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ChatGPT could allow students to plagiarize the content of their coursework with little risk of detection. Little is known about undergraduate willingness to use AI tools. In this study, psychology undergraduates (N = 160) from the United Kingdom, indicated their willingness to use, and history of using, ChatGPT to write university assignments. Almost a third (32%) indicated that they would use such tools; 15% indicated that they had used them already. Neither personality (conscientiousness, agreeableness, Machiavellianism, narcissism), academic performance, nor study skills self-efficacy could predict future use of AI tools. A novel Degree Apathy Scale was the only significant predictor. Willingness to use AI tools was greater when the risk of getting caught was low, and punishment was light, particularly for those high in degree apathy. Findings suggest that degree apathy is a key risk factor in academic misconduct. Wider research and pedagogical applications of degree apathy are discussed. • Thirty-two percent of students surveyed reported that they would use ChatGPT on future academic assignments. • Future use of AI tools was significantly predicted by a new Degree Apathy Scale. • Big Five and Dark Triad scores were not significant predictors, nor was previous academic performance. • Likelihood of cheating using ChatGPT was reduced with increasing risk of detection or severity of punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academics have a duty towards peers and scholars alike to engage in research work and to publish their findings. This also assists in establishing personal academic success as well as the attainment of research grants. In the past, authors used to publish their research articles for free but access to these articles was restricted to subscription users only. Recently, open access publishing has gained momentum, whereby such articles are made freely accessible online. However open access publishing comes with a price tag for the author through article processing charges. Open access may also question a journal's credibility within the academic world if improperly implemented. This is particularly so following the unsolicited bombardment of researchers' email accounts with invitations for submissions to predatory open access journals. For these reasons, authors needs to rigorously weigh the pros and cons of whether to choose a subscription based or an open access journal for publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of core academic vocabulary plays a major role in many gate keeping tests for higher education and is critical to successful academic performance. While researchers have described the linguistic characteristics of academic language use from a variety of perspectives, including the use of academic vocabulary, many of the investigations focus on the texts that students are exposed to or discuss how to teach those words. Yet, relatively few studies explore how students actually use these words in their scholarly papers. The goal of the present study is to investigate academic vocabulary use by non-native English speaker writers situated in a higher educational classroom setting. First, we explore relationships between the amount of academic vocabulary employed and the perceived quality of student writing. Second, we examine differences in the use of academic words across assignments, drafts, and levels of instruction. Results showed significant relationships between academic vocabulary use and essay scores in some text-types, and differences in the way academic vocabulary is used across text-types and levels of instruction, independent of the drafts. A closer analysis showed that rhetorical purposes have a strong impact on the amount of academic vocabulary used. Also, no difference between drafts calls for pedagogical considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare student performance on two proctored quizzes and one practice test taken in paper-based or computer-based testing mode using an equal number of algorithmic, conceptual, and definition questions to examine the effect of testing mode when students take multiple tests in class. Data were collected from 221 students enrolled in a general chemistry course at a Midwestern university. After learning the material in lecture, students completed two quizzes: Quiz 1 and Quiz 2. One quiz was delivered on paper and another quiz was taken on computer. Each quiz tested student understanding of different chemistry concepts and the quizzes were proctored on different days. Several days after Quiz 2, students took a practice test that tested the knowledge of Quiz 1 and Quiz 2 with different yet similar questions, and again, the testing mode of the practice test was either paper-and-pencil or computer. After each quiz and the practice test, students received feedback on their performance. Differences in performance between the quizzes and the practice test were measured with normalized gains and the differences between the normalized gains for each condition were analyzed using an Analysis of Variance. The results showed no significant testing mode effects among the four conditions overall, or for algorithmic, conceptual, or definition type of questions. Altogether, the results of the present study do not provide evidence to suggest that instructors need to be concerned about testing mode (paper versus computer) when designing and administering chemistry tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of computers to deliver course-related materials is rapidly expanding in most universities. Yet the effects of computer vs. printed delivery modes on students’ performance and motivation are not yet fully known. We compared the impacts of Web vs. paper to deliver practice quizzes that require information search in lecture notes. Hundred and twenty two undergraduate students used either a web site or printed documents to answer 18 mathematics questions during a tutored session. A revised Web site was designed based on ergonomic criteria, to test the hypothesis that improved usability would decrease time spent on the task, the number of pages consulted, and students’ perceived cognitive load. The group working with printed documents had the highest performance. Furthermore, students perceived the paper materials as less effortful to read, and expressed preference for printing lecture notes and questions. However, students appreciated having a Web site available. No differences were found between the two sites. We conclude that Web delivery imposed higher perceived cognitive load due to the need to read lengthy documents. We suggest possible ways to improve Web-based practice materials, such as simultaneous display of questions and lecture notes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Scientific data is an important strategic resource under the fourth research paradigm. With the increasing demand for scientific data, it has become a consensus in the academic community that scientific data reuse can bring value to scientific research. This paper elaborates the generation mechanism of scientific data reuse behavior, deeply analyzes the mechanism of scientific data reuse behavior on scientific research innovation performance, and the moderating effect of scientific data services on scientific data reuse behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analysed the relationships between paper and pencil speed of processing measures, inspection time and intelligence using confirmatory factor analysis in a sample of 200 secondary school students. Our results show a clear relationship between paper and pencil tests and crystallised intelligence. The relationships between inspection time and intelligence, however are less clear: inspection time is at least related to fluid intelligence and a perceptual speed factor. Paper and pencil measures were also strongly related to scholastic achievement. This is consistent with their high loading in crystallised intelligence. Paper and pencil measures could therefore be used to predict scholastic achievement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper explores the effect of own and peer attractiveness on various measures of academic performance. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we focus on high school students in the United States and exploit random variation within schools across cohorts in adolescents' physical and personality attractiveness as assessed by the interviewer. We find that for girls only own personality attractiveness boosts academic outcomes. For boys instead, both own physical and personality attractiveness positively affect performance and peer characteristics also matter. An increase in the fraction of physically attractive high school peers decreases boys' academic performance in later years. We show that this effect is driven by less physically mature boys and operates through a decrease in self-confidence. • We explore the effect of own and peer attractiveness on academic performance. • We exploit random variation within schools across cohorts using Add Health data. • For girls only own personality attractiveness boosts academic outcomes. • For boys both own and peer attractiveness matter. • Peer attractiveness negatively affects boys performance by lowering self-confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the selection mechanism underlying the association between overweight/obesity and educational aspirations of adolescents. This is a cross-sectional study based on a survey conducted in secondary schools in Spain in 2016. We estimate linear probability models to determine the association between adolescents' body mass index (BMI) and their expectations to obtain a university degree, as well as their school choices representing the most usual path towards higher studies. To address the potential endogeneity of BMI, we use the instrumental variables (IV) method. Additionally, we account for potential unobserved heterogeneity by including school fixed-effects and a wide set of individual and family characteristics in our analysis. Our results indicate that adolescents with a higher BMI have lower expectations to obtain a university degree and are less likely to enrol in high school with the intention to pursue higher education in the future. The estimated effect is quite sizable and statistically significant only for girls. We estimate that a five-unit increase in BMI (e.g., the change between healthy weight and overweight) reduces girls' expectations to complete higher education by 19 percentage points and odds of enrolling in high school (vs. vocational training) by 21 percentage points. We provide empirical evidence supporting the selection hypothesis behind the relationship between BMI and adolescents' educational aspirations. That is, unhealthy weight in adolescence is associated with poorer aspirations for further education. Lower educational aspirations during adolescence can lead to lower academic achievement, which in turn, may result in poorer health, labour market outcomes, and well-being during adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile payment presently leads the fintech market as an alternative tool for daily transactions. Mobile payment research has remained limited to the field of technological research, but the need for research from a social science perspective has burgeoned. Therefore, it is paramount to suggest guidelines for future studies by identifying deficiencies that are yet to be discovered in the existing research. This paper first examines the research trends related to mobile payment by conducting an analysis of relevant literature from 2013 to 2023. Following that, it identifies the gap between the current state of academic research and the mobile payment research required by experts by using the analytic hierarchy process. The results indicate that current research on mobile payment tends to focus on the field of business and utilizes user surveys to provide industrial implications, whereas experts demand policy studies in the field of finance that utilize a more diversified research approach. The findings suggest valuable implications for academic researchers, industries, and governments with respect to mobile payment solutions. • Mobile payment leads the fintech market as an alternative tool for daily transactions. • The need for mobile payment research from a social science perspective has burgeoned. • This paper examines the research trends by conducting an analysis of relevant literature from 2013 to 2023. • Current research tends to focus on the field of business and utilizes user surveys to provide industrial implications. • Experts demand policy studies in the field of finance that utilize a more diversified research approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, ubiquitous learning has been becoming an important learning style for college students. However, the current studies on ubiquitous learning mostly focus on aspects such as communication and data interaction methods, while ignoring students' academic emotions. In this paper, we propose an individual adaptive ubiquitous learning paradigm that focuses on college students' academic emotions. The paradigm collects and analyses students' academic emotions to grasp student's individual characteristics. Then, the adaptive planning and adjusting learning contents is beneficial for improving students' academic emotions and enhancing the ubiquitous learning effects, initiative and concentration. In this study, the 2-year-long comparative experiments and tracking analyses were conducted from four aspects: academic grades, average study hours in after-school spare time, academic emotions status and classroom participation. The experimental results show that the individual adaptive ubiquitous learning paradigm proposed in this paper has significant positive effects and impacts on college students' learning outcomes, initiative, engagement and academic emotions. • An individual adaptive ubiquitous learning paradigm considering the impact of academic emotions is proposed. • The paradigm focuses on academic emotions to adaptively adjust individual learning content. • Academic emotions analysis and adjustment algorithms are designed to improve learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In metadiscourse work, what may be called a 'marker' approach vastly outnumbers a 'move' approach. This has led to a research focus on small units of analysis, typically word-based, classifying for example the pronoun I as Self-mention. This paper argues that we also need to develop a 'move' approach in metadiscourse studies, involving a more contextualised analysis of the discourse functions that speakers/writers use metadiscourse to perform. To support such a development, an overview is given of existing functional taxonomies for academic discourse and a specific taxonomy is presented of metadiscursive functions. The taxonomy was originally developed based on academic lectures and student essays, but is further developed as applied to spoken student presentations. The second main contribution of the article is the analysis of student presentations. The material is culled from an MA-level English-language online teaching context and compiled into a corpus of 13 presentations (20,000 words and 169 min of presentation time). The qualitative focus of the study is on the taxonomy for how metadiscourse is performed. Quantitative findings regarding the distribution of different types of metadiscourse functions are also included. Despite the widespread practice of student presentations, they have received very little research attention, but the present study maps their key discourse functions. • Much research on metadiscourse has adopted a 'marker' rather than a 'move' approach. • The unit of meaning is restricted and typically word-based in the marker approach. • The unit of meaning is extended and typically rhetorical in the move approach • It is argued that more metadiscourse research adopting a move approach is needed • A taxonomy of metadiscourse functions/moves is applied to oral student presentations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the increasing competitiveness of matching into radiology residency programs in the U.S., especially for international medical graduates (IMGs), many IMGs opt to join research fellowships to boost their academic productivity and expand their research portfolios. This strategy helps them become as competitive as their national peers. This paper provides insights from the personal experience of a former international radiology research fellow who successfully utilized a fellowship to match into a radiology residency. It outlines a roadmap and strategic steps taken—from finding and preparing for the fellowship to maximizing its benefits by increasing publications and developing professional connections, ultimately securing a radiology residency, and maintaining ongoing collaboration with the research team after departure. • Finding a research position can be achieved by emailing research mentors directly or applying through employment websites. • Preparing for a fellowship involves creating a professional CV that lists academic achievements, prior research experiences, and USMLE scores. • During the first week of the fellowship, it is advisable to shadow a senior fellow to learn the nuances of the job. • Maximize academic productivity by taking initiative in multiple research projects especially retrospective studies. • Connections can be developed by presenting at conferences to meet leadership faculty and participating in clinical observerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs a mixed-methods design to investigate the supportive roles of the translanguaging practice, specifically the use of students' First Language (L1), and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses within the context of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in a Transnational Education (TNE) program in China. It involved collecting questionnaire responses from 268 undergraduate Chemical Engineering students and conducting 17 follow-up semi-structured interviews. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed students' academic language-related challenges and ESP course performance were two statistically significant predictors of their EMI academic success; academic linguistic challenges and students' L1 use attitudes emerged as significant indicators of their EMI learning self-efficacy. Qualitative data analysis further uncovered students' positive beliefs regarding the bridging effects of L1 use on facilitating their EMI learning and the foundational role of ESP courses in linguistic preparation. These empirical findings lead to significant pedagogical implications, aiming to scaffold effective EMI learning in the investigated context. ● Mixed-methods study explores the impacts of L1 use and ESP courses in a Chinese EMI Transnational Education (TNE) program from the student perspective. ● L1 use and ESP course performance are identified as significant predictors of self-efficacy and academic success in EMI learning, respectively. ● Students' positive perceptions highlight the bridging effects of L1 use. ● ESP courses are perceived as foundational to EMI learning, facilitating language and content mastery. ● Pedagogical recommendations are proposed for EMI policy and teaching practices in TNE programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first empirical attempt to understand language learner well-being in the context of heritage language (HL) learning. Adopting a positive psychology perspective, the research investigates the well-being experiences of Chinese heritage language (CHL) children to explore what flourishing means in HL learning. Data were collected from multimodal focus groups with 40 young CHL learners in the UK, involving a well-being exercise, a drawing activity, and semi-structured discussions. Following an appreciative inquiry approach, the findings indicate that HL learners' well-being revolves around "feeling good," "doing well," and "being connected," including six essential components: positive emotions, affirmative self, perceived competence, active engagement, supportive relations, and diasporic connections. By centring young learners' perspectives, we propose a multidimensional framework representing different aspects of their flourishing in the journey of HL development, which informs further theorisation of HL learner well-being as multifaceted, interconnected, and contextual. By shifting the emphasis from linguistic achievement to a more holistic approach that prioritises the socio-emotional wellness of HL learners, we also seek to instigate a "positive" turn in HL education which provides an intellectual basis for the design, implementation, and evaluation of future HL interventions with significant policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined the effects of scaffolding strategies instruction on EFL students' writing achievement, and its consistency in writing sub-skills. The study followed a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, and data were collected from 48 students in each comparison and experimental group. Results from paired-samples t -test confirmed a significant writing achievement score difference between the pretest and posttest for the experimental group (p =.001), but an insignificant difference for the comparison group (p =.426). Independent-sample t -test of post-test yielded a significant difference between the two groups favoring the experimental class (p =.001). The findings verified scaffolding teaching's feasibility for improving students' writing. Results from MANOVA proved writing sub-skills content, vocabulary, grammar, mechanics and organization jointly account for significant variance between comparison and experimental groups writing. Separate results of the variables revealed composing relevant content as the stronger predictor (F (1, 94) = 35.08, p =.001), but no mechanics' use disparity between the two groups, F (1, 94) =.42, p =.520. The findings verified the scaffolding strategies' substantial role in enhancing learners' overall writing achievement and all writing sub-skills except for mechanics. Results from the questionnaire showed participants' positive perceptions about scaffolding strategies instruction. Based on the findings, we recommend scaffolding strategies teaching for EFL students' writing improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the impact of peer personality on human capital formation. The paper studies the impact of peers' persistence, a personality trait reflecting perseverance in the face of challenges and setbacks, on student achievement. Exploiting student-classroom random assignments in middle schools in China, I find that having more persistent peers improves student achievement. I identify three mechanisms: (i) an increase in students' own persistence and self-disciplined behaviors, (ii) teachers exhibiting greater responsibility and patience, along with increased time spent on teaching preparation, and (iii) the formation of endogenous friendship networks characterized by academically successful peers and fewer disruptive peers, especially among students with similar levels of persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is playing an important role in the development of cars, smart homes and schools. Schools are using IoT technology to enhance student learning, digitize traditional learning and improve academic performance. IoT is rapidly replacing the traditional school system with a modern, smart and safe school system. Several modern education systems are presented in the literature. The difficulty of choosing a smart and safe school system while evaluating the respective merits of different school systems has long been a concern for educators. In this study we proposed a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) to address the selection Problem. To rank the different smart school systems and evaluate the value of the required parameter, two MCDM-based methods are used: Entropy and TOPSIS (Technique for Preference Ordering by Similarity to an Ideal Solution). Twelve beneficial features were considered that represent the fundamental positive characteristics required to create an intelligent education system. Ten different educational systems are considered as alternatives in order to carry out an evaluation. Entropy is used to measure the importance of each criterion and TOPSIS is used to rank the school systems. In this paper, we propose how the concepts of Entropy and TOPSIS can be used to address the challenge of selecting a safe and smart school system based on IoT. Our investigation selected the IoT-based school system that was found to be the smartest and safest out of a set of schools. Finally, we discuss the evaluation of the proposed research. • Review IoT applications in education and transform traditional schools into smart, secure systems. • Apply hybrid techniques to select a smart and secure school system. • Determine key components of IoT-based school systems via literature analysis. • Use entropy to measure criteria importance and TOPSIS for ranking alternatives. • Identify and prioritize a smart, secure school system in this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite several education policies related to the Sustainable Development Goals, educational inequalities persist at the primary school level in Cameroon. However, little is known on students' circumstances and efforts in an attempt to reduce these inequalities. The aim of this paper therefore is to analyse inequality of opportunity in Cameroon's primary education sector. Using the 2014 and 2019 PASEC databases, we decompose students' reading and mathematics test scores based on Shapley and non-parametric approaches to assess the role of household, school and environmental circumstances. Results show that inequality of opportunity contributes between 38.1 % and 46.3 % of total inequality for between 2014 and 2019 in test scores. Interestingly, school factors like school type, location, resources, and class size, have a bigger impact than students' family background. Policies to improve school conditions should focus on rural and under-resourced areas in terms of educational materials, while improving school inspections and reducing class sizes may be more effective in reducing educational inequalities. • Inequality of opportunity in reading decreases between 2014 and 2019. • Inequality of opportunity remains constant for both years in mathematics. • School factors contributes more to inequality than student background. • Child labour are equally responsible for poor learning performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the controversial literature on the nature, perceptions, causes, social contexts and consequences of school violence in Cameroon. This study adopts the process tracing method that is valuably instrumental in qualitative studies. On the causes of school violence, this study reveals that lack of parental guidance, abusive use of social media, sociocultural factors, poor working conditions of teachers, inadequate number of guidance counsellors in schools, lack of trained discipline masters/mistresses in security-related issues, and rigidity of the educational system to technological advancements constitute the main causes of school violence in Cameroon. On the consequences of school violence, the study reveals that school violence results to: (i) the disruption of the teaching-learning process, which impacts negatively on both the student and teacher's output, thereby leading to falling educational attainment rates, (ii) psychological, emotional and mental trauma, depression, frustration, perpetual disability and death of the victimized individual (learners, teachers, and school administrators), and this negatively impacts on the educational life of students, (iii) destruction of school property, thereby leading to huge financial burdens on the educational stakeholders, which inevitably weakens existing social ties among students, teachers, parents and the school administration, thereby making it difficult to foster peace within the school environment, (iv) social unrest, high crime wave, school dropout, and loss of lives, which generally constitute an impediment to socioeconomic development of the country. Contingent on these findings, it is apparent that fostering peaceful school environments through the eradication of school violence requires the joint efforts of all education stakeholders (parents, teachers, students, school administrators and educational policymakers). Consequently, there is need for the creation of a National Violence Prevention Council (NVPC) in Cameroon. Besides, several preventive measures for practical policy implications are discussed in the context of this study. • Exploring the nature, causes and consequences of school-based violence. • Need to create a national violence prevention council. • The process tracing methodology is adopted. • Violence is observed to result from direct, cultural and structural sources. • Violence negatively impact academic performance, increasing financial burden on stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses a theoretical perspective known as organizational institutionalism to explain the higher test scores observed among private school students in Nepal. We argue that the differing "institutional charters" of public and private schools in Nepal result in different forms of school governance, external monitoring, and instructional practice in public and private schools and that these organizational features of schooling affect students' learning outcomes. Empirical analyses presented in the paper show that public and private schools in Nepal do show expected differences in school governance, external monitoring, and instructional practice, but that only the instructional practice variable positively affects student achievement. • Public and private schools in Nepal differed in organizational characteristics. • Private schools showed more unitary governance than public schools. • Private schools were subject to less external monitoring than public schools. • Private schools showed higher quality of instruction than public schools. • Instructional quality in schools was associated with student achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although feedback is consistently shown to have a positive effect on student achievement, there is also large heterogeneity in effect based on a variety of factors including how teachers use it in the classroom. Understanding how teachers use feedback as part of their content area literacy instruction in inclusive middle school social studies classrooms is therefore a worthy object of investigation. This paper applies an explanatory-sequential mixed-methods design to an existing dataset. We leverage this dataset to first understand whether teachers' feedback use improved students' ability to read social studies texts with understanding and acquire social studies content knowledge from text. It then characterizes the feedback teachers used and draws conclusions on how feedback's form may have influenced its effect. Quantitative analysis included 8865 min of audio recorded classroom instruction from 28 teachers in the United States. Additionally, social studies knowledge acquisition and reading comprehension achievement measures were collected from 893 students. Qualitative analysis included 37 transcripts of audio recorded lessons (38–65 min each) from five randomly selected teachers. Quantitative analysis preceded qualitative. Quantitative analyses included coding of all 8865 min to determine presence of feedback found effective by Hattie and Timperley (2007). This coding was used in a fixed effects model to investigate the effect teacher feedback use had on student reading comprehension and knowledge acquisition outcomes. Qualitative analysis included a collective case study of patterns of feedback use. Feedback did not have a substantial association with scores on the content knowledge or reading comprehension measures. Teachers' feedback patterns suggest they frequently missed opportunities to help students understand goals and self-regulate their behavior as they moved toward them. The ineffective forms of feedback displayed by teachers likely reduced feedback's effect on student outcomes. • Teachers primarily lectured and used formative assessment without feedback. • This assessment was not effective for helping students learn content material from text. • Use of small groups and active engagement in social learning may improve outcomes. • Professional development should encourage peer-to-peer feedback, how to monitor progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is considered an important skill for not only academic achievement, but also second language (L2) development. Proficient L2 speakers often display more developed SRL skills than novices, and it has been shown that SRL instruction can improve L2 learning results. In Japan, the context of this paper, little research had been done on SRL in online L2 learning environments prior to the emergency remote teaching (ERT) period during COVID-19, and the effects of that period are still forthcoming. This study aims to fill the gap by conducting a factor analysis of the SRL of 498 EFL learners across 12 Japanese universities at the end of the first year of ERT in 2021. The results from exploratory factor analysis (EFA) indicated that four factors (goal setting, task strategies, environmental structuring, and classmate communication) were important with classmate communication being a new combined factor of help seeking and self-evaluation. Additional analysis based on prior online learning experience indicated that experience played a role in SRL in online L2 learning contexts. These findings suggest that instruction of SRL and carefully cultivated classroom environments could be beneficial for online L2 learning success. • EFA revealed four factors for SRL in online L2 learning: goal setting, task strategies, environmental structuring, and classmate communication. • Classmate communication was a new factor, combining self-evaluation and help seeking. • Prior online learning experience has an impact on the online SRL factorial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare neurogenetic syndrome that results in significant challenges in the school setting, often requiring a myriad of academic, social-emotional, and behavioral supports to maintain health and safety and academic success. This paper provides a primer for school psychologists, introducing the physiological, educational, and behavioral differences experienced by children with PWS. As the symptoms of PWS are widespread, the impacts of common physical and neurological differences on specific learning abilities, adaptive skills, and overall functioning in the classroom setting are discussed in detail. While PWS is a spectrum, and each child will experience symptoms and challenges differently, this article aims to provide a foundation for the development and facilitation of support services to assist educators in not only maintaining the health and safety of their students with PWS, but also in capitalizing on their strengths, and building a plan to help them succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caste is a unique marker of social stratification in India. There are significant eco- nomic inequalities and considerable disparities in educational achievements between historically disadvantaged caste groups and Others. Unequal investments in their chil- dren's human capital by caste can perpetuate income inequalities and reproduce class differences between caste groups. This paper analyses caste-based disparities in house- hold expenditure on children's school education using nationally representative social expenditure data on education from 2007–08 and 2017–18 in India. The paper uses a recentered influence function (RIF) based decomposition analysis to pinpoint the key factors underpinning the disparity in private educational expenditure between disadvantaged caste groups and Others. Further, to overcome the problem of heterogeneity of data the study also employs propensity score matching (PSM) as robustness check for the decomposition analysis. The findings from decomposition and matching approaches reveal that differences in endowments, specifically income differences, between caste groups explain most of the caste-based gap in children's human capital investments. The study has implications for public policy to address educational and economic disparities between disadvantaged caste groups (ST, SC and OBC) and Others in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes multiple factors from current university students' high school experiences, including demographic, educational, and economic factors, and current standing and grade point average (GPA), to evaluate the students' information literacy skills associated with a 1000 level course on information literacy which is part of the university's general education requirement. The pre-test indicates that students lack sufficient skills needed to do college-level research. Results of regression analyses demonstrate that only current university GPA and standardized test scores have any influence on information literacy test scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of the introduction of fiber broadband in North Carolina, through the lens of student achievement. I link granular data on new fiber construction and advertised download speeds with administrative test score data and local labor market data. Exploiting variation in fiber availability at the census block group level, I implement a difference-in-differences design and find modest effects on educational outcomes, roughly equivalent to lowering class sizes by one student. I show fiber increases local employment and search intensity for supplementary educational materials. Last, I show that increased competition from fiber providers drives quality improvements in other available technology. • Fiber broadband availability increases both math and student standardized test scores • Fiber availability applies competitive pressure on other technologies to raise speeds • Fiber availability improves test scores through increased employment • Limited evidence that fiber increases usage of supplementary education materials [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This systematic review examines the impact of digital divide on efforts to promote technology integration in rural schools. • The review identified 29 challenges related to the promotion of technology integration in rural schools. • The review identified the proposed solutions to these challenges. • The review proposes what constitutes good practice when integrating technology in rural schools. The digital divide between urban and rural schools challenges efforts to promote technology integration in education, and contributes to growing educational inequity in many contexts. Using the most current version of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA 2020), we identified and extracted 36 articles and conference papers on the use of technology in rural schools from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. We used Critical Interpretive Synthesis to identify the challenges and solutions involved in integrating technology in rural schools. The analysis revealed 29 challenges, which were categorized using the framework of the ecological perspective into macro level, meso level, and micro level challenges. The analysis also identified solutions to the challenges discussed in these studies. By focusing on the challenges and proposed solutions at different contextual levels, this review is intended to identify what constitutes good practices when integrating technology in rural schools. Future research should focus on factors which facilitate the use of technology and how the integration of technology impacts students' learning experiences and achievement in rural schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 2000 s, average standardized test scores of Brazilian public primary and middle school students in both reading and mathematics on the national test, the SAEB, have risen substantially. Although the increases cut across all race and socioeconomic groups, the increases were unequal across groups and varied greatly across states and municipalities/school districts. In this paper, we describe student achievement gains in Brazil among municipalities in 2007–2017, with the goal of understanding the variation in these gains and the socioeconomic, race, and school resource correlates of that variation. Our results suggest that student social class and race were highly correlated with municipal test score gains: those municipalities with higher social class and proportionately more White students made significantly larger gains. However, municipalities with greater social class inequality made smaller gains. Certain average characteristics of teachers in a municipality and the incidence of school violence were also significantly related to student performance gains. Thus, our estimates suggest that it may be possible to soften the effects of social structural inequality among and within districts by increasing the quality of teacher resources and reducing school violence in lower academically gaining districts. • Student test score gains in 2007–2017 were large but varied greatly across districts. • Districts with higher average SES and lower proportions of Blacks made larger gains. • Controlling for SES and race, districts with lower SES inequality made larger gains. • Better-educated teachers and less school violence were also related to higher gains. • SES and race are closely related to school learning gains in an unequal society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 13,584 observations of 4772 undergraduate students enrolled in 523 online classes offered synchronously at a research university in China, and using online-learning platform data and administrative data, this paper examines the impacts of class attendance on academic performance. Based on student-level and course-level fixed effects models with a unique set of student-course level control variables, this paper finds class attendance to have a significantly positive impact on academic performance. This effect is larger for low-performing students and smaller for students in courses with larger class sizes. The above findings survive a number of robustness checks, including a bounding technique, restricting sample to compulsory courses and limiting variation in attendance caused by whole day absence. • This paper represents the first attempt to examine the effects of class attendance on academic performance of college students in synchronous online courses. • Based on 13584 observations of 4772 students enrolled in 523 online classes at a research university in China, this paper uses a larger sample with a diverse range of courses and more accurate indicators of class attendance. • Employing student and course fixed effects, we find that students' class attendance has a significantly positive impact on their academic performance. For a one standard deviation increase in class attendance, academic performance increases by 0.08 standard deviation. • The positive attendance effect is stronger for lower-performing students and students in smaller classes, and remains substantial even for courses without mandatory attendance requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Instability often overshadowed young people's experiences of being in care. • Disrupted schooling could have a devastating impact on academic confidence. • School was frequently described by participants as a key source of support. • Stigmatisation was a significant theme in participants' narratives of school. • Narratives often painted a complex picture of instability, educational struggle, and perceived failure. • The societal imperative to be resilient and self-reliant had the effect of responsibilising participants. Research highlights a plethora of negative outcomes for care leavers and it is widely accepted that children in care are likely to have lower educational attainment than their peers. Rather than concluding that these figures can be attributed directly to being 'in care', scholars have indicated that the matter is more complex, drawing attention to circumstances which pre-date or supersede entry into care. This paper seeks to highlight the experiences of those care leavers who bucked the trend and achieved sufficient qualifications to study in higher education. Despite achieving well academically, our research shows that young people in care still struggled to manage the academic pathway between care and university. This paper draws on evidence collected from 234 care experienced students in England and Wales to consider the educational challenges faced by those without familial support. Findings revealed that instability, stigma and poor institutional support were significant barriers in participants' educational journeys. We consider the impact of narratives of 'meritocracy' and 'resilience' on interpretations of educational success for care leavers. We conclude that caution should be exercised when celebrating individual successes, and greater attention should be paid to structural and systemic barriers to educational achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examination is an effective method for evaluating educational achievements but manually grading is time-consuming and error-prone. According to the characteristics of Chinese, this paper designs an effective and reliable hybrid automatic grading system for medical term interpretation questions, which integrates keyword similarity, semantic similarity and sentence length similarity. This model therefore provides a feasible framework in the sense that automated scoring system can be used reliably in real practice for subjective questions in medical education. In practice, the parameters can be pre-trained for different courses and different levels of students, so as to achieve the best performance of the model. From 15 professional noun explanation questions of 300 medical students in the course of medical psychology, statistics show that the difference between the manual and automatic assessment of all students' answers for each question is less than or equal to 2. Moreover, a comparative study of the automated scoring system is conducted to assess the overall testing performance. The experimental verification shows that the model posed in this paper is effective and robust. To enhance user convenience, a GUI software has been created using the Python "Tkinter" library. This software can be directly applied to different scenarios to demonstrate the expansive application potential of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Findings highlight the importance of peer support and the possibility of participatory research approaches in catalyzing peer connectivity and agency among foster scholars in higher education. • Actions and advocacy associated with Participatory Action Research have benefits for students with foster care experience and can contribute to critical consciousness raising among those within and outside of child welfare and university systems. • Integrating youth voice and perspective to our existing body of knowledge about youth with foster care experience in higher education adds a critical, often missing perspective. • Universities, child welfare system professionals, policymakers, child welfare scholars desiring to create policy and practice more affirming of young people with foster care experience should center the voices and recommendations of youth with foster care experience in their decision making. This paper presents findings from a focus group conducted as part of a larger Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) study with a cohort of university students with experience in foster care. Six foster scholars (ages 18–21) participated in a research collective offered as a collaboration between the School of Social Welfare and the Educational Opportunities Program (EOP) at a large Northeastern public research university. Over the course of several semesters, students received an overview of research methods, evaluated existing research regarding the educational outcomes of youth with foster care experience, then designed an interview guide for a focus group that they later participated in. Focus group data was transcribed and then analyzed in two ways, first through thematic content analysis using ATLAS TI qualitative software, and simultaneously through participatory narrative analysis using an adapted version of Carol Gilligan's Listening Guide. The cluster of findings presented in this paper highlights co-researchers' experiences of a YPAR approach to research. Three themes emerged: validation of experience and peer support , connection to available resources, and YPAR as a tool of collective action and empowerment. An overview of the significant actions and change efforts associated with the YPAR process is also provided. Findings highlight the importance of peer support and the possibility of participatory research approaches in catalyzing peer connectivity and agency among foster scholars in higher education. Integrating youth voice and perspective to the existing body of knowledge about youth with foster care experience in higher education adds an important perspective needed to more holistically understand what resources and supports are most critical in ensuring their success. Recommendations are made for both universities and child welfare scholars desiring to center the voices and experiences of youth with foster care experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the influence of male peer proportion on a student's academic performance. The sex ratio at 10–14 was 117.16 in 2011, and it has increased to 119.1 in 2019. The sex ratio imbalance at 10–14 tends to expand. This paper uses China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) 2013–14 and 2014–15. Considering the selection bias, this paper restricts the sample to schools that satisfy randomly-assignment conditions. The results highlight that students with a high proportion of male classmates have a lower performance in Mathematics and English but not Chinese. To explain these effects, this paper uses three channels to interpret: (1) cognitive ability, (2) learning effort, and (3) the quality of the classroom environment. It provides implications for policymakers and school administrators to take precautions in advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cabell Publishing Co. (herein Cabells), a private Texas-based US company, filled a void left after the shutdown of Jeffrey Beall's blacklists or watchlists that categorized open access "predatory publishing". In addition to a journal whitelist or safelist product, Journalytics, Cabells markets a product (Predatory Reports) for post-secondary institutions that lists journals' infractions and poor practices, and thus acts as a warning system for academics to determine if they might be dealing with a scholarly entity, or not. Predatory Reports consists of three levels of criteria, or "infractions" (severe, moderate, and minor), that correspond to eight categories. In this paper, we critically examined the Predatory Reports' 74 criteria to determine which of them are clear and useful, and which might be ambiguous or not entirely meaningful. We identified seven criteria that could be accepted as they are, 28 criteria that required clarification and revision, and 39 criteria that we believe should be eliminated. Our expectation is that once this and additional publishing-related criteria have been fully and carefully assessed, validated and parsed, that a community-based set of criteria will eventually become established to better guide academics about safe or risky publishing venues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While equality of opportunity in education has been studied, the literature mainly focuses on academic performance and its determinants. Thus, to help fill this gap, this paper identifies the factors that contribute to improving equality of opportunity and the policies that should be implemented to achieve it. This work is novel in various ways. First, it defines student resilience in a new way using multilevel models applied to two groups of countries. Second, it analyses the determinants of equality of opportunity in the OECD and makes economic policy recommendations. Using the PISA waves from 2003 to 2018, our results show that uniform economic policies should not be pursued across all OECD countries. While countries in the relatively poor group need economic policies that boost per student expenditure, countries in the richer group should prioritise human capital via teacher salary. In other words, in the richer countries, it is not the level of expenditure that matters but how it is spent. Our results also demonstrate the importance of soft skills for the equality of opportunity of students in all cases. Thus, we recommend designing education policies aimed at developing these skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to quantify the impact of assignment prompts and phased assignment sequencing on first-year student work; specifically, whether more fully developed and “scaffolded” assignment prompts produced better Information Literacy (IL) in student papers (n = 520). The examination of assignment prompts in relation to student IL rubric scores would seem to indicate that conventional wisdom on developing assignment prompts might not have an impact on IL performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate how meeting international recommendations for screen time (<2 h/day), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; at least 60 min/day) and sleep (8–10 h/night), as well as media multitasking (MMI) as a form of screen time, impact academic achievement in early adolescence. A prospective design was used, where self-report measures were collected during the spring semester and academic achievement at the end of the school year. A total of 1208 grade 3 middle school students (M age = 13.55 years, SD age = 0.60) in 37 Swiss schools filled out a paper-and-pencil questionnaire including measures of screen time (covering watching television, playing video games, Internet use, smartphone use and social media use), MMI, sleep time and time for MVPA. To evaluate academic achievement, end-term grades were provided by the collaborating education administration for Italian, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Music and Visual arts. After adjustment for covariates, such as gender, socio-economic status, body mass index and stressful life events, multivariate linear mixed-effect models, nesting participants in schools, showed that meeting recommendations for screen time (B = 0.12, β = 0.105, P < 0.001) and MVPA (B = 0.09, β = 0.09, P = 0.001), but not sleep (B = 0.05, P = 0.087), were associated with higher academic achievement. Considering the number of recommendations met, meeting all three recommendations improved academic achievement the most (B = 0.24, β = 0.21, P < 0.001), followed by meeting the guidelines for screen time + MVPA (B = 0.20, β = 0.15, P < 0.001) and for screen time + sleep (B = 0.21, β = 0.13, P < 0.001). In the fully adjusted model, multitasking with two or more media was related to a worse academic achievement. Screen time (including MMI), sleep and MVPA impact academic achievement in adolescence; hence, governmental organisations and schools should raise awareness about the positive and negative effects of following or not recommendations for MVPA, sleep and screen time among adolescents and their parents. In addition, support should be provided to promote sufficient sleep and MVPA while limiting overall screen time and parallel device use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of a high school student's relative position in the class achievement distribution on school violence. We identify this effect by exploiting idiosyncratic differences in the distribution of earlier academic achievement across classes. Such differences generate quasi-random variation in rank for students with the same initial achievement. We consider distinct types of school violence, namely, verbal, relational and physical violence. We find that rank negatively affects both the probability and frequency of perpetrating school violence for all the specific types of violence considered. The effect size is economically significant, especially in the case of physical violence. We find that rank is less or not effective in reducing physical violence for migrants and for students attending lower-quality schools and living in high-crime areas; this finding is consistent with the lower perceived opportunity cost associated with misbehavior among disadvantaged students in low-quality schools and located in violent local contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the central role of vocabulary in language learning, and the increasing interest in academic vocabulary, materials for testing academic vocabulary are not common. This paper reports on the development of a new test of academic vocabulary. Test items were based on a relatively recently developed list of academic vocabulary. They were then piloted, refined, and two comparable forms of the test were produced. The paper describes the approaches used to assess the validity and equivalence of the two forms of the test. Research and pedagogical implications and uses of the test are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This paper contributes to the literature by examining the impact of classroom peer ability, race & gender, and instructor gender on grades earned and major persistence. • Increasing the percentage of female students in the classroom improves persistence past the first year in engineering, but does not impact grades. • An increase in the percentage of peers that are underrepresented minority students increases grades for underrepresented minority students. • Peer ability effects are non-linear. Students from the bottom of the class have negative impacts, while increasing the number of students from the top of the ability distribution have positive impacts. • Peer ability can impact longer term outcomes like major choice. Abstract Understanding how peers and instructors can impact students' outcomes and choice of major after taking the first class in the field is important for promoting persistence in STEM fields. This paper uses data on first-year engineering students at a large, selective engineering school to investigate how peer gender, race, and ability, as well as instructor gender, can impact grades and persistence in engineering. Our findings indicate that gender diversity in the classroom improves all students' propensity to continue in engineering, and an increase in underrepresented minorities improves grades for minority students. Peer ability also has a strong impact, with an increase in lower-ability students pulling down achievement and persistence in engineering of the bottom of the ability distribution, and an increase in high-ability students improving achievement for all. Finally, our results suggest students benefit from a more diverse ability grouping of their peers in the classroom. We find some evidence that male students are more sensitive to peer ability than are female students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We provide some guidelines for practitioners combining data from TALIS and PISA in empirical analyses. • We stress that teacherś data need to be aggregated, thus finding causal relationships is complex. • We find that students whose teachers focus on a few instructional practices obtain better results. Abstract This paper focuses on the potential uses and misuses that can be made with the so-called TALIS-PISA link created by the OECD. This is a recently developed instrument that allows for connecting data about teachers collected in TALIS with studentś data available in PISA. However, the statistical and technical aspects regarding this link between both surveys are far from straightforward. In this paper we explore the main problematic issues of the data fusion process and provide some guidelines for researchers interested in performing empirical analyses using the resulting dataset. Likewise, we illustrate some potential utilities of this dataset through the estimation of different models with the aim of exploring the relationships between teaching practices and student achievement in Spain. Our results indicate that students whose teachers concentrate on a few instructional practices obtain better results than those who have teachers using many different activities within the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research emphasizes the relevance of mindsets for SRL and academic achievement. This paper reports three studies that aim to detect profiles of mindsets about SRL and intelligence, examine their relationship with students' SRL, study-related beliefs, and academic achievement, and replicate the findings across samples. Participants were N total = 633 university students, with N Study1 = 254, N Study2 = 187, and N Study3 = 192. LPAs were run to identify mindset profiles, and Mplus' auxiliary (BCH) function was applied to examine mean differences across profiles. All three studies identified the mindset profiles "Entity-Theory", "Balanced-Theory", and "SRL-Theory". The analyses revealed an SRL-Theory advantage regarding SRL, study-related beliefs, and academic achievement. These are the first studies to explore mindset profiles based on mindsets about SRL and intelligence. The identified mindset-based meaning systems provide diagnostic information for teaching and tailored interventions and stimulate the advancement of SRL and mindset theories. • Our studies are the first to explore profiles of SRL and intelligence mindsets. • Three profiles were identified: Entity-Theory, Balanced-Theory, and SRL-Theory. • The analyses revealed an SRL-Theory advantage in SRL and achievement. • The replication in two further studies highlights the significance of the results. • Our findings stimulate the advancement of theory and have practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper quantifies learning losses related to delaying the return to in presence school activities after the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, for children of low socioeconomic background in Mexico by exploiting a unique data set constructed for such purpose. Data on math and reading comprehension learning outcomes for a panel of children aged 10–15 were collected between April and December 2021 in two geographically adjacent and similar states in the southern region of the country, with significant between and within state variability in the school reopening and school return process. We use alternative estimation techniques to measure changes in learning outcomes in relation to the exposure to in-presence education during a 6-month period and find that children that returned to school earlier had higher achievement scores of at least 0.27 standard deviations, and these were greater for older children. These findings highlight the potential learning losses associated with remote education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional adequacy (FA) is a construct of task achievement in communicative settings and focuses on the extent to which task requirements are satisfied by effectively conveying intended messages. Recent studies in second-language speaking and writing have emphasized the importance of FA in addition to complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF); FA and CAF are combined into the acronym CAFFA. This study aims to investigate (a) the extent to which CAF measures can explain FA holistic ratings in oral picture narration among Japanese learners of English; (b) how these results are moderated by different picture tasks; and (c) the comparability of means, variances, and correlations of the same FA ratings and CAF measures across tasks. Results of multiple regression analyses indicate that only a speed fluency measure (syllables per minute) significantly predicts FA, while a substantial proportion of FA remains unexplained by CAF, highlighting the separate and related nature of the two constructs. Moreover, the prediction of FA by CAF is consistent across picture tasks, with means and variances of FA and CAF measures being generally comparable, and with correlations of the same measures across tasks not being consistently strong, except for syllables per minute. The paper discusses implications and offers suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The recent launch of several important international education initiatives designates a future for education that moves away from educational achievements largely based on access and attainment and advances a more qualitative and transformational approach. With this change, the debate on developing tools and approaches to measure quality education that is framed more holistically and capable of offering practical solutions (as found in education for sustainability) is gaining traction. This paper presents the identification of important learning elements and corresponding characteristics that support effective sustainability learning performance and presents the sustainability learning performance framework (SLPF) as a contributing tool for qualitative assessment and guidance and for enhancement of especially sustainability-based quality education/learning. The SLPF was developed from the findings of a study - presented in this paper - to identify the key educational and learning characteristics that lead to effective achievement of education for sustainable development. This research utilised an action-reflection cycle that incorporated examining exemplars of learning performance in combination with a dynamic review of educational/learning theories. The theoretical review was based primarily on a literature review, while the "action" component was collected in the form of case studies from several regional centres of expertise in Asia. The aim was to establish the efficacy of the present practice cases and simultaneously differentiate the essential constituents of education for sustainability that bring about effective learning performance and for future implementation. Furthermore, the SLPF elucidates its contribution to education policy formulation including its linkage with important educational goals across the formal education sector in the implementation and strengthening of sustainability-based quality education. The framework thus serves as a practical approach to contributing to the strategic translation of the 2030 Education Agenda and into effective education and teaching for tangible learning performance outcomes. Highlights • Education needs new tools/approaches to measure qualitative, student-centred progressive education. • The SLPF is a qualitative tool for identifying the key learning characteristics for effectiveachievement of ESD. • It was developed by action-reflection cycle between sustainability education theory and practice. • It aims to contribute to establishing the efficacy of learning performance of present and future practice cases. • It elucidates its contribution to education policy and links with important educational goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The supply-side of the art market comprises conceptual, production and distribution actors. • Supply-side actors engage in reciprocal sharing of activities, skills and resources. • Supply-side actors engage in networked interactions that serve as bases for value creation. Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the supply-side of the arts market with a focus on how the actors therein interact as a network in the art production process. Through the adoption of a qualitative semi-structured interview methodology, the paper provides insight into how professional and established visual artists (in conjunction with third-party support) conceptualise, produce and distribute their art works in the art market. Results indicate that the art product and the art production process is reliant on a range of mutually beneficial and reciprocal interactions that serve as bases for value creation in the art market. The paper concludes with a range of research opportunities for both academics and practitioners in the arts marketing context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the influence of social, cultural and economic background on students' performance in content-subjects in the framework of CLIL programmes in Spain. So far, CLIL investigation has focused primarily on language attainment in the L2 and the L1, but students' socio-economic status (SES) has been largely ignored, and its influence on performance in content-subjects remains unexplored. Competence in Science in the L1 (Spanish) is analysed by comparing pupils enrolled in mainstream schools with students in the so-called bilingual streams offering CLIL-based approaches. The paper analyses a sample of 709 6th grade Primary Education students from diverse social backgrounds and enrolled in public schools in the Principality of Asturias (Spain). A test to assess students' knowledge in Science and a context questionnaire (measuring participants' social, economic, and cultural background) were designed and validated. Inferential statistics were applied with one-way ANOVAs and inter-subject analyses. The main finding is that students from less favoured socio-economic backgrounds obtain significant lower scores than those coming from more privileged settings. Results suggest students’ context influences the teaching-learning process in bilingual education. The determining factors for these findings are discussed in the paper together with prospective research lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study sought to determine if students academic integrity during examinations, age and gender predict their academic performance and examine its implications for adopting preventive actions against cheating in examinations. It was based on the Modified Theory of Planned Behaviour. Analysis of data collected with the aid of Academic Integrity Measurement Instrument (AIMI) led to significant findings that Academic Integrity during examinations and Age significantly predict Academic Performance. There was significant predictive relationship between Age and Academic Integrity during examinations as well as between Age and Academic Performance. Also, there was a statistically significant difference between male and female students in the Academic Integrity during examinations as well as in their Academic Performances. Whereas mean Academic Integrity score of female students were slightly higher than that of the males; the mean Academic Performance of male students was higher than that of the female students. These findings have implications for test development, administration and students' academic integrity policies and practices. Test developers and administrators should consider inclusion of a segment in the question papers that assess students' academic integrity especially in developing countries like Nigeria. The essence of such inclusion is to determine the relationship between students academic integrity quotient and their academic performance. In other words, the authors strongly recommend to the examination bodies and stakeholders to consider the possibility of determining the proportion of a student's academic performance attributable to academic dishonesty or honesty. • Academic Integrity and Age significantly predict Academic Performance. • There was significant relationship between Age and Academic Integrity. • There was a statistically significant difference between male and female students in Academic Integrity. • Test developers and administrators should consider inclusion of a segment in the question papers that assess students' academic integrity especially in developing countries like Nigeria. • The essence of such inclusion is to determine the relationship between students academic integrity quotient and their academic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Metacognition and executive function (EF) are positively related to outcomes. • Limited empirical evidence exits combining metacognition and EF in early childhood. • Relations between and interventions involving early metacognition and EF reviewed. • Integrating metacognition and EF may enhance perceptions of learning and agency. • This integrated meta-model contributes to early childhood theory and practice. Metacognition and executive function have evolved largely in parallel across disparate disciplines. Additionally, limited empirical evidence—particularly in early childhood—exists integrating the two constructs. However, theories of both implicate regulation of lower-order processes providing greater flexibility to cognition and behavior by increasing focus on perceptions and understanding of one's learning and self-regulatory agency over habitual reactions to the environment and automaticity. Furthermore, considerable research identifies both metacognition and executive function as important processes that predict positive outcomes including academic achievement and learning. In the current paper, we review extant associations between early metacognition and executive function and theorize about their integration with the purpose of informing young children's ability to be active agents of their own learning and development. In addition, we argue that metacognition and executive function interventions can provide pertinent and important evidence regarding the development of enhanced perceptions of one's learning and agency. Specifically, we propose that by integrating metacognition and executive function in developmental theory, research, instruction, and interventions, children's awareness and control, or agency, in relation to their own learning can be enhanced. To this end, ways to study and integrate these skills are suggested, with an emphasis on how researchers and practitioners can bring metacognition and executive function together—in early childhood—to enhance perceptions of learning and agency and contribute to theory and practice across disciplinary boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]