To determine the effectiveness of a peer tutorial strategy in the school achievement of English to high school students, whose mother tongue is not English, we made a comparison of two groups; in one, peer tutoring was carried out through the support of high average students and compared with the results of a group that did not receive the intervention. The tutors were 121 students who scored higher than 80 points in the initial exam and accepted to participate in the program. The group of tutees was formed by those who obtained scores lower than 65 and accepted to be tutored (101 formed the experimental group and 112 the control group). The peer tutoring was done in the classroom with the monitoring of the teacher, lasted 11 weeks, and focused on taking class notes and comparing them, giving feedback and clarifying doubts for 30 minutes after the teacher's explanation. The results of the midterm exam and final exam were analyzed through the Student's t-test, showing significant differences in the group that was tutored compared to the low-performing students who did not receive the intervention. The procedure was effective, finding that the use of peer support can improve school performance. It is necessary to monitor the profile of the tutors and systematize the tutorial strategy.

The gender gap in achievement is one of the main challenges that face the educational system in Jordan. Since 1989, educational reform plans have attempted to reduce gender gap in achievement. However, the gender gap in science achievement according to PISA 2015 was higher than that of other participating countries. This study aimed to show the trends, and determine the factors associated with the gender gap in science achievement. The data were obtained from 7267 students, who participated in PISA 2015. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression methods were used, for which the results showed that the gap became wider with the same direction since 2006. In addition to that, the study findings suggested that environmental awareness, and sense of belonging to school are the most important factors associated with gender gap among other personal factors.

Among school psycho-social factors with considerable effect on student outcomes are both school and classroom climate.  Because how students perceive the classroom climate strongly predicts achievement, measuring classroom climate gains importance and the need for testing the existing results across cultures persists.  In this study, we assessed the validity and measurement invariance of the Turkish adaptation of the Student Personal Perception of Classroom Climate Scale (SPPCC) developed in English (US).  Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and measurement invariance (MI) analyses by sex were performed on 629 students’ data.  CFA results confirmed the factorial structure of the SPPCC.  Results of the MI analyses showed that the SPPCC measures the same construct for females and males in a non-English context.  Latent mean comparisons revealed girls perceived the classroom climate more positively than boys.  We concluded that this study in the Turkish context is a further step in developing evidence of the extent to which SPCC provides psychometrically sound scores.

The aim of the present study was to figure out whether university students’ learning approaches were shaped via their achievement goal orientations, academic self-efficacy and hope or not. The other objective was to examine if these psychological constructs varied in accordance with the demographic variables including gender, age and class level. 332 undergraduates from two different universities who were in the year of junior and senior participated in the study. The Achievement Goal Orientations Scale, the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, the Dispositional Hope Scale and the Demographic Form were utilized to reveal the predictive power of these constructs on their learning attitudes measured by the Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that learning goal orientation was a pivotal predictor of both deep and surface approach to learning. Academic self-efficacy and hope were the crucial precursors of deep approach while performance-avoidance goal inclination was a considerable predictor of surface approach. Independent samples t-test analysis displayed that the female undergraduates were superior to the male ones in terms of the learning goal tendency. And the students (20 to 22 aged) demonstrated higher scores on the same variable than the other ones (23 to 25 aged). On the basis of class level, there were no significant differences in the scores of achievement goal orientations, academic self-efficacy, hope and learning approaches. The results pointed out the fact that such concepts pertinent to an undergraduate’s academic performance could be viewed as distinctive features engendering different learning attitudes toward scholastic training.

The major purpose of this study was to create a path analysis model of academic success in a group of university students, which included the variables of academic confidence and psychological capital with a mediator variable - academic coping. 400 undergraduates from Marmara University and Istanbul Commerce University who were in sophomore, junior and senior years participated in the study. The Academic Behavioral Confidence Scale, the Academic Coping Strategies Scale and the Psychological Capital Test Battery composed of the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, the Life Orientation Test, the Hope Scale and the Resilience Scale were utilized to disclose the predictive roles of these variables on academic success. The results of path analyses showed that academic confidence and psychological capital had pivotal direct and indirect effects on academic success via the mediator variable – academic coping. Academic coping had also a direct influence on academic success.  The findings of the study are essential for telling both vocational counselors and educational psychologists the fact that career interventions for university students should consider the non-cognitive factors on their academic achievements.

The purpose of the current study is to determine pre-service teachers’ opinions about 21st century learner and teacher skills. The study group of the current research is comprised of 391 senior students from an education faculty. As the data collection tool, the 21st century Learner Skills Use Questionnaire and 21st Century Teacher Skills Use Questionnaire were employed. In the analysis of the collected data, frequencies, percentages, arithmetic means, independent samples t-Test, One-Way Anova, Correlation, Mann Whitney-U, Kruskal Wallis techniques were used. The findings of the study revealed that the pre-service teachers’ opinions about 21st century learner and teacher skills vary significantly depending on the variables of gender, department attended, academic achievement, experience of private tutoring and practicum teaching (doing practicum teaching at elementary and secondary schools). As a result, it was concluded that the pre-service teachers are ready for using 21st century learner skills (cognitive skills, autonomous skills, collaboration and flexibility skills, innovativeness skills) and teacher skills (administrative skills, technopedagogical skills, affirmative skills, flexible teaching skills, generative skills). However, it was also found that the pre-service teachers were not able to make enough use of learner and teacher skills during their practicum teaching at schools. Moreover, a positive, medium and significant correlation was found between 21st century learner skills and 21st century teacher skills.

This study aimed to explore the relationship between Turkish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ self-efficacy level and their use of compensatory strategies (CSs). The study further searched into the most and the least frequently used CSs by Turkish EFL learners. The participants of the study were fifty university students enrolled in the department of English Language Teaching at a private university in Istanbul, Turkey.  Results indicated that the level of self-efficacy among Turkish learners of EFL was high. The top two most frequently used CSs by the learners were concluded to be the use of non-verbal signals (i.e., mime, gesture, facial expression) and circumlocution (i.e., describing an object or idea with a definition). In addition, the two least frequently used strategies were word coinage (i.e., creating a non-existent second language word based on a supposed rule) and avoidance (i.e., avoiding a topic, concept, grammatical construction, or phonological element that poses difficulty). The findings also revealed that the participants’ strategy use was not related to their degree of self-confidence.

The primary goal of this research is to explore absenteeism tendency, and the attitudes towards absenteeism and cheating of students who attended the teacher certificate program. In addition, this research aims to identify the views of students and lecturers on cheating and absenteeism. A sequential explanatory mixed-method research design was employed in this research. The sample of the quantitative data was 321 teacher certificate program students studying at Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Turkey. Absenteeism tendency, cheating attitude and absenteeism attitude scales were used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics, correlation, independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey HSD tests were used to analyze the data. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interview forms. 14 students and 14 lecturers were interviewed, recorded, and transcribed. Qualitative data was analyzed through quantitative content analyses and descriptive analyses. Research findings show that verbal field students have significantly more positive cheating attitudes than quantitative field students. While cheating attitudes show no significant difference between genders, students in physical education departments have higher scores in the dimensions of environmental conditions and opportunity and ability than verbal and quantitative field students. Both students and lecturers describe cheating as “unfair behavior and plagiarism,” and absenteeism as a “right” in unavoidable situations. It is emphasized that the active participation of students in classes mostly depends on the instructor.

Self-regulation is an active and constructive process in which students regulate and observe their own behaviour, motivations and cognition by setting their own goals during their learning process. In this study, the aim is to investigate the effects of biology laboratory practices that are supported by self-regulated learning strategies on students’ readiness for self-directed learning and their attitudes towards science experiments in laboratory settings. This study, which was undertaken as a quasi-experimental study in accordance with the pretest-posttest design with a control group, was implemented. Second year students who studied science teaching in the faculty of education at a state university in Konya in the academic year of 2018-2019 made up the sample of this study. There were two groups in the study which were “The Control Group” and “The Experimental Group”. In order to measure the students’ self-directed learning readiness levels, “Scale of Self-Directed Learning Readiness in Laboratory” was used and to measure attitudes towards science experiments “Scale of Attitudes towards Science Experiments” was utilized. Both scales were implemented as pre-tests before the study and as post-tests after the completion of the implementation process. The analysis of the data was conducted via SPSS 18. Independent samples t test was conducted to understand whether biology laboratory practices supported with self-regulated learning strategies have any effect on students’ readiness for self-directed learning and their attitudes towards science experiments in laboratories. According to the findings of the study, biology laboratory practices supported with self-regulated learning strategies were observed to make a significant difference in favour of the experimental group considering their self-directed learning readiness and their attitudes towards science experiments.

The research was conducted to determine the opinions of students (10-11 years) on their engagement to mathematics course. These students are 5th grade students at a secondary school in Turkey. Qualitative research method was used in the research. At the study, designed as case study, a total of seven secondary school students were participated the research. The study group was constituted with “snowball sampling” technique of purposeful sampling methods. The data was collected by a semi-structured interview form. Sixteen-page interviews obtained from the interviews were transferred to the computer. Data analysis was performed in content analysis. Codes were listed as a result of analysis. Common themes were constituted from the codes. As a result of the research, three themes, (cognitive, social and emotional engagement) eleven sub-themes and eighty nine codes were determined. It was seen that the students’ most preferred superficial strategies in terms of cognitive engagement; negative opinions towards group work in terms of social engagement; value given to math course in terms of emotional engagement. Students preferred least getting support sub-theme in terms of cognitive engagement; competitive sub-theme in terms of social engagement; value to the mathematics teacher sub-theme in terms of emotional engagement.

The purpose of the present study is to determine if high school students' character strengths composed of twenty-four different features, being virtuous including six dimensions and demographic characteristics predict risky behaviors. The participants of the study were 380 students aged between 14-19 years and enrolled in general high schools. The data was collected by using the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Young People and the Risky Behaviors Scale. From the findings, it was determined that the risk of school drop-out score was higher in the ninth grades and the male students had more risky behaviors compared to the their female counterparts. Moreover, it was also determined that the risky behaviors were significantly related to many character strengths. Besides this, as a result of the regression analyses, it was found that the character strengths predicted risky behaviors composed of the areas of anti-social behaviors, use of alcohol/cigarette, eating habits, suicide tendency and school leave at different levels. The findings were discussed within the context of adolescents’ psychological counseling needs and suggestionThe purpose of the present study is to determine if high school students' character strengths composed of twenty-four different strengths, virtues including six dimensions and demographic characteristics predict risky behaviors. The participants of the study were 380 students aged between 14-19 years and enrolled in general high schools. The data was collected by using the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth and the Risky Behaviors Scale. From the findings, it was determined that the risk of school drop-out score was higher in the ninth grades and the male students had more risky behaviors compared to their female counterparts. Moreover, it was also determined that the risky behaviors were significantly related to many character strengths. Besides this, as a result of the regression analyses, it was found that the character strengths predicted risky behaviors composed of the areas of anti-social behaviors, use of alcohol/cigarette, eating habits, suicide tendency and school dropout at different levels. The findings were discussed within the context of adolescents’ psychological counseling needs and suggestions were proposed.

This descriptive and regression research was conducted to determine the influence of empowerment on organizational behaviors of 215 teachers in Catholic Higher Education Institutions in the Philippines. The results revealed that Catholic teachers have high levels of teacher empowerment. Specifically, they have very high level of status, professional growth, self-efficacy, and impact and high level of decision-making and autonomy in scheduling. Meanwhile, they also high level of organizational behaviors. Furthermore, three of the subscales of teacher empowerment tend to predict almost all dimensions of organizational behaviors of teachers in the school. The research concludes that Catholic Higher Education teachers are empowered to their organization as they feel respected, have opportunities for professional growth, feel efficient and effective in the classroom, and have the capacity to influence students and the school life. However, they do not have enough avenues to be involved in the decision-making process of their institution and do not have enough freedom and opportunities to choose their own schedules and teaching loads. Furthermore, they exhibit positive organizational behaviors in their institutions as manifested in their strong attachment to their organization, high level of involvement to their work, harmonious relationship with their supervisors and middle level managers. Also, they exhibit discretionary actions that goes beyond their functions, and have a desire and passion to continue and uphold the teaching profession.

The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of music teacher candidates on computer self-efficacy perceptions and digital technology according to different variables. In this research, correlational survey model is used as a general survey model and also during data collection process of research, criterion sampling is used as purposive sampling.   The focus group of the research consists of 102 students studying music education at Ondokuz Mayis University in the 2018-2019 academic year. Computer Self-Efficacy Perception Scale and Attitude Scale towards Digital Technology Scale were used as data collection tools for the study. According to the results of the study, it was found that there was a significant relationship between the levels of computer self-efficacy perception and the attitudes towards digital technology of the music teacher candidates who participated in the research. The self-efficacy perceptions of the students significantly differed according to their gender, to have a personal computer and the time they first used the computer for educational purpose and their attitudes towards digital technology significantly differed according to their gender, class level and computer ownership.

A modern teaching method influences both direct and indirect learning achievement through the student's nonacademic factors. The researcher has an intention to examine the influences of new teaching methodology on mathematics achievement towards mathematics attitude, achievement motivation, and self-efficacy of students as mediating variables (n teacher = 117, n student = 2,205). The Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling revealed that attitude towards mathematics is the most important factor in explaining the academic achievement of individual students. It could be explained the variance with achievement motivation and perceived self-efficacy of students by 60.50%. As for the modern teaching method, there was a positive effect on achievement both directly and indirectly through all three factors with statistical significance and explained conjointly about the variance of student achievement in each classroom by 99.00%. This finding suggests the importance and direction of teaching design that covers the development of relevant factors as proposed in discussions and implementations.

This study was conducted to analyze (a) the suitability of National Examination (UN) and national-based school examination (USBN) implementation, which has been running on the current guidelines and efforts to improve students’ achievements, (b) the final examination system that is relevant in measuring student competency achievement based on graduate competence standard. It employed descriptive quantitative evaluation by using CIPP (context, input, process of implementation and product) evaluation model. Participants included the head of the Education and Culture Department, Ministry of Religion, Principals / Madrasas, teachers, and students. To collect the data, questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions, and documentaries were undertaken. Additionally, the data analysis technique used quantitative and qualitative descriptive statistics. The findings indicate that (1) implementation of the UN and USBN, which has been ongoing, is in accordance with the standard operating procedure (SOP) that has been established by the board of national education standard (BNSP), (2) implementation of UN and USBN can be used to improve performance (3) the final examination system that is able to measure achievement of graduates' competency on certain subjects nationally by referring to the Graduate Competency Standard is computer-based national examination (UNBK). The concluding remarks are an attempt to contribute to the growth of future research in the field of UN and USBN implementation in Indonesia.

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the academic motivations and academic achievements of pre-service visual arts teachers in the Division of Art Education in the Department of Fine Arts in the Faculty of Education in terms of some variables. The study group consisted of 127 (79 female/ 48 male) students in the division of art education. As the data collection tool, the “Academic Motivation Scale (AMS)”, developed by Vallerand et al. and then, translated into Turkish for university students by Karaguven, was used to find out the academic motivations of students, and the personal information form was used to get the personal information of students in the study. In the research, in which the relational screening method was used, the descriptive analysis was applied to determine the motivation levels of pre-service visual arts teachers; independent sampling t-test to compare their average scores according to gender; one-way variance analysis to test according to the class variable, and Pearson Correlation test to determine the relationship between their academic motivation and academic achievement. The findings of the study show that the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of pre-service visual arts teachers are at a good level. It was found that the amotivation levels of pre-service visual arts teachers were at a low level. As the average scores according to gender were investigated, the meaningful difference was encountered in favour of female participants for intrinsic motivations. It was found that the intrinsic motivations of females related to the achievement were higher. An increase, from 1st year to 4th years students, was observed in terms of the academic motivation levels of pre-service visual arts teachers according to the class variable. However, no meaningful difference was encountered between the average scores of the students' academic motivations according to the class variable. It was found that the relationship between academic motivation and academic achievement was low.

The study aims to promote relevant and effective environmental education (EE) through extracurricular clubs. For this, we studied the state of play of environmental activities (EA) carried out by 48 environmental clubs belonging to urban and rural areas of the Regional Academy of Education Fez-Meknes, Morocco. These extracurricular environmental clubs remain so far without formal environmental education programs. In this study, we identified the bulk of programs offered by extracurricular environment clubs, including types of scheduled activities and percentages of achievement and student beneficiaries in urban and rural settings. In addition, we have identified the main barriers to achieving certain environmental activities. The significant correlations detected between some of the variables studied allowed us to better explain the achievements and the weaknesses of these clubs. Finally, we have made recommendations to promote relevant and effective extracurricular environmental education.

This article presents an empirical study on the perceptions of university students toward the development of the teaching practicum, using the CourseSites platform as a communication and support tool for their training. The opinions of the students were collected through a questionnaire. The sample consisted of 1500 students who were registered in the degrees of Early Childhood Education, Primary Education and Pedagogy (2008-2018). A descriptive, inferential and multi-level analysis was conducted, which confirmed that future teachers had activated their professional competences, as they had the chance to share their internship experiences with their faculty members and with their own classmates.

A sample of 327 engineering bachelor students from a public university in Mexico took part in an information integration study to explore systematic thinking underlying propensity for cheating during a course exam. All study participants were provided with written descriptions of 12 scenarios pertaining to the academic evaluation criteria and were asked to rate the likelihood that they would cheat under such circumstances. The 12 scenarios reflected the experimental manipulation of three orthogonal factors: teacher’s teaching style, type of exam, and modality of assessment. Analysis results revealed four distinct attitudes toward cheating among students, two of which were independent of context (low and high desire to cheat) while the remaining two were context-dependent (low and moderate desire to cheat). All groups showed systematic thinking underlying their possible desire to cheat that was typified by the use of a summative cognitive rule for integrating information related to academic cheating. However, evaluation of factor relevance varied across the groups.

The current study aimed to adopt and assess the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of Grit-S among Omani and American students (N = 487) using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The scale’s construct validity was estimated by investigating its associations with achievement goal orientations (AGOs). EFA results suggested that a two-factor solution (i.e., perseverance of effort [G_PE] and consistency of interest [G_CI]) was the best factorial structure, explaining 47.74% and 51.02% of the variance in the Omani and American samples, respectively. The factors had good reliability coefficients in the two samples. Related to the intercultural differences, G_PE explained more variance among Omanis (31.02%) relative to American sample, whereas G_CI explained a larger proportion of variance among Americans (36.86%) compared with Omani sample. The first level of measurement invariance, configural invariance, was not supported, necessitating the investigation of the other levels of measurement invariance using a new sample. Grit correlated positively with mastery and performance-approach goals (r = .29 and .12, respectively) and negatively with avoidance goals (r = -.25), supporting the scale’s construct validity. These findings showed that Grit-S scale can be used as valid and reliable assessment tool to assess student interest and perseverance in the academic context in Arabic/Omani and American cultures.