This dissertation critically examines grading practices within schools, tracing the evolution from traditional to modern approaches and highlighting the social dimensions and debates surrounding grading. Through a mixed-methods study spanning three empirical chapters, it explores students' and teachers' perceptions of grading practices, the impact…

This article leverages interview data from students of Chinese who enrolled at a UK university but pursued a period of study abroad in China, aiming to delve into their negotiation of language identities during their overseas experience. By employing Block's structural model in our discourse analysis, this research reveals the dynamic interplay…

Background: Evidence supports the effectiveness of shared book reading for promoting language and literacy development, but it is known that families experiencing vulnerability may have reduced access to books and are less likely to share books regularly at home. Community hubs often provide support to families experiencing vulnerability and may…

This qualitative phenomenological study explores the perceptions of school administrators, teachers, and parents regarding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching, learning, and students' social-emotional well-being within a public school district in South Louisiana. With evidence of significant learning loss and increased mental health…

This study examined the heterogeneity in temporal shifts of unrealistic optimism (UO) by analyzing students' grade expectation throughout a semester. UO was defined as the gap between students' estimated and current course grades, with a larger gap indicating higher UO. Final course grades were viewed as the outcome of UO. A total of 206…

The purpose of this study was to identify career decision groups based on the career decision trajectories of college students over a 3-year period, and to examine the factors influencing group classification and differences. To achieve this goal, a latent class growth analysis (LCGA) was conducted on longitudinal data collected from 867 college…

Science and personal experiences in some cases seem to be two different ways of knowledge justification. The current "post-truth" era is characterized by a rise of personal beliefs and justifications. In order to address these phenomena from a perspective of beliefs, several constructs may be considered: Beliefs about the utility of…

The study examines the influence of nudging on the successful studies of Higher education institutions (HEI's) students. Data from one of the typical countries of the Central European region (Czech Republic) is analyzed. The goal of the research was to find out how students accept individual forms of nudging. For this purpose, a questionnaire…

Effective teacher professional development is abundantly important for teacher learning and for meeting the needs of students. With many forms of professional development, districts seek to get high-quality professional development to stretch their school budgets. The purpose of this study was to examine the perception of members of regional…

Teacher leadership (TL) has become a popular topic in educational research whereby teachers have increasing responsibilities and voice outside of their classrooms. TL has been shown to be important for school reforms, teacher satisfaction, and student learning. The amount of research on TL has grown; however, it continues to be criticized for…

The low transfer-out and degree completion rates amongst community college students transferring to four-year institutions demonstrates an issue that leaders within higher education should seek to address. In investigating the challenges transfer students encounter, I discovered that undergraduate students transferring from a community college to…

Many technology acceptance models used in education were originally designed for general technologies and later adopted by education researchers. This study extends Davis' technology acceptance model to specifically evaluate educational technologies in higher education, focusing on virtual classrooms. Prior research informed the construction of…

This critical qualitative study focused on what are the factors that contribute to high learner performance at a public school in South Africa. Purposive sampling was used and the data was produced via interviews with the participants (the principal, ten teachers, five ex learners and two parents) as well as observations of various school…

Genetic research has a potentially increasing impact on educational practices. This study investigated attitudes towards the utility of genetic and environmental research in personalising education, with comparisons between parents/non-parents and educators/non-educators, as well as how these attitudes may relate to heritability ratings of…

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) applications have recently become more powerful and accessible. There has been much discussion about the potential impacts of AI on learning and sample applications. Yet, little research exists on how and to what extent AI is being used in educational contexts. Objective: The purpose of this study was to…