Although searching for and discovering a purpose in life has been associated with a variety of psychological, physical, and academic benefits, the experience is relatively rare (Bronk, 2013). Only about one fifth of adolescents and one third of young adults report leading a life of purpose (Damon, 2008). Accordingly, we designed and tested 2 brief…

The current study employed an emergent theoretical model of teaching role identity and motivation to investigate the change in conception of and motivation for teaching in higher education of research graduate students who teach in the United States. Fifteen participants took a graduate-level seminar as part of a two-course teaching professional…

Based on positive psychology, self-determination theory and a perspective on teacher quality, this study proposes and examines a strength-based approach to teacher professional development. A mixed method pre-test/post-test design was adopted to study perceived outcomes of the approach for 93 teachers of six primary schools in the Netherlands and…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine pre-service teachers' perceptions of a culturally responsive, anti-bias curriculum. Additionally, this study explored how the use of culturally responsive course work influenced the participating pre-service teachers' perceptions. Responses to both pre and post-teaching open ended questions,…

In this exploratory scholarship of teaching and learning study, we describe the development, over time, of engagement in the discipline, the ability to use the sociological imagination and other learning, an identity as a sociologist, and a sense of being an autonomous learner in a group of sociology majors. We followed 18 students who completed…

This study investigates the development of the Reading Self-Concept and of the mechanisms underlying it, within a framework of a reading programme based on peer tutoring. The multiple methodological design adopted allowed for a quantitative approach which showed statistically significant changes in the Reading Self-Concept of those students who…

Multicultural awareness education is an important first step in preparing future teachers to become effective instructors of diverse classrooms. Whereas there are a variety of ways to develop multicultural awareness, we have found film to be an effective and exciting teaching tool. We applied film as a means of facilitating in-depth reflection and…

The purpose of this study was to develop a peer helping training program for university students in Turkey and to examine its effectiveness in improving the helping skills and self-growth of peer helpers. A pre-test, post-test, follow-up-test experimental design, involving a treatment and control group, was carried out with a total sample of 31…

The study examined the influences of reflection on the self-perception of empowerment in the workplace. The convenience sample consisted of non-management knowledge workers at a software company headquartered in the United States. A pretest, posttest control group design was used. The experimental group kept guided journals of their learning…