This study investigates to what extent the popular online gaming platform called Kahoot can be used as a creative and effective tool to promote motivation, engagement and meaningful learning. For this purpose, a quasi-experimental study was conducted with a sample of 101 undergraduate students of education who participated in online Kahoot quizzes by designing their own questions as part of the formative assessment. According to the results of the pre- and post-tests, the integration of this game-based student response system into the teaching process improved students’ perception of certain concepts in social science teaching, increased their active participation in the lesson, and motivated them towards learning in a more interactive and stimulating environment. Therefore, it is recommended to take gamification to a whole new level with attractive digital participation platforms to increase motivation and enhance students’ learning experience in higher education contexts.

This study investigates the effects of the flipped classroom on Education students’ perceptions of their learning and motivation during the current pandemic. The sample consisted of 179 student teachers from the Faculty of Education of the University of Murcia in the academic year 2020–2021, in which the flipped classroom model was implemented. Identical surveys were administered and examined through both descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. Statistically significant differences were found between pre-tests and post-tests with experienced students scoring higher on average in the latter. Most students had a positive perception about the flipped classroom, noting the advantage of practical in-class activities, as well as increased self-autonomy in learning.

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has been implemented in Spain for more than two decades, and the number of schools that have joined CLIL initiatives has progressively grown in an attempt to increase students’ proficiency in English; all of these developments are indicative of the importance of foreign language learning (FLL) in this country. The aim of this paper is to analyse the promotion of cognitive skills by teachers in the subjects of science and social science in primary education in the Spanish Region of Murcia. A mixed methodology combining techniques for collecting both quantitative and qualitative data was implemented. The results show a tendency to lapse into low-order thinking skills, which can hinder the development of demanding cognitive skills and creative learning processes in CLIL lessons. Some factors might affect these teaching practices, such as the type of teaching staff position or the experience that teachers have gained over time. The article concludes with some suggestions for further research.

The aim of this research is to study the impact of blogs on improving self-reported motivation and learning in a higher education context. A quasi-experimental study was carried out in a social science core unit of the Primary Education degree at the University of Murcia, Spain. The study involved two groups of student teachers, with a total of 101 participants, who created their own blogs as a framework for exchanging their views and sharing their ideas on a variety of contemporary issues related to social science teaching. Data were collected through pre- and post-tests to measure whether the expected changes had occurred as a result of using this digital information platform. The results indicate that the use of blogs helped students to develop their digital literacy, to enhance their social and civic skills, and increase their self-perceived motivation. It is therefore worth updating the current communication processes with regard to online learning with a view to promoting digital access to information and fostering a meaningful learning network through these web resources.

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has become widespread in many countries around the world in an effort to improve learners’ communicative competence in a foreign language (FL) and content acquisition in non-language areas (NLA). A successful CLIL programme must integrate the 4Cs, i.e., content, communication, cognition and culture. In this study, we focus on the synergies of developing thinking skills by combining language, content and cognition. Specifically, the aim of this study is to examine CLIL teachers’ development of low-order cognitive skills (LOTS) in the subjects of Science and Social Science in the first two years of primary education in the Region of Murcia, Spain. For this purpose, we use a mixed method that combines qualitative and quantitative techniques to test the extent to which LOTS are developed within this integrated approach. The results show that most of the cognitive processes promoted by CLIL teachers are those related to fostering understanding among pupils, which sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses of these programmes and on a wide range of related factors on which further reviews are needed.