Despite the growing importance of intercultural education, literature is still lacking in related research with young learners. This study reports on a yearlong university-school collaborative research project that aimed to promote students' intercultural competence and critical bi-literacy skills through their exploration of the issue of…

This study aimed to determine students' knowledge levels related to specific astronomy concepts and the effect of a planetarium environment on teaching. The study sample included seventh-grade (12-13 years old) students. For this purpose, 240 students of various socioeconomic and cultural levels from six schools (two in the city center, two…

To demonstrate the significance of cultural crossings in Texas and how cultural exchanges can inform teachers and students in the areas of history, fine arts, geography, and social studies, the author constructed a Summer 2013 teacher workshop for Texas K-12 teachers through the Smithsonian Affiliated Institute of Texan Cultures. The author…

Numerous qualitative studies, mostly with English speaking Westerners, have shown the important role of storytelling and values in promoting resilience. However, this quantitative study helps fill the gaps in the research, by investigating the mediator effects of storytelling on values and resilience of American, German, Chinese, and Vietnamese…

The diverse range of academic, social and cultural challenges experienced by Asian students when studying at Western universities is well documented. This research involved a pre-departure curriculum designed to ease the intercultural transition and adjustment for Chinese international students to a new learning environment in Australia. Moving…

Despite the huge popularity of YouTube, there has been little research into the factors affecting educational applications of this social medium. This study attempts to predict and compare factors influencing YouTube acceptance among university students and educators in two very different cultures, Japan and the USA, applying the Unified Theory of…

Extensive support for the seemingly paradoxical negative effects of school- and class-average achievement on academic self-concept (ASC)-the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE)--is based largely on secondary students in Western countries or on cross-cultural Program for International Student Assessment studies. There is little research testing the…

This empirical study investigates Chinese students' popular music preferences in daily life and to what extent and in what ways they prefer learning popular music in school in Shanghai, China. Data were drawn from questionnaires completed by 1,730 secondary students (aged 12-17) and interviews with 60 students from 10 secondary schools, between…

The private/personal sphere is perceived to be a channel of empowerment that fosters processes of acknowledgment and recognition during encounters between participants from different cultural groups. Drawing on ethnographic research at an inter-cultural program that offered a space for engagement for Palestinian and Jewish educational trainees',…

The aim here is to describe and discuss how different cultural meanings, offered in education, can contribute to unjust cultural relations such as othering and xenophobia. By analysing the cultural and discursive content in curricula using a (neo)pragmatic curriculum theory research method, dominating ideas, values and discourses between 1948 and…

In many ways, mathematics classrooms in Finland and Sweden are very similar to what would be considered traditional classrooms in the United States. Classes begin with checking homework and questions, followed by the teacher giving instruction in the new material, and end with students working on their new assignment. There are also interesting…

High rates of health problems have been reported among undergraduate students, with increased stress levels among college undergraduates in the United States in several fields of study. Academic life stresses are believed to play an important role in the health of students, which may affect their learning abilities and educational performance on…

This comparative case study (based on observational, interview, and picture-sort data) examines how teachers and students talk about cultural, linguistic, racial, and socioeconomic difference in two elementary Spanish-English two-way immersion programs. In addition, I analyze how those discourses are associated with both contextual conditions and…

The increasing population of minority students in higher education in the United States makes it relevant to focus on the issue of how to improve current educational philosophies, instruction and curriculum design, investment, and organization to meet the needs of minority students. A "teaching gap" between minority students' learning…

Education systems are crucial social and cultural apparatuses. They are designed to homogenize at least to a large extent the discourses and praxis of the citizens of a nation by channelling them as much as possible through a unified educational system. However, in ethnically and culturally diversified societies, these homogenizing social…