Introduction: Improving teachers' digital competences is sine qua non for effective teaching and learning in today's digital society. However, there is a limited number of comprehensive and reliable scales to measure teachers' digital competences. Regarding this, the present study aimed to develop and validate a comprehensive scale to assess teachers' digital competences.Methods: Building on previous studies, a draft scale developed and piloted with a sample of teachers from all educational levels. The procedures of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) were followed to refine the scale, resulting in a five-point Likert scale with 36 items loaded onto four factors. The final scale was called as Teachers' Digital Competences Scale (TDC-S). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to validate the four-factor structure. Reliability analysis was performed using Cronbach's alpha (α), McDonald's omega (ω), and Composite Reliability (CR), indicating high psychometric properties. Convergent and discriminant validity analyses were also performed to assess the validity of the latent structures in TDC-S.Results and discussion: The findings suggest that the TDC-S is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing teachers' digital competences at all grade levels from primary to high schools. It can be used to inform teacher training and development programs, and to identify teacher candidates who need additional assistance regarding improving their digital competences.

The current research aims to explore the effects of a haptic augmented simulation on students‟ achievement and their attitudes towards Physics in an immersive virtual reality environment (VRE). A quasi-experimental post-test design was employed utilizing experiment and control groups. The...

Introduction: With the inevitable technological boom enforced by the COVID-19 lockdowns and online emergency remote teaching practices, the prevalence of nomophobia (NMP) and smartphone addiction (SA) among adolescents has become a pressing issue, which has come under scrutiny. However, the impact of social media tools usage (SMTU) and digital gaming behavior (DGB) on these phenomena remains unclear since there is little research focusing on the complex interplay among these variables. Regarding this context, the present study aimed to explore the parallel mediating role of secondary school students’ SMTU and DGB in the relation between NMP and SA.Methods: In line with this aim, we employed a cross-sectional design with a critical case sampling strategy and collected data through an online survey from a total of 427 secondary school students in Istanbul in the 2021-2022 academic year. In order to test the parallel mediation model, we employed multiple linear regression models by utilizing PROCESS models with 5000 BC bootstrap samples and 95% CI.Results and discussion: Results illustrated that there was an increase in the prevalence of NMP and SA during the COVID-19 home confinement as consistent with the previous research. The results also indicated that among the multiple mediators, the mediating role of SMTU was significant in the relation between NMP and SA. This means NMP has direct and indirect significant impact on SA through SMTU. However, the mediating role of DGB was found nonsignificant in this relationship. Our results are robust and hold key contributions to both theoria and praxis in educational psychology research realm by disentangling the complex underlying mechanism between NMP, SMTU, DGB, and SA. On the practical side, our results provide insightful implications for school boards and researchers in the development of effective interventions.

The increasing body of research underscores that athletic performance is not solely contingent upon physical capabilities but is also significantly influenced by psychological strengths. Despite this, there remains a need for comprehensive meta-analyses to rigorously investigate the link between psychological factors and sports performance. In line with this, the present study seeks to examine the influence of various psychological constructs, such as motivation, self-efficacy, self-confidence, goal setting, attention, stress management, extraversion, self-discipline, personality traits, and emotional intelligence (EI) on athletic performance. This analysis was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines and included 127 studies covering a total of 24,358 participants. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist, ensuring a rigorous evaluation of study designs and data reliability. The findings indicate an association between personality traits—such as motivation (d = 0.525), self-efficacy (d = 0.413), conscientiousness (d = 0.316), and extraversion (d = 0.336)—and sports performance. Moreover, the overall association between psychological factors and sports performance was calculated as moderate (d = 0.329). Moderator analyses revealed no significant associations based on variables such as gender, type of sport, or type of athlete. Additionally, no significant associations were found for anxiety, openness to experience, neuroticism, or agreeableness, suggesting that these traits may have more complex or context-dependent relationships with performance. The findings of this meta-analysis indicate that psychological skills training plays a critical role in enhancing athletes’ performance. Future research should delve deeper into studies conducted in specific contexts to better understand the ambivalent relations among these factors.