The main purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of prospective teachers' cognitive styles on learning approaches. It is aimed to define whether exist significance differences between defining prospective teachers' cognitive styles and learning approaches and demographic variables within the scope of the mean purpose. The study,…

Need for cognitive closure refers to the need to reach a precise knowledge instead of confusion and ambiguity on a subject and the desire to make a decision as soon as possible. The purpose of the present research is to adapt the "15-item version of the Need for Closure Scale" developed by Roets and Van Hiel to Turkish and testing the…

In the present study we aimed to examine the relationship between competitive anxiety, autonomic nervous system activity represented by Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and respiration, and performance in novice archers. We also interested in whether neuroticism may be a factor with a potential to moderate the link among anxiety, autonomic activity…

While states are no longer required to set up teacher evaluation systems based in significant part on student test scores, quite a few continue to use value-added (VAMs) or student growth percentile (SGP) models for that purpose. In this study, we analyzed three years of teacher data to illustrate the performance of teachers' median growth…

This research looks at the potential of peer interaction practices in improving narrative competence by analyzing the efficacy of peer learning on children's oral narrative productions. Gains on a macro-level (structure and coherence of the narrative) and a micro-level (cohesion of the narrative) were analyzed. Fifty-six primary school children…

Many scholars agree on the general theoretical structure of metacognition, which is what informed the development of the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI). Although self-report instruments such as the MAI suffer many threats to validity, they continue to be used in research and practice because of their convenience. With the MAI, studies…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed into law in 2015, explicitly prohibits the federal government from creating incentives to set national standards. The law represents a major departure from recent federal initiatives, such as Race to the Top, which beginning in 2009 encouraged the adoption of uniform content standards and expectations…

The percentage of students retaking college admissions tests is rising. Researchers and college admissions offices currently use a variety of methods for summarizing these multiple scores. Testing organizations such as ACT and the College Board, interested in validity evidence like correlations with first-year grade point average (FYGPA), often…

Distance learning is expanding rapidly in universities. While theoretical and qualitative literature stress the critical role of effective interpersonal interactions in motivating students and facilitating learning in online environments, quantitative evidence on the benefits of increased interpersonal interactions on student learning outcomes is…

In this study, the authors correlate proficiency rates of seventh-grade civics students to free and reduced-priced (FRPL) lunch status during the 2015-2016 school year at the school level, across all 348 Florida schools for which both statistics were applicable and available. The authors used simple linear regression to test the null hypothesis…

Pluralistic ignorance occurs when individuals misperceive a group norm and attempt to match the perceived--rather than actual--norm. Little is currently known about its role in the undergraduate classroom. The present research examined the pluralistic ignorance of studying behavior and its relationship with examination performance across four…

Motivation is a central variable in science education research. The Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ II) is an instrument designed to measure student motivation to learn science. Nearly all peer-reviewed studies (n = 26) of the SMQ II have used Classical Test Theory frameworks despite known limitations with this approach. The present study…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of critical thinking in International Baccalaureate (IB) classes in Japan. This study helped to determine the effects of using critical thinking methods in IB classes to determine to what extent critical thinking methods affect students' critical thinking skills, Japanese language skills,…

The purpose of the study was to measure the relationship between a beginning teacher's scores on the Environment portion of the Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model (TEAM) rubric, the number of discipline referrals generated by the teacher, and their students' growth indicated by the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS). This…

This dissertation is composed of three papers examining the predictors and consequences of increasing school segregation following widespread release from court ordered desegregation orders. Paper one investigates factors shaping districts' choices to pursue release from desegregation orders. This serves to provide context for papers two and…