学习策略在英语专业学生写作中的运用——对新疆财经大学英语专业学生写作成绩与学习策略关系的调查分析

研究证明,优秀外语学习者使用某些有利于学习的策略,而且这些策略是可以描述和分类的。本文运用定量分析的研究方法对新疆财经大学英语专业的大学生比较熟悉的几种写作学习策略进行了问卷调查与分析,旨在发现英语专业的大学生在写作中学习策略的使用情况和特点。根据研究结果,本文提出一些教学建议。     

RESEARCH SECTION: Why do students think they fail? The relationship between attributions and academic self‐perceptions

Attributions can have a significant effect on academic achievement and students with learning difficulties are more likely to display negative attributions than their peers. In this article, the attributions of students identified as having learning difficulties are compared with those of other non-labelled low achievers, and non-labelled average achievers. Margaret Banks, MSc research methods student, and Dr Lisa Woolfson, Reader in Educational Psychology, both at the University of Strathclyde, involved 26 low-achieving students (15 identified as having learning difficulties and 11 without any such label) and 27 averagely achieving students in their exploratory study. The students attempted to solve two sets of puzzles that, unknown to the participants, were actually impossible. They then gave a reason for their failure and rated the stability and controllability of their failure. Participants were also asked to give a self-rating of academic achievement. It was found that teacher and student perceptions of academic achievement were not synonymous. In terms of attributions, Margaret Banks and Lisa Woolfson argue that teachers' perceptions of student achievement may not be as important as students' self concept. They suggest that low self-perception of achievement and negative attributions are both associates of low self-esteem.     

Stress,coping strategies and academic achievement in teacher education students

University students experience stress, and how they cope with this stress affects their academic achievement. This study examined stress in teacher education students and had three objectives: to describe different degrees of stress and coping styles; to study the relationship between stress, coping strategies and academic achievement; and to examine whether increased age can moderate the effects of stress on academic achievement in 334 university-students. There were three main findings: many students experienced stress and used avoidance coping strategies; the students who were under less stress and engaged less in cognitive avoidance and more in problem-focused coping were also the students who made more academic achievement; and students under more stress performed worse, but with age stress affected performance less. In teacher education students, it is important to recognize and address the harmful effects of stress on well-being and academic achievement, to avoid long-term problems in professional and personal life.     

Effects of student-facilitated learning on instructional facilitators

We investigated perceptions about learning strategy use and instructional roles among a sample of high needs adolescents (n = 230) who acted as near-peer instructional facilitators. The sample was drawn from science and mathematics classes in nonselective public secondary schools in New York City. Students participated in an inschool intervention that draws on social constructivism, theory and research on metacognition and learning strategies, role theory, and empirical findings from the peer-to-peer learning literature to promote advanced achievement among students who act as facilitators. Using a pre- and post-test single group design, we surveyed student instructional facilitators before and after program participation and related their perceptions about learning strategy use and perceptions about teaching roles to data about academic achievement. We found no survey gains in student perceptions about learning strategies or instructional roles between pre-survey (fall) and post-survey (spring). We found small but significant effects of individual perceptions about learning strategies and teaching roles on academic gains among instructional facilitators. The study also suggests that an in-school near-peer facilitated learning program can be an effective means to raise achievement in urban high schools. The study provides partial support for theories that hold that metacognition and role perceptions are involved in the academic gains of instructional facilitators, as gains in these dimensions were small compared to achievement gains.     

The impact of attendance and student characteristics on academic achievement: findings from an undergraduate business management module

The article provides an empirical investigation into the impact of attendance and student characteristics on academic achievement in higher education. It is based on a study of 127 students who completed coursework for a taught undergraduate business management module at London Metropolitan University between 2003/4 and 2005/6. The article concludes that there is a significant positive correlation between attendance and academic achievement. However, regression analysis suggests that students who attend are already predisposed to academic achievement and that their propensity to achieve is largely determined by entry qualifications, age, cultural background, work and course. Student characteristics that were not found to have a significant impact on academic achievement include mode of study, gender, living arrangements, commuting time, marital and dependency status, language and nationality.     

Learning to learn at university. The effects of an instrumental subject on learning strategies and academic achievement / Aprender a aprender en la universidad. Efectos de una materia instrumental sobre las estrategias de aprendizaje y el rendimiento académico

Self-regulated learning is very important at university, since students must manage the strategies and abilities necessary to be autonomous and effective in their learning. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of a course designed for this purpose on learning strategies and students’ achievement of first-year university students. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was used, with an experimental group and a control group, applying measurement instruments before starting and after finishing the course. The learning process was analysed on this course, with students being trained in the use of relevant learning strategies — metacognitive strategies, strategies for processing and using information and affective and motivational strategies. The sample consisted of 47 students, 23 of them belonging to the experimental group and 24 of them to the control group, from various degrees at the University of Valencia. The results confirmed significant improvements in the learning strategy scores of the experimental group compared to the control group. There was also an improvement in academic achievement, but in this case the differences were not statistically significant.     

The effect of a new prelaboratory procedure on students' achievement in chemistry

The primary purpose of this study was to develop an alternative model, the Prelaboratory Preparation Period (PLPP), to be used to introduce freshman level students to weekly laboratories and to evaluate student academic achievement as the result of attending the Prelaboratory Preparation Period. The sample was composed of 233 students taking introductory chemistry at Auburn University. The data were collected over a four quarter period of time. A posttest-only control group design with five experimental and three control groups was used to investigate the effect of the Prelaboratory Preparation Period. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to determine if significant differences existed between academic achievement of the experimental and control groups. Results of the analysis indicated that a significant difference (α = 0.05) in academic performance existed between the two groups. It was concluded that the Prelaboratory Preparation Period increased the academic achievement of students enrolled in an introductory chemistry course.     

Differences in Learning and Study Strategies between High and Low Achieving University Students: A Hong Kong study

This study aims to investigate the differences between high and low academic achieving Hong Kong University students in terms of learning and study strategies. A total of 180 Hong Kong University students participated in the present study by completing a revised Chinese version of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory. Results indicated that there were significant differences between the two groups' study strategies. The author also found that attitude and motivation were two major factors that differentiated high academic achieving students from low academic achieving students.     

A cross-sectional study of mathematics achievement, estimation skills, and academic self-perception in students of varying ability

This study investigated students' mathematics achievement, estimation ability, use of estimation strategies, and academic self-perception. Students with learning disabilities (LD), average achievers, and intellectually gifted students (N = 135) in fourth, sixth, and eighth grade participated in the study. They were assessed to determine their mathematics achievement, ability to estimate discrete quantities, knowledge and use of estimation strategies, and perception of academic competence. The results indicated that the students with LD performed significantly lower than their peers on the math achievement measures, as expected, but viewed themselves to be as academically competent as the average achievers did. Students with LD and average achievers scored significantly lower than gifted students on all estimation measures, but they differed significantly from one another only on the estimation strategy use measure. Interestingly, even gifted students did not seem to have a well-developed understanding of estimation and, like the other students, did poorly on the first estimation measure. The accuracy of their estimates seemed to improve, however, when students were asked open-ended questions about the strategies they used to arrive at their estimates. Although students with LD did not differ from average achievers in their estimation accuracy, they used significantly fewer effective estimation strategies. Implications for instruction are discussed.     

The effect of feedback on academic achievement in technology-rich learning environments (TREs): A meta-analytic review

This study aimed to investigate the effect of feedback on students' academic achievement in a technology-rich environment through a systematic and quantitative synthesis of the studies conducted over several decades. We focused on three issues: (a) the effectiveness of feedback in enhancing learning performance; (b) possible factors (feedback characteristics and study features) associated with different studies that could have resulted in the inconsistent findings across the studies; and (c) how different types of feedback differed in their effect in enhancing academic achievement. Based on 182 effect sizes extracted from 61 studies, we found that, compared with no feedback condition, feedback had at least a medium effect (g = 0.44, 95%CI [0.324, 0.555]) in enhancing academic achievement, and the effect of explanation feedback was the strongest compared to other types of feedback. The study further revealed that the feedback in blended learning was more effective than that in online learning. Possible explanations and implications of these findings, as well as limitations and future research directions were discussed.     

Designing for interaction,thinking and academic achievement in a Tanzanian undergraduate chemistry course

Virtual learning environments are used in higher education around the world to promote student learning. However, in many countries it has not yielded the expected effect on student interaction and learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the use of certain pedagogical approaches would promote student interaction, higher-order thinking and achievement. 102 undergraduate students taking an introductory chemistry course at a Tanzanian university participated in the study, and were randomly assigned to three groups. Each group first studied one topic using the control design (non-interactive learning, NIL) to establish a baseline. Then each group studied three further topics using different pedagogical approaches (NIL), discussion forums (medium interactive learning) and podcasts (highly interactive learning). Data included interviews, subject tests, and the content of online discussion forums. All qualitative data were coded, and repeated-measures ANOVA was used to analyze within design and between design effects; student interaction patterns were analyzed using social network analysis. Results show that social interaction, academic achievement and thinking improved progressively over the three topics (iterations) in each design. The changes in instructor pedagogical strategies and the actions of students to bring what they had learned from podcasts to the learning community contributed to the marked improvement. We conclude that effective use of discussion forums in higher education in Tanzania can produce important learning effects (interaction, thinking, and enhanced academic achievement) and is a low-bandwidth strategy, but coupling podcasts with discussion forums may be a powerful way to enhance the effects.     

The relationships among students' commitment,self-esteem,organisational citizenship behaviour and academic performance

Abstract

As one of the most important dependent variables in education and work research, performance has been operationalised either as the proficiency with which core tasks are performed (task performance), or as extra-role behaviours that support core activities (organisational citizenship behaviours). Relative to academic performance (core academic achievement), there has been little research on the extent to which students practise organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) in their academic work. The aim of the present study was to explore some correlates of both OCB and academic performance. Data used in the study were obtained from 185 students enrolled in a business course at the National University of Lesotho. Survey questionnaires inquiring about students' commitment, self-esteem, and OCB were administered to 204 third-year students. These were correlated with formal academic performance before and after the survey. Students' commitment was significantly related to both OCB and academic performance. Self-esteem was significantly correlated with OCB, but not academic performance. Two dimensions of OCB (altruism and civic virtue) were moderately but significantly related to academic performance. Results suggest that improving self-esteem might affect OCB, and improving commitment and certain elements of OCB might improve academic achievement.     

Self-assessment in the process of self-regulated learning and its relationship with academic achievement

Abstract

Despite the theoretical argument and empirical evidence regarding the impact of self- assessment on academic achievement and self-regulated learning (SRL), the mechanism for this impact is understudied. The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of self-assessment practices at different SRL phases and its relationship with academic achievement. Using a course assignment as the learning task, sixty-three students enrolled in a one-year master programme in a teacher education institute responded to an instrument assessing their self-assessment practices (including four self-assessment actions) at the SRL Preparatory, Performance and Appraisal phases of the task. Their final scores of the assignment were also collected. The results showed that self-assessment is a fundamental skill for SRL and occurs at each SRL phase with different patterns. Autoregressive relationships were found for all self-assessment actions between different SRL phases. Self-reflection at Performance phase was found to influence feedback seeking at Appraisal phase. Self-directed feedback seeking through monitoring at Performance phase was the strongest and positive predictor of academic achievement; and achievement had negative impact on all self-assessment actions at Appraisal phase. This study may assist educators and researchers to better understand the complexity of self-assessment in relation to learning process.     

Supporting Teaching Faculty as Scholars: A Developmental Model

Professors from across the academic disciplines at Council for Christian College & Universities (CCCU) institutions have traditionally excelled in their teaching. In recent years, CCCU faculty have also increasingly been expected to conduct research and to publish scholarly work. As CCCU institutions expand research and scholarship expectations for faculty, we must also provide the requisite support for professors to be effective in this work. In this article, we highlight institutional practices to encourage, support, and celebrate scholarly writing and research by faculty. Drawing upon findings from Zuidema's 2016 survey of CCCU chief academic officers, we offer benchmark practices for communicating expectations, offering tangible supports and resources, augmenting accountability measures with formative feedback, and recognizing and celebrating scholarship. Against this backdrop, we highlight practical, affordable strategies used at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) in California and Dordt College in Iowa, two CCCU institutions that have increased expectations for scholarship in recent years. Through these illustrations, we aim to inspire new and creative strategies for supporting scholarship by showing how these practices are an outgrowth of a developmental philosophy of leadership that seeks to invest in the core resource of CCCU institutions: the faculty.     

Technological self-efficacy among school leaders in Oman: A preliminary study

There is more need today for school leaders to be up-to-date with technology and its various uses in education. Enhancing self-efficacy in the use of technologyis an expected role of educational leadership preparation programmes. This study investigated technological self-efficacy of a group of educators in leadership positions while participating in a leadership preparation programme at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. The findings show that these educators had high technological self-efficacy. There were also significant, positive relationships between technological self-efficacy variables, academic achievement and age. Age was negatively correlated with general learning self-efficacy and also with one indicator of academic achievement. In the qualitative analysis, the study used the framework of the Theory of Margin (TM) to identify the factors affecting technology self-efficacy. Results indicate that, while participants with a high power-load margin (PLM) reported a higher number of internal and external powers, those with a lower PLM reported a higher number of internal and external loads.     

Synthesizing research evidence on self-regulated learning and academic achievement in online and blended learning environments: A scoping review

The present study synthesizes research evidence on self-regulated learning (SRL) and academic achievement in online and blended learning environments from intervention and cross-sectional studies. We examined 163 studies conducted in various countries and different learning contexts in terms of study characteristics, methodology, and SRL features. The current study found that SRL in the online and blended learning contexts has been an important topic and has received increased attention. The results revealed the importance of SRL for improving students' academic performance in the STEM field. It also demonstrated that the majority of the studies adopted multiple SRL strategies throughout mixed phases. This study confirmed the effectiveness of SRL on academic achievement in online or blended learning. However, the present study also identified that research on children's and adolescents' SRL strategies in online learning contexts is urgently needed and most of the available research did not focus on the preparatory and planning phases of SRL which are extremely important.     

Stress,Coping Strategies and Job Satisfaction in University Academic Staff

This study aims to identify sources of stress and consequent stress levels in university academic staff, to identify the coping strategies used by staff, and to examine the relationship between stress levels and job satisfaction. The study sample, consisting of 414 (305 males and 109 females) academic staff, was asked two open‐ended questions which invited them to specify the five main causes of stress in their lives in general and at work. The Life Stress Scale (LSS) was used to assess academics’ stress levels. A coping strategies list was used to identify the strategies used by academic staff during stressful periods. Two questions were asked to assess the level of satisfaction felt by academics with their jobs. The results indicated that academic staff rate work as the most significant cause of stress in their lives (74%) and conducting research (40.3%) was the main cause of stress at work. Results showed also that 74.1% and 10.4% of the academic staff fall into the moderate and serious stress categories respectively, and that there were no significant differences between males and females in stress levels. There were significant differences between the four academic rank groups in stress levels, with lecturers as the most stressed group. The results also indicated that academic staff use a wide range of coping strategies. A negative significant correlation between stress and job satisfaction (r= – 0.444) was found, indicating an inverse relationship between stress level and satisfaction.     

Learning styles and approaches to learning in excellent and average first-year university students

We assessed the learning approaches and learning styles of a sample of 148 excellent students selected from 11 degrees from nine centers of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), and we compared the results with those of a sample of 133 average students from the same centers. We found that excellent students took deeper approach than average students and that they preferred reflective and theoretical learning styles. Average students adopted a more surface approach, and they preferred active and pragmatic learning styles. Greater academic achievement was related to the deep approach and to the reflective and theoretical learning styles. Poorer academic achievement was related to the surface approach and an active style. University professors may reinforce the deep approach by placing high aims for students which go well beyond reproducing knowledge but use other complementary methods other than expository teaching: problem solving, case studies, designing projects, raising questions, discussion and negotiation in the classroom, etc. To accomplish this, teachers must encourage students to be committed, and these methods help do that. It also helps to introduce more demanding evaluation procedures which do not merely involve repeating what has been learnt, but include training guidance that offers students feedback.     

Korean academic women: Multiple roles,multiple challenges

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of Korean academic women regarding their faculty careers within Korean universities. Personal interviews were conducted with thirteen female faculty members as well other informants (administrators, male faculty and graduate students) at three large private universities in the Republic of Korea: Yonsei University, Ewha Women's University and Dankook University. The study focuses on 1) the experience of Western-trained academic women in securing faculty positions in Korean universities, 2) the work load and responsibilities of women faculty within the academy, and 3) the impact of their personal lives and social roles on their professional achievement and satisfaction. Comparisons are drawn between the experiences of these Korean academic women and what we have learned about the experiences of academic women in Western institutions.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society, Annapolis.