Instructors of a middle school gifted language arts class implemented a 30-day unit of study on mindfulness in order to help students learn techniques to alleviate stress, perfectionistic tendencies, and anxiety. Practicing mindfulness techniques, such as meditation, provides individuals with tools to understand the mind and body and encourages…

Background: Research has shown that reading motivation is correlated with achievement. Studying motivation in older students is particularly important as reading motivation declines over the course of elementary and middle school. However, current research largely fails to reflect the nuance and complexity of reading motivation, or its variation…

Spatial thinking is important for success in engineering. However, little is known about "how" students learn and apply spatial skills, particularly in kindergarten to Grade 12 engineering learning. The present study investigated the role of spatial thinking in engineering learning at a middle school summer camp. Participants were 26…

This study aims at: determining students motivation before being given a group guidance with self-regulation technique, determining students' motivation after being given a group counseling with self-regulation technique, generating a model of group counseling with self-regulation technique to improve motivation of learning, determining the…

Climate change encompasses a broad and complex set of concepts that is often challenging for students and educators. Using a learning progressions (LPs) knowledge system, we developed a LP that described student learning of climate change. In this exploratory study, we present findings from written assessments of climate change (n = 294) and…

In Yucatec Maya middle schools in the Yucatán, math scores are low and drop out rates are high. Although addressing larger social and economic causes may ameliorate these issues, improving math instruction may be a more immediate, feasible approach. This ethnographic, mixed-methods study explores community approaches to problem-solving relevant to…

Current education reform in both the United States and China promotes a reformed inquiry-based approach based on the constructivist learning theory. This study contributes to the research literature by exploring the relationship between reformed science teaching and students' creativity. Chinese education is often criticized for a lack of…

This study addresses the following questions: Does professional development (PD) designed to meet third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade teachers' pedagogical and content needs influence how teachers teach and engage with graphical devices found in social studies texts? If so, what effect does that instruction and engagement have on students'…

Today's students are growing up in a world of constant connectivity, instant information, and ever-changing technological advancements. The increasingly ubiquitous nature of mobile devices among K-12 students has led many to argue for and against the inclusion of these devices in K-12 classrooms. Arguments in favor cite instant access to…

The present study investigated 15 Year 4-6 classrooms in two multicultural schools in New Zealand to understand what opportunities students had to draw on their diverse experiences of texts. A mixed-methods approach was taken, including classroom observations and student interviews. Results suggested that lessons were characterised by a consistent…

Schools exist for the sole purpose of academic achievement, and within every school exists a unique culture that every student navigates and absorbs. It is reasonable to assume a student's environment and the expectations set forth in that environment may have an effect on their academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine the…

Technology integration in K-12 classrooms is usually teacher-centered and has insufficient impact on students' learning. The purpose of this project is to facilitate science teachers' use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as cognitive tools to shift their practices from teacher-centered methods to constructivist,…

The quality of teacher-student relationships greatly affects students' academic life. Students need to be recognized by their teacher. One way through which such need may be fulfilled is receiving strokes (teacher attention). In a broad sense, stroke is known to be a unit of human recognition (Berne, 1988). Accordingly, the current mixed-methods…

Many adolescent learners have difficulty understanding the relevance of mathematics for their lives. This problem is particularly pernicious among Black and Latino adolescents who often face cultural stigma that can affect their perceived value of mathematics. The present study used concurrent nested mixed methods to explore this issue in 419…

The purpose of this study was to characterize and compare 64 elementary science teachers' computer simulation use prior to and following professional development (PD) aligned with Innovation Adoption Theory. The PD highlighted computer simulation affordances that elementary teachers might find particularly useful. Qualitative and quantitative…