Effects of Mindset, Democratic Parenting, Teaching, and School Environment on Global Citizenship of Ninth-grade Students

<p style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-align: justify;">This research intended to examine the effect of mindset, democratic parenting, democratic teaching, and school environment on global citizenship among 2,226 ninth-grade students and 80 social studies teachers from 80 classrooms in public schools. The research instruments included a student questionnaire to measure global citizenship, democratic parenting, fixed and growth mindset, and a teacher questionnaire to measure democratic teaching and school environment and to analyze the data based on multilevel structural equation modeling. The significant findings revealed that democratic parenting and school environment positively affected global citizenship, whereas democratic teaching had a negative effect on global citizenship. In addition, the outstanding students with a growth mindset tend to lead to a positive effect and act as a mediating role through global citizenship than those with outstanding fixed mindset clearly. All factors in the model collaboratively explained the variance of global citizenship accounted for 62.8% and 47.5% at student and classroom levels, respectively. Finally, the discussions and suggestions section suggested the recommendations according to the findings of the research.</p>

Growth Mindset in Mathematics among Ninth-Grade Students via 5Ps Learning Model

This paper determined the effects of implementing the Prepare, Perform, Process, Ponder, and Practice (5Ps) learning model in teaching ninth-grade students’ growth mindset in mathematics. This study employed the quasi-experimental design and mixed-method research approach to answer the research questions with 60 ninth-grade students at a public secondary high school in the Philippines. The study administered a growth mindset questionnaire, informal interviews, learning journals, and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) on identifying learning experiences and mindsets of the students. Findings presented that employing the 5Ps learning model significantly influences students' mindset in mathematics. Meanwhile, traditional teaching does not significantly affect students' mindset in mathematics. The implementation of the 5Ps learning model has a significant positive effect on students' growth mindset in mathematics. The results of the study are limited merely to the participants included in the study; similar research utilizing the 5Ps learning model to other learning areas with a larger sample is recommended for more generalizable results.

The Impact of a Proposed Science Informal Curriculum on Students’ Achievement and Attitudes During the Covid-19

This study aimed to identify the impact of a proposed science curriculum based on informal learning on the academic achievement of ninth-grade students and their attitudes towards science majors in Al-Qunfuthah Governorate during the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus answer the following questions: What activities represent informal education in science that can be included in the science curriculum? Is there a statistically significant difference in the attitudes towards scientific disciplines for ninth-grade students due to the proposed curriculum based on informal education? Is there a statistically significant difference in the educational attainment of ninth-grade students due to the proposed curriculum based on non-formal education? The researcher used the experimental method, where the study sample was randomly selected and numbered (29) students in the control group, and (29) students in the experimental group. The researcher designed the science curriculum to include activities based on informal education in science, and it was taught to students in the experimental group, while the control group will study the formal curriculum of science for the third intermediate grade. The researcher also prepared a measure of attitudes towards the sciences major, and a test to measure the students' academic achievement.

The effect of a strategy based on multiple intelligences in developing reading comprehension skills in Arabic language for ninth grade students: أثر استراتيجية قائمة على الذكاءات المتعددة في تنمية مهارات الاستيعاب القرائي في مبحث اللغة العربية لدى طلاب الصّف التّاسع الأساسي

The study aimed to investigate the effect of a strategy based on multiple intelligences in developing reading comprehension skills in Arabic language for ninth grade students compared to the usual method. The sample of the study, which was chosen randomly, consisted of (75) students divided into two groups, an experimental group totaling (38) students, and a control group totaling (37) students from the ninth grade students from Abdullah II School for Excellence in the Directorate of Education in Aqaba Governorate for the academic year 2020/ 2021. To achieve the goal of the study, the researcher designed the study tools, which are: a list of reading comprehension skills, the educational program, and a test of reading comprehension skills. The results showed a statistically significant difference at the level (α = 0.05) between the two groups in favor of the experimental group that was studied using the multiple intelligences strategy. The study recommended employing a strategy based on multiple intelligences in teaching reading to primary school students.

Attendance Without Presence: Measuring Cognitive Class Avoidance Among Students

While the term “school absenteeism” refers to a student’s withdrawal from the reach of classroom instruction, we explicitly opt for the term “class avoidance.” Existing studies on this phenomenon have primarily dealt with unauthorized physical absence from class. However, in our contribution, we extend the scope to cognitive absence. The behavior of students who are physically present but cognitively disengaged has largely been neglected in educational research thus far. This deficit stands in contrast to the widely accepted importance of cognitive activation in the classroom. The core of our contribution consists in the presentation and the construct validation of a newly developed scale for measuring cognitive class avoidance (inattention in class). We evaluated this measurement instrument in a cross-sectional study with a sample of 171 seventh- to ninth-grade students (M = 14.3 years, SD = .94). Our data confirmed a theoretically founded g-factor model. The results of the analysis point to a limited prevalence of cognitive class avoidance. Such forms of behavior were significantly more frequently reported by boys than by girls, however.

An Integrated Cybernetic Awareness Strategy to Assess Cybersecurity Attitudes and Behaviours in School Context

Digital exposure to the Internet among the younger generations, notwithstanding their digital abilities, has increased and raised the alarm regarding the need to intensify the education on cybersecurity in schools. Understanding of the human factor and its influence on children, namely their attitudes and behaviors online, is pivotal to reinforce their awareness towards cyberattacks, and to promote their digital citizenship. This paper aims to present an integrated cybersecurity and cyberawareness strategy composed of three major steps: (1) Cybersecurity attitude and behavior assessment, (2) self-diagnosis, and (3) teaching/learning activities. The following contributions are made: Two questionnaires to assess risky attitudes and behaviors regarding cybersecurity; a self-diagnosis to measure students’ skills on cybersecurity; a lesson plan addressing cyberawareness to be applied on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and citizenship education curricular units. Cybersecurity risky attitudes and behaviors were evaluated in a junior high school population of 164 students attending the sixth and ninth grades. The assessment focused on two main subjects: To identify the attitudes and behaviors that raise the risk on cybersecurity among the participating students; to characterize the acquired students’ cybersecurity and cyberawareness skills. Global and individual scores and the histograms for attitudes and behaviors are presented. The items in which we have observed significant differences between sixth and ninth grades are depicted and quantified by their corresponding p-values obtained through the Mann–Whitney non-parametric test. Regarding the results obtained on the assessment of attitudes and behaviors, although positive, we observed that the attitudes and behaviors in ninth grade students are globally inferior compared to those attained by sixth grade students. The deployed strategy for cyberawareness was applied in a school context; however, the same approach is suitable to be applied in other types of organizations, namely enterprises, healthcare institutions and public sector.

Individual vs. Team Sports—What’s the Better Strategy for Meeting PA Guidelines in Children?

There is insufficient evidence from previous studies dealing with structure of sport preferences referring to the interconnection between individual factors (socio-economic status, organized/structured physical activity (PA), location, etc.), although these factors can considerably influence total level of PA as well as the structure of sport preferences. The study investigated associations between PA frequency and specific sports activities according to the intensity with the impact on leisure, sport, and education domain, using data from an international health behavior in school-aged children survey. Participants were fifth and ninth grade students in the Czech Republic (seven schools) and Slovakia (nine schools). The results showed a significant association between intensity in team sports and PA frequency per week. Those who participated in high-intensity team sports were 2.5 times more likely to be more physically active.

An Attachment Point for Meaningful Musculoskeletal Learning

A robust understanding of body systems is elusive for many students. For instance, musculoskeletal structures and mechanisms often remain abstract and difficult for students to truly understand, even when teachers provide visual representations and accurate anatomical and physiological information. This article (1) presents a lesson for teaching about the musculoskeletal system by having students develop and build a physical model of an arm and (2) describes how teachers can use this experience to promote a deep understanding of the role of muscles, ligaments, and tendons in movement. This concrete learning experience and resulting arm model establishes a foundation for developing a more robust understanding of anatomical, physiological, and general biological principles. This lesson sequence also embeds questions that overtly draw students’ attention to important features of scientific models, which is an important nature of science issue appearing in the Next Generation Science Standards. The instructional sequence has been utilized as the foundation of an entire musculoskeletal unit in an elective anatomy and physiology course for ninth grade students, and it can easily be adapted for use in a middle school life science class or a general high school biology course.