Achievement and engagement: How student characteristics influence teacher judgments

Teachers' judgments of student characteristics are affected not only by the characteristic in question, but also by other factors. This article presents three studies examining whether students' achievement influences teachers' judgments of their engagement (as a proxy for motivation) and vice versa. First, a field study was conducted with N = 52 teachers and N = 1135 students. Structural equation modeling revealed an effect of student achievement on teacher judgments of student engagement and an effect of student engagement on teacher judgments of student achievement—above and beyond the association of each student characteristic with teacher judgments of that characteristic. These results were then replicated in two experimental studies involving a computer simulation of an instructional situation, the Simulated Classroom, with N = 40 and N = 181 teacher candidates, respectively. The psychological determinants of the effects observed are discussed, as are their practical implications.     

Developing New Services in Library Networks

No abstract available for this article.     

Neuro‐linguistic programming and altered states: encouraging preparation for learning in the classroom for students with special educational needs

In seeking to identify the processes associated with the immediate engagement of learning for students with mild special educational needs, this study examined the responses of an extraction group (n = 7) of 11‐ to 13‐year‐old students who participated in a number of lessons in which the opening episode involved the use of visualisation techniques and language associated with representational systems as identified within neuro‐linguistic programming (NLP). Students endeavoured to alter their negative state to a positive state via this intervention. The study, by Voldis Kudliskis of South Dartmoor Community College, was of a naturalistic research design, and the students' experiences were explored by means of formal interviews, semi‐structured interviews, questionnaires and observations. The implications for altering state through techniques associated with NLP are described and evaluated in terms of student comments. The case is made for the process of altering state as a strategy to empower students to engage with their learning from the outset of the lesson.     

第29届奥运会现场观众管理之研究

采用文献资料调研等方法,以第29届奥运会及其观众群体作为研究视点,在二者之间建立起一种“社会心理联系”,将北京奥运观众群体作为研究对象,拟从体育观众研究一般概述奥运观众组织的策略与技术和奥运观众培养的途径等3个方面进行初步的探索。     

Joint trajectories of behavioral,affective, and cognitive engagement in elementary school

The aim of the present study was to model student trajectories of behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement from Grade 3 to Grade 6. The authors also examined whether teachers perceptions could predict student trajectory membership. The authors collected data from a sample of 831 students and 152 teachers. Using multiple-process growth mixture modeling, they identified 5 distinct trajectories of student engagement. Although a large majority of children presented a stable and high level of engagement on the three dimensions over time, more than one third of them showed a lower or changing level of engagement as the years progressed. These students were more likely to be boys and to be perceived by teachers as being less engaged. They also present more learning or behavioral problems and share less positive relationships with teachers. The results support the need to consider group-based differences when designing and adapting prevention and intervention strategies to favor student engagement.     

Imagining a future,living in the present and remembering the past

The remit for this short piece was to identify themes emerging from the articles in this edition by Julie McLeod, Duncan Waite and Eugenie Samier, to consider how these themes reflect on the current field, and to identify their ongoing relevance. Additionally, I was asked to consider the current challenges that the field is facing and what this means for research and journals such as this one. My short response is that our research has to matter. It has to matter to us as individuals so that what we do is worthwhile; it has to matter that we can provide rigorous research that is reliable so that it can inform policy makers and administrators; and it has to provide teachers and students with a greater understanding of why they are doing what they are being asked to do.     

Using iPad tablets for self‐modeling with preschoolers: Videos versus photos

As technology becomes more accessible and acceptable in the preschool setting, teachers need effective strategies of incorporating it to address challenging behaviors. A nonconcurrent delayed multiple baseline design in combination with an alternating treatment design was utilized to investigate the effects of using iPad tablets to display video self‐modeling and activity photos for three preschoolers during circle time. During baseline, all three children demonstrated low levels of engagement and high levels of off‐task behavior compared to peers. The intervention phase consisted of alternating between showing the child the self‐video and photos prior to circle time. A child preference phase was conducted whereby each child self‐selected the video or photo prior to circle time. For all three children both videos and photos led to increased engagement and decreased off‐task behaviors. During the child preference phase, all three children selected the video most frequently. Social validity data demonstrated teacher and child preference for the video self‐modeling condition.     

A collaborative assessment of students’ placement learning

The research informing this paper set out to investigate the qualitative experiences of students, supervisors and tutors involved in a summative collaborative assessment of placement learning on an undergraduate professional qualifying programme in the UK. Analysis of data gathered through semi-structured interviews provides valuable insights into its use. In particular, engagement in a collaborative assessment brings a degree of exposure for all concerned. Participants need to feel ‘able’ to participate, and ability to participate is linked to notions of agency and autonomy. Collaborative assessment design needs to acknowledge power relations and include strategies to reduce imbalances. The importance of recognising and working with the complexities of assessment should not be underestimated. Criterion referencing offers a guide to support consistency but can also falsely present assessment as mechanistic and instrumental. The research shows that it is in the ‘doing’ of assessment that a ‘shared language’ is developed. It demonstrates the value of active student engagement in assessment in relation to the construction and use of theory, developing reflective practice and assessment literacy. The collaborative assessment provides students with the opportunity to experience a ‘performance of understanding’ in a community of practice that, whilst pressured, reflects ‘real’ professional life.     

Engineering students’ experiences of interactive teaching in calculus

This study reports on an educational development initiative where peer instruction was used instead of traditional lectures in a calculus course for first-year engineering students. The aim of the study was to explore students’ experiences of this method. Data were collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire on two occasions: early and late in the course. The data were analyzed with an inductive content analysis. The findings comprise three qualitatively different ways to experience the interactive teaching method in calculus: (1) enthusiasm, (2) nuanced skepticism and (3) aversion. The categories differed regarding emotional reactions to the teaching, experiences of learning, conceptions of teaching and learning, and experiences of meaningfulness. Many students expressed enthusiasm for learning with peer instruction and noted that the method gave both teachers and students feedback on what students have difficulties with. These students perceived that they were responsible for their own learning. Other students experienced that peer instruction had some advantages and disadvantages, and preferred a mix between traditional lectures and peer instruction sessions. They seemed to believe that teachers and students share responsibility for learning. Some students expressed an aversion for peer instruction and the method seemed to challenge their beliefs of how teaching and learning is best conducted. Our study illustrates that educational development initiatives, even though based on research on student learning, do not benefit all students. One of the major obstacles seems to be that students’ underlying beliefs regarding teaching and learning may be counterproductive to the ideas behind the educational initiative. We suggest that beliefs regarding teaching and learning need to be addressed when introducing new teaching and learning methods.     

You can’t ignore us: what role does family play in student engagement and alienation in a Ghanaian university?

Much of the existing literature on student engagement focuses on what happens within the higher education environment or what the institution has direct control over, restricting understanding of how issues outside of the institution affect engagement. This paper argues that efforts to improve student engagement should be broadened to incorporate issues relating to the family. It employed a case study design in order to develop a broad and more in-depth understanding of how family influences the amount of time and effort students invest in their learning in a large public university in Ghana. It was established that engagement is influenced by family expectation, financial and social support, as well as monitoring of students’ academic performance. The unique contribution of the study is that it broadens current understandings of engagement because it adds an aspect that has not been highlighted in current work on engagement, making a case for institutions to work more with families to get a broader understanding of challenges students face in order to provide comprehensive support.