This paper examines the nature of confidence in relation to cognitive abilities, personality traits, and metacognition. Confidence was measured as it was expressed in answers to each test item during the administration of reading and listening sections of the TOEFL® iBT. The confidence scores were correlated with the accuracy scores from the TOEFL…

Does psychological distress increase mortality risk? If it does, are women more vulnerable than men to the effect of distress on mortality? Drawing from cumulative disadvantage theory, these questions are addressed with data from a 20-year follow-up of a national sample of adults ages 25-74. Event history analyses were performed to examine…

This study investigated the relationship between language learning strategy (LLS) preferences and English proficiency among Chinese university students. Oxford's (1990), Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) and an institutional version (ITP) of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) were administered to 168 third-year English…

A large literature establishes that boys and girls are treated differently in the classroom. Research suggests that this treatment depends upon the gender of the teacher. Using a large data set that observes a matched teacher/student sample over multiple years, this paper explores the impact of teacher and student gender differences on…

Introduction: Foreign language learners also often hold different beliefs or notions about language learning (Horwitz 1987), and existing research suggests that learner beliefs have the potential to influence both their experiences and actions as language learners. Method: This paper reports on a study which investigated the language learning…

The frequency of students' social support has been investigated in the literature, but little research has examined the social validity or social importance of supportive behaviors for children and adolescents. In the present study, data were gathered from 1,688 students in Grades 3 through 12 via the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale…

High rates of failure in secondary level science classes are a problem worldwide. Effective teaching and efficient management of schools requires information as to the causes of failure. One approach to acquiring this information is to improve our understanding of what the students themselves perceive as the causes and antecedents of school…

This study examined the relationship among the specific special educational needs (SEN) of emotional/behavioural disorder (EBD), specific learning disabled (SLD), mild-moderate mentally impaired (MMMI), and moderate-severe mentally impaired (MSMI) and the selected attributes of gender, academic preparation and previous experience in teaching…

This study investigated how 223 mothers and 200 fathers of 3- to 6-year-old children from Taiwan saw their child-rearing strengths and shortcomings. The Mandarin version of the Parent as a Teacher Inventory (PAAT) was administered to each of the 423 subjects. This instrument is designed to examine five aspects of interaction between parent and…

Score equity assessment was used to evaluate linkings of new SAT® to the current SAT Reasoning Test™. Population invariance across gender groups was studied on the linkage of a new SAT critical reading prototype to a current SAT verbal section, and on the linkage of a new SAT math prototype to a current SAT math section. The results indicated that…

An interactive multimedia program to encourage individuals to decrease their dietary fat consumption and to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables was developed and evaluated at two worksites. The program presented content tailored to the user by gender, content interests, race, and age group. It was tested using a randomized treatment and…

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a centralised referral mechanism (CRM) upon the number and type of "inappropriate referrals" made to a countywide physical activity referral scheme. Design: Case study. Method: Phase 1: Hierarchical Content Analysis of 458 "inappropriate referrals" made to a countywide scheme over a…

Students' abstract reasoning abilities can differ from one society to another. Students' profiles play significant roles in these differences. The aim of the study is to determine the relationship between middle school students' cognitive development levels and their profiles (age, gender, and science achievement) using the Science Cognitive…

This article describes 1) the special features and accessibility of an innovative web-based practice instrument (WebMA) designed with randomized short-answer, matching and multiple choice items incorporated with automatically adapted feedback for middle school students; and 2) an exploratory study that compares the effects and contributions of…

The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was used to identify differences between the learning styles of 168 students in traditional face-to-face courses and students in matched courses taught online. Additionally, the data for the online courses were divided by gender to determine if gender was a factor. Results of the analysis found that there was a…