Some research has investigated the big five personality dimensions among gifted individuals, but these individual studies have provided inconclusive results. The current meta-analysis examined the nature of the relationship between the big five dimensions and giftedness among individuals. Hedge's unbiased g was used as the effect size metric, and…

This study employs a uniquely multi-factorial, large-scale design to investigate baseline differences and the effects of a singular outdoor educational program on environmental attitudes, knowledge and behavior among primary and secondary school students educated in four different countries. Statistical modelling approaches employed country of…

This paper evaluates the effects of a high school curriculum reform on students' probability to enroll at university and to choose a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) major. The reform increased the difficulty of graduating from high school by increasing the instruction time in core subjects and by raising the graduation…

Games have been successfully used in educational settings for many years. Still, it is not known in detail which factors influence the use and effectiveness of educational games. The game environment, its technology, and other game mechanics are factors directly linked to the game itself. The player's experience with the subject of the game and/or…

Interventions in out-of-school settings have been shown in previous studies to effectively increase students' science knowledge and motivation, with mixed results on whether they are more effective than teaching at school. In this study, we compared an out-of-school setting in a reptile and amphibian zoo (Landau, Germany) with a sequence of…

Exemplary for social insects, "Temnothorax" ants allow for various hands-on investigations in biology classes. The aim of this study was to provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis of secondary school students' learning achievement after teaching units with ants lasting between one and six weeks. The questionnaires included…

This study investigates the effectiveness of political science classes in Germany. It analyzes whether or not 1,071 students in the 9th and 10th grade showed increases in knowledge after participating in the lesson series. This analysis focuses on the competence dimension "subject-specific content knowledge" as well as on the…

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the school-based "My Body and I" program which was designed to help girls and boys to cope better with inevitable pubertal body changes. Method: Using a pre-post treatment-control design with 25 treatment and 17 control classes from schools in Germany and France (484 boys, 485 girls;…

Until now, many efforts in the area of environmental education, intended to instill consciously responsible behaviour into the general public in Germany, have failed. Several of the available intervention studies aimed at improving environmental behaviour of pupils with classroom tuition were able to show positive results, but there were often…

Dysfunctions of the human mirror neuron system have been postulated to underlie some deficits in autism spectrum disorders including poor imitative performance and impaired social skills. Using three reaction time experiments addressing mirror neuron system functions under simple and complex conditions, we examined 20 adult autism spectrum…

Environmental education programs aiming to enhance children's environmental attitudes in a pro-environmental direction require background information, such as age and sex differences, to ensure appropriate design. We used the 2-MEV model with its domains "preservation" and "utilization" of nature to assess a four-day program at…

Interventions targeting students' perceived relevance of the learning content have been shown to effectively promote student motivation within science classes (e.g., Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009). Yet, further research is warranted to understand better how such interventions should be designed in order to be successfully implemented in the…

Several longitudinal studies and meta-analytic reviews have demonstrated that exposure to violent media is linked to aggression over time. However, evidence on effective interventions to reduce the use of violent media and promote critical viewing skills is limited. The current study examined the efficacy of an intervention designed to reduce the…

Objective: It is an open question whether working memory (WM) and response inhibition (RI) constitute one integral phenotype in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: The authors investigated 45 adult ADHD patients and 41 controls comparable for age, gender, intelligence, and education during a letter n-back and a stop-signal…

Only recently has cognitive load theory been applied in conceptual change approaches. To the authors' knowledge, theirs is the first study to examine the effects on students' cognitive load of an approach contrary to a refutation text design. The authors combined computer and textbook instruction with involving alternative conceptions (ACs) to…