How should researchers in Education operationalise on-task behaviours?

On-task and off-task behaviours have been used in educational research either as independent topics of interest or as dependent variables. In clinical research, there is general agreement about what constitutes off-task behaviours but no such agreement exists for on-task behaviours. This paper reviews 54 studies spanning the last 22?years in order to examine how on-task behaviour has been defined in the educational literature. From the 54 studies, 25 different on-task behaviours were identified. The 25 on-task behaviours were assessed to see if they could be allocated to a category. Four categories of behaviours were identified: task-related, teacher-related, social and miscellaneous. Building on the analysis from the identification and categorisation of the behaviours, the paper suggests a checklist of behaviours that differ in degree of how necessary they are to include in research when using on-task behaviours as a dependent measure. The paper concludes by suggesting that, although on-task behaviours can be highly and appropriately idiosyncratic, educational researchers can achieve some systematicity of measurement by using the guidelines presented.     

Primary School Teachers’ Perception of Pupils’ Undesirable Behaviours

Summary This paper reports on a questionnaire survey of teachers’ attitudes towards 16 selected undesirable behaviours carried out in all of the 79 state primary schools in Malta and Gozo. The responses of the 844 participants showed that stealing, cruelty/bullying and rudeness/impertinence are perceived as the three most serious behaviours in pupils. Significant boy/girl differences in the seriousness of behaviour were observed in 14 of the behaviours as rated by the total teacher sample, in 9 of the behaviours as rated by male teachers, and in 14 of the behaviours as rated by female teachers. The greatest boy/girl differences in the ratings of the behaviours was that for untidy in personal appearance as perceived by male teachers. Teacher‐sex was also found to be a significant moderator of the teachers’ attitude towards seven of the behaviours.     

Secondary school teachers’ perceptions of students’ problem behaviours

Much of the research into behaviour problems and school interventions has focused on primary school‐age children. In the primary school setting, the behaviours that cause the most concern to teachers are frequently occurring but relatively minor behaviours such as calling out and interrupting the learning of others. These minor problematic behaviours have been shown to respond to low‐level interventions that are presented as written advice. The behaviours that secondary school teachers perceive as problematic, and the preferred method of intervention, have received comparatively little attention in the research. An investigation of the behaviour problems that high school teachers find most troublesome was conducted in this study. It was found that similar behaviours were reported as troublesome in the secondary school classroom compared with the primary classroom, although differences were demonstrated across year levels. Teachers were also surveyed about their preferred method of intervention/assistance for these behaviour problems. This information about intervention approaches informs the development of strategies for assisting classroom teachers.     

The effects of function-based communication intervention for a student with emotional disturbance in a general education setting

Research has shown that most children with emotional disturbance (ED) are struggling to use communication skills and they may tend to use inappropriate behaviours as a form of communication to disclose their needs. A function-based communication intervention might be an effective approach to decrease inappropriate behaviours of children with ED. The purpose of this single-case multiple baseline reversal design (ABAB) study was to examine the effectiveness of the function-based communication intervention for on-task and disruptive behaviours of an 8-year-old student with ED. Functional behavioural assessment (FBA) was conducted and based on the findings of FBA, a colour-coded communication system, was implemented during reading and math classes. The findings indicated that function-based communication intervention was effective in increasing on-task as well as decreasing disruptive behaviours. Furthermore, the function-based communication intervention improved communication between the teacher and the student that resulted in decreasing disruptive behaviours in a general classroom setting. The generalisability of the findings due to the limited number of participants was an important limitation for this study. Future directions, as well as implications for practices, are discussed.     

Infants' social-emotional adjustment within a childcare context of Korea

In a child day-care setting, the naturally occurring social-emotional behaviours and play interaction of 51 infants were observed and recorded. Individual differences in gender, age, temperament, and maternal parenting behaviours were examined to understand how these variables might be related to social-emotional adjustment of infants. The measures used in this study were Social-emotional Behaviour, Play Interaction, Temperament, and Parenting Behaviour. Results indicate that boys showed externalizing problem behaviours more than girls, and the 2-year-olds showed more internalizing problem behaviours such as withdrawal/separation than 1-year-olds. Additionally, adaptability of infants showed a negative correlation with externalizing problem behaviours. Maternal behaviours of over-protectiveness/permissiveness had relations with a low social capability and refusal/neglect had relations with high externalizing problem behaviours. The results suggest that individual differences in social-emotional adjustment are variously determined.     

Responding to individuals with severe learning difficulties and stereotyped behaviour: challenges for an inclusive era

Traditionally, professionals working with individuals with severe learning difficulties who demonstrate stereotyped behaviours, such as rocking and hand-flapping, have viewed such behaviours as undesirable, inappropriate and in need of reduction or elimination. This perspective is influenced by notions of readying those individuals for mixed settings, educating, training or modifying them to help gain their acceptance. Intensive Interaction is an alternative approach for working with individuals with complex difficulties that responds positively to them and their stereotyped behaviours, sometimes using these as a point of connection. Intensive Interaction sets out to enhance social and communication abilities and not to reduce stereotyped behaviours. However, findings from two studies of Intensive Interaction that show some reduction in stereotyped behaviours are reported and discussed. The authors consider the way in which more inclusive thinking connects with changes in thinking about stereotyped behaviour and the individuals who engage in them.     

"Maladaptive" Behaviours in the Young Child with Intellectual Disabilities: A reconsideration

In recent years, we have come to appreciate the close parallels in the development of children with and without intellectual disabilities. Nonetheless, there are a set of behaviours found with so much greater frequency among children with intellectual disabilities that they are commonly considered characteristics of the condition. These include repetitive behaviours, also described as perseverative and passive behaviours or disengagement from activity. The repetition and passivity are manifest during spontaneous play and cognitive activities. Thought to be maladaptive impediments to developmental progress, they are generally targets of educational intervention. In this article we raise the possibility that repetition and passivity, though clearly present in young children with intellectual disabilities, may be misconstrued as always being an impediment to progress. Indeed, these behaviours may at times be appropriate and adaptive responses to coping in a world that moves quickly with a mind that moves slowly.     

The role of noncognitive traits in undergraduate study behaviours

Undergraduate study behaviours, principally lecture attendance and additional study, are shown to predict better student achievement by many researchers. Despite this, there is not much evidence on the determinants of these behaviours. This is the first paper to explore the determinants of study behaviours across multiple subject areas; and is the first to incorporate students’ noncognitive traits into such a model; that the authors are aware of. This enables the formation of policy that can improve academic achievement by encouraging study behaviour. The results show that students’ noncognitive traits, in particular conscientiousness and future-orientation, are important determinants of lecture attendance and additional study hours. In fact, there is very little that explains undergraduate study behaviour besides noncognitive traits. Standard economic factors, such as family income, financial aid and parental transfers, are not predictive of study behaviours. Some comments are provided on a potential behavioural economics approach to encouraging study behaviours.     

Teachers’ Perceptions of Student Behaviours: a study of NSW secondary teachers’ attitudes

There is a dearth of empirical information concerning teachers’ attitudes to secondary students’ behaviours. A questionnaire was used to survey 105 secondary school teachers from NSW about the perceived serious or disturbing nature of 50 student behaviours. The perception of the behaviours was scored on a five‐point Liken scale. Behaviours were ranked according to the results and compared with four previous studies. It was found that ‘aggressive’ behaviours were perceived as more serious than ‘passive’ behaviours and that the rankings of the NSW teachers agreed substantially with those in previous American studies. No significant differences were found between rankings of male and female teachers or between perceptions of behaviours when observed in boy or girl students. A factor analysis extracted six fairly distinct factors which could be related to dimensions in behaviour rating scales. It was concluded that professional development courses could target the behaviours loading significantly on Factor I, as teachers perceive that they are the most disturbing.     

Preschoolers’ engagement with reading behaviours: a statistical discourse analysis of peer buddy‐reading interactions

Developing reading behaviours in early childhood is essential for later reading comprehension. This study explored how peer buddy reading could potentially support emergent readers’ engagement with reading behaviours. Across 40 buddy‐reading events, 14 preschoolers (ages 4.0–5.5 years) produced 1,359 conversation turns, which were coded for a variety of reading behaviours including comprehension, thematic vocabulary use and concepts about print. Using statistical discourse analysis, we examined how children's engagement with reading behaviours was related to their buddies’ engagement with reading behaviours in subsequent conversation turns during buddy‐reading events. Findings suggest that some of preschoolers’ reading behaviours, such as literal text representation, inferential text interpretation, character development and comprehension monitoring were related to their buddies’ engagement with reading behaviours; others, such as vocabulary and concepts about print, were not. Implications include that buddy reading can be used to support preschoolers’ engagement with some reading behaviours, such as certain aspects of comprehension.     

Children’s shyness: a suitable case for treatment?

Shy and withdrawn behaviours are cause for concern and have attracted contrasting perspectives. On the one hand, they are regarded as predictive of social anxiety disorder and may benefit from intervention; on the other hand, there are claims that normal behaviours are being pathologised. Evidence is reviewed which suggests that while they represent a risk factor for social anxiety disorder, these patterns of behaviours are only moderately predictive, the large majority of shy children do not go on to meet diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder, nor have adults who meet these criteria necessarily been shy as children. A fruitful approach may be to develop effective social and emotional learning programmes to increase children’s understanding of shyness and to aid identification of children at risk.     

Building student-teacher relationships and improving behaviour-management for classroom teachers

Teachers can at times view behavioural intervention procedures as time-consuming. Thus, socially-valid classroom-based interventions are a critical component to behavioural success. This study examined the effects of traditional behavioural interventions with two kindergarten students presenting with challenging behaviours, including aggression, tantrums and noncompliance. Notably, it was found that traditional behavioural procedures were not sufficient to substantially reduce the behaviours alone. Therefore, a relationship-building component was added to target positive student-teacher relationships. Student outcomes resulted in a significant reduction in challenging behaviour as well as teacher-reported behaviours showing a reduction across all measured periods. Ongoing teacher consultation, increased student-teacher relationships (STRs) and use of effective classroom management strategies are necessary for effective models of behaviour support.     

Future-oriented processes: A foundation for planning behaviour in infants and toddlers

Abstract

The development of planning behaviours is ussually discussed from the perspective of a process that already exists in its full-blown, mature form, whether planning activity is examined in infants, children, or adults. In contrast, we argue that an understanding of the future occurs before planning is possible and is fundamental to skills that are used in planning behaviours throughout development. We introduce the notions of “future-oriented processes” and “partial acomplishments” as a framework for examining the developmental origins of planning behaviours. We provide empirical evidence that 3 to 12 month old infants are able to form expectancies for short-term future events and that such expentancies are among the first type of future-oriented processes to develop. We conclude by suggesting that these and other future-oriented processes serve to lay a developmental foundation from which later planning behaviours evolve     

Education undergraduates and ICT‐enhanced academic dishonesty: A moral panic?

This paper reports an illuminative small‐scale study that trialled a survey instrument with 55 final‐year undergraduates categorised by age. The survey investigated students' use of information and communication technologies (ICT), including the Internet, and students' engagement in lecturer impressing strategies and cheating behaviours such as plagiarism. The study disclosed differences in ICT usage by age, but these differences did not achieve significance. The study disclosed also that 0.27 of the sample had reported a single instance of cheating behaviours while 0.2 of the sample had reported multiple instances of cheating behaviours. Analyses of data discerned no significant correlations between these cheating behaviours and age or ICT capability, but significant negative correlations were found between cheating behaviours and engagement in certain Internet activities. Inferences are tentatively drawn for further research and for academic practices.     

Making sense of module feedback: accounting for individual behaviours in student evaluations of teaching

Quantitative student evaluations of teaching (SET) and assessments are widely used in higher education as a proxy for teaching quality. However, SET are a function of individual rating behaviours resulting from student background, knowledge and personalities, as well as the learning experience being rated. SET from three years of data from a science department at a Russell Group University in the UK were analysed to highlight issues of sample size in relation to variable perceptions of modules, and develop a statistical model of feedback incorporating individual rating behaviours across modules. Key results are that sample size and individual rating behaviours have the potential to significantly affect summary module ratings, especially for <20 respondents or if individuals have heterogeneous views. A new approach is suggested, to interpret and compare quantitative module ratings, acknowledging uncertainty, variability and individual rating behaviours. This has implications for the interpretation of SET in many aspects of academic life, including university league table positions, the identification of good teaching practice with respect to student satisfaction, and the weight given to SET in individual academics’ promotion applications.     

The effect of music therapy services on classroom behaviours of newly arrived refugee students in Australia—a pilot study

This pilot study examined the effects of a short‐term music therapy program on the classroom behaviours of newly arrived refugee students who were attending an intensive ‘English as a Second Language’ secondary school. A cross‐over design with two five‐week intervention periods was employed with group music therapy sessions conducted one or two times per week. Data from the Behaviour Assessment Scale for Children were used to evaluate a range of positive and negative school behaviours. A significant decrease in externalising behaviours was found with particular reference to hyperactivity and aggression. No significant differences were found in other behaviours. Explanations and implications of these findings are discussed.     

Student learning behaviours as a means for a cognitive evaluation of a physics program

The formative evaluation model presented here examines the character of classroom interaction by juxtaposing required and performed student learning behaviours. We use the concept of learning behaviours as a tool for the examination of interactions among the commonplaces of learning (students, teachers, and curriculum materials). We define learning behaviours as actions performed by the students as a result of learning stimuli that are presumed to advance the student towards the acquirement of new knowledge. Learning behaviours may have negative as well as positive outcomes. For example, the identification of variables in an experiment, a required learning behaviour, might very possibly lead to the identification of non-relevant as well as relevant variables. This could lead to the development of misconceptions concerning conclusions drawn from the experiment. Hopefully, such student misconceptions arising from the materials would be identified during the process of formative evaluation. The evaluation model described here is an integral part of a curriculum project aimed at the development of learning materials in physics for technical vocational high schools. In particular, the materials are intended to teach basic principles of physics to students of poor motivation and limited ability. They are oriented towards the needs of technical vocational students and present physics and technology as complementary disciplines (Finegold & Reiner, 1984).     

How Russian teachers,mothers and school psychologists perceive internalising and externalising behaviours in children

This study examined the perception of children’s internalising and externalising behaviours by Russian teachers, mothers and school psychologists. The participants rated their agreement about the causes, seriousness and recommended interventions for the problem behaviour of a fictitious girl/boy described in two vignettes. Mixed ANOVAs indicated that all the respondents attributed externalising behaviours to social causes to a greater degree than internalising behaviours. Compared to mothers and psychologists, teachers perceived both types of behaviours as more serious; however, they downplayed their own role in the child’s problems. Psychological help was more popular among school psychologists than among mothers. Correlational analyses demonstrated problem- and respondent-specific associations between casual attributions and recommended interventions. Implications for educational practice are discussed.     

Teachers perceptions of students with emotional and behavioural difficulties: severity and prevalence

This study aimed to identify the types of emotional and behavioural difficulties that Greek primary teachers saw as problematic in their teaching; and also to identify their perceptions of the prevalence of these difficulties. A Behaviour Inventory was administered to 170 elementary teachers from 23 randomly selected schools in Athens. Analysis showed that teachers found work avoidance, depressive mood, negativism, physical aggression and lack of concentration as most problematic. By contrast, they found excessive shyness and attention seeking as least problematic. However, only one of the most problematic behaviours, lack of concentration, was among the highly frequent behaviours. The other highly frequent behaviours were talking without permission, untidiness and fidgeting. The least frequent behaviours were over-dependence on teacher and school phobia. The findings are discussed in terms of historical and international patterns and trends in teachers perceptions of emotional and behavioural difficulties. The significance of the study for the professional development of teachers and for policy-makers is also examined.     

Parental Behaviours Predicting Early Childhood Executive Functions: a Meta-Analysis

Recent research indicates that parental behaviours may influence the development of executive functions (EFs) during early childhood, which are proposed to serve as domain-general building blocks for later classroom behaviour and academic achievement. However, questions remain about the strength of the association between parenting and child EFs, more specifically which parental behaviours are most strongly associated with child EFs, and whether there is a critical period in early childhood during which parental behaviour is more influential. A meta-analysis was therefore conducted to determine the strength of the relation between various parental behaviours and EFs in children aged 0 to 8 years. We identified 42 studies published between 2000 and 2016, with an average of 12.77 months elapsing in the measurement of parent and child variables. Parental behaviours were categorised as positive (e.g. warmth, responsiveness, sensitivity), negative (e.g. control, intrusiveness, detachment) and cognitive (e.g. autonomy support, scaffolding, cognitive stimulation). Results revealed significant associations (ps < .001) between composite EF and positive (r = .25), negative (r = ?.22) and cognitive (r = .20) parental behaviours. Associations between cognitive parental behaviours and EFs were significantly moderated by child age, with younger children showing a stronger effect size, whereas positive and negative parental behaviours showed a stable association with EFs across ages. We conclude that modest, naturally occurring associations exist between parental behaviours and future EFs and that early childhood may be a critical period during which cognitive parental behaviour is especially influential.