Personality and approaches to learning predict preference for different teaching methods

A total of 221 (111 female and 110 male) British Medical students completed the NEO-FFI personality inventory [Costa, P. T., Jr., and McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.], an abbreviated version of Biggs' [Biggs, J. B (1987). Study process questionnaire manual. Hawthorn, Vic: Australian Council for Educational Research.] approaches to learning scale, and a purpose-designed questionnaire to assess their preference for different teaching methods (e.g., lab classes, standard lectures, and discussion groups). Correlations between several personality traits and approaches to learning factors suggested that personality and learning approaches are distinct, but related, constructs. The deep approach to learning was associated with Emotional Stability, Openness, and Agreeableness. These personality traits were also negatively related to the surface approach to learning, whilst Conscientiousness was associated with deep and achieving learning approaches. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that preference for interactive teaching was associated with a combination of Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, and deep learning approach. Implications are discussed with regard to individual differences in educational contexts.     

Successful graduate students: The roles of personality traits and emotional intelligence

Given the complex role of school psychologists, it is in the interest of stakeholders to identify characteristics related to student success in graduate training, which is suggestive of their effectiveness as practitioners. This study explores the relationship of personality traits and Emotional Intelligence (EI) to graduate students' performance in the classroom and the field. Participants were 63 school psychology students who completed measures of EI and Big Five personality traits. These measures were compared with two outcomes that can be indicators of success: Graduate grade point average (GGPA) and supervisor ratings of student performance at internship upon completion of their studies. EI was significantly correlated with GGPA; personality traits were not. The personality trait Conscientiousness and EI were significantly correlated with internship ratings. The implications and limitations of this preliminary data set for school psychology training programs are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The development of reasoning about the teaching of values in school and family contexts

This study investigated children's, adolescents', and young adults' reasoning about the teaching of a variety of values in the school and family contexts. One-hundred and sixty participants in four age groups (8-, 10-, and 13-year-olds, and college students) evaluated acts involving the teaching of values and laws that regulate the teaching of these values. Both the valence (positive or negative) of values and the context in which they were presented (school, family) were systematically varied. Results showed that a variety of factors were considered in evaluating the teaching of values, including context, the valence of the value, and the type of value being taught. Participants' reasoning about values education was found to be multifaceted and included distinctions between moral values that reflect justice and rights, and values that reflect other forms of personality traits and social values. The findings suggest that conceptions of values education may be better understood within models of social reasoning that draw distinctions between types of values (e.g., moral and other values) and account for the increasing capacity to differentiate social contexts and spheres of legitimate governmental regulation with development.     

从“学会”到“会学”的策略转换——认知风格差异对外语学习的启示

学习者认知风格差异是一个客观存在的现实。从几个主要的差异分析模型中可以看到，外语教学由于受学习者认知风格、性格特点和情感类型等个性化因素的影响较大，教学方式的普适性相对较低。因此，应该在了解和把握不同学习者的认知风格的基础上，调整教学方式和学习策略，以提高外语学习的成效。     

Personality traits and general intelligence as predictors of academic performance: A structural equation modelling approach

The aim of the present study was to investigate the extent to which personality traits, after controlling for general intelligence, predict academic performance in different school subjects. Upper secondary school students in Sweden (N = 315) completed the Wonderlic IQ test (Wonderlic, 1992) and the IPIP-NEO-PI test (Goldberg, 1999). A series of hierarchical structural equation models showed that general intelligence, Conscientiousness, Extraversion and Neuroticism were significantly linked to overall academic performance. There were also different findings for a lower level of personality traits, e.g. different personality traits were associated with different subjects. The findings are discussed with regard to previous results on personality traits as determinants of academic performance in different school subjects and the fact that lower level traits may facilitate achievement in particular subjects.     

The genetic and environmental covariation among psychopathic personality traits, and reactive and proactive aggression in childhood

The present study investigated the genetic and environmental covariance between psychopathic personality traits with reactive and proactive aggression in 9- to 10-year-old twins (N = 1,219). Psychopathic personality traits were assessed with the Child Psychopathy Scale (D. R. Lynam, 1997), while aggressive behaviors were assessed using the Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (A. Raine et al., 2006). Significant common genetic influences were found to be shared by psychopathic personality traits and aggressive behaviors using both caregiver (mainly mother) and child self-reports. Significant genetic and nonshared environmental influences specific to psychopathic personality traits and reactive and proactive aggression were also found, suggesting etiological independence among these phenotypes. Additionally, the genetic relation between psychopathic personality traits and aggression was significantly stronger for proactive than reactive aggression when using child self-reports.     

Correlates of Academic Overachievement,Nondiscrepant Achievement,and Learning Disability in ADHD,Autism, and General Population Samples

ABSTRACT

Little is known about the characteristics of academic overachievers, children whose achievement significantly exceeds IQ. Correlates of overachievement (achievement test scores ≥ 1 SD above IQ), nondiscrepant achievement, and learning disability (LD; achievement ≥ 1 SD below IQ) were analyzed in 1,543 children (739 ADHD, 285 autism, and 519 general population), 6–16 years of age. Significant correlates of the reading and math achievement groups were diagnosis (autism greatest overachievement, ADHD greatest LD), IQ (lowest in overachievers and highest in LD), and Working Memory scores relative to the child’s IQ (close to or exceeding IQ in overachievers and lower than IQ in LD). Demographics (age, sex, race, and parent occupation) and parent and teacher ratings of psychopathology (e.g., behavior problems, anxiety, and depression) and personality characteristics (e.g., motivation and self-confidence) did not contribute significantly more to predicting overachievement and LD beyond that explained by IQ, diagnosis, and working memory. These findings suggest an underlying neurobiological etiology for both overachievement and LD.     

Personality traits in effective clinical teachers

This study looks at the teaching effectiveness of clinical instructors in a professional college of optometry from the viewpoint of students, colleagues, and the teachers themselves. It was asked whether certain measurable personal qualities could differentiate highly rated teachers from their less effective peers. It was found that teachers given high ratings on their clinical teaching effectiveness were distinguished by a constellation of measurable personality traits including self-confidence, assertiveness, personal and intellectual drive, tolerance, and a liking for personal interaction. These traits appear to be common ingredients which contribute to high quality teaching in clinical settings such as that encountered in a health profession school like optometry.     

Student and faculty perceptions of teaching effectiveness

Omnibus measures of teaching effectiveness can be viewed as weighted combinations of more narrowly defined traits describing the teaching process. Our study was designed to determine whether students and faculty weight such traits differently in forming their respective perceptions of effective teaching.Students and faculty within the School of Business and Economics at CSUN were surveyed regarding their assessment of ideal teaching effectiveness in courses where the predominant mode of presentation is lecture. Ten traits depicting various aspects of teaching were selected and each respondent was asked to distribute 100 points across the 10 according to their view of each trait's relative importance in determining effectiveness. The results indicate that there are, indeed, significant differences in student and faculty assessments.Regression analysis of individual trait weighting on demographic variables such as age, sex, field of specialization, etc., produced generally low, insignificant coefficients of determination for both students and faculty. This observed invariance of the respective perceptions of each group across differing combinations of demographic characteristics provides evidence that students and faculty adopt fundamentally different criteria in evaluating teaching effectiveness.     

Little more than personality: Dispositional determinants of test anxiety (the Big Five, core self-evaluations, and self-assessed intelligence)

This study attempted a hierarchical integration of several dispositional determinants of test anxiety (TA) [Sarason, I.G. (1984). Stress, anxiety and cognitive interference: Reactions to tests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 929–938.], namely the Big Five personality traits [Costa, P.T. Jr., & McCrae, R.R. (1992). Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI): Professional manual. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources.], core self-evaluations (CSE) [Judge, T.A., Erez, A., Bono, J.E., & Thoreson, C.J. (2003). The Core Self-Evaluation Scale: Development of a measure. Personnel psychology, 56, 303–331.], and self-assessed intelligence (SAI) [Furnham, A. (2001). Self-estimates of intelligence: Culture and gender difference in self and other estimates of both general (g) and multiple intelligences. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, 1381–1405.] in a sample of 388 US and UK university students. Structural equation models showed that TA was largely a function of Neuroticism, and that CSE and SAI do not contribute to the prediction of TA over established personality traits. Furthermore, the relationship between CSE and TA was fully accounted for by personality traits, whereas SAI was not a significant predictor of TA. The results undermine the notion that self-beliefs affect TA and suggest that wider dispositions play a salient role determining individual differences in TA. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed, particularly in regards to educational settings.     

Personality,Intelligence Components and Foreign Language Attainment

Approximately 1200 children from the Irish Republic were tested for various intelligence abilities, attainment in Irish (taught as a second language), personality traits of psychoticism, neuroticism and extroversion and attitude to learning foreign languages. Females had a significantly higher N score and had a significantly more positive attitude towards learning second languages and males had a significantly higher P score. The personality measures were not strongly related to the cognitive measures; anxiety, for example, does not appear to have an adverse effect on performance. There were low but positive correlations between attitude towards foreign language learning and the total score obtained in the Irish test. It is suggested that individuals have a more positive attitude towards subjects they are good at; hence the attitude could be influenced by innate ability. Attitude towards learning foreign languages also had low but significant correlations with some of the other cognitive tests, e.g. the English Spelling and Verbal Fluency tests. The results were very similar for both the primary and secondary school children. Age does not appear to influence personality measures during this period of childhood and adolescence.     

大学生人格因素与英语学习焦虑关系研究

以非英语专业本科生为调查对象,通过定量研究的相关关系研究方法,探讨大学生所具备的人格特质及其呈现的学习焦虑状况,并试图挖掘学习者人格因素与其英语学习焦虑是否存在相关关系。研究结果表明,受试者的内/外向、情绪性人格因素与其学习焦虑存在显著性相关关系。针对调查结果,提出了一些观点和建议,旨在帮助教师和学习者充分考虑人格因素,更好地进行英语教学和学习。     

AN ATTITUDE STUDY OF STUDENTS IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE,A STATE UNIVERSITY,AND A TECHNICAL INSTITUTE

The purpose of this study in college student culture was to determine whether students entering different types of postsecondary institutions have value systems and/or personality characteristics which differ according to the type of institution they select An assessment of the attitudes and traits students bring with them to college was made at a comprehensive state university, a technical institute, and a community college.

The 16 Personality Factors Test of the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing (16 PF of the IPAT) was administered to 269 students in selected freshman level mathematics classes at the three schools. Individual factor scores were used to compute group means for each type of school on the 16 personality factors. The t test applied to differences in group means revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) among groups on several factors. The results support the hypothesis that student personality factors are related to the type of college selected.

If further research as recommended by the authors reinforces these findings, there are implications for many areas of the educational experience; e.g., college selection, programming activities, choosing instructional methods, counseling.     

中小学教学实践面临的困境及对策思考

当前教学改革实践面临的困境,是我国教学改革与发展的主要障碍。在探讨我国教学实践所存在的困境的基础上,阐述了困境产生的深刻根源,指出对教学过程本质认识的贫乏、单一,正是教学困境产生的深刻理论基础,并从理论层面对教学实践走出困境进行了探索,提出教学过程是在师生交往交流的基础上,通过信息传递来促进学生自我成长的过程。是由交往、交流,认知和学生情感、人格等的自我成长相统一的过程。必须以此观点来构建教学过程,才能使教学实践走出困境。     

The relationships among sex,gender identity factors,and career-decision-situation-specified personality traits

The present study revealed that gender identity involved the integration of various gender identity factors as suggested by Spence (1993) and that career-decision-situation-specified personality variables could be classified into higher order personality trait dimensions as suggested by Tellegen (1985). The results also indicate that the pattern of the relationships found in this study among masculine personality traits, feminine personality traits, and careerdecision-situation-specified personality variables reflecting higher-order personality trait dimensions of Tellegen’s (1985) model was similar to that of the relationships among masculine personality traits, feminine personality traits, and general personality traits reflecting higher-order personality trait dimensions in Lubinsky, Tellegen, and Butcher’s (1981, 1983) studies. Multiple regression analyses showed that the addition of a gender identity role attitude factor and a gender identity behavioral interest factor to sex and a gender identity personality trait factor did not improve significantly the prediction of the career-decision-situation-specified personality variables.     

家庭教养对塑造大学生人格的心理影响

目的从父母教养方式角度揭示大学生人格成因,阐释影响大学生人格特质的家庭教育因素,以求促进大学生人格状况的改善。方法对山西省某高校350名2009级大学生进行父母教养方式、人格特质测评。结果男女生人格特征在P因子和L因子上存在显著差异（P〈0.01）;大学生人格特征与父母教养方式之间相关显著（P〈0.05）;父母教养方式中的多项因子对大学生人格特征有预测作用。结论新时代父母教养方式对大学生人格特征依然有一定的影响。     

Hard Cash and Soft Skills: Experimental Evidence on Combining Scholarships and Mentoring in Argentina

Abstract

We evaluate a long-standing program run by one of the largest education foundations in Argentina that offers scholarships and nonacademic mentoring to secondary school students. We randomly assigned 408 grade 6 students within 10 public schools in the Province of Buenos Aires to either receive the program throughout secondary school or not to receive it. After three years, the program improved students’ academic behaviors (e.g., studying before an exam or catching up on missed work), but we find little evidence that these changes translated into broader improvements in students’ academic mindsets (e.g., self-beliefs about performance and efficacy), perseverance (e.g., grit), or learning strategies (e.g., metacognition). The program also improved students’ performance in school during the first year (e.g., grades, attendance, and passing rates), but we do not find similar gains in subsequent years. This may be due to a large share of treatment students being expelled from the program for not meeting its requirements. The program did not improve student learning or personality traits (e.g., conscientiousness). Finally, we find some heterogeneous effects for female students and students from low-income families.     

Student teachers' team teaching: Models,effects, and conditions for implementation

In an attempt to provide alternative models of field experience in teacher education, this study elaborates the concept of team teaching. A literature review was conducted, which resulted into a narrative review. Five models of team teaching were distinguished: the observation, coaching, assistant teaching, equal status and teaming model. Several benefits of team teaching for student teachers (e.g., increased support, professional growth), their mentors (e.g., decreased workload, learning gains), and the learners in their classroom (e.g., increased support, rich lessons) were found. However, disadvantages were recognised as well. Further, several conditions for the successful implementation of team teaching were listed.     

Agreeableness and Conscientiousness as predictors of university students’ self/peer-assessment rating error

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the role of two personality traits (i.e. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness from the Big Five personality traits) in predicting rating error in the self-assessment and peer-assessment of composition writing. The average self/peer-rating errors of 136 Iranian English major undergraduates assigned to two equal-sized groups, one doing self-assessment and the other peer-assessment over nine sessions, were correlated with and regressed against their measures of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. The results indicated that Agreeableness and Conscientiousness only explained 7% of the variation in self-rating error. Including both Agreeableness and Conscientiousness in a model to predict peer-rating error explained 16% of the variation. When Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were both included in a multiple regression analysis, only Agreeableness was found to significantly predict peer-rating error. Based on these findings, some conclusions are drawn, and pedagogical implications are discussed.     

Factors that predict pre-service teachers’ teaching performance

Understanding the factors that contribute to an effective teacher has the potential to influence selection and preparation of pre-service teachers and may influence student outcomes. Prior research suggests a relationship between teacher characteristics (academic achievement, verbal ability, gender) and teacher effectiveness, however, these factors explain only a fraction of the overall variance in the effectiveness of teachers. Guided by the What Works Clearinghouse protocol for Teacher Training, Evaluation and Compensation, this study involving pre-service teachers (N = 400) used teacher performance rankings resulting from classroom observations and explored factors that may contribute to varying levels of teacher performance. Pre-service teachers’ prior teaching performance, personality characteristics and previous academic achievement were assessed as predictive factors of teacher performance. Results indicate that no significant relationship was identified between personality traits and the outcome variable teaching performance in this study. However, previous teaching performance in addition to academic achievement scores emerged as significant predictors of teaching performance.