Grades are the universal tool for measuring students' performance at school. However, other competency-based evaluation methods have shown to have a stronger impact on the learning quality. We investigated how different methods are collectively represented and discursively constructed among students at an Italian high school class. Thematic…

This paper presents an empirical analysis that maps the short-term and middle-to-long-term responses of Italian universities to the COVID-19 crisis by focussing on teaching activities. A representative sample of eighteen public universities was analysed to evaluate how they planned their teaching activities for the 2020-21 and 2021/2022 academic…

This article investigates Montessori education in Italy through three studies, addressing a significant research gap in Europe. Two quasi-experimental studies examine academic and non-academic outcomes, considering factors such as gender, age, socio-economic status, years of Montessori education, and implementation fidelity. A third exploratory…

The unprecedent times of the COVID-19 pandemic have had a relevant impact on schooling. In this context, identifying the features of effective and responsive teachers' professional development paths in the assessment domain has never been as critical as it is today. However, despite the widespread interest in teacher assessment literacy and…

The transition to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic uncovered criticalities in the participation of students with special educational needs. The BESt-DaD project responded to these difficulties by developing a user-friendly online platform aimed at accommodating these students' neurocognitive profiles, ultimately promoting inclusion.…

Different approaches exist in delivering courses. The traditional face-to-face, the blended approach that combines the strengths of face-to-face with the application of technologies, and the online approach, which is the form of learning that takes place over the Internet. This article reports on the impact of the forced transformation of a data…

What 'sources' of knowledge do higher education students draw on, to prepare for exams? And has the pandemic made any difference? The study presented in this paper addresses these questions, in the belief that gaining awareness of the sources through which students learn is important for the instructional design of the courses and the evaluation…

The teaching and learning of quantum physics has recently become a topic of increasing interest in physics education research. In particular, the study of two-state systems is gaining importance as a means of teaching quantum physics at various educational levels. Meanwhile, a number of approaches have been developed that are also suitable for…

In this paper the results of a questionnaire about mathematics teachers' inclusion in their teaching of mathematical modelling and problem posing are presented. To make teachers able to choose a coherent teaching method for a mathematical topic, teachers' knowledge of valuable methods for the teaching of mathematics should be fostered. In this…

Nowadays, in the higher education sector, the quality measurement process of education-related services is assuming a crucial role to support focused and targeted improvement activities deeply centered on students' needs/necessities. These are considered crucial factors for dealing with the current academic competitive context. Therefore, the…

The article sets out to contribute to the educational challenge launched by the second quantum revolution. An approach to quantum computing has been outlined for secondary school students. The approach is shaped as a set of four principles that have been pointed out to design instructional materials to enhance the educational and cultural…

Literature highlights how education in the twenty-first century begins to advocate multiple new concepts, such as new technology, new pedagogies, interdisciplinary curricula, open learning, etc. Among these concepts, the recognition and awareness about one's character strengths are demonstrated to improve emotional management and…

The teaching of soft skills in EFL postgraduate courses is increasingly part of the Italian university curricula, albeit with some delay compared to foreign universities. Postgraduate English language courses need to focus on the use of language in foreseeable situations by creating opportunities to use the language in public contexts. Meetings,…

Interactions within classrooms contribute to adolescents' democratic civic development by providing resources fostering students' political understanding. Many teachers participate in social or political groups in their communities and more broadly. These out-of-school experiences inform their classroom practices and are contextualized by national…

Introducing the distributivity property of multiplication over addition is a well-known challenge in mathematics education, especially in primary school. As a contribution, this paper presents the results of a cycle of design research that focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of a modelling activity in which 2nd-grade students are…