Mississippi middle schools frequently fail to improve the intellectual capacity of students who struggle in mathematics. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative non-experimental research design was to investigate the impact of math academic interventions on rural Mississippi middle school mathematics students in grades six through…

Background: Promoting and improving STEM education is being driven by economic concerns as modern economies have a rising demand for qualified researchers, technicians, and other STEM professionals. In addition, women remain under-represented in STEM-related fields, with significant economic and societal consequences. Abundant research has shown…

The current study aimed to assess whether a single-session growth mindset intervention was effective in increasing beliefs in a growth mindset and academic motivation among fifth-grade students. Academic motivation and subsequent achievement tend to show declines with age and increasing difficulty in classes, and this was exacerbated during the…

The validity of inferences made with test results depends on meeting the assumptions of the test users, one of which is the presumption of optimal performance (i.e., test-takers are doing their best). Flow theory identifies the conditions under which optimal performance is achieved and can be used to inform test users about the degree to which…

This study examined the engagement and disengagement of passive middle school students with minimal attendance and behavioral deficiencies, but that demonstrate academic difficulties in English language arts or mathematics. An exploratory methodology was chosen due to the relative sparse research available in this area, and also to better…

Teacher-rated classroom engagement and student self-reported motivation for mathematics were used to predict mathematics scores in 3rd and 5th grade. Students were grouped based on a combination of biological sex and SES quintiles resulting in 10 independent groups. The mathematics achievement patterns were predicted based upon a combined…

Background: Spatial skills and mathematical ability have been repeatedly identified as critical for achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Previous studies have identified correlations between spatial skills and mathematical achievement; however, questions remain regarding improvements in non-spatial areas…

This article describes the development and validation of an Innovation Attitude Survey (IAS) composed of 16 Likert-type items selected to measure middle school students' attitudes toward innovation and leadership in the advancement of new ideas. The goal of developing the IAS was to identify desirable dispositions that may be related to future…

The purpose of this study was to compare the motivational incentives for writing of middle school emergent bilingual students with their peers whose first language was English. The study included 285 emergent bilingual students (146 girls, 139 boys) who were matched with 285 native English speakers (NE) on race, gender, and grade. The emergent…

In this study, the effects of context-based teaching (CBT) on the teaching of 'chemical change unit' (CCU) was examined under five main headings: student motivation, constructivist learning environment, student achievement, transferring chemistry knowledge to the subjects of daily life, and student and teachers' opinions on the implementation. The…

The aim of this research was to examine the effects of the Augmented Reality (AR)-supported teaching activities on the academic success, motivation of students towards science learning and attitudes of students towards AR application, in the scope of the seventh grade science course, "Solar System and Beyond" unit. For this purpose,…

As traditional teaching methods may fail to serve children with special needs, special education (SE) services aim to compensate for the shortcomings of conventional schooling. However, despite of numerous studies on the effectiveness of SE services, the influence of potential selection bias remains a real challenge, and only a few studies have…

Storytelling is universal and is popular in many cultures where it is a medium people use to preserve their beliefs, social values, wisdom, and cultural experiences as well as transfer them from one generation to another. In American Samoa, over 90% of students are classified as English Language Learners (ELLs) and literacy rates are very low,…

This study aimed to investigate the effects of augmented reality (AR) activities on students' academic achievement and motivation in a biology course. For this purpose, a mixed study was conducted, and a pretest and posttest control group model was used. In addition, the opinions of the experimental group students and the teacher about the AR…

Individual differences in motivational beliefs, such as writing efficacy and attitudes toward writing in different contexts (academic, recreational, print or digital), are hypothesised to account for variability in writing performance. This study tested this proposition with 185 middle school students (58% were male), examining if writing…