Students’ approaches to learning in problem-based learning: Taking into account professional behavior in the tutorial groups,self-study time,and different assessment aspects

Problem-based learning (PBL) represents a major development in higher educational practice and is believed to promote deep learning in students. However, empirical findings on the promotion of deep learning in PBL remain unclear. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationships between students’ approaches to learning (SAL) and academic achievement in a PBL environment, taking into account the role of self-study time and students’ professional behavior in the PBL tutorial groups. In addition, different knowledge categories that determine achievement (i.e., understanding of concepts, understanding of the principles that link concepts, and the linking of concepts and principles to conditions and procedures for application) were taken into account. A hypothesized structural equation model including these variables was tested. Results showed that the PBL students in this study reported more use of a surface compared to a deep approach to learning. The hypothesized model demonstrated an excellent fit of the model with the data. The relationship between SAL and academic achievement was mediated by self-study time and professional behavior. These findings imply that self-study time and professional behavior are crucial variables to take into account when studying SAL.     

Analysing change in learning strategies over time: A comparison of three statistical techniques

Change in learning strategies during higher education is an important topic of research when considering students’ approaches to learning. Regarding the statistical techniques used to analyse this change, repeated measures ANOVA is mostly relied upon. Recently, multilevel and multi-indicator latent growth (MILG) analyses have been used as well. The present study provides details concerning the differences between these three techniques. By applying them to the same dataset, we aim to answer two research questions. Firstly, how are findings on the average trend complementary, convergent or divergent? Secondly, how are results on the differential growth over time complementary, convergent or divergent? Data originates from a longitudinal study on the change in learning strategies during the transition from secondary to higher education in Flanders (Belgium). 425 students provided complete data at each of the three waves of data collection. Results on the significance of average trends are convergent while the strength of the growth over time diverges across analysis techniques. Regarding the differential change, the MILG seems more able to detect variance in growth over time. Recommendations for future research on the changeability of learning strategies over time are provided.     

The official football match-fixing prevention discourse as a cognitive limitation (the cases of Iberian countries)

This paper shows the cognitive and educational limitations of the official institutional discourse to combat match-fixing in football. Recently, after reaching the political and sports’ institutional agendas, several reports have been published and official prevention campaigns have been launched to fight against the phenomenon. These documents can be understood as an official preventive narrative on the subject. The discursive analysis of the ‘nodal points’ in which this narrative is based displays a lack of holistic awareness of the problem. Many discursive variables that should be part of the diagnoses are avoided. Likewise, the narrative is presented with a universal character, yet the Iberian cases present evidences that contradict it. Based on interviews to key informants and media clipping, this paper shows that these preventive and educational messages produced by international institutions and sport organizations are not useful in Portugal or Spain because they don’t show the reality about this phenomenon.     

Motives,barriers, and ways of communicating in mother-daughter sexuality communication: a qualitative study of college women in Tanzania

In Tanzania, young women aged 15–24 are at high risk for HIV and nearly half (45%) of women experience pregnancy or childbirth before age 19. The HIV epidemic has motivated many parents to overcome cultural taboos and talk with their children about sexuality, but few studies in Tanzania have examined how young adults perceive these discussions. In-depth interviews with 31 Tanzanian college women (ages 18–25) reveal how they make sense of sexuality messages from mothers that are sometimes vague, admonishing and fear-based. Participants identified how mothers focused on the health, educational and social consequences of premarital sex and emphasised the avoidance of men as a strategy to maintain virginity. Mothers avoided providing specific information about safer-sex practices, or strategies to negotiate romantic relationships, sexual pressures or sexual desires. Findings offer insight into how relational and cultural contexts influence mothers’ sexual socialisation and can inform education and intervention approaches that consider the changing cultural landscape. Future qualitative research with mothers is recommended to develop programmes that are more responsive to mothers’ and daughters’ needs.     

Measuring the “transfer of meaning” through members of equivalence classes merged via a class-specific reinforcement procedure

Seven participants received conditional discrimination training that established the 12 conditional relations A1B1, A2B2, A3B3, A1C1, A2C2, A3C3, D1E1, D2E2, D3E3, D1F1, D2F2, and D3F3. The A stimuli were pictures of faces portraying emotional expressions; the others were arbitrary forms. Correct responses resulted in presentations of class-specific reinforcers, Sr1, Sr2, and Sr3. After training, tests confirmed the formation of ABC and DEF equivalence classes. Further tests then documented the merger of the classes and the emergence of SrB, SrC, SrE, and SrF relations, showing that the class-specific reinforcers were equivalence class members. Finally, participants did Semantic Differential ratings that tested whether the emotional valence of the A stimuli transferred to the arbitrary forms, B and E. The results show that participants’ evaluations of the B and E stimuli were similar to evaluations of the A stimuli made by participants of a control group. This finding is considered as a demonstration that class-specific outcomes can mediate class merger phenomena and the transfer of functions through members of merged classes.     

Assessing students’ perceptions of fit between secondary and higher education: a validation study of the SPFQ

ABSTRACT

Supporting first-year students to adjust to their new academic environment is a crucial task in higher education. Investigating students’ perceptions of fit between secondary and higher education could give higher education institutions valuable information for student feedback and support, when captured in a reliable and valid way. This study examines the construct validity, reliability, and criterion-related validity of the Students’ Perceived Fit Questionnaire (SPFQ) by using a longitudinal dataset (N?=?930, first-year students). The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure measuring students’ perceptions of: 1) the extent to which secondary education prepared them for higher education in terms of content knowledge; 2) resemblance in the teaching approach between secondary and higher education, and 3) the need to adapt to their higher education study programme. Concerning the criterion-related validity, it was found that first-year students who experienced similarities in teaching approach are more likely to persist in their studies. Furthermore, our results indicated that first-year students who experienced less need to adapt to their higher education study programme felt more self-efficacious regarding their own learning and, consequently, were more likely to persist in their studies.     

Environmental education research in Brazil

Abstract

This Editorial to the current collection provides a brief historical, cultural, regional and contemporary picture of environmental education research in Brazil. Its main purpose is to offer readers a short background and orientation to the collection, and in so doing, illustrate how its contributions relate to some wider tendencies, trends and issues in environmental education, as well as to different locales of research and knowledge generation in the country. Of particular note for environmental education in Brazil are: the effects of social and political backdrops and issues, the unique environments on which environmental education is grounded, and how environmental education research, in turn, may echo or influence particular educational and public policies.     

Male professional tennis players maintain constant serve speed and accuracy over long matches on grass courts

The potential effect of fatigue on stroke production in tennis players is still controversial. The aim of this study was to analyse the tennis serve speed and accuracy in prolonged male professional matches played on grass courts. We analysed tennis serve statistics from five-set Wimbledon matches (n?=?15; 30 players). Results showed that match duration averaged 208.3?±?28.3?min. The overall serve speed was 177.0?±?10.2?km/h in the first set and 176.1?±?11.7?km/h in the fifth set (p?=?.34). The difference of all accuracy values of first set serves was not significantly different from those of the fifth set: percentage of valid first serves, 63.1?±?11.1% vs. 62.3?±?11.8%, respectively (p?=?.78); percentage of “aces”, 11.2?±?9.1% vs. 10.0?±?8.9%, respectively (p?=?.39); percentage of “winners”, 2.6?±?7.6% vs. 1.2?±?2.2%, respectively (p?=?.36); percentage of “double faults”, 2.8?±?3.0% vs. 2.8?±?3.4% (p?=?.97). In conclusion, tennis players were able to maintain constant serve speed and accuracy over five-set matches played on grass courts. Professional tennis players are capable of overcoming fatigue and/or make movement adjustments to effectively perform complex technical strokes like the serve throughout matches played on grass courts lasting more than 3?h in average.