Effects of peer versus computer‐assisted drill on mathematics response rates

This study investigated the functional relationship between student accurate response levels and two mathematics drill procedures using a BCBC across participant's single case research design (in this case, “B” represents peer drill and “C” represents computer drill). Each of four elementary school students was randomly assigned to one of two dyads and presented addition flashcards under a computerized drill condition and a peer‐mediated drill condition. In both conditions, students were drilled for 3 minutes on addition facts with immediate feedback (i.e., “Correct” or “Not correct”). Results suggested that the two somewhat older students showed higher levels of accurate responding in the computer condition, while the two younger students showed higher levels of accurate responding in the peer‐tutoring condition. Discussion focuses on potential hypotheses for performance discrepancies across dyads, importance of matching instructional conditions with idiosyncratic variables, and implications for practice and future research. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 637–646, 2005.     

Investigating effects of problem-based versus lecture-based learning environments on student motivation

This study examines the effects of two learning environments (i.e., problem-based learning [PBL] versus lecture-based [LB] environments) on undergraduates’ study motivation. Survey results demonstrated that PBL students scored higher on competence but did not differ from LB students on autonomous motivation. Analyses of focus groups further indicated that active learning aspects, such as collaboration are perceived as motivating. However, controlling elements (i.e., mandatory presence) and uncertainty (i.e., in selecting the correct and sufficient literature) were described as detrimental for students’ motivation. In conclusion, PBL does not always seem to lead to higher intrinsic motivation. It is therefore crucial to build in the right amount of structure in learning environments and balance controlling elements versus autonomy, even in learning environments that are intended to be motivating for students.     

The continuity of college students’ autonomous learning motivation and its predictors: A three-year longitudinal study

This study examined change in Chinese students’ autonomous learning motivation in the first three years of college and how this change is accounted for by intra- and inter-individual variables. The sample included 633 (328 female) college freshmen. Results showed that students’ autonomous learning motivation decreased over years in college. Students’ perceived parental autonomy support and peer relatedness demonstrated different change patterns over time, but each variable positively predicted students’ autonomous learning motivation. Students majoring in science showed a more rapid decline in motivation than liberal arts students. Students studying a major of their own choice showed a higher initial level of motivation than students who were studying a major not of their own choice, but no group difference in the declining trend of motivation was observed. The positive effects of students' perceived institutional support on motivation were limited to the freshmen year.     

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PROFICIENCY AND CONFIDENCE LEVELS IN DISPLAYING THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF BASIC ELECTROLYSIS CONCEPTS

This study was conducted with 330 Form 4 (grade 10) students (aged 15??C?16?years) who were involved in a course of instruction on electrolysis concepts. The main purposes of this study were (1) to assess high school chemistry students?? understanding of 19 major principles of electrolysis using a recently developed 2-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument, the Electrolysis Diagnostic Instrument (EDI), and (2) to assess students?? confidence levels in displaying their knowledge and understanding of these electrolysis concepts. Analysis of students?? responses to the EDI showed that they displayed very limited understanding of the electrolytic processes involving molten compounds and aqueous solutions of compounds, with a mean score of 6.82 (out of a possible maximum of 17). Students were found to possess content knowledge about several electrolysis processes but did not provide suitable explanations for the changes that had occurred, with less than 45?% of students displaying scientifically acceptable understandings about electrolysis. In addition, students displayed limited confidence about making the correct selections for the items; yet, in 16 of the 17 items, the percentage of students who were confident that they had selected the correct answer to an item was higher than the actual percentage of students who correctly answered the corresponding item. The findings suggest several implications for classroom instruction on the electrolysis topic that need to be addressed in order to facilitate better understanding by students of electrolysis concepts.     

Overcoming Obstacles to Understanding and Solving Word Problems in Mathematics

ABSTRACT The trouble students have with solving word problems often comes from the difficulty in understanding the problem structure embedded in the problem text. This research was conducted to study the interactive effects of learner and instructional variables on understanding and solving word problems among Filipino‐English bilingual grade school students in the Philippines. The results showed better understanding and solution performance (1) when problems were written in the students’ first language, (2) when the problems were re‐worded to state more explicitly the relationship among the known and unknown quantities, (3) for students in higher levels of schooling and (4) for students with higher levels of academic achievement. The effects of re‐wording were mediated by the effects of the language; and the effects of language also varied between the highand low‐achievement students. In most cases where the students’ performance improved, the improvement seems to be due to better comprehension of the text (or fewer basic comprehension errors); except with the improvement due to re‐wording, which seems to be due to fewer misinterpretation errors. The results of the study provide further support for earlier findings, but also extend and modify the theoretical ramifications of the earlier findings and point to some important implications for educational practice.     

Changes in students' understanding of evolution resulting from different curricular and instructional strategies

This study assessed students' learning of evolution by natural selection within four different sections of an introductory biology course. Each section used a different combination of curricular materials (either traditional or historically rich materials) and instruction (either paired problem solving or traditional lecture). Students in the study completed pre- and postintervention evolution tests. Students' responses were analyzed to create variables for both correct and alternative conceptions of evolution. Pretest and posttest data were used to create difference scores that were compared both within and between teaching sections. Pre-to-post gains were expected in the correct (Darwinian Conception) scores, while pre-to-post losses were expected in the Alternative Conception scores. Also, students in the experimental sections were expected to perform better than those in the traditional sections. Pretest-to-posttest differences within each section showed gains in correct conceptions but few reductions in alternative conceptions. Comparisons between sections support the use of the paired problem-solving instructional strategy in conjunction with the historically rich curriculum. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Students' approaches to learning when entering higher education: Differences between students with senior general secondary and senior secondary educational backgrounds

Recently, more students have entered Dutch higher education. This is a consequence of the possibility to offer students to enter higher education, with a certificate from senior secondary education (SSVE). In earlier days most students in higher education had passed senior general secondary education (SGSE), or even pre-university education. It is to be expected that these ‘new’ students approach learning in a different way compared to the ‘traditional’ students in higher education. The goal of this study was to examine the possible differences between the two groups of students mentioned, and to gain insights in the role possible differences play in the way the two groups of students approach learning. Students' personality characteristics, regulation strategies, learning conceptions and motivational orientations were studied in relation to study approaches. It was assumed that patterns of relations between the variables mentioned would be different for the two groups of students. More specifically, it was expected to find stronger and more crystallised relations between variables within the group of SSVE students. Indeed, when entering higher education, SSVE students scored higher then SGSE students on the personality variables autonomy and conscientiousness; as to their personal orientations on learning and instruction they were more self-test oriented and they scored higher on concrete processing and construction of knowledge. However, the strength and direction of the relations between the variables are the same for both groups. Our findings increase insights into relations between students' personalities and their approaches to learning when entering higher education; this concerns two groups of students from different educational backgrounds. Practically this implies that intake assessments considering personality and self-knowledge might help teachers, coaches and policy makers in advising students how to approach learning, when entering higher education.     

Predictors of self-esteem: the roles of parent-child perceptions, achievement, and class placement.

This study examined the relative influence on children's self-esteem of academic achievement, maternal self-esteem, maternal acceptance, and children's perception of their parents' acceptance of them. Subjects were students with learning disabilities in a self-contained class (n=31), similarly diagnosed students in resource room (n=35), students in compensatory education (n=30), and nondisabled students (n=30) from Grades 3 through 6. Results showed that for the self-contained group, a child's perception of maternal and paternal acceptance plus the child's academic achievement score accounted for 58% of the variance in the child's self-esteem. None of the independent variables accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in the compensatory education and regular class groups. The self-esteem of the regular class students was significantly higher than that of the resource room students and the compensatory education students, but not significantly higher than that of the self-contained students.     

Peer Coaching of At-Risk Students in a Remedial Mathematics Course

Remedial mathematics at the college level has evidenced strikingly low retention and passing rates. It has been shown that at least 25% of the variation in student performance is explained by students’ affective variables such as attitudes, study skills, and mathematics anxiety. This study endeavored to address affective variables by: (a) incorporating the teaching of study skills into an elementary algebra course; and (b) identifying at-risk students and assigning these students “coaches,” who functioned both as tutors and counselors, providing regular personalized assistance. The results showed that the attrition rate was significantly lower in the treatment groups, and the overall passing rate for coached students was significantly higher.     

Improved Student Reasoning About Carbon-Transforming Processes Through Inquiry-Based Learning Activities Derived from an Empirically Validated Learning Progression

This paper reports on our use of a fine-grained learning progression to assess secondary students’ reasoning through carbon-transforming processes (photosynthesis, respiration, biosynthesis). Based on previous studies, we developed a learning progression with four progress variables: explaining mass changes, explaining energy transformations, explaining subsystems, and explaining large-scale systems. For this study, we developed a 2-week teaching module integrating these progress variables. Students were assessed before and after instruction, with the learning progression framework driving data analysis. Our work revealed significant overall learning gains for all students, with the mean post-test person proficiency estimates higher by 0.6 logits than the pre-test proficiency estimates. Further, instructional effects were statistically similar across all grades included in the study (7th–12th) with students in the lowest third of initial proficiency evidencing the largest learning gains. Students showed significant gains in explaining the processes of photosynthesis and respiration and in explaining transformations of mass and energy, areas where prior research has shown that student misconceptions are prevalent. Student gains on items about large-scale systems were higher than with other variables (although absolute proficiency was still lower). Gains across each of the biological processes tested were similar, despite the different levels of emphasis each had in the teaching unit. Together, these results indicate that students can benefit from instruction addressing these processes more explicitly. This requires pedagogical design quite different from that usually practiced with students at this level.     

Contact-2: a computer-assisted instructional strategy for promoting conceptual change

Previous research seems to support the assumption that students need instructional guidance to activate and correct their preconceptions. Such an instructional strategy is the CONTACT strategy, characterised by continuous, computer-assisted activation of the conceptions of individual learners. Our previous study showed that the CONTACT strategy was effective in promoting conceptual change in text processing (domain: physical geography) because students (fifth- and sixth-graders, primary education) constructed more correct conceptions. However, students mainly seemed to focus on the central concepts from the training texts, disregarding other information. Therefore, the strategy was adapted to solve this problem of selective attention and to increase its effectiveness. Subjects (74 fifth- and sixth-graders) were assigned to three instructional conditions (original CONTACT condition, revised CONTACT-2 condition and control condition NO ACTIVATION). A mixed between-within-subjects design was used with 2 between-subjects factors (instructional condition and students' familiarity with the central concepts from the 7 texts used). Dependent variables concerned quality of conceptions and learning performance. Students from the CONTACT-2 condition constructed better conceptions and achieved higher learning performance scores than students from the other two conditions. Moreover, the effectiveness of the CONTACT-2 strategy appeared not to depend on the degree of conceptual resemblance between the performance test questions and the central concepts from the texts and on the moment of testing. Additional research should shed some light on the instructional conditions required to teach students how they themselves can initiate and perform learning activities aimed at conceptual change.     

Accuracy and Fluency in List and Context Reading of Skilled and RD Groups: Absolute and Relative Performance Levels

The purpose of this study was to examine (1) the performance levels and the magnitude of performance difference between students with reading disabilities (RD) and skilled readers when reading a typical classroom text; (2) the hypothesis that students with RD have specific difficulty using context in such a way that reading fluency is affected; and (3) whether RD subtypes may be differentiated according to performance on contextual and context‐free reading tasks. Two groups of fourth graders (85 skilled readers and 24 students with RD) completed a standardized test of reading comprehension, read aloud a folktale, and read aloud the folktale's words in a randomly sequenced list. Performance was scored as correct rate and percentage correct. Based on the number of words per idea unit in the passage, we also estimated the rate at which reader groups encountered and processed text ideas. Compared to the RD group, skilled readers read three times more correct words per minute in context, and showed higher accuracy and rates on all measures. Both context and isolated word‐reading rates were highly sensitive to impairment. We found no evidence for RD subtypes based on these measures. Results illustrate differences in reading levels between the two groups, the temporal advantage skilled readers have in linking text ideas, how word reading differs as a function of task format and performance dimension, and how limited word‐identification skills (not comprehension) produce contextual reading difficulties for students with RD.     

How do secondary students approach different types of division with remainder situations? Some evidence from Spain

Division-With-Remainder (DWR) problems are particularly complex, as suggested in many studies. The purpose of this work was to establish whether students’ difficulties in DWR problems came from an inadequate initial representation or from an inadequate final interpretation of the numerical answers, and whether remainders could be grouped into two blocks depending on the kind of answer, either directly matching the terms of the division or not. Forty-five Spanish secondary students, aged 12–13, were requested to solve two Types of Division Situations (i.e., Equal Groups and Comparison), each one involving four Types of Remainder (i.e., Remainder-Not-Divisible, Remainder-Divisible, Remainder-as-the-Result, and Readjusted-Quotient-by-Partial-Increments). Our data showed that: (a) the selection of the correct solution procedure depended on the Type of Division Situations, being easier in Equal Groups than in Comparison problems; (b) correct interpretations were higher than the percentages reported in other researches; and (c) success in problems whose answers were the quotient or the remainder was higher than in Readjusted-Quotient-by-Partial-Increments problems. The results obtained suggest that students’ difficulties originate in the initial representation of the DWR problems and that it would be more adequate to refer to the difficulty of Readjusted-Quotient-by-Partial-Increments problems in particular, rather than to the difficulty of DWR problems in general.     

Chip morphology predictions while machining hardened tool steel using finite element and smoothed particles hydrodynamics methods

Chip morphology predictions in metal cutting have always been challenging because of the complexity of the various multiphysical phenomena that occur across the tool-chip interface. An accurate prediction of chip morphology is a key factor in the assessment of a particular machining operation with regard to both tool performance and workpiece quality. Although finite element (FE) models are being developed over the last two decades, their capabilities in modeling correct material flow around the tool tip with shear localization are very limited. FE models with an arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) approach are able to simulate correct material flow around the tool tip. However, these models are unable to predict any shear localization based on material flow criteria. On the other hand, FE models with a Lagrangian formulation can simulate shear localization in the chip segments; they need to make use of a mesh-based chip separation criterion that significantly affects material flow around the tool tip. In this study a mesh-free method viz. smoothed particles hydrodynamics (SPH) is implemented to simulate shear localization in the chip while machining hardened steel. Unlike other SPH models developed by some researchers, this model is based on a renormalized formulation that can consider frictional stresses along the tool-chip interface giving a realistic chip shape and material flow. SPH models with different cutting parameters are compared with the traditional FE models and it has been found that the SPH models are good for predicting shear localized chips and do not need any geometric or mesh-based chip separation criteria.     

Yoga Improves Academic Performance in Urban High School Students Compared to Physical Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Yoga programs within schools have become more widespread but research regarding the potential effect on academic achievement remains limited. This study cluster‐randomized 112 students within a single New York City public high school to participate in either school‐based yoga or physical education (PE) for an entire academic year. The primary outcome was mean annual grade point average (GPA). Psychosocial variables (self‐regulation, executive function, well‐being, and mindfulness) were examined as mediators. The study's primary hypothesis that yoga would improve academic performance was not supported by intent to treat analysis; however, a significant interaction was observed between class assignment and class participation. Among students with higher participation, those assigned to yoga classes had a significantly higher GPA. For example, at 49 classes of participation for both groups, students assigned to yoga classes had an estimated 2.70 higher mean GPA (effect size = 0.31) than students assigned to PE.     

民族聚居区高校大学生学习倦怠、专业承诺与社会支持关系研究

采用大学生专业承诺调查量表、大学生学习倦怠调查量表和社会支持评定量表,以民族聚居区高校604名大学生为对象,探讨学习倦怠、专业承诺和社会支持之间的关系,结果表明:(1)民族聚居区高校学生的学习倦怠水平较高,专业承诺水平不高,社会支持的总体水平较高,但对支持的利用度不高。(2)专业承诺和社会支持是民族聚居区高校学生学习倦怠的有效预测变量。具体表现为:情感承诺、继续承诺、理想承诺是情绪低落维度的有效预测变量;理想承诺是行为不当维度的有效预测变量;情感承诺是成就感低的有效预测变量;主观支持、对支持的利用度是情绪低落维度的有效预测变量;主观支持是行为不当维度的有效预测变量;支持的利用度是成就感低维度的有效预测变量。     

大学生应对应激事件的方式对心理健康的影响

研究大学生对突发事件的应对方式,对于指导学生有意识地纠正消极应对方式,提出切实可行的干预策略有实际指导意义。从不同性别、不同民族、不同年级大学生面对应激事件所采取的应对方式的差异检验显示,对大学生进行心理健康教育不能搞一刀切,应根据性别、民族和年龄的不同有针对性地进行。     

Expectations of higher education students: a comparison between the perception of student and teachers

Higher education institutions are ever more interested in the development of tools that enable them to evaluate and manage the expectations of their students with the purpose of attracting and keeping them satisfied. This research compares what the faculty believes the students expect from a higher education institution with the expectations of students entering higher education. A quantitative study was performed with students from a higher education institution through the application of a questionnaire covering 32 different expectations. The perceptions of the faculty were also collected through the same questionnaire, suitably adapted. The results of the investigation demonstrated differences in thinking between students and professors, with 19 variables representing student expectations that showed statistically significant mean differences. In 13 variables the students had greater expectations than the faculty believed, while for six variables the faculty indicated higher expectations than the students declared. Identifying the existence of this gap in knowledge will allow the higher education institution to adjust its services to the expectations of students, leading them to greater satisfaction.     

A multi-level modeling approach to investigating students’ critical thinking at higher education institutions

Twenty-first century and higher-learning skills such as critical thinking are highly desired for new college graduates entering the workplace, especially with rapid changing technology and a more globalized economy. As a result, the importance of critical thinking development at higher education institutions has increased. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of student and institutional variables on the difference in critical thinking scores between first-year and third/fourth-year students at higher education institutions. We examined the extent to which institutional variables moderate the relationship between student variables and the critical thinking score difference. We used a multi-level modeling approach to account for the clustering of students in institutions. Results of this study showed that: (a) institutional variability accounted for 15% of the variance in estimated critical thinking scores, (b) third/fourth-year students had higher critical thinking scores as compared to their first-year peers even when controlling for college admissions score, and (c) in the final model, the main effects of college admission scores, student-faculty ratio, and percent Black/African American were statistically significant; however, retention was the only significant moderator of the relationship between critical thinking scores and class level. Implications and future research are discussed.