Examines curricular and pedagogical issues relevant to stressed urban high school environments, proposing coping strategies for physical educators. The article summarizes issues affecting such environments, noting their influence on student participation; provides examples of important content and teaching decisions when working with urban…

Investigated Mexican American high school students' perceptions of multiculturalism, noting whether perceptions affected academic achievement, intention to graduate, and postsecondary educational aspirations. Surveyed, interviewed, and observed students and staff at schools with low and high Hispanic dropout rates. Students who considered their…

Investigated the explicit and implicit ways in which fifth-grade teachers communicated an emphasis on mastery and performance goal orientations to their students. Found that teachers perceived as having a high mastery focus spoke about learning as an active process, and this was reflected in their practices, which emphasized formal assessments,…

Looks at books about college admissions, and at the unexamined prejudices fueling the elite college admissions frenzy. Powerful emotions, of students and parents alike, get mixed up in the college admissions process. Class anxiety, culture wars and other prejudices, not academic standing or faculty credentials, all contribute to making some…

There is a general belief that Lebanese-background students in Australia do not usually perform well at school. This study examines the school achievement of Lebanese-background students and the major motivational factors related to their achievement. A total of 271 Year Nine students (117 Lebanese-background and 154 non-Lebanese background) in…

The National Research Council (1996), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1993) and the National Science Teachers Association (2004) all posit that quality science instruction for all students is imperative in promoting scientific literacy that extends into adulthood. Hands-on, inquiry based experiences are effective means of…

In this article, the author talks about Moore Square Museums Magnet Middle School, where educators are blending technology more heavily into the teaching of arts and music than most other schools. Arts teachers are integrating computer software with traditional instruction in dance, music, theater and visual arts to spark students' creativity. It…

This study investigates how 17 affective factors are related to Japanese second language (L2) reading comprehension and "kanji" knowledge test scores of 43 university students in advanced Japanese courses. Major findings are that: a) reading comprehension ability and "kanji" knowledge have direct associations with…

Food preparation practices have changed dramatically in the past fifty years. This study was designed to quantify food preparation knowledge and practices of college women, to assess the reasons why they do not prepare certain foods, and to determine the frequency of eating outside the home. Distinct food preparation ability emerged (high, medium,…

In Western countries, women and men, young and old, enroll in adult education for different reasons. This is even more the case in China. This study helps Shanghai program planners better appreciate learners by understanding how motivational orientations vary as a function of gender and age. The Chinese version of the Education Participation Scale…

The widespread use of student evaluations to rate faculty has raised the question of whether high student evaluations can be gained simply through the process of faculty giving higher grades to students, or whether learning of students is a critical factor in such evaluations. Four different models were tested which represented different…

The 2002 Fulbright team, led by Zheng Zhou of St. John's University, consisted of 12 professionals in the fields of education, counseling psychology, and school psychology. Spending one month visiting elementary schools, universities, governmental bodies, hospitals, and private schools throughout China, the Fulbright team had an opportunity to…

School attachment is a robust predictor of adjustment in children and youth. Previous research has demonstrated effects of school context on student attachment, but individual-level contributions have not been explored. Our study examined the role of affiliative orientation in school attachment and aggressive behavior in children and youth from…

This chapter addresses how critical choices in the math and science pipeline can be traced back to adolescents' self-concepts of abilities and values at the beginning of high school. (Contains 3 figures.)

Historical perspectives on science serve to humanize the sciences, increase student motivation, communicate academic content, and convey the nature of science. This paper briefly reviews pertinent literature regarding the history of science and narrates the author's experiences of incorporating historical perspectives in high school biology…