The importance of motivation as a predictor of school achievement

The present study examined to which extent different motivational concepts contribute to the prediction of school achievement among adolescent students independently from intelligence. A sample of 342 11th and 12th graders (age M = 16.94; SD = .71) was investigated. Students gave self-reports on domain-specific values, ability self-perceptions, goals, and achievement motives. Hierarchical regression and relative weights analyses were performed with grades in math and German as dependent variables and intelligence as well as motivational measures as independent variables. Beyond intelligence, different motivational constructs incrementally contributed to the prediction of school achievement. Domain-specific ability self-perceptions and values showed the highest increments whereas achievement motives and goal orientations explained less additional variance. Even when prior achievement was controlled, some motivational concepts still proved to contribute to the prediction of subsequent performance. In the light of these findings, we discuss the importance of motivation in educational contexts.     

The Aetiology of High Cognitive Ability in Early Childhood

Both the environment and genetics are likely to influence the development of cognitive talent during the preschool years. It is not known to what degree or how these influences differ from those throughout the range of ability. 1943 twin pairs were assessed at 2, 3 and 4 years of age using diverse verbal and nonverbal cognitive measures. Consistently high scoring children were selected on a general cognitive factor. From behavioural genetic model fitting analyses, substantial shared environmental (70%) and modest genetic influences (20%) were found in the high group and this matched the aetiology of the entire sample. Strong genetic predisposition was not apparent. Individual differences in cognitive ability and high ability is largely due to shared environment during the preschool years.     

The role of involvement and emotional well-being for preschool children’s scientific observation competency in biology

ABSTRACT

Observation is one of the basic methods in science. It is not only an epistemological method itself, but also an important competence for other methods like experimenting or comparing. However, there is little knowledge about the relation with affective factors of this inquiry method. In our study, we would like to find out about the relations of emotional well-being and involvement with children’s observation competency. Seventy preschool children participated in our test observing a living mouse, a snail and a fish. From their behaviour in the test situation, we coded their observation competency as well as their emotional well-being and involvement. The data show that both emotional well-being and involvement are significant predictors of children’s observation competency. Further analyses confirm our hypothesis of a mediating role of involvement between well-being and the performance in the observation task. In conclusion, theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Educational career and substance use in adolescence

In modern, competitive societies the social organisation of «youth» implies both the chance and risk of (intergenerational) vertical social mobility. It is suggested that it is precisely this basic feature that to a considerable extent gives rise to substance use. In particular the paper aims at analysing the impact of the risk of educational downward mobility as well as some related characteristics. Using LISREL VI, it is shown that this type of educational career pattern, actual or anticipated, substantially contributes to the consumption of legal drugs. Weight is given to an extended analysis of the mode of action involved in the relationship between substance use and the career pattern as well as associated characteristics, respectively. As far as home is concerned, social conflict and associated feelings on the side of the adolescents turn out to be a major ‘mechanism’ through which the observable impact of educational downward mobility can be traced back. Integration into both the cultural system of «legalized» drug use and subcultural contexts as provided by social cliques is a further condition that strongly influences substance use among adolescents.     

Measuring STEM students’ mathematical identities

Studies on identity in general and mathematical identity in particular have gained much interest over the last decades. However, although measurements have been proven to be potent tools in many scientific fields, a lack of consensus on ontological, epistemological, and methodological issues has complicated measurements of mathematical identities. Specifically, most studies conceptualise mathematical identity as something multidimensional and situated, which obviously complicates measurement, since these aspects violate basic requirements of measurement. However, most concepts that are measured in scientific work are both multidimensional and situated, even in physics. In effect, these concepts are being conceptualised as sufficiently uni-dimensional and invariant for measures to be meaningful. We assert that if the same judgements were to be made regarding mathematical identity, that is, whether identity can be measured with one instrument alone, whether one needs multiple instruments, or whether measurement is meaningless, it would be necessary to know how much of the multidimensionality can be captured by one measure and how situated mathematical identity is. Accordingly, this paper proposes a theoretical perspective on mathematical identity that is consistent with basic requirements of measurement. Moreover, characteristics of students’ mathematical identities are presented and the problem of “situatedness” is discussed.     

The school staff's perception of their ability to teach special educational needs pupils in inclusive settings in Finland

Recent studies have suggested that the professional training received by general educators does not adequately prepare them to properly implement inclusion-based practices. The idea of inclusion in practice has not significantly changed the situation of teaching pupils with special educational needs (SENs) in mainstream classes. This study's primary intent is to examine the factors that identify the school staff's ability to meet the needs of SEN pupils in their daily teaching situations. A total of 187 elementary school teachers, principals and teaching assistants in a Finnish city completed a structured questionnaire that used a self-evaluation method. Two components were generalised according to answers concerning the respondents’ confidence in and knowledge of teaching SEN pupils. The results indicate that teachers’ qualifications constitute the main reason affecting their ability in this area. Pedagogical and practical knowledge, as well as collaborative skills in teaching SEN pupils, is focused on special educators. These findings reveal the need for additional and in-service training and more effective cooperation between special and general education to share the knowledge of teaching SEN pupils in practice.     

Reliability and validity in qualitative research within education in Africa

This article discusses the problems of validity and reliability in qualitative research within education and relates this discussion to Africa. A main concern is the posing of the right research questions. The article attempts to bring into focus the voice of Africans, showing that the African researcher knows his/her environment better than any expatriate and will be more likely to ask the right questions provided that s/he is allowed to ask them and is not forced to work with questions of concern to Western donors, and provided that s/he trusts her/his own experiences and uses those to form concepts instead of merely transferring concepts formed in the West and based on experiences in the northern hemisphere. It argues for the need of secondary research to reanalyze from an Afro-centric viewpoint many of the accounts written by Western travellers and anthropologists. It further argues for the use of an autobiographical approach to secure data of high ecological validity. Validity is looked at as a more important concept than reliability and a mixing of qualitative and quantitative methods argued for.

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Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel befaßt sich mit Problemen der Gültigkeit und zuverlässigkeit der Qualitativen Forschung innerhalb der Bildung in Bezug auf Afrika. Ein Hauptanliegen ist die richtige Fragestellung hinsichtlich der Forschung. Der Artikel versucht die Stimme der Afrikaner in den Vordergrund zu stellen und zeigt damit, daß afrikanische ForscherInnen ihr Umfeld besser als irgendein Außenstehender kennen und somit mit größerer Wahrscheinlichkeit die richtigen Fragen stellen. Dies setzt voraus, daß sie die richtigen Fragen stellen dürfen und nicht gezwungen sind, für westliche Geldgeber richtig erscheinende Fragen zu stellen. Eine weitere Voraussetzung ist, daß sie ihren eigenen Erfahrungen trauen können und sie für die Ausarbeitung von Konzepten nutzen, anstatt im Westen erstellte und auf Erfahrung in der nördlichen Hemisphäre basierende Konzepte weiterzugeben. Der Artikel befürwortet die Notwendigkeit einer zweiten Untersuchung, um vom afrikanischen Standpunkt aus die zahlreichen Berichte neu zu analysieren, die von westlichen Reisenden und Anthropologen geschrieben wurden. Weiterhin wird für die Sicherstellung von Daten hochwertiger ökologischer Gültigkeit die Anwendung eines autobiographischen Ansatzes empfohlen. Gültigkeit wird gegenüber der Zuverlässigkeit als wichtigeres Konzept angesehen und sowohl qualitative als auch quantitative Methoden gemeinsam befürwortet.

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Resumen Este artículo se ocupa de los problemas de la validez y fiabilidad del estudio cualitativo dentro de la educación y relaciona esta discusión con Africa. Uno de los temas principales es el planteamiento de los interrogantes de investigación correctos. El artículo pone su énfasis central en la voz de los africanos, mostrando que el/la investigador/a africano/a conoce mejor su entorno que cualquier otro extranjero o expatriado, y que es más probable que formule las preguntas correctas, siempre que esté autorizado/a a hacerlo y que no se vea obligado/a a trabajar con asuntos que conciernen a los donantes occidentales, y siempre que él o ella confíe en sus propias costumbres y experiencias para formar los conceptos, en lugar de transferir meramente conceptos formados en el mundo occidental y basados en experiencias del hemisferio norte. Aboga por la necesidad de la investigación secundaria a efectos de analizar desde un punto de vista afrocéntrico muchos de los informes escritos por viajeros y antropólogos occidentales. Además, sostiene la aplicación de un enfoque autobiográfico para asegurar datos de alto valor ecológico. El trabajo considera que la validez es un concepto más importante que la fiabilidad, y aboga por la mezcla de métodos cualitativos y cuantitativos.

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Résumé Cet article aborde les problèmes soulevés par la validité et la fiabilité de la recherche qualitative en éducation et remplace la question dans le contexte du continent africain. Un point important concerne la juste formulation des questions qui feront l'objet de recherches. L'auteur tente de faire entendre l'opinion africaine en exposant que le personnel de recherche africain connaît mieux son environnement que toute personne expatriée et qu'il sera plus susceptible de poser les questions appropriées, à la condition qu'on lui permette de les poser et qu'il ne soit pas obligé de travailler sur des questions qui importent aux commanditaires occidentaux, à la condition aussi qu'il se fie à ses propres expériences et les mette á profit pour former des concepts, au lieu de se borner à transférer ceux établis par l'Occident, et qui se fondent sur des expériences vécues dans l'hémisphère nord. Il démontre donc la nécessité d'une recherche secondaire pour procéder à une nouvelle analyse d'un point de vue africain de nombre de récits écrits par des voyageurs ou anthropologues occidentaux. Il plaide également pour le choix d'une approache autobiographique pour protèger des données d'une importante validité écologique. La validité est posée comme concept plus important que celui de la fiabilité, et il est conseillé d'appliquer conjointement des méthodes qualitatives et quantitatives.

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Collective design of an e-textbook: teachers’ collective documentation

In this study, we investigated design processes in teacher collectives, which have been made possible by new “digital” opportunities: platforms, discussion lists, etc. The object of our study is the French Sésamath teacher association and its design of a grade 10 e-textbook, more precisely the design of the “functions” chapter. We analysed it with two theoretical lenses: the documentational approach and cultural-historical activity theory. We studied the activity system of a community of teachers designing an e-textbook. At macro-level, we observed a change of objects of the activities: from designing a “toolkit” for mathematics teachers; to interactive exercises; and finally to a more “classical e-textbook”. At micro-level, we analysed the development of collective documents by the community, combining resources and schemes.