Earth science concepts can be challenging for children to grasp due to their abstract nature. This study explores the potential of 3D computer animation as an engaging and effective medium to communicate various earth science processes to young learners. By creating age-appropriate, scientifically accurate visualizations of geological features and…

This study contributes to a developmental approach focusing on emotions as being of key significance in explaining the Happy Victimizer pattern (HV pattern) among adults. Based on findings from our own research on moral emotions within the Happy Victimizer paradigm, we claim that a purely cognitive approach to explain the HV is overly narrow.…

Teachers of year 0/1 students in English-medium schools in New Zealand (1896 schools) were invited to participate in a survey focussed on assessment of new entrant children's oral language and emergent literacy skills, with an estimated 21% response rate (N = 745). Teachers indicated using a variety of methods for assessing children's skills at…

The aim of the present study was to determine the factor structure of the Positive Life Assets Scale (PLAS), a new measure to identify both internal and external life assets among high school students in Thailand, and to further examine the usefulness of the PLAS for a comprehensive, developmental, and strengths-based school and community…

In China, the "2001 Kindergarten Education Guidelines (Trial)", or "New Outline", delineates what constitutes high-quality, developmentally appropriate practices in all early childhood education curriculum domains, including mathematics. The "New Outline" is known for advocating a child-centered, play-based approach…

This study investigated the perceived beliefs and reported practices of fourth-grade English teachers in primary (elementary) public schools in Turkey. Significantly, it aimed to examine the participating K-4 English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' beliefs about the developmentally appropriate and inappropriate practices, discover the…

The aim of this cross-sectional study is investigate to what extent acquainted prospective Turkish teachers are with qualified works of children's literature. A convenience sample of 146 university students studying at the Turkish teaching department at a university in the Central Black Sea Region completed a questionnaire to determine the…

Against the backdrop of growing international concern for a narrowing view of early literacy, this study was initiated to determine how teachers of four-year-olds view their task of fostering early literacy. This paper reports on the first steps to design and validate an instrument which captures teachers' perceptions of early literacy content…

Program designers develop a wide range of intervention programs to address the social challenges faced by children and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but it is not clear how those programs are perceived by families of youth with ASD and the extent to which those programs are accessed. To explore the perceptions of families of youth with…

The investigators compared the perceived attainment of developmental tasks by 181 German adolescents with hearing loss and 254 peers without hearing loss. The adolescents with hearing loss were attending special schools for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. On average, the two groups perceived similar levels of success across the assessed…

Research Findings: The present study involved using a questionnaire to investigate the mathematics teaching practices of 74 U.S. and 67 Chinese early childhood teachers. Quantitative and qualitative analyses yielded several key findings. First, U.S. teachers are less intentional in mathematics teaching than their Chinese counterparts.…

This practicum report describes a community college program developed for the purpose of increasing the awareness of early childhood personnel in a central Ontario (Canada) community concerning the benefits of developmentally appropriate practices. The need for the program arose from a discrepancy between the emphasis in community college courses…

This report presents the main findings of the first phase of an ongoing study on improving the quality of children's early learning in England and Wales. The purpose of the project is to investigate the ways in which early learning in group settings can be improved by raising the quality of the practice of those professionals who work with young…

This ongoing study is designed to examine the quality of early childhood education in England and Wales, identifying key aspects of professional ability crucial to the quality of children's learning. It also seeks to generate criteria for promoting the development of these aspects of professional ability and to develop consequent criteria for…