Theory gaps in Education

Representative open questions

Showing 30 of 353 — one per source paper, highest-quality first.

• El desarrollo de la comprensión del aspecto matemático del logaritmo mediante la intuición y la axiomatización en los estudiantes de Licenciatura en Educación Secundaria con especialidad en Matemáticas al término de la aplicación de su programa educativo. (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies that students struggle with operations involving negative characteristics in logarithmic calculations and fail to correctly apply additive inverse properties to adjust characteristics before performing subtraction or division; however, no empirical investigation is conducted to determine whether these difficulties stem from inadequate intuitive understanding or incomplete axiomatization of logarithmic properties.

• e-DigCompEdu: Digital Competences for Online Higher Education Framework (2026) · doi

  Section 7.1 emphasizes using AI tools for collaborative scientific production and plagiarism detection but lacks guidance on evaluating the reliability and ethical implications of different AI-powered text editors and plagiarism detection systems, or on managing conflicts when AI suggestions contradict academic integrity standards.

• Error Patterns and Predictors in Solving Algebraic Word Problems: Evidence from Secondary School Students (2026) · doi

  Teachers indicate that foundational arithmetic and fraction skills are critical for algebraic success, but the paper does not establish the specific prerequisite skill thresholds or conduct regression analysis to quantify which foundational deficits most strongly predict transformation errors and process skill errors in linear equation solving.

• ChatGPT in computer programming education: A review of current literature and applications (2026) · doi

  Long-term learning outcomes and effects of ChatGPT-assisted instruction on student cognitive skill development, ethical reasoning, and learning behaviours in programming education have not been systematically investigated. Longitudinal, cross-institutional studies are needed to assess sustained impacts beyond immediate course performance metrics.

• A(n) (re)awakening: preservice teachers connecting their culture to science teaching along the US–México border (2026) · doi

  Research examining how critical consciousness and reawakening of cultural capital influence long-term teacher agency and willingness to challenge curriculum boundaries is needed, particularly in contexts where institutional and political pressures constrain culturally relevant pedagogy implementation.

• Digital Platforms and Relational Practice: A Netnographic Study of Educator-Family Communication (2026) · doi

  The paper documents that communicative asymmetries and educator authority within digital platforms shape families' interpretation of appropriate participation and their reluctance to respond, but does not investigate institutional mechanisms that establish or reinforce these norms. Research should examine how specific ECEC organizational policies, educator professional training, and platform affordances (design features, notification settings, permission structures) explicitly or implicitly constrain reciprocal educator-family communication.

• Segmental and suprasegmental pronunciation training via AI: An exploration of university students’ perceptions and attitudes (2026) · doi

  Research gaps exist regarding the specific mechanisms by which AI pronunciation tools provide feedback on suprasegmental features (stress, intonation, rhythm); current studies lack detailed analysis of whether different feedback modalities (visual, acoustic, textual) differentially impact student learning and perception.

• The current landscape of teachers artificial intelligence acceptance: Relationships with TPACK and technostress (2026) · doi

  The structural equation model explained only modest variance in AI acceptance among teachers, indicating that additional factors beyond TPACK and technostress—specifically perceived usefulness of AI, technological self-efficacy, school support, and ethical concerns—need to be incorporated into comprehensive explanatory models of teacher AI adoption.

• Effect of Van Hiele group guided-discovery instructional approach on student engagement in learning plane geometry (2026) · doi

  The study demonstrates that VHGGDIA accounts for 52.4% of variance in overall student engagement in plane geometry, yet 47.6% remains unexplained. Future research should investigate which additional instructional variables, teacher characteristics, or student demographic factors influence the remaining variance in the Van Hiele group guided-discovery approach.

• On the development and potential influential aspects of prospective science teachers’ competencies for the use of explainer videos for learning in physics education (2026) · doi

  The mechanism explaining the lack of correlation between topic-specific PCK and professional vision of learning support features remains unclear; future research should investigate whether cognitive load from information density in explainer videos is the limiting factor using eye-tracking or cognitive load assessment methods.

• Digital Disruption of Academic Integrity (2026) · doi

  The study explains only 46.33% of variance in academic integrity through plagiarism awareness and IT mediation pathways; the considerable unexplained variance indicates that institutional culture of academic dishonesty, moral cognition, workload pressures, and discipline-specific factors need empirical investigation to fully model the plagiarism-integrity dynamic in digital environments.

• The Effects of Handwriting and Typing on Chinese Character Learning in the Digital Age: Evidence from Arab Adolescent Learners (2026) · doi

  The paper recommends distinguishing between characters for recognition versus writing based on the principle of 'recognizing more characters and writing fewer,' but provides no empirical guidance on curriculum allocation—specifically, what proportion of characters should be designated for typing-based recognition versus handwriting-based writing at different proficiency stages for Arab secondary learners.

• No one-size-fits-all: a study of prompt techniques and large language models to enhance AI’s mathematics educational quality (2026) · doi

  RAG showed no significant improvement in content-related quality despite containing Pólya heuristics designed for problem-solving strategies. Research is needed to investigate whether LLMs reference documents without effectively applying their content, or whether internal mathematical reasoning capabilities limit the marginal benefit of supplied heuristic information in RAG systems.

• Cluster Pattern Analysis of Students Stress using Machine Learning Algorithms with Feature Engineering (2026) · doi

  The study mentions that institutional datasets will be distinctive and unique for counseling at different educational institutions but does not specify which stressor factors (depression, career concerns, blood pressure, self-esteem, mental health history, living conditions, study load) are institution-specific versus universally predictive of stress clusters. Domain adaptation techniques for transferring stress prediction models across different institutional contexts need to be explored.

• The use of large language models to solve mathematical modeling problems: preservice mathematics teachers’ use practices, perceived affordances and challenges, and trustworthiness judgments of AI-generated outputs (2026) · doi

  The research identifies output accuracy as the most critical concern, with PSTs encountering incorrect or superficial responses based on unrealistic assumptions, but does not provide a systematic framework for evaluating which types of mathematical errors, contextual implausibility, or scientific justification gaps are most difficult for PSTs to detect or correct.

• Pre-service Teachers' Self-Directed Learning in a Blended Learning Environment: A Study on Scale Development and Affecting Factors (2026) · doi

  The study found that students' learning culture (proactive/collaborative vs. instructor-guided/memorization preferences) was not significantly related to SDL, contrary to expectations; this counterintuitive finding requires targeted investigation into why BL adaptability neutralizes learning culture effects, with qualitative or experimental designs isolating specific BL design features.

• Does “Maniplo-Spatial Arty” Really Work? A Study of the Effectiveness of “Maniplo-Spatial Arty” as a Teaching and Learning in Science Pedagogy (2026) · doi

  The research found that learner recollection of maniplo-spatial tasks (68 tasks total) depended primarily on three characteristics (distinctive sensory factors, unusual presentation context, and 'gore' factors), yet the mechanisms explaining why sensory salience and contextual novelty enhance retention of scientific ideas versus procedural details remain theoretically unspecified within maniplo-spatial pedagogy.

• Quality Evaluation of Indonesian Student-generated User Stories: Insight from Human and ChatGPT Evaluation (2026) · doi

  The Uniform criterion emerged as a significant local issue in Indonesian student user stories but remains absent from global quality frameworks; comparative analysis is needed to determine whether Uniform represents a context-specific educational concern or a genuinely overlooked quality dimension in international user story quality standards.

• Engagement in Exploratory Action Research to Improve Teaching Practice in EFL Writing (2026) · doi

  The first action of in-class collaborative writing tasks did not produce positive results in the EFL high school context, contrasting with prior studies using digital and online platforms. The mechanism explaining why peer assistance benefits writing in Turkish middle school and primary school settings but fails in high school EFL writing instruction requires investigation through comparative studies across school levels.

• The Effect of Videoscribe Media Assisted by the Guided Inquiry Learning Model on Students’ Physics Learning Outcomes (2026) · doi

  The study identifies that Videoscribe facilitates 'understanding of complex subject matter' and increases 'engagement' in the Guided Inquiry physics classroom, but provides no quantitative measurement of cognitive load, engagement metrics, or mechanism of action explaining why the medium specifically improves learning outcomes in physics instruction.

• John McCutcheon (2020) · doi

  The text mentions marine transport, waste deposition, tourism, and underwater noise as ocean-scale activities alongside fishing, but does not provide specific comparative frameworks or metrics for quantifying the relative impacts of these activities on global ocean ecosystems.

• INTEGRASI MODEL PENGOLAHAN INFORMASI DAN METODE INQUIRY DALAM MENDUKUNG DEEP LEARNING PADA KURIKULUM MERDEKA (2026) · doi

  The paper claims integration of Information Processing Model and Inquiry Method supports higher-order thinking skills and deep learning but does not provide empirical evidence linking specific information processing mechanisms (attention, encoding, schema formation) to measurable improvements in student learning outcomes.

• The Impactful Weight of Treating Beyond the Scale: A Comprehensive Course to Improve Obesity Care Among Medical Students (2026) · doi

  The study documents reduced implicit bias and increased self-awareness of biases regarding obesity, but does not assess whether these attitudinal changes in medical students correlate with measurable improvements in clinical outcomes (e.g., patient satisfaction, treatment adherence, weight loss) or reduce internalized weight stigma experienced by patients with obesity receiving care from trained students.

• Peningkatan Proses Dan Hasil Belajar Ipas Siswa Menggunakan Model Project Based Learning Pada Kelas V SD Negeri 89/II Lubuk Niur (2026) · doi

  The role of teacher facilitation competency in differentiating PjBL implementation quality across diverse classroom contexts and its correlation with heterogeneous student learning outcomes requires investigation, particularly given the paper's assertion that the teacher's facilitation role is critical for developing critical thinking and creativity in elementary IPAS learners.

• Racial Violence, Academic Medicine, and Academic Medicine (2015) · doi

  The paper asserts that intergroup contact theory predicts attitude change toward increased acceptance when people of different races are exposed to one another in medicine, but does not specify what conditions, contact intensity, duration, or institutional structures are necessary to activate this mechanism in academic medical settings or how individual differences in baseline prejudice moderate these effects.

• Smart Technologies as Tools for Developing Sustainable Leadership Competencies in the Education System: A Conceptual Model and Directions for Empirical Validation (2026) · doi

  The model does not account for individual-level behavioral and personal differences among learners that may affect competency development. Future research must include control variables such as baseline digital competence, prior participation in environmental initiatives, and individual attitudes toward sustainability to test alternative developmental pathways.

• DIDÁCTICO INTELIGENTE: USO DE APPS DE INTELIGENCIA ARTIFICIAL COMO APOYO ACADÉMICO PARA ESTUDIANTES DE TURISMO (2026) · doi

  While 40% of students were neutral regarding AI tools' contribution to content retention, the paper does not investigate what specific cognitive mechanisms or pedagogical strategies could improve the gap between perceived usefulness (47% agreement) and actual knowledge retention outcomes.

• An Analysis of Eighth-Grade Students’ of Mathematical Reasoning Ability in Statistics Based on Independent Learning Methods (2026) · doi

  The paper analyzes mathematical reasoning across five criteria (articulating propositions, executing operations, formulating evidence, drawing conclusions, validating arguments) but does not investigate the developmental sequence or prerequisite relationships among these five components—determining whether some must be mastered before others would inform targeted remediation for low-independence students.

• Pengaruh Model Pembelajaran Problem Based Learning Terhadap Kemampuan Menulis Surat Dinas Siswa Kelas VII SMP Negeri 2 Pematangsiantar (2026) · doi

  The research did not examine the specific cognitive or linguistic mechanisms through which PBL improves official letter writing performance; qualitative analysis of student reasoning, problem-solving strategies, and writing processes during PBL implementation is absent.

• Effects of Analogy and Guided Inquiry Instructional Strategies on Academic Achievement and Interest in Biology Concepts among Secondary School Students in Adamawa State, Nigeria (2026) · doi

  The study found significant gender differences in academic achievement when students were taught biology using analogy and guided inquiry strategies, with males outperforming females in analogy instruction (M: 38.67 vs F: 25.80) but females outperforming males in guided inquiry (M: 28.53 vs F: 31.17). However, the mechanisms underlying these differential gender responses to analogy-based instruction versus guided inquiry-based instruction in biology education remain unexplored and require investigation into the cognitive and motivational factors driving these contrasting patterns.