This study empirically examines the complex relationship between materialism and economic motivation, proposing an inverted U-shaped relationship. The research analyzes three dimensions of materialism: happiness pursuit, social recognition, and uniqueness, and their impact on economic motivation. The findings suggest that materialism, when balanced, positively influences economic motivation without causing adverse effects. This relationship remains consistent across demographic characteristics and life satisfaction levels, challenging the traditional negative view of materialism. The implications of these findings extend to marketing strategies, policy design, and infrastructure development, offering actionable insights for real-world contexts. This research underscores the importance of balancing materialistic values to foster sustainable economic growth and well-being.

The Circular Economy is one of the most prominent cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral concepts to emerge in recent decades. It has permeated academia, policymaking, business, NGOs, and the general public, leading to numerous applications of the concept, some of which only partially overlap. In this article, we review recent debates and research trends in the Circular Economy, outlining the ten most common groups of its conceptualizations using the PRISMA (Preferred Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) method. We then propose a post disciplinary and transnational research program on the Circular Economy that would not only combine hard and soft sciences in unprecedented ways but also have important practical applications, such as developing tools to embed the Circular Economy in natural, technical, economic, and socio-cultural settings.

The technology known as Internet of Things, or IoT, has started to permeate many facets of our lives and offers a plethora of options and empowerment, expanding the potentials of integrating it in education. Considering how new IoT is and how it may affect education, it is now essential to investigate its potential in order to choose where to begin using it in the classroom. Examining the possible applications of IoT in education may be strongly aided by the knowledge and perspectives of professionals and experts. As a result, the present research concentrated on looking at and evaluating the viewpoints that relevant experts shared on platform (X) via a variety of tweets. The present study takes a qualitative approach, analyzing a collection of expert tweets on IoT in education on platform X using qualitative content analysis. The primary themes of the study findings, the software-based and material-based enablers of IoT in education, indicate the key potentials of IoT in education. These consist of data, sensors, interactive devices, e-learning tools, network accessibility and communications, integrating developing technologies, and system administration. The enormous individual enablers of IoT in education also include sustainability, professional growth, planning, preparing the next generation, and upholding the safety of the learning environment. The study suggested that in order to handle the IoT, classrooms and the educational environment needed to be restructured. Additionally, human resources needed to be developed in order to keep up with the educational environment’s progress.

With the continuous development of education, the double reduction policy has gradually become the focus of educators. Especially for junior high school mathematics classrooms, there is an indelible connection between whether students can learn mathematics well and whether classroom teaching is effective, and the effectiveness of the classroom is often related to factors such as students' stress level. Therefore, as a qualified junior high school mathematics teacher, it is necessary to carefully do pre class work in daily teaching and research practice, design different forms of teaching and research plans under the double reduction policy, establish a unique learning atmosphere for students, and improve their core mathematical qualities. This article proposes corresponding solutions and strategies on how to carry out mathematics classroom teaching under the double reduction policy.

 Distance education (DE) has recently become a noteworthy study topic in the public education system. From the Web of Science database, 5719 articles discussing DE and published in the period of 2011–2023 were acquired. By analyzing the overall characteristics, co-citation, and keyword co-occurrence of the selected articles, which utilized Cite Space software, the history of DE could be systematically grasped, thereby reasonably predict the emphases of future development. We found that the number of papers relevant to DE had been rapidly growing since 2018. USA, China, and Turkey are the top three countries where most authors or teams were located. The map of keyword cooccurrence showed that the previous DE research mainly focused on telelearning, adult learning, and distributed learning environment. The recent burst words emerging are used to determine that distance education will continue to be studied in the field with high explosive keywords such as visual tracking, technology acceptance model, and user interface. This will provide suggestions and directions for the development of distance education.

Purpose: This research aims to explore the phenomenon of job-hopping in the engineering sector in Penang, Malaysia, focusing on how factors like positive work culture, compensation and benefits, and job satisfaction influence an engineer’s propensity to frequently change jobs. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design, targeting 200 engineers in Penang. It was grounded in Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory. Data collection was conducted using online questionnaires, which were adaptations of instruments used in previous research. Statistical analysis, including Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression, was performed using SPSS software. Findings: The Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant negative relationships between positive work culture, compensation and benefits, job satisfaction, and the tendency to job-hop. However, in the regression analysis, only job satisfaction emerged as a significant predictor of job-hopping behavior. This finding suggests that while factors like work culture and compensation/benefits contribute to the overall work environment, they do not primarily drive job mobility among engineers in this region. The study indicates that job satisfaction plays a more crucial role in influencing engineers’ decisions to change jobs frequently. Conclusion: The study enriches the field of organizational psychology by applying Herzberg’s theory to understand job-hopping behavior in the engineering sector. For organizations in Penang, the findings highlight the importance of enhancing job satisfaction as a strategy for reducing job-hopping and retaining talent. This insight is valuable for both academic research and practical application in the industry, emphasizing the critical role of job satisfaction in curbing job-hopping tendencies within the engineering field.