How autonomy support mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and approaches to learning

Abstract

The significant interplay between self-efficacy, autonomy support and approaches to learning in adolescent students is widely recognized. However, less is known about whether substantial differences exist between early and middle adolescent students from schools with different environments. To close this research gap, this study used latent mean comparison and multigroup structural equation modeling with questionnaire data from a sample of German adolescent students (N?=?1153; M_AgeT1?=?13.97, SD = 1.37; M_AgeT2?=?14.27, SD = 1.25) in two waves. Multigroup structural equation modeling reveals that autonomy functions as a mediator in the association between self-efficacy and approaches to learning only for students from schools with a student-centered learning environment based on competence-matrices in contrast to a teacher-directed learning environment, particularly for early adolescent students. More specifically, adolescents’ approaches to learning can be enhanced through autonomy-supportive learning independently of their self-efficacy.     

Instructional methods and languages in class: A comparison of two teaching approaches and two teaching languages in the field of intercultural learning

The article presents the results of a quasi-experimental intervention study with a 2 × 2 factorial design. We implemented a problem-based intercultural learning unit in four secondary schools (grades 9 to 12) and varied the teaching approach (analytical/affective-experiential) and the language of instruction (German/English). The learning unit covered six 45-min lessons and was conducted in nine school courses (n = 143). Five additional school courses (n = 66) served as a control group. In all experimental groups, students engaged with critical incidents. These were either analysed (analytical focus) or acted out as role plays (affective-experiential focus). In addition, students analysed film clips (analytical focus) or participated in a simulation game (affective-experiential focus). The experimental groups outperformed the control group in the post-test, which required the analysis of critical incidents. Both teaching approaches were equally effective; however, students evaluated affective-experiential learning more positively. Using a foreign language for teaching did not impair performance.     

Using a scholarship of teaching and learning approach to award faculty who innovate

This study examines a college-teaching award that uses a scholarship of teaching model focusing on learning outcomes. Through questionnaires the researcher examined two groups’ perceptions: award recipients and academic leaders. Respondents described the award and indicated the perceived effect on faculty and programs. Both groups highlighted faculty incentive to innovate for promoting student learning, a strong impact on performance evaluation, and recognition of exceptional teaching. Respondents recommended better communicating the award’s rigor and learning focus to increase its impact. Recipients reported the award’s influence on continued innovation, engagement in teaching scholarship, and leadership opportunities. Over half have presented their work in peer-reviewed venues.     

Emergent interactions: rethinking the relationship between teaching and learning

The relationship between teaching and learning is represented in contemporary higher education research which has looked at the correlations between students’ approaches to learning and teachers’ approaches to teaching. This article proposes a rethinking of this relationship, building on a critical realist perspective. Here, the teaching–learning interaction is argued to be emergent from the activities of teaching and of learning, and it is this emergent property which provides the explanatory mechanism for the relationship between them. Support for this position is located in recent work by Paul Ashwin and also in the sociology of Margaret Archer.     

Measuring learning: discrepancies between conceptions of and approaches to learning

This study is framed under the student approaches to learning tradition. The aim was to identify convergence in quantitative and qualitative responses of individuals when measuring their conceptions of and approaches to learning with a mixed methods design. A sample of 1110 Spanish Master’s level teacher education students completed a scale on approaches to learning (R-SPQ-2F), and a randomly selected subsample of 111 answered an open-ended question on how they learned. Overall, the qualitative and quantitative data did not support each other, as inventory responses showed a clear predominance of a deep, non-surface approach to learning, whereas qualitative answers reflected a tendency towards lower-order conceptions of learning. Inconsistencies in the results suggest future research ought to use a combination of techniques when exploring constructs such as learning should they wish to draw valid conclusions.     

Perceptions of the learning environment,learning preferences,and approaches to studying among medical students in Pakistan

Students at a Pakistani medical college were surveyed using instruments taken from Western research. The students who rated their courses positively tended to adopt an organised approach in their learning and studying. The students who perceived that their assessment and workload were inappropriate preferred a transmissive approach to teaching and adopted a surface approach in their learning and studying. The students who preferred a student-centred approach to teaching tended to adopt a deep approach in their learning and studying. This confirms the idea, well established in Western research, that there exists a strong relationship between students’ perceptions of their courses and the approaches that they adopt on those courses. However, the incorporation of problem-based learning in the medical curriculum had not led to any enhancement of their perceptions and preferences, nor had it led to an unambiguous improvement in their approaches to studying. This is attributed to the hybrid nature of their programmes, in which problem-based activities were combined with more conventional forms of teaching and assessment, and to the anxiety and stress which seem to be common among students at medical schools in Pakistan.     

因材施教,灵活多变——英语教学方法与学习风格初探

因材施教是每一位教师必须遵守的教学原则。在英语教学中,教师往往会面临这样一个问题:如何使自己的教学方法适应学生不同的学习风格和学习目的?本文通过对比,论述了两种不同的教学方法,即“以教师为中心”的教学方法和“以学习者为中心”的教学方法所各自拥有的优势和不足。由于学习者之间的差异,本文认为:作为一位专业的英语教师,我们必须充分考虑学生不同的英语学习风格和方法,并采取灵活多变的教学方法来使自己的教学风格与学生的学习风格尽可能地协调和统一,只有这样才能提高教学质量,提高学习者的语言学习效率。     

Lecturers' approaches to teaching and their relationship to conceptions of good teaching

Previous research has established a close link between students'conceptions of learning, approaches to study and learning outcomes.Until recently, there have been few studies of lecturers' approaches toteaching in higher education and their relationship with conceptions ofteaching. This study aimed to characterise the alternative approaches toteaching of university lecturers, and to examine the relationshipbetween lecturers' approaches to teaching and their conceptions of goodteaching. This study adopted an open naturalistic approach. Seventeenlecturers in three departments in a university were selected forinterview based on their rank, years of teaching and industrial orprofessional experience. Lecturers were interviewed individually abouttheir conceptions of good teaching, motivational strategies andeffective teaching. The interview records were then content analysed bythe two researchers of the study. The study found that (a) it waspossible to characterise lecturers' approaches to teaching with onemotivation and five strategy dimensions; (b) the conceptions of teachingof the lecturers were best described by two main orientations oftransmissive and facilitative teaching; (c) lecturers who conceivedteaching as transmitting knowledge were more likely to usecontent-centred approaches to teaching, while those who conceivedteaching as facilitative tended to use learning-centred approaches. Thestudy concludes by suggesting that fundamental changes to the quality ofteaching and learning are unlikely to happen without changes tolecturers' conception of teaching.     

The relationship between conceptions of teaching and approaches to teaching

The relationship between conceptions of teaching and approaches to teaching was explored in a study of 18 secondary school art teachers in Hong Kong. Conceptions of teaching approaches were fitted to a four‐category model. Each of the categories was distinguished by reference to six relevant dimensions. As is the case in higher education, approaches to teaching lower forms, with little pressure from external examinations or school ethos, followed logically from conceptions of teaching. There was also evidence that contextual influences, if they were sufficiently strong, could play a part in teachers’ approaches to teaching in the lower forms. For senior forms, the most marked contextual influence on approaches to teaching came from the external examination syllabus. Of the 13 teachers who taught senior form students, eight reported using approaches to teaching that were significantly different from those they used for lower forms. The remaining four used essentially the same approach for junior and senior forms because these were consistent with the orientation of examinations that measure skill and knowledge acquisition. Finally, the data suggest that both the educational background of the teachers and the banding levels (designation of the school as high or low achieving) of the schools they were teaching in were related to the combined conceptions and approaches. The influence of banding levels could be due either to teachers choosing a type of school consistent with their beliefs or the environment of the school influencing teachers’ beliefs and practices.     

Online learning: Learner characteristics and their approaches to managing learning

Using cluster analysis this study investigated the characteristics of learning strategies learners use in online courses with one-on-one mentoring. Three distinct approaches were identified: “Mastery oriented”, “Task focused” and “Minimalist in effort”. Despite the widespread concern that students will have difficulty managing their time in online courses with high level of student freedom, this study found that the vast majority of learners were very effective in their learning strategies. The findings speak well for the potential of distance education environments to provide high quality self-paced learning, accommodating different learning strategies, which is difficult to do in group-paced courses. We further explored how these approaches relate to and interact with, participants’ background and their levels of satisfaction and self reported learning.     

Academics’ experiences of understanding of their subject matter and the relationship of this to their experiences of teaching and learning

In this paper we focus on the issue of how academic staff experience the understanding of their subject matter and the relationship of this understanding to their experience of teaching. In recent years there has been a substantial amount of research into how academic staff conceive of teaching and learning, how they approach their teaching, and how their approaches to teaching relate to how their students approach their learning. In our present project this research is being extended by looking at the way 31 academics from four broad fields of study experience their understanding of their subject matter and how this relates to the way they experience their teaching. Using a phenomenographic approach we show that academics who experience their subject matter in atomistic and less integrated ways experience their teaching in more information transmission and teacher-focused ways, while those with a more integrated and holistic experience of understanding their subject experience their teaching in more conceptual change and student-focused ways.in final form: 9 September 2004     

Beyond the student teaching seminar: examining transformative learning through arts-based approaches**

This qualitative study examined the question: How can arts-based approaches facilitate transformative learning in a student teaching seminar? Two teacher educators facilitated a supplemental and voluntary arts-based ST seminar that comprised six, two-hour sessions. Thirty-four student teachers participated over five semesters making use of Theater of the Oppressed and other arts-based activities to process dilemmas they faced in their student teaching contexts. Data included video recordings, photographs, journal reflection, participant artwork, and transcribed focus group interviews. Data analysis employed line-by-line coding to identify critical incidents. We offer examples where pre-service student teachers worked with a dilemma, examined their assumptions, engaged in perspective-taking, and in the process explored new possibilities. Engaging in embodied reflections, naming, imagining, and critically reflecting provided rich opportunity for constructing new ways of thinking and feeling, which could lead to transformative learning. Issues relating to the seminar environment like safety, starting with participants’ dilemmas, and willingness to take risks and ownership in the learning process supported transformative learning in an arts-based student teaching seminar.     

Participatory evaluation: implications for improving electronic learning and teaching approaches

This paper examines the participatory approach used by a group of academic support staff in evaluating an academic professional development resource designed to support e‐learning and teaching. The resource, titled Designing Electronic Learning and Teaching Approaches (DELTA), showcases examples of electronic learning and teaching approaches developed at Monash University, Australia. The evaluation included individual and collective reflection, dialogue and action, drawing on the features of participatory action research. This paper explores the value of this critically reflective, participatory approach for evaluation to improve the use of new learning technologies, demonstrating how it provided a clear decision‐making framework for iterative improvement of the DELTA site by identifying consensus items for action and recording other items for later consideration, while also contributing to team members’ own professional development.     

如何认识探究学习与研究性学习的关系

开设研究性学习课程是我国本次课程改革的一个重要措施。然而 ,这一课程又同时被理解为一种学习方式 ,从而使人们对研究性学习与探究学习的关系产生了种种模糊认识。一些人认为 ,这两种学习方式是完全一样的 ,只是名称不同 ;而另一些人认为 ,研究性学习是比探究学习更加“高级”的学习方式 ,它应该包含探究学习。本文提出 ,应该将研究性学习看成是探究学习的特殊形式 ,主要用于面向跨学科的现实问题的研究性学习课程中 ;除了在研究性学习课程中促进学生探究学习以外 ,还应该在学科教学中采用灵活多样的方式促进学生开展探究学习     

试用学习风格研究成果改进高职高专英语教学方法

学习风格有不同的分类方法,按照感知方式的不同可分为视觉型、听觉型和触觉型,即学生在接受信息时更偏向的方式。教师需要根据学生的学习风格不同而采取不同的教学方法。文章主要分析利用学习风格的研究成果对高职高专英语教学方法进行改进,以提高高职高专英语教学质量。     

浅谈提高思想政治理论课教学实效的途径

思想政治理论课教学特别讲求实效,而现实情况并不理想。要提高思想政治理论课的教学实效,应该统一各方对其教学意义的认识,教师以身作则,教学讲究方式方法。     

Self-regulated learning in the museum: understanding the relationship of visitor's goals,learning strategies,and appraisals

Self-regulated learning (SRL) in the museum was explored by 2 investigations. The first one investigated 233 visitors on their goals and intended learning strategies by questionnaire before they visited the science museum. Results indicated visitors’ learning goals can predict their intended deep-learning strategy. Moreover, visitors can be clustered into 4 groups and their cluster identity can also predict the intended learning strategies. The second investigation asked 244 visitors about their actual learning strategies and motivational appraisals (self-efficacy and control beliefs) after visiting. In all, 5 kinds of learning strategies were found: elaborating, help-seeking, effort-making, reorganizing, and surface-learning. These strategies can further predict their motivational appraisals. The characteristics of SRL in the informal learning context were discussed.     

Enhancing students' learning through differentiated approaches to teaching and learning: a Maltese perspective

Within the context of Malta, differentiated teaching pervades the National Minimum Curriculum (NMC) published in 1999 , in 11 of 15 principles that the NMC supports. The study seeks to explore how well prepared and equipped the teachers are with the necessary skills to fulfil a differentiated teaching approach. The aim of this research study was to explore the current pedagogical procedures teachers are adopting in order to ensure curriculum access to all students, and to what extent these actually reflect differentiated instructional strategies.
Data was collected through questionnaires. All teachers in the school were asked to participate and the response rate was high. The results are therefore representative of this particular school but cannot be generalised to the whole teaching population.
It was found that many teachers were taking an individualised role to teaching, and in the future the school will need to adopt policy decisions and a School Development Plan (SDP) which feature differentiation. Such an approach will be needed in order to encourage the teachers to utilise strategies that reflect a differentiated approach to teaching within a whole school context. In-service training will be required to enable teachers to be made aware of the varying ways of responding to the needs of all students through differentiated teaching approaches in order to provide paths to learning so that the classroom becomes a 'good fit' for varied learners.