Children's motor competence (MC) levels tend to be low, and the investigation of variables that facilitate skillfulness is an important concern. The socioecological model is a useful framework to explore factors that influence MC and to inform the development of targeted interventions. This cross-sectional study aimed to perform an exploratory…

The present study developed a brief school-based intervention focused on raising awareness about Cerebral Palsy. To assess the effectiveness of the intervention, 91 classes from the fourth and fifth grades were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Control, Focused on the Domain (Cerebral Palsy), and Non-Focused on the Domain (promotion of…

Students' perceptions can influence their performance in writing. In the Portuguese context, the number of studies on this subject is still small and has not provided a clear overview of typical perceptions, for example, of students by year of schooling. Even more significant is the gap in international and national research on the relationships…

Several researchers and scientific institutions argue that evolution should be explored from the first school years. However, few studies have analysed primary school students' understanding of evolutionary processes or evaluated the impact of educational activities on such knowledge. The available data: (1) suggest that primary school students…

In a social cognitive framework, teacher feedback is a relational influence that is particularly significant in shaping learners' vocational self-concept during childhood--a critical stage for career development. This study examines the relationships among perceived teacher feedback, children's competence perceptions, interests, and achievement in…

Research has shown that some students who underperform in mathematics overestimate their performance, while others who excel in mathematics underestimate it. Looking at this mismatch of performance and confidence judgement--the Dunning-Kruger effect (DKE)--the current study investigates how well students' confidence judgement and item-specific…

Critical thinking skills are essential for success in life and work, and it is essential that learning strategies enable the development of critical thinking skills from the early years of schooling. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of cooperative learning using the RoundTable and Think-Pair-Share methods in the…

Computational Thinking (CT) has emerged in recent years as a thematic trend in education in many countries and several initiatives have been developed for its inclusion in school curricula. There are many pedagogical strategies to promote the development of elementary school students' CT skills and knowledge. Unplugged learning tasks, block-based…

Children's time use is a complex developmental phenomenon in need of a more in-depth, detailed understanding. The present study aimed to provide a comprehensive description of children's everyday lives in middle childhood and examine how different portfolios and patterns of daily activities occurring at home, school, and community are influenced…

Empirical research has systematically demonstrated the predictive role of reading, linguistic and metacognitive skills on reading comprehension performance. The study of the directionality of these relations and their relative contribution in the more advanced grades of primary school is an important aim for reading research, with practical…

Students engagement with school is a concern of the educational community, research and policy makers. It has been conceptualized as a multidimensional construct conditioned by several individual and contextual factors, namely personal, family, social and academic variables. Regarding academic variables, school retention is a controversial option,…

In this article we examine 4th and 5th grade Portuguese students' performance on problems of structuring 2D rectangular arrays of squares, which was analyzed and categorized into the five levels of sophistication described by Battista, Clements, Arnoff, Battista, and Borrow (1998). In general, the results suggest that students in the higher-grade…

Learning to write is one of the great challenges children face in primary grades, requiring both transcription skills (handwriting and spelling) and executive functions (EFs; working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility). Although this claim is widely accepted, the field suffers from some limitations, including few longitudinal…

Supervised Teaching Practice (PES) should promote the development of skills associated with the profile of the teacher-researcher, namely: observation, recording, analysis, reflection. At the same time, it should provide children with rich and diverse experiences that produce education for (with) citizenship. The research project developed at PES…

Writing has a leading role in learning and, although elementary-school curricula emphasize the development of this complex skill, many students still struggle with their writing performance. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and social validity of CriaTivo, a curriculum-based intervention developed following a Response to Intervention model…