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This study explored the dynamics of students' knowledge co-construction in an asynchronous gamified environment in higher education, focusing on peer discussions in college business courses. Utilizing epistemic network analysis, sequence pattern mining, and automated coding, we analyzed the interactions of 1,319 business students. Our findings revealed that externalization and epistemic activity were prevalent, demonstrating a strong link between problem-solving and conceptual understanding. Three primary discussion types were observed: argumentative, epistemic, and social, each with unique patterns of engagement and idea integration. Effective knowledge co-construction patterns included open-ended questions with an epistemic focus, debates serving as intense knowledge co-construction arenas, and social interactions fostering a supportive and collaborative learning environment. The introduction of gamification elements led to increased student engagement and participation. Our findings emphasize the significance of structured analysis, collaboration, and argumentation in promoting effective knowledge co-construction in peer learning settings. This study offers insights into the temporal interplay of discourse dimensions and their potential for collaborative learning, enhancing our understanding of how learning analytics can be employed to discover ways in which students co-construct knowledge in asynchronous gamified environments.

Peer learning is a promising instructional strategy, particularly in higher education, where increasing class sizes limits teachers’ abilities to effectively support students’ learning. However, its use in a traditional way is not always highly effective, due to, for example, students’ lack of familiarity with strategies such as peer feedback. Recent advancements in educational technologies, including learning analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), offer new pathways to support and enhance peer learning. This editorial introduces a special issue that examines how emerging educational technologies, specifically learning analytics, AI, and multimodal tools, can be thoughtfully integrated into peer learning to improve its effectiveness and outcomes. The six studies featured in this issue present key innovations, including the successful application of AI-supported peer assessment systems, multimodal learning analytics for analyzing collaborative gestures and discourse, gamified online platforms, social comparison feedback tools and dashboards, group awareness tools for collaborative learning, and behavioral indicators of peer feedback literacy. Collectively, these studies show how these technologies can scaffold peer learning processes, enrich the quality and uptake of peer feedback, foster engagement through gamification, promote reflective and collaborative learning, and address peer feedback literacy. However, the issue also identifies underexplored gaps, such as the short-term nature of many interventions, insufficient focus on the role of teachers, limited cultural and equity considerations, and a need for deeper theoretical integration. This editorial argues for a more pedagogically grounded, inclusive, and context-sensitive approach to technology-enhanced peer learning—one that foregrounds student agency, long-term impact, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The contributions of this special issue provide insights to guide future research, design, and practice in advancing peer learning through educational technologies.

Introduction In response to the COVID-19 crisis, this study aimed to introduce a new virtual teaching model for anatomy education that combines Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) and flipped classrooms, aligning with constructivist principles. Method The Flipped Peer Assisted (FPA) method was implemented in a virtual neuroanatomy course for second-year medical students at Birjand University of Medical Sciences via a descriptive study. The method involved small groups of PAL, with peer learning serving as educational assistants and the teacher acting as a facilitator. Educational content was uploaded to the university’s learning management system (LMS). The opinion of medical students regarding the teaching method were evaluated using a 15-item questionnaire on a five-point Likert scale. Results A total of 210 students participated in the instruction using the FPA method. The analysis of students’ scores revealed an average score of 26.75 ± 3.67 on the 30-point test. According to student feedback, this teaching method effectively motivated students to study, enhanced teamwork and communication skills, transformed their perspective on the anatomy course, provided opportunities for formative assessment and feedback, and demonstrated the teacher’s dedication to education. Conclusion The FPA model demonstrates its effectiveness in transforming traditional classroom teaching and fostering teaching and learning in virtual environments, particularly during pandemics like COVID-19. This model holds promise for enhancing anatomy education in challenging circumstances.

Improved pedagogical practice does not happen in a silo; it requires impetus. External influences and pressures and internal motivations are drivers for pedagogical change. Professional learning (PL) programs, in their multitude of forms, are key tools for affecting teacher change. In response to an increased focus on fostering students’ reasoning in curriculum documents, our team developed the Mathematical Reasoning Professional Learning Research Program (MRPLRP) to support teacher change. This two-phased project aimed to build teachers’ knowledge of the critical aspects of reasoning pedagogical approaches that foster students’ development of reasoning. Phase One involved researchers’ planning and demonstrating a lesson with a focus on reasoning. In Phase Two, a peer learning team (PLT) is formed to plan a lesson to elicit reasoning and to observe each other teach the lesson. This article reports on Phases One and Two of the MRPLRP from the perspective of one teacher who participated in both phases. The findings provide insights into the aspects of PL that were critical in shifting this teacher’s understanding of reasoning and approaches to teaching reasoning. Whilst the results of a single case cannot be extrapolated to a larger population, we present and discuss the factors of this PL program in raising the awareness of critical aspects of reasoning, and thus this paper has the potential to impact future PL design.

Purpose Prior research suggests that collaboration is key to sustainable community development and environmental management, and peer-to-peer learning (P2PL) may facilitate community building and collaborative learning skills. This study aims to examine the effect of P2PL on the enhancement of environmental management and sustainable development skills, community building and social capital (i.e. connectedness) and understanding of course learning objectives. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative and qualitative longitudinal survey data was collected in a sustainable development focused course offered at a large American public university that uses P2PL to explicitly facilitate community building and collaborative skills. Safety precautions and changing locational course offerings due to the COVID-19 pandemic in years 2020, 2021 and 2022 provided an opportunity to evaluate the impact of P2PL on these skills during both virtual and in-person formats. Additionally, this study compared in-course student evaluations with students taking other sustainable development-related courses with collaborative learning aspects to understand the wider effectiveness of this course structure. Findings This study finds that course format (virtual vs in-person) overall made no difference in either connectedness or conceptual understandings, and that students in both formats felt more connected to others than students taking other courses with P2PL. Scaffolding P2PL and supplemental peer support can yield improved connectedness and learning among students taking environmental coursework. Originality/value Sustainable development requires group collaboration and partnership building skills. Issues are consistently raised about the challenges to teaching these skills in higher education. The students and instructors in this research study identify P2PL strategies to address these challenges for in-person and virtual classroom settings.

Pair-to-pair peer learning (PPPL) is the simplest form of group-to-group peer learning (GGPL). GGPL may be defined as a learning method where two or more peer groups interact and thus increase the knowledge of all group members; while PPPL may be defined as GGPL with group sizes of only two members each. A simple PPPL experiment was conducted and analyzed indicating an increase in knowledge gain as compared to peer learning (PL) alone. The experiment was conducted in an undergraduate engineering lab in a required computer-integrated manufacturing course for two engineering programs, mechatronics and industrial engineering.

The importance of social networks has increased in recent decades, yet the use of social learning in higher education is nascent. Little is known how to foster high levels of social learning discourse among students in higher education classrooms. To address this gap, the present study analyses the use of a mobile application (Soqqle) for sharing student-generated content and peer-to-peer communication. Students from Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia uploaded videos linked to assessments and received feedback from their instructors and peers through social engagement features (e.g., comments, likes). The majority of students reported that the social learning experience promoted idea generation, increased creativity, and improved attention. These results indicate that integrating online platforms and mobile applications can promote social learning. The findings have important implications for educational practice because many educational institutions have adopted online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study investigated the social and behavioural impacts of employing a card game designed to support the teaching of business metrics through active peer-to-peer engagement, contrasting with traditional passive lectures. Grounded in Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (SLT), the study used a multiple-methods approach including student feedback, a focus group, and an interview. A novel card game, Metrics Masters©, was played by 390 students across a range of educational levels and settings. The research found that the game effectively introduced and reinforced their understanding of key business metrics, while simultaneously enhancing social interaction, teamwork, and problem-solving among Millennial and Generation Z students. The findings underline the efficacy of game-based learning and its close alignment with the SLT principles of observation, imitation, and social interaction. The theoretical contribution of this paper lies in its explicit application and extension of SLT within the context of business education, illustrating empirically how social interactions facilitated by game-based activities significantly enhance learning outcomes. Furthermore, this paper contributes to educational practice by providing robust evidence that game-based learning methods can effectively address educational challenges heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, offering actionable strategies for educators aiming to foster both academic and social development among students.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse everyday interactions in a workplace from the point of view of organisational learning, informal learning and peer learning, as well as the possible relationships that can be established between all three. Design/methodology/approach: Insights from nine months of ethnographic study provided an operational definition of equality in an organisation, a better understanding of interactions and informal learning between peers, and about psycho-social determining factors or contexts that favour the exchange of knowledge in an organisation. Findings: The findings demonstrate the importance of articulating the three elements (organisational learning, informal learning and peer learning) in a joint interpretative framework. With the results generated, it is proposed to move away from the traditional organisational learning based on knowledge and know-how, to a new perspective focused on sharing and participatory opportunities. In other words, without opportunities to participate, without the support and equal access, the fostering of informal learning can be debatable in terms of democracy. Originality/value: The results bring the authors closer to being able to design workplace learning strategies that carefully includes the value of participation opportunities and the influence of a dynamic concept of equality. The ethnography in a hospital setting has allowed the authors to gain a better understanding of the contribution of informal learning to the organisation. The focus on the social context and the roles of relationships in informal learning offers new insights into a complex phenomenon.

Background Despite the recognized advantages of Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) in academic settings, there is a notable absence of research analyzing its effects on students' Academic Burnout. This study aims to cover this gap by assessing the underlying effectiveness of Informal Peer-Assisted Learning (IPAL) as a cooperative learning method, focusing on its potential to mitigate academic burnout among medical students. Methods In 2022, a cross-sectional study was conducted at the School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, in Puerto Rico. The research team gathered data from 151 participants, 49.19% of 307 total student body. This cohort included 76 female students, 71 male students, and 4 individuals saying other. The School Burnout Inventory questionnaire (SBI-9) was employed to assess Academic Burnout, along with an added query about self-reported IPAL. The SBI-9 underwent validation processes to ascertain its reliability and validity, incorporating the Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Following this, the investigators conducted an analysis to determine the correlation between academic burnout levels and involvement in IPAL. Results The validation process of the questionnaire affirmed its alignment with an eight-item inventory, encapsulating two principal factors that elucidate academic burnout. The first factor pertains to exhaustion, while the second encompasses the combined subscales of cynicism and inadequacy. The questionnaire shows high reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.829) and good fit indices (Comparative Fit Index = 0.934; Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.902; Standardized Root Mean Squared Residual = 0.0495; Root Mean Squared Error of Approximation = 0.09791; p -value < 0.001). The factors proven in the selected model were used to evaluate the correlation between Academic Burnout and IPAL. Students engaged in IPAL showed significantly lower academic burnout prevalence compared to those who never participated in such practices, with a mean academic burnout score of 44.75% (SD 18.50) for IPAL engaged students versus 54.89% (SD 23.71) for those who never engaged in such practices ( p -value < 0.013). Furthermore, within the group engaged in IPAL, students displayed lower levels of cynicism/inadequacy 41.98% (SD 23.41) compared to exhaustion 52.25% (SD 22.42) with a p -value < 0.001. Conclusions The results of this study underscore a notable issue of academic burnout among medical students within the surveyed cohort. The investigation reveals a significant correlation between Academic Burnout and IPAL, suggesting that incorporating IPAL strategies may be beneficial in addressing burnout in medical education settings. However, further research is needed to explore potential causal mechanisms.