The effect of interpersonal relationships on psychosomatic symptoms： Moderating role of gender

The purposes of this study were twofold： （1） to verify whether or not gender and interpersonal relationships influence the variance of psychosomatic symptoms in Taiwanese adolescents; and （2） to examine the moderating role of gender between interpersonal relationships and psychosomatic symptoms in Taiwanese adolescents. The present study adopted data from the Taiwan Education Panel Survey （TEPS） using a stratified-random methodology. Results indicated that： （1） gender accounts for a significant amount of variance of psychosomatic symptoms; （2） interpersonal relationships account for a significant amount of variance in psychosomatic symptoms over and above gender; and （3） gender moderates the associations of mother-adolescent and teacher-student relationships and psychosomatic symptoms, whereas it does not moderate the associations between father-adolescent, sibling, or peer relationships or psychosomatic symptoms.     

The effect of time‐on‐task on student grades and grade expectations

The effects of students’ attitudes on time devoted to a course (i.e. time‐on‐task), and the subsequent effects of this time‐on‐task on their performance in the course and their overall grade point average (GPA) were studied. Over a three‐year period, engineering students (N = 231) were surveyed in weeks one, three, seven (after midterms) and 10 (before finals) of a 10‐week quarter in six sophomore and junior engineering classes (eight different sections). Results of this study show that most students are optimistic about their future performance in a new course, regardless of their previous overall GPA. All students appear to devote a relatively high and equal amount of time‐on‐task during the first week of the term. The students who earned grades between ‘B+’ and ‘A’ appear to optimise this time by the third week. Students who earned a final grade of ‘B’ study similar to ‘A’ students before midterms but significantly increase their efforts after midterms while the ‘C’ students decrease their time devoted to the course. This study finds that ‘A’ students know they will earn an ‘A’ as long as they do the work. In contrast, ‘C’ students are resigned to the fact that they will earn a ‘C’ and, thus, devote far less time to a course. The ‘B’ students want better grades and will devote the most effort towards achieving these grades.     

The influence of wait‐time on classroom learning

This study describes a lesson in which students engaged in inquiry in evolutionary biology in order to develop a better understanding of the concepts and reasoning skills necessary to support knowledge claims about changes in the genetic structure of populations, also known as microevolution. This paper describes how a software simulation called EVOLVE can be used to foster discussions about the conceptual knowledge used by advanced secondary or introductory college students when investigating the effects of natural selection on hypothetical populations over time. An experienced professor's use and rationale of a problem-based lesson using the simulation is examined. Examples of student misconceptions and naïve (incomplete) conceptions are described and an analysis of the procedural knowledge for experimenting with the computer model is provided. The results of this case study provide a model of how EVOLVE can be used to engage students in a complex problem-solving experience that encourages student meta-cognitive reflection about their understanding of evolution at the population level. Implications for teaching are provided and ways to improve student learning and problem solving in population genetics are suggested.     

The effects of type of institution attended on graduate earnings in New Zealand: a cross‐field comparison

This paper presents research on the returns to tertiary education for individuals who graduated between 1997 and 2008 with bachelor degrees from universities and polytechnics in New Zealand based on their experiences post study. It examines data on their post‐study earnings drawn from two longitudinal datasets linking administrative data on individuals’ tertiary education records to their earnings. An advantage of this research is that it reports on differences in the earnings of those who studied in specific fields of study at polytechnics and universities. The data are used to help shed light on the importance of reputational capital in reproducing social classes.     

The effects of students' cognitive styles on conceptual understandings and problem‐solving skills in introductory mechanics

The purpose of this study was to determine if there are relationship among freshmen students' Field depended or field independent (FD/FI) cognitive style, conceptual understandings, and problem solving skills in mechanics. The sample consisted of 213 freshmen (female = 111, male = 102; age range 17–21) who were enrolled in an introductory physics course required for science education prospective teachers. Data collection was done during the fall semesters in three successive years. At the beginning of each semester the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and the Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) were administered to assess students' initial understanding of basic concepts in mechanics and FD/FI tendency of students, respectively. After completion of the course, the FCI and the Mechanics Base Line Test (MBT) were administered. The results indicated that students conceptual understanding were not statistically related to their FD/FI cognitive styles for both pre and post results. However, their problem‐solving skills were statistically related to their FD/FI cognitive style. The findings of the present and previous studies are compared, and the possible effects of the present studies on previous studies on teaching, learning and assessment for introductory mechanics are discussed.     

The effects of a competency‐oriented learning environment and tutor feedback on students’ reflection skills

This study investigates the effects of a competency‐oriented course and the effects of feedback training on students’ reflection skills. Thirty‐one nursing students enrolled in a conventional course with lectures and assignments following a traditional test. Subsequently, they enrolled in a competency‐oriented course, which included more performance‐oriented tasks based on competencies and a performance‐based assessment. In both courses, half of the students received feedback on their assignments from tutors who were trained in feedback skills (experimental group), while the other half of the students received feedback from non‐trained tutors (control group). After each course, all students wrote a reflection report. Results show that students’ reflection reports after the competency‐oriented course were of a higher quality than the reports after the conventional course. Contrary to our expectations, the quality of the reflection reports of the control group (students supervised by non‐trained tutors) was significantly higher than the quality of reflection reports of the experimental group (students supervised by trained tutors). This study shows that a competency‐oriented design of courses enhances students’ reflection skills, but that the training in feedback skills needs to be reconsidered.     

The effects of parental involvement on students’ academic self‐efficacy,engagement and intrinsic motivation

This research examined whether various dimensions of parental involvement predicted 10th‐grade students’ motivation (engagement, self‐efficacy towards maths and English, intrinsic motivation towards maths and English) using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS 2002). Results showed that both parents’ educational aspiration for their children and school‐initiated contact with parents on benign school issues had strong positive effects on all five motivational outcomes. On the contrary, parent–school contact concerning students’ school problems was negatively related to all five motivational outcomes investigated in the study. Additionally, parental advising positively predicted students’ academic self‐efficacy in English as well as intrinsic motivation towards English, and family rules for watching television were positively linked to students’ engagement and intrinsic motivation towards both English and maths.     

The effects of levels of elaboration on learners’ strategic processing of text

In the current work, we examined learners’ comprehension when engaged with elaborative processing strategies. In Experiment 1, we randomly assigned students to one of five elaborative processing conditions and addressed differences in learners’ lower- and higher-order learning outcomes and ability to employ elaborative strategies. Findings indicated no significant differences among conditions on learning outcomes. However, learners better able to employ elaborative processing strategies performed better on outcome measures. Experiment 2 extended this research and addressed whether there would be differences across elaborative processing conditions in learners’ comprehension at delayed testing. We also examined the role of motivation in performance and strategy use. Findings indicated no differences on the outcome measures at delayed testing; however, there were significant differences in learners’ performance on an integration outcome at immediate testing. In addition, significant positive correlations were indicated for several outcome measures, strategy use and mastery orientation. Future research should further consider instructional scaffolds to promote learners’ strategic processing and critical individual difference variables as they effect elaborative processing.     

The effects of explanation-driven inquiry on students’ conceptual understanding of redox

ABSTRACT

The study that is the subject of this paper tested the effects of EDI (explanation-driven inquiry) on students’ redox conceptual understanding and their misconceptions. Two classes of 119 10th grade high school students were involved. Two groups of students in the same school were chosen. One class that was taught by EDI teaching was set as the treatment group and another class that received conventional teaching was set as the control group. Students’ conceptual understanding was measured by a standardised instrument, and the students’ misconceptions were compared. The analysis of covariance showed that EDI teaching had significant effects on students’ redox conceptual understanding, and the results of the chi-square test demonstrated that students’ conceptual understanding level was improved by using EDI teaching. Also, after comparing the two groups of students’ misconceptions of redox, the results indicated that the students’ misconceptions changed toward deeper conceptual understanding in the treatment group that used EDI. Finally, some suggestions were made on how to implement EDI in the classroom.     

The interpretation of emotion from facial expressions for children with a visual sub‐type of dyslexia

Abstract

Investigations of dyslexia have largely focussed on academic failure, but the development of social skills is being increasingly recognised as important. A number of studies have claimed that negative social skills identified in such people might relate to the inability to decode subtle social cues. In particular, facial expression has been identified as critical to the development of social responsiveness, with some studies finding that children with learning disabilities/dyslexia were less accurate in interpreting facial emotions. The majority of studies of interpretation of facial expression, however, viewed dyslexia as a unitary condition, and only made comparisons between this group and a group with no learning disabilities. There are almost certainly sub‐types, and a separate assessment of these is needed. In particular, people with visual processing disabilities which are sufficient to cause problems in identifying letters and words, may also have problems in interpreting subtle visual cues of facial emotion. This study investigated ability to interpret emotion in facial expression in a visual perceptual sub‐type called Irlen Syndrome (Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome), which is claimed to have central nervous system origin, with a deficit in the magnocellular visual neurological pathway being implicated. A deficit in this pathway has also been proposed as a possible cause of visual processing problems leading to social misperception. The study assessed 38 children with Irlen Syndrome in comparison to 31 normally achieving peers aged between 8 and 12 years. Participants with Irlen Syndrome were as different from normal‐achieving peers in recognition of facial affect and recognition of faces as they were in word identification and word attack. Application of Irlen filters to the experimental group appeared to reduce the differences between groups on these tests.     

The effects of browse time on the Internet on students’ essay scores

This study examined how 30 minutes of search time on the Web affected students’ essay scores in response to a writing prompt. Expository essays were obtained from 49 fourth- and fifthgrade students enrolled in an elementary school in Virginia, in the United States. Students were placed by random assignment into three groups with the same writing prompt for all three groups. Data analyses using ANOVA indicate that there was statistical significance in two components of writing. The group that received instruction on using the Internet to conduct research in the prewriting phase outperformed the control group in two areas: the total essay score (p=.053) and usage/mechanics (p=.028). The study also produced effect sizes ranging from small to large when the Internet users were compared to the control group. Implications for the future of Internet use in the school system are discussed.     

The effects of maternal smartphone use on mother–child interaction

This study assessed the effects of maternal smartphone use on mother–child interaction. Thirty-three Israeli mothers and their 24- to 36-month-old toddlers (16 boys) from middle-high socioeconomic status participated in three within-subjects experimental conditions: maternal smartphone use, maternal magazine reading, and uninterrupted dyadic free-play. The mothers produced fewer utterances, provided fewer responses to child bids, missed child bids more often, and exchanged fewer conversational turns with their children when engaged with a smartphone or printed magazines compared to uninterrupted free-play. The quality of maternal responsiveness was also decreased. These findings suggest maternal smartphone use compromises mother–child interaction, which given smartphone ubiquity in daily life may have negative effects on child development in various domains, including language, cognition, and socioemotional regulation.     

The effects of cooperative learning on preschoolers’ mathematics problem-solving ability

The aim of this study is to investigate the efficiency of cooperative learning on preschoolers’ verbal mathematics problem-solving abilities and to present the observational findings of the related processes and the teachers’ perspectives about the application of the program. Two experimental groups and one control group participated in the study. Results found that preschoolers in the experimental groups experienced larger improvements in their problem-solving abilities than those in the control group. Findings also revealed that the cooperative learning method can be successfully applied in teaching verbal mathematics problem-solving skills during the preschool period. The preschoolers’ skills regarding cooperation, sharing, listening to the speaker and fulfilling individual responsibilities in group work improved. The teachers’ points of view also supported these findings.     

The effects of middle-school career intervention on students’ career readiness

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - The study examines the effectiveness of a career intervention in middle schools. The intervention was organized in eight...     

Long‐term teacher effects on pupils' learning gains

Many studies have demonstrated that a teacher has a substantial impact on how much pupils learn. However, research on the long‐term effects of teachers is scarce, and the results obtained so far are inconsistent. Some studies have concluded that teacher effects are relatively permanent, while others claim that they fade away more or less rapidly over time. The present study was conducted at the elementary‐school level in France. Multilevel random crossed models were used to assess teacher effects over a period of two school years. The assessments showed that the pupils' test scores in French and mathematics after two years were linked to the second‐year teachers but not to the first‐year ones. These results suggest that teacher effects on pupils' learning gains wear off quickly over time. In other words, ‘immediate’ teacher effects on learning do seem to exist, but not long‐term ones. The merits of multilevel random crossed models in this research field are presented, and the potential limitations of the results obtained are discussed.     

The Effects of Computer‐assisted Systematic Observation on the Attitudes and Efficiencies of Pre‐service Teachers

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of computer‐assistance during systematic observation on the attitudes of pre‐service teachers towards systematic observation and on the time required to analyze the data gathered. During their field experience, pre‐service teachers were randomly assigned to conduct systematic observation in a computer‐assisted group or traditional ‘pencil and paper’ group. Results indicated that pre‐service teachers who used computer‐assisted systematic observation required significantly (alpha – 0.01) less time to perform quantitative analysis. The data also revealed several significant differences in attitudes between the pre‐service teachers who used computers and those who used the traditional ‘pencil and paper’ methods of systematic observation.     

The effects of constructivist learning environment on prospective mathematics teachers＇ opinions

To explore the effects of constructivist learning environment on prospective teachers＇ opinions about ＂＇mathematics, department of mathematics, discrete mathematics, countable and uncountable infinity＂ taught under the subject of Cantorian Set Theory in discrete mathematics class, 60 first-year students in the Division of Mathematics Education at the Department of Science and Mathematics in Buca Education Faculty at Dokuz Eylul University were divided into two homogenous groups. In order to do this segmentation, Minimum Requirements Identification Test was developed and used by the researchers. This test includes concepts like ＂＇set＂, ＂correlation＂ and ＂function＂, which are required to understand Cantorian Set Theory. While the control group was taught by traditional methods, a teaching method based on a constructivist approach was applied to the experimental group. Data were gathered by an open-ended questionnaire administered to total 40 students, 20 from the each group. Collected data were evaluated through content analysis. In the end, despite the minor differences, no statistically significant difference was found between the opinions of control and experimental groups about mathematics （χ^2calculation=2.578, SD=3, p〉0.05）, department of mathematics （χ^2calculation=3.185, SD=3, p〉0.05） and discrete mathematics （χ^2calculation=4.935, SD=3, p〉0.05） after the instruction. However, opinions about Cantorian Set Theory were significantly differentiated between experimental and control groups after the instruction （χ^2 calculation= 13.486, SD=2, p〈0.05）.     

The effects of teaching notetaking strategies on elementary students’ science learning

The research examined effects of notetaking instruction on elementary-aged students’ abilities to recall science information and their notetaking behaviors. Classes of eight to nine years old third grade students were randomly assigned to three treatment conditions: strategic notetaking, partial strategic notetaking, and control, for four training sessions. The effects of the notetaking instruction were measured by their performances on a test about science information, a long-term free recall of the information, and the number of information units recalled with or without cues. Students’ prior science achievement was used to group students into two levels (high vs. low) and functioned as another independent variable in analysis. Results indicated significant treatment effect in favor of the strategy notetaking instruction groups on cued and non-cued recall of the information units. Students with higher prior achievement in science performed better on cued recall and long-term free recall of information. The results suggest that students as young as those in third grade classes can be instructed to develop notetaking ability that promotes their learning.     

The impact of inter‐generational change on the attitudes of working‐class South Asian Muslim parents on the education of their daughters

This paper presents the findings of ethnographic research into inter‐generational attitudinal change of parents towards the education of young British Muslim women. Based on in‐depth interviews with parents of different generations, given social class and ethnicity, there is a universal belief in the importance of education for young Muslim women per se, with economic and cultural factors significant in shaping this sentiment. A range of important differences in attitudes towards Islamic schooling and mainstream education, and questions relating to marriage, however, were found. There are complex issues of identity and religion among Muslims in relation to educational issues, but there has been a move towards Islamisation among both generations; the first generations through a form of cultural traditionalism and the second generations through Islamic conservatism. Although this finding is based on a study of a relatively small and isolated working‐class Muslim community in a declining post‐industrial town in the West Midlands, it is argued that this Islamisation places both particular risks and opportunities in relation to young Muslim women in education in such isolated and disaffected communities which have a wider conceptual, theoretical and policy impact.