The virtual environment’s expansion and role in young people’s lives accentuate the need for developing transversal competences such as digital citizenship. The process may be supported by personal resources like personal values and critical thinking dispositions. With this study on 536 young students’ students aged 18 to 26 (M = 20.85, SD = 1.60), we analysed the relationship between two adjacent personal values, universalism and self-direction, and students’ digital citizenship. Moreover, we examined the role of critical thinking dispositions, namely learning orientation, and cognitive integrity in supporting digital citizenship development. Following structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses, the results show that universalism and learning orientation significantly positively influence digital citizenship, whereas cognitive integrity has a negative effect. Further, personal values positively associate with critical thinking dispositions.

Participation in extracurricular activities (ECAs) represents an effective strategy for students to become better competitors in the labor market. Their benefits extend the academic area to professional and personal domains. Therefore, this paper examines the predictive relationship between autonomous motivation, cognitive engagement, and ECA participation. We assumed that individual attributes such as cognitive emotional self-regulation, autonomous motivation, and cognitive engagement will have an impact on students’ involvement in ECAs. The results of the structural equation model results show the positive impact of positive refocus and positive reappraisal on ECA participation. Further, emotional self-regulation positively impacts autonomous motivation and cognitive engagement, which, in turn, have a positive impact on students’ involvement in ECAs. The implications and limitations of the study are further discussed.

Background: Critical consciousness represents an emancipatory pedagogical process whose central goal is developing the necessary skills to identify and act in the direction of changing social limitations. An important kind of action that helps challenge social limitations is altruistic behaviour. Moreover, moral values could enhance the effect of critical consciousness on altruistic behaviour. Method: This study aims to provide some empirical support for the benefits of a unifying framework between moral education and critical consciousness by exploring the association between critical motivation and moral foundations, and the moderating role of groups’ status (disadvantaged versus privileged) within this association. The present research explores the link between critical consciousness, altruistic behaviour, and the mediational role of moral foundations. The data was collected from participants studying in urban areas and disadvantaged rural areas. Hence, the socio-economic status of the individuals (disadvantaged groups versus privileged groups) is considered a moderator in this dynamic. The study sample comprised 1031 adolescents aged 13–19 (M = 16.51, SD = 1.54). Results: The findings emphasise that fairness and care moral foundations mediate the relationship between critical motivation and altruistic behaviour, and the moderator role of group status. In conclusion, the poor development of critical motivation in disadvantaged groups influences moral values development and, ultimately, affects individual behaviour in the community.

The present research explores a set of explanatory factors of digital citizenship in university students on a cross-national sample. The data were collected from 501 university students aged 19–23 years old, from two public universities in Romania (N = 350) and Italy (N = 151). Information was gathered from one university in each country by using an online survey form. Statistical analyses were conducted using SmartPLS 4.1.0.6. Data analyses included structural equation modelling, mediational analysis, and multigroup analysis. The study focuses on digital citizenship, civic attitudes, personal values, and digital experiences among university students. Rather than making definitive judgments, the goal of this data-driven endeavour is to provide informative insights by identifying patterns within the dataset. The article also describes the stages of data collection and how the modelling of structural equations analysis is used to evaluate the conceptual model of the proposed relationships between variables. In addition to providing information into the current situation, the data discussed in this article is a useful tool for future research and for tailored educational activities, such as digital citizenship training sessions embedded into the academic curricula.

AbstractThe present qualitative approach investigated teachers’ attitudes towards critical thinking teaching and educational teaching strategies related to students’ development of critical thinking. Thirty in-service Romanian teachers with at least 5 years of experience, with a teaching range from the 8th grade to the 12th grade, participated in this study. To examine the teaching strategies adopted to develop critical thinking, the Grounded Theory methodology was used, and data were collected through semi-directive interviews. The study was carried out between September 2020 and February 2021. Following data analysis, a theoretical explanation of the process emerged describing: the prerequisites of critical thinking development, the critical thinking development phenomenon, the intervening barriers, the educational strategies employed by teachers, and the consequences of educational strategies. Two important findings highlight the educational strategies employed by teachers: the use of traditional teaching methods to the detriment of critical thinking teaching methods, and in a positive light, teachers' focus on students’ self-development. In conclusion, very effective teachers understood how individual characteristics influence critical thinking development in the classroom learning environment. The results also outline the moral dimension of critical thinking, which becomes, in addition to a decision-making process, a process of assuming and understanding the consequences of individual actions.---SažetakPrikazanim kvalitativnim pristupom istraživali su se stavovi učitelja o poučavanju kritičkoga razmišljanja i obrazovne strategije poučavanja povezane s razvojem kritičkoga razmišljanja kod učenika. U ovom istraživanju sudjelovalo je trideset rumunjskih učitelja (od 8. do 12. razreda) s najmanje 5 godina iskustva rada u školi. Za istraživanje strategija učenja usvojenih za razvoj kritičkog razmišljanja korištena je metodologija utemeljene teorije, a podatci su prikupljeni polustrukturiranim intervjuima. Istraživanje je provedeno od rujna 2020. do veljače 2021. Nakon analize podataka pojavilo se teorijsko objašnjenje procesa koje opisuje: preduvjete za razvoj kritičkoga razmišljanja, fenomen razvoja kritičkoga razmišljanja, moguće prepreke, obrazovne strategije kojima se koriste učitelji i moguće posljedice obrazovnih strategija. Obrazovne strategije kojima se koriste učitelji dovele su do isticanja dvaju važnih otkrića: korištenja tradicionalnih nastavnih metoda na štetu metoda poučavanja kritičkoga razmišljanja i, nešto pozitivnije gledano, usredotočenosti učitelja na samorazvoj učenika. Zaključno, najučinkovitiji su učitelji shvatili kako individualne osobine utječu na razvoj kritičkoga razmišljanja u razrednom okruženju. Rezultati također ocrtavaju moralnu dimenziju kritičkoga mišljenja, koje, osim procesa odlučivanja, postaje i procesom prihvaćanja i razumijevanja posljedica pojedinačnih radnji.Â

Critical consciousness development represents a building block in the formation of health-related attitudes and behaviours. One of the most studied health-related behaviours in the previous year is COVID-19 vaccination behaviour. The present study examines critical consciousness, COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and vaccination behaviour in a consistent sample of young adults (N = 1185). Participants were residents of Romania, aged 18 to 41 years. The Critical Consciousness Scale—Short Form (CCS-S) and the Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) Scale were used. The results demonstrate the mediating role of two types of vaccination attitude—lack of confidence in the promoted vaccine benefits and worries about unforeseen effects—in the relationship between critical reflection and vaccination behaviour. Communication is fundamental in an initiative aimed at changing behaviour. When shaping a health-related campaign, communication and dialogue must be horizontal and characterised by empathy and mutual recognition to determine favourable health-related behaviour.