Boredom is one of the most pervasive and unpleasant emotions in school settings, yet it still remains a neglected and underappreciated research area (Daschmann, Goetz, and Stupnisky, 2011. "Testing the predictors of boredom at school: Development and validation of the precursors to boredom scales." "British Journal of Educational…

Evidence of outcomes of the early years is highly dependent on what is considered as an outcome, the curriculum and relationships children experience, and the research designs and methods used to ascertain the value of early childhood education. This article reports from an original study in New Zealand that used narrative inquiry to interview…

Background and Context: Although context-based teaching and learning has been investigated extensively in science education, little is known regarding the use of contexts for teaching CS in secondary education. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of contexts suitable for teaching algorithms and to investigate…

Career and technical education (CTE) -- also known as vocational or technical education -- offers students and young adults a clear, practical route from school to the workforce. It is short and affordable; has low barriers to entry; and directly applies to employers' needs -- often leading to good, in-demand jobs (Carnevale, Jayasundera &…

Many students who enter a STEM track in college move out of that track before graduation (National Science Foundation, 2018). The purpose of this study was to assess whether there was a difference in STEM-related major persistence for population proportions of students actively involved in the Science Scholars program and those who were…

This dissertation argues that the college writing curriculum -- and indeed any educational program -- would benefit from an emphasis on human wellness and the arts. Wellness consists of one's emotional, social, spiritual, physical, intellectual, and vocational well-being. Additionally, students' environmental circumstances, like home life,…

Numerous reports focus on why girls and women do not pursue and persist in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) study or careers, and how to influence their Interest. Since human affects, like Interest, are ever-changing, multi-dimensional, and connected constructs, their study is difficult. Some researchers, including myself,…

To characterize the professional interests, motivations, aspirations and demographics of chemical engineering (CHE) students, we surveyed almost 600 sophomores and seniors at Georgia Tech during the 1996-1997 and 2018-2019 academic years. Our objective was to study the evolution over two decades of: influences on student decision to study CHE,…

Recent calls by transition researchers in postsecondary transition have advocated for new approaches to transition services focused on career design, which uses career-related experiences based on a person's interests to develop goal setting and problem-solving abilities. Youth and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who often have…

The needs and interests of online learners can be difficult to assess. Large, self-paced, open courses attract learners from different locations, ethnicities, and educational backgrounds. It is critical that instructors and institutions understand the needs and interests of their learners so that curriculum and pedagogy can evolve. In this paper…

Background: Collaborative computer simulations are available on some online platforms which support students at distributed locations to synchronously collaborate on the simulations to learn sciences. However, how students collaborate with each other in collaborative simulations is not clear. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate…

This study explores Saudi students' perceptions of their motivation to learn Mathematics using metacognitive strategies. Data were collected using a qualitative case study design among 13 Saudi secondary school students. The findings from the data collected through semi-structured interviews show that several motives encourage the participants to…

Self-regulated learning (SRL) promotes both current and future academic achievement and must be adapted based on task demands. To develop SRL, gifted students must have opportunities to experience optimally challenging tasks. Gifted students' past experiences (or lack thereof) with challenging tasks affects how they approach current tasks, which…

This qualitative descriptive study described elementary teachers' perceptions of the influence of a technology-based STEM Tier 1 instructional program training on their curriculum and female students in a school district. It was unknown if a teacher's perception and understanding of STEM concepts determine an elementary female student's interest…

Malleable, noncognitive psychological factors such as grit and resilience are seen as critical for academic success and have garnered significant attention from researchers and policymakers. However, there is nontrivial overlap between these two constructs, and it remains unclear whether grit, resilience, or both, constitute the optimal target(s)…