Learning, Training, and Education in Schools in the Third Millennium

This study aims to elucidate the role of project-based learning in enhancing and developing students’ problem-solving skills. This research employed a qualitative review and analytical approach. Data were collected solely through a systematic review of 15 selected scientific articles. Inclusion criteria comprised direct relevance to project-based learning, focus on problem-solving skills, and having a clear theoretical and methodological framework. Data were analyzed using NVivo version 14 with qualitative content analysis. The coding process included open, axial, and selective coding, and analysis continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Results indicated that project-based learning plays a significant role in developing problem-solving skills. This approach enhances analytical, critical, and creative thinking, self-regulation, intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, academic performance, and life skills of students. Moreover, environmental factors and the role of the teacher as a facilitator were highly influential in the effectiveness of this type of learning. Findings also revealed that purposeful project design, provision of diverse resources, creation of supportive learning environments, and continuous feedback significantly improve learning quality and problem-solving ability. Project-based learning, as an active, participatory, and practical approach, has a high potential to strengthen students’ problem-solving skills. By providing appropriate learning environments and facilitative support, it can play a key role in improving the quality of education and preparing students to face complex challenges.

The aim of this study was to identify and explain the factors influencing academic engagement and analyze its implications for enhancing learning persistence in students. This research is a qualitative review study based on a systematic analysis of 15 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Data were collected solely from published sources and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The analytical process involved open, axial, and selective coding in NVivo 14, continuing until theoretical saturation was achieved. The findings indicate that academic engagement is influenced by individual factors, including self-regulated learning, intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and goal orientation; educational and school-related factors, including teacher–student interaction quality, active teaching methods, and classroom structure; and social and familial factors, including parental support, social capital, and family learning culture. Academic engagement, in turn, leads to sustained motivation, deep and meaningful learning, improved academic performance, self-directed learning, reduced academic dropout, and enhanced academic adaptability. The results suggest that strengthening students’ academic engagement can increase learning persistence and improve learning quality. A combination of individual, school-based, and familial interventions is recommended to enhance academic engagement, and the findings provide practical guidance for educators and policymakers in designing educational programs and supportive interventions.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of creativity education on fostering students’ academic innovation and to identify the cognitive, motivational, and institutional factors associated with it. The study employed a qualitative, analytical review design. Data were collected through a systematic review of 15 peer-reviewed scholarly articles in the field of creativity education and academic innovation. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis with NVivo software version 14, including open, axial, and selective coding to identify main and sub-themes and to develop a conceptual framework. Results indicated that creativity education, through problem-based, project-based, game-based, and exploratory learning approaches, enhances divergent thinking, cognitive curiosity, and student engagement. Students’ psychological characteristics, including achievement motivation, self-efficacy, cognitive flexibility, independence, risk-taking, and curiosity, play a crucial role in fostering academic innovation. School environments, characterized by a creative climate, collaborative culture, managerial support, flexible curricula, and access to learning resources, further facilitate the growth of creativity and academic innovation. Outcomes of academic innovation included improved academic performance, higher-order thinking skills, increased engagement, development of 21st-century competencies, and strengthened innovative learner identity. Creativity education serves as a key educational strategy that, by enhancing students’ cognitive, motivational, and environmental capacities, plays a decisive role in fostering academic innovation and provides practical guidance for teachers, school administrators, and policymakers to improve learning quality and develop innovative skills in schools.

This study aims to analyze the evolution of literacy concepts in the digital age and examine its implications for formal education. This qualitative, analytical review study collected data through a purposive review of 15 relevant scholarly articles. Data analysis was conducted using NVivo version 14 and thematic analysis. The process involved open coding, extraction of subthemes, and identification of main themes, continuing until theoretical saturation was achieved. Results indicated that literacy in the digital age extends beyond traditional reading and writing skills and encompasses a multidimensional set of competencies, including information literacy, media literacy, technological literacy, and cognitive and metacognitive abilities. This transformation affects formal education by necessitating curriculum redesign, redefining the teacher’s role, developing smart learning environments, and transforming teaching and assessment methods. Major challenges identified include the digital divide, identity and ethical concerns, and cognitive load on learners. The findings align with previous studies, highlighting the importance of integrating digital skills, critical thinking, and digital citizenship into formal education. The conceptual transformation of literacy in the digital age requires comprehensive educational system redesign, teacher empowerment, and the development of flexible and digital learning environments. Simultaneous attention to cognitive, social, and ethical dimensions of digital literacy can enhance active, creative, and collaborative learning opportunities and contribute to the development of a digitally competent generation.

This study aimed to examine and clarify the role of blended learning in improving the effectiveness of teaching–learning processes in contemporary educational settings. The research employed a qualitative analytical review design. Data were collected through a systematic review of 15 peer-reviewed articles related to blended learning and learning effectiveness. Data analysis was conducted using NVivo version 14 with a qualitative content analysis approach, including open, axial, and selective coding. The analytical process continued until theoretical saturation was achieved, allowing extraction and organization of concepts, subcategories, and main categories. The results indicated that blended learning, by creating an integrated learning framework, combining diverse instructional methods, enhancing active learner roles, and redesigning learning environments, improves learning quality, deepens conceptual understanding, develops critical thinking skills, and strengthens motivation and engagement. Additionally, this approach empowers teachers professionally, enhances teacher–student interactions, and increases teacher job satisfaction. At the institutional level, blended learning promotes educational equity, system flexibility, and resource efficiency, providing the necessary context for preparedness and responsiveness to environmental changes. By leveraging the advantages of both face-to-face and online learning, blended learning not only enhances the effectiveness of teaching–learning processes but also produces positive organizational and institutional outcomes. The findings of this study can guide educators, planners, and policymakers in designing flexible, dynamic, and effective learning environments.

This study aimed to examine and analyze the interaction between learning environment and teachers’ instructional styles in promoting deep learning among students. This qualitative study employed a systematic review design. Data were collected through 15 purposively selected articles related to learning environment, teaching styles, and deep learning. Articles were selected until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data analysis was conducted using NVivo 14 and 15 and thematic analysis, including open, axial, and selective coding, to extract key themes and conceptual relationships between learning environment and instructional styles. The results indicated that supportive, flexible, and interactive learning environments combined with active, student-centered, and interactive teaching styles enhanced students’ intrinsic motivation, active participation, critical thinking, and self-regulated learning. This interaction improved learning quality, academic performance, 21st-century skills, and strengthened students’ learner identity and responsibility. Additionally, purposeful use of educational technology and diverse learning resources increased cognitive engagement and promoted deep learning. The study highlights that achieving deep learning requires a dynamic and synergistic interaction between learning environment and teachers’ instructional styles. The findings provide guidance for designing effective learning environments, selecting and developing suitable teaching styles, and planning teacher professional development to foster students’ cognitive, social, and emotional skills.

This study aims to examine and analyze the role of metacognitive instruction in enhancing students’ self-directed learning and to provide a coherent conceptual framework. This qualitative study employed a systematic literature review and theoretical analysis. Data were collected solely from 15 selected scholarly articles based on inclusion criteria including direct relevance, clear theoretical framework, and scientific credibility. Data analysis followed an inductive qualitative approach, incorporating open, axial, and selective coding using NVivo software version 14, continuing until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data analysis revealed four main themes: development of cognitive self-regulation, enhancement of intrinsic motivation and learner responsibility, promotion of higher-order cognitive skills, and empowerment of self-directed learning. Metacognitive instruction increased students’ awareness of cognitive processes, planning and monitoring of learning activities, problem-solving and decision-making skills, and intrinsic motivation and responsibility, thereby fostering independent and self-directed learners. These findings align with previous research and indicate that metacognition can serve as a key component in improving learning quality and lifelong skills development. Metacognitive instruction plays a critical role in enhancing students’ self-directed learning by strengthening cognitive, motivational, and behavioral dimensions. The study emphasizes the importance of designing metacognition-based educational programs and providing opportunities to practice self-management and self-assessment skills, offering an evidence-based foundation for educational policy-making and learner-centered curriculum development.

The aim of this study was to explain the role of effective educational feedback in enhancing learning quality and strengthening learners' intrinsic motivation. This study employed a qualitative review with theoretical content analysis. Data were derived from 15 selected scholarly articles that met inclusion criteria, focusing on educational feedback, learning quality, and intrinsic motivation, and published in reputable journals. Data analysis was conducted using NVivo version 14, following a three-stage coding process—open, axial, and selective coding—to identify key categories and subcategories until theoretical saturation was reached. Results indicated that effective educational feedback, characterized by clarity, timely delivery, personalization, constructiveness, positive–critical balance, and actionability, activates cognitive mechanisms including self-regulated learning, deep information processing, increased attention and focus, error correction, and metacognitive development. Moreover, effective feedback enhances intrinsic motivation by fostering competence, autonomy, reducing academic anxiety, increasing persistence and engagement, and forming positive learning attitudes. Contextual factors, such as teacher–learner relationship, classroom emotional climate, teacher competence, school culture, and assessment structure, further facilitate the effectiveness of feedback. Effective educational feedback is a crucial tool for improving learning quality and intrinsic motivation. Considering its structural characteristics and contextual factors, it strengthens active and self-regulated learning processes. Designing targeted, clear, and constructive feedback and creating a supportive and motivational learning environment are key practical recommendations for educators and educational policymakers.