Because large-scale studies repeatedly indicated low reading literacy for many students, a need for interventions fostering reading literacy, such as extracurricular tutoring, has often been emphasized. Several reading promoting programs, suitable for extracurricular tutoring, were developed and shown to be effective in recent years. Moreover,…

Equity issues in the field of arts and culture play an important role when it comes to extracurricular activities in education. Students with special educational needs (SEN) seem not provided with equal access. Using nation-wide random samples of fourth- and fifth-graders courtesy of the German National Education Panel Study (NEPS), the main…

The present study investigates the effects of participation in academic extracurricular activities on student achievement in mathematics and reading in the course of secondary schooling. We use 2 samples of nonmandatory all-day schools that are part of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): N = 1,131 fifth graders at 43 schools were followed…

Many studies have shown a decrease in scientific interest with an increase in age. Since interest is linked to a high degree of deep-level learning, it is of great relevance to foster interest in science. This study investigates interest in biology from 7th, 9th, and 12th grade students in Germany (N=257). Results show a significantly lower…

Research has shown that participation in extracurricular activities has a positive effect on adolescents' social behaviour and academic performance; however, the reciprocal influence of extracurricular activities and leisure on the development of adolescents' academic performance and social behaviour is unclear. In our study, we investigate the…

Scientific issues like the behavior of wild and domesticated animals can serve as a motivation to learn programming concepts. Instead of following a systematic introduction, the students directly dive into programming and start immediately with their projects. In this constructionist approach the educational challenge for the teacher is to provide…

School motivation and attachment typically decline after the transition to middle school. According to the stage-environment fit approach, extracurricular activities are supposed to promote motivation. However, research has shown that the effects depend on the quality of the activities, which usually is measured by assessing students' individual…

This book contains a compilation of papers presented at the International Conference on Education and New Developments (END 2017), organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.). Education, in our contemporary world, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the…