Background: This study examined the cyberbullying experience and coping manners of adolescents in urban Vietnam and explored the mediating effect of different support to the associations between cyberbullying and mental health issues.Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 484 students at four secondary schools. Cyberbullying experience, coping strategies, psychological problems, and family, peer, and teacher support were obtained. Structural equation modeling was utilized to determine the mediating effects of different support on associations between cyberbullying and psychological problems.Results: (...) There were 11.6 and 28.3% of students who reported that they experienced and observed at least one cyberbullying act in the last 3 months, respectively. Among the victims, only 48.2% tried to stop the perpetrators. Meanwhile, the majority of observers belonged to the “Intervene” group who tried to report cyberbullying acts or help victims. Family support was found to partially mediate associations between cyberbullying experience and observation with levels of psychological problems among adolescents.Conclusion: The 3-month rate of cyberbullying experience and observation among urban adolescents aged 11–14 was low. However, current coping strategies against cyberbullying were not sufficient. Family support is an important factor that should be considered for designing interventions to mitigating the impacts of cyberbullying on the mental health of adolescents. (shrink)

There are widespread calls for school education to put more emphasis on developing students’ appreciation of the power and limitations of science. Without effective teaching, there is a risk that sensationalist media claims will unduly influence students’ perceptions of the power of science to already explain and predict aspects of our daily lives. Secondly, schools have a role in preparing students for a future in which they are likely to work and play alongside increasingly humanlike machines. The study reported (...) here assessed the feasibility of a survey to discover students’ stances on the predictive and explanatory power of science in relation to personality, behaviour and the mind The study forms part of a larger project that seeks to identify ways that schools can develop students’ epistemic insight when they consider big questions about the nature of reality and human personhood. Beginning with a broad conceptualisation of personhood designed to pick up on questions in the science-religion dialogue, we drew on interviews and focus groups with students in upper secondary school to formulate a set of statements that seemed to be effective in stimulating discussion about the power and limitations of science. The questionnaire was administered to 311 secondary students. Students’ responses indicate that they were engaged by the theme and that they were generally not working with a secure overarching scientistic or nonscientistic framework. When we grouped students according to how they responded to the narrower theme of personality and behaviour, one in five of the cohort was labelled as strongly scientistic. We also found that in their comments at different points in the survey, the majority of students expressed ideas and everyday phrases associated with scientism. The article concludes with implications for future research and further recommendations for teachers. (shrink)

Development in the students’ sense of belonging to school, their commitment to each other, makes them feel happier and peaceful at school. In addition, this situation has a very important role in terms of students' academic, social and psychological development. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the belonging circumstance to school of the secondary students in terms of various variables. This study has applied to 1187 high school students studying in different types of high school selected by (...) random sampling in Ankara and Çankırı. While collecting data, Sense of Belonging to School Scale developed by Goodnew and adapted to Turkish by Sarı has been used. The validity and reliability study of the scale has repeated also in this study. To evaluate the data obtained from the scale, Mann WhitneyU test and Kruskal Wallis test statistics have been utilized. At the end of the study, the students’ sense of belonging to the school has meaningfully differed from their gender, type of high school, continuing class and school preference. On the other hand, it has been found that there is no significant difference between the sense of belonging to the school and the city in which they live. In addition, in order to determine the reasons for the sense of belonging to the school, the reasons of the students' answers to the 9th, 16th and 17th questions were evaluated. The average value that students obtained from OADÖ was found as 3.28. It can be stated that students' sense of belonging to school is above the average value (3.00). (shrink)

This paper focuses on the system of banding used in England by the former Inner London Education Authority in order to seek to obtain an intake to secondary schools that was balanced in terms of ability. The first part of the paper provides a brief history of the system of banding, how it was informed by verbal reasoning testing and how it was subsequently based on the results of a specially constructed reading test. The second part of the (...) paper examines the extent of banding after the abolition of the ILEA. Whilst LEA-wide banding is currently only used by three LEAs, many schools in inner London that are responsible for their own admissions have introduced banding. The problems associated with banding at a school level are discussed and it is argued that banding at the level of the LEA is likely to be more equitable, more transparent and more likely to reduce social segregation; in addition, there is some evidence to suggest that the ILEA banding system resulted in a higher percentage of parents achieving their stated first preference school than more recent admissions policies. (shrink)

The attempt to generate adequate courses in Ethics at the secondary school level preceded Philosophy for Children as it is generall thought of today. But despite this early momentum, problems inherent to secondary school applications have shifted interest toward the early school years. Curricula furnished by, for example, the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children has, in recent years, been increasingly geared to the elementary school. Programs rarely go beyond the intermediate school years. However desirable or (...) necessary that state of affairs, it does not respond to the apparent need of educators to address themselves to the crucial period of adolescence through some organized program of values education. (shrink)

Supporting children to successfully transition from primary to secondary school is of utmost importance for several reasons, including to prevent future emotional and behavioural problems. Level Up is a novel, UK-based intervention consisting of five online group sessions, straddling the summer holidays, and providing at-risk children and their parents/carers with skills to manage their behaviour, emotions, and relationships to support their transition to secondary school. A prior evaluation of Level Up reported a need to better describe the mechanisms (...) of change. This study therefore evaluated the experiences of children and their parents/carers regarding the facilitators and barriers to engagement and change, and the perceived impact. Fourteen children and 17 parents/carers were interviewed. Identified barriers and facilitators were: (1) Having a safe, supportive, and fun space, (2) Learning through connection, (3) A family approach, (4) Problematic group dynamics, and (5) Connecting through video calls. Perceived impact was described as: (1) Empowering children, (2) Supporting children socially, (3) Supporting parents and carers in their parenting role, and (4) Supporting a successful transition to secondary school. Another theme (5) describes some families’ experiences of limited impact. These findings can be used to better understand how to support children in their school transition. (shrink)

There is a constant need for new ways to improve the Swedish school system. One such way could be to implement Matthew Lipman’s philosophy of education, which then must be proven compatible with the curriculum governing the Swedish school system. We restricted our examination to a comparison between Lipman’s Thinking in Education and the first chapter of the Swedish curriculum for upper secondary schools. We divided the results into three degrees of coherence: inconsistence, compatibility, and accordance, where accordance (...) was a stronger form of compatibility which would not only allow but encourage the implementation of Lipman’s philosophy of education. We found that the two parties were overall in accordance with each other, though with a few elements of mere compatibility. No inconsistencies were found. The parties were in accordance on especially two key points. Firstly, the critical, creative, and caring thinking emphasized by Lipman were all present in the curriculum. Secondly, there is in the curriculum an emphasis on the mediation of democratic values through democratic means, something inherent in Lipman’s community of inquiry. In conclusion, Lipman’s philosophy of education is not merely compatible, but in large part in accordance with the curriculum. (shrink)

Streaming in secondary schools is not beneficial for improving student outcomes of education with vast amounts of educational research indicating that it does not improve academic results and increases inequity. Yet teachers often prefer working in streamed classes, and research shows that teachers mediate the effects of streaming on students. This study sought to add to the understanding of teachers’ role in student learning by investigating how teachers conceptualise the students in streamed classes. A qualitative case study approach (...) was used, where 18 teachers were interviewed in-depth to create narrative examples, three of which are presented here. These narratives summarise the research findings that teachers saw students in high and low streams as having homogenous characteristics according to five dichotomous categories: approach to learning, attitude to learning, learning style, autonomy and background. Students in mixed-ability classes were viewed along these same continua, but as more heterogeneous groups. Furthermore, these views of students had direct implications for how teachers planned for learning and the expectations that they held of their students. The discussion links streaming research with teacher expectation research, suggesting that teachers of streamed classes in this secondary school hold specific whole-class ideas that affect student learning. The article concludes with recommendations for further inquiry that links these two important fields of educational research. (shrink)

This study of the patterns of the keeping of herpetofauna animals and associated animal welfare issues among secondary school pupils in the United Kingdom suggests that a large proportion of the animals kept as companion animals by this group are indigenous species. In comparison with purchased species, these captured animals, even those normally long-lived, appear to suffer a high rate of mortality. Relatively large numbers of escape- and food-related deaths among these animals imply that many are not furnished with (...) suitable vivaria or adequate care. Traded reptile and amphibian species were reported to have been kept by nearly 40% of the students who said they had kept herpetofauna, and the proportions of most taxa reflected their availability in shops. Data concerning students' opinions about their own care-knowledge appeared to support the general conclusion that students have much to learn about keeping reptiles and amphibians. These findings are considered in relation to issues of animnl welfare and herpetofauna conservation. Their ramifications for school-based education about reptiles and amphibians are also discussed. (shrink)

This paper proposes a causal model of sexual activity among a randomly selected sample of 305 Junior secondary school girls in Zambia. The results indicate that liberal sexual attitudes influence romantic involvement with boys. Emotional involvement is likely to result in sexual activity. Traditional courtship forms are slowly being replaced by modern patterns of courtship behaviour. Policy and programme implications are discussed.

This article describes and discusses research into lifelong learning in secondary schools that was undertaken at the Australian Council for Educational Research. The project explored ways of helping secondary school students develop an intrinsic interest in learning, in the belief that such an approach will encourage young people to keep learning throughout their lives. Skills and values that help young people to develop characteristics of lifelong learners are outlined. The article suggests that development of these characteristics may (...) be impeded by the strong influence of competitive end-of-school assessment in many schools, and the difficulty of changing the practices and attitudes of some of the people who play a significant role in a young person's education: parents and teachers. (shrink)

In this research, religious courses in Kyrgyzstan secondary schools were discussed. With the independence of Kyrgyzstan, the return to national, spiritual and religious values was revived. In the first year of independence, the Law on Freedom of Belief and Religious Institutions was adopted. Freedom of religion is recognized within the framework of the Law. Accordingly, the search for teaching religion lessons within general education has begun. While the first searches began to take place as a result of civil (...) initiatives, the Iyman course began to be taught by the state. However, when the official curriculum of the Iyman course was determined, it was understood that it was not a religious course. The society continued to seek religious lessons again. Freedom of religion could only be realized by rearranging the Law according to social and political needs. This research aimed to analyze and reveal the religion courses in secondary schools. As a result of the different understanding of the constitutional principle of secularism in the first years of independence, this constituted a major obstacle to the inclusion of religion lessons in the school curriculum. The political revolutions of the people that took place in the history of the country paved the way for religious education. Later, the events that took place in society in the name of religion accelerated the political will and the formation of the legal foundations of religious education in practice. Thus, religion lessons began to be taught in secondary schools. However, on the grounds that the content of religion lessons did not meet the expectations of society, it was possible to organize religion lessons again in 2022. In this study, using descriptive research methods, the history of religion education, its legal development, and the state standard of religion education, curriculum, textbooks, and course teachers were examined. (shrink)

Within the framework of an interdisciplinary project on epistemic strategies in text and talk, this article examines such strategies in a secondary school textbook on social science. After a summary of current insights into the theory of knowledge in philosophy, psychology and linguistics, it is shown how discourse presupposes and expresses knowledge, with special emphasis on discourse processing and learning from text and its applications in education. The specific aim of this article is to study in some detail how (...) exactly ‘new’ knowledge is formulated in pedagogical discourse, and how ‘old’ knowledge is presupposed in a lesson on migration. We thus are able to describe the categories of, and the functional relations between, old and new knowledge, as discursive manifestations of underlying cognitive strategies of teaching and learning. It was also observed that in textbooks what is purported to be presented as knowledge often has an ideological basis. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Journal of Aesthetic Education 37.4 (2003) 101-107 [Access article in PDF] Art Education in Lower Secondary Schools in Japan and the United Kingdom This essay compares the system and practice of art education in Japan and the United Kingdom at the lower secondary school level. Three surveys on how art is taught form the basis of this research. I conducted the first survey in 1992, (...) distributed to 156 art teachers in Japan on their "real" curricula and compared them with syllabus samplers of nationally authorized textbooks. From 1993 to 1994, I studied in the United Kingdom the newly introduced National Curriculum and performed a survey on its impact on classroomteaching in 49 art departments in secondary schools, mostly in England. Since 1994, I have participated in a joint study project on craft education in secondary schools in Japan and Britain, in which 717 Japanese schools are cooperating via a questionnaire survey. The issues common to these surveys are how art teachers respond to the national standards in their own teaching practice, and what these responses suggest for the future development of this subject. This essay identifies survey findings in both countries, together with overviews on the systems and cultural factors affecting the state of Art and its implementation in curricula. Japan and the United Kingdom: An Overview Let us look briefly at the historical background of the national curricula in Japan and the United Kingdom. The education system in Japan was established by the central government and has maintained its unity. After World War II, a new national Course of Study was recommended but was not compulsory. But in the legislation of 1958, this Course of Study became binding and a new subject called "Technology and Home Economics" was introduced. A new term, "design" was adopted in Art, "craft" was removed, and the time allocated to Art was drastically reduced. In the 1969 revision, five main areas of Art study were established: drawing (painting), sculpture, design, craft, and art appreciation. In 1977, a recommended time allocation for each area in Art was eliminated, and the five areas were reorganized into two fields: "expression" and "appreciation." Between 1969 and 1977, lower secondary schools in Japan allotted two compulsory hours per week for Art in grades 7 and 8, one compulsory hour and one non-compulsory hour in grade 9. However, after the revisions of 1989 and 1998, the time allotted for Art has gradually decreased. [End Page 101]In the United Kingdom, different educational systems developed concurrently, and through political and ideological conflicts, the involvement of central government gradually grew until an integrated school system was established. 1 The National Curriculum, first introduced through the Education Act of 1988, clearly indicates Art as compulsory from Years 1 to 9 in state schools. 2 The Courses of Study in Japan are separated into primary, lower, and upper secondary levels, however, the consistency of Art as a subject is not as clear. 3 In England, the content is not differentiated into the areas of art, craft, and design, but is organized as a series of processes common to these areas including investigation, creation, and evaluation, based upon knowledge and understanding.The United Kingdom has no national system for authorizing textbooks, but the examination board syllabus for the General Certificate ofSecondary Education (GCSE), for example, has influenced the school curriculum. Art departments of each secondary school function as fairly independent entities, taking responsibility for curriculum and study resources. In Japan, in most cases, lower and upper secondary schools are separated, with only about one art teacher per school, which means improving the curriculum is determined by the efforts of the individual teacher in a limited environment.We also need to consider the cultural background. The United Kingdom has made a notable effort to incorporate a multicultural perspective, based upon the urgent recognition that the country has become a multi-ethnic society. There is also a growing awareness in Western societies that individual expression should be approved in relation to the culture of a given social group. In Japan, it has... (shrink)

Inclusive education is an educational approach that advocates the inclusion of all students in the education system, regardless of their different abilities. Since the main stakeholders of inclusive education are teachers, professional associates, and school principals, their opinion is crucial for the successful implementation of this complicated process. The aim of this study was to investigate the views of teachers, professional associates and principals in secondary schools (N=517) on the effectiveness of inclusive education implementation in secondary (...) class='Hi'>schools in the Republic of Croatia. The results of this study show that indicators of the success of inclusive education in secondary schools include acceptance of students with disabilities by their peers, successful completion of secondary school and aspiration to further education. Teachers, professional associates and school principals believe that they are well versed in methodological adaptations and are aware of the abilities and limitations of students with disabilities. The research found a statistically significant correlation between collaboration between secondary schools and parents of students with disabilities and successful inclusive education. Professional associates were found to provide the greatest support to teachers in educating students with disabilities. There is also a recognized need for more in-service training and professional visits from mobile teams equipped by experts specializing in specific difficulties. The study highlights how important it is for the success of inclusive education to update textbooks to include inclusive and universal design. (shrink)

Neo-Aristotelian forms of character education often draw on literary sources as materials, although rarely poetry. This article offers retrospective reflections on a poetry-based character-education intervention, conducted in an Icelandic secondary-school setting. Having run into practical difficulties during the implementation phase, the challenges of implementation were reflected upon through consultation with ten subject experts who shared their views about the enablers and barriers encountered when running such an intervention. The interviews yielded a rich data set, which often took interviewees beyond (...) the boundaries of a poetry-based curricular context to focus on more general conditions for effective, character-inspiring school-work. Through thematic analysis, four themes were identified: freedom, time, creativity, and wonderment. Of these four, creativity had been identified in advance as an interview theme, meaning that the researchers expected to find it. The remaining three provide an insight into how, according to the interviewees, the ideal Icelandic school system should be designed. The theme of freedom addresses both negative and positive aspects of the current state of affairs, while the theme of time mostly reflects negative aspects of the Icelandic curriculum. The theme of wonderment has solely positive connotations in the minds of interviewees, and is the core of this analysis because it seems to hold the key to the question: what factors would enable an effective intervention of the sort under scrutiny here? This theme is analysed in detail, and some specific and general educational implications are elicited. (shrink)

This paper argues that teachers of philosophy in school, interested in the use of literature in their classrooms, can benefit from teaching the wonderful, but today widely-neglected, literary works of the Enlightenment philosophes. As we examine in Part 1: Theory, these works of philosophical literature were written to reach a large reading public, and engage nonexpert audiences who, like our secondary students, were not necessarily otherwise interested in philosophical questioning. In particular, Enlightenment philosophical literature served to advocate to the (...) reading public the value of religious toleration, and its epistemic preconditions, in forms of intellectual humility. These texts, we argue, are thereby perfect for classroom use in philosophy in schools. In Part 2: Exemplifications, we look at how, in Montesquieu’s Persian Letters and Voltaire’s Micromégas, literary conceits are used to open readers’ eyes to how the ideas and customs they take for granted must appear very differently to others, and how these ‘others’ whom they might have previously disregarded share a good deal with ‘us’, and may even have things to teach us. Such an ‘expanded’ enlightened mindset as these texts foster through engaging readers in their stories and comedy, we propose, remains at the heart of educating our students to be good citizens in multi-faith, post-Enlightenment societies. (shrink)

The predictors of attitudes regarding academic plagiarism were investigated in Hong Kong secondary school students. The participants were 257 Grade 10 and 11 students who were taking liberal studies. Quantitative analysis showed that the students were unfamiliar with what actions constituted plagiarism. The best predictor of attitudes was the perceived descriptive norm regarding plagiarism. We explain this finding by applying the cultural-self perspective and present our recommendations for teachers.

Although many studies have revealed the importance of study skills for students' first?year performance and college retention, the extent of the impact of study skills preparation on students' academic achievement is less clear. This paper explores the impact of pre?university study skills preparation on students' first?year study experiences, academic achievement and persistence. The setting for this study is a large law school in the Netherlands which attracts students from more than 100 schools for secondary education. The results show (...) that the perceived study skills preparation concerning time management and learning skills does have a positive impact on college students' first?year study behaviour and academic achievement. However, the study also shows that the impact of perceived college preparation is far less important for college retention than other factors such as satisfaction about the chosen degree programme and tutorial attendance. (shrink)

Summary A total of 1068 secondary school pupils completed a questionnaire concerned with enjoyment of school, enjoyment of subjects and what they attributed academic success to. Gender differences were shown in the overall enjoyment of school (girls expressing greater enjoyment). Girls also reported liking friends, teachers, outings and lessons more than boys, while boys reported liking sports and school clubs more. Enjoyment of school subjects reflected traditional sex stereotyping: girls reported more liking than did boys for English, French, German, (...) history, drama, music and home economics while boys reported more liking for science. craft and design technology, physical education and information technology. Some gender differences were shown in rating factors contributing to academic success (girls rating hard work and teachers? liking for you as more important than boys, and boys rating cleverness, talent and luck as more important than girls) but attributions with respect to academic success varied more with age than with gender. (shrink)

Today, in Ukraine, the issue of religious education remains not less but rather even more debatable and relevant than in the period of 2005, when the order No. 437 "On the study of optional courses on ethics of religion and religious studies in schools" and further regulatory documents were issued, aimed at creating conditions for the all-Ukrainian introduction of subjects of spiritual and moral orientation in general educational institutions. According to the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sport (...) of Ukraine, in the 2011/2012 school year, about 40% of schools are covered by the teaching process of the relevant subjects. However, a few important issues remain, the solution of which is urgent in order to further improve the situation in educational and educational progress of state initiatives. (shrink)

One of the environments where values education takes place is school. The education system implemented in Turkey aims to raise individuals who embrace basic values as well as being academically successful. To achieve this goal, a systematic values education carried out together with academic education is needed. The educational programs currently implemented in our country have been created to fulfill this function, and ten root values have been determined to be taught to students at school. These values are justice, friendship, (...) honesty, self-control, patience, respect, love, responsibility, patriotism and helpfulness. These values, determined in line with the basic objectives of Turkish National Education, are reflected in the curriculum and textbooks of all courses at the school. In this study, textbooks prepared for the Life of Our Prophet course, which is an elective course in secondary schools and a compulsory course in Imam Hatip secondary schools, were examined in terms of root values. The main purpose of the study is to determine to what extent root values are included in the Life of Our Prophet (5-8) textbooks. Within the framework of this purpose, the following questions were tried to be answered in the study: 1. What root values are included in secondary school Life of Our Prophet textbooks? 2. What are the frequency and rates of inclusion of root values in secondary school Life of Our Prophet textbooks? 3. What is the distribution of the root values in the Secondary School Life of Our Prophet textbooks according to grade levels? The study is of a qualitative type and is in the survey model most commonly used in research in the field of education. The data of the study was obtained by document review technique. The data of the study was obtained from the Life of Our Prophet textbooks taught in secondary and imam hatip secondary schools in the 2022-2023 academic year. While examining the textbooks, the root values specified in the course curriculum and the attitudes and behaviors associated with these values were taken into account. The analysis of the collected data was done with the descriptive analysis approach used in qualitative research. The distribution of root values in the textbooks according to grade level was tabulated by specifying page numbers and frequency values. In order to support the findings, quotations reflecting the relevant value are included from the textbook in which each root value is included at least and most. According to the research results, the root values specified in the program are included in the textbooks of each grade level. The most frequently mentioned root value in textbooks is love, and the least frequently mentioned root value is self-control. The inclusion of root values in the textbooks of each grade level is compatible with the understanding of values education envisaged in the program. In textbooks, root values are generally touched upon in subject texts, reading texts, activities and visual explanations. It can be said that the Life of Our Prophet (5-8) textbooks have a rich content in terms of root values. (shrink)

Bioethical contents in the Croatian educational system are taught not only at the university level, but also in secondary schools. Namely, in 1995, as an alternative to confessional religious teaching, the Ethics was introduced as a separate school subject. Present teaching program of Ethics came into the force in 2003. Ethics is taught during all the four years of secondary schools, while the third year is dedicated to bioethical topics only. This presentation will firstly try to (...) explain the context of ethics and bioethics education in secondary schools in Croatia ; afterwards the teaching program of Ethics will be presented, with an accent on bioethical contents ; and finally, we will point to some problems with which the teaching of ethics and bioethics at this educational level is confronted. (shrink)

Government responses to globalisation include developing educational leaders as reformers for workforce competitiveness in the knowledge economy. Qualitative research tracked interventions involving national leadership development bodies to acculturate leaders in secondary schools and universities. Acculturating leaders as reformers was mediated through interaction with professional cultures valuing autonomy. Yet mediation supported the government's global positioning through adapting reforms and independent innovation.

The aim of this study is to investigate students’ conceptions about proof in mathematics and mathematics teaching. A five‐point Likert‐type questionnaire was administered in order to gather data. The sample of the study included 33 first‐year secondary school mathematics students . The data collected were analysed and interpreted using the methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis. The results have revealed that the students think that mathematical proof has an important place in mathematics and mathematics education. The students’ studying methods (...) for exams based on imitative reasoning which can be described as a type of reasoning built on copying proof, for example, by looking at a textbook or course notes proof or through remembering a proof algorithm. Moreover, they addressed to the differences between mathematics taught in high school and university as the main cause of their difficulties in proof and proving. (shrink)

All 24 secondary schools in a West Midlands local education authority were visited and a structured interview was conducted with the head or another senior teacher. An interview schedule was used to record details concerning the rule structure which had been established to control the conduct of the pupils. Information was also gathered about the sanctions and rewards used to maintain this behaviour and from most schools copies of the rules were available. It was found that almost (...) all schools had rule systems that were in written form and that these were made available to staff and students, chiefly through booklets or other material given to pupils when they first enrolled. All schools backed up their rules, whether written or not by a series of sanctions, most of which related to non?conforming behaviour. Some sanctions were applied to poor work but this was usually treated by special provision or special tutoring. Most also used rewards but these tended to be reserved for good performance. There were few cases where good behaviour was found to be rewarded systematically in any way. (shrink)

Review of a book of this name, being a survey of research on this topic.

Maintenance of proper health and prevention of diseases of civilization are now significant public health problems. Nutrition is an important factor in the development of youth, as well as the current and future state of health. The aim of the study was to show the benefits of the application of cluster analysis to assess the dietary habits of high school students. The survey was carried out on 1,631 eighteen-year-old students in seven randomly selected secondary schools in Bialystok using (...) a self-prepared anonymous questionnaire. An evaluation of the time of day meals were eaten and the number of meals consumed was made for the surveyed students. The cluster analysis allowed distinguishing characteristic structures of dietary habits in the observed population. Four clusters were identified, which were characterized by relative internal homogeneity and substantial variation in terms of the number of meals during the day and the time of their consumption. The most important characteristics of cluster 1 were cumulated food ration in 2 or 3 meals and long intervals between meals. Cluster 2 was characterized by eating the recommended number of 4 or 5 meals a day. In the 3rd cluster, students ate 3 meals a day with large intervals between them, and in the 4th they had four meals a day while maintaining proper intervals between them. In all clusters dietary mistakes occurred, but most of them were related to clusters 1 and 3. Cluster analysis allowed for the identification of major flaws in nutrition, which may include irregular eating and skipping meals, and indicated possible connections between eating patterns and disturbances of body weight in the examined population. (shrink)

This paper constructs a predictive model of student reading literacy based on data from students who participated in the Program for International Student Assessment from four provinces/municipalities of China, i.e., Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. We calculated the contribution of influencing factors in the model by using eXtreme Gradient Boosting algorithm and sHapley additive exPlanations values, and get the following findings: Factors that have the greatest impact on students’ reading literacy are from individual and family levels, with school-level factors taking (...) a relative back seat. The most important influencing factors at individual level are reading metacognition and reading interest. The most important factors at family level are ESCS and language environment, and dialect is negative for reading literacy, whereas proficiency in both a dialect and Mandarin plays a positive role. At the school level, the most important factors are time dedicated to learning and class discipline, and we found that there is an optimal value for learning time, which suggests that reasonable learning time is beneficial, but overextended learning time may make academic performance worse instead of improving it. (shrink)

Publication date: 30 August 2017 Source: Author: Elham Ghaderi Doust Apparently, English is globally used as the most fundamental communication medium. Regarding the objectives of Foreign Language Education in Iran Curriculum, an Iranian educated must be capable of expressing his opinions and viewpoints as well as accurately utilizing the foreign sources and satisfying his demands. Also, he must understand English speeches produced by native English speakers. With perspectives on these objectives, experts involved in English Education sphere design and write Educational (...) English books and teachers have been instructing these books for ages. Indeed we must raise this question: Why Iranian students are such evasive learners and why does almost nobody acquire English in an applicable way in Iranian schools? It is evident that most students of first grade of secondary schools are confronted with certain problems following as:Many students are slightly familiar with English.They often recognize English as a difficult subject to study.Also, they believe that they will not achieve a genuine progress in English.Many students show a lack of self-confidence and inferiority complex.Comparing themselves with the students in the upper grades, they feel that they cannot master English.So, certain efforts must be channeled into resolving these problems, in particular, the ways the students deal with their English books are to be changed and so are the methodologies in teaching. These may become perfectly practicable by utilizing instructional aides, preserving the students' fondness for their English courses, and organizing the instructional content from the simple to complex, as well as discussing with experts, parents, educational managers, and students. The objectives of this study are to shift students' perspectives upon English and support them through their learning English; consequently they will progress satisfactorily at present and in the future. (shrink)