While interest pursuits are widely recognized as being inherently contextual, what this contextuality entails for different interests has not been explored systematically. In this study, 410 adolescents reported on the temporal, epistemic, material, geographical, social, institutional, and cultural dimensions of 820 interest pursuits. Latent class…

In 2014, urban wildlife refuge managers throughout Southern California responded to a challenge issued by United States Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) leadership to connect the urban dwelling population in the region with wildlife and urban refuges. Five years later, the SoCal Urban Wildlife Refuge Project's reach and impact are significant.…

Interest is an important precursor to engaging the public in environmental and science learning. We used focus groups to explore ocean learning interests of inland residents of a coastal U.S. state, reasons for those interests, and differences between adults and children. We found adults and children generally had similar interests including…

This study was designed to test how well a commercial intervention with a highly feminized role model (Barbie) worked to improve pre-adolescent girls' interest and performance in computer science. Concurrently, this study examined how overtly feminist texts and images of real women would impact girls compared to the traditional highly feminized…

When schools swiftly transitioned to virtual learning, program partners across this established out-of-doors environmental education project were challenged to rethink and retool the learning experiences from place-based programs to virtual learning, as most Project-supported programs were delivered outside of the traditional classroom. Meeting…

The problem that this study investigated is whether a set of characteristics (gender, age, region, race/ethnicity, and path to licensure) predict the level of interest of principals in pursuing the superintendency. This quantitative, correlational study aimed to address this problem by investigating if demographic factors can predict K-12…

In a world in which individuals are judged on the basis of performance, parents can be lured into believing that their worth is measured by their child's achievements. Parenting is not a competition. This outdated mechanistic model fails to appreciate the unrepeatable, precious uniqueness of every child and every parent. Nothing is more important…

This study examined self-descriptions of high-performing students and other students and compared the descriptions of these two groups. The concept map, with the open-ended question "Who am I?," was completed by 133 high-performing students and 160 other students. The self-descriptions of these students were subdivided into eleven…

Mathematics achievement at school entry is the strongest predictor for eighth-grade performance, regardless of race, gender, or family socioeconomic status. Yet, California Latine children continue to lack in math proficiency, struggling with concepts such as knowledge of numbers, counting, and spatial and pattern skills development. Existing…

The aim of this study was to investigate the leisure constraints perceived by the university students according to the level of smartphone addiction. In the study, in order to determine the constraints faced by the participants Leisure Constraints Scale developed by Alexandris and Carroll (1997), adapted to Turkish by Gürbüz, Öncü, and Emir (2012)…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience barriers to competitive integrated employment during their transition to adulthood. To better understand potential reasons for these barriers, we interviewed 10 young adults with ASD, ages 18-26, and their parents or guardians. We audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed…

Young children birth to 6-years of age and their families were each studied for 6 months to identify the everyday family and community activities that were sources of informal everyday learning opportunities. The participants included 115 children with identified disabilities or developmental delays and 91 children without disabilities or delays.…

Problematic Internet use (PIU) is one of the most notable of all Internet threats. Young people are one of the groups at particular risk of PIU. PIU has become a research and educational priority due to its scale and the accompanying shifts in the media pedagogy paradigm. PIU is also the subject of many discussions and raises many methodological…

Viewed from the perspective of an action verb, and not just as a position occupied by the elite few, positive leadership drives productivity, employee engagement, and performance. Specifically, the field of positive psychology has gained momentum. Its emphasis on personal well being, and constructs like hope, optimism, and a focus on awareness of…

Although the early behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder have been well characterized, many behaviors are also commonly observed in young children with other developmental delays and even in those with typical development. Therefore, consideration must be given to whether a child demonstrates sufficient autism spectrum disorder…