The aim of this study was to empirically examine the effects of social support and university service characteristics on university adaptation, with self-efficacy and stress coping as mediating variable. The study also examined the moderating effects of gender, age, academic year, GPA, major, and family income on the relationships among the study variables. For the population of this research, students from the largest universities in Mongolia were selected as the study population. For data collection, A total of 1,039 questionnaires were collected, of which 691 were used for analysis. The results indicated that the research model demonstrated an acceptable fit, direct effects on the university adaptations had significantly positive effects. However, Self-efficacy did not have a significant direct effect on university adaptation. Both single and sequential mediating effects were statistically significant. The moderating effects were significant for most demographic variables. However, GPA did not show a significant moderating effect.

The competency development of field engineers (FEs) is intrinsically tied to work practices, with its success heavily contingent upon the efficacy of work-based learning (WBL). However, current scholarly understanding of the underlying learning mechanisms remains insufficient. This study integrates three theoretical frameworks-Workplace Learning Process Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and On-site Informal Learning Theory-and conducts a multiple-case study of seven representative specialized FE cultivation programs in China. The research proposes a systematic work-based learning mechanism for FEs, structured around four dimensions: work context, personal factors, the “Context-Synergy-Internalization” process, and core competencies. It systematically explores a learning progression characterized by context-driven growth, individual self-construction, dynamic iteration, and competency advancement. Based on these findings, the study offers strategic interventions for China’s modern apprenticeship system, emphasizing the co-evolution of high-fidelity learning environments and individual agency, while strengthening multi-stakeholder governance systems to ensure the stability and quality of talent output. The findings of this study elucidate the micro-learning mechanisms through which learners in the modern apprenticeship system transform external stimuli into structured vocational core competencies within complex industrial settings. This research thereby provides theoretical support and practical guidelines for the international modern apprenticeship community, facilitating a paradigm shift from institutional framework building to the assurance of high-quality learning outcomes.

This study re-examines the conception of learning that informed the formative period of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) by situating it within its historical context. Through an analysis of historical materials related primarily to the International School of Geneva, with supplementary reference to Atlantic College, it explores the educational ideas that shaped the early development of the DP. While contemporary interpretations of the IB frequently explain its educational philosophy through constructivist or social constructivist theories of learning, this study argues that the intellectual foundations of the early DP were more diverse than such interpretations suggest. The analysis indicates that educational ideas concerning imagination, human formation, and existential development occupied a central position in the educational thought shared by educators involved in the early DP. Learning was understood not only as the construction of knowledge through experience but also as a process of engaging imaginatively with the world, reflecting upon oneself, and developing one’s way of being. These findings suggest that the conception of learning underlying the early DP cannot be fully understood solely through the framework of constructivism. Taken together, these findings point to the IB as a dynamic educational project that has evolved through educators’ responses to the educational challenges of their respective historical contexts. From this perspective, it may be important for contemporary IB educators not only to implement established theories and frameworks, but also to engage seriously with educational values and the challenges they encounter, thereby participating in the ongoing interpretation and development of the IB’s educational ideals.

This study offers a comparative analysis of International Baccalaureate (IB) expansion in China and Uzbekistan―two Asian countries with contrasting political systems and educational governance structures. Drawing on policy documents, extant research, and case data, we examine three analytical dimensions: drivers of expansion (societal demand versus state strategy), actors and mechanisms (private-market proliferation versus direct government mandate), and emergent tensions (internationalization versus local relevance, equity versus elite formation, and English-medium instruction versus mother-tongue preservation). Special attention is paid to how IB growth intersects with each nation’s broader English education policy. Findings reveal divergent pathways. In China, IB expansion is predominantly market-driven, propelled by upper-middle-class families’ pursuit of distinctive schooling and overseas university access, yet subsequently reined in by state regulations that reassert curricular sovereignty―a pattern we term “regulated internationalization.” In Uzbekistan, expansion is state-led: presidential decrees have inserted the IB as a ready-made international benchmark into selective public schools, with the explicit goal of cultivating a globally competent elite rapidly. Despite these different logics, both cases converge on three common outcomes: deepening educational stratification, elevating English to a dominant academic lingua franca, and provoking acute concerns over national identity and cultural autonomy. However, the primary axis of inequality is household wealth in China, whereas in Uzbekistan it is the urban-rural and capital-regions divide. The study provides targeted policy recommendations for each country and distills broader lessons for Asian contexts adopting international curricula, emphasizing the imperative of careful localization and the enduring challenge of reconciling English-medium internationalization with the protection of local linguistic and cultural heritage.