Active on Facebook and Failing at School? Meta-Analytic Findings on the Relationship Between Online Social Networking Activities and Academic Achievement

The popularity of social networking sites (SNSs) among adolescents and young adults has raised concerns that the intensity of using these platforms might be associated with lower academic achievement. The empirical findings on this issue, however, are anything but conclusive. Therefore, we present four random-effects meta-analyses including 59 independent samples (total N = 29,337) on the association between patterns of SNS use and grades. The meta-analyses identified small negative effects of \( \widehat{\rho} \) = ??.07, 95% CI [??.12, ??.02] for general SNS use and \( \widehat{\rho} \) = ??.10, 95% CI [??.16, ??.05] for SNS use related to multitasking. General SNS use was unrelated to the time spent studying for school (\( \widehat{\rho} \) = ??.03, 95% CI [??0.11, 0.06]) and no support for the time displacement hypothesis could be found in a meta-analytical mediation analysis. SNS use for academic purposes exhibited a small positive association, \( \widehat{\rho} \) = .08, 95% CI [.02, .14]. Hypotheses with regard to cross-cultural differences were not supported.     

The relation between mastery goals and intrinsic motivation among university students: a longitudinal study

The present work broadens previous research on students’ mastery goals and intrinsic motivation by exploring their reciprocal effects using a longitudinal approach. To this end, a study using four measurement points was conducted during 10 weeks of one semester. The sample comprised 1156 students enrolled in psychology courses at a medium-sized university in Germany who completed questionnaires. The findings showed that both constructs were intra-individually stable over the course of one semester although the rank-order stability of mastery goals was higher than the rank-order stability of intrinsic motivation. Cross-lagged structural equation models revealed that students’ mastery goals predicted their intrinsic motivation throughout the semester. However, intrinsic motivation did not predict mastery goals. Results are discussed in terms of a potential integration of achievement goal theory and self-determination theory and their practical implications.     

When Science is Strangely Alluring: Interrogating the masculinist and heteronormative nature of primary school science

Starting from the literature that interrogates the gendered nature of science and school science, this article considers the ways in which primary school science is masculinist and heteronormative. The author takes up Jane Miller's (1991) notion of the seductiveness of grand narratives (in this case school science) to envision the largely implicit ways in which school science may attract or repel certain students and teachers. Using this framework, the author 'reads' examples from the realms of pedagogy, curriculum and policy in primary school science, and concludes by examining some of the reasons why it is important to critically probe how these heterogendered boundaries are produced and reproduced with/in school science.     

Pedagogic democracy versus pedagogic supremacy: migrant academics’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the underexplored area of othering of migrant academics within their teaching context. Nine personal narratives of migrant academics’ teaching were analysed qualitatively for indications of pedagogical othering. Migrant academics indicated the need to align their own pedagogic values and practices with that of their host institutions they work in as they felt their own values and practices were considered less desirable. We argue, from a Gramsci’s hegemonic perspective, that the pedagogic adaptation by migrant academics aimed at improving student learning is not problematic in itself, but more problematic is the inequality of opportunity for migrant academics to contribute to pedagogical decisions which can meaningfully influence the departmental culture. Lack of pedagogic democracy where the ‘home’ academic environment has a monopoly of knowledge and a hegemonic position regarding learning and teaching can compromise the student-learning experience by limiting articulation of alternative pedagogical perspectives by the migrant international academics.     

Friends’ influence on the development of academic values in mathematics: are there differences between female and male dyads?

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Based on the social cognitive theory and the emotional contagion theory, this study investigated if friends influence (reinforce or change) the...     

On sharks, trolls, and their patent prey—Unrealistic damage awards and firms’ strategies of “being infringed”

Patent trolls (or sharks) are patent holding individuals or (often small) firms who trap R&D intensive manufacturers in patent infringement situations in order to receive damage awards for the illegitimate use of their technology. While of great concern to management, their existence and impact for both corporate decision makers and policy makers remains to be fully analyzed from an academic standpoint. In this paper we show why patent sharks can operate profitably, why they are of growing concern, how manufacturers can forearm themselves against them, and which issues policy makers need to address. To do so, we map international indemnification rules with strategic rationales of small patent-holding firms and large manufacturers within a theoretical model. Our central finding is that the courts’ unrealistic consideration of the trade-offs faced by inadvertent infringers is a central condition for sharks to operate profitably.     

Resource use and academic performance among first year psychology students

Multiple questionnaires completed over the semester by 514 students enrolled in a first year psychology course reveal that no single pattern of reliance on print, online, or in-person resources guarantees a high mark. Analyses of the reported and measured frequency of use of various resources correlated against students’, performance on both individual assessments and their final marks suggests that students employ a range of strategies in their use of class resources. They tend to rely on their textbooks, Web-based lecture notes, and online quizzes, but their final marks are more strongly determined by their university entrance scores than by their resource use strategy, their sex, or whether or not English is their first language. The data suggest that students adapt their learning strategies to the resources available, with an apparent emphasis on learning what will be assessed rather than exploring for understanding. Importantly, the results argue that investment in development of educational technologies – and students’, use of educational technologies – must be informed by empirical data concerning its impact on the efficiency and quality of learning.     

Supporting Self-Regulated Learning With Digital Media Using Motivational Regulation and Metacognitive Prompts

Studying with digital media, learners often struggle because of inadequate self-regulation. Previous research presented clear evidence of metacognitive prompts being effective in supporting learning with digital media. This study examines the potential of motivational regulation prompts, which are assumed to additionally support self-regulated learning. During a 50-minute learning session in a digital media learning environment, 215 university students received either no prompts, only metacognitive prompts, only motivational regulation prompts, or both types of prompts. Task value, metacognitive control, task-related learning activities, and knowledge were assessed at a pretest, posttest, and follow-up. The results replicated known positive effects of metacognitive prompts and revealed additional supportive effects of motivational regulation prompts on all dependent variables. Path modeling of the experimentally induced changes was in line with a theoretical model specifying proximal and distal effects of both prompts. Altogether, this indicates that especially motivational regulation prompts could be an effective scaffold to support SRL with digital media.