Early Age Robotics (EAR) education has become extremely popular throughout the world. It has proven to be not only interesting and enjoyable, but also effective at helping even the youngest of children (aged 4-7) develop skills and reap educational benefits. But what about their families? Are parents as happy with EAR programs as are the children?…

Motivations-beliefs for learning and their relationship to instructional experiences are a poorly understood aspect of higher education. Notably, interest is an individual difference that both researchers and educators alike believe should be supported. However, this support is too often relegated to the craft of instruction. To be enhanced…

Various studies have examined how the study of economics affects students' views on economic phenomena, yet there is little evidence regarding its impact on teenagers. We study the effect of a recent curriculum reform introducing mandatory economic education on teenagers' attitudes towards economics in Southwest Germany. Our findings reveal that…

Using administrative data from nearly 270,000 transfer-intending students who began at 70 community colleges across three state systems, this paper seeks to identify a set of metrics that will be useful to community college leaders as they formatively assess their colleges' efforts to improve STEM transfer outcomes. We find that a relatively…

Educators and policymakers have continued to search for the ideal medium for gauging learning and teacher accountability. After nearly 50 years since the inception of assessments to prove minimum competency, many attempts have been made to reform the process and the assessment tool. With the current focus in education being on career and college…

We explored the impacts of a mathematics prerequisite on student success in Introductory Biology, focusing on students historically underserved in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Specifically, we studied Introductory Biology student outcomes 5 years before and 6 years after adding the prerequisite. Students who had not…

Among students and lecturers of Computer Science (CS)-related subjects, there is often anecdotal talk that Frustration Tolerance (FT) is a requirement for success in CS studies or that students would learn it during their studies. In order to relate the anecdotal perception and the psychological concept of FT and to explore the anecdotal…

Alevi students' longstanding discontentment regarding compulsory religious education has become an important human rights issue in Türkiye. Although many theologists, political scientists, and legal scholars have conducted research on this subject, studies addressing the issue through curriculum and teaching practices are limited. This study seeks…

The global outbreak of COVID-19 since January 2020 has forced the closure of schools and universities in over 180 countries to control the pandemic, affecting approximately 90% of students worldwide. Distance teaching has been adopted during school closures to suspend classes without suspending learning. Scholars have claimed that distance…

Many countries are trying to increase the recruitment to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) studies. Some have implemented curriculum reforms to this end, others may do so. Using experiences from curriculum reforms in Germany, the Netherlands and, in particular, Sweden, we consider a proposal from the Royal Society in England…

This dissertation investigates whether dual credit students' academic performance in subsequent university courses is comparable to that of non-dual-credit students. The study uses data from a Midwest regional public university over a ten-year period and employs propensity score matching and proportional odds ordinal logistic regression to create…

Globally, schooling continues to be a precarious space for gender and sexuality diverse (GSD) youth, where students are more likely to experience transphobic and homophobic violence at school than at home or in the general community. While there have been moves to provide learning about GSD in preservice teacher education, limited attention has…

The safety culture plays an important role in reducing deaths and injuries in many sectors and educational institutions in developing countries. In this study, it was aimed to determine the occupational health and safety (OHS) course, which is taught as a compulsory course in Istanbul Aydin University before taking the course at the beginning of…

Calculus is a stepping stone to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees and careers, but countless college students abandon their STEM ambitions after an encounter with calculus--or to avoid taking the intimidating course altogether. While traditional approaches have focused on prerequisite courses--which often repeat high…

Social work students are required to take research methods courses because research-informed practice and practice-informed research are essential to professional practice. However, these students are often reluctant to take a research course and can be difficult to engage in the classroom. We used a mixed methods survey-based design to evaluate…