The study of social cognition involves the attribution of states of mind to humans, as well as, quite recently, to nonhuman creatures, like God. Some studies support the role of social cognition in religious beliefs, whereas others ascribe religious beliefs to an ontological knowledge bias. The present study compares these distinct approaches in…

The "summer learning effect" (SLE) is described as a stall or drop in achievement over summer, especially in schools serving poor or "minority" communities. There has been little research in Europe on the effect, and research internationally has primarily focused on the effect in reading, with minimal focus on writing. This…

In general engineering studies focus on the technical skills in their own discipline. However, in their subsequent industrial careers, a significant portion of their time needs to be devoted to non-technical skills. In addition, in an increasingly globalised world collaboration in teams across cultures and disciplines is paramount to the creation…

An interdisciplinary undergraduate research program with international summer fieldwork at Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles trains undergraduates in research methodologies (cancer laboratory techniques, cross-cultural survey research, and policy analysis); collects fieldwork data in global settings and the United States; and compares,…

The study described here is a longitudinal qualitative case study conducted on a mathematics pre-service teaching program at a university in Southeast Asia. The university program of study required all pre-service teachers of mathematics to be involved in an alternative form of field experience in which the pre-service teachers would enact…

This paper presents the course of events of a five-day summer camp on environmental chemistry with high emphasis on chemical analysis. The annual camp was optional and open for students of all disciplines and levels. The duration of the summer camp was five and a half days in the Feldberg Lake District in northeast Germany (federal state of…

The authors draw on their own experiences as practitioners, one as a Biology and Agriculture teacher in Kenya, and the other as an educator in a summer science program serving African American youth in a city in the Midwestern United States. They document and analyze moments of language contestation and explore the use of the construct of…

Language assessment literacy (LAL) has become a critical topic in English language teaching since the late 1990s. Unfortunately, this is mainly due to the fact that so many English language teachers are not assessment literate. In other words, many English language teachers lack the knowledge and skills to write good language tests, evaluate the…

Product design and development (PDD) is a current topic of academic and industrial research. Emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as design thinking and creativity has been recently pulled together into the teaching and research on PDD. This paper looks into a multidisciplinary setting made up of three similar but independent PDD…

Research acknowledges the value of youths reading books that represent their lives and cultures, yet there is a growing need to better understand how youths of understudied groups respond to multicultural stories. This single-case study of a multilingual refugee adolescent from Burma (Myanmar) investigates how she draws from her lived experiences…

Many Western researchers have found that the gaps in the learning progress between students from different socioeconomic statuses primarily occur due to the accumulated effects of long summer vacations, rather than during the school years. However, it remains to be seen whether these findings can be cross-culturally applied to children in Taiwan.…

Previous studies have shown that study abroad has a positive effect on second language (L2) learning outcomes for students who spend at least a semester abroad. It is unclear, however, whether a short-term experience also has a measurable impact on L2 development. The present study examines the relationship between speaking proficiency gains made…

In this paper, we discuss the challenges of organizing a large REU program amalgamated from multiple funding sources, including diverse participants, mentors, and research projects. We detail the program's structure, activities, and recruitment, and we hope to demonstrate that the organization of this REU is not only beneficial to its…

The 21st century faculty member is expected to teach, engage the learner, absorb new discoveries and rely on different knowledge in the execution of duties. This calls for up-to-date skills for instruction, assessment, and identification of opportunities by faculty members to promote learning. This paper investigates the prospects of promoting…

Contexts that promote intensive second language (L2) experiences (typically, stay abroad, immersion, etc.) are reported to facilitate language development; yet, little is known about such programs when they are addressed to school-age learners in their home country. The present study examines the experiences of learners aged 11-13 years who…