This dissertation addresses the complexity of test illustrations design across cultures. More specifically, it examines how the characteristics of illustrations used in science test items vary across content areas, assessment programs, and cultural origins. It compares a total of 416 Grade 8 illustrated items from the areas of earth science, life…

For almost a century, researchers have studied creative imagination, most typically that of children. This article reports on a study of the development of creative imagination of Chinese youths and its relation to the educational environment. Data consisted of 4,162 students from grades 4 through 12. Findings showed that students' creative…

Obesity and overweight among children in China is a growing concern. The curriculum and organization of Chinese schools focuses on academic achievement leaving little time for other programs. This pilot program illustrated that it is possible to involve schools and parents in a program to reduce obesity and overweight. Teachers, school staff,…

Teacher educational beliefs may be largely shaped by culturally shared learning experiences and social values. The main purpose of this study is to explore educational beliefs of Chinese student teachers. An adapted version of the Teacher Beliefs Scale (TBS)--developed in a Western context (Woolley et al. in "Educational and Psychological…

Despite the rise in grade retention in poor areas in rural China recently, little work has been done to understand the impact of grade retention on the educational performance of students in these areas in rural China. This paper seeks to redress this shortcoming and examines the effect of grade retention on educational performance on 1649…

This mixed-methods study investigated the changes in Chinese students' motivation to learn English from elementary to high school and explored the reasons for these changes at different school levels. A motivational questionnaire was designed and administered to 3,777 elementary, junior high, and high school students, and follow-up interviews were…

In the present study, which is a part of a research project about realistic word problem solving and problem posing in Chinese elementary schools, a problem solving and a problem posing test were administered to 128 pre-service and in-service elementary school teachers from Tianjin City in China, wherein the teachers were asked to solve 3…

The present study had two aims: First, to investigate the joint and specific roles of working memory (WM) and intelligence as predictors of school achievement. And second, to replicate and extend earlier findings (Spinath, Spinath, Harlaar, & Plomin, 2006) on the incremental validity of non-cognitive over cognitive abilities in the prediction…

Children have formal science instruction from kindergarten in Australia and from Year 3 in China. The purpose of this research was to explore the impact that different approaches to primary science curricula in China and Australia have on children's conceptual understanding of science. Participants were Year 3 children from three schools of high,…

For the forty-fourth time, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented online and onsite during the annual AECT Convention. Volume 1 contains papers dealing primarily with research and development topics. Papers dealing with…

"Proceedings of International Conference on Social and Education Sciences" includes full papers presented at the International Conference on Social and Education Sciences (IConSES), which took place on October 21-24, 2021, in Chicago, Illinois. The aim of the conference is to offer opportunities to share ideas, discuss theoretical and…

Students (N=302) in Chinese elementary schools were assessed regarding their academic delay of gratification (ADOG) and reported the time they devoted to non-school study and playtime during an extended interval prior to taking a high-stakes final exam. Students high compared those low in ADOG were more likely to spend time studying and less time…

Research has demonstrated that second language immersion is an effective means of facilitating primary school students' second language acquisition without undermining their competence in their first language. Despite the rapid growth of Chinese-English bilingual programmes in China, limited empirical research has been conducted thus far by which…

Whether the simple view of reading (SVR) as incorporated in the componential model of reading (CMR) is applicable to other orthographies than English was explored in this study. Spanish, with transparent orthography and Chinese, with opaque orthography were selected because of their diverse characteristics. The first part reports a study of…

This paper provides a snapshot of the manner in which English as a foreign language is taught in an elementary school in Helan County, China, in the nation's first decade of sweeping nation-wide educational reforms where English was first introduced as an official subject in 2001 and then as a compulsory subject in 2004. To cope with large classes…