The discussion about first-year engineering students’ difficulties in mathematics is continuous in the fields of engineering, mathematics and higher education. The present study aimed to examine the initial barriers academic math teachers need to have in mind if they want to improve students’ performance in engineering math courses through appropriate teaching practices in order to face their initial interindividual differences. During the first phase of the study, we examined first year engineering students’ initial beliefs about the nature of mathematics, their self-efficacy beliefs about mathematics and their basic mathematical knowledge. The math school grade was used for their previous mathematical performance. Results indicated the predominant role of the previous mathematical knowledge and the important role of the formalistic disposition toward mathematics. The lack of experience of using mathematics for problem-solving situations within an engineering framework prevented students from recognizing and appreciating the value of mathematical courses during the engineering studies. The second phase of the study examined, through an interview with a group of students, their perceptions of the teaching practices which were introduced after their teacher attended a training program. The discussion concentrates on how academics can use teaching processes for equity and not equality in order to motivate their students.

Short-form video platforms increasingly shape students’ media practices, yet little is known about the pedagogical value of student-generated videos in university mathematics. This study examined an intervention in a first-year mathematics course at a European university in which students produced 1–2 min explanatory videos solving integration problems and subsequently engaged in peer evaluation of selected exemplars. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining coursework and final examination scores with interview data. No statistically significant performance gains were observed; however, strong positive correlations between coursework, final examination and overall grade indicated stable achievement patterns across assessment points. Qualitative analysis suggested that the process of producing short instructional videos encouraged students to reflect on explanatory clarity, peer perspectives, and the communication of mathematical reasoning, despite linguistic and technical challenges. Overall, the findings provide exploratory insights into how student-generated videos can be integrated into undergraduate mathematics courses as a low-stakes instructional activity supporting reflective engagement and peer-oriented explanation. This study contributes to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in STEM education by offering an empirically grounded account of a media-based, peer-oriented learning activity in a university mathematics context.

We investigated the use of a rubric-guided peer-review activity in two first-year engineering calculus groups (N = 38). The intervention involved three phases: (1) students completed a short integration worksheet and predicted their own score, (2) they engaged in peer marking both before and after an instructor-led solution walk-through with explicit criteria, and (3) they later took a midterm test and completed a post-activity questionnaire. To examine ability-level effects, we applied a dual-perspective quartile approach that classified both reviewers and reviewees (targets) by their instructor-assigned marks. Results showed that peer-grading error decreased by 3–5 points across all reviewer–target combinations, with the largest reduction observed when lower-achieving students graded the work of similarly low-achieving peers. Mid-achieving students also improved the calibration, cutting self-assessment error by half. Performance gains carried over to subsequent assessments: average midterm scores increased significantly for the bottom two quartiles. Survey responses (≥3.4/5) indicated that 60–70% of students found the activity beneficial for their understanding and exam preparation. Overall, the study demonstrates that rubric-guided peer review and assessment, when analyzed through a novel dual-lens quartile framework, can sharpen feedback accuracy, improve self-evaluation and enhance exam performance for mid- and lower-performing students while offering equity-oriented implications for assessment design.

The current paper examines the knowledge, perceptions and attitudes of adult students on matters of behaviour that entail high-risk, but also on matters of health protection (sexually transmitted diseases) as factors directly related to and influencing their life on issues of prevention. First, a short overview of behavioural researches with statistical data is presented about the sexual activity of young people in Cyprus. It is followed by the research on the correlation between high risk sexual practices and habits of young adults. The research endeavours to explore practices young people use to identify the risks they are exposed to, take precautions and behave rationally in order to prevent serious conditions that may lead to insurmountable problems decisive for their life. The method used for data collection was structured questionnaires. The investigation results are presented with the formulation of specific research hypotheses/questions, which were examined by using the method of qualitative data analysis. The conclusion emphasizes the prevalent mentality in conjunction with the influence the family has in Cyprus, since parents function as powerful role models for their children.