Advances in Educational Research and Evaluation

This study explores the relationship between academic performance and social network structures among tenth-grade students in Costa Rican high schools. It aims to assess how interactions within and outside the classroom correlate with mathematics grades. Data were collected from 826 students across 35 schools, and social network analysis was conducted using various network statistics. Results indicate that classroom networks, marked by higher cohesion and density, exhibited a positive but statistically non-significant correlation with academic performance, whereas outside networks showed lower cohesion and negative correlations with grades. These findings underscore the potential benefits of fostering collaborative classroom interactions to improve learning outcomes. Future research should focus on teacher-guided group dynamics and external factors influencing outside networks to gain deeper insights into their impact on academic achievement.

An insider researcher is closely connected to the research subject so needs to be aware of the possible assumed cultural understandings that would be more apparent to an outsider researcher. However, there are multiple levels of insiderness and participant perceptions are critical to the co-creation of researcher position. Through an auto-ethnographic discussion of a PhD (Professional) research project, it is clear that participants manipulate researcher insiderness to create zones of comfort from which to discuss sensitive issues. A PhD (Professional) looks to carry out research which can be applied to practical problems within the student's work environment. Researching within a workplace where some colleagues do not consent to being a participant but have an influence over the thought processes involved with the research leads to a conclusion that the insider continuum may apply to all researchers. The observations in this article were made in a research journal the researcher kept during data collection during for their PhD (Professional) in Education. This research was focused on the factors affecting teacher well-being. While insider research has been discussed extensively in the literature, it assumes the position of power to be in the hands of the researcher. This article reports on the different levels an insider researcher can assume during a PhD (Professional) research project which is not only depended on the position a researcher supposes but also how the participants perceive the researcher as a co-construction of insider positioning. The manipulations that participants undertake during and after interviews is analysed to show how this co-construction is created. These manipulations are important to both the participant and researcher, and is significant because the power exerted by participants is often ignored in current literature. Ignoring the participants use of power dehumanises them and is an injustice to those we are indebted to for our data.

This paper reports on the teaching of integrated STEM disciplines at the officially best school for creative and talented students of the Russian Federation. The paper shares how the success of this integration and the advancement of STEM education and research within the school is due to historical, cultural, and national practices of fostering creativity and giftedness at the pre-college level. Signature pedagogy of using concrete problems as a motivation for the study of abstract ideas is discussed. The merit of using traditional skills in mathematics in the digital era is demonstrated in the integrated context of entrance examination to the school and the modern-day digital technology. Several examples of research-oriented projects completed by the students at the school are presented.

Higher education institutions have the responsibility to lead the transformation of thinking through education, promoting a healthier, fairer, and more sustainable world, and playing a crucial role in the development of a sustainable society. The main challenge they face is to promote the principles of sustainability in society while adhering to their traditional missions, and at the same time becoming more sustainable organizations themselves. Over the past three decades, higher education institutions around the world have undertaken numerous sustainable development initiatives and have made significant progress. Sustainability in Higher Education: Strategies, Performance, and Future Challenges aims to provide guidance for higher education institutions in managing and leading sustainable transformation.