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Practical work in school science has been ineffective due to students not connecting hands-on to minds-on aspects. With the designation Thinking-Back-and-Forth (TBF)we present a framework with a taxonomy of TBF activities. Aim was to gain insight how teachers stimulate and support their students in TBF. Detailed information about what teachers do and what limitations they experience, provides insight into how they pay attention to TBF and how this can be improved. Nineteen Dutch physics and chemistry teachers in grades 8 and 9. Based on the TBF framework an observation instrument was developed to analyse activities and teacher behaviour. 19 practical science lessons were observed and teachers were interviewed about their behaviour and the learning activities they pursue regarding TBF. Overall, teachers seem to consider practical work primarily from the point of view of conducting an experiment. They encourage TBF predominantly by having their students draw conclusions or generate explanations. Assigning tasks to design experiments or generate predictions is less common and activities fostering discussions are rarely observed. Insufficient hands-on and minds-on student abilities as well as limited time available are seen as impediments. Another major impediment is teachers' lack of cognizance of possible TBF activities while designing practical lessons. Teachers have a positive attitude towards TBF. They indicated that the TBF framework with the taxonomy of activities functioned as a reflection tool to think more consciously about their lessons and offers the possibility to improve existing practical work. This indicates that the TBF framework can be used by teachers and teacher-educators to provide more diverse student activities to connect hands-on to minds-on. This study also showed that cognizance about designing and implementing TBF activities in practical work needs to be improved in both pre-service and in-service teacher training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For local governments, inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) has become an increasingly common solution to tackle fiscal constraints and demographic challenges. However, in many policy areas, it is still not clear whether IMC fulfills its promises of cost savings or increased service quality. This study aims to contribute new knowledge on the effects of IMC in one of these understudied policy areas – education – and does so by employing recent developments in difference-in-differences methods. The results show that being part of IMC significantly reduces expenditures on upper secondary education. However, there are indications that decreased costs come at a price, since joining a local federation also correlates with lower grades in the cooperating municipalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STEM teacher shortage remains a serious problem in secondary education in many European countries, despite many interventions and many research studies over the last decades. The observation that past interventions and research outcomes have not significantly contributed to reduce teacher shortage implies that places to effectively intervene in the teacher education system have not been found yet. In this article, a systems thinking approach is presented to evaluate the fundamental and structural problems of an academic teacher education system regarding STEM student entry. A thorough understanding of the systemic structure of a teacher education system is essential to identify leverage points for STEM teacher recruitment. Based on systems thinking principles and theoretical frameworks, a stepwise research framework was defined, which was tested in the Dutch academic teacher education system. First, potential factors of concern were identified based on the collection of many data such as existing public information, reports and long‐term student entry data. These potential factors of concern were subsequently investigated by student surveys and structured interviews with stakeholders from science faculties and teacher training institutes. Synthesis of the results led to the identification of three leverage points for increasing STEM student entry in teacher training, which were all found at the organizational and structural level of the academic teacher education system. The systems thinking research framework presented in this article provides a valuable framework to address persistent problems in education and enables the identification of novel and potentially more effective interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing numbers of rural girls and young women in Ethiopia are migrating to urban towns and cities and taking up employment as domestic workers, some of whom continue their education by attending evening classes. For urban households, rural migrants help to fill the domestic work gaps created by the entry of urban women into employment. For rural young women, migrating as a domestic worker is an important strategy for achieving social mobility and empowerment. However, domestic workers are vulnerable and largely hidden in the city and we know little about their lived experiences. In this paper, we start to address this gap, drawing on interviews with eight rural female migrants who are working as domestic workers in the city and attending evening classes in urban secondary schools. Informed by a critical framing of empowerment, we explore the extent to which intersecting inequalities in rural areas disempower these young women, and how migration and education become important strategies for improving their lives. We show how the support of social network members is crucial in enabling participants' migration, yet how this also leads to power asymmetries and exploitation. We reflect on how the ability of rural young women to achieve better futures is limited due to their status as poor, rural, female migrants, yet how many wait in the city in the hope of a better future. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of critical approaches to female empowerment that includes a focus on structural inequalities and power imbalances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that processes of marginalisation experienced by white working-class students provide insight into systemic problems with the English education system. White British students eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) are a low attaining group. This research investigates factors affecting their engagement and achievement. Fieldwork in three comprehensive secondary schools in a London borough used qualitative methods to gather data on the perspectives of staff, students and parents. Using Bourdieu's conceptual tools to guide the analysis, the study found that performance pressure and funding cuts can result in an institutional habitus which privileges academic attainment, side-lines the social and emotional aspects of learning and misrecognises working-class capitals. Such habitus fosters pedagogic practices which reduce levels of felt safety and limit opportunities to actively engage and exercise agency in the classroom. These conditions often make fragile the learner identity of white working-class students (and others) and prompt disengagement from school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the literature widely acknowledges the benefits of formative writing assessment in daily teaching, there is limited understanding of how frontline teachers implement it and the reasons behind their approach, particularly in EFL secondary school contexts where assessment has predominantly served selective purposes. Drawing on interviews, voice memos, document, and relevant artefacts, this study examined how a teacher implemented formative writing assessment and what influenced her decision-making process in a public secondary school in mainland China. The research findings shed light on how teachers working with beginner-level students can draw on formative writing assessment to develop students' L2 writing skills and on factors that might influence the realisation of formative writing assessment. The study also offers pedagogical recommendations for teachers and teacher educators and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effects of education system types and characteristics on changes in the distributions of literacy and numeracy skills during the upper secondary phase of education and training. Whereas there is a substantial literature on system effects on skills during the primary and lower secondary phases of education, much less has been written about these effects in relation to the upper secondary phase. This article reports on research using quasi-cohort data for 15-year-olds in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and 18- to 20-year-olds in the Survey of Adult Skills to test the effects of a range of system indicators on changes in skills distributions during the upper secondary phase. Consistent with some dominant theories, our difference-in-difference analysis identifies a range of system characteristics associated with skills inequality reduction in upper secondary education and training, which relate to 'system standardisation' and 'parity of esteem', and which can explain why some 'system types' are more effective than others in reducing skills inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The journey to pursue and persist with a career in STEM is a complex process that begins at a young age, continues across secondary education and the end of school transition to university. Such decisions are influenced by a range of personal, social and environmental factors, highlighting the practical complexities of supporting young people in their transition to university. This paper explores the post-school transition of two students, one female and one male, with strong technological dispositions and aspirations to pursue careers in STEM fields. We focus on two STEM disciplines, Information Technology and Engineering, chosen by our participants. We employ the theory of practice (Bourdieu 1977) to analyse two students' experience of transition. The findings from these case studies are not intended to be generalised. Rather the in-depth stories and theoretical case analysis provides a nuanced account of transition to study STEM disciplines. Importantly, the pathways into university were not equal for the participants. Class and gender intersected with university structures to enable and constrain students' transition highlighting the significance of institutional supports within STEM disciplines to better support diverse students across the period of transition to university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the development of computational literacy, there has been a surge in both research and practice application of text‐based and block‐based modalities within the field of computer programming education. Despite this trend, little work has actually examined how learners engaging in programming process when utilizing these two major programming modalities, especially in the context of secondary education settings. Objectives: To further compare programming effects between and within text‐based and block‐based modalities, this research conducted a quasi‐experimental research in China's secondary school. Methods: An online programming platform, Code4all, was developed to allow learners to program in text‐based and block‐based modalities. This research collected multimodal data sources, including programming platform data, process data, and performance data. This research further utilized multiple learning analytics approaches (i.e., clustering analysis, click stream analysis, lag‐sequential analysis and statistics) to compare learners' programming features, behavioural patterns and knowledge gains under two modalities. Results and Conclusions: The results indicated that learners in text‐based modality tended to write longer lines of code, encountered more syntactical errors, and took longer to attempt debugging. In contrast, learners in block‐based modality spent more time operating blocks and attempt debugging, achieving better programming knowledge performances compared to their counterparts. Further analysis of five clusters from the two modalities revealed discrepancies in programming behavioural patterns. Implications: Three major pedagogical implications were proposed based on empirical research results. Furthermore, this research contributed to the learning analytics literature by integrating process‐oriented and summative analysis to reveal learners' programming learning quality. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Programming has the potential to improve learners' higher‐order thinking skills.Block‐based and text‐based modalities are two major instructional methods.There has been a growing interest to understand how learning occurs in two modes.Most previous work has evaluated two modalities based on learners' knowledge, skills, and attitudes. What this paper adds: Code4all allows learners to programming in text‐based and block‐based modalities.Quasi‐experimental research was conducted to examine block‐based and text‐based programming modalities.Multimodal learning analytics were used to compare programming under two modalities.Learners' programming features, behaviouralbehavioral patterns, and knowledge gains were identified under two modalities. The implications of study findings for practitioners: Instructors should integrate text‐based and block‐based modalities into programming courses.Process‐oriented assessment should be integrated with summative assessment. Adaptive, timely scaffoldings should be provided with the external support (this should be marked like above two points). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor education fosters student well-being, development and learning. However, many schools restrict outdoor experience to their own playground, and to times considered recess. This case study, which examined student and teacher perceptions about the outdoor experience on traditional playgrounds, was conducted in an urban school in the Basque Country with an asphalt playground whose only resources were related to sports. We conducted five focal studies with 40 students, and administered a questionnaire to 78 teachers in Primary and Secondary Education. The results obtained made clear the dissatisfaction of both students and teachers with the use of the playground and with the opportunities it offered. However, they also identified areas for improvement and suggested future lines of work. It is essential to promote a dynamic of reflection on outdoor spaces that includes student participation as well as training teachers and raising their awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an international study in which 125 secondary-level students from different European countries came together and were exposed to outdoor education. The purpose was to investigate the impact level of outdoor activities on the students' success rates and explore how they perceived their experiences in outdoors. The analysis of the data gathered from pre- and post-tests and semi-structured in-depth interviews showed outdoor education could complement indoor teaching, clarify abstract theoretical points, expand content knowledge and raise test scores of the students. At the same time, with its motivating nature, outdoor learning helped the participants get ready for learning and use their higher order thinking skills, form good relationships with others, communicate and cooperate and build high levels of self-efficacy. This research affirms outdoor education is an effective, but mostly neglected, practice at secondary levels and recommends policymakers to re-evaluate their vision for the status of learning in outdoors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how self-efficacy and motivation predict students' science literacy and career expectations above and beyond their socioeconomic status. A structural equation model built on self-determination theory and self-efficacy was examined using PISA 2015 data from Finland and Japan. The study sample is 5882 and 6647 15-year-old students from Finland and Japan, respectively. The findings show that the model fits the data well in both countries. Intrinsic motivation is the strongest predictor of both science literacy and career expectations, while instrumental motivation predicts only career expectations in Finland and Japan. The findings for self-efficacy, on the other hand, differ across countries. It explains a considerable variance in both outcomes in Finland, whereas it predicts only career expectations with a small effect size in Japan. The findings are discussed from a cultural standpoint, with comparisons to Finland and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neo-Aristotelian forms of character education often draw on literary sources as materials, although rarely poetry. This article offers retrospective reflections on a poetry-based character-education intervention, conducted in an Icelandic secondary-school setting. Having run into practical difficulties during the implementation phase, the challenges of implementation were reflected upon through consultation with ten subject experts who shared their views about the enablers and barriers encountered when running such an intervention. The interviews yielded a rich data set, which often took interviewees beyond the boundaries of a poetry-based curricular context to focus on more general conditions for effective, character-inspiring school-work. Through thematic analysis, four themes were identified: freedom, time, creativity, and wonderment. Of these four, creativity had been identified in advance as an interview theme, meaning that the researchers expected to find it. The remaining three provide an insight into how, according to the interviewees, the ideal Icelandic school system should be designed. The theme of freedom addresses both negative and positive aspects of the current state of affairs, while the theme of time mostly reflects negative aspects of the Icelandic curriculum. The theme of wonderment has solely positive connotations in the minds of interviewees, and is the core of this analysis because it seems to hold the key to the question: what factors would enable an effective intervention of the sort under scrutiny here? This theme is analysed in detail, and some specific and general educational implications are elicited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether students with intellectual disabilities (ID) can improve their arithmetic skills by participating in an arithmetic intervention programme, theoretically founded on explicit instruction (EI) and administered via an application developed for tablet computers. The intervention study used a randomised controlled trial design (RCT) (n = 30, aged 10-16, 13 females) and lasted for up to 12 weeks. The results show that the intervention group significantly improved in arithmetic fact fluency compared to the controls and the effects remained six months after the intervention. The effects were larger for subtraction than for addition, and this difference remained six months later. These results suggest that mathematics applications based on explicit instruction can be an effective way of teaching arithmetic facts to youth with mild ID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context is considered to greatly impact student engagement. However, little is known about the association between students' situational engagement in a particular lesson and their overall engagement with school and learning over time. The current study aims to validate the InSitu measure of situational engagement in a Norwegian context and to explore the relation between situational and overall engagement to add empirical evidence about the association between them. The sample consisted of 419 students (grades 8-10, ages 13-16), who reported their situational engagement through a web-based questionnaire at the end of six separate lessons. In addition, they answered a questionnaire concerning their overall engagement twice. The results supported the current factor structure of the InSitu instrument in a Norwegian lower secondary school context. The results showed substantial variation in student engagement between lessons. Structural equation modelling indicated significant associations between situational engagement and overall engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wide variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is increasingly embedded into numerous facets of everyday life. Young people, in particular, are often viewed as eager and skilful users of new ICTs who have various educational and leisure-related purposes for ICT use. Although school and home lives have traditionally been viewed as separate, ICT use has blurred the lines between these environments. This study focuses attention on the negotiation of this 'grey zone' within the school setting, in terms of teachers' practices around students' online interactions. This study sought to gain insight into teachers' perceptions of the challenges related to students' online interactions and how these become visible in the school context. This included exploring strategies identified by teachers in efforts to surmount difficulties. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers in Finland working in primary and/or lower secondary education. The transcribed data were analysed qualitatively, using a thematic approach. According to the teachers, there were significant challenges associated with young people's online interactions that affected their students and the flow of school life, such as online conflicts and dysfunctional behaviour in messaging groups. Although teachers found that the boundaries and the obscurity of their roles made it difficult to address some situations, they nonetheless identified strategies to overcome challenges, often including collaboration with students and parents. The study highlights how students' online interactions can affect the ways that teachers view themselves and their roles as educators. Given the pace with which ICT, and young people's use of it evolves, the study suggests that there is a need for frequently reviewed guidelines or practices that help clarify the roles of different actors in relation to the realities of students' ICT use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance placed on passing Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) in Nigeria has led to the emergence of 'Miracle Examination Centres' (MECs). MECs are schools where candidates get undeserving excellent SSCE results through institutionally enabled malpractice. This undermines the Nigerian education sector and its leadership. But well-researched empirical evidence on MECs in Nigeria is scarce. Through a reconnaissance technique (recce), we provide new evidence on MECs' activities, including their nature and patronage, while providing informed remedial pointers that can be harnessed by the education sector leadership. Interviews were conducted with 97 persons, comprising community members, teachers, and school owners across 16 communities in four study sites (Abuja, Anambra, Edo, and Kogi), and data were supported by observations. Elicited data were thematically analysed. Findings show that MECs were more interested in rents (informal and undue fees) by compromising SSCE standards and less interested in academic training. Community members were aware of the activities of MECs and could readily identify or discuss them. We uncovered the adopted processes in facilitating this kind of malpractice. A feasible strategy to address MECs and similar examination fraud syndicates across countries is for the education sector leadership to strategically focus on the demand and supply sides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has demonstrated wellbeing benefits for positive education programmes (PEPs) facilitated by clinicians or experts or outside the school context. The current study explored the effects of a Year 10 PEP led by teachers trained in positive education and embedded within the Australian secondary school context. A mixed-methods design compared students receiving PEP (n = 119) with a wellbeing-as-usual comparison group (n = 34) matched on age and socioeconomic status. Depression, anxiety, autonomy, gratitude and mindfulness levels did not differ between groups. Levels of satisfaction with life and relatedness were significantly higher for the intervention than for the comparison students at the post-intervention time point. Qualitative analyses revealed that students valued having engaging and relatable teachers, brief interactive sessions and personally relevant applied content. School-based PEPs may therefore provide some limited ongoing support as students transition into their senior years of secondary school. Delivering positive education within the school context, however, raises challenges relating to levels of teacher training and availability. Capturing the student voice in the current study was valuable and indicated that both teacher and programme factors were central to student engagement in PEPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, as part of an intervention program in which students and their teachers participated in a school development project, we examined students' perceptions of connectedness to their urban school. A photovoice method was employed to map out the multiple emotions associated with the school connectedness experienced by 61 students from four Brussels' schools. Five different but simultaneously occurring emotional themes were revealed: togetherness, respect, success, readiness for learning, and pride. Moreover, students articulated the drivers that positively affect each of these emotional themes. Together, they provide guidance for creating a fertile ground for democratic practice in urban schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation is argued to be a critical predictor of language learning success, but it is not clear whether motivation is equally relevant across compulsory and optional language education contexts. This study explored the motivation of adolescent Anglophone students of other languages across secondary school year groups with a particular interest in the impact of choice and curricular structure. Based on Self-Determination Theory, we developed a model that maintains that perceptions of autonomy support predict learners' sense of autonomy, in turn enhancings motivation. Through a survey of 1775 students aged 11-16, we tested whether this model holds for learners from different year groups, and in later years, across those in schools with and without mandatory language education. We found that all learners reported less autonomy frustration and were more likely to report a more autonomous form of language learning motivation if they perceived their language teacher as autonomy-supportive, but that as learners progressed through school perceptions of autonomy support declined. Further, we found that motivation was strongly associated with curriculum policies providing choice. These differences in motivational profiles across year group have implications for how teachers might support students' across different years and for programmatic adaptations that might facilitate students' learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative review aims to describe the current status of problem‐based learning (PBL) implementation in mathematics and identify research gaps in the area of investigation. Literature was searched using the ERIC and Google Scholar search engines. The inclusion/exclusion criteria included: articles published in reputable journals in English since 2015; use PBL as an instructional strategy; include critical thinking, problem‐solving, and creative thinking skills or explore the PBL process; as well as studies conducted at the secondary school level; those using well‐defined research design, process, and procedures; use reliable and valid data collection instruments; rigors maintained; clear discussion and precise conclusion. Based on these criteria, 14 primary studies were selected and reviewed. The results show that PBL improves mathematical critical thinking, problem‐solving, and creative thinking skills. Second, teachers' and students' adaptation to the PBL environment encompasses multiple stages of conceptualization and reconceptualization of its basic features. In addressing the challenges associated with the complex nature of PBL implementation during the shift from the conventional direct instruction model to the PBL environment in secondary school mathematics instruction, these studies fall short of producing concrete results and knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants constitute a highly diverse taxonomic group with fundamental ecological functions. However, plant biodiversity loss is currently a dramatic problem. It is essential to promote knowledge and appreciation of plants through formal education, particularly during educational stages that are compulsory for all citizens. This study presents an analysis of the new (2022) national curricula for primary (6–12 years) and compulsory secondary education (12–16 years) in Spain, and of the regional curricula for its largest region, Castilla y León. The analysis was conducted by identifying all plant-related text fragments, and classifying them into an inductive-deductive system of categories. These competence-based curricula are strongly grounded in the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, since content related to the interactions between the social and the ecological spheres quantitatively prevails over scientific content on plants. However, some areas of plant science are under-represented, appearing only through general statements in which the use of scientific terminology is absent. Opportunities to promote first-hand experience of edible and useful plants are provided by the use of learning situations encouraged in the curricula. Biodiversity is identified as a key issue to be reinforced; despite being included, the curricula fail to associate it with knowledge on plant taxonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equal opportunities in the context of education can be interpreted as ensuring equitable access to certain kinds of education (e.g. an academic track) or as equal opportunities to lead a fulfilling life regardless of the educational route followed (e.g. vocational or academic). These interpretations are in tension: the former implies a hierarchy where some forms of education are considered better than others, whereas the latter requires that they are all considered valuable. This paper presents a case study of a secondary school in the Netherlands that pursued both interpretations of equal opportunities and made systemic reforms to achieve this. Building on interviews, focus groups and participant observation with students, staff and management, the paper analyses the tension these actors experienced between the two interpretations of equal opportunities. It is argued that this stems from a societal context that endorses the first interpretation of equal opportunities but aligns less with the second interpretation. The analysis shows that individual institutions like schools have limited power to shift narratives surrounding educational tracks, especially when these do not align with prevailing trends in society. Additionally, the paper underlines the value of applying analysis of different interpretations of equal opportunities, which is usually undertaken by theoretical work, to empirical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Objectives Methods Results Conclusions As the significance of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to increase, there is a need for effective scaffolding and support for novice learners. Educators have encountered challenges in effectively scaffolding novice learners AI concepts, and providing appropriate motivational support. Research evidence has shown the potential of game‐based approaches to fostering secondary school students' AI literacy and motivation to learn AI.This study developed an online platform TreasureIsland to gamify ebooks and investigated whether and how students playing with it can effectively enhance their AI literacy. This study aims to contribute an empirical and theoretical basis for AI literacy education and promote the use of gamification that would be broadly applied in other schools.A quasi‐experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of the proposed gamified approach, which included a control group using an ebook with playful resources. To triangulate the quantitative results obtained from the pre and post‐test, focus group interviews were also conducted.The platform was effective in improving students' motivation, self‐efficacy, career interest, and understanding of AI concepts and ethics, but did not enhance their confidence of using AI, and high cognition of applying, evaluating and creating AI. TreasureIsland players demonstrated significant improvement in all affective and cognitive domains, except for the ability to apply, evaluate, and create AI. Interviews revealed that the gamified approach could promote students' AI literacy by adhering to guidelines, including (1) creating a competitive and motivating learning environment through game mechanics, (2) providing scaffolding modules and feedback, and (3) visualising complex AI concepts via simulations. Feedback collected from the study suggested adding pedagogical elements such as flipped classrooms and project‐based learning in future research to improve the instructional design, and enable students to reach a higher level of cognition.This study concludes that the use of gamification can provide affective and cognitive support and an enjoyable experience for fostering learners' AI literacy. It helps instructional designers and teachers enrich the pedagogical knowledge related to gamified platform and AI literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The level of difficulty of mathematical test items is a critical aspect for evaluating test quality and educational outcomes. Accurately predicting item difficulty during test creation is thus significantly important for producing effective test papers. This study used more than ten years of content and score data from China's Henan Provincial College Entrance Examination in Mathematics as an evaluation criterion for test difficulty, and all data were obtained from the Henan Provincial Department of Education. Based on the framework established by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for test item assessment methodology, this paper proposes a new framework containing eight features considering the uniqueness of mathematics. Next, this paper proposes an XGBoost-based SHAP model for analyzing the difficulty of mathematics tests. By coupling the XGBoost method with the SHAP method, the model not only evaluates the difficulty of mathematics tests but also analyzes the contribution of specific features to item difficulty, thereby increasing transparency and mitigating the "black box" nature of machine learning models. The model has a high prediction accuracy of 0.99 for the training set and 0.806 for the test set. With the model, we found that parameter-level features and reasoning-level features are significant factors influencing the difficulty of subjective items in the exam. In addition, we divided senior secondary mathematics knowledge into nine units based on Chinese curriculum standards and found significant differences in the distribution of the eight features across these different knowledge units, which can help teachers place different emphasis on different units during the teaching process. In summary, our proposed approach significantly improves the accuracy of item difficulty prediction, which is crucial for intelligent educational applications such as knowledge tracking, automatic test item generation, and intelligent paper generation. These results provide tools that are better aligned with and responsive to students' learning needs, thus effectively informing educational practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to investigate how factors such as age, education level, planned delivery method and fear of childbirth were affected in pregnant women before and during the pandemic. This cross-sectional study compared a pre-pandemic pregnant group (July 2019 and December 2019) and a pandemic group (November 2020 and May 2021) of patients at Kütahya Health Sciences University Evliya Çelebi Training and Research Hospital. A total of 696 pregnant women in their second trimester were included in the study. All of them were literate and voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected with the Wijma delivery expectancy/experience questionnaire (WDEQ-A), and the outpatient doctor asked the questions face-to-face. The mean age of the pregnant women participating in the study was 31.6 ± 6.8 years. While the total Wijma score was 62.1 ± 25.1 in the pre-pandemic group, it was 61.3 ± 26.4 in the pandemic group, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.738). Upon analyzing the fear of childbirth among groups based on education level, no statistically significant differences were observed between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods within any of the groups. While 25.7% (n = 179) of all participants had a normal fear of childbirth, 22% (n = 153) had a mild fear of childbirth, 27% (n = 188) had a moderate fear of childbirth, and 25.3% (n = 176) had a severe fear of childbirth (Wijma score of 85 and above). When the pre-pandemic and the pandemic period were compared, the fear of childbirth was unchanged in pregnant women at all education levels (p = 0.079, p = 0.957, p = 0.626, p = 0.539, p = 0.202). When comparing fear of childbirth before and after the pandemic, it was found that patients with a high school education level have a significantly higher fear of childbirth. To alleviate the fear of childbirth in pregnant women who have completed high school, training or psychosocial support interventions may be prioritized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design. A retrospective cohort study using prospectively collected data. Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate preoperative differences in racial and socioeconomic factors in patients undergoing laminoplasty (LP) versus laminectomy and fusion (LF) for degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). Summary of Background Data. DCM is prevalent in the United States, requiring surgical intervention to prevent neurological degeneration. While LF is utilized more frequently, LP is an emerging alternative. Previous studies have demonstrated similar neurological outcomes for both procedures. However, treatment selection is primarily at the discretion of the surgeon and may be influenced by social determinants of health that impact surgical outcomes. Materials and Methods. The Quality Outcome Database (QOD), a national spine registry, was queried for adult patients who underwent either LP or LF for the management of DCM. Covariates associated with socioeconomic status, pain and disability, and demographic and medical history were collected. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess patient factors associated with undergoing LP versus LF. Results. Of 1673 DCM patients, 157 (9.4%) underwent LP and 1516 (90.6%) underwent LF. A significantly greater proportion of LP patients had private insurance (P<0.001), a greater than high school level education (P<0.001), were employed (P<0.001), and underwent primary surgery (P<0.001). LP patients reported significantly lower baseline neck/arm pain and Neck Disability Index (P<0.001). In the multivariate regression model, lower baseline neck pain [odds ratio (OR)=0.915, P=0.001], identifying as non-Caucasian (OR=2.082, P<0.032), being employed (OR=1.592, P=0.023), and having a greater than high school level education (OR=1.845, P<0.001) were associated with undergoing LP rather than LF. Conclusions. In DCM patients undergoing surgery, factors associated with patients undergoing LP versus LF included lower baseline neck pain, non-Caucasian race, higher education, and employment. While symptomatology may influence the decision to choose LP over LF, there may also be socioeconomic factors at play. The trend of more educated and employed patients undergoing LP warrants further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractConsidering the crucial role of education in offering mitigation and adaptation strategies for climate change, there is a clear need for objective tools to assess its impact on the understanding of the issue among secondary school students. This paper describes the methodological design used to build and validate an instrument that explores secondary education students’ climate change knowledge. The design is organized into several steps: literature and document review; item design; Expert judgment; pilot testing; and instrument quality criteria analysis. Thus, a questionnaire comprising 27 4-points Likert scale items was designed. Two rounds of pilot testing and statistical analyses were conducted on the difficulty indexes, factor analysis, Spearman coefficient (flit-half method), and alpha coefficient. The result is an instrument with a degree of feasibility, validity and reliability suitable for comparative research as was found in a Spanish macro-study involving 6398 secondary school students. Preliminary results for the Spanish context are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the modes of production and circulation of meaning in the educative practices developed in classroom contexts at the secondary level, in a school in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. From the approach of critical sociolinguistics (Codó et al., 2012; Niño Murcia et al., 2020), that articulates the perspectives of ethnographic sociolinguistics and critical discourse analysis, we analyze the interactions developed in a 3rd year Language and Literature course, focusing especially on the teacher's interventions, with the aim of investigating to what extent her participation opens the space for the production and circulation of meanings that question the established order or, on the contrary, restricts it. In this way, we are interested in determining which pedagogical models underlie these educational practices by characterizing the pedagogical discourse that circulates in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an emerging need for redefining religious literacy for teachers in mainstream secondary schools in the United Kingdom (UK) where Religious Studies is part of the core curriculum. The research study draws upon careful observation and analysis of UK mainstream secondary school curricula about Islam and on the qualitative pieces of evidence from teaching the Institute of Ismaili Studies' (IIS) secondary curriculum in religious education classes for learners within the Shi'a Imami Ismaili Muslim community. A novel three-dimensional pyramid approach is proposed for those who teach Islam in UK secondary mainstream schools that aims to provide a holistic understanding of Islam using inclusivist and multifaceted perspectives. The dimensions of the approach include religious situatedness, social connection, and chronological evolution. The findings from implementing this approach show that situating religion within a humanistic realm helps learners gain insights into the nuances of dynamic forces that are at play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Industrial facilities are not located uniformly across communities in the United States, but how the burden of exposure to carcinogenic air emissions may vary across population characteristics is unclear. We evaluated differences in carcinogenic industrial pollution among major sociodemographic groups in the United States and Puerto Rico. Methods We evaluated cross-sectional associations of population characteristics including race and ethnicity, educational attainment, and poverty at the census tract level with point-source industrial emissions of 21 known human carcinogens using regulatory data from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals comparing the highest emissions (tertile or quintile) to the referent group (zero emissions [ie, nonexposed]) for all sociodemographic characteristics were estimated using multinomial, population density–adjusted logistic regression models. Results In 2018, approximately 7.4 million people lived in census tracts with nearly 12 million pounds of carcinogenic air releases. The odds of tracts having the greatest burden of benzene, 1,3-butadiene, ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and nickel emissions compared with nonexposed were 10%-20% higher for African American populations, whereas White populations were up to 18% less likely to live in tracts with the highest emissions. Among Hispanic and Latino populations, odds were 16%-21% higher for benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and ethylene oxide. Populations experiencing poverty or with less than high school education were associated with up to 51% higher burden, irrespective of race and ethnicity. Conclusions Carcinogenic industrial emissions disproportionately impact African American and Hispanic and Latino populations and people with limited education or experiencing poverty thus representing a source of pollution that may contribute to observed cancer disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College and career readiness is crucial to success in postsecondary education, employment, and independent living. The College and Career Readiness for Transition (CCR4T) assessment is valid and reliable and can assist in transition planning for students with disabilities. The CCR4T assessment was designed for planning with students with and without disabilities. This article aims to provide an overview of this assessment and demonstrate how secondary educators and other stakeholders can use the data gathered to make decisions and inform the Individualized Education Program (IEP) as an age-appropriate transition assessment for youth with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) seeks to improve students' learning with the support of technology. Although CSCL facilitates an enriching environment for cooperation, CSCL activities might be affected by asymmetrical participation. Group awareness tools have proven to enhance learners' interactions, balancing the levels of participation and increasing the learning outcomes. This study investigates the effect of a group awareness tool (GAT) on participation within synchronous CSCL activities in the context of extracurricular activities. We designed a quasi-experimental within-subject study (GAT exposure and control condition) and tested an ad hoc GAT in a web-based CSCL platform with high school students (N = 140). The measured variables included the effect of the GAT on students' participation and the quality of discussion. A complementary analysis evaluated students' perceptions of the tool. Results revealed that the implementation of a GAT encourages students to take part in CSCL discussions without explicitly hindering its quality. Even so, the balance of participation was not significantly affected. Students further reported that they found the GAT useful to regulate collaboration. The results from the study provide further knowledge of the functioning of group awareness tools in secondary education and share an insight into how students perceive them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Quantitative olfactory assessment has demonstrated clinical utility for the evaluation of a range of neurologic, psychiatric, and sinonasal conditions. Here, we provide age, sex, race, and education-specific normative data for the 12-item Sniffin Sticks Odor Identification Test (SSOIT-12) in older Black and White U.S. adults without preclinical or clinical dementia or sinonasal disease. Method A sample of 2,224 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study participants aged 66–89 years were included. A normative regression equation was developed using a linear model for the association of age, sex, race, and education with odor identification score. Regression-based normative mean scores and percentiles were generated by age, sex, race, and education groups. Results Participants (mean age = 74 years, 59% women, 20% Black, 48% > high school education) had a mean SSOIT-12 score of 9.8. Age, sex, race, and education were all associated with odor identification performance (all p s < .05). A linear regression model for the predicted SSOIT-12 score was developed for use with an individual's actual SSOIT-12 score in order to calculate the Z -score and corresponding percentile for a specific age, sex, race, and education group. Data are also reported in tabular format. Conclusions Our study provides SSOIT-12 normative data obtained from a large population of White and Black older adults without preclinical or clinical dementia or sinonasal disease living in the USA. These findings can aid clinicians in assessing the degree of olfactory loss, establishing concordance with a person's perception of olfactory difficulties and quantitatively monitoring changes in olfactory performance over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unprecedented global temperatures have brought the question of how to teach sensitive issues of climate change to the fore. In this paper we suggest that a refocusing on adaptation productively shifts the debate to climate justice and practical solutions to building community resilience. The paper examines a practice-led project that sought to innovate and test the use of participatory storytelling with young people to explore climate adaptation. Our insights relate to two areas: first, the benefits of mutual learning through engaging in dialogue with frontline communities; second, how participatory storytelling supports emotionally intelligent sensemaking, agency and leadership by providing both 'connections' and 'containers' for engaging with climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. Practitioner points: Retained students exhibited lower levels of academic self‐concept, self‐esteem, and goal orientations even before retention.The potential advantages of grade retention, particularly in terms of academic self‐concept, tend to vanish in the long run.Grade retention in lower secondary education did not predict retention in secondary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use new survey data from 1,203 households in rural Eastern India to estimate cross-sectional models of overall energy use and embedded emissions. Findings indicate that the primary driver of household energy use is household size and affluence. This is unsurprising and consistent with findings from the engineering literature on energy demand. However, there is also a substantial and significant moderating influence of skills on energy use. For emissions, we observe a bifurcated relationship in line with educational attainment. For those that have completed secondary education or more, skills are negatively associated with energy use and emissions, whereas for those with lesser qualifications more skills are associated with more energy use and emissions. The results are consistent with the environmental Kuznets curve, which implies that a critical level of affluence is required before environmental impacts start lessening. The results also echo a sociological critique of human capital theory − that individual abilities are not productive in and of themselves, but rather in relation to socially determined opportunity structures. Our findings show that this could also hold for greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective undergraduate statistical education requires training using real-world data. Textbook datasets seldom match the complexities and messiness of real-world data and finding these datasets can be challenging for educators. Consulting and industrial datasets often have nondisclosure agreements. Academic datasets often require subject area expertise beyond those of a general education or lack connections to real-world applications. Many governments, including the United States, now require the release of data from projects they directly complete or fund though grants and contracts. We show how statistical educators may find datasets and incorporate them into courses. Specifically, we use two examples from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and one example from the ecology literature. We demonstrate the use of these datasets in an upper-level analysis of variance (ANOVA) class. In addition to describing how we found the datasets, we describe how to include them into course work and the course's student assessments. We have used these datasets over multiple semesters and included student feedback from these courses. Although our examples focus on an ANOVA class, the general methods for finding data shared here could be used for statistical classes ranging from high school to graduate education. for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general-vocational education integration (GVEI) is an initiative of strategic significance for Chinese educational reform in the new era, aiming to integrate general and vocational education resources to provide more diverse educational options for students and cultivate high-quality technical talent. Nevertheless, the GVEI at the secondary level encounters the challenge of "one-way student flow," a strong bias towards vocational-to-general transition in vocational education students. The issue is a severe deviation from the original objective of developing GVEI. This article focuses on delineating the phenomenon and pinpointing the causes underlying it, with a view to providing implications for the successful implementation and advancement of GVEI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractDeveloping disciplinary literacy is an emerging priority for secondary teachers as they prepare students for college, career, and civic life. One way to develop and assess disciplinary literacy in history is through source-based argument writing (SBAW) with multiple sources. SBAW requires students to synthesize information across texts and use disciplinary reasoning to evaluate sources and answer historical questions. Some research in history education has examined how writing and historical reasoning can be developed and measured, but the understanding of how specific tasks differentially elicit key thinking and writing skills is nascent in its development. To address this gap, we analyzed the writing of 30 grade 8 students in history who wrote argument essays in response to two different writing prompts. We scored their writing for multiple discrete components of writing quality and used MANOVA to compare writing across prompts. We found that 1) key disciplinary thinking skills are difficult for students to express in SBAW and 2) writing prompt characteristics significantly influenced students’ expression of historical reasoning (i.e., sourcing, corroboration, and counterargumentation). Implications for the design of source-based writing tasks in history, as well as instruction and measurement, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether publicly funded summer school programs in secondary education are of substantive meaning for the math performance of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. More specifically, we explore whether this is the case when the summer programs are not explicitly aimed at low-SES students. In this context, we investigate whether summer schools in the Netherlands can decrease inequalities of opportunities in education. We use administrative data from Dutch secondary schools. To analyse the effect of the intervention we apply a Difference-in-Difference analysis in combination with matching estimation techniques. The results indicate that there is an overall modest effect of participation in a summer school. When analysing the SES groups separately, we observe a positive effect of participation for all three SES groups. However, the effect seems less strong for participants in the lowest and middle SES group compared to the highest SES group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Knowledge of changes in the domains of physical activity (PA) during the transition period from primary to secondary education and the factors associated with these changes, are prerequisites for the design of effective PA promotion strategies. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to systematically review changes in general, leisure-time, school, transport, work, and home PA across the transition from primary to secondary education. The second aim was to systematically review the individual, social, and physical environmental factors that were associated with these changes. Methods: Records published up until September 2023 were retrieved from five electronic databases. We included longitudinal and cross-sectional studies that investigated general or domain-specific PA from 2 years before to 2 years after the transition from primary to secondary education. Information on source, study characteristics, sample characteristics, PA, and factors were extracted from the papers included. We reported the direction of change in general and domain-specific PA and the direction of association of the factors with change in general and domain-specific PA. Results: Forty-eight papers were included in the study. The evidence on changes in PA and associated factors was greatest for general PA. A limited number of the studies investigated the separate domains of leisure-time, school, and transport. Most studies on general and school PA reported a decline in PA, but there were no consistent results for the domains of leisure-time and transport. With respect to the associated factors, evidence was predominantly found for individual factors and to a lesser degree for physical environmental and social environmental factors. None of the factors were consistently associated with changes in general or domain-specific PA during the school transition. Conclusions: For the design of targeted PA promotion strategies, further studies are warranted to explore changes in the specific domains of PA across the transition from primary to secondary education, especially in the domains of leisure-time, transport, home, and work PA. In addition, the interactions between factors at different socioecological levels to influence changes in PA need to be addressed more in the future. Trial registration: PROSPERO CRD42020190204. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Antenatal care (ANC) is critical to reducing maternal and infant mortality. However, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to have among the lowest levels of ANC receipt globally, with half of mothers not meeting the WHO minimum recommendation of at least four visits. Increasing ANC coverage will require not only directly reducing geographic and financial barriers to care but also addressing the social determinants of health that shape access. Among those with the greatest potential for impact is maternal education: past research has documented a relationship between higher educational attainment and antenatal healthcare access, as well as related outcomes like health literacy and autonomy in health decision-making. Yet little causal evidence exists about whether changing educational policies can improve ANC coverage. This study fills this research gap by investigating the impact of national-level policies that eliminate tuition fees for lower secondary education in SSA on the number of ANC visits. Methods: To estimate the effect of women's exposure to tuition-free education policies at the primary and lower secondary levels on their ANC visits, a difference-in-difference methodology was employed. This analysis leverages the variation in the timing of education policies across nine SSA countries. Results: Exposure to tuition-free primary and lower secondary education is associated with improvements in the number of ANC visits, increasing the share of women meeting the WHO recommendation of at least four ANC visits by 6–14%. Moreover, the impact of both education policies combined is greater than that of tuition-free primary education alone. However, the effects vary across individual treatment countries, suggesting the need for further investigation into country-specific dynamics. Conclusions: The findings of this study have significant implications for policymakers and stakeholders seeking to improve ANC coverage. Removing the tuition barrier at the secondary level has shown to be a powerful strategy for advancing health outcomes and educational attainment. As governments across Africa consider eliminating tuition fees at the secondary level, this study provides valuable evidence about the impacts on reproductive health outcomes. While investing in free education requires initial investment, the long-term benefits for both human development and economic growth far outweigh the costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address youth mental health needs, student wellbeing has traditionally referred to caring for individuals’ psychological health and subjective emotions. However, an individual subjective psychological approach is insufficient in addressing society’s responsibilities to enable individuals to live a happy and fulfilling life. A more comprehensive conceptualisation of student wellbeing is needed to understand the needs of individuals to stay well in society. Hence, the purpose of this article is to re-conceptualise student wellbeing from a relational perspective, emphasising wellbeing as happening, fluid, and always becoming. Taking student wellbeing in secondary education in China as a case, this paper discusses how student wellbeing is currently understood through a non-Westernised lens. The discussions of Chinese students’ wellbeing might be extended to other social groups where wellbeing is conceptualised as ‘being-well-in-relationships’. This is both about ‘fitting in’ and embracing an active pursuit of personal development within the context of interconnected relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thus studying physics is very important as it relates to real life. However, based on the results of a survey that has been carried out in a high school, it is known that student learning outcomes are less / low, this is due to difficulties in understanding fundamental physics concepts, limitations in solving physics problems, and lack of connections between these concepts. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze how the implementation of the application of the PBL model for the learning outcomes of dynamic fluid material students. The method applied in this study is quantitative Quasi Experiment using nonequivalent control group design. From the results of research that has been carried out, it can be concluded that the PBL learning model has the potential to improve physical learning outcomes, especially in the context of Dynamic Fluid material. The implications of this research can be used as a basis to recommend the application of the Problem Based Learning model in physics learning to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the concept understanding process at the relevant educational level. Further research can be conducted to explore specific aspects of this learning model that exert the most significant impact on understanding physics concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education that promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all citizens. In this context, promoting communicative competence is crucial. It enables individuals not only to understand oral and written texts in the school environment but also to function effectively in society and in interpersonal relationships. Improving the communicative ability of students is particularly important in contexts of social exclusion, where it is crucial to provide comprehensive education based on principles of quality and equity. This paper examines the adherence of Secondary Education teachers to principles and practices related to classroom methodology in environments where there is a risk of social exclusion, with special attention to the development of communication skills. To conduct the study, 407 teachers completed a 60-question questionnaire. The results provide insight into the participating teachers' perceptions of communication skills in contexts of exclusion. These findings have implications for the organizational model of schools and the training of teachers, both pre-service and in-service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between fans' views on the sources of violence in football and their levels of identification with sports. A total of 283 participants, including 252 males and 31 females, took part in the survey, and the results were analyzed. Since the data showed a normal distribution, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Independent t-tests were used. Pearson Correlation test was used to determine the relationship between the sub-dimensions of the scale. According to the findings of the study, there was a positive weak relationship between identification and the sub-dimensions of violence associated with sports media, referee decisions, coaches and managers, and athlete behaviors (p<0.05). As participants' identification with their teams increased, the violence associated with sports media, referee decisions, coaches and managers, and athlete behaviors also increased. In terms of gender, it was determined that identification was more prevalent among male individuals. An age-based analysis revealed a significant difference among the 18-23 age group. Married participants identified more strongly with their teams, and individuals with a high school education level showed higher levels of identification. In conclusion, this study focused on the sources of violence in sports and fans' levels of identification with their teams. It found a positive relationship between identification and violence associated with sports media, referee decisions, coaches and managers, and athlete behaviors. These findings can help sports media and other stakeholders better understand their responsibilities in reducing violence and contribute to the development of strategies to prevent it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines how educational and socioeconomic inequalities are articulated and manifested in the urban space of the population of Bahía Blanca, Argentina. It also analyzes the unequal spatial distribution of families' educational, economic and cultural capital and its influence on young people's educational trajectories in terms of access, persistence and progression. A methodological strategy combining different quantitative techniques and using a primary, up-to-date, representative source of information for the whole city was used. The results obtained suggest that the fragmentation of urban space both reflects and contributes to the production and persistence of unequal educational and social opportunities for young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upper secondary educational institutions have outstanding students in different areas of knowledge. Some of them show scientific skills, technological innovation, and others are considered high-performance athletes. They can enhance their abilities and face more demanding challenges by participating in academic and/or sporting events. The aim of this study was "to discuss the importance of the timely detection of outstanding students in upper secondary education academic units, as well as to analyse the factors that influence the achievement of their goals". The research was conducted at the Guasave Daytime High School of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS), in the municipality of Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. It was designed as a case study, with an exploratory-explanatory analysis. A total of 455 surveys were administered to students. The academic unit has 3898 students, the data were captured in Google Forms to describe the attitudinal profile of high school students, ways of learning, strengths, and weaknesses to develop scientific skills. Interest in participating in important academic and sporting events was considered as activities to identify outstanding students. The results show the importance of implementing strategies that allow teachers to detect outstanding students in a timely manner. The dissemination of extracurricular activities was considered because students have the potential to develop their scientific and sporting talents. However, these activities have little dissemination among students. It is concluded that the Academic Units should have a greater dissemination of extracurricular activities and have a programme to detect outstanding students. It is important to train and guide teachers so that they can identify and channel outstanding students and be able to enhance their abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined how L2 engagement is associated with students' general life satisfaction, a core element of well-being. A total of 1,109 seventh-grade EFL learners from a rural secondary school in China completed a measure of life satisfaction (family satisfaction, environment satisfaction, academic satisfaction, school satisfaction, freedom satisfaction, and friendship satisfaction) and a measure of foreign language engagement (cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, behavioural engagement, and social engagement). Path analysis shows that life satisfaction generally predicted L2 engagement positively. Variations were found in the associations between six life satisfaction dimensions and four L2 engagement dimensions. A positive psychology lens is adopted to interpret the findings and make concrete suggestions about how to enhance learner engagement. The findings imply that a proactive preventative stance on bolstering engagement could be encouraged such as fostering learners' positive perceptions and beliefs of self, family, school, environment, study, and friends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]