The differential influence of instructional context on the academic engagement of students with behavior problems

The teacher–student interactions of 39 students exhibiting high externalizing behavior problems and 59 students exhibiting average behavioral adjustment from urban elementary schools were directly observed. Comparisons between these students within four different instructional contexts indicated that levels of student engagement were significantly related to both behavior and classroom context. Although teachers’ use of behavioral management strategies was minimal, it was significantly related to the type of instructional context in which it occurred. Findings are discussed in terms of how different instructional contexts place unique demands and offer distinct affordances for students with behavior problems. A more comprehensive understanding of the influence of these environmental contexts can allow teachers to scaffold task demands to bring them within the domains of the student's ability.     

The effects of matching instructional strategy with selected student characteristics on ninth grade physical science students' attitudes and achievement

The study investigated the benefits of a matching model of instruction for students enrolled in ninth grade physical science classes in one high school in a small, urban school district. Based on social learning theory, three independent variables were identified for purposes of matching: need level, cognitive style, and locus of control; attitude and achievement outcomes served as the dependent variables. Results of separate analyses of covariance revealed that attitude toward science in general improved with matching, but achievement, attitude toward physical science, attitude toward instruction, and attitude toward the teacher did not improve. Recommendations for subsequent “matching” experiments are discussed in light of the findings in this investigation.     

The extent to which teacher attitudes and expectations predict academic achievement of final year students

Competition in the market is a perennial and ever‐increasing problem for independent schools. How schools can meet this pressure and find ways to attract (the best) students is a continuing question and one that will get more onerous as the government funding for education is, in relative terms, decreasing. One of the ways in which schools can show their worth is the attraction of the best teachers and being able to show potential clients how their staff contribute to the academic success of their graduating students. This study considers the relationship between teachers’ attitudes toward their work and the expectations and the extent to which their attitudes and expectations predict the academic achievements of their final year students. Results found that academic achievement is enhanced when school leadership provides an academically oriented context where values and expectations of high academic achievement are part of the school culture. Other teacher variables found to improve academic achievement are the teachers’ need for greater input into decision‐making at their schools; less formalisation of rules, procedures and process; and support through personnel, facilities, finances, equipment and resources.     

The effects of instructional context and reasoning complexity on mathematics problem-solving

The focus of this study was on the effects of relevance in instructional context and reasoning complexity on mathematics problem-solving achievement, transfer, and attitude. Forty-six fifth graders participated in the five-day study. Students received either contextualized or decontextualized instruction involving either simple or complex reasoning. Two types of achievement questions were used, context-rich and context-poor, which required either single or multiple computational steps to solve. An interaction was found between complexity of treatment and complexity of questions. Students who studied simple problems in decontextualized contexts performed best on one-step questions, while students who studied complex problems in contextualized contexts performed best on multi-step questions (p = .003). A complexity effect was also found for student attitudes toward perceived lesson difficulty (p = .0001) as well as for perceived relevance of mathematics (p = .015). Students who studied simple problems perceived lesson difficulty and mathematics relevance more favorably than those who studied complex problems. These findings suggest that rich mathematical instructional contexts best support mathematics problem-solving, but simple, decontextualized instruction yields the most favorable attitudes.     

Examining contextual differences in the development of instructional leadership and school achievement

This study examined the generalizability of a principal instructional leadership model and its impact on school academic achievement across different school levels. The study tested the model across elementary and secondary school levels. The study also examined whether elementary school principals exert stronger instructional leadership influence over their school's academic achievement than high school principals. The results confirmed the fit of the same instructional leadership model to principals from both school levels. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.     

The role of context in learning and instructional design

Context is a pervasive and potent force in any learning event. Yet instructional design models contain little guidance about how to accommodate contextual elements to improve learning and transfer. This paper defines context, outlines its levels and types, specifies some pertinent contextual factors within these types, suggests methods for conducting a contextual analysis and utilizing its results for instructional design, and outlines future issues for context-based instructional design. The incorporation of a contextual approach to instruction will make our design models systemic as well as systematic.     

Effects of classroom evaluation strategies on student achievement and attitudes

This study investigated the effects of teacher evaluation and the combination of teacher evaluation and student self-evaluation on student performance and attitudes. Participants in the study were 189 Latvian high school students and their six teachers. The six teachers were assigned to one of three treatment conditions: (a) no evaluation, (b) teacher evaluation, and (c) self-evaluation plus teacher evaluation. All groups completed a 12-lesson instructional program on how to conduct experiments and produce research reports. Students in the teacher-evaluation group received teacher evaluation on their initial research reports. Students in the self-plus-teacher evaluation group self-evaluated their reports and received teacher evaluation on them. The no-evaluation group received no formal evaluation instructions. Students in the teacher-evaluation and the self-plus-teacher evaluation groups received significantly higher ratings on their final projects than those in the no-evaluation group. However, the no-evaluation group had more favorable attitudes toward the program than the other two groups, while the self-plus-teacher evaluation group was significantly more confident of their ability to independently conduct future research experiments. This study was conducted while Dr. Olina was a student at Arizona State.     

Effects of a modified mastery learning strategy on achievement,attitudes, and on-task behavior of high school chemistry students

The effects of a mastery learning strategy modified to limit diagnosis to two cycles were tested with high school chemistry students. The results indicate that achievement of mastery learning students was significantly greater than that of nonmastery control students. On-task behavior (academic engagement) of mastery learning students increased in a linear fashion during the study (45 instructional days), while on-task behavior of nonmastery students decreased. Attitudes toward science and science instruction were not significantly different but were positive in both mastery and nonmastery conditions.     

Impact of instructional leadership on high school student academic achievement in China

Asia Pacific Education Review - The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of instructional leadership on high school students’ academic achievement in the Chinese context and to...     

Exploring the influence of gender and gaming competence on attitudes towards using instructional games

Digital games are evolving beyond the solitary context into a ubiquitous, social and collaborative experience. Addressing beliefs about technology and attitudes towards technology‐mediated processes is fundamental to the successful implementation of any innovation. In collaborative gaming, attitude towards gaming influences learners' interactions along the domain, technology and community dimensions. Building on various seminal works, an instrument was developed for measuring four components of attitude towards gaming—affective components, perceived control, perceived usefulness and behavioural components. The survey, including 21 statements each scored on a 5‐point Likert scale, was used with a sample of college students to investigate the influence of gender and gaming competence on attitude towards gaming. The pedagogical implications of the different attitude components are discussed in relation to game design and to the different interactions triggered by the gaming context.     

Influence of resequencing general science content on the science achievement,attitudes toward science,and interest in science of sixth grade students

This study was designed to determine the influence of resequencing general science content on sixth grade students' science achievement, attitudes toward science, and interest in science. Resequencing content was accomplished for experimental group students through revising the order of textbook chapters in a general science course, in order to clarify content structure and establish interrelationships among major concepts. The subjects were 203 sixth grade learners randomly assigned to the two treatment groups of resequenced content and nonresequenced content. The findings revealed that students for whom content structure was clarified through resequencing general science chapters exhibited significantly higher science achievement, significantly more positive attitudes toward science, and significantly greater interest in science than students for whom general science content was not resequenced.     

浅议新课程情感、态度与价值观目标的教学设计

在新课程教学设计中,教师应掌握情感、态度与价值观目标教学设计的理论与技术,明确教学目标的表述,目标设计中注重结果的开放性、多元性,注重建立科学的评价机制。发挥目标导向的作用。