Die Bedeutung des pädagogisch-psychologischen Wissens für die Qualität der Klassenführung und den Lernzuwachs der Schüler/innen im Physikunterricht

In the present study it was investigated whether the pedagogical knowledge of teachers has an influence on the process quality of physics instruction and on the learning achievement of students as well. Pedagogical knowledge, conceptualized as knowledge about strategies in classroom instruction that is domain-general and relevant for teaching behaviors, was measured using a paper-and-pencil test with two scales: one scale on declarative knowledge, the other on conditional-procedural knowledge (Lenske et al. 2015). As a basic aspect of the process quality of classroom instruction, classroom management was assessed using video ratings of two lessons from each participating teacher. Students’ learning achievement was assessed using standardized domain-specific knowledge tests in a pretest-posttest design. The sample included 34 teachers from higher-track secondary schools and their students (N?=?993). A complex bootstrapping mediation model shows that teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, mediated by their classroom management, has a positive effect on their students’ learning achievement.     

Limitations to teaching children 2 + 2 = 4: typical arithmetic problems can hinder learning of mathematical equivalence

Do typical arithmetic problems hinder learning of mathematical equivalence? Second and third graders (7–9 years old; N= 80) received lessons on mathematical equivalence either with or without typical arithmetic problems (e.g., 15 + 13 = 28 vs. 28 = 28, respectively). Children then solved math equivalence problems (e.g., 3 + 9 + 5 = 6 + __), switched lesson conditions, and solved math equivalence problems again. Correct solutions were less common following instruction with typical arithmetic problems. In a supplemental experiment, fifth graders (10–11 years old; N= 19) gave fewer correct solutions after a brief intervention on mathematical equivalence that included typical arithmetic problems. Results suggest that learning is hindered when lessons activate inappropriate existing knowledge.     

Using ARCS Model to Promote 11th Graders' Motivation and Achievement in Learning about Acids and Bases

The purposes of this study are: to apply the ARCS model in designing an acid and bases unit, and to assess a single class of 11th graders for motivation and achievement outcomes before and after ARCS instruction. Four essential strategies for designing motivation instruction in the ARCS model were: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. We used the ARCS model in designing a 10-hour acids and bases lesson for one class of 11th graders with low interest and motivation in chemistry learning. Both the Students' Motivation toward Science Learning questionnaire (SMTSL) (Tuan, Chin & Shieh, in press) and a teacher-designed achievement test were implemented before and after instruction. In addition, students' self-reporting on time engagement in learning before and during the instruction was also collected. The results of the study indicated that both students' motivation and achievement in the acids and bases unit increased significantly (p<0.05) after the ARCS instruction. Students' time engagement during the ARCS lessons had increased from before. Findings of the study showed that using the ARCS model to teach acids and bases unit could improve low motivated students' level of motivation and achievement. The implications for chemistry teaching will be discussed in the paper.     

Contributions of Instructional Practices to Reading Achievement in a Statewide Improvement Program

Abstract

The amount and direction of school change in reading achievement on a statewide, high-stakes performance assessment were identified. School change in reading achievement with instructional practices reported by teachers in primary and intermediate grades in 33 schools was predicted. Meta-analyses of the effects of instructional practices in reading on achievement in 6 areas—including reading, writing, language use, mathematics, science, and social studies—were conducted. In Grade 5, achievement in reading, science, mathematics, and writing increased significantly. Practices of integrated instruction and use of abundant texts and resources were associated positively with change in achievement. Basal emphasis and comprehension instruction were associated negatively with achievement change. In Grade 3, few effects were observed. Findings are interpreted in light of existing models of integrated instruction and the roles of teacher knowledge in achievement and learning.     

From copying to learning: using exemplars to engage students with assessment criteria and feedback

Feedback is central to pedagogic theory, and if feedback is to be effective, students need to engage with it and apply it at some point in the future. However, student dissatisfaction with feedback – as evidenced in the National Student Survey – suggests that there are problems which limit student engagement with feedback, such as their perception that much of their feedback is irrelevant to future assignments. This article reports on a study which sought to enhance engagement by giving students exemplar assignments annotated with feedback before submission of their final assignments. This was done by providing an online facility where students could view exemplars and post comments or questions to tutors and peers on a discussion board. The exemplar facility was highly valued by students, although there were no quantitative effects such as an increase in students’ assignment marks when compared with the previous cohort. The article reflects on possible reasons for this result and discusses ways to improve the exemplar facility, for example by facilitating dialogue between tutors and students. The article concludes with lessons learned about how to construct exemplars, and considers how exemplars might also be used within marking teams to improve consistency of marking.     

Revisiting the effects of project-based learning on students’ academic achievement: A meta-analysis investigating moderators

Project-based learning is generally considered an alternative to traditional, teacher-led instruction. However, there is a noticeable lack of meta-analyses with regard to determining its overall effects on students' academic achievement, and what study features may moderate the impacts of project-based learning. This study thus performed a meta-analysis to synthesize existing research that compared the effects of project-based learning and those of traditional instruction on student academic achievement. Forty-six effect sizes (comparisons) extracted from 30 eligible journal articles published from 1998 to 2017 were analyzed, representing 12,585 students from 189 schools in nine countries. The results showed that the overall mean weighted effect size (d₊) was 0.71, indicating that project-based learning has a medium to large positive effect on students' academic achievement compared with traditional instruction. In addition, the mean effect size was affected by subject area, school location, hours of instruction, and information technology support, but not by educational stage and small group size.     

History of Science as an Instructional Context: Student Learning in Genetics and Nature of Science

This study (1) explores the effectiveness of the contextualized history of science on student learning of nature of science (NOS) and genetics content knowledge (GCK), especially interrelationships among various genetics concepts, in high school biology classrooms; (2) provides an exemplar for teachers on how to utilize history of science in genetics instruction; and (3) suggests a modified concept mapping assessment tool for both NOS and GCK. A quasi-experimental control group research design was utilized with pretests, posttests, and delayed posttests, combining qualitative data and quantitative data. The experimental group was taught with historical curricular lessons, while the control group was taught with non-historical curricular lessons. The results indicated that students in the experimental group developed better understanding in targeted aspects of NOS immediately after the intervention and retained their learning 2 months after the intervention. Both groups developed similar genetics knowledge in the posttest, and revealed a slight decay in their understanding in the delayed posttest.     

Statistical Studies of a College Freshman Testing Program

"ABSTRACT In an investigation of the improvement of mastery learning techniques through instruction based on a validated learning hierarchy, it was found that it was highly effective to present tasks in a sequence consistent with the requirements of the hierarchy, and to require learners to demonstrate clearly their achievement of each task in turn before being allowed to proceed to the next. With this technique, nearly all of a group of relatively young students were able to perform the skill better than a group of students three grades higher who had been taught the skill as part of their normal lessons.     

Language Patterns of Pre-School Children

The relationship between performance on concept attainment tasks and information processing tasks and performance on selected curricular achievement tests was examined through factor analytic procedures. Results indicated that information processing of exemplar information and concept attainment of exemplar information are highly related to curricular factors. Other specific information processing factors, namely science and spelling, were only moderately related to curricular achievement. From these relationships, it seems likely that there is a high relationship between exemplar information processing and concept attainment of exemplar information with curricular factors generally and that more liberal generalizations of research results from tightly controlled experimental settings to conventional learning situations seem justified.     

Do classroom exemplars promote the application of principles in teacher education? A comparison of videos,animations, and narratives

Students learned about teaching principles with a multimedia program that either did not include a classroom exemplar illustrating how to apply the learned principles to the teaching practice (control group) or included a classroom exemplar in video, animation, or text format. Across two experiments, video and animation groups reported more favorable attitudes towards learning and were better able to apply the learned principles than the control group. Text and control groups did not differ in their learning or attitudes towards learning, suggesting that format is an important factor in determining the effectiveness of classroom exemplars as pedagogical tools for teacher education. Results encourage the use of visual classroom exemplars to promote the application of theory into practice.     

Data-based differentiated instruction: The impact of standardized assessment and aligned teaching material on students’ reading comprehension

The paper analyzes the efficacy of a data-based differentiated instruction (DBDI) intervention in addressing growing achievement-related heterogeneity in school. The intervention consisted of a reading strategy training conducted by teachers, in which 27 secondary-school classes (n_students = 656) participated. The propensity-matched control group consisted of another 27 classes (n_students = 558). Linear mixed models showed that students of the intervention classes had no greater gain in reading competence on average compared to students of the control classes. However, the groups differed regarding the learning gain at different achievement levels. In the control group, the gain was greatest for the low achievers and lowest for the high achievers. This imbalance was not found in the intervention group, where the learning gain was similar for students of each achievement level. This shows that DBDI is a tool for addressing achievement-related heterogeneity which empowers teachers to cater to the differences between students.     

Can Explicit Instruction in Social and Emotional Learning Skills Benefit the Social-Emotional Development, Well-being, and Academic Achievement of Young Children?

This study investigated the effect of a social and emotional learning skills curriculum, the You Can Do It! Early Childhood Education Program (YCDI), on the social-emotional development, well-being, and academic achievement of 99 preparatory and grade 1 students attending a Catholic school in Melbourne, Australia. One preparatory and one grade 1 class were randomly chosen to receive structured lessons in YCDI, delivered by their classroom teachers over a period of 10 weeks, while the remaining preparatory and grade 1 class served as the control group. The lessons were designed to teach young children confidence, persistence, organisation and emotional resilience. The educational program consisted of explicit, direct instruction lessons drawn from the YCDI Early Childhood Curriculum taught three times a week, supported by a variety of additional social and emotional teaching practices. The results indicated that YCDI had a statistically significant positive effect on levels of social-emotional competence and well-being for the preparatory and grade 1 students, a reduction in problem behaviours (externalising, internalising, and hyperactivity problems) for the grade 1 students, and an increase in reading achievement (decoding text) for the lower achieving grade 1 students. These findings are discussed with regard to issues concerning the role of explicit instruction in social and emotional learning for the early years.     

Biology instruction using a generic framework of scientific reasoning and argumentation

We investigated biology instruction—using a generic framework of scientific reasoning and argumentation (SRA) with eight epistemic activities—on how to foster student learning in biological literacy which had not been clarified in previous studies. Our analysis of videotaped biology lessons and student achievement showed varying frequencies in using these activities and their effects on achievement. Those students taught with more epistemic activities had higher achievement. We believe that the SRA framework can be a worthwhile methodical tool for teaching biology to foster student learning. Therefore, we draw practically orientated implications for educational research, practitioners, teacher educators, and curriculum developers.     

Formatives Assessment im Leseunterricht der Grundschule – Implementation und Wirksamkeit eines modularen,materialgestützten Konzepts

Definitions of formative assessment include assessment, feedback and differentiated instruction as key components. We investigated the effects of prepared teaching materials designed to support teachers using learning progress assessment (LPA) to give feedback and adapt differentiated instruction. We also examined to what extend this modular approach can be implemented in regular reading lessons in third grade. In a three-group design all teachers (N?=?44, N?=?945 students) employed a computer-based LPA tool, while teachers in two conditions additionally received prepared feedback material (FB) or feedback and reading instruction material (FB+FM), to support the implementation of the different components of formative assessment. Over the course of one schoolyear, we assessed the implementation outcomes using questionnaires as well as students’ reading achievement and further student outcomes. While acceptability is high, teacher ratings of feasibility are low. In comparison to the LPA group, the additional support in form of prepared materials had no effects on student outcomes. Results are discussed regarding the question of how teachers can optimally be supported in using formative assessment.     

The effects of cooperative learning and learner control on students' achievement, option selections, and attitudes

We investigated the effects of studying alone or in cooperative-learning groups on the performance of high and low achievers, using either learner- or program-controlled computer-based instruction. A total of 92 sixth-grade students were classified by Stanford Achievement Test scores and randomly assigned to group or individual treatments, stratified by achievement scores. Both high and low achievers in the cooperative treatment performed better and had more positive attitudes toward grouping than did students working individually, on both program-controlled and learner-controlled computer lessons. In addition, the cooperative-learning group exhibited significantly greater improvement from immediate to delayed post-test than did the individual-learning group. For low achievers, the greatest improvement was in the program-controlled condition, and for the high achievers, in the learner-controlled condition. The learner-controlled cooperative-learning group, compared to the learner-controlled individual-learning group, chose to check its concept learning more often and spent more time interacting with the computer-based tutorial. These results suggest that cooperative learning provides beneficial effects, and imply a need for software designers to adapt computer-based instruction for cooperative learning to the different learning styles of high-and low-achieving students.     

Embracing the Complexity of Instruction: A Study of the Effects of Teachers' Instruction on Students' Reading Comprehension

The purpose of this study was to determine whether third-grade teachers' instructional actions during reading comprehension lessons contributed to their students' reading comprehension achievement. Our framework focused on teachers' emphasis on three dimensions of instruction (pedagogical structure, teacher-directed instruction, and support for student learning), as observed in comprehension lessons across a year. Third-grade teachers' instruction was analyzed first by measuring their latent propensity to engage in instructional actions in the three dimensions and then by using these latent variables in a multilevel model to examine their students' gains in reading comprehension. Results provided support for the theoretical dimensions, taking into account contextual variables including lesson, student, and teacher characteristics; teachers' engagement in teacher-directed instruction and their support for student learning significantly contributed to their students' reading comprehension. Results suggest that analysis of teachers' instructional actions within and across lessons is a promising approach for the study of effective reading instruction.     

Relating Learning Style,Reading Vocabulary,Reading Comprehension,and Aptitude for Learning to Achievement in the Self-Paced and Computer-Assisted Instructional Modes

Achievement differences shown by teaching clerical skills through use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and traditional self-paced instruction were investigated. Differentials in correlations of achievement with aptitude and learning style measures for students taught by the two methods were determined. A randomized pretest-posttest design with analysis of covariance was used to compare achievement differences. Group differences in relationships between learning-related variables and achievement were compared through Fisher r to z transformations. The CAI group achieved significantly higher than did the traditional group. Arithmetic aptitude and learning styles associated with sociability traits correlated higher with achievement in the CAI group than in the traditional group. Different aptitude-learning style patterns were associated with higher achievement in the two groups.     

Impact of curriculum reform: Evidence of change in classroom practice in the United States

The purpose of the study reported in this article is to examine the impact of curriculum on instruction. Over a three-year period, we observed 579 algebra-related lessons in grades 6-8. Approximately half the lessons were taught in schools that had adopted a Standards-based mathematics curriculum called the Connected Mathematics Program (CMP), and the remainder of the lessons were taught in schools that used more traditional curricula (non-CMP). We found many significant differences between the CMP and non-CMP lessons. The CMP lessons, emphasized the conceptual aspects of instruction to a greater extent than the non-CMP lessons and the non-CMP lessons emphasized the procedural aspects of instruction to a greater extent than the CMP lessons. About twice as many CMP lessons as non-CMP lessons were structured to use group work as a method of instruction. During lessons, non-CMP students worked individually on homework about three times as often as CMP students. When it came to text usage, CMP teachers were more likely than non-CMP teachers to work problems from the text and to follow lessons as laid out in the text. However, non-CMP students and teachers were more likely than CMP students and teachers to review examples or find formulas in the text. Surprisingly, only small proportions of the CMP lessons utilized calculators (16%) or manipulatives (11%).     

Relationship among laboratory instruction,attitude toward science,and achievement in science knowledge

This study investigated the use of a hands-on laboratory program as a means of improving student attitude toward science and increasing student achievement levels in science knowledge. Using a posttest-only control group design, curriculum referenced objective examinations were used to measure student achievement in science knowledge, and a posttest Q-sort survey was used to measure student attitude toward science. A one-way analysis of variance compared the groups' differences in achievement and attitude toward science. Analysis of covariance was used to determine the effect of the laboratory treatment on the dependent achievement variable with attitude toward science as the covariable. The findings showed that students who had regular laboratory instruction (a) scored significantly higher (p < .01) on the objective examination of achievement in science knowledge than those who had no laboratory experiences; (b) exhibited a moderate, positive correlation (r = .406) between their attitude toward science and their achievement; and (c) scored significantly higher (p < .01) on achievement in science knowledge after these scores were adjusted on the attitude toward science covariable. There were no significant differences in achievement or attitude toward science for the limited English proficiency groups. It was concluded that laboratory instruction influenced, in a positive direction, the students' attitude toward science, and influenced their achievement in science knowledge. It was recommended that science instruction include a regular laboratory experience as a demonstrated viable and effective instructional method for science teachers. This model of science instruction has been shown to be effective with students of diverse backgrounds who live within large urban centers. J Res Sci Teach 34: 343–357, 1997.