Educational self-regulation competence: toward a lifespan-based concept and assessment strategy

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - Self-regulation is crucial for learning and achievement in educational and occupational contexts. Educational self-regulation has...     

Mathematics learning with multiple solution methods: effects of types of solutions and learners’ activity

It is commonly suggested to mathematics teachers to present learners different methods in order to solve one problem. This so-called “learning with multiple solution methods” is also recommended from a psychological point of view. However, existing research leaves many questions unanswered, particularly concerning the effects of different types of solution methods and different degrees of learner’s activity. In this context, two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, a 2 × 3-factorial design was implemented, with the first factor concerning multiple versus uniform solutions and the second factor addressing different combinations of formal and informal solution methods. No “multiple solutions effect” was found. An integration of informal methods did not affect learning outcomes; however, it significantly reduced the subjective difficulty of the problems. Then, in Experiment 2, the effectiveness of multiple versus uniform solutions and of measures to foster an active processing was examined using a 2 × 3-factorial design (“number of solutions”: multiple versus uniform; “activity”: complete examples versus incomplete examples versus example-problem pairs). The “multiple” conditions significantly outperformed the “uniform” conditions, and complete examples and example-problem pairs significantly outperformed incomplete examples. Based on the results of Experiment 1 and 2, preconditions under which multiple solutions can improve learning outcomes are discussed.     

Differential effects of home and preschool learning environments on early language development

The present study is based on longitudinal data from a German early childhood education and care (ECEC) governmental initiative assessing children's grammatical and vocabulary development between 2;6 and 4;0 years (N = 1,331), quality of the home learning environment and quality of the preschool setting. Results showed that the quality of the home learning environment predicted development in grammatical skills, but not in receptive vocabulary at age 4, while the effects of preschool process quality showed similar relative impacts on both language outcomes. Further analyses revealed effects of accumulated advantages of preschool quality for children from medium‐ and high‐quality home learning environments in their vocabulary development. The results are compared with previous findings from the German ECEC context and discussed with respect to implications for policy efforts to improve ECEC quality and ways in which both learning environments act together on children's development.     

Informal workplace learning: An exploration of age differences in learning competence

Informal learning is becoming a standard format in companies' training and development (T&D) activities. It requires a specific learning competence comprising cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational dimensions. In the present study, it was investigated whether learning-competence variables predict success in informal learning. Given the ageing of the workforce, we also explored age differences in learning competence in an online survey of 470 workers in three age groups (17–35, 36–50, and 51–65 years old) at a German mail-order company. Learning competence predicted success in informal learning independent of worker age, but was partially mediated by memory self-efficacy, which might induce second-order age effects under unfavourable T&D conditions.