Vietnam Journal of Education

Factors Influencing Pre-Service Natural Science Teachers’ Competence in Using Digital Learning Resources: The Mediating Role of Personal Readiness

Gai Thi Tran — 2026-08-05

This study examines factors associated with pre-service Natural Science teachers’ competence in using digital learning resources (DLRC) and tests the mediating role of personal readiness. A cross-sectional survey of 330 pre-service teachers was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Pedagogical support showed the strongest direct relationship with DLRC (β = 0.384, p < 0.001), followed by personal readiness (β = 0.308, p < 0.001) and technological support (β = 0.231, p < 0.001). Pedagogical support, technological support, and the digital environment and policies were positively associated with personal readiness. Significant indirect effects through readiness were observed for pedagogical support (β = 0.102), technological support (β = 0.097), and the digital environment and policies (β = 0.057). The model explained 33.6% of the variance in personal readiness and 49.6% in DLRC. The findings identified DLRC as a resource-focused component of professional digital competence and suggest that pedagogical design, accessible technology, institutional conditions, and teacher students’ readiness should be developed in coordination.

AI-Supported Scaffold Design for Lower-Proficiency EFL Learners: Experiences of Pre-Service Teachers in Inclusive Reading Instruction

Dieu Bich Nguyen — 2026-08-05

Teaching reading in mixed-ability EFL classrooms remains challenging as lower-proficiency learners struggle with grade-level texts. Although scaffolding is widely acknowledged as a strategy for greater accessibility and participation, designing effective scaffolds can be demanding to novice teachers. The growing availability of generative artificial intelligence (AI) offers new possibilities to support teachers throughout this process. Despite growing research on AI in language education, little has been known about how pre-service teachers employ AI to design scaffolds for inclusive reading instruction during their teaching practicum. This study explored how pre-service teachers (PSTs) utilized AI to design scaffolding materials for lower-proficiency learners during reading lessons. A qualitative research design was employed involving seven PSTs and 22 lower-proficiency secondary school learners across an eight-week teaching practicum. Data were collected via lesson plans, scaffold artifacts, reflective journals, and semi-structured interviews before being thematically analysed. Results indicated that PSTs use AI to create lexical, procedural, conceptual, and affective scaffolds that reduce barriers to reading engagement. Learners reported higher levels of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement, including greater participation, confidence, and use of reading strategies. AI was considered as a valuable source of pedagogical assistance although participants noted the need to adapt AI-produced materials to better suit learners and classroom contexts. The study also suggests that AI is a teacher-facing tool for inclusive reading instruction and PSTs preparation.

Effects of van Hiele Theory-based Instruction on Pre-service Mathematics Teachers’ Geometry Knowledge, Geometric Thinking Skills and Attitudes: A Literature Review

Ngan Kim Lu — 2026-08-05

Teachers’ geometry competencies are key factors determining the effectiveness of students’ geometry learning. This paper employs a comprehensive research and content analysis to examine the application of van Hiele theory in developing geometry competencies, encompassing geometry knowledge, geometric thinking skills and attitudes, among pre-service mathematics teachers. Research findings demonstrate that organizing teaching around van Hiele’s five-stage process enhances pre-service mathematics teachers’ knowledge of geometric content and teaching geometry, improves their geometric thinking skills, and strengthens positive attitudes towards teaching and learning geometry. The study also emphasizes the role of technological tools in encouraging pre-service mathematics teachers to actively engage in the learning stages according to the van Hiele model. Based on these results, the paper offers recommendations for teacher training programs to improve the quality of geometry teaching by pre-service mathematics teachers, focusing on both content knowledge and effective teaching methods.

Teaching Advanced Mathematics for Economics Students in Alignment with Programme Learning Outcomes under the AUN-QA Framework: A Case Study at Lac Hong University, Vietnam

Hoan Van Tran — 2026-06-24

The AUN-QA framework requires programs to demonstrate coherence among expected learning outcomes, curriculum design, teaching and learning strategies, assessment, and evidence-based continuous improvement. In economics-related programs, Advanced Mathematics is not merely a foundational quantitative course; it is also a learning environment for developing modeling, problem-solving, collaboration, and decision-making competencies. Drawing on a theoretical review and a reflective synthesis of teaching practices at Lac Hong University, Vietnam, this paper proposes a course-level design for teaching Advanced Mathematics that aligns with program learning outcomes under AUN-QA. The design consists of three mutually reinforcing instructional measures: using Kolb’s experiential learning model to introduce mathematical knowledge through economic scenarios, guiding students through an explicit real-world problem-solving procedure, and strengthening project-based tasks connected to practical economic problems. The paper contributes an alignment matrix linking course learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment evidence, and offers implementation recommendations for instructors and program managers. The findings support evidence-based course governance, authentic assessment, and semester-by-semester improvement in the attainment of outcomes in economics education. As a design-oriented study, the paper does not aim to test causal effects on student achievement; rather, it develops an instructional framework and assessment evidence system that can be used for future empirical evaluation of CLO attainment.

See It as on Mathematical Thinking with Mathematical Representation: Mathematization in Mathematics Education for Human Character Formation

Masami Isoda — 2026-06-18

How can we configure the school mathematics curriculum to develop mathematical thinking? Theories in mathematics education explain it using different terminologies. Firstly, this article reviews theories and nature of curriculum for overcoming contradiction, secondly focuses on developing mathematical thinking in Southeast Asia Region for overcoming and focused on mathematical ways to see it as a part of human character formation, thirdly a theory of mathematical representations (Isoda, 1989 & 2015) is defined based on the ways to see it as, and fourthly mathematization process are explained by the representation theory for explaining how changes the way to see it as. These are illustrated by the cases of operational diagrams in figural representations, including Hanoi’s Tower.

Teaching and Learning Mathematics in a Period of Changes: What Remains Unchanged

Wee Tiong Seah — 2026-06-15

Without a doubt, the next quarters of the 21st Century will be characterized by accelerated change across all aspects of human life, thanks mainly to breakthroughs in digital technologies. The teaching and learning of mathematics in schools are accordingly affected, for better or worse. Both teachers and students need to be able to navigate these changes - and the uncertainties that accompany them - in ways that optimize the teaching and learning of the discipline, respectively, while maintaining the well-being of mathematics education for all involved. An argument will be made in this paper that what is needed more than ever to facilitate this navigation is something which remains unchanged in a context of continual change, that is, the culturally based values related to mathematics and to its pedagogy. Examples of these include rationalism, fluency, and practice. How values underlie aspects of mathematics education that have become significant in recent years, namely, values alignment, mathematical wellbeing, and mathematics competencies, will be discussed. Understanding the central roles of values in these and other aspects of mathematics education in the 21st Century would thus empower teachers to better interact with students, foster and maintain their mathematical wellbeing, and develop in them relevant mathematics competencies for empowered living in the period of change.