The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) conducts the triennial Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a global yardstick for evaluating the quality, equity and efficiency of school systems. PISA regularly measures what 15-year-old students know and can do, and relates it to a wide range of aspects. For the…

The purposes of this study were to assess the effects of fractions intervention for students who are at risk for poor outcomes and to examine whether a component that combines self-regulated learning with growth-mindset instruction (SR-GM) provides added value for improving outcomes. At-risk students (N = 84) were randomly assigned to three…

The purposes of this study were to assess the effects of fractions intervention for students who are at-risk for poor outcomes and to examine whether a component that combines self-regulated learning with growth mindset instruction (SR-GM) provides added value for improving outcomes. At-risk students (N = 84) were randomly assigned to 3…

An emerging body of research has evaluated the role of growth mindset in educational achievement, yet little work has focused on the unique role of mindset to standardized reading outcomes. Our study presents four key outcomes in a sample of 195 fourth-grade students. First, we evaluated the dimensionality of general and reading-specific mindset…

The aim of the present study is to determine pre-service teachers' mental models related to basic astronomy concepts. The study was conducted using a survey method with 293 pre-service teachers from 4 different departments; physics education, science education, primary teacher education and early childhood education. An achievement test with…

In this study, the use of concept cartoons in a particle structure of matter unit was investigated using the flow map of 7th-grade students' academic achievement. The development of their cognitive structures and thoughts about concept cartoons was analyzed. 27 experimental and 27 control group students who were studying in the 7th grade…

An emerging body of research has evaluated the role of growth mindset in educational achievement, yet little work has focused on the unique role of mindset to standardized reading outcomes. Our study presents 4 key outcomes in a sample of 195 fourth-grade students. First, we evaluated the dimensionality of general and reading-specific mindset and…

By analysing the test data of 1029 British secondary school students' performance on 20 Programme for International Student Assessment English reading items through the generalised deterministic input, noisy "and" gate (G-DINA) model, the study conducted two investigations on exploring the relationships among the five reading…

Students often have difficulties understanding abstract physics concepts, such as solid friction. This study examines high school students' mental models of solid friction through a case study of 215 high school students in the ninth through twelfth grades. An achievement test with three open-ended questions was created, with questions limited to…

Informed understandings of nature of science and scientific inquiry are generally accepted goals of biology education. This article points out central features of scientific inquiry with relation to biology and the nature of science in general terms and focuses on the relationship of students' inquiry skills in biology and their beliefs on the…

This study examines the interaction effect of age in L2 attainment. It explores whether success in foreign language learning at early childhood grades varies depending on age. It also addresses the beliefs of foreign language teachers regarding the variables under review. Eighty-three 11 year-old language learners who started learning English at…

Purpose: This study had 2 principal aims: (a) to examine whether children who spoke Nonmainstream American English (NMAE) frequently in school at the end of kindergarten increased their production of Mainstream American English (MAE) forms by the end of first grade, and (b) to examine concurrent and predictive relations between children's NMAE use…

The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether students' meaningful causal thinking abilities vary with their academic achievement levels, reading comprehension abilities, and gender. The sample of the study consisted of 124 ninth grade students attending a secondary school in Adana City Seyhan District during 2008-2009 academic year.…

Investigated are three misconceptions of probability and the differential effect of two activity-based instructional units. Response categories (law of averages, law of small numbers, and availability) are identified. Treatment differences (evaluation or no evaluation) appear to influence subjects' interpretations of the information. (YP)

This study developed a hybrid of item response theory (IRT) models and latent class models, which combined the strengths of each type of model. The primary motivation for developing the new model is to describe characteristics of examinees' knowledge at the time of the examination. Hence, the application of the model lies mainly in so-called…