How do children cope with school failure? A study of social/emotional factors related to children's coping strategies

This study examined the coping strategies employed by 187 fourth and fifth graders in an encounter with an academic failure experience in school. Resources considered in this study included motivational orientation to perform well in the stressful encounter, the experience of challenge or threat/harm emotions, attributions to failure, beliefs about competence, event familiarity, and socioeconomic status. Based on their responses to the Academic Coping Inventory children were assigned to one of four coping groups: positive, denial, projection, and self-blame. Results indicated that positive copers were more likely to have an intrinsic orientation to success, to experience less negative emotions following failure, to attribute failure to unstable rather than stable factors, and to have higher perceptions of competence. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Exploring the antecedents of boredom: Do teachers know why students are bored?

In the current study, researchers explored if teachers can identify antecedents of students' boredom. First, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to 111 9th-grade students to explore their self-reported causes of boredom. Next, semi-structured interviews with 117 9th-grade teachers were used to examine the factors that teachers think make their students bored. Also, quantitative questions gauged teachers' agreement with students' responses. Our results revealed a high congruency as teachers identified most of the antecedents of boredom named by students. One notable incongruity, however, was that teachers did not mention themselves as antecedents of boredom unless they were explicitly asked about it.     

What do students think when teachers make adaptations?

Eight hundred and seventy-six high school and middle school students provided information on their perceptions of adaptations teachers may make to accommodate the individual needs of their students. Additionally, achievement and social alienation were examined to determine the extent to which these variables relate to students' perceptions of teacher adaptations. Overall, students preferred teachers who made adaptations; however, item analyses revealed that students find some adaptations more desirable than others. Students felt positively about many adaptations that promote learning, but preferred that no adaptations be made to textbooks and materials, tests, and homework. While students' perceptions followed the same overall pattern for low and high achieving students, those students who preferred adaptations demonstrated significantly higher reading and mathematics achievement scores. Students who felt more alienated (less socially accepted) from their teachers were more likely to view favorably teachers who made adaptations. Students' comments about teachers who make adaptations indicate that they perceive these teachers as better able to meet the individual needs of students, caring and understanding of students, and willing to provide extra help.     

What are you going to do?

新年到了,辞旧迎新之时,美国人常向别人表明他们新的一年的打算,这就是他们的New Year's resolutions(决心)。同学们在新年开始也一定有很多计划吧,怎么用英语说出来呢?跟我老T来学几个句型吧。I’m going to study hard.我打算好好学习。I want to do more exercises.我想加强     

What does light do for you?

Optical science and technology have taken giant leaps following the advent of lasers in 1960. We look at some of the key ideas and how they have led to making optical technology an important part of modern life.     

What can we do to support reading for young adolescent students?

Young adolescents are at a critical stage in their schooling. They are consolidating and improving their reading skills. By exploring what supports these 11- to 13-year-old students in reading from a wider systemic perspective, educators and policy-makers can better understand the complex factors which support reading development. This article presents a conceptual framework model to illustrate how teachers, principals and wider support agencies can effectively interact with the students and their parents. The framework highlights the impacting roles of ministries of education, governmental policies, and how study at postgraduate level can support reading development for these young adolescents.     

Coordinating multiple representations of polynomials: What do patterns in students' solution strategies reveal?

We investigate the strategies used by 64 advanced secondary mathematics students to identify whether a given pair of polynomial representations (graphs, tables, or equations) corresponded to the same function on an assessment of coordinating representations. Participants also completed assessments of domain-related knowledge and background skills. Cluster analysis of strategies by representation pair revealed patterns in the participants' strategy use. Two clusters were identifiable on tasks that required matching equations to graphs and graphs to tables. We identified overlap between these two clusters, suggesting that while the representation pair influenced strategy choice, there was also a general distinction between students who used more and less sophisticated strategies. However, students who used more sophisticated coordination strategies were similar to the others on measures of domain-specific knowledge or background skills. We consider implications for future investigations testing interventions to promote coordinating representations.     

Ageing and learning: What do they mean to elders themselves?

This paper is about a quantitative study which has examined and elucidated the conceptualizations of ageing and learning by a group of elders in Hong Kong. In more specific terms, the study has investigated how this group of older people understood the meaning of successful ageing and elder learning in the context of their later lives. Based on the ‘Learning and Ageing Survey 2013’ with a sample of 519 older adults in Hong Kong, the study aimed, first, to describe and conceptualize the meaning of ageing and learning as elders experienced it in later life; second, to investigate why and how elders engaged or did not engage, in organized learning, by comparing the differences between the ‘learning’ and ‘non-learning’ groups in terms of their personal characteristics, conceptualizations of learning, and the barriers to participation; third, to identify important learning issues for older learners, including their interests, needs, motivations, and learning preferences; and finally, to investigate the relationship between learning and successful ageing, and between learning and the overall well-being and satisfaction of elders in their later lives. The research findings and outcomes of the study provide insights into the experience and views of elders concerning ageing and learning, which contribute to the global understanding and knowledge base for elder learning and successful ageing; and which serve to inform the development of policy and practice geared to the planning and provision of programmes for learning in older age.     

Learning through Cultural Conflict? A longitudinal analysis of German teachers' strategies for coping with cultural diversity at school

The purpose of this study is to identify individual changes in German novice teachers (Referendare) that occur in the process of interaction with pupils from foreign cultures during their two-year probation [Referendariat - in Hesse (Germany) Referendare are novice teachers undergoing a compulsory two-year period of practical training (the Referendariat)]. After finishing their studies at university, these teachers conform to a homogeneous, morally founded, 'synergy-oriented' mode for coping with cultural diversity in the schools to which they will be assigned. At the end of their two-year probation, two types of strategy were found in the teachers' coping with the cultural conflict that they experienced. Those teachers who evaluated their experiences with pupils from cultural backgrounds different from their own as personal developmental progress behaved according to their own expectations, and they remained in a 'synergy-oriented' mode. Those teachers who later maintained that it is necessary for foreign pupils to assimilate the norms and rules of the dominant culture, contrary to their own previous expectations, were classified in an 'ethno-oriented' mode of coping with cultural diversity. Self-evaluation of their culture-bound experience indicated decreasing self-efficacy and resignation. Most of this second group of teachers were convinced that they need more in-service training on this topic. L'un des objectifs de cette enquête qualitative longitudinale porte sur la reconstruction de différents processus d'acculturation chez des élèves professeurs allemands au cours de leur stage de formation déclenchés au contact d'élèves d'autres cultures. Les exigences des élèves professeurs quant àleur rapport àla différence culturelle avant le stage de formation relèvent d'un projet d'intervention homogène, moralement fondé et attentif aux e phénomènes de synergie f . Après coup on peut dégager deux types d'approche des conflits vécus et interprétés comme e culturels f . Le représentant de type e synergique f recherche dans son action le consensus àpartir de ses propres attentes et interprète les expériences et les références culturelles des élèves dans le sens d'un effort positif et d'un enrichissement personnel. Quant au représentant de l'autre type, e ethnique f , en parfaite contradiction avec ses exigences avant le stage de formation, il a recours àdes mesures visant àimposer son propre système normatif comme seule référence, ce qui lui permet de se justifier àses yeux. Confronté aux limites de l'efficacité de son action et à l'échec, celui-ci manifeste alors la volonté de poursuivre une formation complémentaire. Uno de los objetivos de este análisis longitudinal cualitativo es la descripción detallada de los diferentes procesos de aculturación por parte de profesores alemanes en prácticas, originados por un contacto continuo con alumnos y alumnas de diferente origen cultural. Lo que los docentes exigen de sí mismos en cuanto a la forma de manejar una diferencia cultural antes de empezar su período de prácticas demuestra un tipo homogéneo de actuación, basado en la moral y de orientación sinérgica. Después de terminar su período de prácticas se pueden reconstruir dos tipos de docentes, los cuales enfrentan de manera diferente los conflictos escolares en el ámbito cultural. El tipo de orientación sinérgica actúa en consenso con sus propias expectativas y califica las experiencias culturales como un avance en el desarrollo personal. El tipo de orientación etnocentrista justifica las exigencias de adaptación al sistema de normas y reglas de su propia cultura, las cuales discrepan de sus propias expectativas, lo cual los lleva a considerar medidas de perfeccionamiento profesional para menatener su eficiencia. Ein Ziel der qualitativen Längsschnittuntersuchung ist die Rekonstruktion unterschiedlicher Akkulturationsverläufe bei deutschen Studienreferendaren, die durch einen kontinuierlichen Kontakt mit Schülerinnen und Schülern anderer kultureller Herkunft während des Referendariats in Gang gesetzt werden. Die Anprüche der Referendare an den eigenen Umgang mit kultureller Differenz vor Beginn des Referendariats repräsentieren einen homogenen, moralisch begründeten, 'synergieorientierten' Handlungstypus. Nach Beendigung des Referendariats lassen sich zwei Verarbeitungstypen von erlebten kulturbezogenen schulischen Konflikten rekonstruieren. Der 'synergieorientierte' Typus handelt konsensisch mit den eigenen Erwartungen und wertet die kulturbezogenen Erfahrungen als persönlichen Entwicklungsfortschritt. Der 'ethnoorientierte' Typus rechtfertigt seine erwartungsdiskrepanten Anpassungsforderungen an das eigenkulturelle Normen- und Regelsystem und äußert angesichts sinkender Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung das Bedürfnis nach Weiterbildungsmaßnahmen.     

Posing Problems for Open Investigations: What questions do pupils ask?

The purpose of this study was to (a) find out the types of questions that pupils ask for open-ended science investigations, and (b) discuss how teachers can help pupils to identify problems and pose questions that are feasible for investigations. The study was conducted in a class of 39 primary 6 pupils of mixed ability. The pupils wrote down questions for two investigations that they would like to work on. The questions for the first investigation were generated individually, but those for the second investigation were posed in groups after the pupils were shown some examples of investigable questions. Among the questions that were posed individually, only 11.7% could be answered by performing hands-on investigations. Most of the questions asked were based on general knowledge and covered a wide range of topics. However, when questions were generated in groups after examples were shown, there was a significant increase in the number of questions that were amenable to science investigations (71.4%) but they related to fewer topics. A typology of investigable and non-investigable questions is proposed. Suggestions on how teachers can help pupils to pose problems and questions that are feasible for investigations are given.     

Correction to: What do teacher educators know about English spelling?

Reading and Writing -     

Conceptualizing a basis for understanding: What differences do differences make?

The purpose of our commentary is to offer ways of understanding the differences in theoretical positions and of exploring what difference the differences make. To conceptualize a basis for understanding the theoretical transformation currently taking place in the field of educational psychology, we bring two constructs from the philosophy of science to bear. We suggest that one way to understand the differences is to consider the expressive potential of the research programs. In so doing, we suggest that the research programs be seen as intellectual ecologies created by members within these traditions. We argue that to understand the emic point of view of a tradition, one must become initiated into the discourse within that community and understand the historical development of the ideas within that intellectual ecology.     

Understanding Students' Experiments—What kind of support do they need in inquiry tasks?

Inquiry learning is a widely recognized method for fostering inquiry competence in science education. Nevertheless, there is discussion about how to best support students while working on inquiry tasks (in this case: experiments on causal relationships). To identify the kind of support students need in order to design experiments in upper grades, an empirical study consisting of two parts was conducted. The first part, a quantitative test (N?=?96), tested students' competences in designing an experiment. It was found that students need scaffolding in basic aspects of designing (like dependent and independent variables), to reach higher levels, since only about thirty percent reach levels II or III out of three levels. On more reflective aspects (like confounding variables, test times and repetitions), only a maximum of twenty-five percent reached level I or higher; therefore, even more support is needed on these aspects. The second part of the study was a qualitative video-analysis of students' discussions, designs and implementations of an experiment. It was found that support is needed on procedural knowledge and understanding. Possible implications for inquiry support are discussed.     

What can teachers do to raise pupil achievement?

Improving weak teaching may be one of the most effective means of raising pupil achievement. However, teachers’ classroom practices and the teaching ‘process’ may matter more to student learning than teachers’ observed résumé characteristics (such as certification and experience). There may also be important differences in teacher characteristics across government and private schools which may help explain the large documented public-private achievement differences often found in studies. This paper delves into the black-box representing ‘teaching’ to uncover the teacher characteristics and teaching practices that matter most to pupil achievement. This is done using unique school-based data, collected in 2002-2003 from government and private schools from one district in Punjab province in Pakistan. The data allow exploitation of an identification strategy that permits the matching of students’ test scores in language and mathematics to the characteristics of teachers that teach those subjects. Within pupil (across subject rather than across time) variation is used to examine whether the characteristics of different subject teachers are related to a students’ mark across subjects. The data are also unique in asking all subject teachers questions pertaining to their teaching practices and these, often unobserved, ‘process’ variables are included in achievement function estimates. Our pupil fixed-effects findings reveal that the standard résumé characteristics of teachers do not significantly matter to pupil achievement. Perversely, however, teachers are found to be rewarded with higher pay for possessing these characteristics, highlighting the highly inefficient nature of teacher pay schedules. Our findings also show that teaching ‘process’ variables matter significantly to student achievement. There are important differences across school-types.     

What can I do for the Olympic Games?

The 29th Olympic Game will be celebrated in Beijing, China. I!m proud ofthis. Olympic Games are always celebrated in big countries,which means ourcountry is stronger than before.The Chinese government is getting ready for the 2008 Olympic Games.Workers ar…