Personal, social, and emotional development (PSED) of young children is particularly important at the beginning of primary education. This paper is aimed at constructing PSED profiles (in the framework of iPIPS study of schooling progress) of Russian school children during their first year at school and determining relationship between PSED and cognitive abilities. Childrens' PSED was assessed by teachers using 11 scales. The scales themselves were arranged in three sections: adjustment to the school environment, personal development, and social and emotional development. Data were collected in one big region of Russian Federation, the Republic of Tatarstan. The sample representative of Tatarstan consisted of 1,218 (409 boys and 447 girls, mean age - 7.3 years old; gender data for 362 students is missing because of the low parents response rate) primary school students assessed by 68 teachers. 4 PSED profiles were identified using cluster analysis (k-means method). In group one children scored high on all scales and in other three groups children had certain characteristic strengths and weaknesses. A relationship between profiles and cognitive abilities was found. This information can help teachers find the most effective ways to work with children during their first year at school.

The paper discusses assessment principles for learning in technology-rich learning environments, in this case BioWorld (Lajoie, 2009). BioWorld is a patient simulation program designed to support medical students’ clinical reasoning. Students are invited to diagnose virtual patients by gathering and evaluating medical evidence. The framework highlights a shift away from discrete content domain knowledge to cognitively, metacognitively, and emotionally competent applications of target knowledge. In this framework, learners’ current state of knowledge and skill mastery are constantly changing as a result of interactions with elements of learning contexts, which contradicts a static view of learning. The present study gathered multiple types of behavioral, affective, cognitive, and contextual data from students’ self-reports, computer logs, and think-aloud verbal protocols. Latent class analyses (Vermunt & Magidson, 2005) and cluster analyses were used to identify distinct latent classes among students in terms of their self-regulation, emotional engagement (Pekrun, Goetz, & Perry, 2005), and responses to expert feedback. Logistic multiple regression analyses were used to examine the predictive probabilities of successful diagnosis of virtual patients using different learner trait profiles. I discuss the viability of the ecological assessment framework for tracking learning progressions and providing intervention support tailored to individual learners’ profiles.

The purpose of the study is to explore the factors that cause language anxiety in the Saudi EFL learners and the influence it casts on communication as observed and perceived by EFL teachers. The study seeks to answer questions such as what are the psycholinguistic and socio-cultural factors, as per teachers’ perspective that cause language anxiety among ESL/EFL learners while learning and speaking English Language, especially in the context of the Saudi students. It also finds what strategies can be used to successfully cope with language anxiety. The scope of the study is limited to college and university English Teachers in Saudi Arabia. The sample size is 115(Mean age = 35 years). One hundred university English teachers (both males and females) were selected from various cultural backgrounds. Five points Likert scale questionnaire comprising twenty items was served to these 100 English teachers. In additon, 15 structured interviews were also conducted. Some English teachers believe that anxiety serves a positive outcome for the learners by giving them an extra bit of motivation to do their best in English language learning.