While once forbidden in classrooms, laughter is increasingly encouraged as contributing to a positive learning environment. However, analyses of laughter in conversation show that laughter performs multiple social functions, some of which are not necessarily positive. Applying this lens, this study investigates the interactional functions of…

There are relatively few studies examining cooperative learning during laboratory activities in a science museum. This study aims to explore such activities to better understand the nature of cooperative learning, if any, in that setting. The participants in this study were 60 fourth-grade students who visited a science museum lab as part of a…

It has been found that participation in informal, year-long STEM programmes for "primary school children" encourages further STEM learning and motivates STEM career aspirations. To date, no previous research has investigated such programmes. The study's goals were to collect and analyse demographic data about the 3rd-6th grade…

The study investigates the effect of hybrid technology (HT), which combine physical objects and virtual effects, on learning receptive-vocabulary in English as a foreign-language (EFL) among students with dyslexia. Participants included 106 students aged 9-12. The students with dyslexia were randomly divided into intervention groups that used…

In recent years, there has been increasing awareness on the benefits of social-emotional competencies (SEC) on Israeli students. A self-report SEL measure tailored to the Israeli context, however, has yet to be developed. This research aims to validate the Social-Emotional Questionnaire for Grades 4-6 (SEQ [G4-6]), a new self-report questionnaire…

This research examines the same 12 school-students making repeat visits over a three-year-period to a science museum. We used a qualitative approach, analysing video recordings of museum visit and interviews with students, focusing on the way students use their former engagement in a science museum using a retrospective view that can offer insight…

The association between children's social-status within their peer-group and their prosociality was examined among fourth and sixth graders (N = 276), using sociometric nominations, and actual sharing with a fellow in-group member, or a member of an out-group. Results show an overall increase in sharing with age, and an overall correlation between…

While students tend to enjoy their science learning at a young age, as they mature, they tend to distance themselves from science, becoming less motivated to engage with science and holding negative attitudes towards science. In parallel, a career choice in science often begins to develop during early adolescence. To understand how the environment…

Drawing on the bioecological theory developed by Bronfenbrenner, the researchers of this study examined four environmental systems--microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem--for gifted children in Israel as perceived by their parents, focusing on a comparison between rural and central contexts. The rural context comprises peripheral…

Spelling errors are considered a paramount criterion in the evaluation of written texts. The present study aimed: (1) to describe the developmental path of spelling errors in expository texts written by Hebrew-speaking children from the second to fifth grades; and (2) to reveal the predictive power of cognitive, linguistic and reading variables on…

This study examined the level of social communication problems (SCP), social anxiety (SA), and mood problems (MP) among children with ASD (age 4-13 years) enrolled in special classes (n = 74) and regular classes (n = 73) and grade level (kindergarten, 1st-3rd, 4th-6th) from teachers' perspective in schools of Palestinian Arabs in Israel. Teachers…

I Can Succeed-Elementary School (ICS-ES) is the first social-emotional learning (SEL) program based on interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents (IPT-A). We hypothesized that fourth graders participating in ICS-ES over two school years would show improvements in interpersonal/social, emotional, and academic functioning. 419 fourth-grade students…

The research examined the calculation methods used by pupils in Grades 3-6 when they were presented with problems that could be worked out efficiently and flexibly by applying number sense. The study was conducted with a convenience sample of 179 pupils between the ages 7 years and 10 months to 12 years and 10 months. in mainstream education in…

The cognitive domain in mathematics, defined as thinking and understanding in the process of learning mathematics, is a main focus of curricula in many countries. This study explores breadth and depth of understanding as addressed in mathematics textbooks certified as aligned to Israeli national mathematics curricula. We compare opportunities for…

Children with specific learning disabilities (SLD) exhibit specific difficulties in high-order components of emotional understanding that involve language (e.g., recognition of complex emotions from situations), or defining emotions and providing examples. The objectives of the current study were to study (a) modifiability of emotional…