Lekë Pepkolaj

Self-assessment plays an important role in the teaching-learning process, as it helps students actively construct their own knowledge. This article aims to develop a methodology for creating quizzes for e-learning platforms, with the goal of addressing students’ difficulties in mathematics and promoting active learning. The proposed methodology begins with identifying the processes that students need to activate and analyzing the most common errors related to them. A key element is the integration of the MATH taxonomy to determine what is necessary or what is intended to be assessed with this type of question. In addition, Niss’s skills are used, i.e., the skills that students need to answer these questions. An important part of the methodology is also the selection of mathematical language, which can be simple and close to everyday language or more sophisticated, verbal, symbolic or mixed, depending on the educational objective. This approach aims to create diagnostic and personalized questions designed to support self-assessment and independent learning in digital environments.

Mathematics is often perceived as culturally neutral and detached from its social and historical foundations, leading to the neglect of cultural heritage rich in mathematical ideas. This study investigates how the concept of sets is reflected in the spatial layout of the Prambanan Temple Complex through an ethnomathematics perspective. By uncovering these embedded structures, the research demonstrates the potential of cultural heritage as a meaningful context for mathematics education, promoting both conceptual understanding and appreciation of cultural identity. Adopting an ethnomathematics perspective, this study employs ethnographic methods to analyze the spatial layout of the 9th-century Prambanan Temple. The investigation focuses on identifying mathematical principles within the temple’s spatial classification system, particularly in relation to grouping, membership, and separation across the hierarchical zones of Bhurloka, Bhuvarloka, and Swarloka. The analysis reveals that ancient Javanese society implicitly can be interpreted as set-theoretical structures in the spatial layout of Prambanan Temple. The hierarchical spatial divisions demonstrate systematic applications of grouping, inclusion, and exclusion principles, reflecting mathematical thought embedded in cultural practices. These insights suggest that cultural artifacts such as temple architecture can be modeled through mathematical frameworks and provide authentic contexts for mathematics learning. This study contributes to the field of multicultural mathematics education by illustrating how cultural heritage can serve as a valuable resource in teaching through the Ethno-Realistic Mathematics Education approach. Situating mathematical concepts in culturally relevant contexts deepens conceptual understanding and strengthens cultural identity, offering practical implications for educators and curriculum developers seeking to embed multicultural perspectives in mathematics education.

Numerous challenges persist within Signal Processing (SP) in communication systems, i.e. maintaining system stability, complexity of multi-dimensional SP and filtering. Many resources are required to cope with these growing problems. The application of AI offers promising solutions. AI is already being applied to solve engineering, medical and scientific problems, including utilisation in SP and Digital Signal Processing (DSP). The research methodology began with common supervised AI algorithms in SP: Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs). Regular unsupervised AI learning algorithms investigated included: Sparse Auto-encoder, Deep Auto-encoder, Convolutional Auto-encoder and the De-noising Auto-encoder. Their benefits were ascertained for their utilisation in an intelligent, scalable and secure communication system. The paper also provides over 100 references. The conclusion is that using specifically identified AI algorithms will make communication systems more scalable, thus mitigating overloading, instability and premature breaking point failure. AI use will also eventually make communication systems less expensive, more agile and far more intelligent - essential for Cognitive Radio and SDR (Software Defined Radio). The communication channels will become more reliable with AI SP and aid in its increased robustness in noise, quality and error recovery, compared with using traditional SP. These benefits will cause a shift toward using new methods in SP such as the Advantage Actor Critic and Trust Region Policy Gradient Algorithms. Two different datasets comprising the MNIST (Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology) database consisting of 70,000 28×28 pixels greyscale images of handwritten integers and the CIFAR-10 (Canadian Institute for Advanced Research) database containing 60,000 32×32 pixels small colour images were utilised. These were then processed using the aforementioned algorithms to test their accuracy. Because of 6G radio channel data scarcity for training purposes, image datasets were used to check the feasibility of the effectiveness of AI in SP in general radio communications, due to their two-dimensional nature. The result showed that all seven AI models performed well: 80% - 99.77% (accuracies). The CCN-Autoencoder gave the best result overall using both datasets: 94.5%-99.77% (accuracies). Future work will use real radio communication channel data and other AI algorithms.

In the era of ever-evolving education, integrating real contexts into mathematics learning is essential to improve student engagement and understanding. The problem so far is that learning, including assessments used in mathematics learning, has not used context. This condition causes mathematics learning carried out by teachers (including pre-service teachers) to be meaningless because mathematics learning is still considered a very abstract material, less applicable, and less relevant to everyday life. This study aimed to explore prospective mathematics teachers' skills in designing context-based assignments. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method involving three pre-service mathematics teacher students as research subjects. Data were collected through document analysis, observation, and in-depth interviews. Data analysis was conducted qualitatively, with data reduction, presentation, and conclusion stages. The study results showed that students understand the importance of using context in mathematics learning. However, there are still some obstacles to its practical application. Students often struggle to choose relevant and meaningful contexts and design tasks that can effectively integrate mathematical concepts with those contexts. Based on these findings, pre-service teacher students must improve their abilities in applying the context of everyday life and the environment around them to mathematics learning.

This study investigates the influence of branding on the economic performance of agricultural-livestock agro-processing industries and agrotourism enterprises in the Vlora region, emphasizing two performance indicators: Performance 1 (revenue growth) and Performance 2 (financial improvement). The research aims to verify the relationship between the agro-processing sector and the development of agritourism by analyzing how branding and the marketing of locally indicated products enhance economic outcomes. Data were collected from over 100 agro-processing industries and agrotourism businesses and analyzed using the STATA software. The findings reveal that branding has a significant positive effect on financial performance, with revenue increasing from 1,111 to 2,593 after implementing branding strategies. Furthermore, the marketing of branded products is linked to a notable rise in tourist numbers—an average of 2,815 compared to 2,640 in non-branded businesses—demonstrating that brand identity strengthens the competitiveness and attractiveness of agrotourism destinations. The novelty of this study lies in its integration of branding analysis within the dual framework of agro-processing and agritourism, highlighting branding as both an economic and cultural lever for rural development. Unlike previous studies that examined these sectors separately, this research provides empirical evidence of branding’s role as a bridge between local product identity and sustainable tourism growth. These results underscore the strategic importance of investing in brand development to enhance rural economic resilience, promote value-added agricultural products, and stimulate regional economic development through the synergy of agriculture, industry, and tourism.

Traditional textiles, such as Javanese Batik in Indonesia, are not only cultural artifacts but also repositories of mathematical knowledge. While previous studies have explored the geometric transformations embedded in Batik motives, little attention has been paid to their numerical patterns and educational potential beyond geometry. Addressing this gap, the present study investigates the mathematical structures—particularly numerical patterns—and ethical values inherent in Javanese Batik motives. The novelty of this research lies in uncovering the integration of cultural heritage and mathematics through ethnomathematical analysis, which remains underexplored in existing literature. Utilizing an ethnographic approach, including literature review, documentation, and field observations, the study identifies recurring numerical patterns and embedded cultural philosophies within Batik designs. These findings reveal that Javanese Batik offers meaningful contexts not only for teaching mathematical concepts but also for fostering character education through values such as discipline, patience, and harmony. The results suggest that these motives can be transformed into culturally responsive teaching materials, particularly e-modules for learning numerical patterns. This study contributes to the broader field of mathematics education by demonstrating how local cultural artifacts can support cognitive and affective learning goals, thus offering a novel pathway for integrating mathematics with cultural and moral education.

This study investigates airborne bacterial and fungal communities in south-eastern Italy and Albania using advanced DNA-based techniques and compositional data analysis (CoDa). We assess the significance of airborne microbial communities, detailing our methodologies for site selection, sample collection, DNA extraction, and data analysis. Our results reveal distinct differences in microbial composition between the two regions, driven by local environmental factors. Specifically, Albanian samples showed higher abundances of bacterial species such as Rubellimicrobium roseum and Sphingomonas cynarae, while Italian samples were characterized by a prevalence of Truepera radiovictrix and Rubrobacter radiotolerans. In terms of fungi, Albanian sites exhibited greater abundance of Mycosphaerella tassiana, Aureobasidium pullulans, and Ascochyta herbicola. Aitchison distance-based dendrograms and principal component analysis (PCA) biplots, utilizing singular value decomposition, clearly delineated a geographical separation of microbial communities, underscoring the impact of regional atmospheric conditions on microbial composition. In the discussion, we interpret these findings in the context of regional environmental factors, highlighting their implications for understanding regional differences in airborne microbial communities. The conclusion emphasizes the effectiveness of advanced DNA techniques and CoDa in environmental microbiology, offering insights into how local environmental conditions shape microbial communities and suggesting directions for future research and public health considerations.

The integration of cultural heritage into mathematics education remains underexplored in the Indonesian educational context, where existing mathematics curricula often overlook the pedagogical potential of local cultural artifacts in contextualizing abstract mathematical concepts. This gap highlights the need for innovative instructional approaches that bridge mathematical understanding with culturally relevant contexts. This study addresses this issue by investigating the mathematical structures embedded in the traditional Indonesian game Bola Bekel, with a particular focus on its potential to represent the concepts of Least Common Multiple (LCM) and Greatest Common Divisor (GCD). The primary objective of this research is to explore the historical value of the game and analyze how its inherent mathematical elements can be leveraged to teach LCM and GCD in a more meaningful and contextualized manner. Employing an ethnographic approach, data were collected through visual documentation, direct observation, semi-structured interviews, and literature review. The findings reveal that bola bekel not only embodies historical and character-building values but also provides a culturally grounded medium for the representation and understanding of key mathematical concepts. These results underscore the potential of traditional games as effective and contextually rich tools in mathematics instruction. This study contributes to the development of culturally responsive teaching strategies aimed at enhancing students' comprehension and motivation in learning mathematics through the meaningful integration of local cultural heritage.

Several studies have highlighted the existence of demotivated teachers in schools. There are several demotivating factors that influence the decisions and commitment that a teacher can acquire. The literature review allows us to characterize the factors that different authors identify to explain teacher demotivation. This article aims to analyze some of the factors that influence mathematics teachers demotivation and the evaluation of the degree of demotivation in relation to work environment, teaching autonomy, extrinsic values, and students. The information was collected from a questionnaire consisting of 24 items, which was given to 121 active Albanian teachers teaching at different levels of education. These data were analyzed using a quantitative methodology. The independent variables gender, teachers age, qualification, pupils age, and type of school are also considered to perform a multivariate analysis. From the results obtained, we can state that the factors that generate the greatest demotivation are textbooks, political conversion and corruption, aspects related to the curriculum, and the costs they must bear. In addition, school status, curriculum changes, meritocracy, material costs, autonomy, and research significantly explain the demotivation of public sector teachers. It highlights the need to seek structured responses aimed at regulating teaching careers. Infinity Journal published by STKIP Siliwangi Bandung publishes original research or theoretical papers about teaching and learning in mathematics education