Just do it! Study time increases mathematical achievement scores for grade 4-10 students in a large longitudinal cross-country study

Decades of research produced inconsistent findings on whether study time can lead to achievement gains in mathematics. Data generated by more than six thousand students from three different countries who solved more than 1.1 million problem sets using a dedicated mathematics software are analyzed regarding the effect of study time on students’ achievements in mathematics. Results showed that more study time led to higher performance scores in mathematics. Further analyses revealed that low-performing students in the first school year (2017-2018) who increased their study time in the following year (2018-2019) revealed greatest gains in performance in the same school year (2018-2019) and even in the year after (2019-2020). Finally, results replicated previous observations of robust performance scores within students over the three school years, with performance scores in 2017-2018 predicting those of 2018-2019 which predicted those of 2019-2020. These results support the idea that students, in particular low-performing students, can boost their academic abilities to upper levels when increasing their study time.

     

Lower grade students tend to give up early in multimedia learning

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This study examined the relationship between grade and the ability of text-picture integration in terms of task completion and the pattern of using...     

Multinational subsidiary knowledge protection—Do mandates and clusters matter?

International knowledge spillovers, especially through multinational companies (MNCs), have recently been a major topic of academic and management debate. However, most studies treat MNC subsidiaries as relatively passive actors. We challenge this assumption by investigating the drivers of knowledge protection intensity of MNC subsidiaries. We argue that knowledge protection intensity is determined by MNC subsidiary mandates and by opportunities and risks originating from the host region. We hypothesize that not just competence-creating but also competence-exploiting mandates increase knowledge protection intensity. In addition, technological cluster regions in the host country can be expected to provide opportunities for knowledge sourcing and MNC subsidiaries may be willing to protect knowledge less intensively to participate in cluster networks. We test our hypotheses using a dataset of 694 observations of 631 MNC subsidiaries in Germany and develop recommendations for research, managers and policy makers.     

Effects of animation's speed of presentation on perceptual processing and learning

Animations presented at different speed are assumed to differentially interact with learners’ perception and cognition due to the constraints imposed by learners’ limited sensitivity to incoming dynamic information. To investigate the effects of high and low presentation speed of animation, two studies were conducted. In Study 1, participants were 55 students who learned about the functioning of a four-stroke engine from an animation with user-controlled presentation speed. In Study 2, eye movements of 19 students were analysed for different system-controlled presentation speeds of animation. Results indicated that high presentation speeds accentuated global events (i.e., macro-events), whereas low speeds accentuated local events (i.e., micro-events). However, eye movements were primarily affected by the content rather than the presentation speed of animation.     

Personally driven professional development: reflective self-study as a way for teachers to take control of their own professional development

This article is about personally driven professional development through the use of reflective self-study. The argument that teachers need to take responsibility for their own learning while also taking decisions on how and in what areas to develop is strongly made throughout the article. Data for this article were gathered over a 10-year period where the author engaged in several studies using self-study as methodology. Between studies, the author kept using reflective self-study as a professional development tool, and it is these data between various studies that were analysed using thematic and reflective analysis. Such analysis resulted in various overarching themes that show how reflective self-study can be of benefit if used by teachers researching their own classrooms. Benefits include teachers taking full ownership of their learning, relevance of learning, learning that is ongoing and not restricted to specific times and places, taking problematic situations as learning opportunities and how other sources take on new relevance through reflective self-study. Some implications for teacher-education programmes and current school structures are also discussed.     

How to Measure Generalized Trust in News Media? An Adaptation and Test of Scales

In many countries, studies show declining levels of trust in news media at large. However, there still is no valid and accepted measure of generalized trust in news media. To establish and test a suitable measure, we chose two elaborate scales of related concepts: the scale on trust in media coverage of a specific topic by Kohring and Matthes and a credibility scale by Yale, Jensen, Carcioppolo, Sun, and Liu. We adapted both to measure generalized trust in news media and conducted a survey in Germany to (a) evaluate the dimensional structures of both adapted scales and (b) analyze their predictive validity by testing their explanative power on alternative media use. Both adapted scales yield well-fitting models but should be carefully treated with respect to discriminant validity. The adapted Kohring and Matthes scale successfully predicts alternative media use and can therefore be recommended for further research on generalized trust in news media.