Course-level implementation of First Principles,goal orientations,and cognitive engagement: a multilevel mediation model

The First Principles of Instruction (FPI) represent ideologies found in most instructional design theories and models. Few attempts, however, have been made to empirically test the relationship of these FPI to instructional outcomes. This study addresses whether the degree to which FPI are implemented in courses makes a difference to student cognitive engagement, taking into account the mediating role of individual goals. A multilevel meditation model was tested with 1070 undergraduate students from 29 courses in a Korean university. Findings demonstrated that the influences of course-level implementation of FPI influence cognitive engagement through individual intrinsic goal orientation. Course-level implementation of FP does not directly affect surface strategy use and self-regulated strategy use; rather, the effect of FPI appears to be mediated by intrinsic goal orientations. Course-level implementation of FPI also appears to affect deep cognitive strategy use directly as well as indirectly through intrinsic goal orientation. The present study added novel evidence linking Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction to cognitive engagement.     

Experience of disadvantage: The influence of identity on engagement in working class students’ educational trajectories to an elite university

Pervasive socio‐economic differences in relation to participation in higher education in the United Kingdom are particularly prominent in the most prestigious institutions. This study provides insight into why some individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds are successful in being admitted into one of these institutions. Underpinned by phenomenology, semi‐structured interviews were carried out to examine the lived experiences of high‐achieving students from socio‐economically disadvantaged backgrounds throughout their educational trajectories from primary school to a Russell Group university. Two main themes emerged from the data: identity and educational engagement. Various sources of disadvantage associated with material hardship, socio‐cultural and interpersonal factors were strongly linked to identity and students’ perceptions of their own social status. In turn, these factors and identity‐related constructs associated with peer‐group memberships, low expectations and negative group stereotypes affected how individuals engaged with education, contributing, for instance, to their lack of active involvement at school/college and poor attendance. However, identity‐related factors were also found to influence individuals’ educational engagement positively, including their motivations for overcoming obstacles, achieving high grades and pursuing HE. The barriers and facilitators discussed by these individuals have important implications for widening access to HE and thus require further consideration.     

Quality Infant Day-Care and Grade School Behavior and Performance

Relations between attendance in stable high-quality day-care programs and grade school behavior and performance were determined using 2 longitudinal data sets. The first sample included grade school children who had received stable, full-time infant day-care and preschool day-care until they reached school age in the same high-quality day-care center. In this sample the amount of time (months) spent in full-time center care was positively related to the number of friends and extracurricular activities of the children. In addition, more time in the center was positively related to parents' ratings of the children's emotional well-being, leadership, popularity, attractiveness, and assertiveness and negatively related to aggressivity. Study 2 sampled sixth graders who had also received varying amounts (months) of stable full-time day-care, but this group attended a variety of quality day-care centers. In this sample the amount of time in day-care was related to the teachers' ratings of their emotional well-being, attractiveness, and assertiveness. In addition, children with more time in high-quality day-care showed more physical affection during peer interactions, were more often assigned to the gifted program, and received higher math grades.     

Teaching Line Balancing through Active and Blended Learning*

The design of balanced assembly lines, especially when considering workforce, material, and cycle time factors, is an important managerial decision‐making activity in manufacturing firms. Numerous active learning activities are available to assist instructors in teaching assembly line balancing to students. While effective in improving student engagement, they require considerable planning and expense on the part of instructors, and they may be difficult to implement in inflexible teaching spaces and lecture‐oriented curricula. We present a new approach to teaching line balancing using online videos depicting an assembly process. Students design an assembly line by determining themselves how to separate and time tasks, rather than by modifying an existing configuration. To save valuable classroom time, students complete a portion of the activity outside of class. This blended learning approach allows for all students to be engaged in the activity, both in and out of class. Furthermore, a controlled study showed that compared to the traditional lecture format, it better equips students to address less tangible aspects of line balancing, such as ergonomic and workforce factors, material handling considerations, and changing cycle time. With the online content for this activity completely developed and available, other instructors can easily implement this approach within their courses.     

Performance of Nonrecursive Latent Variable Models under Misspecification

A problem central to structural equation modeling is measurement model specification error and its propagation into the structural part of nonrecursive latent variable models. Full-information estimation techniques such as maximum likelihood are consistent when the model is correctly specified and the sample size large enough; however, any misspecification within the model can affect parameter estimates in other parts of the model. The goals of this study included comparing the bias, efficiency, and accuracy of hypothesis tests in nonrecursive latent variable models with indirect and direct feedback loops. We compare the performance of maximum likelihood, two-stage least-squares and Bayesian estimators in nonrecursive latent variable models with indirect and direct feedback loops under various degrees of misspecification in small to moderate sample size conditions.     

A critical discourse analysis of sexuality education in the Australian curriculum

This article examines the sexuality education component of the national Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (AC:HPE) with a focus on sexuality education discourses. A critical discourse analysis explored official AC:HPE documents in relation to sexuality education; the sexuality education discourses present within these documents; teacher roles and expectations associated with each discourse; and Australia’s broader social context in relation to education. Findings reveal that the AC:HPE emphasises a teacher-facilitated approach to sexuality education, which contrasts with teacher-centred work dominating the field prior to its release. This approach is in line with recent shifts in education towards strengths-based learning in which students are encouraged to think critically about issues. Despite these emphases, and while the AC:HPE is meant to be used flexibly as a guideline or framework, certain ambiguities within it may leave teachers’ roles open to interpretation and practices therefore unchanged or undisputed.     

A quantitative analysis examining differences between US humanities and STEM students’ propensity toward innovation

Some scholars speculate that humanities education, as compared to STEM education, may be better able to provide students with the most in-demand twenty-first century workplace skill: innovation. Due to the lack of empirical research on this topic, this study compares US humanities and STEM students’ college gains in their ‘propensity toward innovation’ (PTI) and the academic factors that contribute to it. Findings suggest that humanities students experience greater in-college gains in PTI and also that certain academic factors may be especially beneficial for STEM students in contributing to their development of PTI at the end of college.     

Young Children''s Adaptations to Repeated Separations from Their Mothers

80 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers were observed before, during, and after separations from their mothers, who were attending conferences (M duration = 4 days). Half the sample was separated only once and the other half experienced 3 separations across a 6-month period. The study was designed: (a) to determine how separations affect children's behavior when there are no changes in the family constellation as there typically are during other separations, such as the birth of a new child, and (b) to determine the effects of repeated separations. Fewer changes in sleep and play behaviors suggested that this type of separation was less stressful than separations for the birth of another child. Nonetheless, the separations were still stressful, but principally for the single-separation group. In that group, changes were noted in both play and sleep behaviors. Following reunion, their sleep behaviors and more sophisticated play behaviors returned to baseline. However, activity level and the more insecure behaviors, such as wandering aimlessly, watching other children play, and interacting with their teachers, remained elevated following the mother's return. The multiple-separation group, in contrast, showed only 1 behavior change during their third separation, i.e., reduced interactions with their peers during the separation period, which returned to baseline following reunion. Repeated-measures analyses of the first and third separations of the multiple-separations group suggested that only the first separation was stressful. Thus, the infants and children in this study seemed to adapt to repeated separations.     

Using conceptual change theory to help preservice teachers understand dyslexia

Recently, many states passed laws requiring pre- and in-service teachers to receive professional development in dyslexia awareness. Even though misconceptions regarding dyslexia are widespread, there is a paucity of research on how to effectively remove misconceptions and replace them with accurate knowledge. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a researcher-created refutation text grounded in conceptual change theory could produce significant conceptual change in preservice teacher knowledge of dyslexia when compared with a control text about dyslexia (Dyslexia Basics, International Dyslexia Association; IDA, 2018). A sample of preservice teachers (n = 97) was randomly assigned to either the Dyslexia Basics text (n = 48) or the refutation text (n = 49). A one-way repeated ANOVA was used to identify if growth rates from pretest to posttest were differential across conditions. Results suggest that while both texts affect conceptions, the refutation text outperformed the Dyslexia Basics text (n = 97), η2 = 0.33. Effects were maintained at a delayed posttest (n = 75), η2 = 0.175. Interaction effects suggested that the amount of reading coursework did not moderate conceptual change. Implications for facilitating conceptual change of dyslexia will be discussed.     

Dyslexia and oral reading errors

Thomson was the first of very few researchers to have studied oral reading errors as a means of addressing the question: Are dyslexic readers different to other readers? Using the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability and Goodman's taxonomy of oral reading errors, Thomson concluded that dyslexic readers are different, but he found that they do not resemble beginning readers. Thomson's study and his use of miscue analysis is re‐evaluated, both in relation to the educational and political climate of the time – which was hostile to the concept of dyslexia – and in the light of research and social developments since then. The study of oral reading still has value today, both for the teacher and the researcher, provided its limitations as a technique are fully appreciated.