Adolescence is a key developmental period for developing and strengthening brain circuits that underlie effective decision-making skills, which profoundly impact lifelong health and academic, professional, and economic achievement. But decision-making skills are learned rather than inherent. School presents an ideal environment for the direct…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the lived experience of administrators in developing school improvement plans. The outcome being sought was an informed framework to build the capacity of administrators to strategically plan for school improvement. The central research question for this study was the following: How do…

In higher education, fostering scientific literacy stands essential, especially in understanding and responding to natural disasters. This research investigates the scientific literacy levels among Physics Education students at State University in Surabaya, Indonesia, focusing on earthquake disaster mitigation. This study uses a qualitative…

This study addresses the measurement of high school students' epistemic knowledge associated with scientific experimentation (EKSE) which concerns "how" scientific experimentation generates knowledge and "why" that knowledge is justified. Based on philosophical, educational standards, and literature analyses, an EKSE construct…

Little is known about how grade 12 students with learning disabilities (LD) face the complex and emotional task of deciding what to do after high school. To expand on current research, we explored the experiences, emotions, and support of Canadian students with LD from the theoretical perspective of basic psychological needs (BPNs). We conducted a…

This research investigates students' decision-making and collaborative skills within the science teaching and learning process through integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Although collaborative skills and effective decisionmaking are vital in the 21st century, many students still lack proficiency in these…

Research has shown that there is a need to examine prospective teachers' development trajectories related to noticing expertise. An important content in the Spanish high school curriculum (16-18 years old) is the limit concept. Given the importance of this concept in the curriculum and the difficulties some prospective teachers have, developing…

Democracies expect citizens to engage actively in public life by making decisions about political issues that are frequently ambiguous, with strong moral and emotional implications, and often subject to misinformation and manipulation. Strong critical thinking (CT) appears therefore as a crucial component of a reflective democratic citizenship.…

This study investigated task contextualization as a means of assessing students' ability to apply their subject knowledge to new situations. Through analyzing 527 Functional Mathematics examination questions that claim to assess students' application skills, it developed a set of principles for embedding questions in context: deep…

This study examined the program effectiveness of Health Rocks!, a youth substance use prevention program. Merging data from 128,544 youth participants in 21 states between 2009 and 2021, this study compared self-reported levels of knowledge, skills, and internal and external assets before and after the program. Youth reported significant increases…

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a career psychoeducation program developed based on the social cognitive career theory in career decision self-efficacy and educational outcome expectations of eleventh grade students. The study used a quasi-experimental model with a pretest-posttest control group design. The experimental process of…

Effective career decision-making outcomes may depend on the type of motivation underlying career development. The purpose of this study was to analyze how autonomous and controlled motivation predict exploration behaviors and career indecision and in which degree the effect of motivation on indecision is mediated by career exploration…

Developments in science and technology enrich life in the 21st century. To cope with life in society, reflective judgment and decision-making abilities on both the individual and societal levels are needed. Schools must prepare the younger generations to become responsible citizens who are able to make reflective judgments. This study elaborates…

Middle school is about the growth, potential, and change of adolescents. Students at the middle school age level, generally ages 10 to 14, struggle with the dynamics of making the transitions from recess and active learning in elementary school to multiple teachers, bigger workloads and campuses, and larger student populations (Alexander et al.,…

This phenomenological study examined how eighth grade students in a privileged suburban community and school district understood their civic identities and saw their roles and responsibilities as citizens. Through analyzing artifacts the student participants generated in their eighth grade civics social studies class and conducting semi-structured…