How are parental expectations related to students’ beliefs and their perceived achievement?

Educational Studies in Mathematics - We are developing an approach to teaching important proportionality-based concepts to first grade students in a way that supports students’...     

The relation between students’ motivational beliefs and their use of motivational regulation strategies

The goal of this study was to investigate the relation between a set of pre-decisional beliefs including students’ task value, self-efficacy, and learning and performance goal orientations and five post-decisional, implementation strategies students use to regulate their effort and persistence for the academic tasks assigned for a specific class. A group of eighth grade students (N=114) completed a self-report survey that assessed these four motivational beliefs and the frequency that they used five motivational regulation strategies including self-consequating, environmental control, interest enhancement, and mastery and performance self-talk. Results from a series of multiple regressions indicated that the motivational beliefs, as a group, could be used to explain students’ reported use of each of the regulatory strategies examined. Further, results indicated that task value, learning goal orientation, and performance goal orientation individually explained three or more of the regulatory strategies, whereas self-efficacy was not related significantly to any of the five regulatory strategies studied. Findings are presented and interpreted in light of their significance for models specifying both motivational and volitional aspects of self-regulation.     

College students’ homework and academic achievement: The mediating role of self-regulatory beliefs

The influence of homework experiences on students’ academic grades was studied with 223 college students. Students’ self-efficacy for learning and perceived responsibility beliefs were included as mediating variables in this research. The students’ homework influenced their achievement indirectly via these two self-regulatory beliefs as well as directly. Self-efficacy for learning, although moderately correlated with perceptions of responsibility, predicted course grades more strongly than the latter variable. No gender differences were found for any of the variables, a finding that extends prior research based on high school girls. Educational implications about the importance of students’ homework completion and its relationship to college students’ development of self-regulation and positive self-efficacy beliefs is discussed from a social cognitive perspective.     

Teachers’ beliefs of behaviors,learning, and teaching related to minority students: a comparison of Han and Mongolian Chinese teachers

Teachers from mainstream and minority backgrounds teaching in the same school contexts presumably hold different beliefs of learning and teaching about minority students due to their unique prior life and ethnic experiences. Teachers in similar school environments are also assumed to share beliefs of teaching and learning about their students because of the influences of their similar school contexts despite their different prior life and ethnic experiences. This study examines the two contentious assumptions by surveying the beliefs of behavior, learning, and teaching that the mainstream Han and minority Mongolian Chinese teachers in the same school contexts hold about their Mongolian Chinese students. It found that the two groups agreed that teachers’ inadequate planning and management were the major sources of their students’ behavior problems while students’ home backgrounds, abilities, and efforts explained their learning failure or success. Both believed that students’ emotional and social problems were more important than their learning problems for them to attend to, and their expertise in helping students develop self-worth was more important than their expertise in curriculum and pedagogy. Both preferred to vary teaching standards, content, and methods to accommodate students’ differences and offer opportunities for students to discover things themselves.     

Testing the mediating role of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in the relationship between sources of efficacy information and students achievement

The purpose of this study is to test the mediating role of teachers?? self-efficacy beliefs in the relationship between sources of efficacy information and students achievement. For achieving this aim, this study suggests two alternative models, tested by Structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. In the first model, sources of efficacy information and teachers?? sense of self-efficacy independently influenced student achievement. In second model, we examined a dependent 2-factor model, consisting of: (a) antecedent variable: sources of efficacy information, (b) mediator variable: teachers?? sense of self-efficacy, and (c) criterion variable: student??s achievement. Among 284 teachers who participated in this study, Sources of the Self-Efficacy Inventory (SOSI) and Teachers?? Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) were distributed. Findings of this study indicated that between two suggested models, the dependent model showed the best overall fit to the data. In this model, teachers?? self-efficacy had mediational role between sources of teachers?? self-efficacy and student??s achievement.     

Comparing students’ self-discipline and self-regulation measures and their prediction of academic achievement

Using a multi-source, multi-measure research design involving 507 high school students and their teachers, we compared prediction of these students’ academic achievement by a composite of students’ and teachers’ measures of students’ self-regulation (SR) with a composite of students’ and teachers’ measures of students’ self-discipline (SD). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the SR composite was more predictive of students’ grade point average and performance on a state-wide achievement test than the SD composite. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that, although SD and SR latent factors correlated significantly, a two-factor solution provided an acceptable fit for the results. Structural Equation Modeling analyses indicated that the SR latent factor predicted both measures of students’ achievement significantly, but the SD factor did not predict either achievement measure significantly. No significant gender differences were found with students’ SD, SR, or achievement measures. These results suggest a path for integrating two relatively separate streams in self-regulation research on the basis of a well-established distinction between learning and performance processes.     

Using a mathematical model of motivation,volition, and performance to examine students’ e-text learning experiences

This empirical study used Keller’s (Technol Instr Cogn Learn 16:79–104, 2008b) motivation, volition, and performance (MVP) theory to develop and statistically evaluate a mathematical MVP model that can serve as a research and policy tool for evaluating students’ learning experiences in digital environments. Specifically, it explored undergraduate biology students’ learning and attitudes toward e-texts using a MVP mathematical model in two different e-text environments. A data set (N = 1334) that included student motivation and e-text information processing, frustration with using e-texts, and student ability variables was used to evaluate e-text satisfaction. A regression analysis of these variables revealed a significant model that explained 77% of the variation in student e-text satisfaction in both e-text learning environments. Student motivation and intrinsic cognitive load were positive predictors of student satisfaction, while extraneous cognitive load and student prior knowledge and background variables were negative predictors. Practical implications for e-text learning and generalizability of a mathematical MVP model are discussed.     

An investigation of relationships between students’ mathematical problem-posing abilities and their mathematical content knowledge

The importance of students’ problem-posing abilities in mathematics has been emphasized in the K-12 curricula in the USA and China. There are claims that problem-posing activities are helpful in developing creative approaches to mathematics. At the same time, there are also claims that students’ mathematical content knowledge could be highly related to creativity in mathematics, too. This paper reports on a study that investigated USA and Chinese high school students’ mathematical content knowledge, their abilities in mathematical problem posing, and the relationships between students’ mathematical content knowledge and their problem-posing abilities in mathematics.     

The relation between teacher-set performance goals and students’ mathematical achievement

The relation between teacher-set performance goals for 361 individual students and these students’ mathematics achievement was investigated. High performance goals were found to strongly relate to student performance, with an effect size of d = 0.80. The performance goals were set by the teachers at the end of a step-by-step procedure, consisting of initial teacher expectations, the use of data, and team input. This procedure was expected to decrease negative expectancy bias. Higher teacher performance goals than teachers’ initial expectations, so-called positive changes, were positively associated with the performance of initially low achievers. Initially high achievers, for whom the teachers made a positive change, performed worse than comparable students for whom initial expectation and final goal were the same.     

Exploring young children’s self-efficacy beliefs related to mathematical and nonmathematical tasks performed in kindergarten: abused and neglected children and their peers

This article reports on young children’s self-efficacy beliefs and their corresponding performance of mathematical and nonmathematical tasks typically encountered in kindergarten. Participants included 132 kindergarten children aged 5–6 years old. Among the participants, 69 children were identified by the social welfare department as being abused and/or neglected. Individual interviews were conducted where children were asked to assess their self-efficacy regarding sorting tasks, mathematics tasks, and reciting the alphabet. Children were then requested to perform each of the tasks. Results revealed that no significant differences were found between the abused and neglected children and their peers regarding their self-efficacy beliefs and performances for any of the tasks. For some of the tasks, children were able to correctly assess their performance, while for other tasks, children overestimated their performance. Possible reasons for these outcomes are discussed.     

How is formative assessment related to students’ reading achievement? Findings from PISA 2009

Drawing on the programme for international student assessment 2009 US data-set, this study examines the relationship between formative assessment and students’ reading achievement using a structural equation modelling approach. We find that formative assessment is positively related to students’ reading achievement directly and indirectly (through teacher–student relationship and attitude towards reading) for all students. The direct relationship between formative assessment and reading achievement is significantly stronger for Black students than for White students, whether or not student socio-economic status (SES), gender and school mean SES are controlled for. The total relationship (the direct plus the indirect relationship) between formative assessment and reading achievement also appears to be stronger for Black students than for White students; however, the difference is not statistically significant whether or not we control for covariates. No significant difference is found between White and Hispanic students in terms of the direct and the total relationship between formative assessment and reading achievement. Using a nationally representative data-set, this study provides empirical evidence that formative assessment is positively related to students’ reading achievement in general. In addition, this study provides preliminary evidence to show the potential of formative assessment to help reduce achievement gaps between Black and White students. The implications and limitations of the study are also discussed.     

Using students’ motivational and learning profiles in investigating their perceptions and achievement in case-based and lecture-based learning environments

A teaching method may not work for all students. Therefore, attention should be paid to the type of students entering the learning environment in order to explain how they perceive the learning environment and achieve. This study investigates students’ perceptions and achievement in four learning environments that differed in the degree to which case-based and lecture-based learning were implemented (either separately or combined), hereby making use of students’ motivational and learning profiles. Participants were 1098 first-year student teachers who took a course on child development. Results showed that autonomously motivated deep-strategic learners were significantly more positive about each type of learning environment than little motivated and less pronounced deep-strategic learners. However, with regard to achievement, student profiles did not differ. Instead, the learning environment proved to be of significant influence: students in a gradually implemented case-based setting and a completely lecture-based setting scored significantly higher than students in a completely case-based setting.     

Students’ motivational beliefs in science learning,school motivational contexts,and science achievement in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

Taiwanese students are featured as having high academic achievement but low motivational beliefs according to the serial results of the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Moreover, given that the role of context has become more important in the development of academic motivation theory, this study aimed to examine the relationship between motivational beliefs and science achievement at both the student and school levels. Based on the Expectancy-Value Theory, the three motivational beliefs, namely self-concept, intrinsic value, and utility value, were the focuses of this study. The two-level hierarchical linear model was used to analyse the Taiwanese TIMSS 2011 eighth-grade student data. The results indicated that each motivational belief had a positive predictive effect on science achievement. Additionally, a positive school contextual effect of self-concept on science achievement was identified. Furthermore, school-mean utility value had a negative moderating effect on the relationship between utility value and science achievement. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the functioning of motivational beliefs in science learning among Taiwanese adolescents with consideration of the school motivational contexts.     

First-semester students’ capacity to predict academic achievement as related to approaches to learning

ABSTRACT

Students’ ways of approaching their studies influence their academic outcomes. Expecting high grades and having the skills to steer learning activities towards assessment demands seem to be important components of academic success. However, our knowledge about students’ capacity to predict academic achievement is limited. Focusing on first-semester psychology students, this study aimed to investigate (a) students’ self-assessment skills, and (b) how approaches to learning were related to self-assessment skills, and to expected and final academic outcomes. Data from two sources were analysed: (1) students’ (N = 189) responses to the 52-item version of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) questionnaire and their assessment expectations and (2) final course grades that were retrieved from official university records. Results showed that 18 per cent of the students provided perfect ratings of their final grades while most underestimated their grades. Students reporting the best self-assessment skills expected high grades, but achieved low grades, and reported a low surface approach. Students with a low surface and a high strategic approach both expected and achieved high grades. Students with a deep approach expected high grades but did not perform as expected. Taken together, students new to a discipline seem to have difficulties estimating their grades. Variations between approaches probably relate to the discipline being new and to circumstances characterising the local educational setting, such as the examination favouring a strategic approach. Practical implications involve carefully considering how assessments may steer student approaches and learning outcomes.     

Adaptability: does students’ adjustment to university predict their mid-course academic achievement and satisfaction?

ABSTRACT

Individual differences in ‘adaptability’ – cognitive, behavioural, and emotional adjustment in the face of change, novelty, and uncertainty – are theorised to influence students’ academic achievement and course satisfaction; although the literature examining these relations in tertiary education is sparse. In the present study, first-year undergraduate students were surveyed for their adaptability, academic buoyancy, and academic motivation (predictor variables) along with their mid-course academic achievement and course satisfaction (outcome variables). Correlation analyses revealed that adaptability was significantly associated with all other variables in this study. Multiple regression analyses revealed that after controlling for individual differences in academic buoyancy and academic motivation, adaptability explained unique variance in both academic achievement and course satisfaction. These findings have important implications for researchers and educators seeking to understand first-year students’ adjustment to university and the influence this may have on their educational outcomes.     

Teachers’ beliefs and practices related to mathematics instruction

Beliefs and practices related to mathematics were assessed for 21 fourth- through sixth-grade teachers. At the beginning and the end of the school year teachers’ beliefs about (1) the nature of mathematics (i.e., procedures to solve problems versus a tool for thought), (2) mathematics learning (i.e., focusing on getting correct solutions versus understanding mathematical concepts), (3) who should control students’ mathematical activity, (4) the nature of mathematical ability (i.e., fixed versus malleable), and (5) the value of extrinsic rewards for getting students to engage in mathematics activities were assessed. (6) Teachers self-confidence and enjoyment of mathematics and mathematics teaching were also assessed. Analyses were conducted to assess the coherence among these beliefs and associations between teachers’ beliefs and their observed classroom practices and self-reported evaluation criteria. Findings showed substantial coherence among teachers’ beliefs and consistent associations between their beliefs and their practices. Teachers’ self-confidence as mathematics teachers was also significantly associated with their students’ self-confidence as mathematical learners.     

Models and messengers of resilience: a theoretical model of college students’ resilience,regulatory strategy use,and academic achievement

We tested a theoretical model of college students’ ratings of messengers of resilience and models of resilience, students’ own perceived resilience, regulatory strategy use and achievement. A total of 116 undergraduates participated in this study. The results of a path analysis indicated that ratings of models of resilience had a direct effect on students’ perceived resilience and that perceived resilience directly influenced regulatory strategy use (i.e. effort regulation, self-regulation and time management), which influenced academic achievement (as measured by grade point average). The implications of our findings are further discussed, along with avenues for future research.     

Crosscutting concepts and achievement: Is a sense of size and scale related to achievement in science and mathematics?

This study examined the relationship between students' (N = 229) concepts of size and scale and students' achievement in science and mathematics over a 3-year period. Size and scale are considered one of the big ideas in science that permeates disparate science and mathematics content areas, yet little is known about the relationship between students' conceptualization of size and scale and students' achievement in science and mathematics. The study used a modified panel longitudinal design to follow the same class of students over a 3-year period. The goal was to explore whether understandings of size and scale are related to achievement in mathematics and science. Results indicated a strong positive significant relationship existed between students' understanding of size and scale and students' science achievement in grades 5 and 8. There was a positive significant relationship between students' concepts of size and scale and students' mathematics achievement in grades 5, 6, 7, and 8. An examination of the relationships is included as well as a discussion of the integration of crosscutting concepts into science and mathematics instruction as a way to support deep learning.     

Are parents’ academic gender stereotypes and changes in them related to their perceptions of their child’s mathematical competence?

In the course of their child’s school years, a group of parents were asked to assess their child’s mathematical competence and indicate whether they endorsed the gender stereotype pertaining to it. Once the child had entered upper primary school, the consistent stereotypic parents tended to rate their boys’ mathematical competence higher than the parents of girls did. Additionally, the parents whose attitude turned into an anti‐stereotypical one perceived their girls’ mathematical competencies as higher than those of the boys, which was related to their perception that the boys’ competencies were getting worse while the girls’ competencies were getting better.