Effects of emotional intelligence and supportive text messages on academic outcomes in first-year undergraduates

An increase in the number of students entering higher education has intensified the need for targeted strategies to support a wider range of student requirements. Current research suggests that emotional intelligence (EI) may be associated with academic success, progression and retention in university students but the use of EI screening as a prospective measure of success requires further investigation. This study evaluates the utility of prospective EI screening to predict progression rates, mean grades, attendance and online engagement in a sample of first-year undergraduate students enrolled on the same degree programme (N = 358). A supportive text messaging intervention was employed during potentially stressful periods of the academic year with a subsection of participants (n = 60) who demonstrated low total EI scores relative to the cohort. Results showed no effects of EI classification on progression rates, mean grades, attendance or online engagement (all p > 0.418). Alternatively, the text messaging intervention was associated with significant improvements compared with a matched control group for progression rates (p = 0.027), mean grades (p = 0.026) and attendance (p = 0.007). The frequency of access to the virtual learning environment also tended to be higher in the intervention group compared with the control group (p = 0.059). In conclusion, this study did not identify any benefits of EI screening as a prospective indicator of student success but provides encouraging indications that a text messaging support intervention could help to improve progression rates, mean grades, attendance and online engagement in first-year undergraduate students. Further research is warranted to develop these proof-of-concept findings.     

Investigating Teachers' Mathematics Teaching Understanding: A Case for Coordinating Perspectives

This paper provides a microanalysis of one Algebra I teacher's instruction to explore the advantages that are afforded us by coordinating two perspectives to document and account for the teacher's mathematical understandings. We use constructs associated with Stein, Grover and Henningsen's domain of mathematical didactics and Realistic Mathematics Education's instructional design theory to infer what the teacher might understand to effectively implement her instructional goals and, more importantly, support student learning. By coordinating these perspectives, we developed a working framework for analyzing the teacher's classroom practice retrospectively. For example, we illustrate how the mathematical possibilities related to one student's question might inform the teacher's decisions as she initiates shifts in students' self-generated models. Additionally, we illustrate how the teacher's decision to capitalize on particular students' models contributes in part to the kinds of mathematical ideas that can be explored and the connections students can make among those ideas. More generally, we explore the utility of coordinating these two perspectives to understand the landscape of ideas that teachers might traverse to align their practices with reform recommendations in the United States.     

Exploring student study behaviours in engineering: how undergraduates prepared textbook problems for online submission

ABSTRACT

While textbooks serve as a primary source of content material and problem-solving practice for undergraduates in engineering, studies that investigate how engineering students prepare assignments based on textbook problems are limited. To examine how engineering students complete textbook-based assignments outside of class, this exploratory qualitative study retrospectively investigated the study behaviours of six undergraduates enrolled in a required, second-year undergraduate engineering course at a mid-size, public university in the western United States. Within the course, students solved textbook problems and electronically submitted problem answers for graded credit. Findings from in-depth, semi-structured interviews showed that students identified and used a variety of non-traditional and unsupported resources in personalised approaches to preparing assignments. Resource choice and use was affected by students’ preferences for timely support, convenience, and social connections. The online submission process seemed to influence students’ adoption of study behaviours and resources considered less effective for deep, conceptual learning.     

A longitudinal study of mathematical competencies in children with specific mathematics difficulties versus children with comorbid mathematics and reading difficulties

Mathematical competencies of 180 children were examined at 4 points between 2nd and 3rd grades (age range between 7 and 9 years). Children were initially classified into one of 4 groups: math difficulties but normal reading (MD only), math and reading difficulties (MD-RD), reading difficulties but normal math (RD only), and normal achievement in math and reading (NA). The groups did not differ significantly in rate of development. However, at the end of 3rd grade the MD only group performed better than the MD-RD group in problem solving but not in calculation. The NA and RD only groups performed better than the MD-RD group in most areas. Deficiencies in fact mastery and calculation fluency, in particular, are defining features of MD, with or without RD.     

Educating Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners: The Need for Continued Advocacy

Recent political, fiscal, and educational equity challenges require a renewed emphasis in our efforts to advocate for increased culturally and linguistically responsive education, making certain to further advance the accomplishments of the past four decades. The education of diverse exceptional learners is well established within the fields of special education and culturally and linguistically diverse education. However, drawing on several contemporary features that currently shape education in today’s schools, the authors examine the need for continued special education advocacy to ensure appropriate referral, assessment, and instruction of all culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional (CLDE) learners within the changing pre-K-postsecondary teaching and learning environments. Implications and recommendations for educator preparation at the pre and inservice levels are provided to guide the future development of teachers of CLDE learners.     

Scholarly Productivity Redefined in Counselor Education

In this study, counselor educators responded to a survey about their scholarly productivity over a 3‐year period. Their involvement in 7 scholarly activities is reported by category and by type of institution, tenure status, academic rank, and gender. Using a more comprehensive definition of scholarly productivity, this study documents that counselor educators are involved in a much broader, more diversified spectrum of scholarly activities than prior studies of scholarly productivity have indicated. Implications for tenure and promotion decisions, along with recommendations for training and mentoring of future counselor educators as well as future directions for research, are discussed.