Learning and Individual Differences最新文献

Primarily studying executive functions of children from low-income backgrounds in comparison to more affluent peers can promote a deficit perspective that they are uniformly lacking in skills. We used latent profile analysis to investigate patterns of heterogeneity in executive functions in a sample of 232 preschoolers (M_age = 52.15 months, SD_age = 6.70 months; 50 % female; 34 % Latine, 31 % White, 10 % Asian, 7 % Black, 14 % Multiracial, and 4 % other) from low-income backgrounds in the Midwestern United States. Five executive functions (working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, complex planning, and behavioral self-regulation) were used as indicators. We found evidence of four latent profiles including three profiles with consistently below average, above average, and high executive functions. A fourth discordant profile had high executive functions but below average behavioral self-regulation. We also estimated relations among executive function profiles and concurrent numeracy, vocabulary, and geometry; patterns of relations differed by pre-academic skill.

Educational relevance and implications

Primarily studying executive functions of children from low-income backgrounds in comparison to more affluent peers can promote a deficit perspective that they are uniformly lacking in skills. Using a statistical method that allowed us to explore sub-groups of children based on their executive function skills, we found evidence of four distinct sub-groups in a sample of preschoolers from low-income backgrounds. One sub-group scored high in executive functions but lower in incorporating them into gross motor behavior, which may be particularly important for early math. Results disrupt deficit perspectives and point to future areas of research for designing targeted and differentiated instruction.

A creative self-efficacy (CSE) course, I Believe I'm Creative, was developed and imparted through the emotionalized learning experiences (ELE) format to advance academic thriving and academic engagement among Pakistan's college students. This three-wave study comprised 166 participants randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 83) and a wait-list control (n = 83) group. Growth curve analysis provided a comprehensive view of the development of the study variables in the two groups. Results demonstrated that CSE, academic thriving, and academic engagement increased at a greater rate at each time interval in the experimental group than in the control group. Further, results indicated that there were significant differences in participants' initial scores (intercepts) and growth trajectories (slopes) pertaining to the three variables. Also, students in the two groups who had low initial scores on the three variables had a faster increase in linear growth than those with high initial scores over time.

Using a subsample from the National Institute of Child Health and Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 961), we employed a network approach to explore the complex and interrelated structures of three sets of school readiness skills and how these skills may relate to children's long-term literacy and math performance from kindergarten to 5th grade. The network analysis identified three sub-modules of school readiness skills: academic and cognitive skills module, parents' perspective of socio-emotional skills module, and children's adjustment in child care module. Notably, within the academic and cognitive skills module, early mathematics emerged as the most potent predictor of longitudinal variations in both literacy and math outcomes until the 5th grade, even after accounting for consistent academic performance across time. Furthermore, within the parents' perspective of socio-emotional skills module, inhibitory control and sustained attention were pinpointed as crucial factors for literacy development during the early educational years.

The growing societal need to promote creative thinking in education and the challenges of measuring creativity for contemporary educational approaches have contributed to the development of this study. Based on the confluence theory of creative potential, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of creative potential in 707 children aged 5 to 12 years using the Evaluation of Potential Creativity Test (EPoC). Specifically, divergent-explorative and convergent-integrative processes were measured in two domains of creativity: graphic and verbal. The results show that the EPoC is a consistent and structurally valid test. The latent profile analysis revealed five profiles. Younger children showed less complex profiles than older children. We found no statistically significant differences between the profiles in relation to gender. Based on these results of the EPoC test, we can measure and promote the creative potential of school-age children in a valid and personalised way.

The starting point of this study has been to follow the engagement development of the same cohort of students in Finland for three academic years. A dynamic model of student engagement and specially designed Engagement Evaluation Questionnaire (EEQ) has been utilised for the study. Altogether 974 students representing different disciplines from all 13 research-intensive Finnish universities responded to the survey during the three-year follow-up. Four engagement profiles (overall engaged, personally engaged, socially engaged, and disengaged) were identified in the analyses. The engagement profiles were relatively stable across the three time points, despite some maladaptive and adaptive changes found in the analyses. The validity of the extracted latent profile patterns across time was investigated by testing their associations with priority of students' study fields, withdrawal intentions and register data on academic achievement.

Research conducted using variable-centered methods uses data from a “group of others” to derive generalizable laws. The average is considered a “norm” where everyone is supposed to be homogeneous and to fit the average yardstick. Deviations from the average are viewed as irregularities rather than natural manifestations of individual differences. However, this homogeneity assumption is theoretically and empirically flawed, leading to inaccurate generalizations about students' behavior based on averages. Alternatively, heterogeneity is a more plausible and realistic characteristic of human functioning and behavior. In this paper, we review the limitations of variable-centered methods and introduce—with empirical examples—person-centered and person-specific methods as alternatives. Person-centered methods are designed with the foundational assumption that humans are heterogeneous, and such heterogeneity can be captured with statistical methods into patterns (or clusters). Person-specific (or idiographic) methods aim to accurately and precisely model the individual person (at the resolution of the single subject sample size). The implications of this paradigm shift are significant, with potential benefits including improved research validity, more effective interventions, and a better understanding of individual differences in learning, and, more importantly, personalization that is tethered to personalized analysis.

Educational relevance statement

Our study presents a primer on the importance of individual differences, heterogeneity and diversity in capturing the unique peculiarities of students. In doing so, we can offer relevant personalized support that is more equitable and individualized.

The mechanisms underlying simple arithmetic difficulties in dyscalculia are unknown. Evidence suggests deficiencies may arise from basic processes supporting magnitude perception and arithmetic proficiency. We focused on ‘groupitizing’, the ability to decompose and recompose quantities into a whole, examining whether adults with dyscalculia could benefit from visuospatial grouping cues when asked to estimate the quantity of a given set of different number ranges. Results showed adults with dyscalculia tended to focus on individual items rather than grouping them, resulting in low estimation abilities in both small and large quantity ranges. However, the results highlight the importance of differentiating between large and small quantities in the groupitizing process: only where arithmetic was easy (small but not large quantities), were adults with dyscalculia able to demonstrate significant improvement when given grouping cues. Our findings suggest weaker groupitizing abilities play a significant role in magnitude perception and arithmetic proficiency levels in dyscalculia.

Educational relevance statement

People with dyscalculia have difficulties in basic arithmetic that impact their life in many ways, from simple tasks such as calculating change, to life-changing events such as entering higher education or making financial decisions. They use immature counting strategies to solve simple arithmetic questions despite otherwise intact intellectual abilities. The reasons for this are unclear. We argued there may be a link between simple arithmetic proficiency and quantity perception processes. Our study investigated the mechanisms underlying quantity perception that play a role in dyscalculia deficiencies. We focused on ‘groupitizing,’ a process that enables a person to estimate a given quantity more efficiently by recomposing subgroups rather than simply using a counting strategy. The findings suggested a disadvantage in basic groupitizing in people with dyscalculia. Moreover, counting procedures interfered with groupitizing processes and hindered arithmetic proficiency.

This longitudinal study examined the possible antecedents and consequences of academic worries about the secondary school transition. It had two main goals. The first goal was to examine bidirectional links between student academic worries and their academic amotivation and test anxiety during the last two years of primary school (Grades 5 and 6). The second aim was to investigate the contribution of these factors to student school functioning after the transition. A sample of 341 students (49 % boys; M_age = 10.78) and one of their parents took part in the study. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that test anxiety positively predicted academic worries; academic worries positively predicted amotivation in Grade 6; academic worries and amotivation negatively predicted achievement and positively predicted academic maladjustment in secondary school; and test anxiety positively predicted academic maladjustment in secondary school. Implications for school-based interventions are discussed.

Student-centered teaching (SCT) is recognized worldwide as a best-practice instructional method. This study, guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, investigates the influence of country, school, classroom, and teacher factors on SCT. Using a large international education dataset, we examine how the Human Development Index, Power Distance Index, and Individualism Index affect SCT at the national level. School dynamics like innovativeness, teacher cooperation, and teacher-student relationships are also considered, along with classroom autonomy and teachers' self-efficacy at the classroom- and teacher-level respectively. Combining advanced modeling techniques, the results show that power distance and individualism interact to influence SCT. Additionally, school innovativeness, teacher cooperation, and teacher self-efficacy significantly predict SCT at both school and teacher levels.