Interaction between the learners’ initial grasp of the object of learning and the learning resource afforded

Two studies are reported in this paper. The object of learning in both is the economic principle of changes in price as a function of changes in the relative magnitude of changes in demand and supply. The patterns of variation and invariance, defining the conditions compared were built into pedagogical tools (text, graphs, and worksheets). The first study is the latest in a series of studies aiming to test the fundamental conjecture of the Variation Theory of Learning that new meanings are acquired from experiencing differences against a background of sameness, rather than experiencing sameness against a background of differences. The study compares the learning outcomes under conditions consistent with the basic conjecture with the learning outcomes under conditions not consistent with the theory. The results support the conjecture. The second study shows, however, that the conditions that are consistent with the theory cannot be decided unless the learners’ pre-requisites for the task in question are taken into consideration. One set of the pedagogical tools was found to be highly effective for learners with a better initial grasp of the object of learning, while another set was found to be equally effective for learners with a weaker initial grasp of the object of learning. The two sets were equally ineffective when used for the “wrong” group of learners.     

Relations between teacher students’ approaches to learning,cognitive and attributional strategies,well-being,and study success

Current theories of learning emphasize the role of motivational and affective aspects in university student learning. The aim of the present study was to examine the interrelations among approaches to learning, self-regulated learning, and cognitive strategies in the context of teacher education. Cognitive-motivational profiles were identified among novice teacher students. It was also looked at, whether well-being, epistemological beliefs, and study success in an activating lecture course were related to these profiles. The participants were 213 first year teacher students, who participated in an activating lecture course at a major Finnish university. The students filled in a questionnaire including items based on the MED NORD instrument (Lonka et al. in Med Teach 30:72–79, 2008). The structural validity of the scales was tested by means of a series of factor analyses. Latent class clustering was used for clustering students into homogeneous groups. Finally, a series of ANOVAs was conducted to examine between-group differences across the criterion variables. Three groups of students were identified (1) non-regulating students (50%), (2) self-directed students (28%), and (3) non-reflective students (22%). Non-regulating students expressed the highest levels of stress, exhaustion, and Lack of Interest. Self-directed students received the highest grades. The profiles were not only related to study success, but also to the general well-being of the students. It was concluded that motivational profiles may have not been optimal, even in this highly-selected population. It is of interest to see, how these students shall develop during their studies.     

Learner presence,perception, and learning achievements in augmented–reality–mediated learning environments

Although research has indicated that augmented reality (AR)–facilitated instruction improves learning performance, further investigation of the usefulness of AR from a psychological perspective has been recommended. Researchers consider presence a major psychological effect when users are immersed in virtual reality environments. However, most research on learner presence has focused on measuring it rather than the factors influencing it. This study explored the relationship between learner perception and presence in an AR-facilitated learning environment. A game-type AR learning process was developed and an experiment was implemented employing a one-group pretest–posttest method. Three sets of research instruments were developed, comprising a learning achievement test, a learner's presence inventory, and a questionnaire on learners’ perception of the AR-mediated environment. A total of 60 validated data samples were collected and statistically analysed. The researchers determined that learner presence closely relates to learning achievement and AR learning perception. These results indicate that a more satisfactory AR perception leads to a higher level of learner presence in the AR environment, thereby resulting in more beneficial learning outcomes.     

Exploring the relationship between students’ learning styles and learning outcome in engineering laboratory education

Abstract

It is a commonly accepted notion that people take different approaches in learning. Although attention has been given to learning styles as one of the determinants of learning performance, there is are limitations to the inferential approach to understanding the impact of learning styles on learning outcomes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of learning preference on student learning outcome in engineering labs. The findings of this paper contribute to the existing literature in two ways. This study describes the typology of participants’ learning styles, confirming some results from similar research. Additionally, it examines the impact of learning styles, using the Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic (VARK) inventory as indicators of students’ learning outcomes, and how the findings confirm or contradict prior research results in important ways. Further, this study includes demographic information to investigate the influence on learning outcome. Discussions of the results from both analyses will contribute to an academic understanding of the critical success factors of the learning process and their practical application in laboratory learning.     

Structural relationship between learners’ perceptions of a test,learning practices,and learning outcomes: A study on the washback mechanism of a high-stakes test

The study aimed to explore the washback mechanism on learning by investigating the structural relationship between learners’ perceptions of a test, learning practices, and learning outcomes via structural equation modeling. The participants in this study included 3105 Chinese senior high school students. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were used in the analyses of the data. This study found that learners’ perceptions of test validity, impact, and importance affected their learning practices in different ways and to different degrees. The research results also showed that four types of English learning practices had significant, positive, but differential effects on learning outcomes. The effect size was partly associated with the frequency of engagement with each learning practice. Based on the findings, some implications and suggestions were drawn for learners, teachers, test designers, and test authorities.     

Differences between the relationship of L1 learners’ performance in integrated writing with both independent listening and independent reading cognitive skills

In recent decades, integrated language competence has been highlighted in the language curricula taught in schools and institutions, and the relationship between test-takers’ performance on integrated tasks and comprehension sources has been much studied. The current study employed the frameworks of reading and listening comprehension processes to examine the difference between the effects of reading competence and listening competence on integrated writing performance. A total of 152 Secondary 5 students from five local schools in Hong Kong responded to three tasks, including an independent listening task, an independent reading task and an integrated writing task. The reading cognitive skills contributed more towards the performance of the integrated writing task than the listening cognitive skills did. Furthermore, the interaction between the relationships of reading and listening to the integrated writing performance was significant. Three subskills each for both listening and reading that belong to higher-order thinking skills—Elaborating, Evaluating and Creating—had significant correlation with integrated writing performance. Implications for the teaching of integrated writing were also discussed.     

Impacts of integrating the repertory grid into an augmented reality-based learning design on students’ learning achievements,cognitive load and degree of satisfaction

Augmented reality (AR) offers potential advantages for intensifying environmental context awareness and augmenting students’ experiences in real-world environments by dynamically overlapping digital materials with a real-world environment. However, some challenges to AR learning environments have been described, such as participants’ cognitive overload and the ways to provide assistance in constructing the presented learning materials. In this study, a mindtool-based AR learning system was developed, based on the repertory grid method and the contiguity principle of multimedia learning, for assisting students in constructing their knowledge in a natural science course. Furthermore, an experiment was carried out on an elementary school natural science course to compare the influences of this method with those of the conventional AR learning system on students’ learning effectiveness. The experimental results show that the designated approach effectively promoted the students’ learning achievements, and no significant difference existed between the mindtool-based AR learning system and the conventional AR learning system in terms of students’ cognition load and satisfaction degree; moreover, both the experimental group and the control group perceived low cognition load during the learning activity and rated their own AR learning systems as being highly satisfactory.     

The relationship between young children’s enjoyment of learning to read,reading attitudes,confidence and attainment

Background: While there is a considerable body of research exploring the relationship between older primary school children’s reading attitudes, confidence and attainment, there is a noticeable lack of research with younger children. Furthermore, there is relatively little research exploring the extent to which children’s reading attitudes, confidence and attainment are related to their enjoyment of learning to read.

Purpose: To understand the relationship between young children’s reading attitudes, reading confidence, enjoyment of learning to read and reading attainment.

Sample: Two hundred and three children (103 boys) with an average age of 6 years and 9 months (.32 years standard deviation) participated in this study. Children were from 11 primary schools in England, located within a wide range of socio-economic neighbourhoods.

Design and methods: All children completed questionnaires examining their attitudes to reading, reading confidence (using Progress in International Reading Literacy Study items) and enjoyment of learning to read. Children also completed an assessment of word reading. All assessments were administered individually.

Results: Children’s attitudes to reading, reading confidence and enjoyment of learning to read correlated with their word reading skill; however, only reading attitudes and reading confidence predicted variance in reading success. With regard to gender differences, girls reported more positive reading attitudes than boys, even after controlling for differences in reading skill.

Conclusions: Results highlight that the relationship between children’s reading skills and the affective aspects of learning to read develops from a young age. Therefore, methods of reading instruction need to foster affective aspects of reading, in addition to developing cognitive skills to best support young children’s reading development.     

The relationship between students’ perceptions of portfolio assessment practice and their approaches to learning

This study focuses on students’ learning approaches in the context of a competency‐based program on Applied Sciences, with portfolio assessment as its core mode of assessment. The study examines students’ perceptions of these assessment practices and the relationships to their learning approaches. Additionally, differences in perceptions and learning approaches between first‐year students and second‐year students, who already have one year of experience with the portfolio assessment practice, are investigated. A total of 110 students completed two questionnaires at the end of the academic year: the Revised SPQ (Study process questionnaire) was used to measure their approaches to learning and the AEQ (Assessment experience questionnaire) was used to measure their perceptions of the assessment practice. The results indicate that, when implementing portfolio assessment, feedback is essential. Moreover, it seems not to be the assessment design, but rather how it is implemented, and how students’ learning is stimulated through the assessment, that influences the quality of learning.     

Distance learners’ multiple goals,learning and achievement in different learning situations

Can mastery and performance-approach goals predict distance learners’ learning and achievement in different learning situations over an academic year? Using a prospective longitudinal design, the current study examined this research question using a cohort of distance learners in Hong Kong. Two hundred and seventy-two distance learners completed three survey questionnaires at the beginning, in the middle and towards the end of an academic year. Regression analyses found that distance learners’ mastery and performance-approach goals at the beginning of the academic year predicted learning interest and the use of regulatory strategies in subsequent surveyed points after controlling for the effects of the age factor and self-efficacy levels.     

The relationship between engagement in the scholarship of teaching and learning and students’ course experiences

While there has been a good deal of discussion about the scholarship of teaching and learning, and models have been developed to understand its scope, the effects on students’ learning of academics engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning are unclear. In the context of initiatives to develop the scholarship of teaching and learning in a large research‐intensive university in Australia, this paper discusses the relationship between faculty performance on a set of scholarly accomplishments in relation to teaching and learning from 2002 to 2004, and changes in students’ course experiences from 2001 to 2005. The paper provides evidence of the relationship between the scholarship of teaching and learning and students’ course experiences and demonstrates the effectiveness of institutional strategies to encourage the scholarship of teaching and learning.     

The effects of diagrams and time-compressed instruction on learning and learners’ perceptions of cognitive load

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of diagrams and time-compressed instruction on learning and learners’ perceptions of cognitive load. The following design factors, visuals (visuals and non-visuals) and time-compressed instruction (0%-normal paced, 25, and 50%) were presented to 216 university students to analyze learning in a multimedia environment. Participants listened to audio instruction of the heart and those in the visuals condition viewed 19 diagrams that corresponded to the verbal instruction. The dependent variables consisted of four achievement tests: drawing, identification, terminology, and comprehension. Review behaviors (back and replay buttons) and learners’ perceptions of cognitive load served as additional dependent variables. The results of this study indicate that listening to normal or moderately compressed (25%) instruction in a multimedia environment supports learning. At these speeds, cognitive load is not increased thus allowing learners to gain a conceptual understanding of the material.     

Examining the mediating effect of learning strategies on the relationship between students’ history interest and achievement

Research into the effect of interest consistently indicated that interest positively related to students’ achievement; however, the mechanism through which it affected the learning result remained an open question. This study intended to examine how learning strategies mediated the relationship between interest and achievement in the domain of history learning. Biggs Learning Process Questionnaire, which distinguishes between the surface and deep-level learning strategies, was adopted to describe students’ learning process. Structural equation modelling and the distribution of products test were used to evaluate the mediating effect. Based on available resources, the participants were seventh grade students in China. Analyses revealed that the surface-learning strategy served as a mediator, but the deep-learning strategy did not play the same role.     

The relationship between students’ preferred approaches to learning and behaviors during learning: An examination of the process stage of the 3P model

Student approaches to learning have been a popular area of research in educational psychology. One useful framework for understanding student approaches to learning is through Biggs’ presage–process–product model. The purpose of this study is to examine the process stage of the 3P model. Undergraduate students (N = 67) thought aloud while reading two science texts, then wrote recalls and answered comprehension questions. As hypothesized, a deep approach to learning was positively associated with making connections, examining the logic in the text, and accurate answers to the comprehension questions. Mediation analyses indicated that behavior during the process of learning explained the positive association between a deep approach to learning and accurate answers to the comprehension questions. No hypotheses regarding a surface approach to learning were supported. The findings from this study support the characterization that students with a deep approach to learning engage meaningfully with their course material. These findings are discussed in the context of the 3P model.     

The relationship between anxiety‐stability,working memory and cognitive style

While prior research indicates that relationships exist between anxiety‐stability and working memory, and cognitive style and anxiety‐stability, they have not been considered together. The aim of this study was to consider how anxiety‐stability is related to working memory, gender and style in interaction. The sample consisted of 179 12–13‐year‐old Year 8 secondary comprehensive school pupils in the UK. Teachers rated the level of anxiety‐stability of pupils. Pupils completed an assessment of working memory efficiency, the information processing index (IPI). They also did the cognitive styles analysis to determine their positions on the two fundamental cognitive style dimensions, which were indicated by two ratios: the Wholist‐Analytic ratio and the Verbal‐Imagery ratio. Working memory capacity and cognitive style interacted in their relationship with anxiety‐stability, such that higher memory was associated with a greater increased stability for Wholist‐Verbalisers and Analytic‐Imagers than for Analytic‐Verbalisers and Wholist‐Imagers. The results were discussed in terms of the unitary versus complementary nature of style combinations.     

Students’ conceptions of and approaches to knowledge building and its relationship to learning outcomes

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among students’ conceptions of knowledge building, approaches to knowledge building, knowledge-building behaviors and learning outcomes. A total of 48 primary school students (from grades 3 and 4) who had experienced knowledge-building activities participated in the present study. After analyzing the students’ interview responses using the phenomenographic method, qualitatively different and hierarchically related conceptions and approaches were revealed. The results indicated that the students with fragmented conceptions tended to use surface approaches to knowledge building while those with cohesive conceptions tended to adopt deep approaches. The findings also indicate that the students with cohesive conceptions or deep approaches were more likely to have better learning outcomes than those with fragmented conceptions or surface approaches.     

The role of students’ interests in self-regulated learning: The relationship between students’ interests, learning strategies and causal attributions

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between students’ interests, their use of certain specific learning strategies and causal attributions which they made for their academic achievement. In this manner, we attempted to explore the relationships between some important variables from three different, but connected phases of self-regulated learning: the forethought phase (interests), the performance control phase (learning strategies) and the self-reflective phase (causal attributions). Results confirmed the presumption that learning strategies could be a potential mediator in the relationship between students’ interests and their academic achievement. Also, results indicate that the causal dimension of controllability could have a partial mediating role between students’ academic achievement and their interests. Generally, our findings indicate a dynamic and cyclical nature of learning process — interest is an integral part of this process and it could be conceptualized as both a consequence and an antecedent of cognitive aspects of learning.     

The interplay between teachers’ approaches to teaching,students’ approaches to learning and learning outcomes: a qualitative multi-case study

The interaction between approaches to teaching and students’ learning has been the focus of research for more than 20 years. Previous studies concerning approaches to teaching in higher education have identified two broad categories: content- and learning-focused approaches. Some studies indicate that teachers do not always adopt a consonant teaching- or learning-focused approach, but might employ elements of both, which results in a dissonant approach. Research on how dissonant approaches to teaching and students’ quality of learning are related is scant. This study explored relationships between how teachers’ approaches to teaching and undergraduate students’ self-reported approaches to learning and learning outcomes. The data for this study consisted of 33 semi-structured interviews with students from three courses. Interviews were analysed with qualitative content analysis. The results demonstrated that, when the teacher used a consonant learning-focused approach to teaching, students’ learning outcomes and approaches to learning were of a slightly higher quality than when the teacher employed a dissonant approach to teaching. However, a dissonant approach to teaching did not always result in a lower quality of approaches to learning and learning outcomes.