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Article History

Received: 5 September 2025

Accepted: 4 November 2025

First Online: 6 December 2025

Declarations

:

: The authors confirm that the manuscript is their original work, and assistance from AI tools (Grammarly and ChatGPT) was only for the language editing purpose under the authors’ supervision, and all AI-assisted outputs were reviewed, verified, and approved by the authors.

: This research study was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines established at Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran. As per institutional policies, there was no mandate for IRB approval for this study as it falls under “minimal-risk educational research” and thus, formal ethical approval was exempted because the study involved non-sensitive data, ensured participant anonymity throughout all phases of research, and did not involve human experimentation in a manner that would require formal ethical approval under institutional or national guidelines. Instead, this research was conducted through voluntary participant consent, adhering to ethical principles in an educational context. The study involved non-invasive, survey-based data collection with informed consent obtained from all participants. However, all procedures adhered to the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and complied with the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) and its later amendments. Prior to participation, all individuals received detailed information about the study’s purpose, procedures, and their rights as participants. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. The consent process was initiated on January 27 and ended on June 2, 2025. Participants must complete the consent form before accessing the online open-ended questionnaire of the study. Particularly, the present study researchers presented an electronic consent form created in Google Forms to the participants. The consent form involved the statement “I hereby declare that I voluntarily participated in this study. I let the researchers use my responses as data, as long as my identity remains anonymous. In addition, the researchers guarantee that all information I provide for this study will be treated confidentially”, to which the participants were required to respond by selecting either “yes” (to consent) or “no” (to decline). All participants responded “yes” to the consent form, showing their consent to take part in the study.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.