The internal consistency reliability analysis of the scale in two different samples showed that the Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient varied between .83 and .93. Lastly, the test-retest reliability, calculated two weeks apart, was found to be .91. These results indicate that the VCS is a relevant and reliable measurement tool for use with middle school students.

The digital transformation in higher education can be observed in numerous ways and practices. Recently, post-pandemic digitalization played a significant role in the increase of the educational use of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, extended reality, and social media. Among these, social media has dominated daily life long before the rest of the technologies. Hence, examining the current situation of social media studies within educational research aids in envisioning the future vision. This study aims to outline the trends in the use of social media platforms by analyzing them within educational research published between 2017-2023. For this purpose, 473 articles in the Web of Science database were examined regarding the dimensions of publication year, country of publication, author, keyword, article type, the method used, sampling, data collection tools and analysis methods, and social media use. The findings of this study are believed to guide practitioners and researchers in their practice and consideration of social media within educational environments.

The importance attached to graduate education is increasing to meet the demands of preparing qualified manpower. Training researchers aims to build the skill sets of mastering scientific research and critical thinking, being an expert in a field while generating and grasping knowledge. Additionally, creative thinking skills are highly valued in producing original and authentic studies. In this respect, dissertations (for PhD) are reported to include more of these skill sets compared to the theses (for MSc). This research aims to examine how creative thinking skills of doctoral students are reflected in their dissertation preparation process. This case study investigates these processes experienced by five doctoral students who are in the stage of dissertation proposal submission. With a semi-structured interview, their reflection on their use of creative thinking skills in dissertation processes are comprehensively analyzed. It is concluded that these students utilize various strategies to produce original work by integrating creative thinking skills such as fluency, flexibility, elaboration, combinational and exploratory creativity to their dissertation processes. At the same time, personal, environmental, financial, and implementation related challenges that would adversely affect their creative thinking skills are reported along with the approaches of their advisors towards the originality and limitations of dissertations.

The COVID-19 epidemic has precipitated a rapid and widespread adoption of online education, leading to its normalization in contemporary society. Online education is evident across several educational levels. However, assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of these training programs can only be achieved by implementing a suitable evaluation methodology. One of the primary challenges associated with online education is the difficulty in assessing its quality and effectiveness. One of the contributing factors to this issue is the instructor's lack of technological skills and knowledge relevant to online teaching. This research aims to develop a scale (Online Evaluation Awareness-OnEvA) to determine the instructors’ awareness of online evaluation. 165 participants’ data from 63 universities was used for exploratory factor analysis. The items of the scale are designed to measure awareness in both pedagogical and technological dimensions. The items in the pedagogical dimension include the essential competencies that instructors should possess, and alternative evaluation methods offered online. In the technological dimension, the items are created to determine instructors’ awareness of the use of technological platforms and tools. For the next step, a confirmatory factor analysis was performed to establish the scale’s construct validity with 161 instructors. Additionally, the scale’s internal consistency was determined to be high, with a Cronbach's alpha of .964. It is affirmed that this awareness scale developed within the scope of this research will contribute to the development of future models or frameworks related to the dimensions of evaluation knowledge in online learning.

Micro-lessons increasingly integrate diverse technologies to foster creative thinking skills, aided by AI and emerging tools, regardless of age or education level. Owing to the swift advancement of artificial intelligence, novel technologies, and tools are gaining increasing significance in fostering creative thinking skills. Irrespective of the educational level and age group, encouraging creative thinking within the prepared micro-lessons and conducting studies for its enhancement by students is paramount. This section conducted comprehensive research to identify innovative technologies that stimulate creative thinking within micro-lessons. Throughout the design and implementation of micro-lessons, the strategies employed for nurturing creative thinking, the technological tools utilized, and prospective tools for this purpose in the future are extensively elucidated with the backing of literature. In line with this objective, researchers have formulated the “typology of innovative technologies that trigger creative thinking in micro-lessons.”

This study aims to provide an overview and contribute to the related literature by examining the videos created by the students. In this context, a systematic literature review was conducted in addition to a bibliometric analysis that was performed using the bibliographic data from Web of Science directory to identify the common words. Afterwards, word clouds were formed based on the information gathered from titles, keywords, and abstracts of studies. The literature highlights the metacognition category, that is students' thinking about their own learning, with relation to the purpose of use for the student-generated videos. Further, it is observed that the sampling of studies was mostly carried out in the higher education level. In terms of theoretical background, unspecified studies outnumber; theories in which students actively engage such as collaborative learning, constructivist approach and experiential learning stand out.

This chapter examines the difference between engagement and participation of students completing performance tasks individually and cooperatively in online environments. Mixed method was used in the research. The quantitative data were obtained from the student activity access numbers and durations in the system records of the online platform used and the points obtained from the student engagement scale pre- and post-tests. The qualitative data were obtained from the video recordings obtained from the video conferencing platform and focus group interview. In terms of participation in the application process, a statistically significant difference was found in favor of studying cooperatively (p=0.01 <0.05). Based on the research findings, it was concluded that completing performance tasks cooperatively is beneficial to increasing online student participation.