Talking of fabric: a multi‐dimensional model of quality in education

‘Improving quality’ has become a key phrase in policy and academic discourses on education in low‐income countries, reflecting concerns that the success in increasing enrolment and widening access to schooling is being undermined by low‐quality teaching and learning, and subsequent low levels of skills and knowledge among school leavers. We wish to revitalise discussions problematising ‘quality’ through examining current debates on and available frameworks for understanding the concept and proposing a new framework. We model ‘quality’ as a stretched ‘fabric’ maintained in tension through a contextually appropriate balance across seven conceptual dimensions. We recognise tensions and complementarities among the dimensions and the centrality of values inherent in making judgements of quality, that quality is a matter of process rather than product, and that this complex process demands a strategic approach. Finally, we recognise two issues that remain to be addressed in a future agenda.     

Levels of aggregation in higher level confirmatory factor analysis: Application for academic self‐concept

The effects of levels of aggregation on measures of goodness of fit and higher order parameter estimates obtained from confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were investigated. For a higher order model of academic self‐concept, 3 levels of aggregation were considered—disaggregated, partially disaggregated, and partially aggregated. In the disaggregated model, measured variables represented individual items. In the partially disaggregated model, testlets (groups of 4 items) represented measured variables. In the partially aggregated model, subscale scores represented measured variables. Three indexes of fit were employed: the Tucker‐Lewis Index (TLI), the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), and chi‐square. Solutions for the disaggregated models consistently evidenced poor fit. TLI and CFI values for partially disaggregated and partially aggregated solutions were satisfactory. Standardized parameter estimates were similar across all solutions. Implications of these findings are discussed with consideration of other research on model complexity in CFA.     

Relations between goals,self‐efficacy,critical thinking and deep processing strategies: a path analysis

Research exploring students’ academic learning has recently amalgamated different motivational theories within one conceptual framework. The inclusion of achievement goals, self‐efficacy, deep processing and critical thinking has been cited in a number of studies. This article discusses two empirical studies that examined these four theoretical orientations from both cross‐sectional (N = 279 participants) and longitudinal (N = 264 participants) perspectives. In particular, achievement goals are hypothesised to exert direct and indirect effects on academic performance via self‐efficacy, study processing strategies and critical thinking. Path analysis was used to test and analyse the hypothesised conceptual models. Results from SPSS 16 and LISREL 8.72 provided good support for the hypothesised structural relationships. Students’ academic performance outcomes, for example, are determined directly by deep processing and work‐avoidance goals. Results from Study 2 indicate mastery goals and self‐efficacy, mastery goals and critical thinking and deep processing and critical thinking operate in a reciprocal manner. In general, the evidence established from both studies contributes theoretically and methodologically.     

Factors affecting the state anxiety level of higher education students in Macau: the impact of trait anxiety and self‐esteem

The aim of this study is to find out the levels of anxiety of 589 day‐ and night‐class students in higher education in Macau two weeks before the final examination period. The Chinese version of the 40‐item Spielberger’s State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch & Lusherier, 1970 Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. and Lusherier, R. 1970. STAI manual for the state trait anxiety inventory, CA: Consulting Psychologist Press.  [Google Scholar]) was applied in this study. The two anxiety scales are nicely constructed into several logical and explainable factors. In addition, the Chinese version of Rosenberg’s self‐esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965 Rosenberg, M. 1965. Society and the adolescent self‐image, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [Crossref] [Google Scholar]) was applied to find out the relationship between students’ self‐esteem and their trait and state anxieties. Generally speaking, night‐class students, who had full‐time jobs during the day, had significantly higher levels of anxiety than day class students, who were either unemployed or engaged in part‐time employment. Furthermore, based on the results of the path analysis, students’ general anxiety levels might be affected by their general state of anxiety and their self‐esteem. It is hoped that through this study, the educational context of higher education might be better understood.     

Educational distance from the perspective of self‐direction: an analysis

To establish which factors predict student intentions to contribute towards an OpenCourseWare site, an online questionnaire was distributed among University of Queensland students via email. The 320 participants completed items that were based on the theory of planned behaviour and were designed to measure attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. Measures of altruistic motivation were also included as a predictor for intentions to contribute. Overall, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and altruistic motivation explained 43.1% of the variance in students’ intentions to contribute. Attitudes and altruistic motivation were the strongest predictors, accounting for 7.49% and 7.12%, respectively, with subjective norms accounting for 3.9%. Perceived behavioural control was not found to contribute to the explanatory model. The implications for universities creating new OpenCourseWare sites are discussed. Further research should investigate the effects of barriers on student intentions to develop and contribute and should examine the determinants of faculty support.     

Peer and self‐assessment in the first year of university

This paper reviews the literature about peer and self‐assessment in university courses from the point of view of their use, and the suitability of their use, in the first year of university study. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part argues that although first‐year students are involved in many of the studies that report on the use of peer and self‐assessment in higher education, the proportion of these studies that do so is somewhat less than in other year levels. In addition, relatively little of this work directly and explicitly discusses the suitability of peer and self‐assessment for students and courses at this year level. The second part of the paper provides an introductory exploration of the relationship between peer and self‐assessment, and specific features of first‐year assessment, learning and teaching. Three issues relating directly to the suitability of peer and self‐assessment in the first year are explored. In the third part, the paper briefly discusses the desirability of implementing peer and self‐assessment, in general, before seeking to extend this specifically to the first year. The paper concludes by recommending that greater use can and should be made of peer and self‐assessment in the first year of university study.     

Designing a user‐friendly microcomputer‐based laboratory package through the factor analysis of teacher evaluations

In this study we analyse how the experiences of chemistry teachers on the use of a Microcomputer‐Based Laboratory (MBL), gathered by a Likert‐scale instrument, can be utilized to develop the new package Empirica 2000. We used exploratory factor analysis to identify the essential features in a large set of questionnaire data to see how our previous MBL package, Empirica for Windows 4.0, looks from the point of view of experienced chemistry teachers. Together, a six‐factor solution explained 50.1% of the common variance and indicated the teachers' perspective on the use of a MBL package in chemical education. The factors were: ‘Versatility of the tool’, ‘User interface’, ‘Data presentation’, ‘Data acquisition’, ‘Set up’, and ‘Usability’. Based on the data, some conclusions concerning the software development and desired new features in the prototype software are discussed in the framework of each factor.     

Relationships between student characteristics and self‐, peer and tutor evaluations of oral presentations

There are many influences on how assessors grade themselves and others. Oral presentations are useful for exploring such factors in peer, self‐ and tutor marked assessments, being rapidly completed and assessed, commonly used in HE and very difficult to anonymize. This opportunistic study examined the effects of gender and level of attainment on the triangulation of marks awarded to student presenters. Grades generated by peer assessment were associated more strongly with tutor‐awarded marks than those from self‐assessment. For self‐assessment there was a strong effect of gender (female students undervalued their performance compared with tutor grades). Peer assessment produced higher marks than from tutors, perhaps because of the close‐knit community developed during residential courses. For tutor marks, the greatest variability was at the lower end of the scale, whereas peer assessors were most variable when marking students who self‐evaluated or peer assessed highly. Students awarded a narrower range of marks to peers compared with tutors, but when self‐assessing used a larger range. Presentations by students who admitted to little sleep the night before received lower grades from both peers and tutors, but this was not reflected by self‐assessments, suggesting they were unaware of their poorer performances. Sessions with fewer talks (four rather than seven) reduced the ‘dip’ in marks previously observed in the middle of sessions. Findings are discussed in the context of bias in this mode of assessment.     

Representing self‐in‐society: education for citizenship and the social‐subjects curriculum in Scotland

The documented social‐subjects curricula for Scottish 5–16 year olds are analysed for representations of ‘self‐in‐society’. Such representations are important in Scotland because it is expected that the new Education‐for‐Citizenship framework will in part be delivered through the social subjects. However, citizenship education is also relevant throughout the UK and beyond and our analysis of the social subjects has wider relevance.

An ideal‐type analysis was used on documents including national guidelines, examination syllabuses, examination papers, and assessor instructions. Our analysis suggests that in these documents: the self is seen as an abstract; people are understood by category; society is the sum of discrete institutions; self‐in‐society is fully defined; and this representation of society is not contested. This representation becomes increasingly exclusive with age/ability and may be linked to assumed modes of curricular division, teaching and assessment. We discuss how this overall picture might affect students’ sense of ‘agency’ in the light of citizenship education. We conclude that the social‐subjects’ curricular representation of self‐in‐society may not fully support the Scottish Education‐for‐Citizenship framework.     

Immediate Impacts of PALS: A school‐wide multi‐level programme targeting behaviour problems in elementary school

The article describes the main outcomes of the intervention programme “Positive behaviour, interactions and learning environment in school” (PALS). PALS is an adapted Norwegian version of the School‐Wide Positive Behaviour Support model, developed in the United States with school‐wide interventions aiming at the prevention of behaviour problems and the promotion of social competence through a supportive learning environment. The effectiveness was evaluated with a quasi‐experimental design in four elementary schools, two years after implementation. An equal number of comparison schools were included in the study. Informants were students (n = 735) in third to seventh grade and teachers working at least 50% (n = 82). The immediate reductions in teacher‐observed problem behaviour ranged from moderate to large, while the results based on student ratings of social competence and classroom climate were less encouraging. Differential effects were found and implementation quality was together with teacher collective efficacy significantly related to better outcomes. The programme and results are discussed in relation to prior research, limitations of study design, and future implementation and research.     

Practice in planning and planning in practice: re‐assessing and clarifying action research in a multi‐national context

This paper responds to a call seeking presenters for an action‐research event for elementary‐school science teachers in Venezuela. The authors planned on the assumption that the participants would wish to leave with plans for introducing action‐research approaches into their practice. In previous writing on action research, the various protocols for action‐research planning and practice emphasize norms and regularities rather more than their opposites. This paper shows, however, that planning is transformed by multiple views of teaching and learning to create a multi‐level, multi‐faceted event within a particular context. The activity of planning parallels the pedagogy enacted in the event. The interactions of presenters and participants, of their purposes and actions, create the complex reality that is action research, where the learning and the events are often asynchronous.     

The path of least resistance: a voice‐relational analysis of disabled students’ experiences of discrimination in English universities

Recent legislation means that it is now illegal to treat a student, for reasons relating to a disability, less favourably than a non‐disabled student unless this is justified to maintain academic standards. However, recent research has identified numerous barriers faced by students with disabilities when they attempt to access the higher education curriculum. This study uses a methodology combining life‐story approaches with a voice‐relational analysis and aims to explore in more detail these barriers by listening to first person accounts from university students with a disability. The students’ narratives suggest that disabled students have to work considerably harder than non‐disabled students to overcome a wide range of physical, attitudinal, social, cultural and political barriers. Students appear to take the path of least resistance by choosing routes where the barriers are least great and it is argued that in this way they are being discriminated against. The research shows that voice‐relational methodology is excellent at producing a thorough account of the phenomenological world of these students without neglecting a materialist and cultural analysis of their environment. These insider perspectives are then used to suggest possible improvements to policy and practice in higher education.     

Talk of a number: self‐regulated use of mathematical metalanguage by children in the foundation stage

How can I know what I think until I hear what I say? (Sir Huw Wheldon (1916–1986). (Attenborough, 2002 Attenborough, D. 2002. Life on air: memoirs of a broadcaster, London: BBC Books.  [Google Scholar])

This paper presents the findings of a study exploring the self‐regulated use of mathematical metalanguage in the early years. Young children were filmed on two occasions in the naturalistic context of their eight foundation stage settings, including both nursery and reception classes. The children were engaged in mathematical activities designed by practitioners to facilitate self‐regulated learning. ‘Events’, or vignettes of conversation were identified and the verbal interactions recorded in these were analysed for indications of metacognitive thinking. Findings were that the young children did indeed show evidence, through their talk, of emergent metacognitive processes, indicating both metacognitive knowledge and strategic awareness in relation to their mathematical tasks.     

Pedagogical Thinking in a Student's Mind: A conceptual clarification on the basis of self‐determination and volition theories

This article suggests that educational psychology should pay more attention to the role of the curriculum when the optimal motivation to learn in school is considered. The curriculum frames the teaching‐studying‐learning process in school. This fact has several implications on the motivation to learn in school. After the child starts school, his or her motivation to learn seems to change from an intrinsic motivation to an extrinsic motivation. To develop pedagogical thinking in a student's mind means that the student must become acquainted with the aims and goals of the curriculum, assimilate them into his or her integrated sense of self and, thus, fully accept them as their own. If this succeeds, it will have positive effects on the student's motivation at school and especially on the motivation to study and learn. The concept of pedagogical thinking in a student's mind is analogous to the concept of teacher's pedagogical thinking. Based on previous studies, this article provides an example of how joint‐planning can offer a learning environment that promotes students' pedagogical thinking and the internalisation of the aims and goals of the curriculum in school. This article calls for new theoretical syntheses and research programmes that better take into account the normative nature of learning and teaching in school.     

Motivation and self‐regulated science learning in high‐achieving students: differences related to nation,gender, and grade‐level

A total of three hundred and fifteen (n = 315) gifted students from the 10th and 12th grade from the United States (n = 102), China (n = 125) and Germany (n = 88) were surveyed regarding their motivation and self‐regulation in chemistry learning. A 3×2×2 MANOVA revealed “nation” as having the largest major effect on these variables. The American group scored higher in most of the motivational and self‐regulatory characteristics than their Chinese and German counterparts. Although in all samples gifted girls reported a higher effort goal orientation, they used superficial cognitive strategies in learning science more frequently than boys. In addition, students' effort goal orientation was less pronounced in higher grades in all samples.