Misconceptions die hard: prevalence and reduction of wrong beliefs in topics from educational psychology among preservice teachers

Endorsement of educational psychological misconceptions among preservice teachers can be a threat for reaching educational goals. Therefore, it is of societal interest whether preservice teachers hold educational psychological misconceptions and, if they do, whether these misconceptions can be reduced through confrontation with empirical evidence. Prevalence and refutability of misconceptions were analyzed among N = 937 German preservice teachers who participated in an online survey. Results indicated a high prevalence of educational psychological misconceptions but also the possibility of a reduction through refutation-style texts. However, only few preservice teachers shifted their opinions from (rather) endorsing a misconception to (rather) not endorsing it after reading the text. We conclude that educational psychological misconceptions are common among German preservice teachers and that merely presenting empirical evidence is insufficient to effectively counteract misconceptions. Future research should deepen the understanding of why and wherefrom these misconceptions occur and develop efficient interventions to counteract misconceptions among preservice teachers.

     

The Aetiology of High Cognitive Ability in Early Childhood

Both the environment and genetics are likely to influence the development of cognitive talent during the preschool years. It is not known to what degree or how these influences differ from those throughout the range of ability. 1943 twin pairs were assessed at 2, 3 and 4 years of age using diverse verbal and nonverbal cognitive measures. Consistently high scoring children were selected on a general cognitive factor. From behavioural genetic model fitting analyses, substantial shared environmental (70%) and modest genetic influences (20%) were found in the high group and this matched the aetiology of the entire sample. Strong genetic predisposition was not apparent. Individual differences in cognitive ability and high ability is largely due to shared environment during the preschool years.     

Not all roads lead to Rome — Comparing different types of motivational regulation profiles

The self-regulation of motivation represents a key feature of self-regulated learning. Recent studies have documented that students use a variety of strategies to sustain their learning motivation and that most of these strategies have positive effects. However, less is known about how students integrate the various motivational strategies into an individual motivational regulation profile and which kind of profiles are most adaptive with respect to enhanced effort and persistence. To shed more light on this issue, we examined the motivational regulation profiles within two samples of German high-school and college students. In Study 1 (N = 231 11th and 12th grade students), latent profile analysis revealed five subgroups of students holding different motivational regulation profiles. In Study 2 (N = 600 college students), the five class solution was replicated with slight changes in the nature of the profiles. In both studies, profiles with a higher overall level of motivational strategy use were associated with a higher level of effort and achievement. Regarding differences in profile shape, results indicated that profiles emphasizing mastery and/or performance-approach self-talk were most adaptive. Implications of the findings for future research on motivational regulation are discussed.     

The importance of motivation as a predictor of school achievement

The present study examined to which extent different motivational concepts contribute to the prediction of school achievement among adolescent students independently from intelligence. A sample of 342 11th and 12th graders (age M = 16.94; SD = .71) was investigated. Students gave self-reports on domain-specific values, ability self-perceptions, goals, and achievement motives. Hierarchical regression and relative weights analyses were performed with grades in math and German as dependent variables and intelligence as well as motivational measures as independent variables. Beyond intelligence, different motivational constructs incrementally contributed to the prediction of school achievement. Domain-specific ability self-perceptions and values showed the highest increments whereas achievement motives and goal orientations explained less additional variance. Even when prior achievement was controlled, some motivational concepts still proved to contribute to the prediction of subsequent performance. In the light of these findings, we discuss the importance of motivation in educational contexts.     

The complex route to success: complex problem-solving skills in the prediction of university success

Successful completion of a university degree is a complex matter. Based on considerations regarding the demands of acquiring a university degree, the aim of this paper was to investigate the utility of complex problem-solving (CPS) skills in the prediction of objective and subjective university success (SUS). The key finding of this study was that CPS was not only strongly correlated to objective university success but also explained university grade point averages (GPA) of N?=?78 German business students even after intelligence and high-school GPA were controlled for. In addition, priority setting while working on a complex problem explained self-rated SUS. Given this incremental validity over the most established predictors of objective university success and its versatility, we argue that CPS may be a valuable addition to existing predictors in university applicant selection.     

A functional look at goal orientations: Their role for self-estimates of intelligence and performance

Building on the notion that motivation energizes and directs resources in achievement situations, we argue that goal orientations affect perceptions of own intelligence and that the effect of goals on performance is partly mediated by self-estimates of intelligence. Studies 1 (n = 89) and 2 (n = 165) investigated the association of goal orientations and self-estimated intelligence in university-student samples. Study 3 (n = 164) tested an integrated model of goal orientations and self-estimated intelligence to predict school performance. Goal orientations explained 7 to 11% of the variance in self-estimated intelligence (controlling for gender, age, and psychometric intelligence). Persons with high performance-approach goals consistently overestimated and persons holding high performance-avoidance goals underestimated their intelligence. Performance goals affected academic performance indirectly via self-estimated intelligence, whereas learning goals were directly related to performance. Findings are discussed regarding their importance for the understanding of the function of motivation and ability self-perceptions for performance.     

Measuring Teaching Effectiveness: Correspondence Between Students’ Evaluations of Teaching and Different Measures of Student Learning

Relating students?? evaluations of teaching (SETs) to student learning as an approach to validate SETs has produced inconsistent results. The present study tested the hypothesis that the strength of association of SETs and student learning varies with the criteria used to indicate student learning. A multisection validity approach was employed to investigate the association of SETs and two different criteria of student learning, a multiple-choice test and a practical examination. Participants were N?=?883 medical students, enrolled in k?=?32 sections of the same course. As expected, results showed a strong positive association between SETs and the practical examination but no significant correlation between SETs and multiple-choice test scores. Furthermore, students?? subjective perception of learning significantly correlated with the practical examination score whereas no relation was found for subjective learning and the multiple choice test. It is discussed whether these results might be due to different measures of student learning varying in the degree to which they reflect teaching effectiveness.     

Changes in the Relation Between Competence Beliefs and Achievement in Math Across Elementary School Years

Math competence beliefs and achievement are important outcomes of school‐based learning. Previous studies yielded inconsistent results on whether skill development, self‐enhancement, or reciprocal effects account for the interplay among them. A development‐related change in the direction of their relation in the early school years might explain the inconsistency. To test this, 542 German elementary school students (M = 7.95 years, SD = 0.58) were repeatedly investigated over 24 months from Grade 2 to Grade 4. Math competence beliefs declined and had a growing influence on subsequent math grades. This suggests changes in the dominant direction of the relation from a skill development to a reciprocal effects model during elementary school. Findings are discussed with regard to their theoretical and practical implications.     

The genetic and environmental origins of language disability and ability

This study investigated whether genes affect language impairment to the same extent as they affect differences in language ability following up an earlier study of 579 four-year-old twins with low language performance and their cotwins (Viding et al., in press). The present study selected low-language twins from 6,963 pairs of twins from the Twins Early Development Study assessed for vocabulary and grammar by their parents at 2, 3, and 4 years of age. For impaired groups corresponding to the lowest scoring 5% and 10% at each age, twin concordances and model-fitting analyses indicated substantial genetic influence on the mean difference between affected children and the population (h2g), generally higher than for individual differences for the entire sample (h2).     

The logic of success: the relation between complex problem-solving skills and university achievement

This article deals with the demands that plagiarism places on academic communities, and with the resources staff possess in dealing with these demands. It is suggested that plagiarism ought to be placed in the context of network of intertwining communities (scholarly, pedagogical and administrative), to which participants are engaged to a different extent. The relationship to the ethical issue of plagiarism is related to the subject’s engagement in these communities. The article examines the way teachers deal with plagiarism from the point of view of work engagement and work-related wellbeing. In particular, we analyse job demands created by episodes of dealing with plagiarism as well as job resources teachers possess that aid them in coping with these demands. We used thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews of teachers in two universities. Our results show that the demands fall on five thematic categories: 1. rupture in the personal pedagogical relationship, 2. challenge on the supervisory “gatekeeping” responsibility; 3. a breach of the “everyday normality”; 4. ambivalence in explaining plagiarism and 5. the strain of performing the act of accusation. A key job demand in dealing with plagiarism is that teachers must balance both rule-ethical and care-ethical orientations in their reactions and actions. The resources teachers draw upon when dealing with these demands are: 1) dialogue and reflection in collegial dialogue 2) support from superiors and administration 3) shared protocols, procedures and plagiarism detection software. Our analysis shows that there are various demands that make dealing with plagiarism a strenuous task, but university environments also provide teachers with resources to cope with them.