Both of us were drawn into the writing assessment field initially through our lived experiences as schoolteachers. We worked in radically different contexts -- Martin was head of a languages department and teacher of French and German in the late 1990s in the UK, and David was a Grade 12 teacher of Academic English in Alberta, Canada, at the turn…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Qualitative Methods in PER: A Critical Examination.] Epistemic beliefs about physics are most often investigated using quantitative instruments that reflect binary conceptualizations of those beliefs. This study reports from a qualitative study which used continua to represent the epistemic beliefs…

This edited book documents practices of learning-oriented language assessment through practitioner research and research syntheses. Learning-oriented language assessment refers to language assessment strategies that capitalise on learner differences and their relationships with the learning environments. In other words, learners are placed at the…

English as a subject used to be assessed using course-based or portfolio assessments but now it is increasingly examined through terminal tests. Canada is an exception to this rule. This paper compares the way English is assessed in England and Canada and looks to the ways in which the kind of assessment undertaken affects the practices of English…

Purpose: To gain a better understanding of the assessment practices currently implemented by Quebec physical education teachers regarding reporting and grading. Method: Exploratory mixed-methods study using semistructured interviews (n = 13), interviews to the double (n = 12), and a questionnaire (n = 164) with elementary and high school physical…

This mixed-methods study examined how WiseGuyz, a gender-transformative healthy relationships program, can support positive sexual health self-efficacy (SHSE) among adolescents. 570 adolescent boys provided data on SHSE from before to after the program, and 20 adolescent boys participated in interviews and focus groups to discuss their sexual…

Over the last fifteen years, student well-being has become of greater concern in school education in Canada and beyond. However, there is very little data available on how well Canadian students are. The study that will be reported on in this paper provides such data, specifically the province of Manitoba. Using the Satisfaction with Life Scale,…

Background: Mental disorders most likely manifest during adolescence, providing opportunities for schools and professionals to implement standardized mental health literacy (MHL) interventions to support improvement of mental health outcomes. Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of an MHL intervention (the Guide) on knowledge, stigma,…

Anxiety disorders have been on the rise among adolescents over the past decade. The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have contributed to this increase, putting further pressure on often already overburdened health systems. Universal prevention programs may offer a potential solution, but few have been evaluated in the context of a pandemic. The…

This study focuses on the practices implemented by tutors, considering education professionals, especially teachers, on the one hand, and on the other, non-education professionals, namely students. Interviews with 24 tutors, inspired by the explicitation interview technique, enabled us to determine that the nine most frequently implemented…

Actively engaging adolescents in meaningful program evaluation is a topic of growing interest. One possibility for such engagement is the use of photographs as part of visual evaluation, so that youth can directly engage with the research process. In this Method Note, we describe the development and implementation of a participatory, photo-based…

In this article, classroom researcher Harrison Campbell recounts his research into the literacy experiences of eight junior high (grades 8 and 9) students over the course of a school semester in Western Canada. Using phenomenological inquiry, Campbell invited students into a process of making meaning through experience. These experiences, brought…

Extracurricular high school sports are a major part of the educational experience of students at Strathmore High School (SHS), and coaches play a vital role in meeting the philosophy of education-based athletics by designing an athletics program that adheres to the mission statement of SHS ("Empowering a community of accomplished and caring…

Over the past ten years, a western-Canadian university has offered an annual on-campus summer science and health science camp for Aboriginal youth. The goal of this camp has been to enhance pathways to science and health science careers for high school students aged 13-15 years-old. The camp's core curriculum exposes youth to science and health…

This research investigated whether a mental health literacy resource could increase Grade 12 students' mental health literacy. Bachelor of Education students (N = 8) from a university in rural Atlantic Canada created a board game and mental health seminar based on the resource. They applied the resource through the board game and seminar to Grade…