Combination classes and educational achievement

Using the ECLS-K and considering first graders in single-grade and K–1 and 1–2 combination classes, I discuss the mechanisms underlying the combination-class effect and address the systematic school-, teacher-, and student-level differences that confound estimates of this effect. I find evidence for positive selection into 1–2 classes, but using a rich set of control variables, find no relationship between class type and student achievement in first grade within schools, and no difference in overall first-grade achievement between single-grade and combination schools in a matched school sample. The results I present suggest that first graders are not harmed by being in a combination class or by their schools offering combination classes. As long as other stakeholders such as parents, teachers, and students in other grades are not made worse off, these results suggest that offering combination classes may be a Pareto-improving option for school administrators.     

Meta‐Analytic Methodology and Inferences About the Efficacy of Formative Assessment

In a recent article published in EM:IP, Kingston and Nash report on the results of a meta‐analysis on the efficacy of formative assessment. They conclude that the average effect of formative assessment on student achievement is about .20 SD units. This would seem to dispel the myth that effects between .40 and .70 can be attributed to formative assessment. They also find that there is considerable variability in effect sizes across studies, and that only the content area in which the treatment is situated explains a significant proportion of study variability. However, there are issues in the meta‐analytic methodology employed by the authors that make their findings somewhat equivocal. This commentary focuses on four methodological concerns about the Kingston and Nash meta‐analysis: (1) the approach taken to select studies for inclusion, (2) the application of study inclusion criteria, (3) the extent to which the effect sizes being combined are biased, and (4) the relationship between effect size magnitude and characteristics of outcome measures. After examining these issues in the context of the Kingston and Nash review, it appears that considerable uncertainty remains about the effect that formative assessment practices have on student achievement.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE META‐AFFECTIVE TRAIT SCALE

The purpose of this study was to develop a Meta‐Affective Trait Scale (MATS) to measure the meta‐affective inclinations related to emotions that students have while they are studying for their classes. First, a pilot study was performed with 380 10th‐grade students. Results of the exploratory factor analysis supported a two‐factor structure of the MATS, with 17 items and two dimensions (affective awareness and affective regulation). Second, in the validation study, the confirmatory factor analysis was carried out using data from 359 11th‐grade students. Satisfactory fit indices were obtained, providing evidence for the reliability and validity of the scale. Finally, for further evidence, a correlational analysis was run. Results indicated positive and significant correlations between learning strategies and self‐efficacy and the dimensions of the MATS. Consequently, the MATS can be employed by both researchers and teachers to assess students’ meta‐affective inclinations.     

人格结构理论视域下的《简·爱》女性形象

运用弗洛伊德的人格结构理论分析《简·爱》中的女性形象,论述形象之间的关系,以及海伦·彭斯、伯莎·梅森对于简·爱性格的形成所起到的作用.     

Student‐to‐Student Interaction Revisited: A Case Study of Working Adult Business Students in Online Courses*

Faculty teaching in online environments are universally encouraged to incorporate a variety of student‐to‐student learning activities into their courses. Although there is a body of both theoretical and empirical work supporting this, adult professional students participating in an online MBA program at an urban business school reported being at best indifferent and often negative regarding these learning activities. A case study was performed to explore how pervasive this attitude was and the possible reasons for it. Through various sources of data and exploration, we discovered that common interactive modalities are not associated with either perceived learning or satisfaction. A content analysis of a data analysis course revealed that 64.5% of responses recalled student‐to‐student interactivities when responding to a “learned least from” query. We identified three possible reasons for these negative responses: time inefficiency, interaction dysfunction, and flexibility intrusion. We conclude that, although some working professional students probably do learn from student‐to‐student interactivity, the costs incurred may be too great. If working adult students present a different profile than those students typically represented in academic research and thus have different needs and expectations, we may need to rethink the design of online education delivered to them.     

Validity issues in Meta‐Analysis: Suggestions for Research and Policy

The technique of meta‐analysis has been credited with resolving research issues in the areas of class size and the efficacy of psychotherapy, yet meta‐analyses have failed to form a consensus regarding the effects of student ratings feedback to college teachers. This failure can be traced to three types of problems: (a) methodological problems with the technique of meta‐analysis; (b) the quality of the research base; and (c) the social and professional context in which research is conducted. Meta‐analysis is an important addition to what may become a rigorous review methodology, but it is not a substitute for the qualitative review. Comprehensive meta‐analyses should include (a) a discursive review of each study, (b) a report of how each effect‐size was calculated, (c) the location of the statistics on which the calculation was based, and (d) a discussion of the factors that limit the validity of the statistic. Individual authors can contribute to the validity of future quantitative syntheses by reporting their results more thoroughly and clearly.     

Classroom Provocateurs and Ethical Classroom Practice

This article is based upon a larger study that considered three high school literature units in the US. Through a close analysis of one classroom discussion between a teacher and a provocative 8th grade student named Fish, I argue that it is not only ethically responsible to position the Fishes of this world as laudable, but that doing so is beneficial for critically focused English classes as a whole. Further, I argue that my reading of Fish as a provocateur can be productively transferred to other student‐provocateurs in our English classrooms who vex the smooth doing‐of‐school in different ways than Fish did.     

Flipping Online Analytics Classes: Achieving Parity with Their Face‐To‐Face Counterparts

We show how the principles of flipped learning that have been successfully applied to analytics classes taught face‐to‐face (F2F) at the undergraduate and graduate levels were emulated in corresponding online classes. Student satisfaction in the online flipped analytics classes was compared to student satisfaction in the F2F flipped analytics classes. Data were collected between the Spring 2016 and Fall 2018 semesters and involved two instructors with a sample of 726 students. The results of an independent samples t‐test showed that there was no significant difference in satisfaction between the online and F2F offerings. A binary logistics regression analysis on the data revealed that whether the flipped course was taught F2F or online had no significant effect on students recommending the course to their peers. The results suggest that flipped learning is transferrable to online analytics courses and yields student satisfaction at par with equivalent F2F flipped courses.     

Social identity theories and educational engagement

There is a large body of research in studies of schooling, particularly ethnographic case studies, which posits that collective action among students undermines engagement in school and contributes to educational inequality. In this paper I review studies of engagement from a social identity theory perspective. To what extent can collective action explain why some student groups are less engaged than others? I discuss four approaches to identifying social identity‐related problems of engagement frequently used in prior research. While researchers often find problems of engagement among low‐academic‐status students, research on educational engagement has had difficulty locating the underlying causes of inequality in student engagement. Social identity theories of educational engagement are inherently theories of collective action. I conclude that a fifth approach, large‐scale observational studies of monitoring and sanctioning, provides the best framework for identifying both the prevalence of, and solutions to, this particular source of disengagement.     

Self‐concepts of students with learning disabilities and their normally achieving peers: a review

In an attempt to test the assumption that children with learning disabilities (LD) have deficient self‐concepts, a number of studies have compared the self‐concepts of students with learning disabilities and their normally achieving (NA) peers. The purpose of this paper is to review recent studies that investigated the academic, social and general self‐concepts of students with LD and their NA peers and compare the results with those of a previous meta‐analysis of relatively older studies, by ­Chapman. Consistent with earlier findings, results of the present review indicated that the academic self‐concept of LD students is more negative than that of their NA peers. Unlike Chapman’s conclusion, however, the evidence is less clear for general self‐concept. This is also true for social self‐concept. Because the evidence that shows no group differences outweighs that indicating better ­social and general self‐concept scores for NA children, the conclusion that children with LD hold more negative social and general self‐concepts than do NA children is not warranted.     

Has John Hattie really found the holy grail of research on teaching? An extended review of Visible Learning

In this article the author reviews and discusses John Hattie’s book Visible Learning. In this book Hattie presents the results of a meta‐meta‐analysis on the conditions of successful teaching and learning in schools. Hattie’s work is based on more than 800 meta‐analyses, and these meta‐analyses are substantiated by more than 50 000 empirical research studies. Among the six groups of factors influencing successful learning in schools—student, home, school, teacher, curricula, teaching—the factor ‘teacher’ seems to have the strongest effect. Hattie not only evaluates empirical research but also places the results in a theoretical context of a theory of teaching and a certain concept of teacher professionalism. The author discusses Hattie’s approach to combine empirical research and conceptual work on teaching and on teachers’ work. The limits of meta‐analyses and future meta‐meta‐analyses are pointed out.     

COGNITIVE CONGRUENCE BETWEEN TEACHERS’ QUESTIONS AND STUDENTS’ ANSWERS

The purpose of the present study was to assess the impact of a teacher‐training workshop in a medical school upon the cognitive congruence between teachers’ questions and students’ answers. The major findings of this study were: (a) The average number of student‐teacher verbal interactions significantly exceeded the number of separate statements by teacher and students, (b) After the workshop, the number of interactions increased, especially in medium‐ and large‐size classes, (c) The extent of cognitive correspondence was greater at basic cognitive levels (knowledge, comprehension, application) than at high cognitive levels (analysis, synthesis, evaluation). This result was observed both before and after the workshop, as well as in all three class sizes, (d) Following the workshop, the cognitive congruence increased, especially in large classes and within the basic levels.     

A teacher like me or a student like me? Role model versus teacher bias effect

Several studies have found that teacher–student gender matching has positive effects on student achievement. However, the underlying mechanisms that explain this effect have not been empirically explored. This paper studies the impact of same gender teachers on academic achievement for a large sample of 8th graders in Chile. I provide evidence that girls benefit from being assigned to female teachers, while there is no negative effect on boys. More importantly, I provide evidence that the positive effect is due to role model effects and not to teacher bias effects.     

Critical Factors in On‐Campus Clinical Experiences: Perceptions of Preservice Teachers

In this paper, I present the findings of a self‐study into my teaching practices as a sociology‐of‐education lecturer working in the pre‐service teacher education programme of a regional university in New South Wales, Australia. The principal data source is a logbook of the teaching practices which characterised several tutorial classes taught in 2007. To understand these practices, the paper draws upon Aristotle's concepts of techne and praxis, and Bourdieu's understanding of practices as socially constructed and contested. The paper situates tensions between more technicist and praxis‐oriented teaching approaches to pre‐service teacher education, within the teacher education and university contexts in which these classes were undertaken. In doing so, the paper reveals tensions between assessment‐driven and more authentic teaching practices, and more student‐ and teacher‐centred teaching practices. The paper also shows how accountability pressures within tertiary settings have led to a more instrumental approach to tertiary teaching. I conclude that there is a need for greater attention to the conditions of work which influence teacher educators' practices, rather than fetishising individualistic instantiations of such practices.     

Literacy practices in Schome Park: a virtual literacy ethnography

In this paper I deploy a synthesis of methods I term virtual literacy ethnography to investigate the diverse literacy practices of the project Schome Park. Participants have been engaging over a 15‐month period in an innovative out‐of‐school project centred on use of the (Teen) Second Life three‐dimensional virtual world. Some ethical aspects of working with children in virtual worlds are briefly discussed. I analyse evidence from the three main communicative domains of the project: chat logs, wiki and forum, demonstrating the complexity and creativity of student literacy practices. I include in my data selection exemplars that draw on persistently valued literacy texts and demonstrate that attentive examination to literacy practices may be more fruitful than maintaining overly dichotomised boundaries between new literacies and those more established.     

Student learning in science simulations: Design features that promote learning gains

This research examines science‐simulation software available for grades 6–12 science courses. The study presented, funded by the National Science Foundation, had two objectives: a literature synthesis and a product review. The literature synthesis examines research findings on grade 6–12 student learning gains and losses using virtual laboratories and science‐simulation software, derived from a review of 79 relevant studies identified. Based on that literature, significant aspects of how such products influence student learning are identified. Tables summarize the research‐based evidence about best practices in instructional design for such virtual lab and simulation products. Some products were then reviewed as case studies to determine in what ways and to what extent they implement such research‐identified best practices. The overall goal was to consider where the most progress is being made in effective virtual‐lab and simulation products, and what directions future development should take. The intent is to inform science educators, teachers, administrators, and policy makers who are using, buying, and examining middle and high school instructional materials. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 1050–1078, 2011     

THE CLASS‐SIZE EFFECT UPON ACTIVITY AND COGNITIVE DIMENSIONS OF LESSONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

This study examines the effects of class size upon the verbal interactions and the cognitive level of medical instruction. The major findings of this study indicate that: (a) the percentage of the teacher's verbal activities increases with the group size; (b) the shortest teacher‐lectures are given in medium‐size classes; (c) the longest student‐answers and student initiations are observed in medium‐size classes; (d) the maximal diversity of verbal interactions is found in medium groups, while the minimal is found in large groups; (e) the percentage of interactions at the lowest cognitive level (knowledge) increases with class size; (f) longer interactions are observed in large classes at the knowledge level, and in smaller classes at the analysis and evaluation levels; (g) the minimal cognitive diversity is found in large groups; (h) both activity and cognitive total scores decrease as the class size increases. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Making a crisis out of a drama: the relationship between English and Drama within the English curriculum for ages 11–14

This paper critiques a recent initiative arising from the British Government's National Literacy Strategy for secondary schools. The initiative focuses on Drama within the English curriculum for 11–14‐year‐olds (Key Stage 3). Taking issue with the imposition on Drama of the objectives‐led curriculum model of the Key Stage 3 Framework for teaching English, I examine whether the ‘focus on Drama’ during 2003/04 has led to a higher profile for Drama within English and facilitated curriculum collaboration between English and Drama teachers, as claimed. The article draws on evidence from a small‐scale research project involving student teachers of English and Drama on teaching practice in London schools. I conclude that the KS3 Framework model of curriculum development and training does not promote collaboration in English and Drama teaching that is genuinely creative, and I identify some approaches which could offer an alternative.     

Adapted Verbal Feedback,Instructor Interaction and Student Emotions in the Landscape Architecture Studio

In light of concerns with architectural students’ emotional jeopardy during traditional desk and final‐jury critiques, the authors pursue alternative approaches intended to provide more supportive and mentoring verbal assessment in landscape architecture studios. In addition to traditional studio‐based critiques throughout a semester, we provide privately held, one‐on‐ one feedback at the semester's close that follows a mentor–trainee model of purposeful interface and a vision of where the student is going. This article reports 82 landscape architecture students’ experience of this adapted verbal feedback. The findings suggest an overwhelming positive student experience, and we conclude that these sessions help balance the emotional challenge of architectural study with nurturing support. Furthermore, the students’ positivity was not influenced by their experiences in the previous class. We therefore conclude that the adapted feedback sessions provide appropriate closure, even when (perhaps particularly when) a student has had a negative emotional experience during the class.     

A meta‐analysis of national research: Effects of teaching strategies on student achievement in science in the United States

This project consisted of a meta‐analysis of U.S. research published from 1980 to 2004 on the effect of specific science teaching strategies on student achievement. The six phases of the project included study acquisition, study coding, determination of intercoder objectivity, establishing criteria for inclusion of studies, computation of effect sizes for statistical analysis, and conducting the analyses. Studies were required to have been carried out in the United States, been experimental or quasi‐experimental, and must have included effect size or the statistics necessary to calculate effect size. Sixty‐one studies met the criteria for inclusion in the meta‐analysis. The following eight categories of teaching strategies were revealed during analysis of the studies (effect sizes in parentheses): Questioning Strategies (0.74); Manipulation Strategies (0.57); Enhanced Material Strategies (0.29); Assessment Strategies (0.51); Inquiry Strategies (0.65); Enhanced Context Strategies (1.48); Instructional Technology (IT) Strategies (0.48); and Collaborative Learning Strategies (0.95). All these effect sizes were judged to be significant. Regression analysis revealed that internal validity was influenced by Publication Type, Type of Study, and Test Type. External validity was not influenced by Publication Year, Grade Level, Test Content, or Treatment Categories. The major implication of this research is that we have generated empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of alternative teaching strategies in science. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1436–1460, 2007