Influences on Computer‐based Problem Solving: help facilities,intrinsic orientation,gender and home computing

Abstract Microcomputer aided instruction often provides pupils with a means of obtaining assistance. The findings of an initial study suggested that experience on a microcomputer task with a help facility does not necessarily lead to improved performance. The frequent use of a help facility was associated with poorer concurrent performance and was associated with poorer performance when the help facility was no longer available. The possibility that the effects of the help facility were confounded by other variables led to a second controlled investigation of this issue. This experiment confirmed that a help facility was of no significant benefit and appeared to interfere with some aspects of the pupils’ performance. The initial investigation also examined other sources of influence on computer‐based problem solving. It was found that, as predicted, pupils with an intrinsic orientation tended to use a help facility less and to choose more difficult problems. However, pupils who were intrinsically orientated were not found to be any better at computer‐based problem solving than pupils who were less intrinsically orientated. Finally, no differences were found in computer‐based problem solving according to gender or the pupils’ access to home computers.     

Factors Related to Differential Achievement Among Boys in Ninth-Grade Algebra

Abstract

This study was an investigation to determine intellectual and non-intellectual variables associated with achievement, persistence, and change of curricular choice among secondary school pupils. The sample of 140 students was categorized into three groups: achievers (N = 86), those who encountered no academic difficulty in their four years of a curriculum; persisters (N = 23), those who encountered difficulty but remained in their initial choice; and changers (N = 31), those who changed their curriculum. The analysis of variance was applied to test significance of the intellectual variables; chi-square for the nonintellectual variables. The level of confidence used for significance was .05.

All intellectual variables tested proved statistically significant. None of the non-intellectual variables tested for changers and persisters proved significant. The conclusion reached was that academic skills, especially reading, arithmetic, and language, related to achievement and persistence in curricular choice.     

Effect of the implicit combinatorial model on combinatorial reasoning in secondary school pupils

Elementary combinatorial problems may be classified into three different combinatorial models (selection, partition and distribution). The main goal of this research was to determine the effect of the implicit combinatorial model on pupils' combinatorial reasoning before and after instruction. When building the questionnaire, we also considered the combinatorial operation and the nature of elements as task variables. The analysis of variance of the answers from 720 14–15 year-old pupils showed the influence of the implicit combinatorial model on problem difficulty and the interaction of all the factors with instruction. Qualitative analysis also revealed the dependence of error types on task variables. Consequently, the implicit combinatorial model should be considered as a didactic variable in organising elementary combinatorics teaching.     

School factors that facilitate or hinder the ability of teaching assistants to effectively support pupils with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in mainstream secondary schools

Growing numbers of pupils with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are attending mainstream schools, and increasing numbers of teaching assistants (TAs) are being deployed into classrooms to support them. Evidence suggests, however, that pupils who have a TA may underperform academically, receive less attention from their teachers and be isolated from their peer group. Issues relating to the deployment and training of these staff, and their relationships with class teachers have been raised as contributing to the negative impact of TAs. However, school factors – such as inclusive school culture and teacher training – have been overlooked. In light of this, the objectives of the current study were to (1) develop understanding of the aspects of school culture that TAs feel contribute to the development of inclusion, and (2) identify aspects of school culture, policies and practices that facilitate or hinder their ability to effectively support pupils with ASD. Fifteen TAs supporting pupils with ASD in four mainstream secondary schools were interviewed. Thematic analysis identified positive attitudes towards pupils with special educational needs, school leadership support for inclusion, collaboration and respect as components of an inclusive school culture. The factors perceived as facilitating or hindering the ability of TAs to effectively include pupils with ASD included access to expertise, communication within school and teaching staff awareness of ASD. These findings are discussed in relation to the growing literature on inclusive education for pupils with ASD.     

Aggression in primary schools: the predictive power of the school and home environment

In this study, we analyse the predictive power of home and school environment-related factors for determining pupils’ aggression. The multiple regression analyses are performed for fourth- and eighth-grade pupils based on the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 (N = 8394) and TIMSS 2011 (N = 9415) databases for Slovenia. At the national level, the Lestvica agresivnosti aggression scale was administered in both TIMSS cycles. For home environment variables, we included those related to socio-economic status, pupils’ educational aspirations, parental activities with their children and pupils’ free time activities. The results show that the variables related to socio-economic status, spare time activities and parental activities are significant predictors. The results differ in both analysed data-sets. For school environment variables, we include those related to the school climate, pupils’ attitudes towards school and school subjects and pupils’ achievement in mathematics. We find that the variables related to school climate and students’ self-confidence are significant predictors. These results are stable in both years. The predictive power of the school characteristics model (including only the school environment variables) is larger (based on the proportion of explained variance) compared with the home characteristics model. The hierarchical linear model of data from 2007 to 2011 shows small differences in aggression between schools. The inclusion of two data cycles collected in two time- periods allows us to observe changes in aggression predictors over time. Practical implications are finally included.     

Primary school pupils’ performances in understanding historical time

This study focuses on the development of the understanding of historical time of pupils in primary school. We present a developmental model with three stages: emergent, initial and continued understanding of historical time. Based on this model, we constructed an instrument to measure how pupils aged 6–12 perform. The participants were 1457 pupils from 7 Dutch primary schools. The analysis of the data showed that in all three stages pupils in higher grades significantly outperformed pupils in lower grades and that pupils’ performances were influenced by the variables gender and parents’ education. In all grades, there seemed to be room for improvement, especially in the lower grades (ages 6–9) where pupils have hardly had any teaching on the understanding of historical time. However, in the higher grades as well (ages 10–12), pupils could improve on the level of continued understanding of historical time.     

Does living with a female head-of-household affect the arithmetic achievement of black fourth-grade pupils?

It was the purpose of this investigation to examine the effects of living with a male or female head-of-household upon the arithmetic performance of fourth graders. No significant differences were found in mean scores between male and female pupils. Significant differences were found favoring those pupils living with male heads-of-households, particularly for female pupils and for pupils with IQ scores greater than 100. These findings should not be considered as simple cause and effect relationships, but rather as indicative of potential difficulty for some pupils.     

Academic self‐concept,reading attitudes and approaches to learning of children with dyslexia: do they differ from their peers?

This research aimed at exploring the motivation for reading of pupils with dyslexia, and to investigate whether they differ from their peers. A total of 32 pupils formed the LD group (22 boys and 10 girls, 5th‐ and 6th‐graders) who were diagnosed with dyslexia. A comparison group was formed of pupils who attended the same classes (N = 210), and these were divided into two groups (average/low performance, N = 115; high performance, N = 95), according to teachers’ ratings of pupils’ performance on reading. Self‐report measures were used to assess perceptions of academic ability, reading attitudes and approaches to learning. The results revealed that dyslexic pupils displayed lower academic self‐concept than the low/average and high performance groups on all domains, except Practical ability. Moreover, dyslexic pupils perceived reading less as a function of personal development, both enjoyment and utilitarian, as compared to their peers. Finally, the dyslexic group adopted the surface approach to learning, indicating an external motive, similarly to the average/low group, and adopted the deep approach to learning less as compared to their high achieving peers. The implications of these findings are discussed at pupil, teacher and classroom level.     

Stability and Lability in Science Interest from Middle Schools to the Age of Science Choices (14 + )

Summaries

English

In parts of England and Wales, middle schools have been introduced for pupils of eight to 12 or nine to 13 years of age. From these they enter secondary schools whose general age of entry is 11. It is feared that the teaching of science in middle schools is inadequate and variable. This research has followed the science interests of pupils aged from 12 to 14 and investigated the factors that affect them by means of three questionnaires administered at yearly intervals.

The first questionnaire was administered to almost 600 boys and girls mainly to explore their recollections of the science activities they had experienced or not done in the 52 middle schools from which they came. Their liking for science was also measured and each of the activities done or not done was correlated with it. There were activities which correlated positively and negatively with liking for middle‐school science. There were also sex differences, with boys showing greater interest in ‘physical science’ activities and girls in biological ones. The most remarkable finding was that for girls the higher correlating activities were not merely biological but botanical and they were deterred by some activities with animals.

The second questionnaire after one year in the secondary schools, i.e. at 13 + , monitored the liking for chemistry, physics and biology taken by about 450 pupils. The third questionnaire was given at 14+ when these pupils had chosen to continue or abandon the further study of the three sciences. All the variables from the three questionnaires were then correlated with these science choices. Although the general influence of liking for middle‐school science had by then disappeared, certain specific middle‐school science activities still correlated significantly with science choices. The correlates of chemistry and physics choice were not exclusively physical science but included biological activities in which some measurement was involved, for example plant growth. There were sex differences. Previous activities with animals was detrimental to girls’ biology choices.

A range of other factors had, however, altered pupils’ liking for sciences over the two years in the secondary school: effects of teachers, perceptions of difficulty (especially in the case of girls’ physcial science) and liking for practical work. About a third of the pupils had not made up their minds about what subjects they wanted to study indicating that such an early age of choice is undesirable.     

Reading Disabled Students’ Word Recognition Abilities: An Elementary and Secondary Perspective

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare three word recognition abilities of reading disabled students. One hundred and fifty (150) reading disabled pupils, 75 elementary and 75 high school, were randomly selected to participate in this study. Correlated t‐test procedures were used to process the data. The dependent variables were the students’ analytical, phonics, and context analysis word recognition abilities as measured by the Wide Range Achievement Test, Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test, and 12 cloze passages. Results indicated that elementary and secondary reading disabled pupils have significant differences in their ability to use the three different word recognition abilities investigated. Implications for minimum competency testing in reading were discussed.     

彝族农村小学高年级学生数学问题解决观念的调查研究

通过对233名彝族农村小学4～6年级学生进行数学问题解决观念问卷的抽样调查,结果发现:学生数学问题解决观念归为数学问题、常规和非常规数学问题解决、数学问题解决动机和数学问题解决能力五方面的自我认识和看法;凉山彝族农村4～6年级学生数学问题解决观念总体上不理想,在数学教学中应给予充分重视;民族和性别因素在方差分析中主效应明显,可能与彝族学生思维方式、语言习惯等文化背景差异及当地小学数学教学现状有关;数学问题、常规和非常规数学问题解决、数学问题解决动机等观念显著影响数学问题解决观念。     

从语言资源的角度看新疆少数民族小学生的汉语学习

文章以乌鲁木齐地区少数民族小学生为个案,试图从语言资源的角度,考察、分析少数民族小学生接受双语教学以来的汉语学习与应用能力、课外学习汉语的途径、语言识读能力和语言社会交际能力情况,以期为新疆少数民族小学生双语教学提供借鉴.     

Response to Reidun Tangen: insiders and relational problems

This paper reports the experiences of special education needs co‐ordinators (SENCOs) on the inclusion of pupils with a visual impairment (VI) in mainstream schools in Northern Ireland. A mixed method approach (postal questionnaire survey (n=113) and interviews (n=6)) was utilised to triangulate the findings. The results indicate an inverse relationship between school years and pupil numbers, with negligible numbers of pupils with a VI reported in higher level examination classes. They also reveal that, for health and safety reasons and due to problems in accessing text books, some schools discourage pupils with a VI from studying subjects such as technology and design, physical education and mathematics. While pupils with a VI are thought to enjoy the social aspects of school life (e.g., peer friendships), less is known about their ability to access a number of areas within the school, including lunchtime clubs and the dinner hall. These findings raise questions about the qualitative nature of the educational experience afforded pupils with a VI.     

Mathematics Instruction in Safe Space: Prospective Elementary Teachers' Views of Mathematics Education

This article discusses findings from an investigation into 42 prospective elementary teachers' views of mathematics teaching and learning. The focus is on how the participants saw the roles of teachers, pupils,and mathematics in mathematics classes as they communicated their views in journals written during the study. I argue that some prospective teachers express a tendency to protect and relieve their future pupils from mathematics. I show how this tendency affects a shift from school being the place where teachers teach pupils toward a conception of a safe space where the teachers predominantly care for the children. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Profiles of ability, effort, and difficulty: Relationships with worldviews, motivation and adjustment

Adopting a person-centered approach, we profiled 5th and 6th grade children's (152 boys and 161 girls) school-related beliefs about perceived task difficulty and agency beliefs in ability and effort. Five clusters were compared across key learning-related dimensions encompassing underlying worldviews (means–ends beliefs, normative difficulty, nature of ability), motivation (intrinsic, identified, introjected, and extrinsic), and adjustment (achievement and well-being): Agentic (high ability, high effort, low difficulty), Strivers (above average ability, high effort, high difficulty), Normative (average ability, effort and difficulty), Disengaged (low ability, low effort, average difficulty) and Challenged (low ability, low effort, high difficulty). The findings suggest that difficulty, perceived either as challenge or obstacle, plays an important role for the belief profiles, and that relationships with worldviews and motivation are indicative of adaptation and maladaptation.     

Analysis of the Effects of School Variables Using Multilevel Models

Multilevel models allow data to be analysed which are hierarchical in nature; in particular, data which have been collected on pupils grouped into schools. Some of the associated variables may be measured at the pupil level, and others at the school level. The use of multilevel models produces estimates of variances between schools and pupils, as well as the effects of background variables in reducing or explaining these variances. One data set which has been analysed relates to the national surveys of mathematics carried out in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In this case the basic unit of analysis was a pupil's performance in a group of items within one of 12 sub‐categories of maths. Each pupil tackled two such item groups (or sub‐tests) and thus a three‐level model was required, with the levels representing sub‐tests, pupils and schools. A number of background variables at both pupil and school levels were also measured, and interesting results were obtained when a multilevel model was fitted. The program used was a version of one developed by Professor H. Goldstein. A quite different data set related to pupils’ responses to a questionnaire survey about their reactions to their current course of study. The dependent variable was a measure of pupils’ satisfaction with the course derived from their responses, and other pupil level variables were also derived, relating to their school experiences and personal attributes. School level variables such as size and type of school were obtained from a schools data base. The program Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) was used to model these data, using only two levels. The two multilevel program used have different strengths and capabilities, but are related in terms of the kinds of models that can be fitted. Such models can lead to greater insights into the relationships between school and pupil level variables, and their influence on pupil results or attitudes.     

School effects and ethnic,gender and socio-economic gaps in educational achievement at age 11

There are long-standing achievement gaps in England associated with socio-economic status (SES), ethnicity and gender, but relatively little research has evaluated interactions between these variables or explored school effects on such gaps. This paper analyses the national test results at age 7 and age 11 of 2,836 pupils attending 68 mainstream primary schools in an ethnically diverse inner London borough. The groups with the lowest educational achievement and poorest progress were both Black Caribbean and White British low SES pupils. White British middle and high SES pupils made substantially more progress than White British low SES pupils, significantly increasing the SES gap over time. However low and high SES Black pupils made equally poor progress age 7–11. School effects on pupil progress were large, but there was no evidence of differential school effectiveness in relation to SES, ethnicity or gender. Low SES pupils in the more effective schools performed significantly better than high SES pupils in the less effective schools, but all pupils (both low and high SES) benefit from attending the more effective schools and so these schools do not eliminate the SES gap. The limits to change that may be achieved by schools alone are discussed.     

Book reviews

The purpose of this study was to find out: (a) pupils' attitudes towards open-ended science investigations, and (b) the problems that pupils encounter when carrying out such investigations in groups. The study was conducted in a class of 39 primary 6 pupils of mixed ability who carried out four investigations. Data were based on pupils' responses on an attitude survey questionnaire, interviews, video tapes of pupils performing the investigations and field notes. The majority of the pupils liked conducting such investigations. Reasons for positive responses were that the pupils had the freedom to explore and devise their own procedures to find out things that they wanted to know about, they could work together and discuss with friends, the investigations were interesting and it was a valuable learning experience. Reasons for negative responses included the difficulty of coming up with good ideas to design the investigations, and group conflicts. The findings also indicate that group dynamics played an important role in influencing pupils' attitudes towards the investigations.     

Systematic differences across evaluation schemes and educational choice

Using large-scale register data from Denmark in a difference-in-differences framework, I analyse whether systematic disparities between internal teacher scores and external exam scores in the school-leaving certificates are linked to pupil characteristics. Such differences may matter for post-compulsory education choices in school systems where external assessments are not available when these choices are made. I use sibling fixed effects methods to simulate changes in educational choices for disadvantaged groups if they were graded by their teachers as their advantaged peers. The results suggest that probabilities of enrolling in more ambitious tracks would increase across the whole ability distribution and for all disadvantaged groups. In particular, in the middle of the ability distribution the results predict an increase of 5% points in migrant pupils’ probability of enrolling in high-school. The corresponding increase for pupils with low educated parents is 4% points, closing 13% of the high-school enrolment gap to pupils with high educated parents.