The paper reports an empirical study on the relationship between middle school students' understanding of nature of science (NOS) and their metacognitive awareness. The reconceptualised family resemblance approach to the nature of science (RFN) (Erduran & Dagher, 2014; Kaya & Erduran, 2016) as a holistic framework that covers science as…

Bullying victimization is a very common, complex, and potentially damaging form of violence among children and adolescents. Bullying is defined as unwanted, aggressive behavior, which involves a real or perceived social power imbalance. One in 10 public schools reports at least one case of serious violent crime, such as aggressive bullying,…

There is growing evidence that school starting age impacts children's likelihood of receiving special education services, but less is known about variations in this effect. Using a regression discontinuity design, I found that the youngest students in a kindergarten cohort are 40% more likely (p < 0.001) to be placed in special education than…

Recent evidence suggests that Chinese foreign language (FL) learners' positive emotional experiences are conveyed not only by the prevalent emotion of foreign language enjoyment (FLE), but also by the culture-specific emotion of foreign language peace of mind (FLPOM) which describes an inner state of peace and harmony. This study seeks to…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between middle school students' school burnout, problem-solving skills, peer relationships, and perceived school experiences and to determine the predictive power of perceived school experiences, problem-solving skills, and peer relationships on academic burnout. Method: The…

There is growing evidence that school starting age impacts children's likelihood of receiving special education services, but less is known about variations in this effect. Using a regression discontinuity design, I found that the youngest students in a kindergarten cohort are 40% more likely (p < 0.001) to be placed in special education than…

Background: Research and theoretical models of self-determination and self-concept claim that microsystem ecological factors have an influence and manifest a predictive role in the relationship between self-concept and self-determination. Knowing the mechanisms through which personal and contextual factors influence or predict the self-determined…

The aim of this study was to investigate factors that can predict collective efficacy in student work groups year 5 and 8 at compulsory school and to see if there are gender and year differences for efficacy beliefs and aspects of interdependence. A total of 283 completed questionnaires were analysed. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to…

Digital badges have long been assumed to possess motivational qualities that could encourage learners to engage with learning content. However, prior studies have found the effects of badges to be complex, differing by learner, type of badge, and potentially other factors. Qualitative reports suggest that individuals' perceptions of digital badges…

This study investigated gender disparities in students' science motivational beliefs, conceptualized as self-concept and intrinsic value, from Grades 4 to 8 in 22 countries. The gender-specific relation between science motivational beliefs and achievement was also scrutinized. Data from the 2011 and 2015 national cohorts of the Trends in…

The number of children who are obese and overweight continues as a public health challenge despite decades of research. The purpose of this article is to describe trends in body mass index (BMI) percentile data collected from 11- to 14-year-old school children in 2008-2009 and 2015-2016 in rural Wisconsin. The BMI percentiles from 1,347 students…

The main purpose of this study is to broaden our understanding of the predictors of self-control. We test how two types of strain variables (bullying victimization and grade dissatisfaction) influence the level of self-control during adolescence using three-wave panel data collected from Korean adolescents ranging in age from 14 to 16. We…

The literature has documented the relationships between school burnout and mental health, academic achievement, and overall quality of life. Furthermore, hope and social support have been identified as important factors for coping with stress and have been found to be negatively related to undesirable emotional states. The present study aimed to…

Bullying bystanders' reactions are important for either stopping or perpetuating bullying behaviors. Given school-based bullying programs' focus on bystanders, understanding the associations between school-level factors and individual bystander responses can improve intervention efficacy. Data from 64,670 adolescents were used to examine bullying…

Most studies of school bullying in China are atheoretical. To fill the gap in the literature, we introduce criminological theories in an attempt to test propositions broadly derived from these perspectives in the study of physical bullying. Relying on data collected from 12 middle schools (Grades 7 to 9) in three cities with information on both…