Teachers' use and children's preferences of rewards in elementary school

This study examined teacher reports of reward use and students' preferences for rewards across elementary school grades. Forty-eight urban elementary school teachers indicated which of four basic categories of rewards (edible, tangible, activity, and social rewards) they use in their classrooms and their evaluation of the effectiveness of these rewards for their age group of students. Ninety-eight second through fifth graders randomly selected to represent the students assigned to these teachers were individually administered a reward preference survey. Findings revealed high reward use by teachers. Children reported a wide variety of reward preferences, with no significant gender or age differences found. Additionally, there was no clear relationship between teacher use and children's preferences. Implications for intervention programming are discussed.     

A Statistical Prediction of High-School Success for Purpose of Educational Guidance

ABSTRACT

In the learning environment, teacher–student interaction plays a major role in influencing the cognitive and affective development of students. Teacher–student interaction is also an important parameter of educational quality. Teachers’ and students’ preferences of teacher interpersonal behavior are linked to their individual characteristics and styles. The author examined students’ and teachers’ thinking styles and their preferences for teacher–student interpersonal behaviors. A total of 325 students and 146 teachers from 2 secondary schools were involved in this study. The results show that there were divergences between students’ and teachers’ thinking styles and their preferences of teacher interpersonal behavior. Convergences between students and teachers were also found, as both had preferences for cooperative teacher interpersonal behavior.     

Studying English with Thai and native‐speaking teachers

This research examined how students in foundation English classes perceive their Thai and native‐speaking teachers. The researchers surveyed students at five universities and compared a group of 600 students studying with native‐speaking teachers with another group of 600 students studying with Thai teachers in order to investigate three areas: (1) students’ previous background in English‐language learning, (2) students’ general opinions and preferences for studying English with Thai or native‐speaking teachers, and (3) student perceptions of studying with their current English teachers. Overall, most students had similar backgrounds and thought positively about their classroom teachers. However, there were differences in students’ teacher preferences for studying English; students more commonly preferred the type of teacher that was presently teaching them. This suggests that the type of teacher in the classroom does have some effect on students’ preferences and should be considered a factor when analysing research related to native‐speaking and nonnative‐speaking English teachers.     

Callous–unemotional (CU) traits in adolescent boys and response to teacher reward and discipline strategies

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between callous–unemotional (CU) traits and response to rewards and discipline in adolescent boys using a mixed-methods approach. Participants comprised 39 boys aged between 12 and 13 years and 8 teachers. Quantitative findings showed that CU traits were significantly related to punishment insensitivity, controlling for conduct problems, autism symptoms and hyperactivity. In contrast, there was no significant association between CU traits and reward sensitivity. Qualitative analysis indicated that teachers view children high in CU traits as responsive to fewer reward and discipline strategies, and strategies need to be implemented and monitored with care to avoid unintended, undesirable outcomes. However, time out, praise, support from other staff and maintaining a positive teacher–child relationship were identified as effective strategies. Findings emphasise the need to carefully select, modify and implement existing evidence-based classroom behaviour-management strategies with high-CU children.     

A study of some factors influencing attitudes to teaching the handicapped among Nigerian student teachers

The main aim of this study is to study the attitudes towards teaching handicapped pupils among a group of Nigerian student teachers. A 13-item Likert-type scale, specially constructed to measure attitudes towards the teaching of handicapped pupils, was administered to 149 Nigerian student teachers, of differing ethnic and educational backgrounds. The respondents were also questioned about their preferences for teaching certain types of handicapped pupils.It was found that female student teachers had a much more favourable attitude towards teaching the handicapped than male student teachers. Student teachers under twenty-five had more favourable attitudes towards teaching the handicapped than older student teachers. Ibo students showed the most favourable attitudes towards teaching the handicapped, and specialist-trained students showed more favourable attitudes towards teaching the handicapped pupils than their counterparts who had not been specially trained.When it came to preferences for teaching certain categories of handicap, a clear sex difference appeared. Almost half of the 101 males nominated teaching the mentally handicapped as their first choice, with only about 10% selecting the visually handicapped as their first choice. The situation was reversed in the case of the females, with over a third selecting visual handicap as their first choice, and only about 10% selecting mental retardation as their first choice.     

Teacher Perceptions of Learning Motivation and Classroom Behavior: The Role of Student Characteristics

The present study investigates whether teacher perceptions of students’ cognitive skills, their learning motivation, and their classroom behavior differ according to students’ socioeconomic status, immigrant background, and gender. Data from N = 4746 German fourth graders and data from their parents and teachers were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Controlling for student achievement as measured in a standardized achievement test and student motivation as measured by student and parent reports, we found that teachers overestimated the cognitive skills of high-SES students and girls in comparison to those of low-SES students and boys. Similarly, teachers perceived high-SES students, students who are not from an immigrant background, and girls as having a higher learning motivation and as having more cognitive skills. Finally, we found that teachers’ perceptions of students’ learning motivation and classroom behavior mediated the relationship between student characteristics and cognitive skills as perceived by the teacher.     

Student-centred learning environments: an investigation into student teachers’ instructional preferences and approaches to learning

The use of student-centred learning environments in education has increased. This study investigated student teachers’ instructional preferences for these learning environments and how these preferences are related to their approaches to learning. Participants were professional Bachelor students in teacher education. Instructional preferences and approaches to learning were measured by means of questionnaires. Results showed that most students preferred teacher direction, cooperative learning and knowledge construction, and adopted a deep approach. Moreover, significant correlations were found between approaches to learning and instructional preferences. Students adopting a deep approach preferred knowledge construction and cooperative learning, while students adopting a surface approach had a preference for teacher direction and passive learning.     

Relations of Student Perceptions of Teacher Oral Feedback With Teacher Expectancies and Student Self-Concept

In this article, the authors investigated the relations of students’ perceptions of teachers’ oral feedback with teacher expectancies and student self-concept. A sample of 1,598 Taiwanese children in Grades 3 to 6 completed measures of student perceptions of teacher oral feedback and school self-concept. Homeroom teachers identified students for whom they had high or low expectancies. Discriminant analysis indicated student perceptions of positive and negative academic oral feedback were more important than nonacademic feedback in predicting teacher expectancies. A 2-way multivariate analysis of variance showed that boys perceived more negative oral feedback than did girls, and fifth-grade students perceived more negative oral feedback on academic and nonacademic domains than did the third- and fourth-grade students. Furthermore, structural equation modeling results indicated a particularly strong relation between positive academic oral feedback and academic self-concept.     

The Effects of Classwide Self-Assessment on Preschool Children's Engagement in Transition,Free Play and Small Group Instruction

The effectiveness of using a group self-management procedure to increase the on-task behavior of four disruptive preschool boys was studied using a reversal design combined with a multiple baseline across settings design. Measures of child and teacher behavior were obtained through direct observation during free play, transition, and small group instruction activities. The classwide procedure, which included self-assessment by the students, matching the assessments with the teacher, and reinforcement based on a match between teacher and child ratings, was conducted by teachers in two classrooms located at a Head Start center in a large urban area. Results suggest that use of the procedure improved on-task behavior of the target students and decreased off-task and competing behavior. For the teachers, use of a group approach to self-management served the dual purpose of addressing individual student needs while promoting independent and responsible behavior for all members of the class.     

Student,teacher, and instructional characteristics related to students' gains in flexibility

Flexibility in problem solving has been widely recognized as an important skill for students' mastery of mathematics. Here we utilize the Opportunity-Propensity framework to investigate student characteristics, teacher characteristics, and teacher instructional practices that may be associated with students' gains in flexibility in algebra. Teacher and student data were collected from 8th and 9th grade Algebra I teachers in Massachusetts as part of a larger study on the impact of a researcher-developed year-long supplementary curriculum that focused on improving students' flexibility. We explore student demographics, teacher background characteristics and teacher instructional practices as predictors of student gains in flexibility. We further investigate instructional practices associated with flexibility gains through an analysis of teacher questioning in the classroom for teachers whose students achieved the greatest gains in flexibility and those whose students achieved the least gains. Our results indicate that prior knowledge is a reliable predictor of flexibility gains and that gender is an important student background characteristic associated with the development of flexibility. In addition, although high and low gain teachers did not differ in their implementation fidelity, high flexibility gain teachers asked more open-ended questions that prompted students to verbalize the main ideas of the lesson.     

The Effects of Classwide Self-Assessment on Preschool Children's Engagement in Transition, Free Play and Small Group Instruction

The effectiveness of using a group self-management procedure to increase the on-task behavior of four disruptive preschool boys was studied using a reversal design combined with a multiple baseline across settings design. Measures of child and teacher behavior were obtained through direct observation during free play, transition, and small group instruction activities. The classwide procedure, which included self-assessment by the students, matching the assessments with the teacher, and reinforcement based on a match between teacher and child ratings, was conducted by teachers in two classrooms located at a Head Start center in a large urban area. Results suggest that use of the procedure improved on-task behavior of the target students and decreased off-task and competing behavior. For the teachers, use of a group approach to self-management served the dual purpose of addressing individual student needs while promoting independent and responsible behavior for all members of the class.     

What makes a good educator? The relevance of meta programmes

This paper reports the results of a qualitative study which explores the relevance of meta programmes to students' perceptions of teaching quality. Meta programmes are a model of personality preferences from the discipline of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). Research into teaching effectiveness indicates that students rate as important ‘hygiene factors’ such as the teacher's ‘knowledge of the subject’ as well as less tangible qualities including ‘ability to communicate’ and ‘student–teacher rapport’. This study reveals the need for similar qualities but, in some cases, presence of these ‘hygiene factors’ was insufficient; students cited other factors related to personality. Some students were found to like the approach of certain teachers whilst other students rated the same teachers less favourably. When questioned as to why, factors emerged that relate to the distinct teaching style adopted by these teachers that appeared to suit particular students and not others. This study suggests that a teacher's meta programmes influence the approaches adopted in their teaching and these styles suit students with matching meta programme preferences. Where students have different meta programme preferences from the teacher, then, even where the ‘hygiene factors’ are met, this leaves the student dissatisfied. There is potential for teachers to adopt teaching approaches more appropriate for the meta programme profiles of their students. Also, on the part of the students, an increased awareness of their meta programme preferences offers the potential to improve their learning experience.     

Age and intergroup differences in attitudes toward the teaching profession: How do teachers and students view themselves and each other?

Differences in attitudes toward the profession were determined among samples of teachers varying in CA and between teachers and students enrolled in teacher education programs. The students rated items reflecting “altruistic” and “pragmatic” needs met by teaching in terms of their importance in selecting teaching as a career and in terms of the way they perceived experienced teachers would rate them. The teachers rated the items in terms of their importance in their present teaching career and as they thought current students would rate them. The results indicated the absence of age differences in attitudes among the teacher samples. However both objective (self) and perceived intergroup differences in attitudes were found between the student and teacher samples. These results provide strong support for Neugarten's hypothesis that differences in the behavior and attitudes of adults reflect changes in social states rather than developmental differences and that the hypothesis can be generalized both to self and perceived intergroup differences in attitudes.     

Non-Athletic High-School Contests: 40,000 Orchestras 600,000 Debaters

Great teachers understand the fundamental difference between motivation and inspiration: motivation is self-focused and inspiration is other focused. Exceptional teachers guide students to greatness by inspiring them to discover where their talents and passions intersect. For today's besieged classroom teacher, the desire to motivate students often springs from a place of self-concern: "I want to change your behavior with a reward or incentive so that, if you meet the targets or goals I set for you, this will help me meet my own needs and goals." Students are highly motivated to perform when they first come to school. The question is not "how can students be motivated?" but rather, "how can educators be deterred from diminishing—even destroying—student motivation and morale through their policies and practices?"     

Variables affecting physics achievement

Much research has focused on student views about physics concepts, with an emphasis on the identification of alternative conceptions, and how curricula and professional development may ameliorate the situation. However, there has been little work on determining the extent of, and in separating, the student and teacher/classroom level variables that may impact student physics achievement. This study examined the effect of different student and teacher/classroom level variables on student understanding of physics concepts using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), a regression based technique. The data were collected from 68 different teachers and 3,119 students who were using a reform curriculum, Active Physics. Teachers and students completed surveys asking about their beliefs, their classes and their personal characteristics. Students also completed a physics achievement test. The data show that students of teachers who used Active Physics for a greater portion of the year scored higher on the achievement test than did students of teachers who did not use the curriculum as much. Furthermore, the data show that the achievement gap was narrowed between boys and girls and between students with different attitudes toward physics. Additionally teachers who received inservice instruction on how to implement Active Physics narrowed the gap between students with different views of their classroom involvement. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 961–976, 2009     

Malaysian primary pre-service teachers’ perceptions of students’ disruptive behaviour

The purpose of this paper was to investigate Malaysian primary pre-service teachers’ perceptions of students’ disruptive behaviour and their self-reported strategies to prevent and to manage such behaviours. Results indicate that Malaysian pre-service teachers understand disruptive behaviours to be those that disrupt the learning and teaching process. They identified the cause of student disruptive behaviour as factors residing within the individual student. Pre-service teachers here reported preventative strategies in terms of changing teaching strategies and threats to use punishment. When addressing students’ disruptive behaviour, pre-service teachers reported that they would use one-to-one counselling with students and remove tokens or hold back rewards. A discussion regarding the implications for teacher education institutions and future research concludes this paper.     

Student Authoritarianism and Teacher Authoritarianism as Factors in the Determination of Student Performance and Attitudes

Recent investigations designed to elucidate the teacher behaviors which are facilitative of positive student attitudes and increased student performance have presented inconsistent results. It is hypothesized that the inconsistency between studies may be due to an interaction between teacher characteristics and student characteristics in the determination of the dependent variables involved. To test this hypothesis, teachers and students in a West Coast high school were administered a revised version of the California F-Scale (a measure of authoritarianism). High- and Low-F groups of both teachers and students were selected, and students’ grades and attitudes toward their teachers were observed. It was found that High-F students exposed to Low-F teachers showed particularly low attitudes toward their teachers and particularly low grades. Data for other combinations of student and teacher characteristics were essentially equivalent.     

Factors Influencing Entering Teacher Candidates’ Preferences for Instructional Activities: A glimpse into their orientations towards teaching

The present study was designed to identify and characterize the major factors that influence entering science teacher candidates’ preferences for different types of instructional activities, and to analyze what these factors suggest about teacher candidates’ orientations towards science teaching. The study involved prospective teachers enrolled in the introductory science teaching course in an undergraduate science teacher preparation program. Our analysis was based on data collected using a teaching and learning beliefs questionnaire, together with structured interviews. Our results indicate that entering science teacher candidates have strong preferences for a few activity types. The most influential factors driving entering science teacher candidates’ selections were the potential of the instructional activities to motivate students, be relevant to students’ personal lives, result in transfer of skills to non‐science situations, actively involve students in goal‐directed learning, and implement curriculum that represents what students need to know. This set of influencing factors suggests that entering science teacher candidates’ orientations towards teaching are likely driven by one or more of these three central teaching goals: (1) motivating students, (2) developing science process skills, and (3) engaging students in structured science activities. These goals, and the associated beliefs about students, teaching, and learning, can be expected to favor the development or enactment of three major orientations towards teaching in this population of future science teachers: “motivating students,” “process,” and “activity‐driven.”     

关于师生互动类型划分的研究

按照不同的划分标准,可将师生互动关系划分为不同的类型。国内外的研究者按照师生互动中的主体地位、师生行为、师生之间的不同情感以及教师的行为作风、师生行为的对象、行为属性和师生互动方式等划分标准将师生互动类型划分为教师中心式、学生中心式和知识中心式;教师命令式、民主协商式和师生互不干涉式;师个互动、师组互动和师班互动;等等。而以师生互动中权威的主导地位为划分标准,可以将师生互动划分为师权型师生互动、生权型师生互动和平等型师生互动。