Student engagement and mathematics achievement: Unraveling main and interactive effects

The present study explored the relationships between student engagement and mathematics achievement for 295,416 15‐year‐old students from 11,767 secondary schools in 34 countries who participated in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012. Affective engagement was measured by students’ mathematics interest (InterestMath) and perceived usefulness of schooling (PerceptionSch), behavioral engagement by behaviors facilitating mathematics learning (BehaviorMath) and participation in mathematics learning activities (ActivitiesMath), and cognitive engagement by openness (Openness) and perseverance (Perseverance) in problem‐solving. Results showed that students who were more engaged had higher levels of academic achievement, with cognitive engagement having the strongest association with achievement. Results also showed that students who were highly engaged in two domains had higher achievement levels than peers who were engaged in only one domain in six pairwise comparisons (InterestMath‐BehaviorMath, InterestMath‐Openness, InterestMath‐Perseverance, PerceptionSch‐BehaviorMath, PerceptionSch‐Openness, PerceptionSch‐Perseverance). These results highlighted the importance of a whole‐school based approach in enhancing student achievement.     

Situational interest,cognitive engagement,and achievement in physical education

Students’ learning has been the center of schooling. This study examined the contribution of situational interest motivation and cognitive engagement in workbooks to student achievement in learning health-related fitness knowledge. Situational interest, performance on solving workbook problems, and knowledge gain in cardio-respiratory fitness and benefits were measured in 670 third-grade students from 13 randomly selected urban elementary schools. Structural equation modeling and regression curve estimation analyses revealed that situational interest contributed little to workbook performance and knowledge gain. Performance on solving workbook problems contributed significantly to knowledge gain. The results also show that skipping workbook tasks had stronger negative impact on knowledge gain than performing the tasks incorrectly, suggesting the importance of engaging students in the learning process by attempting the workbook tasks. The findings reinforced the value of using workbooks to facilitate cognitive knowledge learning in physical education, but raised questions about the direct function of situational interest on engaging students in cognitive learning.     

Influence of curriculum reform: An analysis of student mathematics achievement in Mainland China

This study investigated curriculum influences on student mathematics achievement by following two groups of students from fifth to sixth grade that were taught either the reformed curriculum or the conventional curriculum. Analyses with three-level modeling were conducted to examine learning outcomes of the students who were assessed three times over a period of 18 months. Achievement was measured with regard to computation, routine problem solving, and complex problem solving. Affective aspects included self-reported interest in learning mathematics, classroom participation, views of the nature of mathematics, and views of learning mathematics. The results showed overall improved performance among all the students over the time on computation, routine problem solving, and complex problem solving but not on the affective measures. There were differentiated patterns of performance between the groups. On the initial assessment, the reform group performed better than the non-reform group on calculation, complex problem solving, and indicated higher interest in learning mathematics. The two groups did not differ on the other achievement and affective measures at the first time of assessment. There was no significant difference in growth rate between the groups on the cognitive and affective measures except that the non-reform group progressed at a faster pace on calculation. Therefore, the non-reform group outperformed the reform group on computation at the third (last) assessment. These results are discussed with respect to the possible influence of the curriculum on student learning.     

Role of social presence and cognitive absorption in online learning environments

This article investigates the relationships between social presence, cognitive absorption, interest, and student satisfaction in online learning. A hypothesized structural equation model was developed to study these critical variables that may influence interaction in online learning environments. Contrary to expectations, the study determined that social presence does not impact satisfaction directly. However, the study concludes that while social presence is related to student satisfaction, its impact is not direct but rather mediated by cognitive absorption. In addition, the study clarified the impact of students’ interest on social presence, cognitive absorption, and satisfaction. The results of this study indicate that interest affects social presence and satisfaction directly. Additionally, interest appears to influence satisfaction indirectly through social presence and cognitive absorption. Contrary to expectations, this study did not reveal any significant relationship between interest and cognitive absorption.     

远程教育服务增值模型研究

通过借鉴市场营销领域的顾客参与理论对远程教育服务体系增值模型的研究,表明学生对于目前的远程教育服务具有中等偏高的满意度,女生满意度高于男生;学生学习参与行为的维度及程度影响这一满意度指标;学费性价比的认知、教学设施使用、教学信息接收、教学信息获取、教学要求、学习疑难提出、教学服务人员接触等行为正向影响学生满意度;学生的学习兴趣满足、网上资源获取及保安服务等参与行为则对满意度起负向影响。远程教育服务体系可以通过学生参与行为的良好互动来提升服务品质,创造学生满意度最大化。     

Modification of a School Programme in the Deutsches Museum to Enhance Students’ Attitudes and Understanding

The study examines the nature, conditions, and outcomes of student learning from an organised guided tour in the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The instructional methods that best support students’ cognitive and affective learning as well as how students’ motivational and emotional states influence their achievement were investigated. A sample of 96 secondary school students took part in two different versions of a guided tour on an energy topic. The tours varied in the degree of support of students’ active involvement, group work, and the variety of general activities offered during the tour. The data collected indicate that both tour versions led to an increase in student understanding of the visit topic to nearly the same extent. However, the version stimulating students’ active participation, group work, and including a larger variety of activities aroused more positive attitudes. Students of the modified school programme showed higher interest and intrinsic motivation, felt more competent, and were less bored after the guided tour. In addition, the results suggest that students’ visit‐related emotional states predict the degree of their post‐visit topic understanding, even when demographics and prior knowledge are taken into consideration.     

A Meta-Analytical Review of Students’ Out-of-Class Communication and Learning Effects

A random-effects meta-analysis (N = 7,113) was conducted examining the relationships between students’ out-of-class communication (OCC) and learning outcomes. The findings revealed positive summary effects for OCC on affective learning (k = 7, N = 1478, r = 0.321, p < 0.001) and perceived cognitive learning (k = 11, N = 5635, r = 0.261, p < 0.001). Several moderators were identified, indicating the association between OCC and cognitive learning varied systematically because of the measurement instruments used to operationalize OCC and learning and because of interdisciplinary treatments of the constructs. Recommendations are made for future researchers including the need for a theoretical explanation of the OCC-learning relationship.     

Teacher Perceptions of Learning Motivation and Classroom Behavior: The Role of Student Characteristics

The present study investigates whether teacher perceptions of students’ cognitive skills, their learning motivation, and their classroom behavior differ according to students’ socioeconomic status, immigrant background, and gender. Data from N = 4746 German fourth graders and data from their parents and teachers were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Controlling for student achievement as measured in a standardized achievement test and student motivation as measured by student and parent reports, we found that teachers overestimated the cognitive skills of high-SES students and girls in comparison to those of low-SES students and boys. Similarly, teachers perceived high-SES students, students who are not from an immigrant background, and girls as having a higher learning motivation and as having more cognitive skills. Finally, we found that teachers’ perceptions of students’ learning motivation and classroom behavior mediated the relationship between student characteristics and cognitive skills as perceived by the teacher.     

Relationships between learning approach,procrastination and academic achievement amongst first-year university students

Individual differences in student learning influence academic performance, and two aspects influencing the learning process are the particular learning approach the students use and procrastination behaviour. We examined the relationships between learning approaches, procrastination and academic achievement (measured 1 year later as the grade point average (GPA)) amongst 428 first-year university students. Deep and strategic learning approaches positively predicted GPA, and a mediation analysis showed that the strategic learning approach also partly mediated the effect between deep learning approach and GPA. Less procrastination was associated with a strategic learning approach, but procrastination tendencies did not predict GPA. Recommendations are made for educating new students in cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies, helping reduce their procrastination and facilitating the use of deep and strategic learning approaches.     

The role of student characteristics in studying micro teaching–learning environments

This study explored the role of student characteristics in studying micro teaching–learning environments. The overarching hypothesis is that teachers teach differently to micro environments in their classrooms. This study is the first of a series exploring the following four questions: (1) What student profiles are identified at the beginning of a school year with respect to cognitive and motivational-affective factors? (2) How do students with different profiles perceive conditions in their learning environment? (3) To what degree do classrooms differ in the composition of student profiles? (4) What are possible consequences for examining micro teaching–learning environments? The study investigated 82 randomly selected high school science classrooms. Student characteristics were assessed at the beginning of the school year. After a video taped teaching unit, students were asked to rate the degree to which they experienced learning conditions as supportive. Latent class analysis (LCA) showed five distinct student profiles that varied along cognitive and motivational-affective dimensions. Multilevel analyses showed effects of student profiles assessed at the beginning of the school year on the students’ perception of learning conditions in a teaching unit 4 months later. To illustrate consequences for examining micro teaching–learning environments, student profiles were linked to video examples. The examples point to the special value of LCA in studying micro teaching–learning environments: they make it possible to focus on the individual student and to investigate the interplay of student characteristics and the learning environment.     

学习空间对学生学习的影响研究

学习空间是指用于学习的场所,它兴起的真正原因在于其蕴含着丰富的隐喻。依托一个学习空间,采用准实验研究方法对比研究了学习空间与传统教室对学生学习的影响。选择学生参与、社会性交互、学习结果作为评估学习空间影响的主要指标。研究结果表明：学习空间能够有效促进学生参与：学习空间可以促进社会性交互;学习空间可以促进学生理解相关概念及掌握基本操作;学生的问题解决能力是否受到了学习空间的影响仍需继续研究。以上结论能够为优化学习空间的设计提供参考依据。     

智能化环境中基于学习分析的学习行为优化研究

学习环境的智能化已成为主流趋势,如何合理运用学习分析技术挖掘并分析其中的学生学习行为数据,优化学生学习行为、激发其学习主动性,是在线教育领域值得关注的课题。为此,基于对学习行为文献的分析,从数据采集与存储、行为分析、反馈与提醒、智能化行为优化、智能引擎等五个方面,构建了学习行为优化模型,并将模型运用于湖南S大学《信息技术与课程整合》课程的智慧教学实践中,依托智慧教学平台获取并分析学生学习行为数据,再针对具体情景采取合理的学习行为优化措施。研究结果表明,经过这一优化,不仅有效提升了学生认知维度的学习成绩、强化了互动维度的学习互动;而且提高了时效维度的学习任务完成率、强化了参与维度的学习积极性和参与性。     

Are more able students in higher education less easy to satisfy?

Student satisfaction gains an increasingly central position in the context of quality measurements. However, student satisfaction can also be stipulated as an important motivational factor for students as learners. This study combines this perspective on student satisfaction with the notion of differences in students’ ability. We hypothesize that differences in ability result in differences in student satisfaction. In line with concepts of high ability education, it is additionally hypothesized that this relation is mediated by educational stimulation—divided in cognitive, creative and professional stimulation—as well as by participation in honour programmes. A structural equation modelling (N = 733) of factors affecting student satisfaction in higher education shows that cognitive, creative and professional stimulation are the largest influencers of bachelor students’ sense of satisfaction. The interrelation between these three aspects of educational stimulation also shows the complexity of higher educational practice, since it suggests that cognitive stimulation cannot be realized without a creative factor, and vice versa. Professional stimulation needs both. Furthermore, the results show that educational stimulation mediates the effect of students’ ability on their educational satisfaction. This implies that changes in education can indeed influence students’ educational satisfaction, especially by providing educational quality. Finally, considering students’ ability level, it is shown that especially cognitively abler students are less easy to satisfy. The combination of educational stimulation and ability suggests that especially the more cognitively able students do not feel themselves sufficiently cognitively or creatively stimulated, and hence are less satisfied in vocational higher education.     

Using blended learning and out-of-school visits: pedagogies for effective science teaching in the twenty-first century

Background: Recent research and curriculum reforms have indicated the need for diversifying teaching approaches by drawing upon student interest and engagement in ways which makes learning science meaningful. Purpose: This study examines the integration of informal/free choice learning which occurred during learning experiences outside school (LEOS) with classroom learning using digital technologies. Specifically, the digital technologies comprised a learning management system (LMS), Moodle, which fits well with students’ lived experiences and their digital world. Design and Method: This study examines three out-of-school visits to Informal Science Institutes (ISI) using a digitally integrated fieldtrip inventory (DIFI) Model. Research questions were analysed using thematic approach emerging along with semi-structured interviews, before, during and after the visit, and assessing students’ learning experiences. Data comprised photographs, field notes, and unobtrusive observations of the classroom, wiki postings, student work books and teacher planning diaries. Results: We argue, that pre- and post-visit planning using the DIFI Model is more likely to engage learners, and the use of a digital learning platform was even more likely to encourage collaborative learning. The conclusion can also be drawn that students’ level of motivation for collaborative learning positively correlates with their improvement in academic achievement.     

Übereinstimmung,Variabilität und Reliabilität von Schülerurteilen zur Unterrichtsqualität auf Schulebene

Using student ratings to assess instructional quality of schools should fulfill three requirements: (1) an appropriate level of inter-rater agreement within schools, (2) systematic variance of student ratings between schools, (3) an adequate reliability level of aggregated student ratings. Using international PISA-data (2000–2012; 81 countries, over 55,300 schools, over 1.3 million 15-year olds) this study investigated how these requirements were met regarding indicators of instructional quality (classroom management, cognitive activation, individual learning support). We computed the interrater agreement index r_WG(J), as well as the intraclass correlations ICC(1) and ICC(2). Our results showed that (1) student ratings demonstrated a moderate or strong level of agreement for most indicators of instructional quality and (2) instructional quality assessed by students varied systematically between schools. Yet, (3) reliability of aggregated student ratings was not sufficient in many countries. We discuss these results regarding conventions to evaluate agreement, variability, and reliability of student ratings at the school level.     

Social Work Students’ Perceptions of Team-Based Learning

This study sought to examine social work students’ perceptions of Team-Based Learning (N = 154). Aside from looking at overall student perceptions, comparative analyses examined differences in perceptions between BSW and MSW students, and between Caucasian students and students of color. Findings for the overall sample revealed favorable perceptions. The majority of students felt that Team-Based Learning effectively relayed content while teaching higher order cognitive skills. No differences emerged between MSW and BSW students; however, there were significant differences between students of color and Caucasian students, with the former feeling more isolated and singled out. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Vorzug Ganztagsschule? Zusammenhänge mit der Kompetenzentwicklung im Bereich Lesen und Mathematik

Politicians and scientists are pinning their hopes on the expansion of the provision of all-day school, assuming that these programs provide particularly favorable conditions for supporting students’ cognitive skills. Against this background, this paper examines whether and under what conditions participation in all-day schooling is connected with the development of competencies in the domains of reading and mathematics. Using data from Starting Cohort 3 of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), our research considers different forms of all-day schools, the usage of extracurricular learning activities, as well as student ratings of the attractiveness of extracurricular activities. Furthermore, selective access to different school types and usage of extracurricular activities is carefully controlled for. The results show a positive association between student-rated attractiveness of extracurricular activities and competence development. Neither the organization of schooling nor participation in learning activities show significant independent main effects on competence development from grade five to seven.     

课堂话语对学生数学学习成就影响的多层线性模型分析——基于GTI视频研究的上海数据

课堂话语作为思维与交往的媒介影响着学生的学习,不同特征的话语会对学生学习成就产生不同的作用和效果.本研究以OECD官网公布的GTI视频研究的中国上海数据为基础,探析上海课堂话语基本特征及其对学生的数学学习成绩、学习兴趣及一般自我效能的影响.研究发现,课堂话语的质量而非数量影响学生学习成就,高质量的教师提问能够促进学生认...