Background: Children's and young people's emotional wellbeing is in decline and models of good practice are needed to help schools address the needs of vulnerable pupils. Effectiveness studies have provided empirical evidence for school-based socio-emotional interventions but few examine process issues to explain procedures and mechanisms…

Several arguments have been put forward about the benefits of young people carrying out their own social science research in terms of empowering their voices and their participation. Much less attention has been paid to investigating the understandings young people develop about the research process itself. Seven twelve-year olds carried out…

The Khanya Maths and Science Club (KMSC) is an afterschool science/maths enrichment programme for learners in Grades 7-12 supported by postgraduate students and academic staff volunteers. This research seeks to explore the relationship between participating learners' attitude toward learning science and the characteristics of this afterschool…

This article describes and evaluates an 8-week photography workshop, FotoLab, conducted in Italy at an afterschool-tutoring program for students acquiring Italian as an additional language. Seventeen students, age 8-17 and originating from 9 countries, participated. Co-facilitated by three international educator-researchers, FotoLab's purpose was…

"Beyond Blackboards" is an inquiry-centered, after-school program designed to enhance middle school students' engagement with engineering through design-based experiences focused on the 21st Century Engineering Challenges. Set within a predominantly lowincome, majority-minority community, our study aims to investigate the impact of…

High-quality after-school programs devoted to science have the potential to enhance students' science knowledge and attitudes, which may impact their decisions about pursuing science-related careers. Because of the unique nature of these informal learning environments, an understanding of the relationships among aspects of students' content…

Though considerable research on student attitudes has been conducted in physical education, little information exists concerning student attitudes toward after-school physical activity programmes. This study assessed students' attitudes toward their after-school physical activity programme located in southwest Texas, USA. Participants included 158…

This study reports on an investigation into the impact of strategy-based English language instruction (SBELI) on the language proficiency of gifted learners. The participants were students who were identified as gifted and thus received additional out-of-school training for a few days a week in Adana Science and Arts Centre. Their ages ranged from…

Middle school is a critical period in the cognitive and academic development of young women, and a time when their performance and interest in science may decline. After school programs play a key role in engaging youth in learning by providing opportunities to increase health and wellness, set goals, and strategize problem solving. Skills…

Background: Asthma places a heavy burden on Chicago's schoolchildren, particularly in low-income, minority communities. Recently, our group developed a 10-week afterschool program, the Student Asthma Research Team (START), which successfully engaged high school youth in a Photovoice investigation of factors impacting their asthma at school and in…

This study aims to show how music technology mediated (or music software mediated) music teaching and learning can provide an effective pedagogy in music education. It also seeks to demonstrate that music technology mediated teaching is in accordance with socio-educational trends for both postmodern values and IT mediated learning. The new…

This longitudinal study explores the effects of an after-school, inquiry-based science intervention on improving low-achieving elementary school children's affective perceptions of learning science (APLS) and positive thinking. Thirty-nine low-achieving children nominated by their teachers attended a three-semester intervention and formed the…

The reading attainment of the 3,875 primary 4 Hong Kong primary school students participating in the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study ranked first among 49 countries and regions surveyed worldwide. Analysis of the association between (a) participating students' reading attainment and (b) responses to questionnaires completed…

The development of social capital in young people is positively associated with educational attainment, achievement, and psychosocial factors. Prior research has explored factors that contribute to social capital, such as offline social networks. To a lesser extent, studies have analyzed the relationship between online social networks and…

This study is about a community computing lab established by a U.S. Department of Commerce grant to bridge the Digital Divide in a rural Arizona American Indian community, a project called "Native Connection" (a pseudonym). This paper describes the process of integrating new literacies associated with a high-tech computer lab into the…