Natalia Lara Nieto-Márquez

Artificial intelligence (AI) is commonly used in university academic work, yet existing instruments mainly assess AI literacy, readiness, or levels of permitted use rather than the critical-thinking processes students activate when working with AI. This study developed the Critical Thinking with AI Scale for Students (CTAI-S) and provided initial psychometric evidence for its use. An initial 15-item questionnaire was administered to 271 university students, and one item was removed after item analysis. Parallel analysis favored one predominant factor (KMO = 0.927), and a theory-guided three-factor representation was also examined. Ordinal confirmatory factor analyses (WLSMV; n = 257) yielded scaled CFI = 0.964 and RMSEA = 0.072 for the one-factor model, and CFI = 0.977 and RMSEA = 0.059 for the equivalent correlated-three-factor and second-order models; robust indices were less favorable, and latent correlations were very high (0.85–0.88). Total-score reliability was high (ω = 0.898), whereas the third grouping showed low reliability (ω = 0.557). Mean responses were above the scale midpoint (M = 3.97), with Reflective Judgment and Self-Regulation being highest (M = 4.07). The CTAI-S is best interpreted as a global self-report measure of critical thinking in AI-mediated academic tasks; independent validation is needed before dimensional or diagnostic applications.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming higher education, although most research addresses its integration in terms of frequency of use or technological acceptance, without examining how it translates into specific curricular and instructional decisions. That is why this study has a dual aim: to develop and validate the AI Instructional Design Questionnaire for Critical Thinking (AID-CTQ) and to analyze how university faculty integrate AI into instructional design practices in higher education. The sample included 144 faculty members from a university in Madrid, selected by convenience. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the questionnaire supported a three-factor structure: Activity Design (F1), Critical Thinking Assessment (F2), and Self-Regulation and Reflection (F3). The final 12-item model shows good model fit (CFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.05) and adequate overall reliability (α = 0.86). At the item level, responses related to assessment and reflective practices showed consistently high agreement, whereas items linked to activity design displayed greater variability. Faculty members with more than 10 years of experience obtained significantly higher scores, indicating that the educational value of AI depends less on the tools used and more on the quality of instructional decisions. Reported use of AI was high, with ChatGPT and Copilot being the most frequently used tools. Overall, the findings indicate that the integration of AI in higher education is evolving from predominantly instrumental uses toward more pedagogical and curriculum-oriented forms of implementation. Accordingly, the educational value of AI lies less in the tool itself than in the quality of the instructional decisions through which it is meaningfully embedded in the curriculum.

Introduction: The rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence in education is transforming schools faster than our ability to understand whether they are truly prepared for it. Despite growing policy attention, explicit institutional policies for AI remain scarce globally, with schools often relying on individual teachers' discretion, resulting in inconsistent practices. This study examines the institutional readiness of Spanish secondary and vocational education centers for AI adoption through the development and statistical validation of an instrument designed to capture two critical dimensions: institutional policies and technological resources. Methods: During the 2024-2025 academic year, data were gathered through an online questionnaire administered by pre-service teachers during their school placements, who consulted school leadership teams to obtain accurate organizational information. A total of 80 centers from 14 Spanish autonomous communities participated, representing diverse school ownership types (public, state-funded private, and fully private) and educational modalities (secondary, vocational training, and adult education). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor model with strong psychometric properties (CFI = .955; TLI = .938; Cronbach's α ≥ .86). Results: Results reveal moderate institutional readiness overall: while ethical awareness regarding AI use is relatively established, the development of formal policies, specialized support roles, and sustained teacher training remains limited. Pronounced differences emerged between school types and modalities, with public schools and adult education centers showing the lowest readiness levels. Discussion: These findings expose structural vulnerabilities that may compromise the responsible and equitable adoption of AI in education and highlight the need for targeted interventions. The validated instrument offers a comprehensive tool for identifying institutional strengths and weaknesses and provides evidence to support strategic decisions aimed at building robust, future-ready schools.

The prevalence of bullying and eating disorders among adolescents is alarmingly high. In response to these issues, a mobile application called “Searching Help” was designed to be incorporated into school environments. This study aims to understand parents’ views on a school-integrated app designed to prevent bullying and eating disorders. Additionally, it sought to identify potential gender differences in these perceptions. Utilizing a retrospective research approach, we gathered insights from 201 parents of Spanish adolescents aged 12–18. The findings highlighted that a school-integrated app to prevent bullying and eating disorders was positively received by parents. Regarding gender, mothers were more aware of eating disorders and had greater concerns about unauthorized data access compared to fathers. Conversely, fathers were more optimistic about the potential of the app in creating a secure school environment against bullying and eating disorders. Notably, it was observed that although parents had a decent understanding of the problems associated with bullying and eating disorders independently, their knowledge of the technological solutions available to address these issues was considerably limited. In conclusion, this research confirms the gender-specific variations in parents’ attitudes and views toward technology-based solutions in schools and emphasizes a need for enhanced awareness initiatives to familiarize parents with relevant technological solutions for their children’s safety.

La percepción social de la ciencia es un concepto multifacético que ayuda a comprender las relaciones cambiantes entre el ecosistema del conocimiento y las opiniones y puntos de vista públicos/ciudadanos sobre él. La comunicación científica, aspecto clave de la misma, constituye un flujo de información desde profesionales de la ciencia, investigación e innovación hacia la sociedad civil y contribuye a moldear sus concepciones/opiniones. Enmarcado en una actividad divulgativa entre científicos y centros educativos de secundaria, analizamos el efecto de la comunicación científica como metodología didáctica. Hipotetizamos cuál sería el efecto de la pandemia en la percepción de la ciencia de estudiantes. Para estudiarla, usamos una metodología cuantitativa longitudinal por grupos y evaluamos los cambios en la percepción de la ciencia a través de una encuesta de opinión recogida en dos puntos temporales: pre-pandemia y post-pandemia. Los resultados mostraron que el COVID-19 ha influido positivamente en su interés por la ciencia. Curiosamente, los estudiantes perdieron confianza en la integridad científica debido a la falta de transparencia de las noticias científicas en las encuestas post-pandemia. Estos resultados sugieren la necesidad de contar con acceso a información clara y científicamente validada para aumentar la percepción social positiva de este estrato de la sociedad.

The education sector has been confronted with different challenges due to the situation caused by the pandemic, when families were asked to be confined at home as well as return when schools were opened. This lockdown situation presented both a challenge for the EdTech sector and for teachers and families. Consequently, this study analyzes the importance of online methodologies, usage of an educational resource example, and the impact of the lockdown. Thus, these objectives are assessed from different perspectives such as users’ consumption, technical challenges of cloud architecture and experience from teachers who have used the platform during the lockdown. In this way, to understand the challenges of Cloud architecture, the structure of the Pre-COVID-19 platform and the changes implemented to adapt to the new needs are described. An increase in schools’ subscriptions was observed when home lockdown was decreed, the differences in usage with the return to the classroom are also discussed. The research methodology entailed an assessment instrument developed for teachers. Teachers highlight the contents of Smile and Learn platform and their motivational characteristics for the students’ learning. The assessment points out the limitations that many teachers face while using these resources.

Diversas investigaciones destacan la importancia de la motiva-ción en el rendimiento cognitivo y también la importancia de la motivación en la metacognición. El objetivo de esta investigación es indagar en las va-riables motivacionales que influyen en el rendimiento de tareas cognitivas y en la metacognición. La investigación se ha realizado en un colegio público de la Comunidad de Madrid. La muestra de este estudio corresponde a 354 alumnos de educación primaria, entre los 8 y 11 años de edad. Los instru-mentos de medida seleccionados son: el cuestionario de Motivación hacia el Aprendizaje (MAPE-I), para las variables motivacionales; el Junior Meta-cognitive Awareness Inventory (Jr. MAI), para las variables metacognitivas y la batería de pruebas de Evaluación Neuropsicológica de las Funciones Ejecutivas en Niños (ENFEN), para la evaluación del rendimiento cogniti-vo. Los resultados obtenidos muestran efecto de la motivación de orienta-ción al aprendizaje en relación con el rendimiento cognitivo en las pruebas que implican inhibición, flexibilidad y memoria operativa. También se ob-serva efecto significativo entre la disposición al esfuerzo y la regulación del conocimiento. Igualmente, se analizan las relaciones entre las variables por curso para determinar el efecto de la edad. Se valoran las implicaciones educativas de los resultados.

The use of digital educational material in classrooms has increased in recent years, now constituting a major market for publishers and companies. The present research addresses a digital material assessment in two different areas. First, the study through an evaluation of internal data collected on the platform shows an analysis of the use and implementation of digital material into the school. Secondly, it exposes an external examination of the effect of using digital material at school on students’ executive functions. The sample consisted of 168 children aged 8–11 from a state school in the Community of Madrid (Spain). The instrument selected for the external assessment of academic progress was the Evaluación Neuropsicológica de las Funciones Ejecutivas en Niños (ENFEN) [Neuropsychological Assessment of Executive Functions in Children]. The Learning Analytics system of the Smile and Learn platform recorded the students’ use during class. According to the usage analysis, the results obtained show preference of using activities from Logic and Spatial worlds. In the external analysis of the effect of the learning material, the results record a significant effect using activities in Logic and Spatial worlds with the Gray Trails task, which involves spatial perception, processing speed, and working memory, among others. A second analysis to contrast the results with a post hoc design approaches relationships among executive functions as involved in tasks like Gray Trails, Interference, and Ring Tasks within the usage of Spatial and Logic activities. The need for further research to improve these materials for enhanced learning and the extrapolation of training from executive functions to other tasks is discussed. Likewise, limitations of the implementation and design of these materials are pointed out.

Metacognition is a construct that is noteworthy for its relationship with the prediction and enhancement of student performance. It is of interest in education, as well as in the field of cognitive psychology, because it contributes to competencies, such as learning to learn and the understanding of information. This study conducted research at a state school in the Community of Madrid (Spain) with a sample of 130 students in Grade 3 of their primary education (8 years old). The research involved the use of a digital teaching platform called Smile and Learn, as the feedback included in the digital activities may have an effect on students’ metacognition. We analyzed the implementation of the intelligent platform at school and the activities most commonly engaged in. The Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Jr. MAI) was the measuring instrument chosen for the external evaluation of metacognition. The study’s results show a higher use of logic and spatial activities. A relationship is observed between the use of digital exercises that have specific feedback and work on logic and visuospatial skills with metacognitive knowledge. We discuss our findings surrounding educational implications, metacognition assessment, and recommendations for improvements of the digital materials.

Smile and Learn is an intelligent platform with more than 4500 educational activities for children aged 3–12. The digital material developed covers all courses of primary education and most of the subjects with the different topic-related worlds with activities in the field of logics and mathematics, science, linguistics and tales, visual-spatial and cognitive skills, emotional intelligence, arts, and multiplayer games. This kind of material supports active learning and new pedagogical models for teachers to use in their lessons. The purpose of this paper is to explore the usage of the platform in three pilot groups schools from different regions of Spain, outlining future directions in the design of such digital materials. Usage is assessed via descriptive analysis and variance analysis, with data collected from users interacting with the intelligent platform. The results show a high use of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) activities among all the activities that could be chosen. Cross-curricular activities are also used. Continuation in the development of such materials is concluded necessary, focusing integration of different fields, accentuating games over quizzes, and the value of teacher training for improving their use in schools.