In the eyes of the beholder: students’ and teachers’ judgments of students’ motivation

This study was designed to examine the nature and accuracy of teachers’ judgments about students’ motivation related to mathematics. Seventeen fourth- through sixth-grade teachers and 100 of their students participated in this study. Teachers were asked to rate six target students’ motivation four times during the school year. At each of these times students also rated their own motivation. Teachers’ ratings were more stable over time and across mathematics topics and were less differentiated across motivation dimensions than were students’ ratings. The findings suggest that teachers need to pay careful attention to evidence related to children's motivation that might contradict their perceptions and therefore support more effective interventions.     

Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of middle school students

This report shares a study that explored the perceptions pre-service teachers have of middle school students. Participants were asked to complete the Adjective Checklist (ACL) by endorsing the words they considered most characteristic of a typical middle school student. Items most frequently endorsed indicated a predominantly negative perception (e.g. “awkward”, “confused” and “emotional”). Implications for pre-service teacher training are discussed.     

The lag effect in secondary school classrooms: Enhancing students’ memory for vocabulary

Educators often face serious time constraints that impede multiple repetition lessons on the same material. Thus, it would be useful to know when to schedule a single repetition unit to maximize memory performance. Laboratory studies revealed that the length of the retention interval (i.e., the time between the last learning session and the final memory test) dictates the optimal lag between two learning sessions. The present study tests the generalizability of this finding to vocabulary learning in secondary school. Sixth-graders were retaught English–German vocabulary after lags of 0, 1, or 10 days and tested 7 or 35 days later. In line with our predictions, we found that the optimal lag depends on the retention interval: Given a 7-day retention interval, students performed best when relearning occurred after 1 day. When vocabulary was tested after 35 days, however, students benefited from lags of both 1 and 10 days. Model-based analyses show that enhanced encoding processes and stronger resistance to forgetting—but not better retrieval processes—underlie the benefits of optimal lag. Our findings have practical implications for classroom instruction and suggest that review units should be planned carefully by taking the time of the final test into consideration.     

The effect of culture and belief systems on students’ academic buoyancy

Increasingly, learner motivation is implicated in student failure at universities. This has led to intense research into internal or external variables that might buoy resilience to failure. This research investigates the impact of strong cultural connectedness and strong belief systems on the academic buoyancy of international students studying at an Australian University. For this purpose, we surveyed 102 tertiary students at a Sydney university. Results demonstrate that, in the event of academic failure, students’ academic buoyancy remains high if they have support through strong cultural connections and from their belief systems. We further endeavored to identify if academic buoyancy was fed by intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. This research contributes to the understanding of the sources of strengths available to international students from primarily collective cultures studying overseas. There are implications for educational practice in terms of identifying students ‘at high risk’ if they are unable to draw strengths from cultural connections and belief systems.     

The influence of school type and perceived teaching style on students’ creativity

School is an excellent place to foster young learners’ creative thinking skills. However, the emphasis on creativity varies among schools. In two studies the putative influence of school education on the development of students’ creativity was examined by means of a retrospective approach. We investigated whether two influential factors within school education (1) school type (i.e., traditional vs. alternative vs. religious) and (2) perceived teaching style (i.e., independence, judgment, flexibility, integration) associate with students’ creativity at university entrance level. The difference was examined at the primary and secondary school level, respectively. Study 1a found that students who attended alternative schools at the secondary school level performed better on divergent thinking tasks as compared to students who attended traditional or religious schools. Relationship between students’ creative performance and the perceived teaching styles were inconclusive. Finally, teaching styles in alternative schools during secondary education were perceived as high in independence and flexibility. Study 1b replicated the finding that university students who attended alternative schools during secondary education have an advantage in divergent thinking. Taken together, our results highlight the positive influence of alternative school education on students’ creative performance at the university entrance level.     

The effect of schools on school leavers’ university participation

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the role that schools have in determining whether school leavers participate in higher education or not. It examines the association between schools and university participation using a unique dataset of 3 cohorts of all young people leaving maintained schools in Wales. School “effects” are identified, even after controlling for individual-level factors, such as their prior attainment, socioeconomic circumstances, ethnicity, and special educational needs. Schools appear to have a particular “effect” on the likelihood that a young person enters an elite university. However, the findings suggest the concept of a school “effect” on higher education participation is not straightforward – schools appear to have different levels of effectiveness depending on the gender of the young people and the nature of their higher education participation. These findings are considered within the policy contexts of school effectiveness and widening access to higher education.     

Classroom effect on primary school students’ self-concept in literacy and mathematics

According to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLP) model, high individual academic performance in a particular subject is related to high self-concept in that subject, whereas high average classroom performance has a negative effect on self-concept. In the present study, data from Finnish primary school students in grade 3 (504 students), grade 4 (487 students), and grade 6 (365 students) are used to examine whether the assumptions of the BFLP effect model hold already in primary school. Furthermore, we examined gender differences in BFLP effect. The results showed that as expected students’ high performance in literacy and in mathematics was related to high self-concept in the same subject. Support for the negative classroom effect was small and it depended on the school subject and student’s gender. That is, a high average classroom performance already in grade 3 had a negative but small effect on boys’ self-concept in mathematics. In literacy and among girls, only little support was found for the negative classroom effect.

     

The effect of context on students’ reasoning about forces

When attempting to solve closely related problems in science, students will often respond to irrelevant contextual features in the questions rather than generalizing their conceptions over the range of relevant situations. In this study, a group of 40 students (one group of 15‐16‐year‐olds and another of preservice science teachers) was surveyed and interviewed to determine the effect of context on the reasoning which they used to solve problems concerning the forces acting on objects in linear motion. It was found that the younger group of students were influenced by contextual features such as the speed, weight and position of the moving object, the direction of the motion and their own personal experience of the context. There were clearly two types of contextual effects ‐‐ primary and secondary, which are described. The older group of students was generally less affected by context and thus more consistent in their reasoning.     

Does student-centered instruction engage students differently? The moderation effect of student ethnicity

Student-centered instruction is featured in reforms that aim to improve excellence and equity in mathematics education. Although research on stereotype threat suggests that student-centered instruction may have differential effects on racial minority students, the relationship between student-centered mathematics instruction and student engagement remains understudied. This study examined the relationship between student-centered mathematics instruction and adolescents’ behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social engagement in mathematics and whether the relationship differed by ethnicity. The authors used a multilevel path analysis with data from 3,883 sixth- to 12th-grade students (52.1% girls, 38.2% eligible for free/reduced lunch, 66.1% Caucasian, 23.8% African American, 7.2% multiracial, and 2.9% Asian American). The results showed that student-centered instruction was positively related to all dimensions of mathematics engagement. However, the positive association between student-centered mathematics instruction and student engagement was weaker for African American students. This study provides empirical evidence for the benefits of student-centered instruction while suggesting differential effects based on students’ ethnicity.     

Longitudinal reciprocal effects between teachers’ judgments of students’ aptitude,students’ motivation,and grades in math

We investigated whether teachers’ judgments of students’ aptitude had reciprocal effects on students’ motivation and math grades. We expected that teachers’ judgments of students’ aptitude would predict students’ grades and motivation, and that teachers’ judgments would also be predicted by these two aspects. A sample of N = 519 elementary school students was investigated at four measurement occasions from the end of third until the end of fourth grade. Students reported their self-concepts and intrinsic task values in math. Teachers (N = 27) judged students’ aptitude in math and provided students’ math grades. Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed that students’ prior grades and prior self-concepts (but not intrinsic task values) had positive effects on teachers’ subsequent judgments of student aptitude. Also, teachers’ prior judgments of student aptitude predicted students’ subsequent grades but not motivation. The findings underscore the importance of teachers’ judgments for students’ achievement development and give insights into which students’ motivational variables influence teachers’ perceptions of students’ aptitude.     

The relationship between teachers’ empathy and perceptions of school culture

This research examined the relationship between teachers’ empathy and perceptions of their school’s culture. Teachers’ ability to change their school’s culture might be limited by their inability to interpret and respond appropriately to student behaviour. As teachers’ empathic abilities increase, it seems likely that they would be better able to understand and respond appropriately to their students. Teachers’ perspective‐taking was positively associated with their positive perceptions of student–peer relations, school norms and educational opportunities. Teachers’ personal distress was negatively related to student–peer relations. Empathy was unrelated to student–teacher relations. It is postulated that it takes more than just empathy to be able to negotiate the complex relationship between student and teacher. With teacher training programmes currently focusing on teacher dispositions, such programmes need to focus more on training future teachers to recognise and exercise their cognitive and emotional empathic capacities.     

The nature and development of middle school mathematics teachers’ knowledge

In this article, we report on the use of a teacher profiling instrument with 62 middle school teachers at the start of a 3-year professional learning programme. The instrument was designed to assess the aspects of teachers’ knowledge identified by Shulman (1987) refined by Ball et al. (2008) and extended to include teachers’ confidence to use and teach various topics in the middle school mathematics curriculum and their beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning. Based on a hierarchical coding of items, the application of the partial credit Rasch model revealed that the profile items were measuring a single underlying construct and suggested that the various facets of teacher knowledge develop together. We describe the characteristics of four levels of the hierarchical construct measuring teacher knowledge and understanding for teaching mathematics in the middle years of schooling, and discuss the unique affordances of a holistic view of teacher knowledge in contrast to considerations of multiple knowledge categories.     

Australian teachers voice their perceptions of the influences of stereotypes,mindsets and school structure on teachers’ expectations of Indigenous students

Research demonstrates that teachers’ expectations of students have long-term effects on students’ educational, occupational, health and well-being outcomes. In this Australian-based study, teachers were invited to explore the questions Do teachers have different expectations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students? Why/why not? The findings provide insight into how teachers perceive the expectations of other teachers in relation to Indigenous learners and highlight the underlying assumptions of those perceptions. Teachers also provide valuable insight into what they feel is needed to address these issues. Recommendations are made to enhance pre-service teacher education and professional development to better support those working with Indigenous learners.     

Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Social valorization among pupils and the effect on teachers’ judgments

In this article, the concept of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) is transposed from a work context, in which it was developed, to secondary school. Two studies test the assumption of a social valorization of OCB declaration in a school context. In Study 1, 445 pupils (sixth-graders to ninth-graders) answered an OCB questionnaire, specifically designed for this population, according to the three instructions of the self-presentation paradigm. The ANOVAs indicated (1) a higher frequency of declared OCBs for girls than for boys, which decreases with school grade, and is higher for the dimension of Organizational Compliance, and (2) a significant OCB clearsightedness, more significant when presenting oneself to teachers than to parents and peers, and higher for Individual Development, Altruism and Organizational Compliance dimensions. In Study 2, 46 teachers examined the report of a fictitious pupil expressing a high or low frequency of OCB (judge paradigm). The ANOVAs indicated that the teachers’ judgement was more favorable towards the pupil expressing high rather than low frequency of OCB. The normative component of OCB, the social and institutional function which the OCB can fulfill, and the evaluation devices in secondary school are then discussed.     

The effect of distributed practice on students’ conceptual understanding of statistics

In this study the effect of the reduced distribution of study activities on students’ conceptual understanding of statistics is investigated in a quasi-experiment. Conceptual understanding depends on coherent and error free knowledge structures. Students need time to construct such knowledge structures. A curriculum reform at our university resulted in statistics courses which were considerably shortened in time, thereby limiting students’ possibility to distribute study activities. Independent samples of students from before and after the reform were compared. To gauge conceptual understanding of statistics, students answered open ended questions in which they were asked to explain and relate important statistical concepts. It was shown that the reduction of distributed practice had a negative effect on students’ understanding. The finding that condensed courses make it more difficult for students to reach proper understanding of the subject matter is of interest for anyone who is engaged in reforming curricula or designing courses.     

The effect of Twitter posts on students’ perceptions of instructor credibility

Greater numbers of instructors are turning to social networking sites to communicate with students. This study examined whether posting social, scholarly, or a combination of social and scholarly information to Twitter has an impact on the perceived credibility of the instructor. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: a group that viewed social tweets, one that viewed scholarly tweets, and one that viewed a combination of social and scholarly tweets. Participants were then asked questions about the instructor’s perceived credibility. Results show that participants who viewed only the social tweets rated the instructor significantly higher in perceived credibility than the group that viewed only the scholarly tweets. No other significant differences were found among the groups. These results have implications for both teaching and learning, as there is an established link between perceived instructor credibility and positive learning outcomes.     

Preservice elementary school teachers’ knowledge of fractions: a mirror of students’ knowledge?

This research analyses preservice teachers’ knowledge of fractions. Fractions are notoriously difficult for students to learn and for teachers to teach. Previous studies suggest that student learning of fractions may be limited by teacher understanding of fractions. If so, teacher education has a key role in solving the problem. We first reviewed literature regarding students’ knowledge of fractions. We did so because assessments of required content knowledge for teaching require review of the students’ understanding to determine the mathematics difficulties encountered by students. The preservice teachers were tested on their conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions, and on their ability in explaining the rationale for a procedure or the conceptual meaning. The results revealed that preservice teachers’ knowledge of fractions indeed is limited and that last-year preservice teachers did not perform better than first-year preservice teachers. This research is situated within the broader domain of mathematical knowledge for teaching and suggests ways to improve instruction and student learning.     

The contribution of extracurricular coaching on high school teachers’ job satisfaction

The purpose of the present study was to explore the contribution of extracurricular coaching on high school teachers’ job satisfaction. Specifically, the study looked at how perceptions of the coaching environment (athlete relationships, colleague relationships and opportunities through coaching) influenced teachers’ perceptions of stressors (athlete-related and workload-related) and coaching efficacy, and how this in-turn influenced teachers’ job satisfaction. The sample examined 2949 teachers from across Canada who volunteered as high school sport coaches, above and beyond their regular teaching load. The results supported that the data fit the model well (SBχ²₍₂₆₄₎ = 973.36, p < .001, SRMR = .08, CFI = .91, TLI = .90, RMSEA = .055 CI₉₅ [.052, .059]) and that teachers who reported a positive coaching environment had increased coaching efficacy and decreased perceptions of athlete-related and workload-related stressors. Increased coaching efficacy predicted higher job satisfaction, while increased perceptions of stressors predicted lower job satisfaction.     

The influence of school leadership on teachers’ perception of teacher evaluation policy

The understanding of teachers’ perception of new educational policy is crucial since this perception shapes the policy’s implementation. However, quantitative research in this area is scarce. This article draws on empirical data to investigate whether the school leader might influence his teachers’ perception of the new teacher evaluation policy. The conceptualisation of teachers’ perception consists of three policy characteristics: practicality, need and clarifying function. Our results indicate that school leadership influences teachers’ policy perception. More specifically, the structure a school leader provides in a school and the amount of trust teachers have in the school leader have a significant impact on teachers’ perception of the practicality of the new teacher evaluation policy.