Frontline Learning Research (E-Journal - EARLI, European Association for Research on Learning)
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256 research outputs found
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Academic procrastinators, strategic delayers and something betwixt and between: An interview study
Full text linkThe study explored university undergraduates’ dilatory behaviour, more precisely, procrastination and strategic delaying. Using qualitative interview data, we applied a theory-driven and person-oriented approach to test the theoretical model of Klingsieck (2013). The sample consisted of 28 Bachelor students whose study pace had been slow during their first university year. Three student profiles emerged. The first concerned strategic delay and was represented by motivated students with strong self-efficacy beliefs who had intentionally postponed their studying. The second consisted of students whose delaying was unnecessary in nature; these students had minor self-regulation problems but were still motivated to study. The third profile consisted of procrastinating students who lacked self-regulation skills and had weaker self-efficacy beliefs. The results indicate that dilatory behaviour can vary from strategic delay to dysfunctional procrastination, and that different factors are related to these various types of dilatory behaviour. This study adds to our theoretical understanding of academic procrastination by empirically testing a new theoretical model of procrastination. In addition, the study opens a new ‘methodological path’ to explore dilatory behaviour qualitative instead of following a strong tradition of using quantitative methods
Does Personalisation Promote Learners’ Attention? An Eye-Tracking Study
Full text linkThe personalisation principle is a design recommendation and states that multimedia presentations using personalised language promote learning better than those using formal language (e.g., using ‘your’ instead of ‘the’). It is often assumed that this design recommendation affects motivation and therefore allocation of attention. To gain further insight into the processes underlying personalisation effects we conducted an eye tracking experiment with 37 German university students who were presented with either personalised or formal learning materials. We examined group differences in attention allocation parameters (fixation count, fixation duration, transition count). The eye-tracking data was combined with self-reports concerning motivation, cognitive load, and learning outcomes. Eye-tracking data revealed a significantly higher reading depth for the main picture areas of interest in the personalised condition. Additionally, participants found the personalised version more appealing and inviting. For learning outcomes, there was a significant positive effect of personalisation for retention, not for transfer. We discuss additional explanatory variables as well as methodological and practical implications for instructional design
When Knowing is Not Enough – the Relevance of Teachers’ Cognitive and Emotional Resources for Classroom Management
Full text linkThis study expands the discussion on teacher competence by investigating the relevance of teachers’ combined cognitive resources and emotional resources for effective classroom management. While research on teacher qualification stresses the importance of knowledge for effective teaching, research on teacher stress focuses on their emotional functioning, often without connection to their in-class behaviour. Drawing on findings from health psychology showing that high levels of emotional exhaustion can impair cognitive performance, we hypothesised that teachers’ pedagogical/psychological knowledge would predict their classroom management behaviour only when their level of emotional exhaustion was low. We administered a test to assess the pedagogical/psychological knowledge of 205 secondary school teachers, measured their emotional exhaustion, and assessed their classroom management using ratings of their 4,672 students obtained one year later. Data were analysed using latent moderation analyses, a novel statistical approach that rarely has been employed in research on learning and instruction. Our findings confirmed our hypotheses and indicated an interaction between teachers’ cognitive resources and emotional resources, which together predict their classroom management behaviour. Thus, the new theoretical and empirical integration of two distinct areas of teacher quality broadens our understanding of teacher resources necessary for effective instruction. We argue that teacher education should acknowledge the interplay of the different resources teachers have and help them develop their emotional resources to ensure effective instruction
Researcher Identity in Transition: Signals to Identify and Manage Spheres of Activity in a Risk-Career
Full text linkWithin the current higher education context, early career researchers (ECRs) face a ‘risk-career’ in which predictable, stable academic careers have become increasingly rare. Traditional milestones to signal progress toward a sustainable research career are disappearing or subject to reinterpretation, and ECRs need to attend to new or reimagined signals in their efforts to develop a researcher identity in this current context. In this article, we present a comprehensive framework for researcher identity in relation to the ways ECRs recognise and respond to divergent signals across spheres of activity. We illustrate this framework through eight identity stories drawn from our earlier research projects. Each identity story highlights the congruence (or lack of congruence) between signals across spheres of activity and emphasises the different ways ECRs respond to these signals. The proposed comprehensive framework allows for the analysis of researcher identity development through the complex and intertwined activities in which ECRs are involved. We advance this approach as a foundation for a sustained research agenda to understand how ECRs identify and respond to relevant signals, and, consequently, to unravel the complex interplay between signals and spheres of activity evident in struggles to become researchers in a risk-career environment
Readiness-based differentiation in primary school mathematics: expert recommendations and teacher self-assessment
Full text linkThe diversity of students’ achievement levels within classrooms has made it essential for teachers to adapt their lessons to the varying educational needs of their students (‘differentiation’). However, the term differentiation has been interpreted in diverse ways and there is a need to specify what effective differentiation entails. Previous reports of low to moderate application of differentiation underscore the importance of practical guidelines for implementing differentiation. In two studies, we investigated how teachers should differentiate according to experts, as well as the degree to which teachers already apply the recommended strategies. Study 1 employed the Delphi technique and focus group discussions to achieve consensus among eleven mathematics experts regarding a feasible model for differentiation in primary mathematics. The experts agreed on a five-step cycle of differentiation: (1) identification of educational needs, (2) differentiated goals, (3) differentiated instruction, (4) differentiated practice, and (5) evaluation of progress and process. For each step, strategies were specified. In Study 2, the Differentiation Self-Assessment Questionnaire (DSAQ) was developed to investigate how teachers self-assess their use of the strategies recommended by the experts. While teachers (N = 268) were moderately positive about their application of the strategies overall, we also identified areas of relatively low usage (including differentiation for high-achieving students) which require attention in teacher professional development. Together, these two studies provide a model and strategies for differentiation in primary mathematics based on expert consensus, the DSAQ which can be employed in future studies, and insights into teachers’ self-assessed application of specific aspects of differentiation
What Works in School? Expert and Novice Teachers’ Beliefs about School Effectiveness
Full text linkIn 2009, John Hattie first published his extensive metasynthesis concerning determinants of student achievement. It provides an answer to the question: “What works in school?” The present study examines how this question is answered by pre- and in-service teachers, how their beliefs correspond to the current state of research and whether they differ according to the teachers' level of expertise. Thus, it takes on a novel approach as it draws on data from two sources in the field of education -- empirical research and teachers’ beliefs -- and examines their similarities and differences. The teachers’ beliefs were elicited by asking N = 729 participants to estimate the effect sizes of several determinants of student achievement. Those were compared to the empirical effect sizes found by Hattie (2009). Profile correlations showed that expert teachers’ beliefs are more congruent with current research findings than those of novice teachers. We further examined where expert and novice teachers’ beliefs differ substantially from each other by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and comparing group means in latent variables. Our findings suggest that teachers’ beliefs about school effectiveness are related to professional experience: Expert teachers showed a stronger overall congruence with empirical evidence, scoring higher in achievement-related variables and lower in variables concerning surface- and infrastructural conditions of schooling as well as student-internal factors. Results are discussed with regard to teacher-education practices that emphasize research findings and challenge existing beliefs of (prospective) teachers
Competence Assessment of Students With Special Educational Needs—Identification of Appropriate Testing Accommodations
Full text linkIncluding students with special educational needs in learning (SEN-L) is a challenge for large-scale assessments. In order to draw inferences with respect to students with SEN-L and to compare their scores to students in general education, one needs to assure that the measurement model is reliable and that the same construct is measured for different samples and test forms. In this article, we focus on testing the appropriateness of competence assessments for students with SEN-L. We specifically asked how the reading competence of students with SEN-L may be assessed reliably and comparably. We thoroughly evaluated different testing accommodations for students with SEN-L. The reading competence of N = 433 students with SEN-L was assessed using a standard reading test, a reduced test version, and an easy test version. Also, N = 5,208 general education students and a group of N = 490 low-performing students were tested. Results show that all three reading test versions are suitable for a reliable and comparable measurement of reading competence in students without SEN-L. For students with SEN-L, the accommodated test versions considerably reduced the amount of missing values and resulted in better psychometric properties than the standard test. They did not, however, show satisfactory item fit and measurement invariance. Implications for future research are discussed
Individual differences in students’ knowing and learning about fractions: Evidence from an in-depth qualitative study
Full text linkWe present the results of an in-depth qualitative study that examined ninth graders’ conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions as well as their approach to mathematics learning, in particular fraction learning. We traced individual differences, even extreme, in the way that students combine the two kinds of knowledge. We also provide preliminary evidence indicating that students with strong conceptual fraction knowledge adopt a deep approach to mathematics learning (associated with the intention to understand), whereas students with poor conceptual fraction knowledge adopt a superficial approach (associated with the intention to reproduce). These findings suggest that students differ in the way they reason and learn about fractions in systematic ways and could be used to inform future quantitative studies.
Drivers and Interpretations of Doctoral Education Today: National Comparisons
Full text linkIn the last decade, doctoral education has undergone a sea change with several global trends increasingly apparent. Drivers of change include massification and professionalization of doctoral education and the introduction of quality assurance systems. The impact of these drivers, and the forms that they take, however, are dependent on doctoral education within a given national context. This paper is frontline in that it contributes to the literature on doctoral education by examining the ways in which these global trends and drivers are being taken up in policies and practices by various countries. We do so by comparing recent changes in each of the following countries: Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, the UK, and the USA. Each country case is based on national education policies, policy reports on doctoral education (e.g., OECD and EU policy texts), and related materials. We use the same global drivers to examine educational policies of each country. However, depending each national context, these drivers are framed in considerably different ways. This raises questions about (1) their comparability at a global level and (2) the universality of the PhD. Also we find that this global-local nexus reveals unresolved tensions within the national doctoral educational frameworks.
Self-beliefs mediate math performance between primary and lower secondary school: A large-scale longitudinal cohort study
Full text linkIt is often argued that enhancement of self-beliefs should be one of the key goals of education. However, very little is known about the relation between self-beliefs and performance when students move from primary to secondary school in highly differentiated educational systems with early tracking. This large-scale longitudinal cohort study examines the extent to which academic self-efficacy (i.e., how confident students are that they will be able to master their schoolwork) and math self-concept (i.e., students’ perceived math competence) mediate the relation between math performance at the end of primary school (Grade 6) and the end of lower secondary school (Grade 9) in such a system. The study involved 843 typically-developing students in the Netherlands. Self-efficacy and math self-concept were measured with self-report questionnaires. Math performance was measured with nationally validated tests. The relation between math performance in Grade 6 and in Grade 9 was uniquely mediated by both self-efficacy in Grade 6 and math self-concept in Grade 9, but in opposing directions. Math self-concept was the most influential mediator, explaining nearly a quarter of the total effect of Grade 6 math performance on Grade 9 math performance. Unexpectedly, high self-efficacy in Grade 6 was negatively related to Grade 9 math performance, particularly for girls and high-track students. These findings suggest that self-efficacy may not necessarily be a protective factor in highly differentiated early tracking educational systems and may need to be actively managed when students move to secondary school