I am an M.D/Ph.D. student and work as a research assistant for the director of a division of the school of medicine who is an M.D. He assigned me to research a certain topic and gave me no guidelines or guidance as to how to do it. Nevertheless, I did the research and wrote it up. My supervisor liked the report and said that he thought it was so good that “I would like to offer you the opportunity to publish (...) it and list you as the primary author.” Some bells went off when he so grandly offered to let me author the report for which I had done 100% of research and writing. I consulted some other people in the field and they said that, as long as I was the primary author, it was legitimate for him to list himself as secondary author if he did some editing later. After editing the abstract only, he e-mailed his revisions to me and in a note at the bottom he asked me what I thought of his revised author order. His name was first, mine second, and the name of his girlfriend was third. I was shocked by what seemed to be a case of unethical author attribution and confronted him asking why he changed the order when we had agreed that I was primary author. He said that he had put in several hours of work. (shrink)

Plagiarism and other transgressions of the norms of academic integrity appear to be a persistent problem among upper secondary students. Numerous surveys have revealed high levels of infringement of what appear to be clearly stated rules. Less attention has been given to students’ understanding of academic integrity, and to the potential misconceptions and false beliefs that may make it difficult for them to comply with existing rules and handle complex real-life situations.In this paper we report findings from (...) a survey of European upper secondary students’ views on issues relating to academic integrity. We relate these findings to the students’ training about academic integrity, self-reported level of questionable behavior and country of study.A total of 1654 students at 51 institutions located in 6 European countries participated in the study. The participants generally believed they had a good understanding of the rules applying to them and knew how to behave in compliance with norms of academic integrity. The results indicate, however, that often, in practice, this belief was mistaken. Many students had an inadequate understanding of core elements of academic integrity. They were uncertain about how to act, and they struggled in the handling of complex situations that require context-sensitive judgement. While some differences between countries were identified, they were modest and exhibited no clear pattern. Our results also suggest that reducing students’ level of uncertainty and, to a lesser degree, improving their level of knowledge could lead them to engage less in certain types of questionable behaviours. Surprisingly, the effect of academic training is modest and ambiguous. The study also confirms that perception of peer behaviour has the strongest association with student engagement in questionable behaviours. Thus, academic integrity at the upper secondary level cannot be explained simply in terms of individual ethics or knowledge. (shrink)

O presente artigo visa analisar a atuação da União dos Estudantes Secundaristas do Amapá, durante a ditadura civil-militar no Brasil, em específico, como se deu a deliberação de apoio da entidade ao golpe. Para tanto, foi necessário analisar as peculiaridades da recepção do regime autoritário no então Território Federal do Amapá, o Movimento Estudantil de forma ampla, os aspectos constitutivos da União dos Estudantes Secundaristas do Amapá, suas divisões e seu desenvolvimento diante do golpe. O objetivo com isso, foi traçar (...) as correspondências existentes entre esses aspectos e as ações de apoio que se sucederam em nome da entidade. O artigo baseou-se em fontes bibliográficas sobre o tema e em depoimentos cedidos pela Comissão Estadual da Verdade do Amapá, disponibilizados durante a construção do relatório publicado no ano de 2017. Dentre os resultados, foi possível visualizar que a atuação da União dos Estudantes Secundaristas do Amapá foi bem mais do que um apoio ao regime militar, mas fora heterogênea, e teve sua trajetória ligada a características do território, ao poder, ao regionalismo, às classes e muitos outros aspectos que influenciaram a tomada de decisões de grupos dentro da entidade. This article aims to analyze the performance of the Amapá Union of Secondary Students during the civil-military dictatorship in Brazil, specifically, how the deliberation of support of the entity to the coup took place. For that, it was necessary to analyze the peculiarities of the reception of the authoritarian regime in the then Federal Territory of Amapá, the Student Movement in a broad way, the constitutive aspects of the Amapá Union of Secondary Students, its divisions and its development in the face of the coup. The objective was to trace the correspondence between these aspects and the support actions that followed on behalf of the entity. The article was based on bibliographic sources on the subject and on testimonials provided by the Amapá State Truth Commission, which were made available during the construction of the report published in 2017. Among the results, it was possible to visualize that Amapá Union of Secondary Students performance was much more than a support to the military regime, but it had been heterogeneous and had its trajectory linked to characteristics of the territory, power, regionalism, classes and many other aspects that influenced the decision making of groups within the entity. (shrink)

Chile has established hybrid policies for the administrative distribution of its educational establishments, leading to significant gaps in educational results and school conditions between public, mixed, and private schools. As a result, there are high levels of segregation, and social and economic vulnerability that put public schools at a disadvantage, affecting their image and causing a constant decrease in enrollment. An abbreviated version of Luhtanen and Crocker’s collective self-esteem scale was adapted and validated for the Chilean educational context because of (...) its usefulness in studying processes of social segregation and cultural coherence, seeking to identify student perception about the appreciation of school actions in the context of belonging and identification with schools, in order to compare between groups according to types of establishment and assess the effects of school conditions on the perception of students. A representative sample of Chilean secondary students between 9th and 12th grades participated. Descriptive analyses, comparison of means between groups, confirmatory factorial analyses, and multi-group analyses were conducted to test the adjustment and invariance of the unifactorial structure of a reduced version of four items. The results indicated that the scale satisfactorily complies with the proposed adjustment indexes, presents total invariance by gender and partial invariance by administrative dependence, and allows establishing statistically significant differences in the collective self-esteem, indicating a higher score for students in the private system, and a lower score for those in the public system. These results show the negative effects of high school segregation on students’ collective self-esteem, affecting the appreciation of personal, collective, and institutional activities and the sense of belonging. Although previous research has explored some of the effects of school segregation, the present study focuses on collective self-esteem, which is closely related to identity and belonging, and allows for further innovative research on school segregation. The scale is useful as an instrument for researching social conditions of student well-being, in regards to educational management. (shrink)

Reading difficulties that are not addressed at the primary level continue to exist at the secondary level with serious consequences. Thus, it is important to provide struggling students with specific reading support. In particular, many students with learning disabilities and emotional behavioral disorders demonstrate reading obstacles and are at risk for motivation loss. A multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effects of a motivational reading racetrack as peer-tutoring on the word reading skills of secondary (...) students with LD with and without EBD. The intervention was conducted through 4–5 baseline and 16–18 reading units three times a week for 15 min over 8 weeks. The results showed positive effects indicating a highly effective treatment. In addition, follow-up results were also promising. Our findings indicate that this multicomponent intervention has a positive effect on the word fluidity of low-achieving students in secondary education with LD and/or EBD. (shrink)

Defining moral competence using a virtue approach, this longitudinal study examined the prospective relationships between moral competence and externalizing behavior indexed by delinquency and intention to engage in problem behavior in a large and representative sample of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. Starting from the 2009–2010 academic year, Grade 7 students in 28 randomly selected secondary schools in Hong Kong were invited to join a longitudinal study, which surveyed participating students annually during the high school years. The current (...) study used data collected in the first three years (Wave 1 to Wave 3) across junior secondary school stage (Grade 7 to Grade 9) with a sample of 3,328 students (Age = 12.59 ±.74 years and 52.1% boys at Wave 1). Cross-lagged panel path analyses were conducted to compare four models involving different hypothesized patterns of relationships between moral competence and externalizing behavior. Results revealed that the reciprocal effects model best fit the data, supporting reciprocal causal relationships between moral competence and externalizing behavior measures. Specifically, a higher level of moral competence significantly predicted a lower level of delinquency and problem behavioral intention over time. At the same time, a higher level of externalizing behavior also significantly predicted a lower level of moral competence one year later. As the magnitudes of the significant findings were not high, replications in different Chinese communities are needed. Nevertheless, the present findings provide important theoretical insights on how moral competence and externalizing behavior in adolescents are associated with each other. Practically speaking, the findings suggest that it is promising to reduce adolescent externalizing behavior by promoting their virtues through moral education programs, and guiding adolescents to behave in a good manner would help promote the development of their virtues. (shrink)

Having the ability to understand emotionally how other people feel and see things is an essential fabric for building and sustaining functional interpersonal relationships. Without such an ability, social interaction crumbles, engagement fails, and learning is eroded. Yet, empirical evidence on the relationship between study burnout and study engagement, and empathy between upper secondary school students is limited. We are tackling the challenge by exploring the association between empathy between peers and study engagement and study burnout among upper (...) secondary school students. Two hundred and eighty upper secondary education students took part in our cross-sectional study. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the association between empathy, and study burnout and study engagement. The results showed that cognitive empathy contributed to affective empathy, which was further related to increased levels of study engagement, and decreased levels of cynicism, and sense of inadequacy. The role of cognitive empathy seemed to be more complicated: while cognitive empathy contributed directly to increased levels of cynicism, and inadequacy and decrease in study engagement, the indirect effects of cognitive empathy on cynicism and inadequacy were negative, and positive on study engagement. Neither of the empathy dimensions explained students’ emotional exhaustion. The results indicate that merely teaching students to recognize and identify their peers’ emotions is not sufficient to enhance study wellbeing, but they need to learn to share emotions and to tune into each other’s emotions. (shrink)

The study examined the impact of students’ absolute age-position at the time of testing by grade level and gender on their achieved level of mathematics, reading and science performance. An analysis was conducted based on a sample of 11,500 15-year-old pupils in the United Arab Emirates who participated in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment 2012 study. In support of an absolute age-position effect it was found that the youngest age-at-test student grouping demonstrated significantly lower levels of mathematics, (...) reading and science performance than their older peers. It was also shown that grade level had a significant influence on the demonstration of functional knowledge by same-aged students. Lastly, the female students attained significantly higher levels of mathematics, reading and science performance than their male counterparts. (shrink)

Young people around the world show considerable engagement with climate change. How can education draw on this engagement in order to benefit students and society? In this article, we discuss how inquiry-based dialogues can support students’ development in their societal engagement. We argue that such dialogues should include real-world problems involving disagreement, which promote students’ agency. We elaborate on qualities of dialogues, such as developing argumentation and perspectives together through respect, attentive listening and recognition of others’ viewpoints. (...) Central theoretical perspectives include inquiry-based dialogues and students’ lived democracy. This research draws on data from a classroom activity where 15–16-year-old students in Norway investigate controversial issues related to electrifying offshore oil platforms. The students are in a learning situation, and the teacher wants them to learn about climate change and the oil industry and the skills and attitudes needed to participate in inquiry-based dialogues. The dialogues show that students bring knowledge, opinions and attitudes from outside school, characteristics that are crucial for students’ engagement. We discuss how teachers can facilitate students’ further engagement by addressing multiple aims of inquiry-based dialogues. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to examine student perceptions of teaching behavior. Additionally the aim was to examine if teacher characteristics (educational level, gender, and teaching experience) could explain differences in student perceptions of their teachers. Teaching behavior was studied from the research on teaching and teacher effectiveness perspective. Secondary students (N = 7,114), taught by 410 teachers in Spain, participated in the study. Survey data were analyzed using non-parametric tests, Kruskal-Wallis, U Mann-Whitney with Bonferroni correction, and (...) the analysis of effect sizes. Furthermore, a regression model was applied. Results showed that teaching behavior was perceived as sufficient to good, depending on the teaching behavior domain. Results indicated interesting differences between lower secondary education, upper secondary education and vocational education and training teachers. The effect size values (rU statistic) ranged between 0.43 and 0.63, highlighting the significant effect of teachers’ teaching experience on the six teaching skills domains: learning climate, efficient classroom management, clarity of instruction, activating teaching, differentiation, and teaching learning strategies. Those teachers with less teaching experience were the ones who showed higher scores. Findings from the regression model showed that educational level had a significant predictive effect on the six teaching skills domains, mainly for male teachers. However, in several domains female teachers were perceived by students to outperform their male counterparts. (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)

School-based Physical Education is important, especially to students with disabilities whose participation in physical activities out of school is limited. The development over time of participation-related constructs in relation to students’ perceived functioning and achievement is explored. Students in mainstream inclusive secondary school self-rated their PE-specific self-efficacy, general school self-efficacy, aptitude to participate in PE, and perceived physical and socio-cognitive functional skills at two timepoints, year 7 and year 9. Results were compared between three groups of (...) students with: disabilities, high grades, or low grades in PE. Over time, perceived physical skills of students with disabilities became strongly associated with self-efficacy and aptitude to participate. Perceived socio-cognitive skills in the study sample improved and had a positive effect on PE-specific self-efficacy. Efforts should be made to limit the accelerated negative impact of perceived restricted functioning of students with disabilities. Grading criteria need to be developed to comply with standards adapted to fit abilities of students with disabilities. Meaningful learning experiences appear to be created when participation is promoted and capacity beliefs are boosted. Allocating resources to support the development of students’ socio-cognitive skills seem to have potential for overall positive school outcome. (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 qualitative case study examines early career social studies educators’ knowledge of the role of emotion in teaching and learning. More specifically, we examine how our efforts to expand social studies educators’ understanding of emotion, shifted their perception of the role of emotion in learning social studies content and how they can use this knowledge to plan instruction. Prior to beginning their “emotion education,” all participants described the role of emotion in teaching and learning as important for relationship-building and as (...) something to be carefully managed. They focused their efforts in the classroom on creating a welcoming environment for their students and managing their students’ emotions. Though they described their classrooms as emotional spaces, none had explicitly considered the role of emotion in learning content.As they learned about the role of emotion in cognitive processes like memory and problem-solving, participants began to recognize the need to rethink their pedagogical choices. However, none of the participants embraced or accepted an expanded view of emotions as social and political forces. Reluctant to consider how emotions shape our identities, our communities and our politics, these social studies educators did not meaningfully engage in a critical examination of how social studies curriculum can contribute to “schooling” students’ emotions. Findings from this initial study suggest it is important to engage social studies educators in critical awareness of their own emotions and critical examination of what emotions “do” in the world and how the social studies content we teach can contribute to the “schooling” of our students’ emotions. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to examine the norm conformity and value perceptions of Malaysian secondary school students. To measure adherence to value‐based social norms, a values/behaviour questionnaire was administered to approximately 400 Malaysian adolescents. The results showed a self‐reported high degree of conformity to social norms. In order to increase understanding of the moral dimensions of schooling, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with teachers and students which gave ‘voice’ to teachers and students as moral agents. (...) The results indicate that some students view school rules as too rigid and undermining the moral development schooling is trying to promote. The research also shows that the implicit values of respect, justice and fairness are central in Malaysian students' relationships with their teachers. This research shows teachers and students as active constructors of moral meaning and recommends that policymakers, when thinking about moral education reform, consider these views. (shrink)

This paper makes a case for why philosophy would be beneficial if promoted among the subjects offered to secondary students in Aotearoa New Zealand. Philosophical inquiry in the form of Philosophy for Children (P4C) has made some inroads at the primary level, but currently very few students are offered philosophy as a subject at the secondary level. Philosophy is suited to be offered as a standalone subject and incorporated into the National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) (...) system. Philosophy has been shown to benefit students in numerous ways, including the development of their critical thinking. Critical thinking is a focus of education around the world, including in the New Zealand Curriculum, and this focus on critical thinking could precipitate a focus on philosophy. (shrink)

This study investigated the relationship between the development of students? self-regulated learning and students? perceptions of the learning environment in terms of autonomy support, the emphasis on relevance and collaborative learning. In addition, we compared innovative learning environments that aim to enhance self-regulated learning with traditional learning environments. Questionnaires for measuring self-regulated learning and perceptions of the learning environment were administered by 648 students. Self-regulated learning was measured at the start of secondary education and again half (...) way through the first year. The results point to the importance of how students perceive the learning environment for self-regulated learning. There was a positive relationship between autonomy support and relevance and self-regulated learning. Furthermore, students in innovative environments perceived more autonomy support, more emphasis on relevance and more collaborative learning than those in traditional environments. Students in innovative environments, however, reported no more self-regulated learning than students in traditional environments. (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)

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)

Resumen: Este estudio da cuenta del análisis crítico del discurso realizado en una investigación mayor aplicada a 151 docentes técnicos, que se desempeñan en los niveles diferenciados de liceos de Educación Media Técnico Profesional con alto nivel de vulnerabilidad. Esta fase buscó establecer representaciones discursivas acerca de los estudiantes, cuando los docentes relacionan los conceptos de EMTP, pobreza y familia. El corpus fue analizado desde el modelo Tridimensional de Fairclough. Los resultados reproducen dos discursos sociales, el del Estado y el (...) de la familia, ocultando una dominación al instalar una falsa autonomía social en las poblaciones de estudiantes más pobres, proyectadas en un determinismo, cuando no se ven posibilidades de superar la pobreza.: This study gives an account of the critical discourse analysis carried out in an investigation, more applied to 151 technical professors, who work in the differentiated levels of secondary vocational schools with high level of vulnerability. This phase sought to establish discursive representations towards students, when teachers relate the concepts of EMTP, poverty and family. The corpus was analyzed from the three-dimensional model Fairclough. The results reproduce two social discourses, that of the state and that of the family, concealing a domination by installing a false social autonomy in the poorest student populations, projected on a determinism, when there is no chance of overcoming poverty. (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)

The present study focuses on the association between peer integration and the development of depressive symptoms in secondary school students. A sample of 393 7th grade students (194 boys, 199 girl...

The main objective of this study was to explore the perception of students on challenges that hindered the implementation of Civics and Ethical Education in Aleta Wondo secondary school. To achieve this objective, the study employed a cross sectional survey research design with a combination of mixed research approach. The quantitative data collected through survey was analyzed via mean and standard deviation while the qualitative data obtained from key informant interviews and document analysis was presented using narration. The (...) findings of the study indicated that content and context related problems such as repetition of the content, deformity of contents and improper mode of delivery of the course were identified as major factors that influenced the implementation of the discipline. Moreover, external environment related challenges such as engagement of a number of students in harmful activities, lack of parental involvement in the school activities, and mass media were major reasons for Civics and Ethical Education to meet its objectives ineffectively. Therefore, this study demanded all stakeholders to be highly committed to the effectiveness of the subject, and responsible to curb those challenges that affected the implementation of the discipline. (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.

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)

Engagement, a psychological individual difference variable with three facets, has recently attracted scholarly attention. Through a large-scale survey, we examined what we call ‘L2 engagement’ among 21,370 secondary school students in China, with an L2 engagement scale adapted from the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale -student version. Factor analysis showed this scale to be empirically unidimensional with three highly intercorrelated facets and very high internal consistency; this contributes to our understanding of the conceptual challenges surrounding the construct of engagement (...) and the broader issue concerning the correspondence between empirical constructs and theoretical terms. Hierarchical regression revealed that the selected sociobiographical variables were linked to L2 engagement to varying degrees; adopting a more refined approach to gauge the unique contribution of a predictor to L2 engagement in hierarchical regression, we identified L2 proficiency, parental attention, study time and frequency of parental coaching as important predictors for L2 engagement. We call for more studies to adopt our L2 engagement scale, a sufficiently valid and reliable instrument developed based on a large sample. We also propose a few future research directions. (shrink)

Physical activities are generally accepted as promoting important psychological benefits. However, studies examining martial arts as a form of physical activity and mental health have exhibited many methodological limitations in the past. Additionally, recent philosophical discussion has debated whether martial arts training promotes psychological wellbeing or illness. Self-efficacy has an important relationship with mental health and may be an important mechanism underpinning the potential of martial arts training to promote mental health. This study examined the effect of martial arts training (...) on the psychological construct of self-efficacy. A total of 283 secondary school students with a mean age of 12.76 (SD = 0.68) years were recruited to complete a time-limited (10-session) martial arts intervention, which was examined using a randomised controlled trial. Univariate ANOVAs found that the intervention improved the experimental group’s self-efficacy compared to the control group, which was sustained at follow-up. Regression analysis indicated that socio-educational status moderated this outcome. These findings support the martial arts-based intervention’s potential to improve self-efficacy and promote wellbeing through physical activity. Martial arts training may be an efficacious psychosocial treatment that can be used as a complementary approach to promote mental health. (shrink)