Effects of the implementation of state-wide exit exams on students’ self-regulated learning

Whereas several studies investigated the effects of implementation of state-wide exit exams on student achievement, there is still little known about the impacts of the exams on students’ self-regulated learning. This paper examines the question as to whether the implementation of state-wide high school exit exams is associated with a change in the self-regulated learning of students in mathematics or English. We conducted a standardized questionnaire survey of students in two German states for a period of 3 years. In mathematics no significant effects of the immediate introduction of state-wide exit exams were identified. In English the results show significant positive and negative effects. The results are discussed and implications for further research are given.     

Chinese tertiary teachers’ goal orientations for teaching and teaching approaches: the mediation of teacher engagement

This study investigated the effects of Chinese tertiary teachers’ goal orientations for teaching on their approaches to teaching mediated by teacher engagement. In a survey of 597 Chinese tertiary teachers, the respondents placed particular emphasis on relational and mastery goals and expressed a preference for student-focused approaches to teaching. An emphasis on mastery goals was found to predict a preference for student-focused teaching, whereas ability-approach and work-avoidance goal orientations predicted a preference for teacher-focused teaching. Ability-avoidance and relational goals were found to be positively related not only to teacher-focused approaches but to student-focused approaches to teaching as well. In addition, teacher engagement was found to significantly mediate the effects of ability-approach, mastery and work-avoidance goals on teacher-focused intention, student-focused intention and student-focused strategy. These results have significant implications for Chinese higher-education institutions in light of their transition from teacher-focused to student-focused approaches to teaching.     

Investigating the effectiveness of a POE-based teaching activity on students’ understanding of condensation

This article reports on the development of a Predict–Observe–Explain, POE-based teaching strategy to facilitate conceptual change and its effectiveness on student understanding of condensation. The sample consisted of 52 first-year students in primary science education department. Students’ ideas were elicited using a test consisting of five probe questions and semi-structured interviews. A teaching activity composed of three Predict–Discuss–Explain–Observe–Discuss–Explain (PDEODE) tasks was employed, based on students’ preconceptions identified with the test. Conceptual change in students’ understanding of condensation was evaluated via a pre-, post-, and delayed post-test approach and students’ interviews. Test scores were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings suggested that the strategy helps students to achieve better conceptual understanding for the concept of condensation and enables students to retain these new conceptions in their long-term memory.     

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.     

Grammar for writing? An investigation of the effects of contextualised grammar teaching on students’ writing

The role of grammar instruction in the teaching of writing is contested in most Anglophone countries, with several robust meta-analyses finding no evidence of any beneficial effect. However, existing research is limited in that it only considers isolated grammar instruction and offers no theorisation of an instructional relationship between grammar and writing. This study, drawing on a theorised understanding of grammar as a meaning-making resource for writing development, set out to investigate the impact of contextualised grammar instruction on students’ writing performance. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach, with a randomised controlled trial and a complementary qualitative study. The statistical analyses indicate a positive effect on writing performance for the intervention group (e = 0.21; p < 0.001); but the study also indicates that the intervention impact differentially on different sub-groups, benefiting able writers more than weaker writers. The study is significant in being the first to supply rigorous, theorised evidence for the potential benefits of teaching grammar to support development in writing.     

What GATE Did: an exploration of the effects of the CATE criteria on students’ use of information technology during teaching practice

ABSTRACT

Information technology (IT) has assumed an increasingly important role in the English primary school curriculum. The CATE criteria (DES, 1989b) require that student teachers develop competencies in teaching with IT if courses are to be accredited. Consequently, colleges have modified their policies and practices. To explore the effects of these changes, the experiences of a group of students were monitored over their four year course at Edge Hill College, and related to the experiences of students from a pre‐CATE cohort The CATE group made more use of IT in each of their teaching practices, with every respondent reporting some use of IT. Word processing was the most common IT based activity; uses of LOGO and simulations were disappointingly low. Students’ accounts of the benefits to pupils from using IT focused largely on improving skills in specific subject areas and computer skills, increasing motivation, and facilitating group and social skills. Little emphasis was placed on the development of thinking skills. Very few tutors offered help with IT on teaching practice; tutor skills, and in‐school mentoring both appear to be barriers to development These data are related to on‐going developments in the College. CATE has had, and continues to have, a direct effect upon College practices and these effects are visible in the classroom experiences of student teachers. Yet more progress is needed in developing student teachers’ abilities to use IT in class; we conclude that IT development should be seen as the focus for long term development, like other professional skills.     

Teachers’ conceptions of effective teaching and their teaching practices: a mixed-method approach

This study investigated Iranian high school teachers’ conceptions of effective teaching and examined the relationship of those conceptions to their teaching practices. The authors tried to achieve the purpose through questionnaires, observation, and interview. These teachers identified ‘being student-focused’ and ‘being exam-oriented’ as the most important indicators of effectiveness. ‘Encouraging the students’ involvement in learning,’ ‘being exam-oriented,’ and ‘using the novelty of methods’ were identified as the most common teaching practices. A high consistency between the teachers’ conception of effective teaching and their corresponding teaching practices was observed. Interview and observation confirmed the results of the survey. Implications for teacher professional development, teaching standards, and teacher improvement are discussed.     

Grade retention and academic self-concept: A multilevel analysis of the effects of schools’ retention composition

Previous studies on the impact of grade retention on academic self-concept suffer from inconclusive findings. There is no consensus if retention yields long-term benefits that could offset its opportunity costs and, if so, under what conditions. Therefore, this article examines whether grade retention decreases academic self-concept and whether this relationship is mediated by sense of belonging. Moreover, we aim to contextualise retention research by accounting for schools’ retention composition. Based on reference group theory, the effect of grade retention composition on academic self-concept is expected to be twofold. Normative reference grouping leads to the assumption that students in high retention composition schools will exhibit lower levels of academic self-concept, because retainees’ values are more likely to spread across all students within the same school. Comparative reference grouping might lead to a moderation effect of retention composition on the relationship between grade retention and academic self-concept. Multilevel analyses on International Study of City Youth data, consisting of 2,354 students in 30 secondary schools in Ghent (Flanders), revealed a negative association between grade retention and academic self-concept, which was mediated by sense of belonging. Students in high retention composition schools had a significantly lower academic self-concept. The impact of being retained on academic self-concept is not affected by the number of retainees within a given context. Implications are discussed.     

A teaching–learning sequence on a socio-scientific issue: analysis and evaluation of its implementation in the classroom*

This study examines the effectiveness of a teaching–learning sequence (TLS) to improve the understanding of the influences and interactions between a technology (mining) and society. The aim of the study is also to show the possibility of both teaching and assessing the most innovative issues and aspects of scientific competence and their impact on the understanding of the nature of science. The methodology used a quasi-experimental, pre–post-test design with a control group, with pre–post-test differences as the empirical indicators of improved understanding. Improvements were modest, as the empirical differences (pre–post and experimental–control group) were not large, but the experimental group scored more highly than the control group. The areas that showed improvement were identified. The paper includes the TLS itself and the standardized assessment tools that are functional and transferable to other researchers and teachers.     

Correction to: An application of importance-performance analysis to students’ evaluation of teaching

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability -     

A regression discontinuity analysis of graduation standards and their impact on students’ academic trajectories

In 2006, North Carolina put in place high school exit standards requiring students to pass a series of high-stakes exams across several years. I use a regression discontinuity (RD) approach to analyze whether passing or failing one of these exams (Algebra I) impacts a student's decision between choosing a more rigorous college-preparatory math curriculum and an easier ‘career’ track math curriculum. I find a 5 percentage point gap in the probability of selecting the rigorous curriculum between 9th grade students who just passed and those who just failed the exam. RD results across two years (one year in which the graduation standards were not in place) suggest that the discontinuity arose due to fewer students opting into the college track as a result of the exam results.     

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.     

Problematising the theory–practice terminology: a discourse analysis of students’ statements on Work-integrated Learning

ABSTRACT

This study uses a Foucault-inspired discourse analysis to examine two ideas about learning which reinforce the terminology whereby theory means campus-based training and practice means work placements. The purpose is to problematise this theory–practice terminology and provide scope for a non-dualistic alternative. The ideas examined are the idea of theory vs. practice as the point of departure for learning and the idea of theory and practice as harmonious points of departure for learning. These ideas were voiced by interviewed students who discussed the usual design of Work-integrated Learning (WIL) whereby students go to university to learn ‘theory’ and into working life to learn ‘practice’. The analysis shows how the ideas are formed by different ranking orders between theory and practice which are mutually exclusive, while also working together to reinforce the theory–practice terminology. The discussion on how a non-dualistic terminology can emerge highlights how the usual WIL design forms a dualistic setting where the theory–practice terminology thrives and how designing WIL at a third place between university and working life can provide scope for the terminology we seek.     

From teaching from the heart to teaching with a heart: Segmenting filipino college students’ views of their teachers’ caring behavior and their orientations as cared-for individuals

Caring, as a universal human phenomenon, should permeate elementary, secondary and tertiary level instruction. The practice of teaching, especially at the tertiary level, is not only substantial and procedural but relational as well. To teach with a heart is the essence that makes teaching a form of caring. When teaching is viewed as a form of caring, teachers become relational geniuses in their own right. This study is an attempt to segment Filipino college students’ views (n=1000) of their teachers’ caring behavior and their orientations as cared-for individuals. The identified clusters of teacher roles that indicate caring behavior imply that acts of teaching become acts of caring depending on how the teachers, theefficient cause of education, perform their ordinary tasks in the context ofextraordinariness. Such extraordinariness spells out a big difference in the way teachers practice the so-calledsingle loop caring or caring visibility anddouble- loop caring or caring presence. The former refers to teaching from the heart while the latter pertains to teaching with a heart. Interestingly, the extent to which teachers’ caring behavior is felt and experienced by the students positively shapes their orientations as cared-for individuals.     

The number of feedbacks needed for reliable evaluation. A multilevel analysis of the reliability,stability and generalisability of students’ evaluation of teaching

A multilevel analysis approach was used to analyse students’ evaluation of teaching (SET). The low value of inter-rater reliability stresses that any solid conclusions on teaching cannot be made on the basis of single feedbacks. To assess a teacher’s general teaching effectiveness, one needs to evaluate four randomly chosen course implementations. Two implementations are needed when one course is evaluated, and if one implementation is evaluated, up to 15 feedbacks are needed. The stability of students’ ratings is very high, which reflects students’ stable rating criteria. There is an obvious rating paradox: from the student’s point of view, each rating is very precise, stable and justifiable, but from the teacher’s point of view a single feedback reflects the quality of teaching to just a moderate extent. Cross-hierarchical analysis reveals that there are large discrepancies between the uses of rating scales; some students are systematically more lenient in their rating whereas others are systematically more severe. The study also reveals that some courses are generally rated more favourably and that some courses are more suitable for certain teachers. Managers can thus improve the quality of teaching by finding the most suitable courses for each teacher.     

Emerging: the impact of the Artist Teacher Scheme MA on students’ pedagogical and artistic practices

The United Kingdom Artist Teacher Scheme (ATS) commissioned a study of the artistic and pedagogical practices of students on a recently established Artist Teacher Scheme MA (ATS MA). The aims of this study were to: investigate the motives and objectives teachers/educators have for undertaking this ATS MA programme, the impact the programme had on their artistic and pedagogical practices and their pupils’ learning; and make recommendations for future development of ATS MA programmes. Through the analysis of questionnaires it was found that the ATS MA’s strength lies in the development of communities of practice and peer support, artist teachers’ renewed confidence in their extended artistic and pedagogical practices, the professional development of artist teachers, and significant development of the art and design curriculum.     

Is the incremental theory of intelligence a key to students’ motivational engagement? The moderating effects of self-enhancement and self-criticism

The incremental theory of intelligence has been identified as a strong predictor of students’ learning motivation. Recent research has suggested various moderators of its effect. The present study sought to examine the moderating effects of self-enhancement and self-criticism on the relation between incremental intelligence beliefs and students’ motivational engagement. Responses were collected from 440 junior secondary school students in Macau. The results showed that self-enhancement strengthened the effect of incremental beliefs on students’ efforts after a perceived failure. Self-criticism strengthened the effect of incremental beliefs on efforts after a perceived success. The reasons for these findings are discussed and their pedagogical implications elucidated.     

Towards teaching analytics: a contextual model for analysis of students’ evaluation of teaching through text mining and machine learning classification

Education and Information Technologies - Recent trends in educational technology have led to emergence of methods such as teaching analytics (TA) in understanding and management of the...     

Validity of students’ evaluations of teaching: Biasing effects of likability and prior subject interest

This study examined the validity of students’ evaluations of teaching as an instrument for measuring teaching quality by examining the effects of likability and prior subject interest as potential biasing effects, measured at the beginning of the course and at the time of evaluation. University students (N = 260) evaluated psychology courses in one semester at a German university with a standardized questionnaire, yielding 517 data points. Cross-classified multilevel analyses revealed fixed effects of likability at both times of measurement and fixed effects of prior subject interest measured at the beginning of the course. Likability seems to exert a substantial bias on student evaluations of teaching, albeit one that is overestimated when measured at the time of evaluation. In contrast, prior subject interest seems to introduce a weak bias. Considering that likability bears no conceptual relationship to teaching quality, these findings point to a compromised validity of students’ evaluations of teaching.     

Encouraging a career in science: a research review of secondary schools’ effects on students’ STEM orientation

Previous studies have pointed out that schools play a central role in students’ orientation towards science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, studies use a variety of theoretical foundations in order to define variables and hypothesise relationships between schools and STEM orientation. In order to facilitate the interpretation and comparison of the studies’ findings, we conducted a systematic literature review, which theoretically integrates the variables, summarises the findings, and derives further research suggestions. In accordance with our inclusion criteria, we selected 28 peer-reviewed journal articles, which have investigated the effects of schools on students’ STEM orientation via quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. Analyses show that the studies were quite diverse regarding investigated STEM orientation variables, but overall positive with regard to the effects of school. Based on the theoretical integration and comparison of findings, we point out methodological and theoretical challenges for future research on the effects of school and STEM orientation.