Background: Fractions continue to pose a critical challenge for students and their teachers alike. Mathematics education research indicates that the challenge with fractions may stem from the limitations of part-whole concepts of fractions, which is the central focus of fractions curriculum and instruction in the USA. Students' development of more…

This study aimed to explore students' cognitive patterns based on their knowledge and levels. Participants were seventh graders from a junior high school in China. Three relatively distinct groups were specified by Cluster Analysis: high knowledge and low ability, low knowledge and low ability, and high knowledge and high ability. The group of low…

We examined the use of balance and inverse methods in equation solving. The main difference between the balance and inverse methods lies in the operational line (e.g. +2 on both sides vs -2 becomes +2). Differential element interactivity favours the inverse method because the interaction between elements occurs on both sides of the equation for…

Guided by Beck's cognitive model of depression, this study examined the mediating role of negative self-cognition in the association between harsh parenting and adolescent depression and whether peer acceptance moderated this indirect relationship. Eight hundred and fifty-nine seventh to ninth graders (379 girls and 480 boys, mean age = 13.58…

Research into the effect of interest consistently indicated that interest positively related to students' achievement; however, the mechanism through which it affected the learning result remained an open question. This study intended to examine how learning strategies mediated the relationship between interest and achievement in the domain of…

This paper reports findings from a survey of how rural junior secondary school students in the western part of China perceive their mathematics classroom learning environments and associations of learning environment with their attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics achievement. Using adaptations of the widely-used What Is Happening In this…

By incorporating psychopathology and subjective well-being (SWB), the dual-factor model of mental health (DFM) can comprehensively measure psychological health. We examined the utility of the DFM among 1,293 Chinese adolescents (Grades 7-12). Furthermore, we examined the dynamics of mental health group membership via a two-wave longitudinal study…

This study investigates how 217 students in Years 5, 6 and 7 from three schools in Nanjing, China, link number and algebra (called relational thinking in this study). It categorizes their performances in terms of five levels, and uses these levels to create profiles of algebraic thinking across Years 5, 6, and 7. The study examines the…

With China's rapidly developing economy and increasing urbanization, many adults from rural areas migrate to urban areas for better paid jobs. A side effect of this migration is that parents frequently leave their children behind (left-behind children). This research investigated left-behind children's and non-left-behind children's psychological,…

Recent research has distinguished between the components of competency and affect in students' academic self-concept. The competency component operates on the basis of a comparison with peers. This comparison may lead to a big-fish-little-pond (BFLP) effect. To investigate the sustainability of the BFLP effect, a sample of 7th graders from 6…