School performance is one of the most stable and heritable psychological characteristics. Notwithstanding, monozygotic twins (MZ), who have identical genotypes, differ in school performance. These MZ differences result from non-shared environments that do not contribute to the similarity within twin pairs. Because to date few non-shared…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether college students' attitudes toward group work could be influenced by thoughtful group project design. Undergraduate students (N = 123) in a lifespan human development course were assigned to groups and asked to create a smartphone app for a specific life stage. The authors utilized a convergent…

The Young People's Attitudes to Religious Diversity Project was established to compare the attitudes of students (13-to 15-years of age) educated within the state-maintained sector in church schools (Catholic, Anglican, joint Anglican and Catholic) and in schools without a religious foundation. Data provided by 5,402 students recruited from…

Recognition that the United Kingdom has increasingly become a multi-cultural and multi-faith society has raised questions about the place of church schools or schools with a religious character within the state-maintained sector. The issue was given particular focus by the Runnymede Trusts report "Right to divide? Faith schools and community…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a significant difference between the perceived dispositions in pre-service teachers in urban settings versus non-urban settings. It was also the intent of this study to describe the change in perceived dispositions throughout pre-service teachers' internship experiences. Graduate…

In 1999, things were dismal at Lebanon, Pennsylvania's Harding Elementary School. Many kids in this former coal town started at a disadvantage and never seemed to catch up. They were bored with books about "frogs on logs," says then-new principal Cheryl Champion. Since they were not engaged, they acted out. Harding's classroom…

The "APA Educational Psychology Handbook" reflects the broad nature of the field today, with state-of-the-science reviews of the diverse critical theories driving research and practice; in-depth investigation of the range of individual differences and cultural/contextual factors that affect student achievement, motivation, and beliefs;…

Examines 5535 English female students between 13 and 15 years old for attitudes toward the safety of their environments. Accounts for individual personality differences. Finds that personality and rurality are significant predictors of how students see their local area. Females in rural areas hold more positive attitudes toward their environment.…

Several studies suggest that children who chronically underachieve are, like children with learning disorders, at risk for negative outcomes and are more likely to experience adjustment problems than are their typically developing peers. This study compares children's self-esteem, perceived competence, negative perfectionism and beliefs of peer…

Using data from a survey of more than 1,900 first-year students at a large research institution, this study applied J.L. Holland's theory of personality and environment to examine the ways in which students view diversity. Holland categories, individual characteristics such as race and gender and interactions with people of color before college…

This paper argues for an interdisciplinary approach to beliefs about language learning research, and suggests that current studies in this area do not go far enough to examine the extent to which stable factors, such as individual learner differences, account for the nature of beliefs. Next, it elucidates how cognitive and personality psychology…

An analysis of 100 Flemish high-school students' attitudes towards French and English (both "foreign" languages) revealed complex links between personality factors, gender, politicocultural identity, communicative behaviour and foreign language attitudes. Attitudes towards English were found to be much more positive than those towards French,…

This project has been directed towards the development of procedures for assessing children's curiosity. Better procedures are needed to reach one of the long-range goals of Center Program III: an understanding of the relationship of curiosity to academic achievement and other cognitive skills, styles and motives. This paper reviews briefly some…