Educators are aware of the benefits of service learning such as retention or application of course concepts. Students enrolled in courses with a service learning assignment may not be aware of the benefits or may not view the assignment as beneficiary. This study examined student perceptions of service learning to determine if students'…

Maintaining productive partnerships between families and schools is more complex when youth enter middle school. A systematic and inclusive understanding of the strategies parents use, youth want and need, and teachers' desire is needed to broaden our conceptualization and deepen our understanding of parental involvement in education. The authors…

Collegiate athletics coaches play a vital role in the lives of student-athletes and regularly interact with the members of their teams more than faculty given the nature of athletics practice schedules compared to academic class schedules. Although the primary purpose of university attendance at all universities is pursuit of academic degrees,…

Adopted persons face special challenges in the development of identity, as aspects of their histories may be unknown, making it difficult to construct a coherent narrative linking past, present, and future. Extensive literature on adjustment outcomes for adopted persons indicates an elevated risk for adjustment problems. In this study, a low-risk…

Students of color remain severely underrepresented in many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, including environmental fields. Although there is a growing body of research on predictors of selecting a STEM major, generally, much less is know about factors, especially at the program level, that predict the…

The purpose of this study was to identify if special education teachers' self-efficacy beliefs are impacted by student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. Specifically, this study focused on the self-efficacy of high school special education teachers in an urban setting. This was a correlational quantitative design…

Building upon self-regulated learning theories, we examined the nature of student writing goals and the relationship of these writing goals to revision alone and in combination with two other important sources of students' self-regulated revision--peer comments on their writing, and reflections for their own writing obtained from reviewing others'…

Given that maternal support promotes healthy social and emotional development in early childhood, it is important to understand the predictors of such support, especially during emotional challenges. In this study, mothers' dispositional distress reactivity (i.e., the tendency toward experiencing distress in response to children's negative…

Cognitive testing has become routine for well-designed surveys. However, the protocols for cognitive testing vary widely, and observers have been concerned that analysis of the results is not systematic, that results are not replicable, and that the bases for conclusions are not transparent. To address some of those concerns, in this study the…

Bullying is a significant problem in U.S. schools. Policies have been developed to reduce bullying, yet policy implementation by educators is an essential yet difficult and complex process. Few studies have investigated factors that act as barriers to or facilitators of bullying policy implementation and teacher protection of students. This study…

Much research has identified organic chemistry as an area of difficulty for learners. There is also much literature pertaining to the factors that contribute to learners' difficulties. This paper explores the intersections of teachers' and learners' perceptions of teaching and learning organic chemistry respectively. Understanding these nuances…

Emotions have been confirmed to be a critical component of the process of learning. In the online Community of Inquiry theoretical framework, and the recently suggested online Relationship of Inquiry framework, emotions are considered a subsection of social presence. In this study, the concept of emotional presence is examined. This examination…

Variations of the question, "How are you doing in school?" are among those most frequently posed by adults to students (Reeves, 2004). Grades represent the primary source of that information; indeed, Olson (1995) called grades "one of the most sacred traditions in American education" (p. 24). There is so much trust in the…

Purpose: This paper documents and evaluates collaborative learning processes aimed at developing farmer's knowledge, skills and aspirations to use seasonal climate forecasting (SCF). Methodology: Thirteen workshops conducted in 2012 engaged over 200 stakeholders across Australian sugar production regions. Workshop design promoted participant…

Purpose: Although the relationship between leadership behaviors and team reflexivity has been investigated in prior research, little is known about the dimensions of reflective leadership or leadership behaviors that facilitate reflection in a group or organization. This paper aims to examine the interrelated characteristics of reflective…