The influence of concept mapping on achievement,self-regulation,and self-efficacy in students of English as a second language

This study investigated the effectiveness of concept mapping used as a learning strategy with students in English as a Second Language classrooms. Seventy-nine ESL students participated in the study. Variables of interest were students’ achievement when learning from English-language text, students’ reported use of self-regulation strategies (self-monitoring and knowledge acquisition strategies), and students’ self-efficacy for learning from English-language text. A randomized pre-test–post-test control group design was employed. The findings showed a statistically significant interaction of time, method of instruction, and level of English proficiency for self-monitoring, self-efficacy, and achievement. For all four outcome variables, the concept mapping group showed significantly greater gains from pre-test to post-test than the individual study group. The findings have implications for both practice and research.     

Differently structured advance organizers lead to different initial schemata and learning outcomes

Does the specific structure of advance organizers influence learning outcomes? In the first experiment, 48 psychology students were randomly assigned to three differently structured advance organizers: a well-structured, a well-structured and key-concept emphasizing, and a less structured advance organizer. These were followed by a sorting task, a text study phase, and a posttest. The results indicated that differently structured advance organizers lead to different proto-schemata before and different learning outcomes after the text study phase. The second experiment replicated and extended these findings with 53 mathematics students. As in experiment 1, three differently structured advance organizers were used; but to rule out alternative explanations, the sorting task between the advance organizer and the text study phase was omitted. The results showed strong beneficial effects of well-structured advance organizers on near and far transfer tasks. Taken together, both experiments support the claim that the structure of advance organizers has an effect on preliminary schemata and learning outcomes. On a general level, the results indicate that advance organizers can support the generation of proto-schemata and thus can be more than the activation of “existing” concepts in long-term memory. With regard to education, this implies that educators should not only think about whether prior domain-specific knowledge is present, but also about how to scaffold the generation of proto-schemata at the beginning of instruction.     

Relationships among individual task self-efficacy,self-regulated learning strategy use and academic performance in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment

This study investigates relationships between self-efficacy, self-regulated learning strategy use and academic performance. Participants were 96 undergraduate students working on projects with three subtasks (idea generation task, methodical task and data collection) in a blended learning environment. Task self-efficacy was measured with self-reports administered during each subtask. Learning strategies were assessed by counting each instance of strategy use as it occurred in peer-to-peer conversations typed into a computer software system. Results showed that for each subtask, learners with higher task self-efficacy had higher task performance. Those who used more learning strategies on each subtask also had higher performance. In turn, high performance was associated with high self-efficacy on subsequent subtasks. Surprisingly, results showed that task self-efficacy and learning strategy use were not significantly related during any subtask. Overall, results imply that task self-efficacy, learning strategy use and past performance are important predictors of task performance.     

Gender differences in high-school learning experiences,motivation, self-efficacy,and career aspirations among Taiwanese STEM college students

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to answer the following two questions: (1) Do significant differences exist in high-school learning experience, interests, self-efficacy, and career aspirations between male and female science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students? (2) Can high-school learning experiences, interests, and self-efficacy significantly predict career aspirations, and do differences exist between male and female STEM students? This study highlighted the gender gap between male and female university students who had already chosen STEM majors with similar academic ability. A total of 407 first-year students were surveyed at a 4-year research university in Taiwan. For the data analysis, a t-test and multiple regression analysis were used, and the findings indicated that male STEM students had greater family support than their female counterparts. The variable of task value could significantly predict STEM career aspirations for both male and female students, whereas the variable of STEM course self-efficacy could only significantly predict that of male students. In conclusion, the findings highlighted that the motivation of task value was a vital factor for predicting STEM career aspirations, whereas the factor of family support was the main gap between male and female STEM students in terms of their high-school learning experiences.     

How do students’ achievement goals relate to learning from well-designed instructional videos and subsequent exam performance?

Well-designed instructional videos are powerful tools for helping students learn and prompting students to use generative strategies while learning from videos further bolsters their effectiveness. However, little is known about how individual differences in motivational factors, such as achievement goals, relate to how students learn within multimedia environments that include instructional videos and generative strategies. Therefore, in this study, we explored how achievement goals predicted undergraduate students’ behaviors when learning with instructional videos that required students to answer practice questions between videos, as well as how those activities predicted subsequent unit exam performance one week later. Additionally, we tested the best measurement models for modeling achievement goals between traditional confirmatory factor analysis and bifactor confirmatory factor analysis. The bifactor model fit our data best and was used for all subsequent analyses. Results indicated that stronger mastery goal endorsement predicted performance on the practice questions in the multimedia learning environment, which in turn positively predicted unit exam performance. In addition, students’ time spent watching videos positively predicted practice question performance. Taken together, this research emphasizes the availing role of adaptive motivations, like mastery goals, in learning from instructional videos that prompt the use of generative learning strategies.     

基于视频观看轨迹的难度感知诊断方法

翻转课堂、混合课堂等新型教学模式的出现,让学生可以通过在线视频提前预习知识。但是,在这种非面对面的课堂,教师无法观察到学生观看视频的状态,不易识别预期的教学难点与学生在视频学习过程中实际感知到的难点是否一致。为解决这一问题,文章通过采集学生预习视频时的交互行为数据还原学生的视频观看轨迹,采用聚类分析法来诊断学生预习视频时感知到的实际难点;同时,通过对在线测试答题正确率进行分析得到的结论、半结构化访谈中学生对视频学习难易度的反馈分别与对学生视频观看轨迹进行聚类得出的结论进行对比,发现结果趋于一致,由此验证了文章提出的难度感知诊断方法的可行性与有效性。难度感知诊断方法依靠客观行为数据更加精准地掌握学生的学习难点,为提高课堂教学效率提供了有力保障。     

“培训班也有落后”的教育学分析

培训效果的问题是培训研究的热点和难点,研究者大多习惯从满足客户需求的角度,观察培训的效果。培训效果的检验准则有很多,＂学习落后＂消减程度是其中的一个准则。班级集体教学中总会存在＂落后现象＂,这是教育公平与教学效益博弈的产物。每个培训班总有落后,影响培训效果的众多因素通过导致＂学习落后＂的某些基因,如学习动机、认知结构、自我效能感、期望、学习风格等学习者主体因素而作用于培训效果,显然,教学中对＂落后现象＂控制的程度可以作为检验培训效果的一个评价维度。     

Use of Facebook,students’ intrinsic motivation to study writing,writing self-efficacy and writing performance

The study aimed to scrutinise how incorporating Facebook into a conventional writing class might impact on students’ intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy and writing performance, and to uncover how best to provide corrective feedback on students’ writing posted on Facebook. Sixty-four subjects from an intact group were recruited by means of purposive sampling. All participants sat the pre-test measuring intrinsic motivation to study writing, writing self-efficacy and writing performance. Following the pre-test, participants attended a regular conventional writing class incorporating Facebook for four months. At the conclusion of the study, participants sat the post-test and were interviewed regarding their learning experience. Participants were also requested to indicate which type of feedback provided on FB is preferred and to justify their responses. It was found that students’ intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy, as well as writing performance, improved markedly in the post-test and that direct corrective feedback is more favoured by students. Overall, the study suggests that not only does incorporating Facebook into a conventional writing class benefit students academically, but it also helps boost their intrinsic motivation to study writing and writing self-efficacy – two critical variables that dictate success in foreign language learning.     

The effectiveness of online instructional videos in the acquisition and demonstration of cognitive,affective and psychomotor rehabilitation skills

The use of instructional videos to teach clinical skills is an ever growing area of e‐learning based upon observational learning that is cited as one of the most basic yet powerful learning strategies. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the effectiveness of online instructional videos for the acquisition and demonstration of cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills among undergraduate students, throughout formative assessments with two different durations of instructional videos. The research suggests that the use of videos to support traditional learning should be encouraged. While a conclusive evidence—base for their usage has not yet been established they are a medium which is likely to benefit a proportion of a cohort, and it is very unlikely that they will be harmful to students' learning.     

The mediating role of attribution and self-efficacy variables for treatment effects on achievement outcomes

This experiment explored the mediating functions of attributional and self-efficacy variables on achievement outcomes for skill training treatments offered in conjunction with attributional feedback. Children who were identified as learned helpless and deficient in division skills received training on division operations either through modeling strategies or self-instructional practice. Half of the sample in each treatment received attributional feedback on effort, ability, and task difficulty. All treatments were effective in raising post-test achievement but only the results from the two treatments including attributional feedback and the modeling only treatment demonstrated significant post-test superiority over the achievement of a control group. Treatment effects on the mediating variables were less substantial but path analysis demonstrated the viability of a hypothesized model which suggests that the indirect effect of skill training and attributional feedback on achievement is mediated through the attribution and self-efficacy variables. Future research on how children process attributional information needs to consider ways to measure the generalizability of alleviation of learned helplessness and increased self-efficacy on achievement outcomes.     

Training self-assessment and task-selection skills: A cognitive approach to improving self-regulated learning

For self-regulated learning to be effective, students need to be able to accurately assess their own performance on a learning task and use this assessment for the selection of a new learning task. Evidence suggests, however, that students have difficulties with accurate self-assessment and task selection, which may explain the poor learning outcomes often found with self-regulated learning. In experiment 1, the hypothesis was investigated and confirmed that observing a human model engaging in self-assessment, task selection, or both could be effective for secondary education students’ (N = 80) acquisition of self-assessment and task-selection skills. Experiment 2 investigated and confirmed the hypothesis that secondary education students’ (N = 90) acquisition of self-assessment and task-selection skills, either through examples or through practice, would enhance the effectiveness of self-regulated learning. It can be concluded that self-assessment and task-selection skills indeed play an important role in self-regulated learning and that training these skills can significantly increase the amount of knowledge students can gain from self-regulated learning in which they choose their own learning tasks.     

浅析教师在体育合作学习中的角色和作用

体育合作学习是一种新型的教学理论体系,是让学生通过自己的努力和教师的科学指导完成教学任务的学习方法,这种体系对教师的要求较高,是从传统的教学体系向科学的教学体系转变,体现学生的主体作用,教师是教学中的组织者、策划者、执行者、协调者、监督者、评价者;各个学校体育教师要仔细研究合作学习的方法,把这种方法应用到具体的实践教学当中,让学生通过自己的努力和教师的科学指导完成体育教学任务,同时,也提高自己的教学实践工作,为自己的工作经验奠定良好的基础。     

Three-dimensional Visualization Software Assists Learning in Students with Diverse Spatial Intelligence in Medical Education

This study evaluated effect of mental rotation (MR) training on learning outcomes and explored effectiveness of teaching via three-dimensional (3D) software among medical students with diverse spatial intelligence. Data from n = 67 student volunteers were included. A preliminary test was conducted to obtain baseline level of MR competency and was utilized to assign participants to two experimental conditions, i.e., trained group (n = 25) and untrained group (n = 42). Data on the effectiveness of training were collected to measure participants’ speed and accuracy in performing various MR activities. Six weeks later, a large class format (LCF) session was conducted for all students using 3D software. The usefulness of technology-assisted learning at the LCF was evaluated via a pre- and post-test. Students’ feedback regarding MR training and use of 3D software was acquired through questionnaires. MR scores of the trainees improved from 25.9±4.6 points to 28.1±4.4 (P = 0.011) while time taken to complete the tasks reduced from 20.9±3.9 to 12.2±4.4 minutes. Males scored higher than females in all components (P = 0.016). Further, higher pre- and post-test scores were observed in trained (9.0±1.9 and 12.3±1.6) versus untrained group (7.8±1.8; 10.8±1.8). Although mixed-design analysis of variance suggested significant difference in their test scores (P < 0.001), both groups reported similar trend in improvement by means of 3D software (P = 0.54). Ninety-seven percent of students reported technology-assisted learning as an effective means of instruction and found use of 3D software superior to plastic models. Software based on 3D technologies could be adopted as an effective teaching pedagogy to support learning across students with diverse levels of mental rotation abilities.     

PowerPoint slide provision and student performance: the moderating roles of self-efficacy and gender

Research on the pedagogical value of providing students with PowerPoint (PPT) slide handouts has produced mixed results. One reason for the inconsistent findings may be that most studies in this stream of research have neglected to examine individual differences. In the current study, we aimed to advance research on the pedagogical value of providing students with access to PPT slide handouts by examining whether self-efficacy and gender influence the effect of PPT slide provision on academic performance. We found no evidence to suggest that the provision of slide handouts has broad, unconditional pedagogical value. Instead, we found that both self-efficacy and gender moderated the extent to which the availability of the handouts enhanced or hindered students’ performance. As predicted, both students high on self-efficacy and males performed significantly better when they were provided with handouts. Conversely, students low on self-efficacy performed significantly worse when the handouts were provided. Female students also trended toward lower performance when the handouts were provided. Additionally, we found that students who were provided with PPT handouts perceived their instructor as more effective, and that this relation was mediated by students’ feeling of preparation. Finally, students also considered the provision of PPT handouts more valuable to their learning and course performance than one-to-one interactions with the professor. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Learning strategies. A training programme

We elaborated and applied a training programme to teach learning strategies to students in continuing adult education courses in Valencia (Spain) throughout an academic year. We worked with one control group and with one experimental group. These groups were equivalent in terms of pre-test assessments and there was not any significant difference of means either in learning strategies or in marks in Spanish and Maths. We found significant difference of means in the post-test, after the training programme, in learning strategies, and also an important difference in marks. Experimental students improved their learning strategies significantly along with their marks in Spanish and Maths, whereas control students didn’t improve either their learning strategies or their marks. So we obtained generalization and transference of results. We think that these results are important and that they confirm the effectiveness of the methods of the educational intervention which we used. This intervention is placed in the field of learning to learn.     

Can performance feedback during instruction boost knowledge acquisition? Contrasting criterion-based and social comparison feedback

Feedback indicating how well students are performing during a learning task can be very stimulating. In this study with a pre- and post-test design, the effects of two types of performance feedback on learning results were compared: feedback during a learning task was either stated in terms of how well the students were performing relative to other students (social comparison feedback) or relative to an absolute criterion (criterion-based feedback). Thirty-four students in secondary vocational engineering education were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In both conditions, students worked together in small groups. All groups completed a math learning task, during which they received either social comparison feedback or criterion-based performance feedback. The findings showed that the type of feedback had a strong effect on learning outcomes: the post-test scores and gains of students in the social comparison condition were significantly higher than those of students in the criterion-based feedback condition.     

The effectiveness of graphic organizers for three classifications of secondary students in content area classes.

Previous research concerning the graphic or visual display of information with academically handicapped students has not addressed the instructional conditions that exist in mainstream settings. This article investigates the effectiveness of graphic organizers for three classifications of secondary students enrolled in content area classes: students with learning disabilities, remedial students, and students in regular education. The results of three separate experiments indicated that graphic organizers, whether teacher-directed, student-directed with text references, or student-directed with clues, produced significantly higher performance than self-study for each group of students. Several practical issues involving the use of graphic organizers with heterogeneous groups of secondary students are discussed.     

A computer-based spatial learning strategy approach that improves reading comprehension and writing

This article explores the effectiveness of a computer-based spatial learning strategy approach for improving reading comprehension and writing. In reading comprehension, students received scaffolded practice in translating passages into graphic organizers. In writing, students received scaffolded practice in planning to write by filling in graphic organizers and in translating them into passages. Based on a cluster-randomized sampling process, 2,468 students distributed in 12 schools and 69 classrooms participated in the study. Schools were randomly assigned to the computer-based instruction (CBI) group or traditional instruction (TI) group. Teachers assigned to the CBI treatment integrated the applications into the language arts curriculum during one school semester. A standardized test was used to measure reading comprehension and writing. The data were analyzed through a statistical multilevel model. The findings showed that students in the CBI group improved their reading and writing skills significantly more than students under TI—yielding an effect size d = 0.30.     

Self-efficacy, task complexity and task performance: Exploring interactions in two versions of vocabulary learning tasks

The present study aimed for better understanding of the interactions between task complexity and students?? self-efficacy beliefs and students?? use of learning strategies, and finally their interacting effects on task performance. This investigation was carried out in the context of Chinese students learning English as a foreign language in a university in China. The participants were 78 second-year university students (mean age?=?20.9?years). This study used a repeated-measures design with task complexity as the within-participants factor, and task sequence as the between-participants factor. Results indicated a significant task effect for self-efficacy beliefs and task performance, and a significant interaction effect of sequence with task complexity for learners?? self-efficacy beliefs in learning for both task versions, learners with higher self-efficacy beliefs had better task performances than learners with lower self-efficacy beliefs. The results also revealed a strong correlation between self-efficacy and the use of learning strategies for both tasks.