The role of affective traits in the creative and problem-solving performance of gifted urban children

Problem-solving and creativity measures were administered to 127 gifted New York City school children from grades 4–6, in an attempt to relate these cognitive variables to the affective traits of locus of control, self-esteem, and tolerance of ambiguity. A canonical correlation analysis indicated one significant canonical set (p <.05) in which 46% of the variability in a set of cognitive measures was explained by a set of affective measures. A factor analysis was performed on the creativity and problem-solving tasks, with two factors emerging: Fluency and Rearrangement. Factor scores were used to analyze sex and grade differences. Sex differences on the cognitive tasks were consistent with those reported in the literature. No sex differences were obtained on the affective tasks. Grade 4 students differed significantly from grade 6 students on the Rearrangement factor only. On the affective tasks, grade 4 students differed from both grade 5 and grade 6 students only on tolerance of ambiguity. Results were discussed in terms of the importance of affective personality traits in the creative and problem-solving process.     

An Experiment in Developing Critical Thinking in Children

A three week experiment was conducted comparing the academic achievement of pupils in five classrooms (N = 108) taught in small cooperative groups against that of pupils from five classes (N = 109) taught in the traditional whole-class approach. Special achievement tests were prepared for each grade level, two through six. These tests were constructed with items requiring responses at low and high levels of cognitive functioning. Pupils in grades two, four, and six from small-group classrooms excelled on high level items as predicted. Pupils in the fifth grade produced superior answers on questions requiring original contributions. Achievement scores of both groups did not differ on items measuring low level cognitive functioning.     

Cognitive processing, language awareness, and reading in Grade 2 and Grade 4 children

The role of cognitive processing and language awareness in relation to reading is discussed. The framework for cognitive processing was Luria's (1966a, Higher cortical functions in man, New York: Basic Books; 1966b, Human brain and psychological processes, New York: Harper & Row) simultaneous and successive syntheses. Language awareness involved understanding of phonological representation, ambiguities, and incongruities. The sample of 56 Grade 2 and 64 Grade 4 children was administered a battery of seven “simultaneous-successive” tasks. Principal component and promax oblique factor analyses and factor scores were used to classify the children as low-low, low-high, high-low, and high-high simultaneous-successive “processors.” A series of ANOVAs showed significant differences by grade and level of cognitive processing for the three language awareness tasks and for reading. These tasks and factor scores derived from the simultaneous and successive components of the within correlation matrix for the total sample of 120 children after removing covariance associated with the two grades were subjected to stepwise multiple regression analyses and a path analysis to tease out the contribution of these components to reading. Results showed a much greater direct effect from language awareness on reading than simultaneous and successive syntheses. Ability to reflect on language and to use language as “disembedded modes of thinking” are seen as central to reading acquisition and development.     

Conservation development in the partially sighted child

A comparative study of conservation development in partially sighted, sighted, and sighted blindfolded children at four age levels (6–7, 8–9, 10–11, and 12–15 yrs.) was assessed. Conservation on tasks of mass, weight, and volume were evaluated using Piaget and Inhelder's (1941) prediction, judgment, and explanation questions. The significant differences were found between groups, task, and age level. Visually impaired children's performance was inferior to sighted children at all age levels, while little difference was found between partially sighted and blindfolded children's performance. For all three groups, conservation of mass was easiest, followed by conservation of weight, then volume. The findings support the notion of a developmental lag in cognitive skills for partially sighted children.     

Exploring the factors teachers consider in determining students’ grades

The purpose of this study was to investigate the specific factors teachers consider when assigning students’ report card grades. Data were gathered from 943 K-12 teachers from five school districts in a southeastern state in the United States who completed the Teachers’ Grading Practices Survey. Analyses focused on how teachers weigh different factors in determining report card grades, and if these factors and weights differ among teachers who teach at different grade levels and have different amounts of classroom experience. Results revealed statistically significant differences among teachers at different grade levels but no differences associated with teachers’ years of experience and no interaction effect. Differences by grade level were evident in teachers’ consideration of both cognitive and non-cognitive factors of students’ performance. Implications are discussed for improving grading policies and practices, teacher education and teacher professional development.     

数学课堂教学任务认知水平的评价模式探究简

数学课堂教学任务认知水平是对学生学习效果进行过程性评价的重要手段,通过方差分析及回归分析影响不同学业成绩、年级、性别学生数学课堂教学任务认知水平的各种因素及其重要程度.不同学业成绩和性别的学生在任务认知水平及多数影响因素方面差异显著;不同年级的学生在任务认知水平及多数影响因素方面差异不显著;影响任务认知水平最重要的三种因素是数学教学情境、数学课堂交流、数学知识应用,构建科学的评价任务认知水平的模式,为测量学生任务认知水平和实施高水平认知要求的教学任务提供可操性方法.     

The effect of instruction on the acquisition of conservation of volume

Performances of fourth and sixth grade children who had been in a program based on Science—A Process Approach were compared with performances of control groups on two conservation-of-volume tasks. The fourth grade children who had had Science—A Process Approach performed at a higher level than the control group on one of the tasks. There were no other significant differences between groups. The volume tasks were analyzed and learning hierarchies devised. A test based on the hierarchies was constructed and administered to all (189) children. An instructional program based on the hierarchies was carried out with approximately half of the children in each school at each grade level. All children were then post-tested on the volume tasks and the tasks of the learning hierarchies. All groups who had deceived instruction had higher mean scores on the Learning Hierarchies Test but no group made a significant improvement on the volume tasks. Performance of the volume tasks was found to be related to age and score on the Learning Hierarchies Test.     

The Effect of the Kind of Test Announcement on Students Preparation

Abstract

Subjects were given intrasensory matching and intersensory transfer tasks of perceptions made in the aural and visual sensory modes at the first, third, and fifth grades. Subjects matched, as same or different, melodic phrases within the aural sensory mode (AA). In addition, they judged whether the shape of a stimulus (either contour-line graphs or melodic phrases) that was perceived initially in either of the sensory modes was the same or different from the stimulus paired in the opposite mode (AV or VA). The aural to aural intrasensory task (AA) was found to be significantly easier than either intersensory task at all grade levels. No significant differences were found between the AV and VA intersensory tasks at any grade level. The difference in mean-score gains for the AV task was found to be significant across grades three to five.     

Stable individual differences on developmental tasks in young yellow-crowned parakeets,<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cyanoramphus auriceps</Emphasis>

We report on stable individual differences in young yellow-crowned parakeets across 38 tasks of cognitive development on three scales involving object permanence, means-end relations, and spatial relations. Stable performance ranks on blocks of tasks emerged after 13 weeks in two groups of sibling parakeets, one hand-reared and the other parent-reared. Examination of subject characteristics, such as hatch order, sex, general activity level, avoidances, latencies, social status, and errors, showed no significant correlations with these performance ranks. Characteristic individual approaches to unstructured play activities (from a fourth scale) were consistent with individual behavioral differences seen on the structured cognitive tasks.     

Report of an Evaluation of Curriculum Laboratory Services in a Teachers College

Abstract

The classification scheme of context clues tested in this study is from the preliminary edition of the Comprehension element of the Wisconsin Design for Reading Skill Development, which includes criterion-referenced context clues tests. One hundred thirty-three subjects in grades 3,4, and 5 in two Bemidji, Minnesota schools were pre- and posttested with Forms I and II. During the two-week interval between tests, subjects in the experimental school received instruction in two types of context clues. Six weeks later both groups were again administered Form I. Using an analysis of covariance, significant differences were Tound favoring the experimental school. Through an analysis of variance on the experimental school only, significant differences were found between grade levels and across all three grade levels from the pre- to posttest. Delayed posttest results were similar to immediate posttest results. Teaching a classification system seems to be effective at all grade levels, even at the beginning of grade 3.     

HOW MUCH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS NEEDED TO EFFECT POSITIVE GAINS IN K–6 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT ON HIGH STAKES SCIENCE TESTS?

This paper is a report of a study that examines the relationship between teacher participation in a multi-year, K–6 professional development effort and the “high stakes” science test scores of different student groups in 33 rural mid-west school districts in the USA. The professional development program involved 1,269 elementary school teachers and utilized regional summer workshops and distance delivery technologies to help the teachers learn science concepts, inquiry teaching strategies, and how to adapt science inquiry lessons to teach and reinforce skills in the language arts. Regression analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between the professional development hours experienced by teachers and student gains on high stakes test scores. But the analyses also suggest that primary grade teachers need less professional development than upper grade teachers on instructional strategies where the focus is on the integration of language arts and science inquiry. The implications for funding and implementing professional development projects are discussed.     

Parents’ support during different writing tasks: a comparison between parents of precocious readers,preschoolers, and school-age children

The study aimed to deepen the understanding of parental sensitivity to their children’s abilities and the nature of their scaffolding during writing tasks. We compared the parent–child writing interactions of three groups: precocious readers (PRs), same age preschoolers (SA), and older children with the same reading level (SRL) as the PRs. Each of 60 parent child-dyads was videotaped during three writing activities that varied in their structure level: word writing, writing a birthday invitation, and free writing within a wordless children’s book. Interactions were analyzed for parental literacy-specific, social-emotional, and general cognitive support. Results demonstrated parents’ sensitivity to their children’s developmental level and skills. Parents of PRs showed levels of literacy-specific support similar to parents of older children with the SRL, and higher than parents of SA non-reading children. Parents of PRs resembled parents of SA preschoolers and provided their children with more social-emotional support than parents of the older SRL children. The general cognitive support of parents of PRs was higher than that of the two other groups. Moreover, parents of PRs referred to writing conventions and showed more responsiveness than parents in the other two groups. Parents in all three groups emphasized literacy-specific support during the more structured writing tasks (words and invitation), and placed greater emphasis on the social-emotional and general cognitive support during the least structured task (free writing within the wordless book). Beyond these differences, parents demonstrated a consistent support style. We discuss parent–child writing interactions as a context for early literacy development.     

Mathematics achievement,language and cognitive development: Classroom practices in Papua New Guinea

A case study was conducted of mathematics instruction at five sites in Papua New Guinea. Trial instructional materials were developed, teachers received inservice training and implementation was carefully monitored for a six-week period. English and mathematics achievement instruments and eight measures of cognitive development were administered to a sample of 201 students in grades two, four and six. Mathematics and language achievement varied significantly among the five sites. Students at all grade levels exhibited poor application of problem solving skills while showing computation, measurement and mathematical language abilities superior to results previously reported. English reading and measures of conservation and classification competence were highly correlated with mathematics achievement. Correlations between memory measures and mathematics achievement decreased from grade two to grade six while correlations between measures of language and cognitive development and mathematics achievement tended to increase. The results indicated that the non-consumable student textbooks ameliorated to some extent the problems associated with non-native language instruction for the students involved in the study. It was concluded that locally developed textbooks with an appropriate language load would enhance mathematics learning, particularly in remote-rural areas where current teaching conditions and lack of materials interact with poor English skills to create an imbalance in achievement.     

Implications of task structure on self‐regulated learning and achievement

School tasks interact with student motivation, cognition, and instruction to influence learning and achievement. Heeding calls for additional research linking motivational and cognitive factors in learning and instruction on specific tasks within authentic classroom settings we quantitatively and qualitatively track 90 tenth‐grade science students’ motivation, reported use of learning strategies, achievement, calibration, and task perceptions as they engage in a well‐structured task (WST) and an ill‐structured task (IST). Students achieved higher grades on, and reported more ease and value for, the WST whereas they utilised critical thinking and peer learning strategies more on the IST. Lower academic achievers calibrated their achievement less accurately on each task and experienced lower grades, interest, ease, and management capability on the IST. Conversely, higher academic achieving students reported more self‐efficacy and effort regulation and lower anxiety and elaboration on the IST. Motivation – notably less intrinsic goal orientation in low academic achievers and higher task value and self‐efficacy – predicted performance on the IST. The structure of tasks may provide prompts that illicit unique self‐regulated learning responses in students.     

The Impact of Professional Development on Elementary Teachers’ Strategies for Teaching Science with Diverse Student Groups in Urban Elementary Schools

This study examined elementary teachers’ instructional strategies for promoting scientific understanding and inquiry and supporting English language development with diverse student groups including English language learners. The study was part of a 5-year research and development project consisting of reform-based science curriculum units and teacher workshops aimed at providing effective science instruction to promote students’ science and literacy achievement in urban elementary schools. Data consisted of 213 post-observation interviews with third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers. The teachers reported using instructional strategies to promote scientific understanding, but generally did not employ more sophisticated inquiry-based strategies. They also reported using instructional strategies to support English language development. There were significant differences among grade levels and by years of teacher participation.     

A developmental study of the relationship between reading development and the self-system

The aims of this three-year longitudinal study were to examine 1) the concurrent development of different components of the self-system; 2) how the development of this self-system relates to cognitive and metacognitive development in reading; and 3) whether or not there are gender differences both in the development of the self-system as well as in its relation to the development of reading. One hundred and seventy-eight elementary school children were first assessed in the fourth grade and then again in each of the two following years. A similar pattern of intercorrelations between self-system components was evident for boys and girls, and this pattern was quite stable across the three school grades. In addition, similar patterns of moderate relations between the self-system and cognitive and metacognitive development in reading were observed across time. According to these findings, there appears to be some stability, consistency and coherence in how late elementary school children’s beliefs about themselves as learners are organized in their self-system. It is also evident that children of this age are able to make valid self-appraisals of their capabilities.     

The development of motivational orientations as a function of divergent reading careers from pre-school to the second grade

In this study, we examined the developmental relationship of children's motivational orientations and reading skills from pre-school to the 2nd grade. Forty-eight children with differing word reading careers were identified from 115 pre-school non-readers. Pre-schoolers were assessed for cognitive–linguistic skills and motivational orientation (ratings on task-, ego-defensive, and social dependence orientation). The situational manifestations of orientations were observed during construction tasks comprising three pressure episodes. The motivational assessments were replicated (experimenter and teacher ratings) and decoding and reading comprehension tests were administered in the 1st and 2nd grades. On the basis of low, average and high pre-school phonemic awareness and word reading achievement in the 1st and 2nd grades, two regressive and two progressive word reading career groups were formed. The results showed that the regressive and the progressive reading career groups of matching initial phonemic awareness and verbal ability did not differ motivationally at pre-school age, but showed distinctive motivational orientation across contexts by the end of the second school year. A case analysis demonstrates the interactive formation of motivational orientation during reading instruction. These findings suggest that the developmental interaction of learning skills and motivational tendencies contribute to the differing reading careers.     

Metacognitive knowledge in primary grades: A longitudinal study

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to explore the development of metacognitive knowledge in primary grade children (6–9 years, n=196) from pre-school to third grade. Knowledge about cognitive processes was obtained from children’s oral explanations. The results indicated that the average metacognitive knowledge of the primary grade children developed significantly during the first three school years. The children knew much about simple factors and strategies influencing cognitive activities, but after the first three school years, more complex strategies still remained unfamiliar to them. Moreover, the content analyses of children’s oral explanations revealed interesting differences in children’s metacognitive thinking. There appeared to be two groups of children with either non-developing or developing explanations. In addition, the children understood mental processing better in memory and learning activities, whereas comprehension processes were largely unknown to them.     

Processes of decision-making in small learning groups

This article focuses on possible interactions of students’ inter-individual differences and features of cooperative learning. In a first study the uncertainty- vs. certainty-orientation of 209 students (88 male, 121 female; age 13–14) in nine classrooms (8th grade) of two schools was assessed. Three uncertainty-oriented and three certainty-oriented students were selected in each classroom. In varying sequences they solved three tasks (subject matter: German, social studies, mathematics) first individually, than in orientation-homogeneous groups of three. While there were almost no differences in decision-making between uncertainty-oriented vs. certainty-oriented learners during individual sessions, learning in small groups instigated significant differences. These differences diminished with an increased structure/certainty of learning tasks. In a second study 138 students (52 female, 86 male) in all 12th grade classrooms of three schools learned for six weeks according to a modified ‘Jigsaw Puzzle Technique’. At one of the schools the teachers did not implement the cooperative model completely, but tried to stay ‘in control’. This had consequences for the study’s ability to observe students in situations of uncertain and certain learning tasks, but the researchers were able to include this school for testing critical variables.     

Children's Misconceptions in Primary Science: A Survey of teachers' views

The study examines the effects of Piagetian‐like tasks' characteristics on the performance of these tasks by different age group students. The tasks were taken from a developed and validated test (Shemesh, 1983) which measures students' reasoning skills in six cognitive operations: conservation, proportions, control of variables, probability, combinations and correlations. Subjects were seventh, ninth and twelfth grade students, enrolled in two urban schools. Three different 3X2 factorial research design experiments, with three levels of students age and two versions of the test in each experiment, were set up for this study. Experiment 1 tested the effect of the method of task presentation (video‐taped demonstrations versus paper‐and‐pencil tasks with illustrations). Experiment 2 tested the effect of questionnaire format (multiple‐choice versus short essay questions) and experiment 3 tested the effect of the numerical content (integer ratio like 1:2, 1:3 versus noninteger ratio like 2:3, 3:5) on different age group students' responses.