Visual methods are not new within education research field, but they are certainly an innovative approach, especially in higher education where students' voice is understood as a central need. In this positional article, the authors intend to accomplish two key objectives. First, the article aims to emphasize that visual method, especially photovoice, can be enriching for studying the ways students engage in learning activities and support authentic conversations about how learning takes place and what students are thinking about this process (metacognition). The second objective is to set theoretical and methodological grounds to apply visually based methods such as photovoice and bubble dialogue in education research, particularly in learning research area. The considerations regarding specific methodological aspects are based on the discussion of a study conducted by using photovoice methodology. The authors suggest that participatory analysis and particularly interpretative phenomenological analysis are appropriate to complete the process of data analysis. The article, therefore, contributes to expanding knowledge about specific visual methods and set the ground for methodological innovation in learning research.

While it is generally agreed that teachers can shape student learning outcomes, there remains considerable debate on how national policies and training programmes can best support teacher education to address sustainable development challenges. This study aimed to develop a teaching readiness model with a focus on education for sustainable development. Therefore, the research investigated pre-service teachers’ readiness for fostering education for sustainable development by applying its principles to teaching and learning activities. Pre-service teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics responded to a survey regarding their perception of the readiness for designing, conducting, assessing, and engaging in teaching and learning experiences underpinning sustainable development. The results suggest professional knowledge and practice, professional engagement, and self-management could be considered central dimensions of teachers’ job readiness, each of them encompassing a set of components or vectors. Moreover, professional knowledge has a strong and positive influence on teaching practice and professional engagement. In regard to professional knowledge, the ability to conduct didactic transposition is the most influential component. The most significant vectors of the professional practice dimension were found to be the ability to design effective evaluation tools and interpret learning outcomes. The research also revealed weak areas of teacher training: the ability to manage students’ disruptive behaviors, to customize learning and to self-regulate teaching emotions.

The paper aims at presenting the results of an exploratory research conducted on students in upper secondary education. The goal of the research was to investigate students' enjoyment experiences of being at school and taking part of learning activities in order to enhance teaching practice and learning management strategies. To conduct the study a hybrid methodology blending qualitative and quantitative techniques was preferred. Quantitative data were collected by using the Enjoy Questionnaire, a research tool translated and adapted on Romanian students. The enjoyment of learning was operationalized through a hierarchical four-level model. The study reveals pessimistic students, with negative attitudes on school and learning. In addition, their perspective on school and learning affects the enjoyment of life. Most of the respondents argue that school is a bad period in their lives, an obstacle to do things that are more interesting. Other negative emotions complete the perceptions on learning and school: anxiety, anger, frustration and boredom.

Teacher well-being represents a key factor in assuring the quality of learning in terms of both process and outcomes. Despite a growing literature addressing the role of job demands and job resources in teacher well-being, fewer studies have focused on the effect of individual variables. The present paper aims at developing a teacher well-being model using self-efficacy and teaching emotions such as enjoyment of teaching, anger and anxiety to explain the influence of job demands and job resources on teachers’ subjective happiness. A cross-sectional quantitative design was applied to a sample of 1092 Romanian pre-university teachers. The participants completed a self-report questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and structural equations modelling were used to analyse the data. The findings indicate significant paths between the variables included in the model. Thus, job resources have a considerable positive influence on the enjoyment of teaching and the teachers’ subjective happiness, having a more powerful effect than personal resources, namely self-efficacy. In turn, perceived self-efficacy mediates the effect of job demands on teaching emotions and subjective well-being. It is argued that the enjoyment of teaching has a notable effect on teachers’ general well-being.

Performance-based research policies and programmes have fundamentally altered both organisational and individual behaviours and expectations, putting immense pressure on researchers. The soundness of research, originality, valorisation potential, and societal and economic impacts are highly valued and expected characteristics of research. Yet, our understanding of the effects of various systemic and organisational factors on research performance is limited. In an exploratory, single-country case, this paper aimed to develop and examine different models of research performance as perceived by researchers themselves using a large cross-disciplinary sample of 553 researchers from 72 public research organisations in Romania. A pre-tested questionnaire was self-administered online, comprising seven scales: (1) recruitment and selection, (2) research recognition and value, (3) participation in research projects and teams, (4) work incentives, (5) job payment and salary, (6) career development opportunities, and (7) leadership effectiveness. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimators were used to test three structural models: (M1) mono-factor; (M2) intercorrelated dimensions, and (M3) the dimensions are indicators of a general construct. Additionally, a path analysis was carried out to study the relationships among the dimensions. We found that M2 and M3 fit the empirical data better. The results showed that career development programmes and opportunities gain centrality in achieving research performance by directly influencing participation and research projects and teams and mediating the effect of job payment. Revealingly, powerful work incentives within research organisations are international mobilities or appreciation awards. When informing evidence-based policies, the models we propose could serve the goal of improving research performance through talent development as the main proxy.

There are scholar opinions warning that both quantitative and qualitative methodologies share strengths and weaknesses when applied to academic learning research (Richardson, 2000;2013). The present article aims to shed light on the use of visual methodologies to investigate learning in academic contexts. An argument is made that education and learning research can benefit from the integration of visual data. This positional article grounds on two pillars. The first is to support and emphasize the value of photovoice methodology in the field of education and learning research, specifically. The second is to provide a framework to conduct a photovoice project. Drawing upon a research study conducted by the author, the article unfolds the main phases in applying photovoice to research learning patterns in higher education. Thus, the paper discusses the essential features of photovoice in the context of learning research, presents the main stages in applying the methodology: recruiting the participants, organizing the initial group meetings, data collection and analysis. Benefits of applying photovoice in educational contexts are pointed out.

Teaching and learning are highly social activities. Seminal psychologists such as Vygotsky, Piaget, and Bandura have theorized that social interaction is a key mechanism in the process of learning and development. In particular, the benefits of peer interaction for learning and motivation in classrooms have been broadly demonstrated through empirical studies. Hence, it would be valuable if computer-based environments could support a mechanism for a peer interaction. Though no claim of peer equivalence is made, pedagogical agents as learning companions - animated digital characters functioning to simulate human-peer-like interaction-might provide an opportunity to simulate such social interaction in computer-based learning. In this paper we ground the instructional potential of pedagogical agents in several social-cognitive theories, including distributed cognition, social interaction, and Bandura's social-cognitive theory. We discuss how specific concepts of the theories might support various instructional functions of pedagogical agents, acknowledging concepts that these agents cannot address. Based on the theoretical perspectives, we suggest key constituents, roles and functions for designing pedagogical agents in virtual learning environments. Also, we relate to some experimental agents or theoretical examples. Using the experiences of teams involved in the development of commercially available or in the design of theoretical agents, we present our vision of designing and implementing such a pedagogical virtual agent in the context of the SAPIENT applied research project (Intelligent Tutoring System-Evolutionary Approach in e-Learning). In the proposed project the virtual pedagogical agent is automatically customized to address several features of each learner, such as appearance, age and gender. The role, appearance, dynamics, communication channels and envisaged behavior of this virtual agent will be discussed along with the possible techniques to be used in its development.

There is no doubt that the use of technology and online activities shape our real-world interactions, thoughts, behaviours, attitudes, and affects. We take this as an opportunity to reconsider the digital competencies of future teachers. Therefore, the present paper argues the relevance of virtual empathy to fostering learning in virtual learning environments. To achieve this goal, a correlational study was conducted. A number of 569 undergraduate students, Z generation representatives, were purposefully sampled. All the participants were Internet users, enrolled in a teaching degree program in a Romanian regular university. The subjects completed an online survey measuring the level of virtual empathy, socio-demographics, and media usage behaviours. The self-report scale that we applied to measure participants' empathy levels has proved reliability. The article depicts the results of the study and discusses them. The results indicate a complex relation between going online and real-world empathy. Video gaming affects the level of virtual and real-world empathy. However, none of the participants reported optimal levels of virtual empathy. The scores of virtual empathy are significantly lower than those computed for real-world empathy (both for male and female subjects). Nevertheless, correlational analysis showed a positive and statistically significant correlation between the two types of empathy. In addition, gender differences regarding virtual empathy are analysed. In conclusion, the paper reflects on the need to reshape the view of digital literacy in future teachers.