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According to the American Counseling Association and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, social justice advocacy is an ethical imperative for counselors and a training standard for counseling students. As a group of socially conscious mental health counseling students and faculty, we developed and facilitated a social justice advocacy group to learn about tangible ways to engage in social justice action. Using the S-Quad model developed by Toporek and Ahluwalia, we formed and facilitated a social justice advocacy group for our peers. This paper will serve as a reflection of our experiences engaging in the process.

Let us lay the context for our conversation: My senior level undergraduate nursing students, all of whom were doing their clinical experience at health care centres in Calgary, appreciated not having to travel to the University after their clinical day to have a face-to-face hour session with myself as their instructor. In previous years, we used a platform called Blackboard, and then Desire to Learn. Each student described what they had learned that day. When we had our face-to-face weekly session on non-clinical days, they reviewed their peer group projects. In providing course feedback, students emphasized that the online approach facilitated their peer group learning and enhanced their confidence in doing classroom presentations. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

Participation in Organised Extracurricular Social Activities (OESA) can provide positive outcomes for children. This study investigated whether children aged 4 to 12 years diagnosed with autism differ in their OESA participation and experience compared to neurotypical peers. Parents of autistic children (n = 35) and those of neurotypical peers (n = 171) responded to questions that asked them to reflect on their child's participation and experiences in OESAs. Parents of autistic children reported significantly less OESA participation compared to parents of neurotypical children. Additionally, when evaluating factors that facilitated OESA participation, parents of autistic children rated their child's individual abilities and behaviour, the OESA's features, and the social environment less positively, compared to parents of neurotypical children. OESA participation and experiences differ for autistic and neurotypical children. This study identifies factors that can be adjusted to mitigate this difference.

Contribution: A peer-mentoring plan designed to support engineering students during their transition from high school to university. This article addresses the adaptation challenges faced by first-year students in engineering programs. Background: The transition to university is a critical period for students, marked by significant lifestyle changes and the inherent difficulties of engineering degrees. This often results in high stress levels, with some students struggling to adapt and consequently dropping out. Previous efforts to support students have shown varying degrees of success, highlighting the need for effective peer support mechanisms. Intended Outcomes: A structured peer-mentoring environment aimed at reducing stress, improving first-year students' adaptation to university life, and decreasing dropout rates. The program is designed to be well received by both mentors and mentees, thereby enhancing the academic experience for engineering students. Application Design: Drawing on existing teaching experiences and literature, the proposed peer-mentoring program involves senior students acting as mentors to first-year students. The program begins with a training session to equip mentors with necessary tools and to define their roles and boundaries. This is followed by an initial meeting during the welcome day, and continues with formal and informal interactions throughout the first semester, under the supervision of the degree coordinator. Findings: Surveys completed by both mentors and first-year students indicate a high level of acceptance and perceived usefulness of the peer-mentoring program. The results suggest that the program effectively supports first-year students in their transition to university life, with strong recommendations for its continuation in future academic years.

In the current article, we describe the development and validation of the Social Comparison Rumination Scale. This measured was developed as a supplement to existing social comparison measures and to enable us to determine its potential relevance to perfectionism and other personality constructs. The Social Comparison Rumination Scale (SCRS) is a six-item inventory assessing the extent to which an individual is cognitively preoccupied and thinking repetitively about social comparison outcomes and information. Three studies with five samples of university students are described. Psychometric analyses established the SCRS consists of one factor assessed with high internal consistency and the measure is reliable and valid. Analyses showed that elevated levels of social comparison rumination are associated with trait perfectionism, perfectionistic automatic thoughts, perfectionistic self-presentation, ruminative brooding, burnout, depression, and fear of negative evaluation. Links were also established between social comparison rumination and both narcissism and dispositional envy. Overall, our findings support the further use of the SCRS and highlight the tendency of many people to think in deleterious ways about social comparisons long after the actual comparisons have taken place. We discuss social comparison rumination within the context of concerns about excessive social media use and young people being exposed to seemingly perfect lives that became a vexing cognitive preoccupation.

The present study is an attempt to apply Galperin spiral model to implement and analyze a peer coaching program. To do so, six teachers (three coaches and three protégés), who attended a 3-month peer coaching program in which protégés received help from their more experienced peers (coaches), completed narrative frames about the program and participated in individual semistructured interviews. After the transcription of the interviews, the thematic analysis was conducted on the gathered data. The results of the study revealed that although there are evidential obstacles to doing the program including inter alia, cultural schema, teacher financial well-being and discontinuity of it, the employed model could provide additional aid and critical look for implementing peer coaching programs in educational contexts. Teachers and teacher educators can benefit from the findings by applying the proposed model in peer coaching programs.

This study adopts a cultural ecological perspective to examine how cumulative effects of external transcultural and cultural strengths are related to baseline and changes in three markers of Mexican-origin adolescents' self-growth (i.e., resilience, life meaning, and discipline). Using a three-wave longitudinal data set (5 years) of 604 adolescents, cumulative strengths (CS) was calculated, and growth curve analyses showed a similar pattern of findings for both transcultural and cultural cumulative strengths models: Adolescents with higher CS showed higher baseline resilience, life meaning, and discipline. While there were no significant associations between adolescents' CS scores and the increase in resilience, adolescents with higher CS scores showed steeper declines in life meaning and discipline (although these declines were no longer significant for cultural CS when transcultural and cultural CS were simultaneously tested in the same model). The findings emphasize a cultural ecological understanding of Mexican-origin youths' positive development from early to later adolescence. They also provide support for a CS model and have implications for positive psychology theories.

The higher education community continues to pursue solutions to the alarming number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) undergraduates leaving their degree programs. This qualitative study investigated the experiences of 12 STEM scholarship recipients in a near-peer-mentored social support group at a large Midwestern university. The goal of this study was to investigate the scholars' challenges and supports prior to and while participating in a weekly peer group through the lens of the Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory model. This case study triangulated the experiences of the peer group participants using pre-group individual interviews, peer leader reflections, and a focus group. The pre-group interviews revealed that the participants experienced challenges associated with the rigor of their courses, self-imposed pressure, and unsupportive relationships. Supports for their persistence prior to the peer group included their internal drive to achieve their goals and supportive relationships, particularly with family. The focus group revealed that the peer group provided a non-academic space to connect with peers, facilitated sense of belonging, and normalized their struggle as STEM majors, broadening their perception of science identity. Paradoxically, although participants highlighted personal disclosure as key to promoting social support, they indicated their greatest challenge in the peer group was discomfort with sharing.

With small liberal arts colleges (SLACs) producing an increased percentage of STEM graduates, whose voice resonates most regarding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree persistence? Chemistry professor? Dad? Best friend? This study investigated if undergraduate student perception of close social subgroup influences affected motivation characteristics (i.e., self-efficacy, STEM interest, and outcome expectations) and STEM major persistence. STEM majors (N = 295) across each college year at a Midwestern, 4-year liberal arts institution were surveyed regarding subgroup influence on motivation toward STEM degree attainment. A hypothesized structural equation model was tested to determine the subgroups that STEM majors perceived affected STEM motivational factors and degree persistence. Results indicate that STEM professors and friends have significant explicit and implicit effects on STEM degree persistence. The model accounted for a significant amount of variance in STEM interest, self-efficacy, and persistence for the overall sample and for underrepresented group members. Educational implications for college administrators and professors, and future research directions are discussed.

The purpose of this longitudinal investigation was to examine the effectiveness of a comprehensive, integrated curricular and co-curricular program designed to build community, provide academic and social support, and promote engagement in academically purposeful activities resulting in more equitable environments for historically underrepresented, low-income science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) information technology (IT) students. The study also focused on the role that the sense of belonging and academic hope play in enhancing persistence to degree completion. Program participants had significantly higher persistence rates compared to a matched comparison group. Additionally, STEM-specific belonging and academic hope significantly predicted students' intentions to persist to degree completion in IT. A major finding was that STEM domain--specific belonging was a stronger predictor of persistence than general belonging. Our investigation has implications for the role that cohort-based programs, industry engagement, peer mentoring, proactive advising, undergraduate research opportunities, career preparation, and leveraging need-based financial aid play in ensuring equity in STEM.

Spelling difficulties are commonly associated primarily with spelling errors. However, it is not uncommon for spelling challenges to transform the whole writing process into a formidable struggle. This paper delves into the exploration of whether and to what extent analyses of children's writing processes can enhance our understanding of their difficulties, potentially contributing to the assessment of spelling challenges. We focused particularly on the degree of hesitation within words and the ability to detect and correct spelling errors among children with and without reading and spelling difficulties, as well as how these processes impact the quality and lexical diversity of their texts. Additionally, we sought to contribute to disentangling the influence of spelling and decoding abilities on these processes. A cohort of 47 children, aged 10-13, participated in the study, comprising 16 typically developing children, 16 with predominantly spelling difficulties, and 15 with both reading and spelling difficulties. Our analysis encompassed their spelling performance in both standardized tests and task-oriented writing samples, as well as an examination of their pausing and revision behaviour. As expected, we found robust correlations between the children's spelling test scores and the proportions of spelling errors in their texts. Furthermore, our findings indicated that children encountering spelling difficulties exhibited a reduced ability to detect and correct errors compared to their peers without such challenges. Additionally, they displayed a slightly higher tendency to experience word-internal interruptions, aligning with prior research. The children who also had reading difficulties produced fewer words and processed words more slowly compared to children in both the other groups. Intriguingly, process data did not reliably predict text characteristics, suggesting that dysfluent writing may not significantly detriment the overall quality of the text, contrary to our initial expectations based on prevailing writing development models. Nevertheless, the study revealed considerable individual variation, with some participants demonstrating a high degree of struggling and dysfluency, resulting in poorer text outcomes, but also others whose struggling processes led to better outcomes. We posit that the crucial aspect lies in identifying these individuals within a classroom context and gaining insights into their processes to provide them with appropriate, formative feedback and adequate writing tools to facilitate their writing.

Bullying has been a recurrent phenomenon throughout the history of education. Among those most vulnerable are those with intellectual disabilities who tend to suffer greater levels of victimisation. The purpose of this research is to analyse the prevalence of bullying of students with intellectual disability in ordinary schools compared to special education schools. The project used a nonexperimental, descriptive and correlational methodology with a sample of 99 students who completed the validated European Bellying Intervention Project Questionnaire measurement tool. The results show that the majority of students who were victimised by bullies left their ordinary school during secondary education. Within ordinary schools, students with disabilities are more likely to experience bullying in the role of victim while in special education schools the most frequent role is that of observer.

Background: The adult reading history questionnaire (ARHQ) is frequently used in research on adult dyslexia and family risk for dyslexia. However, this measure is lengthy (23 items), reducing its applicability in studies with extensive assessment batteries. Methods: We identified the best-performing ARHQ items in a sample of 396 Finnish adults using exploratory factor analysis and item response theory. Consequently, we validated the brief questionnaire in independent Finnish and Dutch samples by comparing its performance with that of the complete questionnaire. We also evaluated how the scores on the questionnaires related to the scores on direct adult reading assessments in the Finnish samples. Finally, we tested how predictive parental questionnaires were of children's skills in the Dutch and one of the Finnish samples. Results: Five items were selected to construct the short version of ARHQ. All of them relate to childhood/adolescent reading difficulties rather than current adult skills. The scores of the complete ARHQ significantly correlated with those of the abbreviated version in all samples. Moreover, in one of the samples, direct reading assessment scores had a stronger correlation with the short ARHQ than with the full version. Additionally, across all three samples parental scores on the short ARHQ were at least as predictive of children's reading skills as the complete ARHQ. Conclusions: The short ARHQ proved to be on a par with the complete version in its usefulness for identifying adults with dyslexia. Future research should investigate whether the five selected items can effectively serve as a brief screening measure for adults with dyslexia in languages other than Finnish and Dutch.

China has actively internationalized its doctoral education by funding students to study abroad via the China Scholarship Council. Nevertheless, little is known about the scholarship recipients' perceptions of their study sojourn, especially those on short-term exchange programs. Based on 100 visiting doctoral students' study reports, the study employed a sentiment analysis and was guided by the ecological system theory to untangle how this cohort affectively evaluated academic and non-academic dimensions of the study sojourn as a multi-layered ecological system. Via a computer-based SKEP analysis, the study contributes new objective insights regarding the perceived nature of an overseas sojourn, which is predominantly positive. In particular, it reveals positive perceptions regarding the funder and institutional prestige, indicating that the recipients' increasing national pride may be harnessed as a soft pulling force for nation-building. This paper ends by offering implications that may potentially benefit doctoral education in China and other countries.

This longitudinal mixed-methods case study aimed to explain why a seemingly ordinary U.S.-affiliated hyper-connected French language learner (Nancy) achieved extraordinary outcomes after 15 weeks in Paris, compared to fifteen Generation Z peers also enrolled in the program. Framed by Complex Dynamic Systems Theory and social pedagogies, the study adopted a retrodictive approach to "explain after by before" and retrace Nancy's complex, non-linear trajectories of success. Adapting to new realities of students going abroad with their smartphones in hand, multiple measures of success (linguistic, intercultural, social, psychological, emotional) were triangulated with reports on smartphone usage, rich interviews, and background data to provide dense time-series and narrative illustrations of changes. Findings revealed the importance of the activation of Nancy's agency to take advantage of the affordances of her study abroad environment through the butterfly effect arising from her initial conditions, judicious smartphone usage, and quality of L1 and L2 interactions.

In the author's experience, students are often coming to the school library to explore new ideas and concepts that they may not be able to explore in the traditional classroom because of curricular demands or time constraints. And the library is always open to that exploration. According to the author, they build the high-interest collections for this purpose. The author ensures they have books that capitalize on students' curiosity and allow them to learn new things about themselves -- to be brave and see where they can go. Then there are those who come to learn in less traditional ways in the library. The author states they are notorious for always saying "Yes!" to trying something new in the library if students make a case for it. This is how they have gotten a bearded dragon, a sewing club, a recording studio, coding workshops, a Dungeons & Dragons club, and a forthcoming e-sports team. Saying "Yes" comes from a wish to respect students' courage to explore. But having a pet also gives the students a moment to show a different kind of bravery: feeling vulnerable but doing something anyway. In New York City, the Department of Education has an initiative called "Respect for All." The author's campus serves a primarily Afro-Caribbean population. This means students who are queer are feeling a tremendous amount of societal pressure. Books on relationships, sexuality, abuse, dealing with being arrested -- resources on topics that students are dealing with but are too nervous to check out. All of this seeking of this important and sensitive information takes bravery, even if young people choose not to interface with me to acquire it. Most of the time, it's an admission to themselves that they need guidance. It takes bravery to organize your peers, to take charge, and to build a community. It takes courage to work together and to make decisions on your own. Because the school library is a center of self-guided learning, it harnesses this brand of bravery. The school library is a proving ground for leadership, collaboration, and finding oneself. Students demonstrate this every day in school libraries across the country. Students see the school library as somewhere worth fighting for, and their bravery is the truly sustaining power in our space.

It is known that the reading performance of disadvantaged students is lower when compared to non-disadvantaged students. It has always been discussed that being disadvantaged affects teachers' bias in scoring students' reading performance. Therefore, the existence and effect of the teacher factor in the low level of reading performance of students in disadvantaged groups is worth investigating. The reading comprehension skills of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged fourth grade primary school students were assessed in this study. Moreover, whether the classroom teachers were biased in scoring the reading comprehension skills of the disadvantaged students were also investigated. The reading comprehension skills of 48 students, 13 of whom were disadvantaged and 35 were non-disadvantaged, were assessed by three classroom teachers (raters) using an analytical rubric. The data were analyzed using the Many-facet Rasch measurement model. It was found that the classroom teachers were biased in evaluating the reading comprehension skills of disadvantaged students. Likewise, the reading comprehension levels of the non-disadvantaged students were higher than the disadvantaged students.

This research employed phenomenological approach to explore parents and students' perspectives on inclusive education settings in Tanzanian secondary schools. Twentyfour respondents, including students and parents were involved. The study objective was to explore the students' and parents' perspectives on inclusive education settings in secondary schools in Tanzania. The study leading question was: What are the opinions of students and parents on inclusive education settings in secondary schools in Tanzania? Interviews and focused group discussions used to gather data. The findings reflected various perspectives from parents and students on secondary school inclusive education settings. Students with and without disabilities had positive perception towards inclusive education settings despite the fact that they had some reservations for improvement. For parents of children with disabilities had positive opinions towards inclusive education settings and found it appropriate to include their children with those without disabilities in a classroom. Parents of children without disabilities had negative perception and were against inclusive education. Parents also found not participating and cooperating in financing education for their children in inclusive education settings.

The present study explored where and how college students sought assistance and information for themselves and their family or friends who may have needed behavioral health and substance abuse disorder assistance. Two hundred and fifty-nine college students responded to the questionnaire at one of the 50 largest public higher education institutions in the Southeastern United States. Findings confirm that help-seeking is a multifaceted process involving social and professional support. Participants indicated that they would seek assistance earlier than they had and also make personal changes in their lives to address well-being. These findings can guide higher education administrators, faculty members, counseling staff on campuses, funders, and policymakers in designing and developing accessible and user-friendly programs and services for increasing student success on campuses.

This article analyzes how schools in the U.S respond to trauma in children and teens after the homicide of a peer and provides suggestions for best practices. The focus is not on in-school mass shootings but on homicide of young people outside of schools, in neighborhoods, which is the leading cause of death for African Americans between ages 15 to 24 years old, the second leading cause of death for Hispanic youth, and the third leading cause of death among White Youth (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2020). Typically, these deaths are not a national focus and schools have little resources to guide them in how to respond in the aftermath. Utilizing theoretical background on disenfranchised grief and trauma based practice, current school based response, and examples from the author's own experience in a large, urban school district in NJ, this article seeks to dissect this difficult topic.

Although there is a growing body of research that suggests the mental health of graduate students differs from that of their undergraduate counterparts, studies examining international students at the graduate level are scarce. This study therefore compares mental health diagnoses, challenges and stressors experienced, and use of mental health support, of international and non-international students who identified as being graduate/professional students. Data from the 2019 Canadian National College Health Assessment were used to compare the international graduate students (n = 1,876) to their non-international peers (n = 4,809). Significant differences were found on prevalence of conditions, certain specific challenges that are experienced, and help-seeking behaviours. Overall, international and non-international students may experience similar challenges, but international students are less likely to seek support. The findings suggest a need for graduate advisors and student affairs professionals to recognize the unique experiences of international graduate students particularly with their help-seeking behaviours.

This qualitative study explored the benefits of peer group support for first-year South African students who live in university residences. A case study design was adopted and data were collected from first-year students via focus group interviews at a selected South African university. Thematic analysis revealed the benefits for first-year students joining peer groups in the residences, such as a sense of belonging, receiving academic support, developing student leadership roles, and involvement in co-curricular activities. In addition, the study highlights the need for implementing student programmes to assist first-year students in transitioning from school to university.

This practitioner research study examined the potential of arts education to support students' growth towards global citizenship including awareness, care, and understanding of--as well as active and responsible engagement in--current global challenges and social issues. We utilized research material generated during an interdisciplinary arts pedagogy course offered in subject teacher education at the University of the Arts Helsinki and Aalto University (Finland). During the course, students created teaching sessions in peer groups in which they explored pedagogical methods to enhance global citizenship through interdisciplinary arts education participation. In the study, we identified themes addressed in the teaching sessions: "Renegotiating (cultural) identity," "Facing otherness," "Experiencing empathy," "Coping with power and inequality," "Awakening to ecological responsibility," and "Engaging in critical and reflective thinking." Furthermore, we examined how arts education resonated with the aims of global education and discussed the many ways that arts education could support the cultivation of responsiveness and ethical awareness to advance transformative global citizenship.

Background: The Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI) provides a comprehensive framework for understanding adolescent substance use. Objectives: We examined mechanisms by which a TTI-guided social-emotional and character development program, "Positive Action" (PA), influences adolescent substance use. Study data come from the PA-Chicago, longitudinal matched-pairs cluster-randomized control trial. A diverse, dynamic cohort of approximately 1,200 students from 14 low-performing schools were assessed at eight points of time, between grades 3-8, across a six-year period. Students completed scales related to substance use, self-control, deviant peer affiliation, and school attachment, adapted from the Risk Behavior Survey, Social-Emotional and Character Development Scale, Conventional Friends Scale, and People in My Life Scale. After testing the overall effect of PA on substance use, we used latent growth modeling to assess whether effects on each outcome were mediated by longitudinal changes in three composite measures aligning with the TTIs three streams. Results: Students in PA schools reported fewer experiences with drinking, getting drunk, and overall substance use. In the multiple mediator models, significant indirect effects of PA on substance use via changes in self-control were evident. Conclusions/ Importance: Findings are consistent with theory and past research suggesting the influence of self-control on youth substance use. Future studies should include implementation in different settings and additional theory-based measures.

This paper explores the future of college student mental health from students' perspective. The authors of this manuscript are four undergraduate and graduate students from two different universities. In the context of growing demand and intensity of mental health issues and the increased diversity of student identities on college campuses, the authors outline students' specific needs and what institutions can do to support their mental health needs. Two specific strategies are highlighted -- peer support and mental health days.

Background: During initial teacher education, reflective thinking can have a key role to play in preparing pre-service teachers for professional practice. Therefore, the approaches taken to assist reflection are important to optimise learning from classroom experiences. Purpose: This case study from Finland sought to examine the development of pre-service teachers' reflective thinking during a teaching practicum in which a non-prescriptive, self-guided approach to reflection was implemented. Method: Drawing on best practice, we designed an approach to reflection which placed emphasis on the agency of the pre-service teacher, and involved elements including dialogue, peer interaction and collaboration, and video. The research followed three pre-service teachers who worked in a peer group with their mentor-teacher during a six-week teaching practicum where this approach was employed. The peer-group mentoring discussions were recorded and analysed qualitatively. Findings: The in-depth analysis of data identified three different sequences of self-guided reflection phases, with findings revealing how the pre-service teachers' reflective thinking developed according to their individual and shared trajectories. It suggests that for practicum experiences to be reflected on in a way that supports deep learning, the process must stem from pre-service teachers' individualised learning needs. Conclusions: This case study highlights the rich potential of a non-prescriptive, self-guided approach to reflection as a tool for use during initial teacher education. It can offer a more personalised and active way for pre-service teachers to learn from early teaching experiences, gain practical understanding and develop their reflective thinking.

Objective: To examine how public health policy was reinforced by peer workers who were called Public Health Ambassadors (PHAs) at a West Coast university during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Descriptions of PHA community interactions were collected. Analyses were conducted using data from the 12-weeks of the 2020 Fall Quarter. Results: In total, there were 5,112 interactions of which there were three types: (1) educational (4%), (2) noncompliance (90%), and (3) thanking (6%). About 1.3% of interactions were met with resistance. Conclusions: Overall, compliance with campus public health guidance was high. Trends suggest compliance fatigue may have occurred after the first four weeks as evidenced by increased noncompliance rates and test positivity rates. Policy Implications: These results suggest the feasibility of the implementing US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations of using trusted messengers to reinforce critical behaviors to support community health.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) among college students is a significant problem that negatively affects their physical and emotional health. This study aimed at examining risk factors, especially childhood adversities at the individual, relationship, and community levels, of IPV perpetration among college students. Methods: The sample from seven universities in the U.S. and Canada (N = 3,725) completed an online survey. Major variables included IPV perpetration, five types of childhood adversities, alcohol and drug use, depression, and demographic information. Logistic regression was performed. Results: Peer violence victimization, witnessing parental IPV, experiencing child maltreatment, drug use, and depression were associated with a higher odd of perpetrating IPV. Conclusions: Research and practice must account for exposure to multiple risk factors when intervening with college students. An integrative approach that combines trauma-informed interventions with substance use and mental health treatment may be most successful at IPV perpetration prevention and intervention among college students.

Purpose: The South African vocational education and training (VET) sector is required by legislation to redefine postsecondary education, advance industrialisation and expand the job market to address unemployment in the country. Yet, VET leaders' heterogenous educational and occupational backgrounds do not enable them to address the needs of the VET sector. Continuous professional development of leaders in the education sector needs to include support structures such as mentoring. Design/methodology/approach: The present study sought to investigate how VET managers in South Africa perceive three different types of mentoring -- individual, peer group and expert-based key performance area (KPA) mentoring -- during a part-time professional leadership development programme. Using interactive qualitative analysis (IQA), the authors collected and analysed data from focus group discussions (n = 24) and individual interviews (n = 21) from two cohorts of the programme. Findings: The results revealed that individual mentoring represented the most important driving mechanism, followed by peer group mentoring and expert-based KPA mentoring. Participants identified leadership as a prerequisite for their development. Emotions formed the final outcome of the mentoring framework. Research limitations/implications: Based on the findings, the authors suggest investigating the role played by leaders' interpersonal competences such as emotional competence in the workplace. Additionally, research needs to clarify if and how mentoring can support leaders to develop interpersonal competences in formal and informal settings. Originality/value: The study offers empirical evidence on a three-pillar mentoring framework adopted in a professional development programme for leaders in VET in South Africa. It highlights the importance of individual, social and emotional factors.

A study was conducted considering a mathematics learning center as a figured world, that is, as a social space that is treated as if individuals within the space share certain meanings about the space and interactions within it (Holland et al., 1998) from the perspective of the undergraduate peer tutors employed in it (for the larger study, see Bjorkman, 2019). An emergent theme in the collected data was that of "the club" or a sense of group membership and identity that focused on tutors' mathematical abilities, helpfulness to others, being STEM majors, and the tutoring center. The focus of this article is on how tutoring, in this instance, showed benefits in the areas of positive subject-matter identities and a sense of belonging that has been shown as beneficial for student outcomes (Cribbs et al., 2015; Solomon, 2007). How undergraduate tutoring programs can potentially be leveraged as beneficial not only for the tutees - but also for the tutors - is discussed.

Research on reflections and their use in academic support programs has highlighted their benefits concerning student leaders or tutors as an evaluative tool to document performance and measure personal growth. Largely absent from the literature is evidence of the possible benefits reflections could have on the students using academic support services. To address this gap in the literature, a study was conducted with students participating in a cohort-based academic success program to understand what value, if any, they found in using reflection as part of their experience. This article presents findings from a pilot study on the benefits of reflections in a Peer-led Team Learning (PLTL) academic success program. Sixty-five students and leaders were recruited across 12 PLTL sessions. Data were collected through student reflections at the end of each PLTL session and an end-of-semester survey to understand what the students perceived as the benefits of using reflections. Findings from this qualitative study show that the reflections did enhance the student experience by providing them with opportunities to rehearse and review material, perform self-checks for understanding, and develop confidence in their mastery of concepts. More research is needed and encouraged to deepen our understanding of how reflections can be leveraged in peer education.

This study explores children's peer touch in a Swedish preschool using video observations. Two main aspects of children's touch in focus: (1) to what extent do children use touch within the peer group and with whom and (2) in what ways do children touch each other (i.e. what touch forms are used and what areas of other children's bodies are touched). Data consists of 10 hours of video recordings, featuring 35 children aged 1-5 years. The results suggest that touch is available for children in a range of social arrangements: it was common in children's peer-group interactions, and it was not limited to specific child constellations. The most prominent categories were affectionate touches (embraces, holding hands, or pats), but the children also used touch to control their peers' conduct (grabbing, pulling, and pushing) as well as adult-like embodied directives (shepherding moves). The social and material context of a preschool may contribute to practices where touch is part of ordinary interactions and cultural practices within the peer group. The study demonstrates some differences between educator-child, and children's peer touch thereby highlighting the importance for educators to consider children's specific touch cultures when attending to, supporting, and shaping children's peer-relations.

In this article we report the results and classroom implications of a qualitative study that explored third-grade students' interactions with each other as they partner read. Participants included 10 students, each of whom engaged in three readings with a partner during recorded observations. All students had been taught structures for partner reading and numerous reading strategies by their classroom teacher. The transcripts of the readings were parsed, annotated with observational notes, and coded using descriptive phrases. Students' interactions with each other during the readings revealed that they are capable of productively using their time to support learning during partner reading and spend relatively little time off task and that their use of strategies varies with context (text interest, text difficulty, turn-taking patterns). Classroom implications for these findings are discussed.

Learning science is a social enterprise that involves students communicating ideas, observations, and findings. Navigating talk between students about scientific concepts and practices is a complex task for teachers. Traditionally, science educators have used a method called microteaching (teaching to peers) as a context for practicing teaching. In this study, science educators created practice sessions called rehearsals, designed for elementary teacher candidates (ETCs) to participate in deliberate teaching episodes using discourse skills followed by instructor feedback. This NSF-supported work explores the use of rehearsals within virtual simulations software called Mursion® (developed as TeachLivE™) as compared to traditional rehearsals by using treatment and comparison groups. This study found that ETCs in both contexts increased in their use of various talk moves between rehearsal timepoints. Compared to the control group, the treatment group was able to address students' ideas and understanding more frequently in the rehearsal settings as well as the classroom setting (practicum). This finding indicates that ETCs felt comfortable utilizing student avatars when practicing specific teaching skills and were able to transfer some of these skills into the classroom setting. Creating valuable teaching experiences in teacher preparation is essential and this study explores the possibility of using a new innovative context as a space for ETCs to practice those skills.

Grade retention is one of the most discussed and controversial educational measures, and yet, it is still widely applied in many countries. Research investigating the effects of grade retention on students' psychosocial variables presents mixed findings, partly due to the variables assessed, methodological issues, and the length of the studies. This study aimed to analyse both the short to medium and longitudinal effects of grade retention in grades 7 or 8 on Portuguese students' academic self-concept, self-esteem, goal orientations, and school career. Data were collected continuously over a 3-year span (once a year) and, again, 3 years after the third wave. After matching 477 students on several pretreatment variables using inverse probability treatment weighting with time-varying treatments (i.e., retention), our analytical sample consisted of 85 promoted students, 33 students retained in grade 7, and 32 students retained in grade 8. Our results showed that retained students did not differ from their promoted peers in self-esteem and goal orientations in the short, medium, or long term. The exception was for an increase in the academic self-concept of retained students, but only in short term. Finally, considering students' school career, grade retention was not predictive of further retention.

Purpose: The transition to college presents significant challenges for many students as they navigate new academic and social experiences. In the USA, 30% of first-year students drop out before their second year. Research indicates that mentoring programs help students achieve social integration and likely have a positive effect on their transition to college. This research study was conducted with education students to better understand the potential impacts of peer mentorship. Design/methodology/approach: Student mentors and mentees were matched by attributes such as their concentration within the education major, gender, sports they played and whether they were first-generation matriculants. Data collection utilized two surveys one before the peer mentoring process and one after the process. Findings: The findings suggest that peer mentoring improved first-generation students' sense of belonging to both their major and the college. Peer mentors also experienced increased belongingness. The transfer rate among participants of 2% was a significant drop from previous years. Originality/value: The success of the peer mentoring experience was possibly due to the intentional matching process based on certain attributes. Additionally, taking a leadership role increased a sense of belonging in the peer mentors.

This study examines children's touch conduct in peer-group interaction in a Swedish preschool. Through a detailed analysis of 100 video-recorded touch episodes from everyday preschool activities, the study proposes an initial description of touch functions in children's peer groups. The results suggest that touch was primarily used to control other children and to show affection. Both affectionate and control touch played significant roles to form and protect small social units within the larger group of children. Affectionate touch also played a central role in children's friendship groups to establish and uphold intimate social relations. Children's peer relations involved extended forms of touch between both boys and girls, and in mixed gender constellations. Children both initiated and received peer touch without paying these actions specific attention, and they granted others access to their whole bodies including vulnerable body parts. Children's touch regularly occurred in parallel with other activities and was routinely not verbally topicalised as focal point of interaction. Detailed examination of touch episodes provides well-informed ground for understanding specificities of embodied conduct as socially and normatively organised children's touch cultures.

Social comparison is prevalent, even within classrooms, yet limited research explores its impact on academic outcomes. The current study adopted social comparison theory and achievement goal theory and tested a structural equation model that explained the pathways among two types of social comparison (i.e. ability-based and opinion-based), achievement goals, self-efficacy, effort, and academic grades. Based on a sample of 398 high school students, the current study demonstrated associations between opinion-based social comparison and mastery goals and between ability-based social comparison and performance goals. Furthermore, the current study identified different pathways for the indirect effects of social comparison and achievement goals that contributed to academic grades. The findings yielded the learning-oriented pathways and the performance-oriented pathways. The learning-oriented pathways showed the connections among opinion-based social comparison, mastery-approach goals, internal learning capacities (i.e. self-efficacy and effort), and academic grades; whereas the performance-oriented pathways demonstrated the connections among ability-based social comparison, performance-approach goals, and academic grades. This study implies that having a balanced mind-set between learning-oriented and performance-oriented approaches would benefit students most. Parents and teachers can play pivotal roles in nurturing students to focus on their internal learning processes within the competitive environment. The implications of competition-based achievement in classrooms are discussed.

Aim/Purpose: This mixed-methods study aims to examine factors influencing academicians' intentions to continue using AI-based chatbots by integrating the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) model and social network characteristics. Background: AI-powered chatbots are gaining popularity across industries, including academia. However, empirical research on academicians' adoption behavior is limited. This study proposes an integrated model incorporating TTF factors and social network characteristics like density, homophily, and connectedness to understand academics' continuance intentions. Methodology: A qualitative study involving 31 interviews of academics from India examined attitudes and the potential role of social network characteristics like density, homophily, and connectedness in adoption. Results showed positive sentiment towards chatbots and themes on how peer groups accelerate diffusion. In the second phase, a survey of 448 faculty members from prominent Indian universities was conducted to test the proposed research model. Contribution: The study proposes and validates an integrated model of TTF and social network factors that influence academics' continued usage intentions toward AI chatbots. It highlights the nuanced role of peer networks in shaping adoption. Findings: Task and technology characteristics positively affected academics' intentions to continue AI chatbot usage. Among network factors, density showed the strongest effect on TTF and perceived usefulness, while homophily and connectedness had partial effects. The study provides insights into designing appropriate AI tools for the academic context. Recommendations for Practitioners: AI chatbot designers should focus on aligning features to academics' task needs and preferences. Compatibility with academic work culture is critical. Given peer network influences, training and demonstrations to user groups can enhance adoption. Platforms should have capabilities for collaborative use. Targeted messaging customized to disciplines can resonate better with academic subgroups. Multidisciplinary influencers should be engaged. Concerns like plagiarism risks, privacy, and job impacts should be transparently addressed. Recommendation for Researchers: More studies are needed across academic subfields to understand nuanced requirements and barriers. Further studies are recommended to investigate differences across disciplines and demographics, relative effects of specific network factors like size, proximity, and frequency of interaction, the role of academic leadership and institutional policies in enabling chatbot adoption, and how AI training biases impact usefulness perceptions and ethical issues. Impact on Society: Increased productivity in academia through the appropriate and ethical use of AI can enhance quality, access, and equity in education. AI can assist in mundane tasks, freeing academics' time for higher-order objectives like critical thinking development. Responsible AI design and policies considering socio-cultural aspects will benefit sustainable growth. With careful implementation, it can make positive impacts on student engagement, learning support, and research efficiency. Future Research: Conduct longitudinal studies to examine the long-term impacts of AI chatbot usage in academia. Track usage behaviors over time as familiarity develops. Investigate differences across academic disciplines and roles. Requirements may vary for humanities versus STEM faculty or undergraduate versus graduate students. Assess user trust in AI and how it evolves with repeated usage, and examine trust-building strategies. Develop frameworks to assess pedagogical effectiveness and ethical risks of conversational agents in academic contexts.

In Germany, Turkish-origin students face negative competence-related stereotypes held by different groups in society, including teachers at school. While a large body of research has examined stereotypes (i.e., "other-stereotypes") about immigrant students, little is known about their own competence-related "meta-stereotypes," i.e., beliefs regarding the other-stereotypes that outgroup peers hold about them. The present study addresses this research gap by examining Turkish- and German-origin students' meta-stereotypes about two dimensions of competencies not yet investigated, namely Turkish- and German-origin students' subject-related German competence as well as their general school competence using a newly developed instrument combining verbal and non-verbal measures. These assessments are juxtaposed to the evaluations of a group of peers with other immigrant backgrounds (i.e., "others' meta-stereotypes"). In line with previous evidence, we found "positive" meta-stereotypes (as well as other- and others' meta-stereotypes) towards German-origin students reported by all three groups. However, our study is the first that supports the existence of "negative" meta-stereotypes (as well as other- and others' meta-stereotypes) towards Turkish-origin adolescents, again, among all participants. This pattern was particularly pronounced regarding the dimension of subject-related German competence. We discuss the findings' potential relevance for students' self-concepts and intergroup interactions in classrooms.

Exam malpractice can be found in every nation in the globe. The practice of providing quality examinations in Ethiopian schools has ran into difficulties. The various forms of national examination malpractices, as well as preventative methods, were investigated in this study.A5-point rating scale labelled 'Forms of Examination Malpractices Questionnaire (FEMPQ) was adapted and administered to 1,359 respondents. To supplement the findings, an interview was also conducted with 15 educational officials. While Mean and Standard Deviations were used for quantitative data analysis, narrative analysis was used for qualitative analysis. Among the major forms of malpractices identified are; doing examinations in groups (M = 4.43, SD =0.739), collusions (M =3.97, SD =0.750), leakages (M = 3.44, SD =0.787), and receiving answers through mobile phones (M = 3.73, SD =0.711). Findings from interview also revealed; some schools intentionally prepare examination classrooms in the darkest locations, assigning irresponsible invigilators/supervisors, and intentionally misplacing sitting arrangements during examinations. From the findings, the curbing strategies and educational implications are suggested as; schools should work upon students cognitive and moral developments. And, the country needs to establish an independent National Organization of Educational Measurement and Evaluation professionals, and gradually shift from booklet exam formats to online based exam practices.

Children with autism often show atypical brain lateralization for speech and language processing, however, it is unclear what linguistic component contributes to this phenomenon. Here we measured event-related potential (ERP) responses in 21 school-age autistic children and 25 age-matched neurotypical (NT) peers during listening to word-level prosodic stimuli. We found that both groups displayed larger late negative response (LNR) amplitude to native prosody than to nonnative prosody; however, unlike the NT group exhibiting left-lateralized LNR distinction of prosodic phonology, the autism group showed no evidence of LNR lateralization. Moreover, in both groups, the LNR effects were only present for prosodic phonology but not for phoneme-free prosodic acoustics. These results extended the findings of inadequate neural specialization for language in autism to sub-lexical prosodic structures.

To inform teaching practices, we examined elementary learners who were anxious-withdrawn within their naturally occurring affiliation groups at school. Hypotheses addressed the degree to which affiliation group characteristics moderate the relation between individual levels of anxious-withdrawal and internalizing distress. Data from 447 fourth and fifth graders who belonged in peer-reported affiliation groups at school were used. Peer reports assessed the degree to which participants' affiliation groups were characterized as anxious-withdrawn, fun, and agreeable along with individual levels of anxious-withdrawal. Students also self-reported social dissatisfaction, and teachers reported students' internalizing problems. Results indicate the impact of poor person-group fit on distress. For children with higher levels of anxious-withdrawal, affiliating with peers who have perceived socially desirable characteristics is associated with more internalizing distress and social dissatisfaction. In contrast, affiliating with anxious-withdrawn peers predicts increased distress only for those with low to average levels of anxious-withdrawal. Implications for peer-partnering in classrooms are discussed.

This paper focuses on the undergraduate experiences in computer sciences (CS) disciplines of eight Native women and two-spirit undergraduates and how their values and experiences around the communal goal of giving back enable them to persist in computing. The paper draws from a one-year study that included participants across the U.S.A from predominantly White institutions, Native serving institutions, and tribal colleges. Utilizing the decolonizing and participant-centered methods of photo elicitation, our interviews used photographs taken by participants as starting points for conversations. This method resulted in deep understandings of participants' experiences of the supports and barriers in their CS programs, and of the importance of giving back for persistence. We adapt Page-Reeves and colleagues' 2019 framework for giving back and Native students in STEM--particularly the concepts of giving back as a Native value and giving back in the context of CS education--to illuminate the ways in which participants persisted and navigated their identities as Native students and emergent computer scientists. We also introduce a new concept, culturally connected giving back, to describe the ways in which Native undergraduates in computing contributed, or planned to contribute, towards technology sovereignty and cultural preservation. CS, like many STEM fields, is typically viewed as highly individualistic and not aligned with communal goals of helping others. However, Native participants in this study identified computing as having the potential for giving back. They incorporated a broad range of giving back actions into their computing professional identities through teaching, mentoring, serving as role models, creating counterspaces, or preserving their cultures using their computing skills. Through giving back, participants fulfilled a sense of obligation to their communities or counteracted negative stereotypes about Native learners. Beneficiaries of these acts of giving back included Native and other minoritized peers, younger students, home communities, and other Native communities. Importantly, opportunities to give back served as strong motivators to persist in CS in spite of challenges. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy and practice and also explore the implications for how institutions and CS departments can support Native student recruitment, retention, and success.

Higher education organizations worldwide, including those in South Korea, are currently facing a major global health crisis caused by coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) since the spring 2020 semester. This study aimed at determining the difficulties that college students perceive in online courses, what strategies they use to cope with the problems they encounter, and what policies they demand the university to implement to enhance the situations. Six students (both undergraduate and graduate) from a university in a metropolitan area in South Korea participated in a series of focus group interview (FGI) sessions. The study conducted its sessions on October 11, 14, 21, and 22, 2021 in the university. Due to the distinct features of the online learning environment, students reported that they have major difficulties in staying academically motivated, suffer from fatigue and boredom, and have a hard time utilizing studying strategies. To cope with the current situation, the results revealed that students voluntarily form study group sessions with peers, and demand the university to provide them with a series of psychological therapy sessions as well as group study sessions. Educators and university leaders may apply the study results in order to better support their college students, so that they would be able to cope with these unprecedented pandemic-related problems, particularly regarding the online learning experience. Adequate supports provided to both instructors and students by reorganizing IT equipments and operating systems would result in better facilitation of online learning.

This qualitative study at the University of Minnesota--Twin Cities, USA, investigated leader identity emergence of study group facilitators. There is a gap in the professional literature regarding study group programs and identity emergence of the student paraprofessionals who facilitate the study sessions. This study built upon previous studies of identity formation by integrating educational theories that help explain the changes that occurred. Peer study group programs are powerful co-curricular experiences. This study provided answers to "why" and "how" identity emergence occurs. The Leader Identity Development Model for peer study group facilitators was developed based on the findings from this study and other experiences with study group leaders over the past three decades by David Arendale to help predict this change and the experiences that supported identity formation. Among those catalysts were written reflections by the study group leaders throughout the academic term on what they learned about themselves and about their conversations with other study leaders and the study group program manager. Implications are provided that explain how peer programs can become a more transformative learning ecosystem. Peer learning programs present an untapped personal and professional development opportunity for student leaders that would be even more powerful if it were intentional rather than serendipitous.