What factors influence students’ real-time motivation and engagement? An experience sampling study of high school students using mobile technology

Abstract

Using mobile technology and experience sampling in junior high school, real-time motivation and engagement were explored at four-levels: between lessons (up to 2 lessons per day; Level 1), between days (5 days per week; L2), between weeks (4 weeks; L3), and between students (113 students; L4). Findings for a ‘random effects’ model revealed substantial variance between students (M?=?67%), followed by variance between lessons (M?=?29%), with little variance between days and between weeks (M?=?2%). In a ‘fixed and random effects’ model, we explored the roles of prior general academic motivation and engagement as well as ability and socio-demographics. Findings revealed that prior general academic motivation and engagement played a significant role in students’ real-time motivation and engagement in mathematics and English and reduced between-student variance by about half. Gender (females), ability (high), and socioeconomic status (high) were also associated with higher real-time motivation and engagement.     

Towards creating an inclusive community of researchers: the first three years of the North American Association for Environmental Education research symposium

This article uses a series of interlinked, personal vignettes to discuss the first three years of the North American Association for Environmental Education research symposium, from the perspectives of the key organizers. Seven challenges in the field of environmental education research are identified in a recent historical context, and we illustrate how the symposium sought to address them. The challenges were, that: (i) environmental education research has been marginalized in some areas and not recognized in others; (ii) environmental education research and environmental education practice need to be brought closer together; (iii) environmental education research is still in early development of a professional perspective; (iv) environmental education research has to give a voice to early career scholars and graduate students; (v) environmental education research needs to enable discourse about both process and outcomes; (vi) environmental education researchers need social learning contexts to help develop professional identities and create more meaningful dialogue to address these challenges; and (vii) methodologies, theoretical frameworks and differences in beliefs in environmental education research need to be accommodated. The last challenge is seen as the most significant with which to continue to engage, in developing open, inclusive forums for researchers of environmental education.     

Differential understanding of sexual abuse prevention concepts among preschoolers

Most evaluations of sexual abuse prevention programs employ composite knowledge scores that may mask whether individual skills are differentially understood. The few studies examining separate skills have provided no statistical justification for doing so. This study attempted to validate empirically distinct prevention skills and whether children comprehend these skills in the order taught by prevention programs: RECOGNITION (of good and bad touch), SAY-NO (refuse the perpetrator), GO (leave the situation), TELL-WHO (find an adult), and TELL- WHAT (accurately disclose the abuse). Subjects were 117 preschoolers who were individually administered the “What If Situations Test” (WIST). Analyses confirmed that the WIST was composed of six skills. The hypothesized sequence of skills produced a high coefficient of reproducibility, but an even higher coefficient was obtained when three common sequence reversals were added to the existing logical sequences. We discuss explanations for these cognitive sequence reversals and applications of this information for teaching preschoolers prevention concepts.     

Does an Audiovisual Dissection Manual Improve Medical Students' Learning in the Gross Anatomy Dissection Course?

The gross anatomy dissection course is considered to be one of the most important subjects in medical school. Advancing technology facilitates the production of e-learning material that can improve the learning of topographic anatomy during the course. The purpose of this study was to examine a locally produced audiovisual dissection manual's effects on performance in dissection, formal knowledge gained, motivation, emotions, learning behavior, and learning efficiency of the medical students. The results, combined with the total effort put into the production of the manual, should support decisions on further implementation of this kind of audiovisual e-learning resource into the university's curriculum. First-year medical students (n = 279) were randomly divided into three groups for two weeks within the regular dissection course hours during the dissection of the anterior and posterior triangles of the neck. Two groups received an audiovisual dissection manual (n = 96) or an improved written manual (n = 94) as an intervention, the control group (n = 89) received the standard dissection manual. After dissection, each student filled out tests and surveys and their dissections were evaluated. The audiovisual dissection manual did not have any significant positive effects on the examined parameters. The effects of the audiovisual dissection manual on the medical students' learning experience, as observed in this study, did not support further curriculum implementation of this kind of e-learning resource. This study can serve as an orientation for further evaluation and design of e-learning resources for the gross anatomy dissection course.     

Climate as artefact between 1830 and 1930: a transnational construction of the Swiss school building

This paper explains how heating and ventilation systems as technical artefacts shaped the historical meaning of Swiss school buildings between 1830 and 1930 by analysing official and legal documents, sources regarding the World Exhibitions, and minutes at the Zurich cantonal and city archives. It exposes the theoretical assumptions of heating and ventilation systems as historical artefacts and their relevance for the history of education. It analyses the first legislation on school buildings in Switzerland as an engine and product of modern schooling. It examines the construction of the ‘good schoolhouse’ in the context of the World Exhibitions. It traces how both the school regulations and knowledge transfer are reflected in construction processes of local school buildings in the Canton of Zurich. Finally, it synthesises the previous discussions to explain the historical meaning of the school building in Switzerland creating national identity and cosmopolitanism at the same time.     

Implications of intra-limb variability on asymmetry analyses

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intra-limb variability on the calculation of asymmetry with the purpose of informing future analyses. Asymmetry has previously been quantified for discrete kinematic and kinetic variables; however, intra-limb variability has not been routinely included in these analyses. Synchronized lower-limb kinematic and kinetic data were collected from eight trained athletes (age 22 ± 5 years, mass 74.0 ± 8.7 kg, stature 1.79 ± 0.07 m) during maximal velocity sprint running. Asymmetry was quantified using a modified version of the symmetry angle for selected kinematic and kinetic variables. Significant differences (P < 0.05) between left and right values for each variable were calculated to indicate intra-limb variability relative to between-limb differences. Significant asymmetry was present in only 39% of kinematic variables and 23% of kinetic variables analysed. Large kinetic asymmetry values (>90%) were calculated for some athletes that were not significant, due to large intra-limb variability. Variables that displayed significant asymmetry were athlete-specific. Findings highlight the potential for misleading results if intra-limb variability is not included in asymmetry analyses. The exclusion of asymmetry scores for variables not displaying significant asymmetry will be useful when calculating overall asymmetry for different participants and could be applied to future running gait analyses.     

Moving Toward a Comprehensive Assessment System: A Framework for Considering Interim Assessments

Local assessment systems are being marketed as formative, benchmark, predictive, and a host of other terms. Many so-called formative assessments are not at all similar to the types of assessments and strategies studied by   Black and Wiliam (1998)   but instead are interim assessments. In this article, we clarify the definition and uses of interim assessments and argue that they can be an important piece of a comprehensive assessment system that includes formative, interim, and summative assessments. Interim assessments are given on a larger scale than formative assessments, have less flexibility, and are aggregated to the school or district level to help inform policy. Interim assessments are driven by their purpose, which fall into the categories of instructional, evaluative, or predictive. Our intent is to provide a specific definition for these "interim assessments" and to develop a framework that district and state leaders can use to evaluate these systems for purchase or development. The discussion lays out some concerns with the current state of these assessments as well as hopes for future directions and suggestions for further research.     

Applying a resilience systems framework to urban environmental education

A growing body of literature on community gardening, watershed restoration, and similar ‘civic ecology’ practices suggests avenues for integrating social and ecological outcomes in urban natural resources management. In this paper, we argue that an environmental education programme in which learning is situated in civic ecology practices also has the potential to address both community and environmental goals. Further, we suggest that civic ecology practices and related environmental education programmes may foster resilience in urban social‐ecological systems, through enhancing biological diversity and ecosystem services, and through incorporating diverse forms of knowledge and participatory processes in resource management. By proposing interrelationships among natural resources management, environmental education, and social‐ecological systems, we hope to open up discussion of a research agenda focusing on the role of environmental education in systems processes and resilience.