Self‐Assessed Intelligence and Academic Performance

This paper reports the results of a two‐year longitudinal study of the relationship between self‐assessed intelligence (SAI) and academic performance (AP) in a sample of 184 British undergraduate students. Results showed significant correlations between SAI (both before and after taking an IQ test) and academic exam marks obtained two years later, even when IQ scores were partialled out. Several continuous assessment indicators (notably attendance, oral expression, and motivation) were also significantly correlated with SAI, even when IQ scores were controlled. A series of hierarchical regressions indicated that although exam grades were best predicted by IQ, SAI showed significant incremental validity in the prediction of AP, accounting for an additional 3% of exam, 9% of continuous assessment, and 2% of essay grades. Results are discussed with regard to current trends to integrate individual differences underlying AP.     

Le counselling dans la pratique de l'orientation continue

After a sketchy history of the early development of vocational guidance in Belgium, the author describes eight vectors, which he considers instrumental in the guidance process. These are (1) personal involvement and decision-making, (2) pedagogy, (3) the socio-economic vector, (4) the physical vector, (5) the vector interests, (6) the vector aptitudes, (7) the affective vector, and (8) the vector educational capacities.On the basis of this structure the laboratory for Ergology in Brussels develops a coherent set of materials to facilitate the student's process of decision-making. This system will be ready for implementation at the end of the current academic year.     

Learning in Earth and space science: a review of conceptual change instructional approaches

In response to calls for research into effective instruction in the Earth and space sciences, and to identify directions for future research, this systematic review of the literature explores research into instructional approaches designed to facilitate conceptual change. In total, 52 studies were identified and analyzed. Analysis focused on the general characteristics of the research, the conceptual change instructional approaches that were used, and the methods employed to evaluate the effectiveness of these approaches. The findings of this review support four assertions about the existing research: (1) astronomical phenomena have received greater attention than geological phenomena; (2) most studies have viewed conceptual change from a cognitive perspective only; (3) data about conceptual change were generated pre- and post-intervention only; and (4) the interventions reviewed presented limited opportunities to involve students in the construction and manipulation of multiple representations of the phenomenon being investigated. Based upon these assertions, the authors recommend that new research in the Earth and space science disciplines challenges traditional notions of conceptual change by exploring the role of affective variables on learning, focuses on the learning of geological phenomena through the construction of multiple representations, and employs qualitative data collection throughout the implementation of an instructional approach.     

Literacy development beyond early schooling: a 4-year follow-up study of Croatian

Reading and Writing - The purpose of this study was to investigate literacy development beyond the early school years. We investigated mean-level and rank-order changes in two reading (word...     

The Impact of Student-Constructed Animation on Middle School Students’ Learning about Plate Tectonics

Journal of Science Education and Technology - There is a need for research-informed instructional approaches that promote school students’ deep conceptual understanding of abstract geological...     

New Trends in Swedish Educational Research

What new tendencies can be made out in Swedish educational research in the last three decades? Briefly, the following developments are described: In the 1970s, a long‐prevailing emphasis on quantitative research was challenged by a number of different qualitative methods. Traditional sociology of education, meanwhile, was challenged by the new sociology of education. During the 1980s, the dominant trend was a “didacticisation” of educational research, and here two main strands can be discerned, based in phenomenography and curriculum theory. Didactics very soon made its presence felt in educational policy, and in a major evaluation of Swedish educational research the two largely didactics‐based traditions of “teaching and learning” and “curriculum theory” were identified as internationally the most significant. In the 1990s, educational research took a “linguistic turn”—involving a wide‐ranging shift in emphasis towards language and communication—with the result that new perspectives emerged. In addition, the philosophy of education experienced a powerful renaissance, partly as a reflection of the new focus on language and communication, but also in other respects, leading to a reawakening of interest in both classical and modern philosophy (of education).     

Soft skills in higher education: importance and improvement ratings as a function of individual differences and academic performance

Three UK studies on the relationship between a purpose‐built instrument to assess the importance and development of 15 ‘soft skills’ are reported. Study 1 (N = 444) identified strong latent components underlying these soft skills, such that differences between‐skills were over‐shadowed by differences between‐students. Importance and improving ratings on these skills predicted academic performance and accounted for the effects of personality on academic performance. Study 2 replicated the structure of the soft skills inventory and associations with academic performance in a larger sample (N = 1309). Examination of mean differences across faculties (humanities, life sciences, hard sciences) revealed higher soft skills ratings in ‘softer’ courses. Study 3 (N = 87) incorporated an IQ measure, which was found to be negatively related to importance ratings on soft skills. Results highlight the cohesive structure of beliefs concerning various non‐academic skills and their significant links to educationally relevant individual differences. Theoretical, methodological and applied implications are considered.     

Intellectual competence and academic performance: A Spanish study

This study assessed the explanatory power of the intellectual competence (IC) model for understanding the relationship among the main ability and non-ability determinants of academic performance (AP) in a sample of Spanish undergraduates. Thus it attempted to replicate the preliminary evidence for this model provided in a recent UK study and expand on it by including more comprehensive measures of intelligence and AP. Results showed mixed support for individual paths, but good support for the overall model. The expanded IC model showed that some individual difference factors explain AP variance that is common to high school, university entry, and university exam grades, whereas other individual differences explained AP variance specific to university. Inconsistencies, limitations, and implications are discussed.