General Chemistry courses are often challenging for first-year college students preparing for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs. These courses are among the STEM gateway courses in which many students struggle to get through, or are weeded out. This is partly due to the use of ineffective study strategies such as…

School systems in PK-12 are being challenged to incorporate real-world learning into their curriculum to better prepare students for success after graduation (Karakas-Ozur & Duman, 2019). As high school organizations are beginning to apply authentic learning strategies, there is a gap in knowledge for implementation as much of the research has…

This study sought to evaluate the efficacy of service learning through the lens of faculty members, community partners, and student learning outcomes at a midsized community college in North Carolina. As a teaching tool integrating community service with instruction, service learning depends on the collaboration of multiple stakeholders and…

Achievement goal theory and thus, the empirical measures stemming from the research, are currently divided on two conceptual approaches, namely the reason versus aims-based models of achievement goals. The factor structure and predictive utility of goal constructs from the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Strategies (PALS) and the latest two versions…

Hobby activities can be viewed through the lens of informal, free-choice learning. A wide range of hobbies combine fun and learning-intensive practices, and can contribute to scientific literacy. Hobby learning involves clear goal orientation, persistence and effort, and often results in more richly and strongly connected knowledge; traits highly…

This study, based on experiential play methodology was used to explore student engagement while playing "Medal of Honor (2002)" and "Call of Duty (2003)". It identifies some of the key issues related to the use of video games and simulations during the training phase of game play. Research into the effects of gaming in education has been extremely…

In an era of new standards and emerging accountability systems, an understanding of the supports needed to aid teachers and students in making necessary transitions in mathematics teaching and learning is critical. Given the established research base demonstrating the importance of justification and reasoning in students' mathematics learning and…

This is an educational ethnography of collective informal learning and education in social movements based on five years of participant observation among Boston's New Majority from 2003-2009. The New Majority is a "movement of movements" and an organization of People of Color in Boston that seek to address an egregious obstacle to…

Self-regulated learning includes the use of a set of strategies for planning, monitoring, and self-evaluating students' efforts toward reaching specific learning goals. This study examined the extent to which explicit self-regulated learning strategy instruction impacted regular eighth grade students' learning behaviors and mathematics…

Goal theory postulates that learners have both academic and social reasons for pursuing academic outcomes. In domain-learning theory, the development of expertise is domain specific and is a progressive learning process that is characterized by the interplay of knowledge, interest, and strategic processing. This study integrated goal theory and…

First-year students experience academic, social, and emotional adjustments as they transition to college. First-year experience courses support students in this transitional phase by helping them integrate into the campus environment and by teaching them college-appropriate learning strategies. This study explored the role that participation in a…