Contemporary Educational Psychology最新文献

The belief that students learn best when instruction matches students’ preferred modality-specific learning style (i.e., visual, auditory, or kinesthetic) is not supported by empirical research. Yet, the learning styles neuromyth remains pervasive, including within teacher education programs. The purpose of the current study was to explore the extent to which various text-related scaffolds (i.e., purpose for reading, during reading prompts, and refutation text structure) shifted 221 undergraduate teacher candidates’ beliefs and knowledge about the learning styles neuromyth from before reading to after reading, and to investigate the durability of these shifts at a delayed posttest. Across all intervention conditions, teacher candidates demonstrated beliefs change and a shift in pedagogical knowledge immediately after the intervention, with a slight overall shift back to supporting learning styles two months later. Individuals given the purpose of reading to change their beliefs had lower beliefs in learning styles at posttest and greater pedagogical knowledge at delayed posttest, especially when reading a text with more refutational elements. Summarizing during reading had a positive impact on beliefs at posttest. Contrary to previous studies, there were no main effects of refutation text, and no effect of any scaffolds on text comprehension. Findings have implications for the knowledge revision literature, including understanding nuances between teacher candidates’ beliefs and pedagogical knowledge.

Substantial evidence revealed that morphological awareness could contribute to reading achievement in different alphabetic languages among children with and without reading difficulties. However, as the most spoken non-alphabetic language, there is a paucity of available research on Chinese reading development and impairment. This research focused on evaluating two potential intervening variables through the relationship between morphological awareness and reading comprehension. Compounding awareness, homophone awareness, homograph awareness, in addition to reading ability including character recognition, vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension were assessed in this research. Controls of phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN) were also included in the model. Participants were 200 second-grade students with reading difficulties in Chinese mainland . Path analysis revealed that morphological awareness made a direct contribution to reading comprehension beyond all other variables and this relationship was mediated by character recognition and vocabulary knowledge. Furthermore, two indirect pathways showed a significant difference in this study. The distinctive role of morphological awareness in reading comprehension for Chinese children with reading difficulties and the potential reasons for the significant effect difference between the two indirect pathways were discussed at the end of the study.

Across two studies, we explore how teachers’ creative self-beliefs and self-regulation drive their creativity when faced with complex projects. In Study 1, 173 teachers reported on the most creative project they carried out last year and provided data on their creative self-beliefs (confidence and centrality of creativity) and self-regulation when pursuing projects. Creative self-beliefs were positively associated with the likelihood of obtaining more creative outcomes, both directly and indirectly, by strengthening teachers’ self-regulation. Moreover, highly innovative projects were unlikely if teachers’ beliefs and self-regulation were low. A latent profile analysis demonstrated three different approaches to carrying out and managing creative projects, resulting in varying levels of creativity in the final projects. These findings were extended and elaborated in a mixed-method Study 2, involving 16 teachers who participated in an intensive 10-week, microlongitudinal diary study and in-depth interviews. This study demonstrated that creative self-regulation allowed the teachers to plan and monitor their actions more effectively, resulting in more creative products. We discuss the role of self-beliefs and self-regulation in teachers’ creative agency and recommend future studies and practical interventions.

Readers build a mental representation of text during reading. The coherence building processes readers use to build a mental representation during reading is key to comprehension. We examined the effects of self-explanation on coherence building processes as undergraduates (n = 51) read five complementary texts about natural selection and completed a post-reading measure of topic knowledge. Participants generated constructed responses (verbal protocols) while reading. We varied the use of constructed response prompt (self-explain vs. think-aloud) and constructed response format (typed vs. oral) to examine their impact on the quality of readers’ constructed responses and their coherence building processes (i.e., cohesion). Participants who received self-explanation instructions had higher quality constructed responses than participants who received think-aloud instructions, regardless of whether responses were typed or spoken aloud. Natural Language Processing (NLP) analyses indicated that participants who were prompted to self-explain generated more cohesive responses than those who were prompted to think-aloud. Participants who received self-explanation instructions had more coherent mental models during reading and typing was related to more cohesive responses when participants were asked to self-explain. Participants whose constructed responses were more lexically cohesive during reading had better performance on the post-reading test.

Although both teacher-student relationship (TSR) and peer relationship (PR) have been found important for the development of students’ classroom engagement, little research has been done regarding the joint operations of these two factors. Guided by a developmental systems framework, this study examined longitudinal between-person and within-person associations between TSR/ PR and classroom engagement in a sample of 784 low-achieving students in the first three years of elementary school. A multidimensional approach was used to distinguish positive and negative dimensions of TSR, as well as peer liking and disliking. At the between-person level, results showed that students’ classroom engagement was positively predicted by positive TSR and PR liking and was negatively predicted by negative TSR and PR disliking. Both positive and negative TSR interacted with PR disliking at the between-person level, such that the associations between positive/negative TSR and classroom engagement were stronger for students with lower levels of PR disliking. At the within-person level, changes in classroom engagement were associated with contemporaneous year-to-year changes in positive/negative TSR and PR disliking. No within-person level interaction effects were found. Cross-level interaction showed that the effects of within-person negative TSR on classroom engagement were stronger for students with lower overall levels of PR disliking. Findings highlighted the importance of using a multilevel multidimensional approach to understand the joint operations of TSR and PR in the development of classroom engagement in low-achieving students in early elementary school.

Parents involve in children’s homework in qualitatively different ways. However, these qualitative aspects are usually understood in separate manners. This longitudinal study identified a unifying framework of constructive versus unconstructive involvement to grasp different qualitative aspects of parents’ homework involvement holistically. We also examined the implications of parents’ constructive versus unconstructive involvement for children’s academic and emotional functioning over time, with attention to parental involvement in two contrasting homework contexts where children showed helplessness or mastery. Chinese mothers (N = 370; M_age = 40.50 years, SD = 3.17) and their fourth graders (N = 370; 54.9 % girls; M_age = 9.90, SD = 0.33) participated in a two-wave longitudinal study spanning nine months. Confirmatory Factor Analyses identified a unifying framework of mothers’ constructive (featuring positive emotions, autonomy support, and mastery-oriented teaching) versus unconstructive involvement (featuring negative emotions, control, and performance-oriented teaching). Mothers involved more unconstructively and less constructively when children showed helplessness (vs. mastery). Mothers’ constructive involvement predicted children’s enhanced academic and emotional functioning over time, while mothers’ unconstructive involvement predicted children’s dampened academic functioning over time, with the associations mainly being significant in children’s helpless homework context. These findings highlight optimizing parents’ homework involvement quality, particularly when children face learning challenges.

Grounding on the situated expectancy-value theory, this study investigated stability and change in adolescent students' (N = 508) motivational profiles in mathematics (self-concept, values, costs) during the last year of comprehensive education, and how these changes relate to relevant educational outcomes (mathematics performance and aspirations) and students’ emotional distress (study-related exhaustion and depressive symptoms). Latent profile and latent transition analyses revealed four motivational profiles among students: Positively ambitious (high competence and value beliefs, low costs, T1: 34 %/T2: 32 %), Struggling ambitious (high competence and value beliefs, high costs, T1: 25 %/T2: 25 %), Indifferent (low competence and value beliefs, low costs, T1: 22 %/T2: 21 %), and Maladaptive (low competence and value beliefs, high costs, 19 %/22 %). Although some fluctuations were detected in profile memberships within the school year, most of the students (80 %) displayed stable mathematics motivation across ninth grade. Students who remained Positively ambitious also performed well, aspired for an education that required high mathematical skills, and experienced the least emotional distress, whereas students in the most negative motivational profile (Maladaptive) showed the opposite patterns. However, students who experienced high math-related costs, despite having positive value beliefs, performance, and aspirations (i.e., Struggling ambitious), also experienced one of the highest levels of study-related exhaustion and depressive symptoms. Elevated levels of exhaustion and depressive symptoms were systematically associated with negative motivational transitions in general (i.e., moving from Positively ambitious to Struggling ambitious, or from Indifferent to Maladaptive), highlighting the importance of reducing perceived study-related costs in schools and supporting students' well-being.

While teacher expectations are known to influence students’ academic achievement, they may also exert significant influences on student motivation, which is a precursor to a student’s achievement as well. A number of previous studies have demonstrated that motivation affects a student’s achievement. There is, however, a dearth of longitudinal research examining the relation between teacher expectations and students’ motivational variables. In this article, we examine the relations between teacher expectations of students’ mathematics ability, students’ mathematics-related competence beliefs, and students’ mathematics-related intrinsic task-values. Our sample consisted of 796 second-grade students and their 50 teachers; the data collection was conducted at three points within a school year. Longitudinal latent change score analyses yielded three main results: First, teacher expectations of students’ mathematics ability and both students’ mathematics-related competence beliefs and intrinsic task values decreased significantly in the second half of the school year. Second, regarding correlated changes, students who experienced larger increases in teacher expectations also demonstrated higher increases in competence beliefs and intrinsic task values in mathematics. Third, after controlling for students’ initial mathematics achievement, effects of teacher expectations of students’ mathematics ability at the beginning of the school year on subsequent changes in students’ mathematics-related competence beliefs and intrinsic task values were revealed. Our study highlights the important role of teacher expectations in shaping students’ motivational variables, which underscores the need for teacher training programs and policy interventions aimed at increasing teachers’ awareness of their expectations and how they can foster a positive learning environment for their students.

Observational measures of teaching are scarce in the motivation literature, but are needed for furthering theoretical knowledge and recommendations for how teachers can support motivation. To inform the development of effective observational tools, particularly for STEM settings, and based on a synthesis of current practices for observing motivational teaching, video lecture recordings from three undergraduate chemistry classes were observed for evidence of instructors’ supports for students’ motivation, including autonomy support, relevance support, and enthusiasm. Four different coding procedures selected from prior research were compared using interrater reliability estimates and descriptive comparisons of observer scores with student perceptions obtained from surveys. Results indicated that even with minimal coder training, observational measures of relevance support (i.e., connections to real life, support for meaningfulness, relevance statements) and enthusiasm achieved acceptable reliability in capturing motivational teaching that also appeared to align with student perceptions. For other observational measures, results indicated a need for further development including clearer operational definitions, limiting the number of processes observers are expected to simultaneously observe, and perhaps more extensive training for coders. To increase replicability and validity, we call for and contribute to greater transparency in reporting the development and implementation of observational methods for capturing contextual supports for students’ optimal psychological functioning in school.

Given math-related fields are still highly racialized and gendered (NCSES, 2021), this study assessed: 1) whether there were racial differences in adolescents’ perceived math cost alongside expectancies and values and 2) the extent to which perceived math cost alongside expectancies and values explained yearly changes in achievement differences by race and gender. This study assessed 2,338 Black (39.4 %) and White (60.6 %) adolescents, roughly half girls (47.8 %), in the 6th to 12th grades (M = 14.71 years old, SD = 1.93, 61.7 % qualifying for free or reduced priced lunch). The results indicated that Black adolescents perceived higher costs to learning math than their White peers but value math in similar ways. Perceived math cost was the only motivational belief to explain achievement differences between Black and White girls but not boys after adjusting for socioeconomic status and grade level. In contrast, perceptions of ability beliefs explained achievement differences between Black boys and girls. These findings point to the importance of employing intersectional approaches to understand the relationship between math motivation and achievement.