Previous studies on the effects of virtual and physical manipulatives have failed to consider the impact of prior knowledge on the efficacy of manipulatives. This study focuses on the learning of plane geometry in junior high schools, including the sum of interior angles in polygons, the sum of exterior angles in polygons, and the properties of…

Many adolescent girls are not participating in the recommended levels of physical activity (PA) and are at risk for unhealthy lifestyles (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). Helping girls understand the importance of PA and giving them positive experiences in physical education classes, including fitness testing, may help to…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of integrating aesthetic understanding in reflective inquiry activities. Three typical classes of Taiwanese eighth graders (n = 106) and nine additional low-achieving students in the same school participated in the study. The treatment for experimental students emphasized scaffolding…

The following is an abridged version of the author's original Master's thesis written in 2008 for LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York. This qualitative, structural, comparison determined if twelve Character Education studies of Brigham Young University, specifically the Positive Behavioral Support Initiative, assessed the same literacy program…

This study compared the knowledge differences related to specific health concerns of middle school students (N=841) who had never tried, who had tried, and who were regular users of smokeless tobacco. (IAH)

Representational and transformational visual imagery instructions were manipulated within two passage types (name and occupation), along with no-strategy control instructions for each passage type. Transformational imagery instructions were effective on the more difficult to remember name passages. Representational imagery instructions were not…

A national survey of state-articulated student goals and outcomes led to the analysis of documents from 30 states for correspondence with the outcomes specified for grade 8 in the conceptual model developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes for Students with Disabilities (NCEO). All of the 30 states' goal documents included statements…

To determine how comprehension of the Kuder General Interest Survey (KGIS) was affected by alternate modes of inventory administration and reading levels of eighth grade students (as determined by the California Tests of Basic Skills vocabulary scores), 153 students were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups--standard administration,…

The North Carolina End-of-Grade (NCEOG) Test of Mathematics, Grade 8 was compared to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)--Grade 8 along three dimensions: technical, content, and cognitive. An expert panel of six judges (mathematics educators) examined the supporting documents, the content frameworks, the items, and actual test…

The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationships between self-reported and measured height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) in a sample of eighth-grade students. The study population consisted of eighth-grade students in eastern North Carolina who completed a cross-sectional survey, self-reported their height and weight, and had their…

A study examined the role of prior knowledge in teacher-generated analogies and student-generated analogies that convey the concept of protein synthesis. Subjects were 269 eighth-grade students enrolled in a public school district in a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Subjects were divided into groups that received traditional instruction,…

A study of the relationships of pitch discrimination, sound discrimination, pronunciation of German phonemes, and cognitive style as factors in language learning ability had as subjects two intact eighth grade German classes with a total of 45 students. Four instruments were used to measure the four variables studied. The findings for 11 research…

The purpose of this study was to review and study the aspects of seventh- and eighth-grade programs located in elementary school buildings in contrast to seventh- and eighth-grade programs in junior high school buildings. Several separate studies were designed and conducted to gather data. One study consisted of a survey of 10 percent of all…

Examined differences in spontaneous self-regulation on a concept identification task between 23 average and 22 gifted eighth-grade students. Results suggest that self-regulation is a complex composite of cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational factors that underlie sustained efforts to achieve high performance outcomes. (MM)

Explores expectations regarding about student performance in educational systems of high-achieving countries using data from the United States and 21 other high-achieving countries that participated in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Demonstrates that levels of standards relate to levels of student attainment in…