Frontline Learning Research (E-Journal - EARLI, European Association for Research on Learning)
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256 research outputs found
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Peer cooperation during teaching in paired field placements: Forms and challenges
Full text linkPaired field placement is an important element of teacher education where student teachers can acquire professional cooperative skills through team teaching. However, little is known about challenges that student teachers face during team teaching. Also, knowledge about challenges during the team teaching process (e.g. planning, instruction, reflection) is scarce. This study focuses on pre-primary and primary student teachers’ challenges with peer cooperation during team teaching, the problems they face and how they cope with negative experiences. Data was collected from 30 student teachers through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Results reveal various forms of conflict during different phases of peer cooperation in team teaching such as lack of flexibility due to pressure to follow agreements, or unclear roles and responsibilities. Instruction turns out to be the most challenging phase of team teaching, with lack of compatibility with the peer as the most frequent reason for problems. Reflection is rarely used as a cooperative setting. The findings also revealed the frequent use of reactive strategies to cope with challenges, particularly the strategy of avoiding problems
University teachers’ focus on students: Examining the relationships between visual attention, conceptions of teaching and pedagogical training
Full text linkTeachers’ focus on their students’ learning is considered central in high-quality university teaching. This frontline research introduces a novel way to study how focusing on students’ learning can be found on the level of teachers’ visual noticing combined with verbal interpretations, i.e. their professional vision, when they observe teaching situations. A central question is also, whether professional vision skills are connected to teachers’ pedagogical education. Two short videos depicting teaching during a lecture, including different types of trigger events, were presented to teachers (N = 49), who were asked to think aloud while watching, and numerically evaluate the success of the teaching, to reveal their interpretation of the teaching situation. The results showed that pedagogically trained teachers paid more visual attention on the students and less on the teacher. Visual noticing of critical incidents preceded the formulation of accurate verbal interpretations. Noticing that the students were not active was connected to learning facilitating conceptions, which were further connected with corresponding numerical evaluation of the successfulness of teaching. Teachers who visually notice the important incidents during teaching can also formulate a more accurate verbal interpretation of the situation. Contrary to studies at lower levels of education, our study did not found evidence on the connection between teaching experience and professional vision. At the university level, pedagogical education seems to be a stronger predictor of professional vision
New Materialist Network Approaches in Science Education: A Method to Construct Network Data from Video
Full text linkLately, new materialism has been proposed as a theoretical framework to better understand material-dialogic relationships in learning, and concurrently network analysis has emerged as a method in science education research. This paper explores how to include materiality in network analysis and reports the development of a method to construct network data from video. The approaches, 1) information flow, 2) material semantic and 3) material engagement, were identified based on the literature on network analysis and new materialism in science education. The method was applied and further improved with a video segment from an upper secondary school physics lesson. The example networks from the video segment show that network analysis is a potential research method within the materialist framework and that the method allows studies into the material and dialogic relationships that emerge when students are engaged in investigations in school
Interpersonal affect in groupwork: A comparative case study of two small groups with contrasting group dynamics outcomes
Full text linkTeamwork capabilities are essential for 21st century life, with groupwork emerging as a fruitful context to develop these skills. Case studies that explore interpersonal affect dynamics in authentic higher education groupwork settings can highlight collaborative skills development needs. This comparative case-study traced the sociodynamic evolution of two groups of first-year university students to investigate the high collaborative variance outcomes of the two groups, which reported starkly contrasting group dynamics (negative and dysfunctional or positive and collaborative). Mixed-methods (video-recorded observations of five groupwork labs over one semester, and group interviews) provided interpersonal affect data as real-time visible behaviours, and the felt experiences and perceptions of participants. The study traced interpersonal affect dynamics in the natural fluctuation of not just task-focused (on-task), but also explicitly relational (off-task) interactions, which revealed their function in both task participation and group dynamics. Findings illustrate visible interpersonal affect behaviours that manifested and evolved over time as interactive patterns, and group dynamics outcomes. Fine-grained analysis of interactions unveiled interpersonal affect as a collective, evolving process, and the mechanism through which one group started and stayed highly positive and collaborative over the semester. The other group showed a tendency towards splitting to undertake tasks early, leading to low group-level interpersonal attentiveness, and over time, subgroups emerged through interactions both off-task and on-task. The study made visible the pervasive nature of interpersonal affect as enacted through seemingly inconsequential everyday behaviours that supported the relational and task-based needs of groupwork, and those behaviours which impeded collaboration.
Flexible social perspective taking in higher education and the role of contextual cues
Full text linkBeing able to coordinate the perspectives of oneself and others is likely to be helpful in educational contexts. For example, teachers need flexible social perspective taking to understand their own perspectives and those of their students. Evidence suggests that reading facilitates social perspective taking because it involves readers coordinating social perspectives. However, there is little evidence on actual flexible perspective taking in educational contexts. In the current research, we assumed that the presence of different spatial, temporal, and social cues with regard to (higher) educational contexts would affect flexible social perspective taking performances of prospective psychologists and teachers. Across two different studies, we employed relational frame theory and a within-subject design (n = 44 undergraduate students in Study 1 and n = 176 teacher education students in Study 2). We analyzed the data by Rasch-trees and general linear modeling. The results showed faster responding on flexible spatial and temporal social perspective taking tasks, involving a fictional college course in “English” rather than “statistics” (Study 1). In Study 2, the results suggested greater accuracy on flexible spatial and temporal social perspective taking tasks involving spatial rather than temporal relations (Study 2). The results shed some light on the integration of different approaches for research on understanding the relevance of flexible social perspective taking in educational contexts. Flexible spatial and temporal social perspective taking may be of benefit to both students in higher education and teachers in school education
A Multidimensional Framework of Collaborative Groups’ Disciplinary Engagement
Full text linkAbstract
This research is aimed at developing novel theory to advance innovative methods for examining how collaborative groups progress toward productively engaging during classroom activity that integrates disciplinary practices. This work draws on a situative perspective, along with prior framings of individual engagement, to conceptualize engagement as a shared and multidimensional phenomenon. A multidimensional conceptualization affords the study of distinct engagement dimensions, as well as the interrelationships of engagement dimensions that together are productive. Development and exploration of an observational rubric evaluating collaborative group disciplinary engagement (GDE) is presented, leveraging the benefits of observational methods with a rubric specifying quality ratings, enabling the potential for analyses of larger samples more efficiently than prior approaches, but with similar ability to richly characterize the shared and multidimensional nature of group engagement. Mixed-methods analyses, including case illustrations and profile analysis, showcase the synergistic interrelations among engagement dimensions constituting GDE. The rubric effectively captured engagement features that could be identified via intensive video analysis, while affording the evaluation of broader claims about group engagement patterns. Application of the rubric across curricular contexts, and within and between lessons across a curricular unit, will enable comparative studies that can inform theory about collaborative engagement, as well as instructional design and practice
How Motivated are Teachers to Promote Self-Regulated Learning? A Latent Profile Analysis in the Context of Expectancy-Value Theory
Full text linkMotivation is a core element of teachers’ professional competences and, therefore, of great importance to teaching and learning. Motivation might explain why teachers do or do not promote self-regulated learning (SRL). Drawing on expectancy-value theory (EVT), this study used a person-centred approach to investigate to what extent multiple motivational aspects (self-efficacy; intrinsic interest, extrinsic utility, and attainment value; opportunity and effort costs) shape teachers’ motivational profiles. It examined the extent to which those profiles differ regarding experience in promoting SRL, the implicit theory of SRL, and the promotion of SRL. The study sample consisted of N = 280 in-service teachers (51.8% women; Mage = 44.34, SD = 10.82). Three profiles were identified: The high costs profile (profile 1, 30.8% of teachers), the moderate profile (profile 2, 24.4% of teachers), and the high success expectations and task values profile (profile 3, 44.8% of teachers). Further analyses revealed significant differences between these profiles concerning experience in promoting SRL, implicit theory of SRL, and the promotion of SRL, with Profile 1 showing the lowest values and Profile 3 the highest for each factor. The study found that high expectations are associated with high values, and costs are low when expectations and values are high and vice versa. This is in line with the assumptions of EVT and is applicable to all three profiles. These results indicate a clear need to support teachers in promoting SRL, especially those with high perceived costs, to ensure costs do not override the other considerations in EVT. Overall, this study is ‘frontline’ because it highlights the relevance of motivation as an aspect of teachers’ professional competences in promoting SRL. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the importance of combining EVT and SRL to provide a more nuanced picture of teachers’ motivation to promote SRL. It offers new insights that could influence the conceptualization of professional development programs for SRL
Preconditions of teachers’ collaborative practice: New insights based on time-sampling data
Full text linkPrevious findings on the preconditions of teachers’ collaboration are inconsistent. This might be related to the research methods used to assess the teachers’ collaborative practice. Retrospective assessments by self-report on a relatively general level prevail. The validity of these self-reports is limited, however. In contrast, time-sampling methods have the potential to investigate collaborative practice specifically and longitudinally as a day-to-day process over time validly. But to date, no research on collaborative activities in schools based on time-sampling methods is available. In this study, we extended the current state of research by analysing the variability and preconditions of teachers’ collaboration at four secondary schools over three weeks based on time-sampling data collected by a newly developed online practice log. Recorded were collaborative activities outside of teaching with a focus on administrative and organisational tasks and on school subject-specific tasks. The results revealed that teachers’ collaborative activities varied significantly between weekdays, showing a linear decrease from Monday to Friday, regardless of the content of collaboration. Collaboration that focused on administrative-organisational tasks seemed to be quite stable over the weeks and was hardly influenced by teachers’ individual characteristics. Instead, collaborative activities that focused on school subject-specific tasks varied significantly between weeks; moreover, they were influenced by teachers’ leadership role and gender. The results indicate that rather stable routinised patterns of day-to-day collaboration over the weeks decrease the influence of teachers’ individual characteristics. Hence, by collecting data that is closer to content-specific day-to-day collaborative activities, time-sampling methods can be seen as a driver for new insights
Self-effective scientific reasoning? Differences between elementary and secondary school students
Full text linkAlthough scientific reasoning is not a formal, independent school subject, it is an increasingly important skill, especially for student learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. To promote scientific reasoning effectively, it is important to know its influencing factors. While cognitive influences have been investigated, affective-motivational factors, particularly self-efficacy, have rarely been considered in studies on scientific reasoning. To examine, for the first time, whether self-efficacy can be measured in a task-specific way and whether self-efficacy correlates with students’ scientific reasoning performance, the study assessed performance in scientific reasoning and self-efficacy (academic and task-specific) in a sample of 140 fourth graders and 148 eighth graders. As expected, higher correlations emerged for task-specific self-efficacy in both grades. A hierarchical cluster analysis showed that the correlational patterns were not the same across grade levels, with differences in self-estimated performance prevailing between the two grade levels: The largest cluster in Grade 4 (41%) comprised children who significantly overestimated their performance, whereas the largest cluster in Grade 8 (39%) comprised students who gave a realistic estimate of their own performance in scientific reasoning. This cluster was not present in Grade 4. Additional clusters of students who overestimated or underestimated their performance emerged in both grades. The results support the conclusion that self-efficacy expectations are important to consider when fostering scientific reasoning, and the large number of elementary school students who overestimated their performance suggests that not all students might benefit from interventions targeted at increasing self-efficacy
Don't Just Judge the Spelling! The Influence of Spelling on Assessing Second-Language Student Essays
Full text linkWhen judging subject-specific aspects of students’ texts, teachers should assess various characteristics, e.g., spelling and content, independently of one another since these characteristics are indicators of different skills. Independent judgments enable teachers to adapt their classroom instruction according to students’ skills. It is still unclear how well teachers meet this challenge and which intervention could be helpful to them. In Study 1, N = 51 pre-service teachers assessed four authentic English as a Second Language (ESL) essays with different overall text qualities and different qualities of spelling using holistic and analytic rating scales. Results showed a negative influence of the experimentally manipulated spelling errors on the judgment of almost all textual characteristics. In Study 2, an experimental prompt was used to reduce this judgment error. Participants who were made aware of the judgment error caused by spelling errors formed their judgments in a less biased way, indicating a reduction of bias. The determinants of the observed effects and their practical implications are discussed