Social anxiety in learning: stages of change in a sample of UK undergraduates

Social anxiety in learning is prevalent amongst traditional-age students and has a marked effect on their engagement with higher education. It receives little attention from academic or support services and there is a presumption that students will manage their anxieties. Yet it is unclear what psychosocial resources they might bring to this task and how these may develop through the undergraduate years. This study sought to identify possible change processes in student social anxiety by analysing qualitative responses obtained from Level 2 undergraduate students (n=39) in relation to their experience of learning situations such as lectures, seminars and group presentations. Thematic analysis suggested a four-stage developmental progression for students in terms of their experience and orientation to coping with social anxiety. Implications for staff development and student support are outlined.     

Place-based learning: action learning in MA program for educational practitioners

The study presents a new pedagogical idea and practice for educational practitioners. The practice was developed as a workshop of MA program in order to change and expand the meaning of education for the wellbeing of the community. The ‘place-based learning’ workshop combined action learning (AL) with project-based learning (PBL). The students’ assignment was to develop and operate a plan for the contribution of specific places (e.g. parks, public buildings, organizations and industries) to the community. The findings indicate conceptual and behavioral changes among the students concerning educational processes. At the end of the workshop, the students tended to be more tolerant of ambiguity, sustain judgment and collaborate with peers. The new practice emphasizes coping with fundamental emotional needs such as autonomy, self-efficacy, engagement and belonging. The synergy between AL and PBL was found to have great potential for meaningful learning and doing.     

The case for using exemplars to develop academic self-efficacy

Abstract

Academic self-efficacy is critical to academic success. Hence those working in higher education need to make deliberate and substantial attempts to foster academic competence, confidence, persistence and resilience in the students they teach, given they are essential components of academic self-efficacy. Addressing an identified gap in the exemplars literature, this article pays particular attention to how exemplars can be used in an embedded and sustained manner with the intent of fostering and supporting these components. Taking into account the three dimensions of self-efficacy – strength, magnitude and generality – and the various sources of information students draw upon to make judgements about their capabilities, four inter-dependent and inter-related practices and associated experiences are identified. We argue that collectively these practices and experiences can accentuate the positive effects and ameliorate the potential negative effects of exemplar use on student academic self-efficacy.     

国内青少年社交焦虑研究进展

在青少年社交焦虑的人口学特点上,国内研究结果存在矛盾;在影响青少年社交焦虑的因素上,研究发现不但消极的家庭教养方式、留守经历与社交焦虑关系密切,而且个体的社交技能、应对方式、人格特征、自我效能感和自尊等个体因素也对社交焦虑有重要影响。国内干预社交焦虑的常用方法主要有认知行为疗法、箱庭疗法、体育疗法、音乐疗法、综合性团体干预等。目前国内对不同疗法干预青少年社交焦虑效果的比较性研究还较缺乏,对留守儿童等特定群体社交焦虑的干预研究及社交焦虑的生理基础研究还有待深入。     

Changes in student teachers’ motives and the meaning of teacher education programme quality

This study provides insights into possible changes in 83 student teachers’ motives for becoming teachers, their professional commitment and their self-efficacy after a year of teacher education. Furthermore, it addresses the extent to which these changes relate to student teachers’ perceptions of their learning environment – specifically, their perceptions of the quality of teaching, generic skills and assessment. Student teachers completed a survey at the beginning and at the end of a single year of teacher education, which revealed significant changes in their motives and self-efficacy regarding tasks within the classroom and throughout the broader school context. No relationship between this change and teachers’ perceptions of their learning environment was observed. Instead, student teachers’ perception of the quality of teaching predicted their assessments of their ability and self-efficacy in a school context at the end of their education.     

Multiple traumas and resilience among street children in Haiti: Psychopathology of survival

In Haiti, as in several developing countries, the phenomenon of street children has become a major public health issue. These children are often victims of traumas and adverse life events. This article aimed to investigate traumas experienced by street children and their coping and resilience strategies used to deal with adversities in a logic of survival, relying on a mixed method approach. A group of 176 street children, aged 7–18 (n = 21 girls), recruited in Port-au-Prince, completed measures assessing PTSD, social support and resilience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to document traumatic experiences, factors related to resilience and coping strategies. After performing statistical analyses to evaluate prevalence and predictors associated with PTSD, and level of social support satisfaction and resilience, qualitative analysis using a grounded theory approach was conducted. Results showed that street children experienced multiple traumas such as neglect, maltreatment, psychological, physical and sexual abuse. However, they also showed self-efficacy to face their traumatic experiences and few of them (less than 15%) obtained scores reaching clinical rates of PTSD, while a large majority presented a level of resilience between moderate to very high. A socio-ecological model of multiple traumas and a model of coping, survival and resilience strategies are conceptualized. Data provide a better understanding of the traumas experienced by street children, their coping and resilience strategies. Results underscore ways to develop practices to offer psychological support, social and vocational integration based on the real needs of these children, in a perspective of social justice.     

The professional student program for educational resilience: Enhancing momentary engagement in classwork

Abstract

The Professional Student Program for Educational Resilience (PROSPER) was designed to increase students’ ability to stay momentarily engaged in classwork, thus promoting educational resilience. Participants (N?=?277, 51% male, 74% Irish) from two low-income schools in Dublin, Ireland (School A n?=?158; School B n?=?119), were assessed using the intervention’s theory of change: (1) change in knowledge of how to stay engaged in classwork, (2) subsequent change in momentary engagement in classwork, and (3) subsequent longer-term change in dispositions for engagement (i.e., tendency to enjoy learning). Qualitative results demonstrated that PROSPER facilitated students’ knowledge, momentary engagement, and teachers’ involvement with students. Quantitative analyses uncovered changes in knowledge and momentary engagement for both the higher and lower ability tracks in School A. The results give refined information on how this universal-school based program increased students’ momentary engagement and supported their educational resilience.     

The Effects of Scientific Self-efficacy and Cognitive Anxiety on Science Engagement with the “Question-Observation-Doing-Explanation” Model during School Disruption in COVID-19 Pandemic

Game-based learning supported by mobile intelligence technology has promoted the renewal of teaching and learning models. Herein, a model of Question-Observation-Doing-Explanation (QODE) based on smart phones was constructed and applied to science learning during school disruption in COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, from the theoretical perspective of cognitive-affective theory of learning with media, Bandura’s motivation theory and community of inquiry model, self-report measure was used to verify the effect of students’ scientific self-efficacy and cognitive anxiety on science engagement. A total of 357 valid questionnaires were used for structural equation model research. The results indicated that two types of scientific self-efficacy, as indicated by scientific learning ability and scientific learning behavior, were negatively associated with cognitive anxiety. In addition, cognitive anxiety was also negatively correlated to four types of science engagement, as indicated by cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, behavioral engagement, and social engagement through smartphone interactions. These findings provide further evidence for game-based learning promoted by smart phones, contributing to a deeper understanding of the associations between scientific self-efficacy, cognitive anxiety, and science engagement. This study points out that the QODE model is suitable for implementing smart mobile devices to students’ science learning.

     

Selbstwirksamkeitserwartungen und Pädagogisches Professionswissen im Verlauf des Lehramtsstudiums

Teacher Self-Efficacy and General Pedagogical Knowledge During Teacher Education. The present study investigates how teacher self-efficacy beliefs develop during teacher education and how self-efficacy beliefs and general pedagogical knowledge of student-teachers are related. In a cross-sectional study, 257 student-teachers were investigated (173 first year students, 27 advanced students, 35 examination candidates, 19 preservice teachers). The data show that self-efficacy beliefs for the subscales classroom management and assessment increase between the start and the end of training (preservice teachers). Concerning diagnostic competency, self-efficacy beliefs do not change during studies and even decrease for the preservice teachers. For the subscales communication and conflicts as well as coping little difference is noticeable. Professional knowledge, in contrast, increases during studies. Self-efficacy beliefs for classroom management and assessment are linked to professional knowledge. Finally, the usefulness of the multidimensional measuring of self-efficacy beliefs is discussed and implications for future research approaches are presented.     

Higher education reform in Romania

This paper reviews the crisis in Romanian universities since the country's political transition in 1989, and describes the government's strategy for revitalizing the higher education system. Attention is drawn to the expansion of access to higher education, the dramatic increase of enrollments in social science fields, the spontaneous establishment of private higher education institutions, and to the many difficulties institutions are experiencing in coping with these changes especially because of resource constraints. Comprehensive reform of the role of the state in the financing and governance of higher education are proposed. The government's reform strategy involves accreditation of public and private institutions, establishment of open transparent mechanisms for allocating institutional and research funding, as well as changes in the structure of academic employment. Successful implementation will require strengthening the fragile management capacity of the Ministry of Education and the higher education institutions.     

Changing Higher Education Curricula for a Global and Multicultural World

Dramatic demographic changes in the cultural and linguistic diversity of people are occurring in many nations throughout the world. These changes have challenged higher education institutions to modify their curricula and instructional strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners and to prepare all graduates to have the awareness, knowledge, and skills to be effective in a diverse society. This article outlines a framework for changing curricula in higher education in order to prepare students to succeed in the culturally diverse, globally interdependent world. It also provides some practical guidance for undertaking such change, placing emphasis on increasing faculty expertise in multicultural and global/international education.     

Improving the participation and engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in business education

Most Australian universities have among their goals to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at their institutions. In the Australian higher education context, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are seriously under-represented, particularly in business education compared to other disciplines. An understanding of why a larger proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students do not choose to study a discipline that provides promising employment opportunities, is fundamental to improving the status quo. This paper reviews the literature to identify key barriers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ participation and engagement in business education. Apart from multiple general barriers to participation in higher education, factors specific to business as a profession and as an academic discipline are also considered. The paper then discusses a number of strategies Australian educational institutions could pursue when seeking to increase participation and engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in business. Drawing on the review, the paper concludes with recommendations for higher education institutional policy to further improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student participation and engagement in business studies.     

Multidimensional motivation and engagement for writing: construct validation with a sample of boys

Given recent concerns around boys’ literacy, this study examined multidimensional writing motivation and engagement among boys. We explored internal and external validity of 11 adaptive (e.g. self-efficacy for writing) and maladaptive (e.g. disengagement from writing) factors of writing motivation and engagement. The sample comprised 781 male Australian high school students (aged 11–18 years). We used confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling to conduct our analyses. Results confirmed the internal structure of the factors and revealed that parent education, and to a lesser degree language background, predicted several motivation and engagement factors. In addition, the adaptive motivation and engagement factors were associated positively with several writing (e.g. enjoyment of writing) and literacy outcomes (e.g. literacy achievement), whereas the maladaptive factors tended to be negatively associated. Invariance was found in the associations among the motivation and engagement factors and the outcomes across several participant subgroups (e.g. by gender, language background). There was also measurement invariance between the study’s sample and five randomly drawn samples of students from archived data on domain-general academic motivation and engagement. Combined, our analyses shed light on a domain-specific area of motivation and engagement – writing – that could benefit from an integrative multidimensional examination.     

Exploring factors related to preschool teachers’ self-efficacy

This study examined how teacher (teaching experience, perceptions of teacher collaboration and teacher influence) and classroom (children’s engagement) characteristics predicted teacher self-efficacy for 48 preschool teachers in the U.S. Results showed a significant interaction effect between teachers’ perceptions of collaboration and children’s engagement in predicting teachers’ reported self-efficacy. Specifically, a higher level of children’s engagement was associated with a higher level of teacher self-efficacy when teachers worked in preschool with high levels of staff collaboration. Teacher experience and influence in decision-making were not related to teacher self-efficacy. Implications for early childhood teacher education and professional development are discussed.     

Associations between trait personality,anxiety, self-efficacy and intentions to exercise by gender in high school physical education

Trait personality has been associated with achievement and many of its related outcomes in settings such as education, health, physical activity and sport. Scant trait personality research has been performed among school-age students in physical education, so this study investigates relations between the six-dimension (HEXACO) model of trait personality and anxiety, self-efficacy and intentions to exercise as a function of gender in 316 high school physical education students. Students completed validated measures of these constructs. Results revealed that trait personality (particularly the social self-esteem aspect of extraversion) predicted lower anxiety and higher self-efficacy and intentions to exercise in both females and males. Openness to experience was predictive of both anxiety and lowered self-efficacy in females. It appears that physical educators should consider the role of the HEXACO personality traits and sub-traits in their students and potentially differentiate instruction to better accommodate students who are more vulnerable. From this study, it appears that students who are less extraverted and females who are more open to experience may be at be more at risk for anxiety and lower self-efficacy in physical education which may compromise their intentions to exercise.     

Inclusion in Israel: coping resources and job satisfaction as explanatory factors of stress in two cultural groups

The aim of this study was to explore the differences between the two cultural groups of Jewish and Arab teachers on several variables and to analyse their link to stress. Specifically, I examined sense of coherence (SOC), sense of school community and job satisfaction among regular Jewish and Arab teachers in regular schools and classes who have special education students in their classes. Furthermore, I investigated how the different coping resources – SOC and sense of school community – explain the stress reactions of state anxiety and state anger directly and indirectly via job satisfaction and also the direct prediction of stress by job satisfaction. Data were gathered from 634 Jewish and Arab teachers (80% Jews) who completed self‐report questionnaires that measured SOC, sense of community, employee satisfaction inventory, state anxiety and state anger. Differences in SOC and sense of school community were found between the two groups such that Jews reported stronger SOC, and Arabs reported stronger sense of school community. Further differences were revealed in the links of the different coping resources to stress reactions. The results are discussed against the backdrop of cultural background and the salutogenic model.     

Fostering self-efficacy and self-regulation in higher education: a matter of autonomy support or academic motivation?

ABSTRACT

By implementing student-centred learning environments, higher education institutions aim to foster student self-efficacy and self-regulation. Previous research that focuses on how students perceive these learning environments usually does not take the differential impact of students’ study motivation into account. However, the type of motivation might influence how students perceive their learning environment. To this end, this study investigates the relationship between students’ perceived autonomy support in student-centred learning environments and self-regulation and self-efficacy by taking study motivation into account. The results indicate that autonomy-supportive teacher behaviour enhances self-efficacy for students who are autonomously motivated. Amotivated students might need other than autonomy-supportive teacher behaviour to develop self-efficacy. Self-regulation seems to play a less distinct role. Overall, when examining the effects of autonomy-supportive teaching in higher education, the quality and quantity of students’ motivation has a role to play, an aspect which is important to consider in future research and practice.     

Engaging students in learning: a review of a conceptual organiser

Student engagement in learning is a complex process influenced by many factors. This article introduces a conceptual organiser developed from a review of the literature. It captures four key perspectives – motivation and agency, transactional engagement, institutional support and active citizenship – and suggested indicators for each perspective. Data from a project researching student engagement with first‐time enrolled students in Aotearoa New Zealand is then used to review the conceptual organiser. Findings show that the four perspectives were all evident, though some indicators were more clearly supported than others. As a result of the evaluation, changes were made to the organiser. We argue that it has value as a way for teachers and institutions to inform and evaluate their efforts to engage students in learning.     

Raising retention rates towards achieving vocational and career aspirations in Pacific communities

ABSTRACT

There is a need for culturally relevant and appropriate retention programs within a climate of ever-increasing neo-liberalism that is seeking to change the very nature and underlying rationale of higher education. This article is posited alongside the reflections of past and current university students, who highlight various socio-economic and socio-cultural pressures which affect their ability to maintain engagement within tertiary institutions in which they strive to study. Pressures include the neo-liberal ideology of unfettered individualism within a higher education setting, which seeks to make the university a competitive producer of ‘consumers’ rather than life-long learners who serve and benefit their families and wider communities through knowledge creation and critical application. The article also highlights key factors that may assist in the retention of students from Pacific communities in Australia. This includes the need to create a collective voice, the ability to have staff who exercise culturally appropriate support and understanding, opportunities to develop greater sense of belonging and connection to University spaces that create an engagement within a cultural context, support to manage conflicting expectations and priorities, ability to inspire and effect change in others through maintaining study commitments, and the need to work to still support educational costs and family.     

Developing a critical consciousness of race in place-based environmental education: Franco’s story

Environmental education (EE) has a history of support for critical place-based pedagogy as a means of learning through engagement in space, both cultural and biophysical. In this paper I tell the story of how Franco – a non-white, non-American undergraduate – engaged with local discourses in a watershed-focused EE program in the rural Midwestern US. I examine how the five tenets of critical race theory (CRT) can be used to interpret Franco’s experience, where he encountered multiple instances of racism and xenophobia. I argue that without a critical analysis of race in place-based EE programs, instructors may (a) privilege their own ways of knowing in local settings, (b) rely on ‘grit’ narratives as mechanisms for mediation of racism, and (c) send non-white students home having learned that they cannot effect meaningful change for sustainability. I conclude with recommendations for faculty in predominantly white institutions on how CRT might foster the development of critical consciousness of race in place-based EE programs.