First-year students’ appraisal of assessment tasks: implications for efficacy,engagement and performance

This study investigated students’ appraisals of assessment tasks and the impact of this on both their task-related efficacy and engagement and subsequent task performance. Two hundred and fifty-seven first-year students rated their experience of an assessment task (essay, oral presentation, laboratory report or exam) that they had previously completed. First-year students evaluated these assessment tasks in terms of two general factors: the motivational value of the task and its manageability. Students’ evaluations were consistent across a range of characteristics and level of academic achievement. Students’ evaluations of motivational value generally predict their engagement and their evaluations of task manageability generally predict their sense of task efficacy. Engagement was a significant predictor of task performance (viz. actual mark) for exam and laboratory report tasks but not for essay-based tasks. Findings are discussed in terms of the implications for assessment design and management.     

The dynamic relationship between response processes and self-regulation in critical thinking assessments

Our aim was to explore higher education students’ response and self-regulatory processes plus the relationship between these, as evidenced in two types of performance-based critical thinking tasks included in the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+) International instrument. The data collection consisted of 20 cognitive laboratories. The data were analyzed using a qualitative approach. The tasks were found to trigger different response and self-regulatory processes. Overall, the performance task evoked more holistic processes than the selected-response questions, in which students’ processes were more question-oriented. The results also indicated the entanglement of students’ response and self-regulation processes. Three self-regulation groups were identified. Students with versatile self-regulation skills were able to complete the task thoroughly, whereas students with moderate self-regulation skills faced challenges in monitoring and evaluating their performance. Students who were lacking in self-regulation struggled both with the task as a whole and their own progress. Implications for higher education are discussed.     

Understanding students’ conceptions of task assignments

Building on research emphasizing the importance of task in reading performance, the present study examines students’ conceptions or definitions of five common academic task assignments (i.e., argument, essay, opinion, summary and research tasks). Results showed that while students have robust schema for some task assignments (e.g., argument, research report), citing a large variety of task elements in defining each of these assignment, other task assignments are only superficially conceptualized by learners (e.g., opinion, essay). While prior work has demonstrated the important role of task assignment in students’ text processing and performance, this is among the first studies to associate emergent differences not only with the tasks assigned but also with students’ task conceptions. Given the emphasis placed on argument tasks in supporting deeper level processing, we were especially interested in students’ conceptions of argument tasks vis-à-vis summary tasks. Students’ conceptions of these and other task assignments were compared using Cochran’s Q, a non-parametric alternative to the repeated measures ANOVA. Finally, linear regression found students’ conceptions of an argument task to be associated with performance on an argument writing task assignment. For instance, students considering argument construction to require citation use was associated with their inclusion of citations in their written responses. This study is among the first to examine students’ own conceptions of common task assignments and to link task conceptions with performance. Implications for instruction are discussed.     

The Effect of Two-dimensional and Stereoscopic Presentation on Middle School Students’ Performance of Spatial Cognition Tasks

We investigated whether and how student performance on three types of spatial cognition tasks differs when worked with two-dimensional or stereoscopic representations. We recruited nineteen middle school students visiting a planetarium in a large Midwestern American city and analyzed their performance on a series of spatial cognition tasks in terms of response accuracy and task completion time. Results show that response accuracy did not differ between the two types of representations while task completion time was significantly greater with the stereoscopic representations. The completion time increased as the number of mental manipulations of 3D objects increased in the tasks. Post-interviews provide evidence that some students continued to think of stereoscopic representations as two-dimensional. Based on cognitive load and cue theories, we interpret that, in the absence of pictorial depth cues, students may need more time to be familiar with stereoscopic representations for optimal performance. In light of these results, we discuss potential uses of stereoscopic representations for science learning.     

Comparing Class- and Task-Level Measures of Achievement Goals

Models of achievement goals suggest that different tasks and contexts influence the goals students adopt at a given time. However, many studies of achievement goals rely on measures assessed at the class level, analyze results with a variable-centered approach, and employ self-report questionnaires, which may reduce understanding of the contextual factors that arise as students interact with tasks. We compared a behavioral, task-level measure of middle school students' achievement goals to a self-reported, class-level measure and analyzed both measures' relations to task performance and quarterly grades using both variable-centered and person-centered approaches. Task-level goals predicted task performance but not quarterly grades, while class-level goals predicted grades but not task performance. The two measures of achievement goals were not related. This work demonstrates the importance of measuring goals at multiple levels and suggests opportunities for changing students' behaviors and achievement through motivation at the task level.     

Competition in individualized CAI

Designers of computer-based practice systems give primary attention to aspects of cognitive learning. However, observations of students practicing arithmetic, with two CAI systems widely used in Israel, revealed factors in the computer learning environment that substantially affected students' social behavior, particularly with respect to competition and cooperation in the course of learning. A questionnaire was designed on the basis of the observations to examine the effects of these factors in CAI work. It was administered to 457 fourth graders in 16 classes (two CAI systems x two SES categories x two schools x two classes). While neither CAI system was intended to foster competition, the observations and questionnaire data suggested that one encourages social comparison and competition whereas the other discourages these features and encourages cooperation and peer help. Boys appear to be significantly more competitive than girls. One system, compared with the other, significantly increases competitive behavior of high achievers (but not of low achievers); results in teachers' greater encouragement of social comparison and competition among students; and, as used in the schools we studied, causes disadvantaged students rather than advantaged students to develop negative feelings because of low CAI performance. The other system discourages competitive behavior and encourages cooperation. All these findings bear important implications for the instructional design of computer-based learning environments.     

Elementary school students’ strategic learning: does task-type matter?

This study investigated what types of learning patterns and strategies elementary school students use to carry out ill- and- well-structured tasks. Specifically, it was investigated which and when learning patterns actually emerge with respect to students’ task solutions. The present study uses computer log file traces to investigate how conditions of task types that might affect strategic learning. Elementary school students (N = 12) participated in two science study lessons. During these lessons the students were asked to solve well- and ill-structured tasks. For both of these tasks, the students used the gStudy learning environment designed to support strategic learning. In addition, gStudy records traces of each student’s strategic actions as they proceed with tasks. First, the students’ task solutions was rated according to three categories, namely “on track”, “off track” and “partial solution”. Second, learning patterns in terms of learning strategies that emerged throughout these tasks were investigated. Third, detailed cross case analysis was used to explore in depth how and when these learning patterns were used with respect to the students’ task solutions. The results show that young students’ can provide in-depth task solutions, but also adapt to the task complexity. However, despite the task types being different, the students had same types of learning patterns. The detailed cross-case comparison of the students’ task solutions with respect to learning patterns indicates that there are intra individual differences concerning how students allocate their learning strategy use. Especially if the task is ill-structured, it can also mislead the students to focus on irrelevant aspects and hinder strategic learning.     

The calibration of student judgement through self-assessment: disruptive effects of assessment patterns

Can extended opportunities for self-assessment over time help students develop the capacity to make better judgements about their work? Using evidence gathered through students' voluntary self-assessment of their performance with respect to assessment tasks in two different disciplines at two Australian universities, the paper focuses on the effects of sequences of units of study and the use of different types of assessment task (written, oral, analysis, and project) in the development of student judgement. Convergence between student criteria-based gradings of their own performance in units of study and those allocated by tutors was analysed to explore the calibration of students' judgement over time. First, it seeks to replicate analyses from an earlier smaller-scale study to confirm that students' judgements can be calibrated through continuing opportunities for self-assessment and feedback. Second, it extends the analysis to coherently designed sequences of units of study and explores the effects of different types of assessment. It finds that disruptive patterns of assessment within a sequence of subjects can reduce convergence between student and tutor judgements.     

The Interaction of Reader and Task Factors in the Assessment of Reading Comprehension

This study examined the effects of selected reader and task variables on reading comprehension performance. Fifty deaf students and 61 hearing students of comparable reading skill level were blocked by cognitive style scores into field dependent or field independent groups. Subjects read 12 passages and completed selected-response and constructed-response question tasks under both lookback and no-lookback conditions. The passage questions tapped both text-explicit and text-implicit information. Several reader and task interaction effects were found to be significant, particularly for lookback conditions and constructed-response tasks. Moreover, cognitive style interacted with hearing state on tasks involving lookback options. Implications are drawn for further consideration of differential test administration and training in test-taking skills for certain types of readers.     

Calibrating assessment literacy through benchmarking tasks

Abstract

In calibration tasks students assess exemplar texts using criteria against which their own work will be assessed. Typically, these tasks are used in the context of training for peer assessment. Little research has been conducted on the benefits of calibration tasks, such as benchmarking, as learning opportunities in their own right. This paper examines a dataset from a long-running benchmarking task (～500 students per semester, for four semesters). We investigate the relationship of benchmarking performance to other student outcomes, including ability to self-assess accurately. We show that students who complete the benchmarking perform better, that there is a relationship between benchmarking performance and self-assessment performance, and that students appreciate the support for learning that benchmarking tasks provide. We discuss implications for teaching and learning flagging the potential of calibration tasks as an under-explored tool.     

The effectiveness of man-machine tutorial dialogues for teaching attribute blocks problem-solving skills with an Artificial Intelligence CAI System

Two prominent design features of an Artificial Intelligence CAI (AI CAI) System for teaching problem-solving skills were experimentally evaluated. Seventy-six subjects were randomly assigned to four treatment groups formed by factorially combining two values each of two system design variables. The variables were the ability/lack of ability of the system to answer specific student generated questions regarding the current problem state, and the inclusion/exclusion of computer generated tutorial dialogues aimed at correcting student misprocessing of information during the solution of the problem. Analysis of the data indicated that students receiving computer generated instructional dialogues performed significantly more poorly on a transfer task than students not receiving such tutorial dialogues. The variable of student initiated questioning and the interaction of the two variables yielded non-significant results. Goal-directed production systems are reported to formally model task performance and instructional decision-making activities. The usefulness of these formal modeling techniques to instructional system design and evaluation is illustrated in a detailed analysis of the system's performance. Implications for future instructional system design techniques using the AI CAI approach are discussed.This article is based upon the author's unpublished doctoral dissertation.     

Reasoning from data: How students collect and interpret data in science investigations

This study explored the understandings of data and measurement that school students draw upon, and the ways that they reason from data, when carrying out a practical science inquiry task. The two practical tasks used in the study each involved investigations of the relationships between two independent variables (IVs) and a dependent variable (DV); in both tasks, one IV covaried with the DV, whereas the other did not. Each was undertaken by 10 students, aged 10, 12, and 14 years (total n = 60 students), working individually. Their actions were video‐recorded for analysis. In a subsequent interview, each student was asked to discuss and interpret data collected by two other students, undertaking a similar (but different) practical task, shown on a video‐recording. An analysis of the sample students' performance on the practical tasks and their interview responses showed few differences across task contexts, or with age, in students' reasoning, but significant differences in performance when investigating situations of covariation and non‐covariation. Few students in the sample displayed sufficient understanding of measurement error to deal effectively with the latter. Investigations of non‐covariation cases revealed, much more clearly than investigations of covariation cases, the students' ideas about data and measurement, and their ways of reasoning from data. Such investigations therefore provide particularly valuable contexts for teaching and research. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 748–769, 2004     

Effects of two types of task instructions on literary text comprehension and motivational and affective factors

This experimental study investigated the effects of two types of task instructions on text comprehension, motivation, and emotional involvement. In all, 226 9th graders in low academic tracks were randomly assigned to complete reader-oriented (RO), text-based (TB), or no tasks after reading literary texts to elaborate their mental text representation. Whereas RO tasks encouraged emotional engagement and indirectly stimulated text analysis through creative activities, TB tasks focused on cognitive activity and directly encouraged text analysis. After students completed the tasks, they answered test items on content- and form-related text comprehension. The results indicate that form-related comprehension improved when students elaborated their mental text representation through TB tasks. By contrast, RO students were more interested in the tasks, and they showed slightly more emotional involvement. As the two types of task instructions seemingly have different effects, they may be considered complementary elements in instructional practices for lower academic tracks.     

Comparison of students’ understanding of functions in classes following English and Israeli national curricula

This paper arises from a study of how concepts related to understanding functions develop for students across the years of secondary/high school, using small samples from two different curricula systems: England and Israel. We used a survey consisting of function tasks developed in collaboration with teachers from both curriculum systems. We report on 120 higher achieving students, 10 from each of English and Israeli, 12–18 years old. Iterative and comparative analysis identified similarities and differences in students’ responses and we conjecture links between curriculum, enactment, task design, and students’ responses. Towards the end of school, students from both curriculum backgrounds performed similarly on most tasks but approached these by different routes, such as intuitive or formal and with different understandings, including correspondence and covariational approaches to functions.     

The use of visual schedules and work systems to increase the on‐task behaviour of students on the autism spectrum in mainstream classrooms

Apparent differences in executive function can lead to challenges for students on the autism spectrum in mainstream settings. Difficulties with staying on‐task and transitioning between tasks and task elements can interfere with students’ participation in educational activities and lead to stress and anxiety. While the use of visual supports, such as visual schedules and work systems, has been shown to be effective in supporting students to stay on‐task in special education and autism‐specific settings, there is little research to support the use of these strategies by teachers in mainstream classrooms. This study evaluated the use of visual schedules and work systems in supporting four students on the autism spectrum to stay on‐task and work independently in a mainstream setting. These strategies were implemented by teachers as inclusive practices, and evaluated using observations within the natural classroom environment to examine their feasibility in mainstream settings. All participants demonstrated improvements in on‐task behaviours. Results for other, secondary, dependent variables were mixed, with some students showing reduced off‐task behaviours and increased productivity. The implications for clinical practice and future research directions are discussed.     

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.     

Individual differences in feelings of difficulty: The case of school mathematics

Feelings of difficulty, or subjective estimation of task difficulty, are on-line metacognitive experiences, which arise as response to the difficulty of the tasks processed by the person. They are related to performance, but little is known about their nature and the factors that influence them. This study aimed to delimit the possible individual differences effects on feelings of difficulty experienced in relation to school mathematics. General and domain-specific cognitive ability, affect, gender and expertise were the individual differences factors studied. The subjects were 299 students of 7th, 8th, & 9th grade and they were tested with mathematical tasks of three levels of difficulty. Upon completion of each task subjects rated its difficulty on a 4-point scale, ranging from 1: not difficult at all to 4: very difficult. Testing was repeated one year later. Path analysis showed that feelings of difficulty form a system of their own, which is mainly influenced by performance and cognitive ability rather than affective factors. Only anxiety state had a direct effect on feelings of difficulty. Expertise did not differentiate feelings of difficulty in the 1st testing, but it did so in the second. Gender interacted with both personal and task characteristics, the girls being more atypical in their responses than boys. The educational implications of these results are discussed.     

Elaboration and metamemory during adolescence

The memory performance of 7th- and 11th-grade students was examined as a function of instructional conditions on two different cued recall tasks. In addition, several metamemory measures were obtained to examine the relationship between metamemory and actual performance during adolescence. Seventh-grade students performed better with elaborative prompting instructions on the more difficult cued recall task. Eleventh-grade students, however, performed better with control instructions than with repetition instructions for both tasks, and performed as well as those with elaboration instructions on the less difficult list. On the more difficult list, those students with elaboration instructions recalled more nouns than those with control instructions. Eleventh-grade students also appeared to be more accurate in their prediction of performance, reported more elaboration-type strategies, and appeared to have more knowledge of memory variables than did 7th-grade students.     

How do types of interaction and phases of self-regulated learning set a stage for collaborative engagement?

This study investigates how self-regulated learning phases are related to collaborative engagement in two different collaborative task conditions. It integrates SRL theory and the concept of engagement, including interaction in collaboration, as key characteristics of engagement. Forty-four second-year teacher education students worked in groups during a 7-week math didactic course. We collected 84 h of video recordings and coded the group's cognitive and socioemotional interaction and three phases of self-regulation within interaction, including forethought, performance and reflection. After that we analyzed the relationship between the interaction types representing collaborative engagement and SRL phases within two learning tasks. The results show that collaborative engagement did not differ between teacher-led and student-led tasks in terms of the interaction types. However, the results showed that the SRL phases occurred differently within cognitive and socioemotional interaction types when the two task conditions were compared. Findings concerning teacher-led tasks showed invariance in the occurrence of SRL phases across the task and highlighted the relationship between socioemotional interaction and the forethought phase. Additionally, findings concerning the student-led tasks showed systematic changes in the distribution of phases of SRL across sessions in all interaction types. Our results' theoretical and methodological implications for collaborative engagement research are discussed.     

近年来海外学术英语导向类教材的特点与发展趋势

本文以数套近年来海外出版的学术英语导向类教材为基础,分析了这类教材在目标定位、整体和板块设计、主题选择、练习编排等方面的特点,发现了一些值得我国大学英语教学课程设计、教材编写和课堂教学值得借鉴的特色: ( 1) 目标定位明确,整套教材为学生获得英语为媒介的学术能力的教学目标服务; ( 2) 整体设计呈立体型,文字、网络、视听说材料、活动、练习,相互交叉,相互补充; ( 3) 主题选择符合大学生心理和认知特点,符合以内容为基础、促进学生知识拓展和思辨能力发展的原则; ( 4) 练习形式以传统与现代教学理念相结合: 既有语言知识的专门训练,又辅以大量的交际活动和任务,鼓励和引导学生学会使用相应的语言形式。