Self-regulation of mathematics homework behavior: An empirical investigation

The authors examined self-regulation of mathematics homework behavior (i.e., mathematics homework management). The participants consisted of 796 eighth-grade students (46 classes) in China. Multilevel results showed that mathematics homework management was positively associated with value belief at the class and individual level. At the individual level, students' management in mathematics homework was positively related to affective attitude, expectancy belief, learning-oriented reasons, homework interest, parent education, teacher feedback, adult-oriented reasons, and value belief. Meanwhile, students' management in mathematics homework was negatively related to time spent on television. Our findings were discussed in the context of related theoretical frameworks (e.g., self-regulation and expectancy value) as well as previous findings pertaining to homework.     

Emotion regulation,homework completion,and math achievement: Testing models of reciprocal effects

The current investigation employs models of reciprocal effects among emotion management, cognitive reappraisal, homework completion, and achievement, based on two measurement points from 1450 Chinese 8th graders. Results revealed that emotion management and math achievement were reciprocally related. Furthermore, higher prior achievement led to higher subsequent cognitive reappraisal and homework completion. Additionally, significant interactions were found between emotion management and cognitive reappraisal in the prediction of subsequent emotion management, cognitive reappraisal, and homework completion. Specifically, these findings indicated that emotion management had a more positive influence on subsequent emotion management, cognitive reappraisal, and homework completion when prior cognitive reappraisal was low (compensatory effect by decreasing the gap between students with prior high and low cognitive reappraisal).     

Parental support and homework emotions in Chinese children: mediating roles of homework self-efficacy and emotion regulation strategies

The goal of this study was to evaluate a complex multiple mediation model linking parental support, homework self-efficacy, emotion regulation strategies (i.e. cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), and homework emotions among Chinese children. Participants were 832 fourth and fifth grade students attending public primary schools in urban China. Measures of parental support, homework self-efficacy, emotion regulation strategies, and homework emotions were collected using self-report assessments. Results from multiple mediation analyses demonstrated that parental support indirectly predicted homework emotions through its positive associations with homework self-efficacy and cognitive reappraisal strategy. However, homework self-efficacy and expressive suppression strategy did not mediate the relation between parental support and homework emotions. Results are discussed with regard to the roles of homework self-efficacy and emotion regulation strategies in the links between parental support and children’s homework emotions. Educational implications are also considered.     

Modeling students' interest in mathematics homework

The authors examine the factors influencing mathematics homework interest for Chinese students and compare the findings with a recent study involving U.S. students. The findings from multilevel analyses revealed that some predictors for homework interest functioned similarly (e.g., affective attitude toward homework, learning-oriented reasons, monitoring motivation) across the two cultural samples, while some others did not (e.g., parent education, family homework help, and teacher feedback), suggesting that cultural differences influence students' interest in homework. In addition, this study bridges a gap in previous research on homework, by revealing that mathematics homework interest was positively related to mathematics self-concept. These findings were discussed relating to previous research in the field, and in the context of cultural values and societal influences.     

Online homework impact in undergraduate mathematics and business statistics courses

This evaluation examines the impact on student success rates related to changes in instructional programmes in undergraduate mathematics and statistics courses. Success for students taking courses with a computer-based homework component was compared with success of students who took the course in prior semesters without the computer-based component. Graphical and analytical tools are used to compare results. Results come from multiple semesters of each type of homework application, for both pre-calculus algebra and business statistics courses. Students whose performance is utilised in this study are undergraduate students taking introductory level college mathematics or business statistics courses, with mostly no prior instruction at this level. Comparing the success of the intervention group with the success of the baseline control group, findings support that the students using the computer-based homework instruction are just as successful as those using the traditional method of homework instruction. Utilising the online homework applications, provide several important advantages in today’s universities, including the reduced time for faculty grading, consistency of graded assignments across all sections of a course and most importantly, immediate feedback for students.     

Self-regulation of homework behaviour: relating grade,gender, and achievement to homework management

Abstract

The present investigation linked grade, gender, and maths achievement to homework management strategies using data from 305 Chinese students in grades 7, 8, and 9. These strategies included arranging the environment, managing time, handling distraction, monitoring motivation, and controlling potentially interfering emotion. A three-way MANOVA examined the effects of grade, gender, and maths achievement on homework management strategies. Grade or gender was not related to homework management strategies. Meanwhile, high-achieving students (compared with low-achieving students) were more likely to arrange the environment, manage time, handle distraction, monitor motivation, and control negative emotion.     

The relationship between homework time and achievement is not universal: evidence from multilevel analyses in 40 countries

Although homework is generally believed to be an important supplement to in-school learning, research has not yet fully clarified the relationship between homework and achievement. This cross-cultural study analyzed the relationship between homework time and mathematics achievement drawing on data from 231,759 students in 9,791 schools and 40 countries who participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003. Multilevel analyses found a positive association between school-average homework time and mathematics achievement in almost all countries, but the size of the association decreased considerably once socioeconomic background and school track were controlled. At the student level, no clear-cut relationship was established between homework time and achievement across the 40 countries. The results highlight the need to use multilevel analyses and to control for confounding variables in homework research.     

Parental involvement in mathematics: giving parents a voice

Understanding why parents become involved in their children's education is crucial in strengthening the relationship between parental involvement and academic achievement. The present study focuses on the parental role construction and parental self-efficacy. The resulting trends suggest that parents, regardless of their self-efficacy, may assume the ‘equal partnership-focused’ parental role regarding their children's mathematics education. The results also demonstrate that there may be a conflict in the way parents and teachers construct this parental role. While parents assumed the ‘equally shared’ role, teachers maintained the belief that the responsibility, although shared to a certain degree, should be primarily on teachers.     

Emotion regulation and academic perceptions in adolescence

Although studied extensively in the field of adolescent mental health, the role of emotion regulation (ER) in the academic functioning of adolescents is not well understood. This study examined the role of ER in adolescents’ perceptions of themselves and their learning environments. We compared adolescents with high and low levels of ER on perceptions of school achievement and attitudes towards school and their perception of their parents’ academic involvement. Students completed surveys about perceptions of their learning and parental involvement, as well as their ER abilities. Results indicated that students with higher emotion dysregulation endorsed more negative self-perceptions of their own academic abilities, had more negative attitudes towards school, and rated their mothers and fathers as more controlling in relation to their learning. These results demonstrate the importance of ER in the academic context, particularly in the home learning environment.     

Influence of curriculum reform: An analysis of student mathematics achievement in Mainland China

This study investigated curriculum influences on student mathematics achievement by following two groups of students from fifth to sixth grade that were taught either the reformed curriculum or the conventional curriculum. Analyses with three-level modeling were conducted to examine learning outcomes of the students who were assessed three times over a period of 18 months. Achievement was measured with regard to computation, routine problem solving, and complex problem solving. Affective aspects included self-reported interest in learning mathematics, classroom participation, views of the nature of mathematics, and views of learning mathematics. The results showed overall improved performance among all the students over the time on computation, routine problem solving, and complex problem solving but not on the affective measures. There were differentiated patterns of performance between the groups. On the initial assessment, the reform group performed better than the non-reform group on calculation, complex problem solving, and indicated higher interest in learning mathematics. The two groups did not differ on the other achievement and affective measures at the first time of assessment. There was no significant difference in growth rate between the groups on the cognitive and affective measures except that the non-reform group progressed at a faster pace on calculation. Therefore, the non-reform group outperformed the reform group on computation at the third (last) assessment. These results are discussed with respect to the possible influence of the curriculum on student learning.     

Sex equity in mathematics and science education: Research-policy links

Despite the accumulation of a large body of research concerning effective sex equity practices in math and science, the lack of change in educational procedures suggests the need to reexamine the role of research in policy and program planning. This paper reviews the current research on sex equity in mathematics and science education, focusing on research in the categories of educator-student interaction, instructional context, and macrolevel demographics. Existing applications of current research to mathematics and science education programs are examined at regional, state, district, and individual school levels. Recommendations for future directions in policy and research are made, emphasizing the gaps in knowledge on each side. The paper ends with specific suggestions for strengthening the links between research and policy in the area of sex equity.     

Motivation in Mathematics: Goals Reflected in Emotions

Students in a mathematics classroom are motivated to do many things, not only the ones we expect them to do. In order to understand student behaviour in classrooms we need to increase our understanding of what motivation is and how it is regulated. Two issues relevant to a critique of mainstream motivation research need consideration: (a) the importance of the unconscious in motivation and (b) focusing on motivational states and processes rather than traits. In the present paper, motivation is conceptualised as a potential to direct behaviour through the mechanisms that control emotion. As a potential, motivation cannot be directly observed. It is observable only as it manifests itself in affect and cognition, for example as beliefs, values and emotional reactions. This potential is structured through needs and goals. Based on this view of motivation and the author's earlier studies, three aspects of motivation regulation are discussed. Primarily, goals are derived from needs: in learning situations, the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and social belonging are the most significant determinants of goal choices. As a second aspect, this view accepts the influence of students' beliefs about the accessibility of different goals. As a third aspect, the influence of automatic emotional reactions for goal regulation will be discussed. The case of Frank will be used 1) to illustrate how motivation can be inferred from different kinds of data and 2) as an example of how conflicting goals lead to non-straightforward self-regulation.     

Childhood maltreatment,cognitive emotion regulation strategies,and alcohol craving and dependence in alcohol-dependent males: Direct and indirect pathways

ObjectivesChildhood maltreatment (CM) and cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERSs) may be important in alcohol craving and dependence in alcohol-dependent individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate direct effects of CM on the subscales of alcohol craving and alcohol dependence and its indirect effects via CERSs in individuals with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence.MethodsIn a cross-sectional design, 329 alcohol-dependent males completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short version (CERQ-Short), the Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS), the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS), and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II).ResultsParticipants with alcohol dependence had early age of onset of alcohol use (mean = 20.78 years), relatively long duration of alcohol use (mean = 11.14 years), and low education (mean = 9.55 years). Indirect effects were observed from CM to the subscales of alcohol craving and dependence only through maladaptive CERSs after adjusting for demographic and clinical factors. No direct effect was observed through CM on the subscales of alcohol craving and dependence.ConclusionsAlthough drawing causal conclusions from the current research is impossible, the findings suggest that maladaptive CERSs may be a possible mechanism relating CM to alcohol craving and dependence in treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent individuals, while adaptive CERSs may be less important regarding this relation. However, the findings of the current study need longitudinal research.     

Beliefs and gender differences: A new model for research in mathematics education

The major focus of this study is to propose a new research model, namely the Modified CGI gender model, for the study of gender differences in mathematics. This model is developed based on Fennema, Carpenter, and Peterson’s (1989) CGI model. To examine the validity of this new model, this study also examines the gender differences in teacher and student beliefs about mathematics and compares gender differences between teacher and student beliefs about the importance and difficulty of certain mathematics topics. Using the British Columbia Mathematics Assessment data, the study conducted a series of ANOVA. The findings of this study indicate that the new model appears to be a useful tool to describe gender differences in mathematics and to guide research in this area. The conclusions drawn from the data analysis show that male and female teachers differed significantly in their beliefs about Numbers and Operations. Male teachers perceived this topic to be more important than female teachers. Second, gender differences have been largely found in student beliefs about the difficulty of the selected topics. Finally, gender differences found in teacher beliefs are similar to the gender differences in student beliefs about the importance and difficulty of mathematics topics.     

Gender differences in mathematics and science competitions: A systematic review

Gendered patterns in mathematics and science interest emerge in early childhood, develop over time, and ultimately reflect advanced course selection in secondary education. During the crucial time adolescents become aware of their strengths and interests and specialize accordingly, they get the opportunity to participate in out-of-school learning programs such as mathematics and science competitions. This raises the question whether mathematics and science competitions contribute to gender equity by equally promoting female and male interests. In this article, we present a systematic review on gender differences and the mechanisms explaining success and failure in mathematics and science competitions. On an international level, we found large gender differences regarding participation in all Olympiads with the exception of the biology Olympiad. In fairs and national Olympiads, overall participation rates were not gendered as such, but females preferred biology topics whereas males preferred physics related topics. Male and female achievement in fairs was comparable, but males clearly outperformed female participants at the Olympiads, with the smallest differences in the biology Olympiad. Variables and theoretical frameworks explaining participation and achievement and the role of gender in mathematics and science competitions are discussed. We suggest that gender stereotypes, through their influence on self-concept and interest, play an important role in the mechanisms resulting in low female participation rates in and beyond mathematics and science competitions (especially in physics and chemistry). The mechanisms we found explaining female representation during a national selection competition might be considered as reflecting those in female mathematics or science careers and could thus serve as food for thought on countering the gender gap in mathematics and science.     

Gender differences in mathematics achievement: an investigation of gender differences by item difficulty interactions

This paper presents findings from research exploring gender by item difficulty interaction on mathematics test scores in Cyprus. Data steamed from 2 longitudinal studies with 4 different age groups of primary school students. The hypothesis that boys tended to outperform girls on the hardest items and girls tended to outperform boys on the easiest items was generally supported for each year group. The effect of social class was also examined. For each social class, there was a correlation between the item difficulty differences estimated on girls and boys separately and the difficulty of the item estimated on the whole sample. It is claimed that in understanding gender differences in mathematics, item difficulty should be treated as an independent variable. Suggestions for further studies are provided, and implications for the development of assessment policy in mathematics are drawn.     

Regulation of emotions in socially challenging learning situations: an instrument to measure the adaptive and social nature of the regulation process

Self-regulated learning (SRL) research has conventionally relied on measures, which treat SRL as an aptitude. To study self-regulation and motivation in learning contexts as an ongoing adaptive process, situation-specific methods are needed in addition to static measures. This article presents an ‘Adaptive Instrument for Regulation of Emotions’ aimed at accessing students’ experiences of individual and socially shared regulation of emotions in a socially challenging learning situation. The instrument, grounded in self-regulated and socially regulated learning theory, comprises four interrelated components: the socio-emotional challenges experienced in a collaborative learning situation; individual and group-level attempts to regulate the immediate emotions evoked by the challenges; the personal goals; and goal attainment pursued in that situation. The theoretical foundation of the instrument and its components are outlined and some reliability issues illustrated. The limitations but also educational potential of the instrument to understand regulation of emotions in socially challenging learning situations are discussed.     

Using emotion regulation to cope with challenges: a study of Chinese students in the United Kingdom

There is increasing research on the challenges that Chinese students experience during their time studying abroad, but limited studies have explored how they self-regulate their emotions to address these challenges. This paper identifies key stressors experienced by Chinese postgraduate students during their study in academic institutions in the United Kingdom as well as the emotion regulation strategies that they employed. Understanding the emotional experiences will provide important insights into Chinese students’ learning behaviour and their choice of different emotion regulation strategies when interacting with peers and academic tutors. Emotion regulation strategies believed to improve individual student experiences and their interaction with tutors and peers are discussed.     

The effect of phonological processing on mathematics performance in elementary school varies for boys and girls: Fixed-effects longitudinal analysis

Investigations into the relations between phonological processing and math performance have yielded contradictory results. These contradictions might be related to small sample sizes and/or cross-sectional designs of previous studies that limited the possibility of generalizing the findings obtained. The first goal of this study was to estimate the effect of phonological processing on number recognition and math performance during the first year of schooling, controlling for reading achievement. The second goal was to examine whether this effect varied for boys and girls. To achieve these goals, we used a large sample of first-graders (N = 3296, 49% were girls) in Russia and applied fixed effects longitudinal analysis. Participants were assessed twice, at the beginning and at the end of the first grade (mean age was 7.3 years at Time 1). The item response theory scaling procedure was used to estimate individual scores for math performance, number recognition, phonological processing and reading performance. The results revealed that phonological processing had effects on number recognition and math performance. This effect was more salient for number recognition than for math performance, probably due to the greater involvement of the retrieval strategy in number recognition tasks. The results also demonstrated that the effect of phonological processing on number recognition was stronger for girls than for boys.     

Building Bridges: Reflections on the problem of transfer of learning in mathematics

The takeup of opportunities for applying formal learning outside the school is often disappointing – to teachers, parents, employers, and many pupils. Not surprisingly, there is much controversy among researchers in mathematics education and related fields, as to the reasons. Here I argue that neither traditional nor constructivist views, with their simplistic faith in the basic continuity of knowledge across contexts, nor currently popular ‘insulationist’ views such as the strong form of situated cognition, which claims that transfer is basically not possible, are adequate. Instead, I analyse why transfer is problematical in principle, and undependable in practice. I recommend an alternative approach for building bridges between practices, based on analysing the discourses involved as systems of signs, and looking for appropriate points of inter-relation between them. In this reconceptualisation of the ‘problem’ of transfer, the role of affective factors, previously under-examined in the literature, is highlighted. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.