Pretend play is important for children's development. However, recent research indicates that, as preschool children age and get more proficient at pretend play, they prefer real objects. We examined whether toddlers prefer real objects when they are younger as well as when they are older and more proficient in pretend play situations. Forty-three…

The present study investigates the motivations and outcomes of Indonesian civil servants and prospective civil servants who received Indonesian, Australian, and Japanese government scholarships to study for graduate dual-degrees domestically in Indonesia and internationally in either Australia or Japan. A survey was administered to 162 current and…

This study aimed to examine the outcomes and feasibility of a hybrid group-based intervention combining physical activity and an individual goal-oriented approach for children with developmental disabilities. We employed a single-arm pre-test/post-test repeated-measures design. Outcome measures were based on participants' achievement of individual…

This study examines the effectiveness of a simultaneous intervention in kindergarten and home to improve ball skills in children. Two kindergartens in Ibaraki, Japan, were divided into intervention (N = 98, mean age = 5.5 [0.6] years) and control groups (N = 88, mean age = 5.6 [0.6] years). The intervention was for 4 weeks. Parents received emails…

Personal growth initiative (PGI), i.e., self-change skills, is necessary for employees to adapt to changing environments, but research examining the antecedents of PGI in an organizational context is limited. The present research investigated the antecedents of PGI in the workplace. Using a two-wave questionnaire survey, data were collected from…

While various innovative pedagogical methods have been proven effective in facilitating the development of students' English language skills in different contexts, this study explores the implementation of several innovative methods in one EMI course, which includes collaborative online international learning (COIL), content language integrated…

This study examines how middle managers support their employees' strengths use via three sequential analyses. In Study 1, an open-ended questionnaire survey of high-performing middle managers at a global manufacturer in Japan (n = 144) was conducted to collect comments on strengths use support (SUS). The grounded theory approach was used to…

Digital games are increasingly used in education to boost engagement and reduce stress. Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has improved the learning experience. However, further investigation is needed to determine the specific impact of commercially available, off-the-shelf (COTS) video games on English language skills. This study provides a…

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) and study abroad share many epistemological and pedagogical foundations and have been on parallel tracks for many years yet rarely intersect. This paper has two goals: (a) to invite study abroad researchers and practitioners to consider findings and practices from OAE to further enhance study abroad, and (b) to…

Purpose: Although individual exploration activities have been shown to promote organizational change and innovation, few studies have clarified the factors that quantitatively promote such aspects. This study aims to examine how individual exploration activities are facilitated by goal orientation and individual unlearning.…

Japan enacted a new teacher education curriculum in 2019, following which it became possible to include school experiences and internships within one's practicum credits. However, the contents of the practicum are not systematically arranged, and discussions on student-teachers' (STs) learning and their resulting professional development achieved…

This international comparative study focuses on examining the impacts of Education for Sustainability (EfS) expertise and self-organization, as two aspects of EfS skills and knowledge, on personal and interpersonal outcomes, which is one of the EfS effective in-role performance dimensions. We collected data from 664 academics in Malaysia and…

The student engagement framework, originally developed for the US educational system, has become increasingly recognised internationally as a means of fostering learning gains in higher education. Despite its recognition, some researchers raise a question about the applicability of this framework in other cultural contexts. Our research extends…

This report projects Northern Ireland's skills base through to 2030 and compares this to a number of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The report shows that on current trends Northern Ireland will continue to lag many other countries on a number of measures of learning and skills in 2030. These shortfalls can…

To enhance the effectiveness of formative assessment and self-regulated learning, this study focused on evaluative judgement. A process for developing evaluative judgement and co-regulation had proposed. However, this co-regulation and evaluative judgement model lacks validation for use in classroom settings; the process of developing evaluative…