This study compared the efficacy beliefs of Taiwanese preservice teachers at the beginning of early childhood teacher preparation with those of preservice teachers near the end of preservice preparation. The 298 predominantly female participants were from 4 teacher colleges and a polytechnic institute. Participants completed a slightly revised…

Although many educators believe that learning to read and write Mandarin Chinese is not easy (because of the complexities of its characters and grammar), it is common to find voracious and expert young readers in the early elementary school levels in Taiwan. The Chinese educational system is governed by a uniform curriculum and nationalized…

Over the last decade, it has been reported that American students lag behind their Asian counterparts as early as the first grade. This study investigated variables influencing elementary school students' mathematics achievement in Japan, Taiwan, and America. Children's mathematics achievement and cognitive abilities were tested. Children,…

Describes a study that determined the implications of computer graphics types and epistemological beliefs with regard to the design of computer-based mathematical concept learning with elementary school students in Taiwan. Discusses the factor structure of the epistemological belief questionnaire, student performance, and students' attitudes…

Examined sex differences in perceptual and cognitive abilities and in reading skills among 922 first graders in the United States, India, and Taiwan. Found that girls scored significantly higher than boys on reading skills, visual memory, directionality, and ability to track nonsymbolic figures. Urban children outscored rural children on four…

With the spread of globalization and information technology, the goal of English education in East Asian countries has recently undergone drastic change, with one such change being the introduction of English at the elementary school level. Based on a sociocultural theoretical framework, this study attempts to identify and compare the ways in…

This paper investigates the correlation between the quality of instructional design and learning outcomes for early childhood students in the online synchronous cyber classroom. Today's generation of e-learners has access to highly engaging and well-designed multi-media synchronous classrooms. However little data exists on what constitutes…

This study was designed to identify the variables that are the strongest predictors of elementary school science achievement in selected schools in the Republic of China. Thirty-eight schools (2950 students) were selected for the study and were representative of large and middle size schools throughout the country. Variables investigated included:…

The Taiwan Provincial Institute for Elementary School Teachers Inservice Education (IETISE) provides teachers with a place to improve their teaching skills and use new materials. Concentrating on the field of mathematics, a "seed team" training program for elementary school teachers uses the concept of peer training by offering intensive…

In Taiwan, the moral curriculum has been part of the elementary school curriculum for decades. The 1993 edition of the Taiwan curriculum standard has a new subject titled "Morality and Health" that integrates previous "Life and Ethics" and "Healthy Education" subjects. This study explored the curriculum-development…

This study aimed to investigate children's performance and perception of problem difficulty in solving everyday mathematical problems with familiar versus unfamiliar contexts. In addition, the ways that children identify the similarities in problem-solving approaches between problem settings and everyday shopping were also examined. Forty-eight…

This document contains the third volume of the proceedings of the 30th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Conference presentations are centered around the theme "Mathematics at the Centre." This volume features 60 research reports by presenters with last names beginning between Ead and Kou:…

This paper explores the question of how and what a school can do to foster student discipline and effort. Personal experiences and observations are offered about the approaches and strategies used in schools and by parents in Taiwan, China to foster students' positive attitudes toward learning and school. This document focuses on the approaches…

Kindergartners and first through fifth graders in Taiwan, Japan, and the United States were assessed on achievement and cognitive ability. While there were few gender differences in curriculum-based tests of mathematics computation and reading, cognitive tests revealed gender differences in the fifth grade in all three cultures. (RH)

The pragmatic function of conveying given and new information is one of the most important universal communicative functions that language serves. This study investigates how Mandarin-speaking children and adults utilize surface cues of word order, marked grammatical structure, and emphatic stress to determine whether information is given or new…