Rubric formats for the formative assessment of oral presentation skills acquisition in secondary education

Educational technology research and development - Acquiring complex oral presentation skills is cognitively demanding for students and demands intensive teacher guidance. The aim of this study was...     

The differential impact of observational learning and practice-based learning on the development of oral presentation skills in higher education

The present study focuses on the design and evaluation of an innovative instructional approach to developing oral presentation skills. The intervention builds on the observational learning theoretical perspective. This perspective is contrasted with the traditional training and practice approach. Two sequencing approaches – learners starting with observational learning versus learners starting with practice opportunities only – were compared. It was hypothesised that learners starting with observational learning would outperform learners in the practice only condition. The results suggest a significant differential impact on development of oral presentation skills. This impact of the observational learning training approach is only found in a limited number of evaluation criteria. Results additionally suggest that students are highly motivated to learn this type of skill. Interaction effects between student characteristics and instructional interventions were not significant.     

The role of inquiry-based self-efficacy,achievement goal orientation,and learning strategies on secondary-school students’ inquiry skills

Background: In recent years, science curricula (chemistry, physics, biology, earth science, life science, etc.) in many countries have been prepared and applied according to the inquiry-based learning approach. Although the acquisition and application of the inquiry skills are one of the important objectives of the science curriculum, the inquiry skills of each student do not enhance at the same level. The inquiry level of the learning environment; the importance and value attached to the inquiry in that environment, students who have different goals when attending to the learning environments, and students who do not get involved in the learning process at the same level can be shown as the reasons of this.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine both the direct and indirect relationships between the inquiry-based self-efficacy, the achievement goal orientation, the learning strategies, and the inquiry skills variables.

Sample: This research was conducted during the 2015-2016 school year among 498 seventh and eighth graders at public schools in Turkey’s Ayd?n province.

Design and methods: The Inquiry-based Self-Efficacy Scale, the Goal Orientation Scale, the Learning Approach Scale, and the Inquiry Skills Test were applied to the students. The analysis of data was carried out through the Multilevel Structural Equation Model (MSEM).

Results: The findings related to the first model did not provide evidence for either direct or indirect effects of the inquiry-based self-efficacy on inquiry skills, achievement goal orientation, and learning strategies. However, findings from the final models provided evidence for both direct and indirect effects of separately inquiry-based self-efficacy and the achievement goal orientation on the inquiry skills through the learning strategies.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates the potential that relations with self-efficacy, achievement goal orientation, and task value theory while improving inquiry skills.     

The impact of diversity,prior academic achievement and goal orientation on learning performance in group capstone projects

ABSTRACT

Capstone projects are common in undergraduate programmes, providing students with a culminating educational experience designed to draw on the knowledge and skills accumulated over the course of their studies. While there are many benefits to capstone projects, they are not without challenges. In particular, when these projects are conducted in groups, forming groups to optimise the learning outcomes and managing group dynamics can be challenging. In this article, we report on the analysis of data collected from 346 undergraduate business students who completed capstone projects at a Hong Kong university. Measures included students’ learning goal (mastery and performance), satisfaction with their supervisor and group diversity in relation to gender, prior academic achievement, self-report nationality and programme of study. Analysis of this data in conjunction with student grades for the project was conducted to inform improvements in design and delivery of the capstone subject to improve students’ learning outcomes. The results showed that for groups consisting of three students, group diversity in respect to prior academic achievement as measured by grade point average (GPA) is positively related to the grade achieved in the capstone project. However, diversity in respect to the nationalities in the group was related to poorer performance. Furthermore, the more teacher-focused the group supervisor’s approach was, the worse the grade achieved for the project. The results suggest that groups made up of students of different nationalities tend to have lower grades compared to homogeneous groups. In contrast, having a group with a mix of GPAs can result in higher grades on the project. While these findings have informed our understanding of group performance on capstone projects, work is needed to fully understand what underlies the diversity effects identified which will be explored with future cohorts.     

Teaching skills and personal characteristics of sex education teachers

This article examines relationships between various dimensions of teachers' professionalism, that is, pedagogical content knowledge and personal characteristics. Using Shulman's notion of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) we explored the practical knowledge of twenty sex education teachers using in-depth interviews. It appeared that both core elements of PCK, teacher strategy and teacher style (PCK1) and teacher knowledge of student conceptions and learning difficulties (PCK2), are associated with one another in such a way that PCK2 is a prerequisite to PCK1. Furthermore, the PCK of sex education teachers is related to personal characteristics, personality and past experiences with sex education (as a pupil and as a teacher-in-training).     

The influence of achievement goal orientation on plagiarism

This investigation considered how undergraduate students with different achievement goal orientation profiles view plagiarism. Thai student volunteers (N = 867) completed an achievement goal survey [Niemivirta, M. (1998). Individual differences in motivational and cognitive factors affecting self-regulated learning — A pattern-oriented approach. In P. Nenninger, R. S. Jäger, A. Frey, & M. Woznitza (Eds.), Advances in motivation (pp. 23–42). Landau, DE: Verlad Empirische Pädagogik] and a “Dimensions of Plagiarism” survey [Koul, R. (2007). Dimensions of Plagiarism. Downloaded April 8, 2008 from http://dimensions-of-plagiarism.wikispaces.com/]. Mixed analysis of variance of attitudes towards plagiarism with goal orientation and gender showed several significant findings: high performance oriented students were substantially stricter than low performance orientated students in evaluating all Dimensions of Plagiarism. Low mastery oriented students were stricter regarding the “motive” dimension of plagiarism while high mastery oriented students were stricter regarding the “source” dimension of plagiarism. Significant differences between females and males were observed across the six factors of the Dimensions of Plagiarism survey. These results are interpreted within the framework of social comparison theory in respect to competitive learning environments.     

Workplace learning within teacher education: the role of job characteristics and goal orientation

Within teacher education, it is widely recognised that internships play a major role in preparing prospective teachers. The current research examines if the learning activities students’ undertake in the workplace can be explained by students’ goal orientation and their perceptions of the workplace. In addition, it will be investigated whether this model is predictive for students’ academic achievement. Participants in this study were 464 bachelor students enrolled in teacher education. The results from the structural equation modelling show that students’ learning goal orientation is an important predictor for students’ learning activities and academic achievement. Students with a higher learning goal orientation demonstrate a more active approach towards their learning. Regarding the context, some positive relations between work-related variables such as job demands and job control on the one hand and students’ learning activities on the other hand were identified, but their relationship was more limited than expected.     

The acquisition of basic multiplication skills

Children learning the basic multiplications, use knowledge which they acquired in former stages. Certain additions, for instance the doubles, known by heart, can support the learning process for multiplication. It makes a great difference in cognitive achievement whether children know multiplication facts by heart or whether they are able to figure out basic multiplications. If education supports the development of informal thinking strategies, children become so skilled at this, that the border between figuring out and knowing by heart will gradually disappear. By using informal strategies children will acquire a flexible mental structure of multiplication facts instead of a collection of rules.     

Examining the stability of achievement goal orientation

We examined stability and change in students’ achievement goal orientations over varying tasks. Two naturalistic longitudinal studies were conducted in undergraduate courses. Students completed self-reports designed to measure their achievement goals. Achievement goals were measured four times: prior to two assignments and two exams. Four complementary analytic techniques were used to examine goal stability: differential continuity, mean-level change, individual-level change, and profile consistency. Results across both studies provide evidence for stability and change across tasks in achievement goal orientation, and comparisons made between similar and different tasks resulted in similar levels of change. Implications for theory and research in achievement goal orientation are discussed.     

创造教育的培养目标与学科课程的改革方向

创造教育的培养目标应该是形成主体的创造性人格 ,而不是构成创造性人格的个别或部分因素的发展 ;实现创造教育培养目标的学科课程的“课”应该包括哲学、科学和艺术三种实体性精神文化 ,学科课程的“程”应该呈现为螺旋式上升的轨迹 ,即形成一套螺旋式的每一教育阶段都包括哲学、科学和艺术三种实体性精神文化的课程系统     

刍议目标定向与目标设置理论在乒乓球教学中的应用效果

在乒乓球教学中,提前准确预判落球点与击球点非常重要,这就是教学的关键。本文通过使用逻辑推理与调查分析的方法,以乒乓球教学作为切入点,刍议在乒乓球教学中应用目标定向与目标设置理论,对乒乓球教学中存在学生练习时赢球心切而忽略基本功练习的情况提出相应的解决方法,以培养加强学生的基本功,从而提高学生的乒乓球水平。     

A model of metacognition,achievement goal orientation,learning style and self-efficacy

Structural equation modelling was used to test a model integrating achievement goal orientation, learning style, self-efficacy and metacognition into a single framework that explained and predicted variation in performance. Self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of performance. Metacognition was a weak predictor of performance. Deep processing had a weak, negative relationship with performance. Mastery-approach goals were related to deep-processing and surface-processing learning styles. Mastery-approach and performance-approach goals were positive predictors of self-efficacy. Mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance goals were related to self-efficacy.     

Providing opportunities for student self-assessment: the impact on the acquisition of psychomotor skills in occupational therapy students

The Occupational Therapy department at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa is responsible for ensuring students achieve psychomotor skill proficiency, as it is an essential component of health care practice. The aim of this study was to determine whether the introduction of opportunities to afford self-evaluation better prepared students for psychomotor skill performance during clinical fieldwork. A quantitative analytical longitudinal design was used with a sample of second-year BSc occupational therapy students from 2007–2010. Self-assessment opportunities were introduced to students in 2009, enabling the comparisons of students’ performance based on Fitts and Posner’s motor skills learning theory. The results indicated that the pre-intervention group demonstrated poor psychomotor skill ability compared to the intervention group, concluding that students require deliberate opportunities to practice self-evaluation skills in their early years of study.     

Student self-assessment practices: the role of gender,school level and goal orientation

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the key demographic variables of gender, school level and goal orientation on students’ self-assessment practices, including self-directed feedback seeking (SDFS) and self-reflection (SR). A total of 8843 Hong Kong students were surveyed, ranging from Primary 4 to Secondary 6. The results showed that female students demonstrated higher levels of self-assessment practices than male students, including both SDFS and SR. School level was also significantly associated with secondary students’ engagement in SR. Mastery goal orientation (MGO) was a significant and positive predictor of self-assessment practice including both SDFS and SR, while performance goal orientation (PGO) was a significantly negative predictor. Students with a higher level of MGO, or a lower level of PGO, were more likely to conduct self-assessment. The educational implications of the findings are discussed.     

中学生目标定向、创造性个性及两者关系的研究

本研究尝试探讨目标定向与创造性个性的关系以及中学生目标定向、创造性个性的一般状况。对620名中学生施测目标定向量表与威廉斯创造倾向问卷，并利用SPSS11、5对数据进行t检验、方差分析、相关分析等。结果显示：掌握定向最强烈的是初一、初二，成绩接近定向较强烈的是高二；无论初中还是高中，低年级的主导定向均为掌握定向，而高年级的主导定向是成绩定向；女生的创造性个性比男生具有一定的优势；所有年级的优势创造性个性均为挑战性；掌握定向比成绩接近定向更有利于创造性个性的培养。     

目标定向与英语口语水平关系研究

通过问卷调查,分析英语专业大学生的目标定向和英语口语水平的相关关系.调查显示有两类目标定向的学生的口语水平明显高于其他组合的目标定向的学生,一类是学习型目标定向的学生,另一类是同时具有学习型和绩效型组合目标定向的学生.很多学生是同时具有学习型和绩效型组合目标定向的类型.     

The effects of instructional method upon the acquisition of inquiry skills

This study investigated the effects of Guided Discovery vs. Didactic methods of instruction upon the acquisition of certain inquiry skills. At the same time, the effects of method on the attainment of factual-conceptual achievement was assessed. Hypotheses of no interaction of the methods variable with the learner variables—sex, measured intelligence, creativity, interest in science, general scholastic achievement, and science achievement—were also tested. The sample consisted of 140 8th-grade students. The duration of the experimental unit was six weeks. The subject matter was the same for each, “Early Man in America.” The results favored the Didactic group for the factual-conceptual achievement and the Guided Discovery for the acquisition of inquiry skills. However, in the latter there was an interaction of method with levels of measured intelligence and achievement.     

Homework goal orientation,interest, and achievement: testing models of reciprocal effects

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Whereas it is often a challenge to keep students motivated and interested in academic tasks, it is more of a challenge to have students stay motivated...     

The impact of collaborative online reading on summarizing skills

The aim of this study was to determine whether, as a result of collaborative-online reading of a chapter from a book of an academic nature, the quality of the collaborative summary that the readers would write would be higher than that written by readers who would both read the same chapter and write a summary in a face-to-face setting. In this study we examined the difference between the summaries written by participants from two groups, each group was divided into subgroups of 3 participants who had read collaboratively a chapter of a book, and collaborated on writing a summary. The participants of the experimental group read the chapter as it appeared in a website for collaborative reading built especially for this study and the participants were asked to summarize the chapter on a shared online digital document. The participants of the control group were asked to read the chapter face-to-face and to collaboratively summarize it in hand writing. The quality of the summaries was evaluated with a tool developed by Rivard (2001). This tool was developed to measure the quality of the summaries. In our study the main and secondary ideas that were supposed to be included in the participants’ summaries were identified by three literature teachers using ten different criteria and the summaries were analyzed by two other judges based on these criteria. The findings indicated that there were significant differences in the majority of the writing indicators being measured with the tool. The findings indicated that collaborative-online reading and writing produce a summary of a higher quality than one read and hand written collaboratively face-to-face.