Educational Psychology Review最新文献

Marsh et al. (Educational Psychology Review, 36(2), 53, 2024) recently reported associations between academic achievement and self-concept (i.e., self-perceived academic competence). Marsh et al. claimed that their analyses supported a reciprocal effects model, according to which academic achievement and self-concept reinforce one another. Marsh et al. (Educational Psychology Review, 36(2), 53, 2024) further recommended to test alternative models and juxtapose their results and interpretations. Here, we followed this recommendation and tested different models using data simulated to resemble the data they used. However, contrary to Marsh et al. (Educational Psychology Review, 36(2), 53, 2024), in the present analyses we found contradictory positive, negative, and null effects between within-individual math self-concept and subsequent change in within-individual math achievement and vice versa. This suggests that the findings by Marsh et al. (Educational Psychology Review, 36(2), 53, 2024) may have been spurious and that the reciprocal effects model can be challenged.

Substantial research has explored the connection between children’s spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) and their current and later mathematical achievement. However, the findings have been inconsistent, and no comprehensive investigation has yet been conducted. This meta-analysis examines the relation between SFON and mathematics performance in preschool and school-age students and identifies potential moderators, including SFON measurement methods, SFON scoring methods, number size in SFON tasks, domains of mathematics skills, temporal relations, time lags, and age. Based on 171 effect sizes from 35 independent samples, involving 6604 participants across 29 studies, results revealed a significant positive correlation between SFON and mathematics performance (r = .274), with bidirectionality and longitudinal stability. The correlation remained significant after controlling for working memory, nonverbal intelligence, and inhibition, respectively. Moderation analyses showed stronger correlations with mathematics performance for behavioral-based tasks and scoring methods that consider both accuracy and quantifying acts. SFON tasks involving smaller numbers (less than ten) yielded stronger correlations with mathematics performance. Temporal relations emerged as a significant moderator, with a stronger longitudinal link from mathematics performance to SFON compared to the reverse. Age was another significant moderator, with the link strengthening with age. Interaction effects among moderators were also observed. Theoretical implications of these findings regarding the SFON-mathematics performance relation are discussed, and practical implications for comprehensive assessment of children’s SFON.

This commentary provides a constructive analysis of the meta-analysis by Ammar et al. Educational Psychology Review 36(2), 2024 on the contextual interference (CI) effect in applied settings, published in Educational Psychology Review. The authors are commended for significant advancements over their previous work (Ammar et al. Educational Research Review, 39, 100537, 2023), including addressing methodological limitations and incorporating sensitivity analyses to enhance the robustness of their findings. While their efforts represent a valuable contribution to understanding the CI effect, several areas warrant further refinement. Expanding database selection to include specialized resources in psychology, sports, and kinesiology could reduce the risk of missing relevant studies. Additionally, while pre-registration is not obligatory, its inclusion would enhance validity and transparency and mitigate potential biases. Some methodological inconsistencies, such as the inclusion of studies with differing definitions of CI practice, highlight the need for greater clarity in study classification. Overall, this commentary highlights areas for improvement while recognizing the authors’ contribution to advancing research on the CI effect in applied contexts.

The aim of the current paper is to offer a unique perspective on eye movement analysis in reading research by applying techniques from social network analysis to examine integration processes between sentences during reading. In a first step, we explored how network measures relate to the often-used duration measures in reading research in order to examine whether there is an additional value in using network measures. In a second step, we further explored how differences in network measures are related to text (i.e., topic structure) and reader characteristics (i.e., WMC). Thirty-one participants read three short expository texts. Four network measures at the sentence level were calculated for the three texts: strength, betweenness centrality, harmonic centrality, and local clustering coefficient. Correlations were computed between first-pass reading time and second-pass reading time and the network measures. Network measures were analyzed with (generalized) linear mixed-effects models. The results show that strength is strongly correlated to second-pass reading time. Betweenness, harmonic centrality, and the local clustering coefficient are not related to these often-used duration measures and thus capture aspects of integration processes that cannot be captured with duration measures. The results demonstrated that strength and betweenness centrality are related to reader’s WMC. It was also shown that strength, harmonic centrality, and local clustering coefficient were related to the topic structure of the text. This study demonstrates that a social network approach offers a novel perspective on moment-to-moment integration processes during reading.

Students’ emotions in the classrom are highly dynamic and thus typically strongly vary from one moment to the next. Methodologies like experience sampling and daily diaries have been increasingly used to capture these momentary emotional states and its fluctuations. A recurring question is to what extent aggregated state ratings of emotions over a longer period of time are similar to self-reported traits of emotions. Thus, this study aims to investigate the extent of similarity between students’ aggregated emotional states and self-reported traits over a two-week period in three consecutive school years (N_T1 = 149, average age_T1 = 15.64 years). Six discrete emotions (enjoyment, anger, pride, anxiety, shame, and boredom) were assessed in German, English, French, and mathematics classes. We investigated similarity in terms of convergence, mean-level differences, long-term stability, and incremental predictive validity of aggregated states and self-reported traits. Results indicated substantial convergence between aggregated states and self-reported traits, with both showing similar long-term stability. However, aggregated states did not demonstrate superior predictive validity compared to self-reported traits for academic outcomes, while momentary assessments offer insights into short-term emotional fluctuations, on a person-aggregated level aggregated states and self-reported traits behave rather similarly. This suggests that both can be used interchangeably to study students’ trait-related research questions, like interindividual differences or long-term emotional processes in educational settings.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework to guide the study of classroom factors that promote student functioning and development within classroom settings. First, we describe a new framework, Classroom Carrying Capacity, to categorize factors in the classroom as limiting or resource factors across four domains: external, collective classroom, student, and teacher. We also describe a schema for categorizing each limiting or resource factor as density dependent vs. independent and psychosocial vs. physical. This new framework is built from a model of sustainable ecosystems from the fields of biology and environmental sciences, to conceptualize the optimal level of support that a classroom can provide. Second, we illustrate the application of Classroom Carrying Capacity by demonstrating how three areas of research inquiry may be advanced via this framework. Finally, we recommend directions and high-leverage opportunities for theoretically and empirically building on the proposed framework.

Positive teacher–student relationships are critical for motivation in secondary school yet are conceptualized and measured inconsistently in motivation research. Motivation studies that draw on relational theories typically treat teacher–student relationships as a multidimensional construct, comprising positive (e.g., closeness) and negative (e.g., conflict) dimensions. In contrast, studies drawing on motivation theories typically use unidimensional relationship measures (e.g., only closeness). Studies also differ in their measures of teacher–student relationships and in whether they study dyads (“my teacher to me”) or broader groups (“teachers to me”; “my teacher to us”), and it is unclear which approaches are most common in current adolescent motivation research and how they have shaped current understandings of relationships in the field. Given this confusion, the aim of our systematic review was to map how teacher–student relationships have been conceptualized, measured, and analyzed in adolescent motivation research published between 2010 and 2023. Using PRISMA guidelines, 237 studies and 222 unique relationship measures were identified. The findings showed that teacher–student relationships and teacher support were used interchangeably across studies, both in terms of terminology and measurement. Most studies also examined teacher–student relationships using unidimensional measures, rather than multidimensional, with dyadic and non-dyadic relationships both common. Finally, there was no clear pattern of conceptualization or measurement for specific motivation constructs. These findings raise concerns regarding alignment between theorizing and measurement of teacher–student relationships in motivation research. We offer a path forward for identifying and appropriately using existing measures of teacher–student relationships vs support, as well as highlight the need for the development of measures which critically engage with conceptual concerns regarding teacher–student relationships and which reflect an integrated understanding of core relationship components (e.g., dyadic, multidimensional) identified across relational and motivation theories.

Self-explanation serves as a constructive learning scaffold in education, actively engaging learners in the identification of knowledge gaps and the rectification of erroneous mental models. This study aimed to examine the effects of self-explanation on students’ academic performance in digital learning environments and to test the possible moderating factors in this association. We focused on two issues: (a) the effectiveness of self-explanation on academic performance; (b) moderating factors (learners’ characteristics, learning environment characteristics, inducement characteristics, and learning material characteristics) associated with different studies that may have resulted in the inconsistent findings. Based on 204 effect sizes extracted from 56 studies, we found that, compared with no self-explanation conditions, self-explanation had at least a medium effect (total: k = 204, g = 0.46; retention: k = 56, g = 0.31; transfer: k = 77, g = 0.33; mixed: k = 71, g = 0.60; immediate: k = 158, g = 0.45; delayed: k = 46, g = 0.35) in enhancing academic performance. Furthermore, moderator analysis found that studies conducted in learner-centered pacing learning environments showed larger effect sizes of self-explanation on academic performance than those conducted in system-centered pacing learning environments. Self-explanation was also more effective in concept knowledge and mixed knowledge compared to procedural knowledge. In general, this meta-analysis provided confidence in utilizing self-explanation and offered evidence-based recommendations for providing self-explanation in digital learning environments. We concluded with issues for future research, such as the necessity for additional studies on the quality of self-explanation and the establishment of standardization criteria for evaluating its quality.

The number of children experiencing poor emotional wellbeing, which can lead to clinically significant mental health conditions in the long term, is increasing rapidly, as are government initiatives outlining the ‘frontline role’ of the school in supporting children’s emotional wellbeing during critical periods such as primary-secondary school transitions. However, both concepts (‘primary-secondary school transitions’ and ‘emotional wellbeing’) are poorly and inconsistently conceptualised and/or theoretically defined. This has significant consequences for identifying and supporting children’s emotional wellbeing. The aim of this concept analysis is to report a synthesis of the extant literature and define emotional wellbeing in the context of primary-secondary school transitions as a concept of emerging importance. The Walker and Avant (2005) method was utilised as a framework. Attributes, antecedents, and empirical referents were identified through synthesis of methodological approaches (specifically an international systematic literature review, UK-wide survey and 10 focus groups) and the mapping of multiple stakeholder perspectives (specifically researchers, educational practitioners, policy influencers and/or makers, and children). Attributes of emotional wellbeing in the context of primary-secondary school transitions include children’s affective experience of navigating primary-secondary school transitions in the here-and-now (e.g. presence of both positive and negative emotions), and their evaluations of their emotional wellbeing both globally and in the context of specific domains. Antecedents include children’s perceptions of their internal and external resources to manage the demands of primary-secondary school transitions and maintain a stable affective state. Consequences (positive and negative) include academic attainment, social adjustment, and school belonging in the short-term, and mental health, life chances, and social inequalities in the long-term. Our novel conceptualisation overcomes limitations in existing understanding of both primary-secondary school transitions and emotional wellbeing, establishing a foundation for developing a more cohesive and theoretical body of work within the field. Our conceptualisation and operational definition will have notable positive implications in advancing future research, policy, and practice, which are outlined.

Cross-age tutoring is an educational model where an older tutor is paired with a younger tutee, valued for its economic advantages and capacity to engage participants. This model leads to improvements in both academic performance and behavior, as evidenced by Shenderovich et al. (International Journal of Educational Research, 76, 190–21 2016) meta-analysis, which reported statistically significant positive effects across various educational settings and demographic groups. In this study, we aimed to update this previous meta-analysis by systematically examining 32 studies on cross-age tutoring. In our updated meta-analysis, we observed a small to moderate positive effect on academic outcomes for both tutors and tutees. The overall effect size was 0.34, with tutees benefiting at 0.33 and tutors at 0.39. Our moderator analyses revealed no significant differences in impact from the number of sessions, tutor type, tutee risk status, or subject area. These findings highlight the broad applicability and effectiveness of cross-age tutoring, particularly emphasizing the benefits of using older students as tutors in resource-limited settings. Further research is recommended to explore additional influencing factors.