Learning and Individual Differences最新文献

The COVID-19 pandemic shift to emergency online learning likely shaped students' motivational beliefs and experiences of support. Documenting students' experiences across this transition holds promise for informing theoretical and practical understanding of the functioning and relations of key processes in various learning situations. Accordingly, we examined motivational beliefs, perceptions of motivational support, and outcomes across emergency online (2020) and pre-pandemic face-to-face (2019) contexts using data from two cohorts of undergraduate chemistry students (N = 2057). Students in face-to-face settings reported higher STEM career intentions, whereas students in pandemic online learning had higher grades and perceptions of autonomy support. Means of motivation variables did not differ across settings, but attainment value more strongly predicted STEM career intentions in pandemic online settings. The significance of the relationship between self-efficacy and outcomes also varied across contexts. These findings deepen theoretical and practical understanding of how learning environments and the pandemic shape motivational experiences.

Educational relevance and implications statement

Contemporary research highlights the significance of students' perceived support and context in shaping motivation, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' motivational beliefs and achievements remains uncertain. Our study compared motivation, support, grades, and career intentions between face-to-face and online settings during the pandemic, revealing surprising findings. Students perceived emergency remote instruction in 2020 as more autonomy supportive, suggesting the value of flexibility in traditional learning environments. The results underscore the importance of promoting STEM identity and offering career-related opportunities in online learning to boost achievement and STEM career aspirations. This study contributes to understanding the effects of pandemic instruction.

Mental arithmetic and estimating number position on the number-line are proven predictors of success in mathematics education, and tap on the basic properties of numerical representations and processes: spatial organization and scaling. However, little is known about the interdependences between these abilities in the preschool period, when the child uses an approximate numerical representation and only acquires the symbolic system. We tested 119 preschoolers aged 3–7 with two non-symbolic arithmetic tasks (±1 and ± 5), symbolic ±1 arithmetic, and non-symbolic and symbolic number-line estimation in 1–9 range. Some form of operational momentum indicating the use of spatial processing appeared in all arithmetic tasks, partly replicating previous studies, however these effects were not correlated across tasks, and only the symbolic arithmetic correlated with number line estimation (nonsymbolic and symbolic). We hypothesize that mental arithmetic involves spatial processing, but scale and spatial arrangement are not inherent properties of number representation but task-specific constructions.

Educational relevance statement

In our research, we dealt with the performance of mental arithmetic and estimating the position of a number on a number-line in both non-symbolic (sets of dots) and symbolic (Arabic numerals) versions in children aged 3–7. We were more interested in specific biases than accuracy in completing tasks - the logarithmic scaling of the number line, and tendencies to overestimate/underestimate the result in addition/subtraction (so called “magnitude operational momentum”) or linking addition with shifting attention to the right and subtraction to the left ("directional operational momentum”). Such biases, and the relation between them and the accuracy measures in the given task, may shed light on the most basic numerical representations and processes in children, and in particular the spatial properties of the mental representation of number and the use of “recycled” spatial attention processes for its processing. Understanding such basic representations and processes is crucial to planning early math education. Our results showed that in preschoolers, new symbolic representations of number link to more primitive, non-symbolic ones, and that mapping number to space to adapt spatial attention processes for number processing may be crucial for early numerical development.

Using a nationally representative longitudinal database of Korean students (N = 6908), we investigated the temporal relationships between self-efficacy and interest across Grades 7 through 11, and between the two constructs and Grade 12 achievement in math, English, and Korean. To extend previous findings, we focused on the potential moderation of these relationships by individual differences such as gender and perceptions of domain importance. Autoregressive cross-lagged modeling revealed significant reciprocal relationships between self-efficacy and interest in all three subjects, with interest being a stronger predictor of self-efficacy than vice versa in math and Korean. In English, self-efficacy and interest were equally predictive of each other. However, boys in English and students who considered the domain unimportant in math did not follow this general pattern in the respective domain. These findings underscore the necessity to approach student motivation based on the subject matter and individual student characteristics.

Educational relevance and implications

Academic self-efficacy and interest are among the most important motivation constructs that influence various decisions students make at school, including their task choice, effort expenditure, persistence, strategy use, and achievement. Although it would be ideal that self-efficacy and interest in the subject are developed concurrently, educators and researchers alike have debated which of the two should receive the limited educational resources first. The present results based on a nationally representative sample of Korean adolescents surveyed annually over 5 years show that the answer to this question depends on the subject matter and student characteristics. In math and Korean, feeling interested in the subject better predicted how self-efficacious in the subject students would later become than vice versa, although prior self-efficacy and interest in math were equally predictive of each other among students who did not perceive math to be as important. In English as a foreign language, the prior self-efficacy and interest in the subject were equally predictive of each other in general, which was not applied to boys as their prior interest in English better predicted their subsequent self-efficacy in learning the foreign language than their prior self-efficacy in English predicted their subsequent interest in the subject. Attending to these differences will help design instructional activities that bring greater motivational benefits to learners.

This study adopted a person-centered approach to explore heterogeneous patterns of home-based parental involvement frequency among elementary, middle, and high school students, and examined how such patterns were associated with resilience and academic achievement. The sample comprised 105,641 Chinese students, with analyses conducted using latent profile analyses (LPAs) and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The results revealed consistent profile emergence across all cohorts- four profiles distinctly described the students' perceived patterns of parental involvement. These encompassed three universally identified profiles: “low involvement in life and study,” “moderate involvement in life and study,” and “high involvement in life but low in study.” For the 8th and 11th graders, the fourth profile was denoted as “high involvement in life and study,” while for 4th graders, it was termed “moderate involvement in life but moderately low in study.” MANCOVA results revealed statistically significant differences in students' resilience and academic achievement across profiles after controlling students' gender and family socioeconomic status (SES). The findings of this research highlight that parents' more frequent involvement in students' everyday lives, coupled with less frequent involvement in their study matters, may effectively foster academic success and enhance the development of resilient traits.

Educational relevance statement

This study sheds light on the impact of diverse frequency of parental involvement profiles on the academic achievement and resilience of Chinese students across different grade levels. The findings highlight students who perceive their parents as a ‘high involvement in life but low in study’ are associated with greater academic achievement and resilience. These insights emphasized the need for teachers, parents, and policymakers to consider the nature, frequency, and domains of parental involvement, offering significant implications for teaching strategies, parenting practices, and educational policy development, particularly in the Chinese context.

The “one-size-fits-all” approach commonly used in gamified learning is unlikely to optimize the effects of gamification due to individual differences. Personalized gamification based on player types has been considered a promising alternative. However, the jury is still out on whether personalized gamification improves student learning. Previous experiments examining its effectiveness have reported mixed results. This study employed a mixed-method research design to examine the effects of personalized gamification on student learning in terms of motivational (intrinsic motivation), behavioral (task completion rate), and cognitive (cognitive engagement and learning performance) outcomes, comparing it to a one-size-fits-all gamification approach over eight weeks. The results showed that students in the personalized gamification group (n = 36) significantly outperformed those in the one-size-fits-all group (n = 29) in motivational, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes. The follow-up individual interviews provide insights into the reasons underlying the reported effects.

Educational relevance and implications statement

The present study found that personalized gamification, tailored to individual differences in player types, has a significantly larger positive influence on student motivational, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes compared to the one-size-fits-all gamification approach widely used in education. Students' responses in the follow-up interview revealed that personalized gamification enhances their positive emotions and reduces negative emotions, which are antecedents of an improved motivational state. The improved motivational state exerts a positive influence on behaviors, which, in turn, promote cognitive learning outcomes. This study provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of personalized gamification, sheds light on the underlying mechanisms of its effectiveness and offers guidance for its implementation in online learning.

This study explored the early predictors of reading ability in Chinese children longitudinally and further examined whether shared or distinct mechanisms existed between reading comprehension and reading fluency. Metalinguistic awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN) were administered in grade 1 (G1), word-level reading skills were administered in grade 4 (G4), and text-level reading abilities were administered in grade 6 (G6). After controlling for non-verbal intelligence and G1 working memory, the results showed that G1 morphological awareness had a significant effect on G6 reading comprehension, whereas G1 RAN predicted G6 reading fluency significantly. Furthermore, G4 vocabulary knowledge played a mediating role in the effect of G1 morphological awareness on G6 reading comprehension, while G1 RAN predicted G6 reading fluency via G4 word-reading fluency. These findings indicate the importance of early morphological awareness and RAN, and suggest the distinct rather than shared factors and mechanisms of reading comprehension and reading fluency.

Educational relevance and implications statement

This longitudinal study reveals the unique and long-lasting effect of early morphological awareness on reading comprehension five years later, as well as the unique contribution of early rapid automatized naming (RAN) on reading fluency. It also highlights the mediating roles of vocabulary knowledge and word-reading fluency in these two paths, respectively. These findings offer insights into the distinct rather than shared mechanisms of reading comprehension and reading fluency. Providing explicit and systematic instruction on morphological awareness and RAN in early periods of elementary school may have cascading effects, initially enhancing word-level reading skills and subsequently facilitating text-level reading abilities.

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in academic motivation profiles over time and their potential academic outcomes (i.e., academic persistence and procrastination) and contextual antecedents (i.e., perceived parenting style) as well as personal antecedents (i.e., self-regulated strategies) among Chinese adolescents. Latent profile and transition analysis of responses from 497 students illustrated four motivational profiles (Autonomous, Multimotivated, Controlled, and Poorly Motivated) and several divergent transition patterns across two time points (e.g., 64 % remaining in original profiles, 12.9 % experiencing adaptive change, and 14.3 % experiencing maladaptive change). Students remaining in the Autonomous profile and experiencing adaptive motivation change were more well-adjusted with higher academic persistence and lower academic procrastination; and perceived need-supportive parenting and the use of cognitive reappraisal strategy in emotion self-regulation could foster the adaptive development of motivation over time. The findings add to practical knowledge about the mechanism and outcomes of the development of student motivation and provide implications in future educational interventions.

Educational relevance statement

The current research identified the transitions of academic motivation profiles among adolescents over time and explored their potential outcomes and antecedents. Results revealed that (a) four motivational profiles—Autonomous, Multimotivated (accounting for the largest proportion of Chinese adolescents), Controlled, and Poorly Motivated—varied in their volatility and stability over time; (b) belonging to stable Autonomous profile and occurring adaptive change in motivational profile showed the highest academic persistence and the least procrastination; and (c) perceived supportive parenting style (autonomy support, warmth, and structure) and usage of cognitive reappraisal predicted students' staying in or shifting to a more adaptive motivational profile. The findings highlight the necessity of distinguishing students' motivational profiles and providing targeted intervention for them, and indicate the potential avenues to facilitate students' adaptive change in academic motivation. Teaching students how to adaptively regulate personal emotions may not only contribute to their social development, but also be conductive to protect them from the worsening of academic motivation and even boost the growth of autonomous motivation over time.

Teacher judgments of student achievement influence students' school transitions. Teachers not only evaluate student achievements but also other competencies, such as metacognitive knowledge. Therefore, students' metacognitive knowledge could affect teachers' school track recommendations. The aim of this study (N = 5870 elementary school students from the German National Educational Panel Study) was to explore the extent to which students' metacognitive knowledge influences teacher judgments, teacher school track recommendations, and students' transition to gymnasium. We employed a multilevel path model to test the effects of metacognitive knowledge on teacher judgments, school track recommendations, and students' transition to gymnasium. Moreover, we found that metacognitive knowledge has a significant indirect effect on school track recommendations and students' transition to gymnasium via teacher achievement judgments. The implications of these results for teacher education are discussed.

In this study, we investigated first- (L1) and second-language (L2) vocabulary and phonology, and selective attention, as precursors of L2 early literacy in bilingual kindergartners with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). We compared typically developing (TD) and DLD bilinguals with TD/DLD monolinguals (n = 157, M_AGE = 3;8), and examined how TD/DLD bilinguals' precursor abilities predicted L2 phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and letter knowledge. The precursor variables were assessed during preschool, including L1/L2 Dutch and L1 Turkish/Polish. Two years later, we assessed L2 Dutch early literacy. The results showed that at preschool, DLD bilinguals scored lower than the other groups on L1 vocabulary and L1–L2 phonology. By kindergarten, bilingual and DLD groups had poorer Dutch rhyme and RAN than monolingual and TD groups, respectively. Combined L1–L2 phonological skills predicted phonological awareness and RAN among TD/DLD bilinguals. We conclude that poorer L1–L2 phonology in DLD bilingual preschoolers poses a risk for their L2 early literacy at kindergarten.

Cooperative mindset refers to both a way of thinking and a practice aimed at achieving social transformation and innovation through the involvement of multiple individuals in the creative process. Drawing upon the 7Cs framework, this study analyzes the relationship between cooperative mindset and creative self-concept in a sample of university students. The mediating role played by other creativity-related variables in this relationship is also examined. Participants were 1940 first-year students from a Spanish university (M_age = 18.99, SD = 1.70; 51.1 % male, 48.7 % female, 0.2 % non-binary). Results revealed that creative self-concept is associated with cooperative mindset, and that this relationship is mediated by critical thinking disposition but not by entrepreneurial self-efficacy. These findings suggest that cooperative mindset among higher education students could be enhanced through the implementation of approaches to teaching and learning that foster a creative self-concept.

Educational relevance statement

In order to develop a cooperative mindset among higher education students it is essential to foster their creative abilities through approaches to teaching and learning that encourage reflection and the critical appraisal of ideas, situations, and concepts. It is also important to provide them with opportunities to engage in the co-creation of solutions to real-world problems. This could help to produce individuals and societies that are able to work together to achieve the common good and to offer innovative and socially transformative solutions to the complex challenges we currently face.