The effect of individual differences in the development of metacognitive strategy knowledge

The aim of this study was to investigate the development of metacognitive strategy knowledge (MSK) during schooling at the upper secondary education level and to examine its relation with individual student characteristics. This longitudinal study with two measurement points analyzed a sample of students in grades 10 and 11 from 19 schools preparing students for university in Switzerland. The findings showed no development of MSK within a single year of school. Individual differences appeared in the level and the change of MSK over time. Female students as well as students with higher SES displayed higher MSK than male students and students with lower SES at the first measurement point. Furthermore, SES predicted changes in MSK over time. Between learning motivation and MSK as well as self-efficacy and MSK, high correlations were found at t1. Neither learning motivation nor self-efficacy had an effect on the change of MSK over time. The results show that there is still substantial potential for MSK development at the upper secondary education level. Implications for education and further studies are discussed.     

Informing about climate change and invasive species: how the presentation of information affects perception of risk,emotions, and learning

Environmental issues such as climate change are becoming ever more important in today’s societies and politics. Information is spread by the media, for example, via the Internet or information brochures, employing different representational styles (e.g. sensational vs. neutral styles, emphasis of human vs. natural causes). We investigated the effects of such differences in presentation when informing about local impacts of climate change – more specifically about invasive species – on perceived risk, emotions, and learning. Seventy-two students at a German university read five brochures about the local effects of climate change and invasive species. They rated their perceived risk and emotions and worked on learning outcome tests. As expected, the sensational style led to higher perceived risk and stronger negative emotions than the neutral style. In addition, our results reveal a potential dilemma for environmental education: while a sensational style enhanced general learning outcomes, it seemed to lead to quite a negative and one-sided view about climate change and invasive species.     

The role of academic ability indicators in big-fish-little-pond effect research: A comparison study

The authors examined the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) on academic self-concept (ASC) using different indicators of academic ability (i.e., achievement test, cognitive ability test, grades corrected for grading-on-a-curve effects, uncorrected grades). They investigated under what circumstances grades are suitable indicators of academic ability in BFLPE research. The sample comprised 730 sixth-grade students from 30 classes belonging to the top track of the German secondary high school system. Using multilevel models, all indicators of academic ability exhibited negative contrast effects on ASC at class level (i.e., BFLPE). The authors found the strongest effects for corrected grades, followed by achievement tests, cognitive ability, and, finally, uncorrected grades. Thus, the study provides evidence for the usage of grades within BFLPE research for investigating the BFLPE.     

Other Mothers’ Milk: From Wet Nursing to Human Milk Banking in England, 1900-1950

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the continuities between wet nursing and the emergence of human milk banking in England in the first half of the twentieth century. It revisits the assumption that wet nursing had disappeared in England at the beginning of the twentieth century, and focuses attention on a continuing, albeit diminished, practice of private wet nursing after 1900 and the re-emergence of the institutional employment of lactating mothers in the interwar period. The article explores how changes in infant welfare preoccupations, medical views of breastfeeding and breast milk, and conceptualisations of the lactating body were embedded in the development from wet nursing to human milk banking.     

The Role of Working Memory in Multimedia Instruction: Is Working Memory Working During Learning from Text and Pictures?

A lot of research has focused on the beneficial effects of using multimedia, that is, text and pictures, for learning. Theories of multimedia learning are based on Baddeley’s working memory model (Baddeley 1999). Despite this theoretical foundation, there is only little research that aims at empirically testing whether and more importantly how working memory contributes to learning from text and pictures; however, a more thorough understanding of how working memory limitations affect learning may help instructional designers to optimize multimedia instruction. Therefore, the goal of this review is to stimulate such empirical research by (1) providing an overview of the methodologies that can be applied to gain insights in working memory involvement during multimedia learning, (2) reviewing studies that have used these methodologies in multimedia research already, and (3) discussing methodological and theoretical challenges of such an approach as well as the usefulness of working memory to explain learning with multimedia.     

Curricular quality and day‐to‐day learning activities in pre‐school

The purpose of this paper is to show how curricular quality is related to the day‐to‐day activities experienced by children and the pedagogical activities of staff, both coded through systematic target‐child observations. Data were drawn from the Effective Provision of Pre‐School Education (EPPE) and the Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY) studies. Curricular quality was measured by coding the ECERS‐E, an English curricular extension to the well‐known ECERS‐R. In centres scoring high on the ECERS‐E, staff engaged in pedagogical practices that included more ‘sustained shared thinking’ and more ‘direct teaching’ such as questioning or modelling. In high‐scoring centres, children were also observed participating in more activities associated with early reading, emergent writing and active listening. Children in centres assessed as ‘adequate’ spent more time in activities associated with the ‘Physical Development’ and ‘Creative’ curriculum. Thus the ECERS‐E gives higher scores to pedagogical practices and activities where staff take a more active role in children’s learning, including scaffolding young children’s play, especially in the communication and literacy domains of the curriculum.     

Implementation Intentions for Improving Self-Regulation in Multimedia Learning: Why Don’t They Work?

Abstract

Learners face several self-regulatory challenges during multimedia learning: choosing adequate cognitive strategies (cognitive self-regulation), relying on their own learning abilities (motivational self-regulation), and investing sufficient effort (behavioral self-regulation). Implementation intentions (plans that help transform intentions into action) can support self-regulation. We expected that cognitive, motivational, or behavioral implementation intentions improved learning, compared to a control group. In a first experiment, we found weak evidence that cognitive and behavioral implementation intentions improved learning, whereas motivational implementation intentions reduced learning. However, replication failed in two follow-up experiments. Our findings contradict previous research and suggest that implementation intentions are not suitable to support multimedia learning. Future research should focus on possible boundary conditions that could account for the unexpected and unstable findings.     

The Scientific Value of Cognitive Load Theory: A Research Agenda Based on the Structuralist View of Theories

In this paper, two methodological perspectives are used to elaborate on the value of cognitive load theory (CLT) as a scientific theory. According to the more traditional critical rationalism of Karl Popper, CLT cannot be considered a scientific theory because some of its fundamental assumptions cannot be tested empirically and are thus not falsifiable. According to the structuralist view of theories introduced by Joseph D. Sneed, a theory may be considered scientific even if it comprises nontestable fundamental assumptions. Rather, the scientific value of a theory results from the holistic empirical content of the overall theory net built around fundamental assumptions and from the successful applications of this theory net to explain and predict empirical findings. This latter view is helpful to explicate some implicit methodological assumptions of CLT research and to avoid the potential circularity of CLT’s fundamental assumptions. Additionally, the structuralist view of theories can be directly used to derive a research agenda for the future development of CLT.     

The impact of guidance during problem-solving prior to instruction on students’ inventions and learning outcomes

Multiple studies have shown benefits of problem-solving prior to instruction (cf. Productive Failure, Invention) in comparison to direct instruction. However, students’ solutions prior to instruction are usually erroneous or incomplete. In analogy to guided discovery learning, it might therefore be fruitful to lead students towards the discovery of the canonical solution. In two quasi-experimental studies with 104 students and 175 students, respectively, we compared three conditions: problem-solving prior to instruction, guided problem-solving prior to instruction in which students were led towards the discovery of relevant solution components, and direct instruction. We replicated the beneficial effects of problem-solving prior to instruction in comparison to direct instruction on posttest items testing for conceptual knowledge. Our process analysis further revealed that guidance helped students to invent better solutions. However, the solution quality did not correlate with the posttest results in the guided condition, indicating that leading students towards the solution does not additionally promote learning. This interpretation is supported by the finding that the two conditions with problem-solving prior to instruction did not differ significantly at posttest. The second study replicated these findings with a greater sample size. The results indicate that different mechanisms underlie guided discovery learning and problem-solving prior to instruction: In guided discovery learning, the discovery of an underlying model is inherent to the method. In contrast, the effectiveness of problem-solving prior to instruction does not depend on students’ discovery of the canonical solution, but on the cognitive processes related to problem-solving, which prepare students for a deeper understanding during subsequent instruction.     

Longitudinal Continuity in Understanding and Production of Giving-Related Behavior From Infancy to Childhood

Infants have an early understanding of giving (the transfer of an item by one agent to another), but little is known about individual differences in these abilities or their developmental outcomes. Here, 9-month-olds (N = 59) showing clearer neural processing (Event-related potential, ERP) of a give-me gesture also evidenced a stronger reaction (pupil dilation) to an inappropriate response to a give-me gesture, and at 2 years were more likely to give in response to a give-me gesture. None of the differences in understanding and production of giving-related behaviors were associated with other sociocognitive variables investigated: language, gaze-following, and nongiving helping. The early developmental continuity in understanding and production of giving behavior is consistent with the great importance of giving for humans throughout the life span.