Michael Perrone

This theoretical article examines how belongingness, defined as the sense that one’s participation is legitimate and valued, interacts with cultural value orientations to help explain persistent disparities in U.S. technology engagement, including emerging technologies, across racial and ethnic groups. While structural barriers (e.g., racism, poverty, linguistic bias, etc.) remain essential to understanding such inequity, we argue that engagement patterns in technology also reflect how different cultural communities may define and experience belongingness in relation to digital domains. Drawing on Triandis and Gelfand’s framework, and focusing specifically on educational contexts, we propose the Belongingness through Cultural Value Alignment (BCVA) model, whereby belongingness serves as a catalyst between cultural value orientations and technology engagement, with vertical collectivism deriving belongingness primarily through structured skill development and validation while horizontal collectivism focusing instead on belonging based on community integration. When technological environments value practices that are consistent with vertical collectivist norms, individuals from horizontal collectivist cultures may experience cultural misalignment not from disinterest in technology or exclusionary efforts but, instead, because dominant engagement modes conflict with their familiar frameworks for fostering a sense of belonging. By examining how cultural value orientations mediate the sense of belonging in contexts involving modern technologies, the proposed perspective offers a novel framework for understanding why access alone may have proven insufficient to address technological participation gaps, and suggests directions for creating technology spaces where individuals from a wider range of communities can experience the authentic sense of belonging.

A strong foundation in mathematics is key to succeeding in any science, technology, engineering, arts/architecture, and mathematics (STEAM) field. To this end, the problems that teachers pose are one of the most important factors underlying the development of students’ mathematics knowledge. This study is novel in positing computational thinking (CT)—which is a set of cognitive practices and processes used in computer science—as a framework of strategies that can help pre-service teachers (PSTs) pose cognitively demanding tasks that develop their students’ mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills. Drawing on PSTs’ artifacts and reflections from an undergraduate mathematics methods course at a public, urban minority-serving institution, this chapter illustrates how CT practices like abstraction, decomposition, algorithmic thinking, and debugging can be applied to deepen mathematical problem-posing. We found three overarching ways that PSTs used CT to increase the cognitive demand of the original mathematics problems: (1) adding more applications of the same or different mathematical standard/skill, (2) asking students to engage in the mathematical practice of constructing arguments about the same standard/skill, and (3) providing opportunities for students to apply other mathematical practices.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presented unique and unprecedented challenges for international students, those studying at institutions of higher education outside of their home countries, due to their distinct circumstances and vulnerabilities. This literature review examines the multifaceted mental health burdens they experienced and highlights the need for targeted support and interventions. Methods: A rigorous search across three databases (i.e., PubMed, PsycINFO, and ERIC) yielded 50 empirical studies for inclusion in this literature review. A six-phase thematic analysis framework was employed to identify and synthesize key themes. Results: Seven prominent themes emerged: (1) academic and professional disruptions; (2) challenges navigating international student status; (3) social isolation and loneliness; (4) difficulties with living arrangements; (5) financial and food insecurity; (6) health concerns for self and loved ones; and (7) experiences of discrimination and xenophobia. Conclusions: This review highlights a range of tolls that mental health consequences took on international students, and it suggests the need for targeted interventions and support services to address these challenges. It also identifies critical research gaps, such as the need for longitudinal studies and comparative analyses with domestic students. The implications for inclusive policies and supportive environments to promote international students’ well-being are discussed.