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Article History

Received: 15 March 2024

Accepted: 20 December 2024

First Online: 14 January 2025

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: No formal ethical approval was obtained for this study. It was not obtained because, according to West University of Timișoara’s ethical compliance guidelines for research and innovation projects, ethical review is not required for studies involving anonymized data. As stated in the guide: “Datele care au fost anonimizate nu se supun acestor reglementări.” (Page 10, WUT Research Ethics Guide)/ “Data that has been anonymized is not subject to these regulations.” The study adhered to these principles by ensuring all data were fully anonymized, participants’ confidentiality was protected, and their involvement was voluntary. Given the minimal risk posed by the study’s activities, ethical approval was unnecessary under these institutional guidelines.

: We integrated our research into standard educational practices, incorporating activities typical of economics education’s regular curriculum and teaching methods. The drawing exercises and discussions were designed to facilitate learning and engage students in reflective practice, recognizing these exercises as valuable educational tools. Before their participation, all students were comprehensively briefed on the purpose of the study, the nature of their involvement, and how their anonymized data would be used in academic research and publication. Verbal consent was obtained from each participant after ensuring they fully understood their voluntary participation and right to withdraw from the study without facing any consequences. To ensure student privacy, during online sessions, we took stringent measures to anonymize all personal data. Data anonymization protocols were employed for online interactions during the recording, storage, and analysis. Personal identifiers were removed, and anonymized codes were assigned to each participant to maintain confidentiality. All data were securely stored on encrypted servers to prevent unauthorized access. During the initial phase of the study, we implemented a thorough process to secure informed verbal consent, including clear explanations of the research objectives, participants’ roles, and the eventual use of their anonymized data. We ensured all participants were aware of their right to opt out of the study at any point without penalty, ensuring a complete understanding of the study’s scope and intentions. For online sessions, consent was recorded digitally, and participants were reminded of their right to withdraw at the beginning of each session. While verbal consent was sufficient for this study, we acknowledge that formal written consent, for data publication, would enhance ethical transparency. In future research, we will implement formal written consent procedures to strengthen ethical practices and provide additional protection for participant data.