Teachers' self-concepts and emotions: Conceptualization and relations

The present study with 248 German teachers examined the conceptual separability of six dimensions of teachers’ self-concept (pedagogical skills, subject content knowledge, consulting, innovation, media use, diagnostics) and three emotions (enjoyment, anger, anxiety) as well as relations of these constructs. Results showed that all self-concepts and emotions were clearly separable from each other. All six self-concepts were positively related to enjoyment and negatively related to anxiety and anger. However, regression analysis revealed that only self-concept of pedagogical skills was positively linked to enjoyment and negatively linked to anger, while only self-concept of subject content knowledge was negatively linked to anxiety.     

Parental reactions to children's negative emotions: longitudinal relations to quality of children's social functioning

Relations between self-reported parental reactions to children's negative emotions (PNRs) and children's socially appropriate/problem behavior and negative emotionality were examined longitudinally. Evidence was consistent with the conclusion that relations between children's externalizing (but not internalizing) emotion and parental punitive reactions to children's negative emotions are bidirectional. Reports of PNRs generally were correlated with low quality of social functioning. In structural models, mother-reported problem behavior at ages 10-12 was at least marginally predicted from mother-reported problem behavior, children's regulation, and parental punitive or distress reactions. Moreover, parental distress and punitive reactions at ages 6-8 predicted reports of children's regulation at ages 8-10, and regulation predicted parental punitive reactions at ages 10-12. Father reports of problem behavior at ages 10-12 were predicted by earlier problem behavior and parental distress or punitive reactions; some of the relations between regulation and parental reactions were similar to those in the models for mother-reported problem behavior. Parental perceptions of their reactions were substantially correlated over 6 years. Some nonsupportive reactions declined in the early to mid-school years, but all increased into late childhood/early adolescence.     

Exploring the relations between epistemic beliefs,emotions, and learning from texts

Conflicting claims about important socio-scientific debates are proliferating in contemporary society. It is therefore important to understand the individual characteristics that predict learning from conflicting claims. We explored individuals’ beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing (i.e., epistemic beliefs) and their emotions as potentially interrelated sets of learner characteristics that predict learning in such contexts. Undergraduate university students (N = 282) self-reported their topic-specific epistemic beliefs and were given three conflicting texts about climate change to read. Immediately after each of the three texts, participants self-reported the emotions they experienced. Following reading and self-report, participants wrote summaries of the conflicting texts. Text-mining and human coding were applied to summaries to construct two indices of learning from conflicting texts that reflected which source’s information is privileged in memory. Results from structural equation modeling revealed that epistemic beliefs were consistent in their predictions of emotions, which in turn variously predicted different learning outcomes. In particular, a belief that knowledge is justified by inquiry predicted surprise and curiosity, which at times facilitated learning. In contrast, confusion, predicted by passive reliance on external sources, related to impaired memory of conflicting content. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed for research on the relations between epistemic beliefs, emotions, and learning about controversial topics.     

Mother- and father-reported reactions to children's negative emotions: relations to young children's emotional understanding and friendship quality

Mother- and father-reported reactions to children's negative emotions were examined as correlates of emotional understanding (Study 1, N = 55, 5- to 6-year-olds) and friendship quality (Study 2, N = 49, 3- to 5-year-olds). Mothers' and fathers' supportive reactions together contributed to greater child-friend coordinated play during a sharing task. Further, when one parent reported low support, greater support by the other parent was related to better understanding of emotions and less intense conflict with friends (for boys only). When one parent reported high support, however, greater support by the other parent was associated with less optimal functioning on these outcomes. Results partially support the notion that children benefit when parents differ in their reactions to children's emotions.     

Trust in top management and immediate supervisor: The relationship to satisfaction,perceived organizational effectiveness,and information receiving

Utilizing 2068 individuals in 60 organizations in the U.S. and Italy, this study (a) examines the overall relationship between trust in top management and immediate supervisor and overall estimates of satisfaction and perceived organizational effectiveness, (b) compares the amount of variance in satisfaction and effectiveness that can be explained by trust in top management to the amount of variance explained by trust in immediate supervisor, and (c) clarifies the role of information receiving as a predictor of trust in top management and immediate supervisor. Results of a canonical correlation analysis indicated that the canonical equation explained 49% of the variance in the linear composites (Canonical R = .69, p < .001). Trust in top management was more strongly associated with satisfaction and effectiveness than was trust in immediate supervisor. Tzvo separate multiple regression analyses indicated that after controlling for geographic location of company and type of industry, information received about job and organizational issues uniquely explained 26% of the variance in trust in top management and 13% of the variance in trust in immediate supervisor.     

Web-based student evaluations of professors: the relations between perceived quality,easiness and sexiness

College students critique their professors' teaching at RateMyProfessors.com, a web page where students anonymously rate their professors on Quality, Easiness, and Sexiness. Using the self-selected data from this public forum, we examine the relations between quality, easiness, and sexiness for 3190 professors at 25 universities. For faculty with at least ten student posts, the correlation between quality and easiness is 0.61, and the correlation between quality and sexiness is 0.30. Using simple linear regression, we find that about half of the variation in quality is a function of easiness and sexiness. When grouped into sexy and non-sexy professors, the data reveal that students give sexy-rated professors higher quality and easiness scores. If these findings reflect the thinking of American college students when they complete in-class student opinion surveys, then universities need to rethink the validity of student opinion surveys as a measure of teaching effectiveness. High student opinion survey scores might well be viewed with suspicion rather than reverence, since they might indicate a lack of rigor, little student learning, and grade inflation.     

Graduate teaching assistants: motives,difficulties and professional interactions and their relationship to perceived benefits

ABSTRACT

Graduate students play a major role in teaching in higher education, particularly in undergraduate programs. The purpose of the present study was two-fold: first, to identify graduate students’ motives for working as graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), describe some aspects of their work, and ascertain their perceived benefits; second, to predict GTAs’ benefits as a function of their individual background characteristics, motives, job difficulties, and richness of professional interactions with the course instructor. Data were collected from 189 GTAs who led discussion groups at a large research university in Israel by means of an internet questionnaire. Findings revealed that graduate students accepted the position of GTA mainly for extrinsic reasons, such as salary and convenience. They claimed to have faced few difficulties and that their professional interactions with the course instructors focused more on job responsibilities and less on pedagogical issues. They reported having gained a greater understanding of course content and improved teaching skills due to their experience as GTAs. Richness of contact with the course instructor, motives, difficulties, and faculty match significantly contributed to predicting perceived benefits. The implications of the results are discussed.     

浅谈普通高等学校辅导员在艺术实践中加强大学生思想政治工作的有效性

国家一些列重要文件明确指出,普通高等学校辅导员是加强大学生思想政治工作的重要队伍。普通高等学校辅导员应结合艺术实践加强高校大学生思想政治工作,本文结合自己的工作实际论述了普通高等学校辅导员结合艺术实践加强高校思想政治工作的可能性,并针对现状提出两点可行性意见。     

Actual and perceived teacher clarity - relations to student achievement in science

College students (N = 41) were randomly assigned to one of two groups defined by the teacher's clarity in the lesson, i.e., high-clarity versus low-clarity presentation on genetics. After the lesson the subjects completed a test on the contents of the lesson and then rated the lesson presentation. Students in the high-clarity group achieved more (although not significantly) than students in the low-clarity group. Students perceived the high-clarity lesson as significantly clearer than the low-clarity lesson. These findings are discussed in relation to previous research on teacher clarity.     

Research productivity and perceived teaching effectiveness: A survey of economics faculty

The relationship between research productivity and teaching effectiveness has long been a controversial topic among university professors. This study utilizes a nationwide survey of economics faculty to examine the relationship between research productivity and classroom performance, using self-reported measures of research output and teaching evaluation scores, and to solicit the participants' opinions on this issue. Findings indicate a very weak relationship between research output and teaching effectiveness. However, individual and institutional characteristics seem to explain some differences in research output and teaching evaluation scores. Further, faculty opinions on the research-teaching relationship seem to be influenced by institutional and individual characteristics.     

On the image of hate in education: desirable emotions,learning, and the visibility of bodies in educational relations

ABSTRACT

In this article I explore how images of hate from the work of feminist, psychoanalytical educational thinkers Deborah Britzman and Alice Pitt, and from Sara Ahmed's investigation into the cultural politics of emotion, function to shift the ideal-image of pedagogically desired emotions and complicate the emotional landscape of educational relations. Analysing two counter-images, I consider the ambivalent role of hate in the pedagogical lives of teachers and students, and the ways in which hate may actually support learning and motivate a desire for pedagogy as shared world-making. In different ways, each of the counter-images explores the idea that educational relations need to be able to address hate. Yet the second counter-image leads me to question whether all the bodies involved in those relations have been taken into account.     

Intraindividual relations between achievement goals and discrete achievement emotions: An experience sampling approach

Theories on the link between achievement goals and achievement emotions focus on their within-person functional relationship (i.e., intraindividual relations). However, empirical studies have failed to analyze these intraindividual relations and have instead examined between-person covariation of the two constructs (i.e., interindividual relations). Aiming to better connect theory and empirical research, the present study (N = 120 10th grade students) analyzed intraindividual relations by assessing students' state goals and emotions using experience sampling (N = 1409 assessments within persons). In order to replicate previous findings on interindividual relations, students' trait goals and emotions were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Despite being statistically independent, both types of relations were consistent with theoretical expectations, as shown by multi-level modeling: Mastery goals were positive predictors of enjoyment and negative predictors of boredom and anger; performance-approach goals were positive predictors of pride; and performance-avoidance goals were positive predictors of anxiety and shame. Reasons for the convergence of intra- and interindividual findings, directions for future research, and implications for educational practice are discussed.     

Parental coping with children's negative emotions: relations with children's emotional and social responding

This study examined the relation between parents' reactions to children's negative emotions and social competence. Additionally, the role of parental emotional distress in children's emotional socialization was examined. The emotional reactions of 57 preschoolers (33 girls, 24 boys; M age = 59.2 months) were observed during their free-play interactions. Parents (mostly mothers) completed questionnaires about their reactions to children's negative emotions. An index of children's social competence was obtained from teachers. Results indicated that the relation between harsh parental coping strategies and children's emotional responding was moderated by parental distress. In addition, the relation of the interaction of parental coping and distress to children's social competence was mediated by children's level of emotional intensity. It was concluded that distressed parents who use harsh coping strategies in response to children's negative emotions have children who express emotion in relatively intense ways. In turn, these children find it relatively difficult to behave in a socially competent manner.     

Test anxiety, perceived test difficulty, and test performance: temporal patterns of their effects

Two hypothesized models that represent relationships among test anxiety, perceived test difficulty, and test performance observed immediately before and after a final examination were tested. The structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypothesized relationships by imposing the structure of direct and indirect effects on the current data collected from 208 undergraduate students. Students' perception of test difficulty had a significant effect on the arousal of both worry and emotionality. Temporal changes were observed in the degrees of these relationships; while test difficulty perceived before and during the exam both had effects on test anxiety perceived at each corresponding time, students' perception of test difficulty during the exam had a greater direct effect on the arousal of test anxiety than did test difficulty perceived before the exam. Worry, but not emotionality, had a strong inverse relationship with performance. That perceived test difficulty did not have a direct effect on test performance, but had an indirect effect mediated by worry, indicates that test performance was not directly influenced by how they perceive the test difficulty, but worry aroused by the difficulty perception influenced their performance. Importance of understanding students' perceived test difficulty was discussed for its effect on arousing worry anxiety.     

Academic dishonesty and its relations to peer cheating and culture: A meta-analysis of the perceived peer cheating effect

Academic cheating is a worldwide problem, which is exacerbated by perceived peer cheating. The present review of the literature quantitatively examined this perceived peer cheating effect. This meta-analysis included studies reporting correlations between students' own cheating and their perception of cheating in peers. The sample consisted of 43 effect sizes (38 studies) based on a total sample size of 24,181 demographically diverse participants from multiple countries (65% female) from papers published from 1941 to 2021. Results showed a perceived peer cheating effect of intermediate effect size (r = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.35 to 0.39), and that perceived peer cheating is among one of the strongest factors known to be associated with students' academic cheating. Moderator analyses using country level measures revealed this effect to be stronger in cultures that are high in power distance, collectivism, long-term orientation, restraint, and low in uncertainty avoidance and religiosity. The present findings indicate that the behavior of peers plays an important role in students’ academic cheating, suggesting that effective strategies to promote academic integrity will need to consider peer influences as well as the culture in which students are socialized.     

Seeing emotions: a review of micro and subtle emotion expression training

In this review I explore and discuss the use of micro and subtle expression training in the social sciences. These trainings, offered commercially, are designed and endorsed by noted psychologist Paul Ekman, co-author of the Facial Action Coding System, a comprehensive system of measuring muscular movement in the face and its relationship to the expression of emotions. The trainings build upon that seminal work and present them in a way for either the layperson or researcher to easily add to their personal toolbox for a variety of purposes. Outlined are my experiences across the training products, how they could be used in social science research, a brief comparison to automated systems, and possible next steps.     

Cultural diversity in online learning: A study of the perceived effects of dissonance in levels of individualism/collectivism and tolerance of ambiguity

Online learning courses are hypothesized to be influenced by the instructors' and students' cultural values. This study collected survey data from online instructors and students to analyze the effects that Hofstede's individualism/collectivism and ambiguity (in)tolerance cultural dimensions exert on online courses offered from an individualist/ambiguity tolerant perspective. Results revealed that the students' cultural dimensions relate significantly to some of their perceptions of culture in the online classroom. Contrary to their individualist peers, collectivist learners felt that their individualist instructors were not usually aware of cultural differences in the online classroom and that their culture was not being considered to make learning relevant to their cultural context. Ambiguity intolerant students, in contrast with their ambiguity tolerant peers, felt that cultural background consideration is important and would appreciate being informed about relevant cultural differences they might experience taking an online course based on a different cultural perspective. Students from ambiguity intolerant cultures also reported less motivation to participate than their counterparts. In addition, language was found to influence the participation patterns when the ambiguity (in)tolerance values of the students were studied. However, language was not found to influence participation patterns for the individualist/collectivist dimension. The results of the study suggest that cultural differences do affect how students perceive the online classroom.