Computer-related self-concept: The impact on cognitive achievement

Teaching and learning in outreach laboratories is suitable for completion of multiple hands-on experiences of students. Digital contents may support and further enrich individual haptic experiences. Nevertheless, individual variables such as computer-related self-concepts are supposed to intervene with the cognitive learning success within this context. This potential interrelationship was a major focus of our study completed in an outreach laboratory where an eLearning module specifically was integrated into a hands-on centered gene-technology module. By monitoring cognitive knowledge levels and simultaneously applying the computer-related self-concept of 162 German students (11th grade), an increase in knowledge became apparent independently of individual computer-related self-concepts. This missing relationship exemplarily fosters the assumption that computer-supported learning may suite every student regardless of computer-related self-concept scores.     

One of Us Cannot Be Wrong: The paradox of achievement gaps

There are two general groups of methods of calculating achievement gaps (between groups of students in education) in common current usage, similar to those used to calculate social segregation in space and social mobility over time. Each type of method clearly seems valid to its proponents, yet their results in practice are radically different, and often contradictory. This brief paper considers both of these methods and some related problems in the calculation of achievement gaps, in an attempt to resolve the contradiction. The issue is a relatively simple one, but one with significant implications for social researchers as well as commentators in many areas of public policy using similar indicators of performance.     

Evaluating the effects of programs for reducing achievement gaps: a case study in Taiwan

Considering that achievement gaps have become a serious educational problem worldwide, the Ministry of Education in Taiwan has been addressing a series of policies to reduce achievement gaps, but the effect of these policies has not yet been carefully examined. Therefore, the present study investigated current educational policies, achievement gap phenomenon, and its changing trends in the use of national standardized tests in Taiwan and evaluated the degree to which these policies are reducing the achievement gaps among Taiwanese students. Junior high school graduates who took the high school entrance examination between 2004 and 2010 were recruited to examine the associations between their academic achievements and variables such as socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and school district. Time series analyses were conducted to determine the longitudinal trends for the achievement gaps. The results revealed that achievement gaps are decreasing among different ethnicities, but they are increasing among different SESs and school districts. These findings demonstrate some positive effects of the educational policies introduced in Taiwan, but also the need for further modification and precise implementation of these policies. Suggestions for implementing educational programs and policies to reduce achievement gaps are also presented.     

The achievement gap between science classrooms and historic inequalities

In the past politics deprived many African children (in particular) in South Africa the opportunity of achieving quality education. This was most especially true in subjects such as mathematics and science. In this research the science teacher-level data from Third International Mathematics and Science Study 1999 (TIMSS’99) were analysed with a view to evaluating the politicized gap between what are viewed as well-functioning and provisioned classrooms (predominantly housing White teachers and White or mixed classes in urban areas) and not well-functioning and poorly provisioned classrooms (largely African teachers and African pupils in peri-urban and rural areas). The data are explored in this article to ascertain and gain insight into similarities and differences in classroom conditions, teacher actions and the relationship between these and pupils’ achievement in science in South African classrooms. Significant differences in achievement were found between classrooms headed by teachers with different racial profiles, where the pupils’ average class science score taught by White teachers was about 300 points more (on a scale with an international mean score of 500 points) than children taught in classrooms by African teachers. Furthermore, the average class science score in rural areas was about 130 points below classes in urban areas. These blatant inequalities contribute to what is believed to be an increasing gap in achievement in science. Whilst these results are not altogether unexpected, there were some interesting results in terms of possible explanatory factors for the gaps in achievement which have ramifications for policymakers.     

The relationship between cognitive style and academic achievement

Field independent students are generally expected to perform better academically than those who are field dependent, and this is particularly marked in distance learning where students learn without the traditional support offered in conventional instruction. In this paper two studies of the relationship between field dependence and academic learning in the context of distance learning are reported with Bachelor of Health nursing students in Hong Kong. In both studies field independent nurses performed significantly better than field dependent ones. Some implications of these findings for distance learning are discussed.     

The role of cognitive factors in chemistry achievement

Evidence from the research literature suggests that a variety of cognitive factors is responsible for chemistry achievement. This investigation examined the role of four cognitive factors, namely, formal reasoning ability, prior knowledge, field dependence/ independence, and memory capacity on achievement in chemistry as measured by tests of laboratory application, chemical calculations and content knowledge. The sample comprised grade 11 students from eleven high schools who were following the same chemistry syllabus. The results indicated that prior knowledge and formal reasoning ability were each statistically significantly related to variation in chemistry achievement. Field dependence/independence and memory capacity played no significant role in chemistry achievement.     

Explaining the gender gaps in mathematics achievement and attitudes: The role of societal gender equality

The gender stratification hypothesis maintains that higher levels of societal gender equity predict smaller gender gaps in mathematics achievement and attitudes. Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) across 56 countries, this study aims to provide a thorough empirical test of the gender stratification hypothesis. We employ a novel two-stage empirical strategy to investigate the link between societal gender equities and gender differences in mathematics achievement and attitudes. In the first stage, we use a semiparametric Oaxaca-Blinder (OB) method to decompose the gender gaps in each country into a part that is explained by gender differences in observable characteristics and a part that remains unexplained. In the second stage, we examine the relationships between the unexplained parts of the gender gaps and country-specific gender equity measures. The results highlight the importance of gender equity in the labor market in explaining cross-country variation in the gender math gap. We find that lower gender wage gap is significantly associated with a smaller unexplained part of the gender math gap favoring boys. In terms of the gender gaps in math attitudes, the results yield mixed support for the gender stratification hypothesis.     

The cognitive levels test: Its relationship with reading and mathematics achievement

Any instrument designed to measure broad cognitive ability is expected to correlate substantially with valid measures of academic achievement. This report describes an investigation designed to evaluate the relationship between the Cognitive Levels Test, a newly available instrument, and two tests of academic achievement that have been widely used for nearly two decades: the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests and the KeyMath Diagnostic Arithmetic Test. The study included children in grades K-2 who were enrolled in a remedial summer school program. The results showed the Cognitive Levels Test (Cognitive Index) to be rather highly correlated with the KeyMath Diagnostic Arithmetic Test Total score (r=.72) and moderately correlated with the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests Total Reading score (r=.55). A repeated measures analysis of variance comparing standard scores for the Cognitive Levels Test with those of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests indicated few mean differences between the two sets of scores. Implications concerning the validity of the Cognitive Levels Test were discussed.     

Educational evaluation schemes and gender gaps in student achievement

This paper investigates whether gender gaps in student achievement are related to evaluation schemes. We exploit different evaluations at the end of compulsory education in Norway in a difference-in-differences framework. Compared to the results at anonymously evaluated central exit exams, girls get significantly higher grades than boys when the same skills are assessed by their teacher. This gender grading gap in favor of the girls is found in both languages and mathematics. We find no evidence that the competitiveness of the environment can explain why boys do relatively better on the exam. We find some evidence that the gender grading gap is related to teacher characteristics, which indicates that the teacher–student interaction during coursework favors girls in the teacher grading.     

Self-regulating academic learning and achievement: The emergence of a social cognitive perspective

For three decades, social cognitive researchers have studied children's development of self-regulation as an achievement of socialization processes. I recount historically the emergence of a social cognitive perspective on self-regulation and identify its unique features. Two essential characteristics of students' self-regulated academic learning have been identified — their use of strategies and perceptions of self-efficacy. A social cognitive model of academic self-regulated learning is proposed that integrates triadic determinants of self-regulated learning (personal, behavioral, and environmental) on the basis of a strategic control loop. When students monitor their responding and attribute outcomes to their strategies, their learning becomes self-regulated, and they display increased self-efficacy, greater intrinsic motivation, and higher academic achievement.     

Measuring Science Standards in Scottish Schools: The assessment of achievement programme

In Scotland, the fourth national survey of pupil performance in science in 1996 was the first to attempt to measure attainment in schools against the national policy statements for science which were introduced in 1993 as part of the 5-14 Development Programme. The government-funded Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP) has been monitoring performance since the 1980s, but the introduction of national guidelines with age-related expectations of performance and progress has raised the stakes for those involved in implementing the curriculum. In order that the findings and their implications for effective learning and teaching are reliable, valid and an accurate reflection of what is important in science education, it is essential that the methods employed to produce a picture of what pupils in Scottish schools know and can do are defensible, technically and educationally. This paper describes the approach adopted by the AAP science team in 1996 and highlights the difficulties of translating what is essentially a learning and teaching framework into a means by which we can determine whether pupils are meeting the expectations of the national guidelines. The political and financial context means that compromises are inevitable, but these should be educationally defensible and should not convey the impression that some aspects of the science curriculum are to be accorded greater status than others. National monitoring should be, as far as is possible, an accurate reflection of science within the national guidelines as well as of pupil performance.     

Measuring the impact of competition in local government education markets on the cognitive achievement of students

In this paper, the role of interjurisdictional competition among school districts is examined. Using 1970 California school district data and controlling for a variety of education inputs, achievement scores are found to rise as the local education market becomes more competitive. This relationship continues until a competitive threshold is reached, beyond which additional districts have no impact on achievement. It is estimated that three to four school districts per county are necessary to create a competitive market in education. These findings are consistent with similar studies examining the effect of entry in the private sector. Additionally, the results show a variety of parental, school and student inputs to be significant in “producing” student achievement.     

Summary statistics,educational achievement gaps and the ecological fallacy

Summary statistics continue to play an important role in identifying and monitoring patterns and trends in educational inequalities between differing groups of pupils over time. However, this article argues that their uncritical use can also encourage the labelling of whole groups of pupils as ‘underachievers’ or ‘overachievers’ as the findings of group‐level data are simply applied to individual group members, a practice commonly termed the ‘ecological fallacy’. Some of the adverse consequences of this will be outlined in relation to current debates concerning gender and ethnic differences in educational attainment. It will be argued that one way of countering this uncritical use of summary statistics, and the ecological fallacy that it tends to encourage, is to make much more use of the principles and methods of what has been termed ‘exploratory data analysis’. Such an approach is illustrated through a secondary analysis of data from the Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales, focusing on gender and ethnic differences in educational attainment. It will be shown that, by placing an emphasis on the graphical display of data and on encouraging researchers to describe those data more qualitatively, such an approach represents an essential addition to the use of simple summary statistics and helps to avoid the limitations associated with them.     

Individual differences in achievement goals: A longitudinal study of cognitive, emotional, and achievement outcomes

Within achievement goal theory debate remains regarding the adaptiveness of certain combinations of goals. Assuming a multiple-goals perspective, we used cluster analysis to classify 1002 undergraduate students according to their mastery and performance-approach goals. Four clusters emerged, representing different goal combinations: high mastery/performance (i.e., multiple goals), dominant mastery, dominant performance, and low mastery/performance (i.e., low motivation). In a longitudinal analysis over one academic year, the clusters were compared on cognitive appraisals (expected achievement, perceived success), achievement-related emotions (enjoyment, boredom, anxiety), and objective measures of academic achievement (final grade in Introductory Psychology, GPA). The low-motivation cluster demonstrated the least adaptive profile across all outcomes. The multiple-goals, mastery, and performance clusters showed equivalent levels of achievement; however, students in the performance cluster were more psychologically and emotionally vulnerable than the multiple-goals and mastery clusters. Our discussion focuses on the immediate and potentially long-term implications of specific goal combinations for students and educators, with particular attention to understanding the cognitive and emotional vulnerabilities of students in the performance cluster which appear despite satisfactory achievement levels.     

Self-efficacy and cognitive achievement: implications for students with learning problems

This article presents a self-efficacy model of achievement that comprises entry characteristics, self-efficacy for learning, task engagement variables, and efficacy cues. Students' sense of self-efficacy for learning is influenced as they work on tasks by cues that signal how well they are learning. Research is summarized on the effects of social and instructional variables on self-efficacy and achievement behaviors. Empirical evidence supports the idea that self-efficacy predicts student motivation and learning. Future research directions are provided, along with educational implications for students with learning problems.     

Gender and science achievement: A case study

Upon completion of a science unit on heat and temperature, the students in a Canadian 9th grade science class wrote two different achievement tests. On a unit test which required students to answer questions that were based on facts students had studied, grades obtained by girls and boys were not significantly different. Conversely, on a post‐test, which required that students apply their knowledge to novel situations, boys achievement was significantly greater than that of the girls, particularly on higher level questions. Classroom observations revealed that few girls contributed to class discussions, whereas most of the boys participated in discussions. It is suggested that the more active class participation by boys may have contributed to their making greater gains in the understanding of heat and temperature concepts.     

The role of schools in bridging within-school achievement gaps based on socioeconomic status: a cross-national comparative study

Since the publication of the Coleman report in 1966, research on the role of schools in influencing student achievement relative to the role of family background has generated considerable interest and controversy. A large volume of international and comparative research has also been devoted to studying school effects on student achievement. Relatively few studies have examined international differences in the importance of schools in bridging achievement gaps based on socioeconomic status (SES). Using PISA 2012 data, this study examines the role of schools in bridging within-school SES gaps in achievement and compares findings across 61 countries. Contrary to prior research, we find that schools may have limited ability in bridging SES gaps that exist within schools. We also find that across all countries included in the study, specific factors such as the school’s learning environment and school context are not systematically associated with within-school SES gaps.     

Closing achievement gaps between Hebrew-speaking and Arabic-speaking students in Israel: Findings from TIMSS-2003

Closing achievement gaps between sub-populations in Israel, and among them between students in the Hebrew-speaking and Arabic-speaking schools, continues to be one of the priorities of Israel's education system. TIMSS-2003 findings provide first evidence that efforts made during the 1990s to close these gaps were in the right direction although inequality in input between the two sectors still remains. This paper on the one hand highlights factors that still perpetuate the achievement gap and on the other detects factors that explain why these gaps have narrowed.