The effect of vertical-horizontal individualism-collectivism on acculturation and the moderating role of gender

Based on a sample of 131 Chinese international students in Germany, the study examined (1) the influence of vertical-horizontal individualism-collectivism (Triandis & Gelfand, 1998) on mainstream and heritage acculturation and (2) the moderating role of gender on these relationships. It was hypothesized that both vertical-horizontal individualism would enhance mainstream acculturation and both vertical-horizontal collectivism would enhance heritage acculturation. From a gender role and a value-motivation perspective, a moderating effect of gender was also hypothesized. Since the vertical dimension is related to power and achievement values which is more important for men, men who scored high in this dimension would be more likely to acculturate than women. Since the horizontal dimension is related to universalism and benevolence which is more important for women, women who scored high in this dimension would be more likely to acculturate than men. The hierarchical regression analysis shows that (1) women's mainstream acculturation was higher than men's, but no gender difference was found in heritage acculturation; (2) the influence of horizontal individualism on mainstream acculturation was stronger for women than for men, but adopting vertical individualism has an equally positive effect on acculturation for both gender groups; (3) vertical collectivism had a positive influence on heritage acculturation for men but not for women, while horizontal collectivism had a stronger influence on heritage acculturation for women than men. These findings were discussed using a gender role perspective and the possible changes in cultural transitions.     

Sexualities of initial teacher education applicants in the Republic of Ireland: addressing the hidden dimension of diversity in teaching

While research and policy recommendations internationally have pointed to the need to diversify teaching populations with regard to ethnicity, social class background and, to a lesser extent, dis/ability, there is a paucity of research addressing sexualities as a diversity dimension in teaching. This article explores initial teacher education (ITE) applicants’ and entrants’ (N = 746) sexualities and the intersections of sexualities with other socio-demographic background variables and career motivations. The analysis suggests that the topic of sexual orientation caused high levels of discomfort among respondents and that sexual minority student teachers are underrepresented in ITE cohorts in Ireland. The socio-demographic and motivational profiles of our non-heterosexual respondents generally mirrored those of their heterosexual counterparts. Non-heterosexual respondents reported a stronger motivation to affect social change and lower levels of participation in religious services. Findings are discussed within the context of persisting cultural and institutional barriers for sexual minority (student) teachers in Irish schools and in ITE.     

Academic underachievement: Relationship with cognitive motivation,achievement motivation,and conscientiousness

In this study, the role of need for cognition, achievement motivation, and conscientiousness on academic underachievement was investigated. Forty‐seven male and 46 female students in Grades 7 to 10 participated in the study. Student attributes were assessed by self‐report measures, school performance by academic grades, and intellectual abilities by a standardized structure of intelligence test. A regression analytic model (prediction of grade point average by general intelligence) was used to operationally define underachievement. A categorical cutoff definition as well as a continuous definition was investigated. All relationships between underachievement scores and need for cognition, achievement motivation scales, and conscientiousness showed linearity. This warranted the use of a continuous definition of underachievement. Results revealed that need for cognition as well as facilitating anxiety contributed the most to the explanation of underachievement. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 401–411, 2006.     

Noticing Children’s Learning Processes – Teachers Jointly Reflect on Their Own Classroom Interaction for Improving Mathematics Teaching

One could focus on many different aspects of improving the quality of mathematics teaching. For a better understanding of children’s mathematical learning processes or teaching and learning in general, reflection on and analysis of concrete classroom situations are of major importance. On the basis of experiences gained in a collaborative research project with elementary school teachers, several ideas about a professional reflection on one’s own instruction activities are explained. The paper focuses on joint reflection between teachers and researchers on the participating teacher’s own classroom interaction by means of concrete examples. It becomes clear that changes of one’s own interaction behavior will take place only in the long-term. Nevertheless such a joint professional reflection should be an essential component of teachers’ professional knowledge in a natural way. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Context matters: increasing understanding with interactive Clicker Case studies

Although interactive technology is presumed to increase student understanding in large classes, no previous research studies have empirically explored the effects of Clicker Cases on students?? performance. A Clicker Case is a story (e.g., a problem someone is facing) that uses clickers (student response systems) to engage students in understanding the meaning of the science contained within the story. Using an experimental randomized Solomon design across 11 institutions, we found that Clicker Cases increased student understanding more than PowerPoint lectures in large introductory biology classrooms, although there was variation across institutions and topics. By examining student performance in conjunction with faculty experience, we found that strong Clicker Cases created dissonance, captured attention and involved students in interpreting data or making decisions. This study provides a model for collaborative research across multiple institutions and demonstrates the need for using multiple institutions and topics in research on education.     

Analysis of the Latin Square Task with linear logistic test models

The Latin Square Task (LST) was developed by Birney, Halford, and Andrews [Birney, D. P., Halford, G. S., & Andrews, G. (2006). Measuring the influence of cognitive complexity on relational reasoning: The development of the Latin Square Task. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66, 146–171.] and represents a non-domain specific, language-free operationalization of Relational Complexity (RC-)Theory. The current study investigates the basic cognitive parameters and structure of LST as defined by RC-Theory, using IRT-based linear logistic test models (LLTM). 850 German school students completed 26 systematically designed LST items. Results support the notion of Rasch-scalability. LLTM analyses reveal that both operation complexity and number of operations affect item difficulty. It is shown how LLTM and its variants can provide substantial insights into cognitive solution processes and composition of item difficulty in relational reasoning in order to make item construction more efficient.