Thru-hiking, when an individual hikes the entire distance of an extended trail, is a growing pastime for adventure enthusiasts. Resilience, mental toughness, and motivation are facilitators for completion of ultra-endurance activities; however, there is little research on these constructs in thru-hikers. The current study examined experiences of…

The authors of this report present selected findings from the first American Pre-K Teacher Survey, administered to public school-based pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers in March and April 2024. The authors provide new information about the well-being, pay, and working conditions of public school-based pre-K teachers. The authors compare pre-K…

This project investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teacher turnover in United States Catholic elementary and secondary schools. COVID-19 caused a significant disruption of the educational paradigm throughout the United States, fueling an extant teacher shortage. High turnover of educators and a simultaneous struggle to attract…

Background/purpose: The current study examined the possibility of utilising a practice-based learning strategy to enhance the motivation for job retention among student teachers. Materials/methods: These participants were randomly assigned to either the practice-based learning strategy (PBLS) group (44) or to the control group (45). The teachers'…

The ongoing debate over the positive effects of a growth mindset on student outcomes has called for investigations into its contextual moderators (see Yeager & Dweck in Am Psychol 75(9):1269--1284, 2020. 10.1037/amp0000794). This study examined the potential moderating role of parental support in the associations of a growth mindset with…

Establishing early academic momentum via credit accumulation is strongly associated with community college student success. Using data from one of the nation's largest and most racially diverse community college systems, our quasi-experimental study examined how different first-semester credit loads influenced persistence. For part-time students…

The purpose of this study was to address the role of social comparison in determining individual development by exploring the relationship of four types of social comparison with academic persistence-procrastination and subjective well-being among Chinese adolescents (n = 530, M[subscript age] = 14.59) from both variable- and person-centered…

This dissertation investigates the nuanced factors influencing teacher retention within Title I secondary schools, comparing the perceptions of teachers from traditional teacher preparation programs and alternatively certified pathways. Drawing upon Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, the study explores the psychological,…

We have previously described the reformed introductory physics course, collaborative learning through active sense-making in physics (CLASP), for bioscience students at a large public research one university (Original University) and presented evidence that the course was more successful and more equitable than the course it replaced by several…

The proliferation of Advanced Placement (AP) and Dual Enrollment taken by high school students expanded over the past few decades due concerted efforts to make the accelerated mechanisms more available to historically underrepresented groups and to reduce the cost of higher education. Supported by years of research correlating improved first-year…

Curricular analytics (CA) is a quantitative method that analyzes the sequence of courses (curriculum) that students in an undergraduate academic program must complete to fulfill the requirements of the program. The main hypothesis of CA is that the less complex a curriculum is, the more likely it is that students complete the program. This study…

The attribution of learning success or failure is crucial for students' learning and motivation. Effective attribution of their learning success or failure in the context of a small private online course (SPOC) could generate students' motivation toward learning success while an incorrect attribution would lead to a sense of helplessness. Based on…

Students need qualified and caring adults to guide their academic and socioemotional development. In the United States and abroad, experienced and novice educators are leaving the profession at an accelerated pace, and the pipeline of individuals enrolled in teacher preparation programs has declined. Framed under Maslow's theoretical framework of…

The primary purpose of this study was to compare academic variables from students participating in mixed teaching methods/course revitalization biology courses to those in traditional courses at two community colleges in Tennessee. A two-group comparison design using archived data was used, which evaluated differences in final grades, exam scores,…

This study explored the impact of MetaClassroom, a virtual immersive programming learning environment designed based on the three-dimensional learning progression (3DLP) concept, on students' multidimensional development. Utilizing a quasi-experimental research design, this study compared students' programming learning achievements (PLA),…