Der Wert der Mathematik im Klassenzimmer – Die Bedeutung relevanzbezogener Unterrichtsmerkmale für die Wertüberzeugungen der Schülerinnen und Schüler

The lack of secondary school students’ motivation in mathematics lessons poses a great challenge. According to the Expectancy-Value Model (Eccles et al., Achievement and achievement motives: psychological and sociological approaches, New York, Freeman, S. 75–146, 1983), teacher and classmates influence students’ value beliefs. Using data of 1868 ninth grade students and their 72 math teachers, this study was designed to assess the association of several indicators of relevance-oriented teaching strategies and of perceived classmates’ math valuing with students’ value beliefs in mathematics. Two-level linear regression analyses provided evidence that the student-rated practical focus of math lessons predicted students’ intrinsic, attainment, utility, and cost value mainly at the individual level; student-rated classmates’ math valuing was associated with students’ value perceptions more strongly at the class level. Over the course of six months, these effects increased at the individual but not at the class level. Teacher-reported effort to establish connections between math and other domains was positively associated with students’ attainment and cost value. Teacher-rated use of daily life examples led to a decrease in students’ cost value over the course of six months.     

Kompensatorische Wirkungen von Ganztagsschulen – Ist die Ganztagsschule ein Instrument zur Entkopplung des Zusammenhangs von sozialer Herkunft und Bildungserfolg?

The introduction of “all-day schools” (i.e. schools that provide extended education times and extracurricular activities) has been a major topic in educational debates in Germany in the last decade. One of the main goals for expanding the provision of all-day schooling in Germany was to support the development of academic skills and abilities of all students independent of their socio-economic-background. Based on empirical results of current studies and the data of the “study of the development of all day schools” educational effects of extracurricular activities are analyzed. Typically studies show that extracurricular participation supports social learning rather than academic achievement. Nonetheless, data provide first hints of compensatory effects. Thus all-day schools can weaken the link between socio-economic background and academic achievement.     

The impact of context relevance during extinction learning

In two predictive-learning experiments, we investigated the role of the informational value of contexts for the formation of context-specific extinction learning. The contexts were each composed of two elements from two dimensions, A and B. In Phase 1 of each experiment, participants received acquisition training with a target cue Z in context A1B1 (the numbers assign particular values on the context dimensions). In Phase 2, participants were trained with conditional discriminations between two other cues, X and Y, for which only one of the two context dimensions was relevant. In a third phase, participants received extinction trials with cue Z in context A2B2. During a final test phase, we observed that a partial change of the extinction context disrupted extinction performance when the extinction context was changed on the dimension that had been trained as being relevant for the conditional discrimination. However, when the extinction context was changed on the irrelevant context dimension, extinction performance was not affected. Our results are consistent with the idea that relevant contexts receive more attention than do irrelevant contexts, leading to stronger context-specific processing of information learned in the former than in the latter type of contexts.     

Metacognitive scaffolding during collaborative learning: a promising combination

This article explores the effect of computerized scaffolding with different scaffolds (structuring vs. problematizing) on intra-group metacognitive interaction. In this study, we investigate 4 types of intra-group social metacognitive activities; namely ignored, accepted, shared and co-constructed metacognitive activities in 18 triads (6 control groups; no scaffolds and 12 experimental groups; 6 structuring scaffolds and 6 problematizing scaffolds). We found that groups receiving scaffolding showed significantly more intra-group interactions in which the group members co-construct social metacognitive activities. Groups receiving problematizing scaffolds showed significantly less ignored and more co-constructed social metacognitive interaction compared to groups receiving structuring scaffolds. These findings indicate that scaffolding positively influenced the group members’ intra-group social metacognitive interaction. We also found a significant relation between students’ participation in intra-group social metacognitive interaction and students’ metacognitive knowledge. Twelve percent of the variance in students’ metacognitive knowledge was explained by their participation in intra-group shared social metacognitive interaction. Therefore, future research should consider how to design scaffolds that elicit intra-group social metacognitive interaction among group members to enhance the development of students’ metacognitive knowledge.     

Modelling between epistemological beliefs and constructivist learning environment

The purpose of this study was to model the relationship between pre-service chemistry teachers’ epistemological beliefs and their preference to use constructivist-learning environment in their future class. The sample was 125 pre-service chemistry teachers from five universities in Turkey. Two instruments were used in this study. One of the instruments was constructivist-learning environment scale developed by Taylor, Fraser and Fisher. The other instrument was Epistemological Questionnaire (EQ) developed by Schommer. In order to analyse data, Structural Equation Modelling was conducted by using LISREL 8.7. The results provided evidence for the good fit of the hypothesised model. Pre-service chemistry teachers’ epistemological belief scores were found to be correlated to their constructivist-learning environment scale scores with the value of .35. This study revealed that pre-service chemistry teachers with sophisticated epistemological beliefs favoured constructivist-learning environment in their future class.     

Students’ Levels of Understanding Models and Modelling in Biology: Global or Aspect-Dependent?

It is argued that knowledge about models is an important part of a profound understanding of Nature of Science. Consequently, researchers have developed different ‘levels of understanding’ to analyse students’, teachers’, or experts’ comprehension of this topic. In some approaches, global levels of understanding have been developed which mirror the idea of an understanding of models and modelling as a whole. Opposed to this, some authors have developed levels of understanding for distinct aspects concerning models and modelling in science (i.e. aspect-dependent levels). This points to an important issue for science education research since global conceptualisations might lead to less differentiated assessments and interventions than aspect-dependent ones. To contribute to this issue, the article summarises conceptualisations of both global and aspect-dependent levels of understanding models and modelling that have been developed in science education. Further, students’ understanding of the aspects nature of models, multiple models, purpose of models, testing models, and changing models has been assessed (N?=?1,180; 11 to 19 years old; secondary schools; Berlin, Germany). It is discussed to what extent the data support the notion of global or aspect-dependent levels of understanding models and modelling in science. The results suggest that students seem to have a complex and at least partly inconsistent pattern of understanding models. Furthermore, students with high nonverbal intelligence and good marks seem to have a comparatively more consistent and more elaborated understanding of models and modelling than weaker students. Recommendations for assessment in science education research and teaching practice are made.     

Longitudinal Study of Student Attitudes in a Biology Program

This is among the first longitudinal studies to report student attitudes across 4 yr of a university program. We found that the attitudes of students in biology become significantly more expert-like from the first year to the fourth year of the program, that is, there was a significant positive shift in students’ overall percent favorable scores from 64.5 to 72%, as opposed to the expert response, which averaged 90%. There was a significant positive shift for the real world connection category (78–85%), the enjoyment (personal interest) category (74–82%), and the conceptual connections/memorization category (66–74%). Moreover, there was a significant correlation between students’ overall percent favorable scores and performance (cumulative grade point average) at the end, but not at the beginning, of the fourth year, with high-performing students having significantly more expert-like attitudes than low-performing students. The correlation between percent favorable score and performance was the strongest for the problem solving: synthesis and application category, in which the highest-performing students finished their fourth year with 90% favorable compared with 35% favorable for the lowest-performing students. A comparison of these results with previously reported results and their implications for teaching are discussed.     

Development of the Biological Experimental Design Concept Inventory (BEDCI)

Interest in student conception of experimentation inspired the development of a fully validated 14-question inventory on experimental design in biology (BEDCI) by following established best practices in concept inventory (CI) design. This CI can be used to diagnose specific examples of non–expert-like thinking in students and to evaluate the success of teaching strategies that target conceptual changes. We used BEDCI to diagnose non–expert-like student thinking in experimental design at the pre- and posttest stage in five courses (total n = 580 students) at a large research university in western Canada. Calculated difficulty and discrimination metrics indicated that BEDCI questions are able to effectively capture learning changes at the undergraduate level. A high correlation (r = 0.84) between responses by students in similar courses and at the same stage of their academic career, also suggests that the test is reliable. Students showed significant positive learning changes by the posttest stage, but some non–expert-like responses were widespread and persistent. BEDCI is a reliable and valid diagnostic tool that can be used in a variety of life sciences disciplines.     

Understanding channel choice in users' reporting behavior: Evidence from a smart mobility case

Public service producers are heavily investing in the development and implementation of more efficient new digital channels to engage users in citizen sourcing efforts, such as the reporting of public service-related issues. Nevertheless, user-reporters have continued to favor earlier implemented channels including traditional (e.g., phone, office) and e-government channels (e.g., web, email) over new digital channels such as m-government channels (e.g., mobile applications). Drawing on channel choice literature and theories, this study aims at explaining users' reporting behavior by examining the role of users' personal factors, including digital divide determinants, users' service experience, and channel satisfaction. We use a combination of survey and log data on actual reporting behavior among smart bike-sharing users to explain users' channel choice. Using a multinomial logistic regression, we found that the digital divide predicts user-reporters' channel choice. Moreover, user-reporters with a longer service membership favor traditional and e-government channels, over the newly implemented m-government channels. Finally, user-reporters' satisfaction with the mobile application is negatively associated with the user-reporters' choice of traditional and e-government channels. Our results expand and update the empirical evidence on channel choice at the user level, and provide insights for public service producers who aim at enhancing public service delivery through digital users' engagement.