Distance in schools: the influence of psychological and structural distance from management on teachers’ trust in management,organisational commitment,and organisational citizenship behaviour

This study aimed to examine the relationship between teachers’ perceived psychological distance and structural distance from management and teachers’ affective organisational commitment (AOC) and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Teachers’ trust in management was expected to mediate these relationships. Furthermore, the adequacy and openness of communication and participation in decision making were expected to reduce psychological distance. At 10 Dutch schools for vocational education and training, 884 teachers completed a questionnaire. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Teachers’ psychological distance had a negative effect on trust in management (supervisor and higher management) and AOC. Trust in management had a positive effect on AOC, and trust in the supervisor had a positive effect on OCB. Structural distance did not influence teacher outcomes. Communication and participation in decision making reduced teachers’ psychological distance from management. The discussion focuses on the implications of the findings to improve the effectiveness of schools.     

大学生学业自我效能感、自尊与学习倦怠的关系再探

目的：探讨大学生学业自我效能感、自尊与学习倦怠的现状及三者之间的关系,为减轻大学生的学习倦怠水平提供对策。方法：采用大学生学业自我效能感量表、自尊量表和大学生学习倦怠量表对184名在校大学生进行调查。结果：大学生自尊水平普遍比较高,学业自我效能感及学习倦怠总体处于中等水平;大学生自尊、学业自我效能感及学习倦怠存在在显著的性别及城乡间的差异;大学生自尊与学业自我效能感及其两个维度成显著正相关,与学习倦怠及其三个维度成显著负相关;学业自我效能感与学习倦怠总分及其行为不当、成就感低两个维度成显著负相关,但与情绪低落这一维度相关不显著;自尊与学业自我效能感对学习倦怠具有很好的预测作用。结论：自尊与学业自我效能感能很好地预测学习倦怠,可以通过提高学业自我效能感、培养高自尊的方式来降低大学生的学习倦怠水平。     

The mediating effect of trust on the dimensionality of organisational justice and organisational citizenship behaviour amongst teachers in Malaysia

Abstract

The swelling discourses on organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) have diffused into areas of management and organisational research. The existing literature encapsulates that trust will mediate the relationship between the three dimensions of organisational justice: procedural justice, distributive justice and interactional justice and OCB. Based on the literature discussions, several hypotheses were proposed and conceptual framework was formulated. A total of 411 teachers had responded and participated in the survey. The collected data were analysed using Smart Partial Least Square software. Vigorous two-stage analytical procedure was adopted. The statistical results indicated that trust significantly mediates the relationship between organisational justice and OCB as well as the dimensions of organisational justice and OCB with various degrees of mediating effects. These findings have provided new insights in the organisational behaviour discipline and shed light on trust’s mediation in the relationship of organisational justice and OCB.     

高校教师对教职的职业信心及组织忠诚——基于全国普通高校的抽样调查

高校教师的职业信心是影响其工作质量的重要因素,与教师个体特征、收入水平、工作压力等因素相关.组织忠诚则表明高校教师对所在高校的认同与归属,个体、组织与环境等因素对高校教师的组织忠诚度都有影响力.本研究在全国普通高校抽样调查的基础之上,试图探究高校教师职业信心和组织忠诚的影响因素,及二者之间的关系.结果发现,我国高校教师的职业信心度与组织忠诚度都较高,并呈正向关系.但收入水平、工作自主、个体发展和管理制度等仍亟待提高和改善.     

中学生未来自我类型与成绩、成就动机的关系

考察了当前中学生的未来自我类型及与学生成绩、成就动机和自尊水平的关系。采用开放式问卷、成就动机量表和自尊量表，研究对象为89名高中一年级学生。结果表明：那些有着清晰未来自我的学生比其他学生表现出了更高的成就动机和自尊水平，而未来自我类型与学生成绩并没有显著关系。     

中学生学业成就对学习投入的影响:师生关系和自尊的链式中介作用

采用学习投入问卷、校园人际关系体验量表、自尊量表和学业成就问卷,随机抽取长沙市4所普通中学的1028名中学生进行调查,考察师生关系和自尊在学习成就和学习投入关系中的链式中介效应。结果表明:学业成就可以显著预测中学生的学习投入,师生关系和自尊在学业成就和学习投入之间起链式中介作用,学业成就会促进师生关系的和谐度,进而提升中学生的自尊水平,最终促进中学生的学习投入。为此,教师应特别注重与学业成就不良的学生形成和谐的师生关系,提高他们的自尊水平,从而提升他们的学习投入。     

What does research tell high school teachers about student motivation for test performance?

‘Motivation’ is a significant concept for teachers and students during programmes of learning which lead explicitly to high stakes assessments and examinations. This systematic literature review surveys current research evidence to find out how secondary school teachers use motivational strategies specifically in respect of student academic assessment and performance. Six research studies were identified describing the behaviours secondary school teachers engaged in to improve student performance in assessment. Taken together, the studies presented show the importance of teacher behaviours to students’ academic performance, with both positive and negative impacts. The review highlights a need for further research on teacher knowledge of the effects of teacher behaviour upon the motivation of students. The review recommends collaboration between teachers and students specific to the context of learning programmes that lead to high-stakes assessments, in order to provide a locally sensitive knowledge base for teachers’ practice.     

影响宏愿开放大学学生成绩的因素分析

确定支配学生学习成绩的因素是一个具有挑战性的任务,这些因素包括：心理因素、社会因素、经济因素和环境因素等。马来西亚高教部开放入学政策强调学习者的年龄和他们以前的学术资格或学习经验。宏愿开放大学（WOU）研究结果显示,来自不同学术背景的学生注册课程的数量和年龄的差异并没有影响到他们的GPA成绩。然而,学生的学术背景或年龄差异单独作用时对GPA成绩就会产生很大影响。这一发现将为学生的学习支持服务系统的发展与改善提供有用信息。     

The influence of communal vs. individual learning context on the academic performance in social studies of grade 4–5 African-Americans

Empirical research utilizing the communal learning construct suggests that culturally-informed pedagogy enhances academic performance for African-American children. The present investigation examined the effect of culturally-informed learning contexts on recall performance in geography lessons. The sample consisted of 69 African-American Grade 4–5 public school students. Weeks 1 and 2 consisted of both learning and testing phases. Week 3 consisted only of a testing phase. Analyses of variance techniques revealed that, overall, subjects in the communal learning context performed significantly better on each of the two weekly quizzes and on the comprehensive examination than those in the individual learning context. Limitations of the findings and future research directions are discussed.     

Using learning styles theory in engineering education

Studies have shown that, while learning different concepts, people sometimes take different approaches (learning styles). Accordingly, their performance reflected differently in their academic studies. With the effect of globalisation to the educational environments, the influence of individual learning styles on educational performance is getting more significant. In this study, a learning style assessment tool was used to examine the relationship between students’ learning styles and their performance in engineering education programmes. At the beginning of the programme, 285 students’ learning styles were measured using a learning style assessment tool. Four years after the engineering education, their performance in the programme was compared with their individual learning styles. This study shows that most of the students are assimilators. Divergers and convergers follow the assimilators. The number of accommodators is very limited. The relationship between engineering students’ learning styles and their performance is found: assimilators and convergers performed better than the divergers and accommodators. The performance difference between assimilators and divergers is statistically significant. The results of this study show that the learning style theory is a potential tool for guiding the design and improvement of courses and helping students to improve their individual performance.     

Psychological determinants of university students’ academic performance: An empirical study

This study utilises an integrated conceptual model of academic performance which captures a series of psychological factors: cognitive style; self-theories such as self-esteem and self-efficacy; achievement goals such as mastery, performance, performance avoidance and work avoidance; study-processing strategies such as deep and surface learning; and effort. We investigate a group of first-year university undergraduates taking a course in business statistics at a British university. The results show a significant causal path of the form: self-esteem→ self-efficacy→ mastery→ effort→ performance. We conclude that the strengthening of any of the elements in this path would have beneficial effects on students’ academic performance and discuss various approaches to pedagogy, primarily assessment and feedback, to achieve this goal.