Fostering technology-enhanced science learning in elementary schools is an ongoing challenge as young students are not always motivated to engage with science lessons. The use of technology, such as digital sensors and data recorders, has been found to result in higher engagement with science. However, the association between technology-enhanced…

It has been found that participation in informal, year-long STEM programmes for "primary school children" encourages further STEM learning and motivates STEM career aspirations. To date, no previous research has investigated such programmes. The study's goals were to collect and analyse demographic data about the 3rd-6th grade…

School transitions are important phases in students' educational experiences. The current study aimed to explore the trajectories of academic and social motivation across the transition from elementary to middle school. Participants (N = 415) were sampled from six elementary schools; 55% transitioned after sixth grade (transition) and 45% remained…

In this, I examined the differences between two approaches for teaching math to pupils with learning disabilities: active teaching as opposed to traditional teaching, which engages pupils more directly in their own learning process and promotes collaborative learning, and traditional (frontal) teaching. The hypothesis is that active teaching will…

New generations are using and playing with mobile and computer applications extensively. These applications are the outcomes of programming work that involves skills, such as computational and algorithmic thinking. Learning programming is not easy for students children. In recent years, academic institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of…

This is a five-year study conducted with junior high school students studying in a 1:1-laptop program in order to test the effects of the program on various measures related to the students: their attitudes, motivation, perceived school norms, self-efficacy, and behavioral intention towards learning with laptops, according to the Theory of Planned…

Mathematical problem solving is one of the most valuable aspects of mathematics education. It is also the most difficult for elementary-school students (Verschaffel, Greer, & De Corte, 2000). Students experience cognitive and metacognitive difficulties in this area and develop negative emotions and poor motivation, which hamper their efforts…

The present research employed Self-Determination Theory as a theoretical framework for investigating the role of parents in the quality of the motivation that students adopt towards homework. One hundred and thirty five dyads of 4th grade Jewish-Israeli children and one of their parents responded to surveys. The findings indicated that parents'…

This study examines attitudes to school science classes amongst primary school children, based on the assumption that these will influence their attitudes and choices later in life. 1298 primary school students in grades 4-6 were given a Likert-type questionnaire and asked to provide verbal explanations for their agreement/disagreement with each…

Discusses the use of puzzles and jokes to encourage student interest in an English-as-a-Second-Language class. The object of this project was to relate to a more human context, the playfulness that pushes aside arbitrary school time each spring when Purim comes. (CK)

The hypothesis that student groups working under conditions of intergroup competition will adopt different motivational orientation than will groups not in competition was studied using 89 Israeli fourth graders (50 males and 39 females). The impact of prior socialization on group behaviors and implications for cooperative learning are discussed.…

Israeli 2nd and 6th graders (n=159) working puzzles in task or ego goal conditions were more likely to request help and to explain help avoidance as motivated by effort toward independent mastery in the task-focus condition. Results clarify the role of motivational factors in academic help seeking. (SLD)

We focused on potential effects of directly controlling teacher behaviors (DCTB), such as giving frequent directives, interfering with children's preferred pace of learning, and not allowing critical and independent opinions. We hypothesized that children's perceptions of their teachers as directly controlling would arouse anger and anxiety in…

Effects of aspirations, homework, and scores on standardized tests (endogenous variables) on teachers' grades and effects of exogenous variables of socioeconomic status and gender on endogenous variables were studied for 753 Israeli elementary school students. Complex effects are discussed. Teachers tended to grade students properly, according to…

This second volume of the 31st annual proceedings of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education conference presents research reports for author surnames beginning Alc- through Hal-. Reports include: (1) How Do Your Students Think about Proof? A DVD Resource for Mathematicians (Lara Alcock); (2) Teachers' Conceptions of…