British Journal of Educational Psychology最新文献

Background: Many studies have indicated that mathematics anxiety is a significant problem for many people and is an important topic for research. Mathematics anxiety is multidimensional. In particular, it is important to distinguish between worry and emotionality components, and between trait and state anxiety. Much research shows a reciprocal relationship between mathematics anxiety and performance adding to the importance of gaining a greater understanding of the factors involved in mathematics anxiety.

Aims: This paper aims to review some studies of factors that have often been found to be associated with mathematics anxiety: age, gender, and culture, and to consider the evidence for these associations and the further research that should be done.

Materials and methods: The study involved reviewing a range of papers on the selected topics. In particular, the search terms 'Age differences and mathematics anxiety', 'Gender and mathematics anxiety' and 'Culture and mathematics anxiety' were put into Web of Science; and citations of relevant papers that emerged were also investigated.

Results: Most studies suggest that mathematics anxiety increases with age, and that the relationship between mathematics performance and at least some aspects of mathematics anxiety increase with age. Most, though not all, studies, indicate that females experience more mathematics anxiety than males, and some suggest that there are gender differences in the relationship between mathematics anxiety and performance. Most studies show cultural differences in mathematics anxiety, while also suggesting that the relationship between mathematics anxiety and performance is fairly uniform across cultures.

Discussion: Cross-cultural studies in this area are. However, somewhat limited by the fact that culture is usually confounded with nationality. Moreover, there are studies of all these factors that give somewhat conflicting results.

Conclusion: More research needs to be done in order to gain clearer answers, especially regarding the ways in which the effect of age, gender and culture interact with one another. The findings so far about the influences of age, gender and culture on mathematics anxiety have already had significant practical implications, but these need much further development.

Background: Many words have multiple meanings, which present challenges to learning, yet research has yet to identify effective interventions for homonyms. Lexical inference may be a promising strategy.

Aim: To evaluate a brief, novel lexical inference intervention for homonyms.

Samples: Children aged 7-8 years (Study 1: N = 180, Study 2: N = 76). Study 2 included children with English as an Additional Language (EAL, n = 37).

Methods: In two randomized controlled trials, participants were assigned to either inference training or control (Study 1: spatial training; Study 2: implicit exposure through reading). Their receptive knowledge of taught and untaught homonyms was measured before and after the intervention, and in Study 2, metacognitive and inference skills too.

Results: Those in the inference interventions showed greater gains in receptive knowledge than control groups. In Study 2, children also showed improvement in the inference test with homonyms, and while children with EAL had a specific challenge with receptive knowledge of homonyms compared to their EL1 peers, the intervention was equally effective for both groups. Receptive knowledge and inference with homonyms predicted unique variance in reading comprehension. The intervention showed limited transfer to untaught words, although patterns of errors provided some indication of improved understanding.

Conclusions: A brief inference training is effective for gaining knowledge of homonyms, with limited transfer to untaught words, and the intervention is equally effective for children with EAL and EL1. The findings also showed the importance of homonym understanding and inference for children's reading comprehension.

Background: Exploring how different profiles of academic task values (ATVs) and academic achievement (AA) influence students' school satisfaction should enrich understanding of how school satisfaction develops in specific academic situations.

Aims: This study aimed to identify profiles of ATV (attainment value [AV], utility value [UV]) and AA, as well as heterogeneous trajectories of school satisfaction, and then examine the joint predictive effects of ATV and AA on the development of school satisfaction.

Sample: A total of 3548 Chinese elementary school students (M_age = 8.94 years, SD = 0.72; 54.2% boys) completed five-wave assessments every 6 months across 2.5 years.

Methods: Data were collected through self-reports of ATVs and school satisfaction, while AA data were collected from final examination scores at the end of each semester.

Results and conclusions: Latent profile analysis (LPA) and latent class growth analysis revealed six profiles of ATV and AA (i.e., congruent subgroups: congruent-low, congruent-high, congruent-moderate and incongruent subgroups: high ATV-low AA, lower UV-moderate AA, low ATV-moderate AA); and four heterogeneous trajectories of school satisfaction (i.e., high-decreasing, low-stable, high-stable, low-increasing). Latent transition analysis (LTA) indicated that students with congruent levels of AA and ATV were more likely to transition into the optimal school satisfaction groups (high-stable and low-increasing groups), whereas students with greater gaps between AA and ATV were more likely to transition into the adverse groups (i.e., low-stable and high-decreasing groups). These findings highlight the need for educators to tailor interventions to distinct groups to optimize students' school satisfaction.

Background: Video lectures are one of the most popular educational media in an online environment. Despite the documented benefits of adopting humour in traditional educational instruction, few attempts have been made to investigate its effects on learning from video lectures.

Aims: The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of related humour and unrelated humour when learning from video lectures. The expected outcome is to provide a more accurate guidance for the incorporation of humour with the video design for better instructional efficiency.

Methods: The present study adopted a within-subjects design, evidenced by both traditional and electroencephalography (EEG) measurements. Twenty-one undergraduate students watched three video lectures teaching different sets of English vocabulary words, providing differing extra information (related humour vs. unrelated humour vs. non-humour) after presenting lexical knowledge. EEGs of participants were assessed while watching learning content (i.e., lexical knowledge). Their self-reported learning experience (engagement and motivation) and learning outcomes were assessed after viewing whole video lectures.

Results: The results revealed whether related or unrelated humour designed in video lectures aroused better engagement and motivation than no humour ones, demonstrated by stronger EEG oscillations in alpha and beta frequencies across most brain regions. Furthermore, related humour was more beneficial to knowledge acquisition compared with no humour, as indicated by improved learning outcomes, whereas the impact of unrelated humour was not obvious. Although there were no differences in the learning outcomes and neural oscillations associated with cognitive processes between the related humour and the unrelated humour conditions, the self-reported learning experience was distinct between these two groups.

Conclusions: We discussed the findings in terms of heuristic value of humour approaches, especially related humour on the instructional design of video lectures.

Background: Executive functions (EFs) are critical in school and closely linked to academic achievement and learning-related behaviours (LRBs). LRBs encompass the ability to adapt to school demands, including concentration, adherence to rules, and autonomy.

Aims: This correlational study aimed to examine the mediating role of LRB in the association between EF and academic achievement in the first year of primary school.

Sample and method: Ninety-five first graders underwent a performance-based EF assessment, involving tasks related to working memory and inhibition. Concurrently, they completed literacy and math tasks, while their teacher provided reports on their LRBs.

Results: The results indicate that depending on the specific EF component or learning domain considered, diverse patterns emerge. Nevertheless, the findings consistently show that EFs are directly and indirectly associated with learning outcomes, with the mediating influence of LRBs.

Conclusions: These results emphasize the importance of supporting EF development into early education curricula.

Background: Research on the role of the physical school environment in areas other than educational psychology has documented the benefits of exposure to nature for cognitive and emotional functioning. Positive effects have been indicated not only after a break in nature in mentally fatigued students but also in students who did not have depleted mental resources when performing cognitive tasks in a green area.

Aims: We investigated the impact of the physical school environment during a single lesson. We also considered psychophysiological self-regulation as a possible moderator of the relationship between environment and learning.

Sample: We used data from 101 sixth and seventh graders for self-reported variables. Data about psychophysiological self-regulation, measured as resting cardiac vagal tone, was available for 83 students.

Method: In a within-participants research design, we compared the effects of a lesson in the classroom and a lesson in a green urban park close to the school - featuring numerous trees of different sizes, with lush foliage - on participants' affective state, perception of the environmental quality, and conceptual learning.

Results: After the lesson in nature, students reported more positive affect and perceived the park as a higher quality environment compared with the indoor classroom. Students with higher cardiac vagal tone learned more in nature, whereas this individual characteristic did not play a role in the classroom environment.

Conclusion: Passive exposure to nature during a school lesson has a positive affective impact and may also be beneficial for conceptual learning in combination with a higher ability to flexibly adapt to environmental demands.

Background: Youth with neurodevelopmental disorders are at risk for school failure, but little is known about the contextual factors influencing academic achievement.

Aims: Drawing on a bioecological system framework, we examined how ADHD and autism, parental educational attainment and aspects of the parent-child relationship influence educational achievement at the end of primary school, and to what extent these factors have independent as opposed to interactive effects on educational achievement.

Sample: A total of 12,477 twins born 1994-2005 from Sweden.

Methods: ADHD and autism were assessed at age nine with a structured telephone interview with parents. Among participants, n = 996 and n = 249 met screening criteria for ADHD and autism, respectively. At age 15, data on parent-child relationships and parental educational attainment were gathered. Children's school grades and eligibility for upper secondary school were obtained from a register, and used as main outcome measures. Multiple regression models with interaction terms were used to explore if the effects of family-related factors differed in students with or without ADHD or autism.

Results: ADHD or autism was associated with low academic achievement, as were all the family-related variables in multiple regression models (all p < .005). However, there was no statistical evidence (all p > .005) that the influence of family-related variables differed (i.e., were either less or more important in the prediction of educational achievement) in students with or without ADHD or autism.

Conclusions: Results were in keeping with a bioecological model of non-interacting multiple risks for educational underachievement in students with ADHD and/or autism.

Background: On computation items, young girls tend to use algorithmic approaches more than boys do. However, it is unclear whether these patterns persist as students progress into adulthood.

Aims: In two independent studies using different measures, we examine gender differences in computation strategy use in adolescents (Study 1) and adults (Study 2). We explore factors that might explain differences, and whether they relate to gender differences in math performance.

Samples: Study 1 uses data from students at a U.S. public high school (n = 213; 54.5% female). Study 2 uses data from U.S. adults (n = 810; 58.6% women).

Methods: Participants completed computation items, math performance measures and measures commonly found to relate to both gender and math. The unique relations between algorithm use, gender and math performance were examined while accounting for key covariates.

Results: Girls and women used an algorithm more often than their male counterparts, as did people with lower mental rotation skills and higher teacher-pleasing tendencies (Study 1) and higher test anxiety (Study 2). After including covariates, the gender difference in algorithm use decreased in Study 1 but not in Study 2. Across both studies, girls and women, and those who use algorithms more, had lower performance on problem-solving measures, as did those with higher teacher-pleasing tendencies and lower confidence (Study 1) and lower math anxiety (Study 2).

Conclusions: Gendered patterns in algorithm use within older samples and the negative relation of algorithm use with math performance point to the need for renewed focus on developing children's computational approaches.

Background and aims: This study examined preschool-aged children's attention to text in video, and whether it may be related to their developing orthographic knowledge. SAMPLE 1: Study 1 showed 66 children videos that included text. Method Children's attention to the video was measured using eye-tracking, and their recognition of orthographic patterns within the video was tested after viewing. Results During viewing, children attended to the text 6% of the time it was available. However, children who both had pre-existing letter knowledge and attended to the text in the video were able to identify the written words. SAMPLE 2: A second study extended these findings to a younger age group (n = 59).

Method: In Study 2, we also showed children an unrelated storybook that incorporated the target words from the videos and measured attention to that storybook.

Results: Results again showed little attention to text, but some recognition of written words for those who did attend. Study 2 also showed that children who recognized the written words from the video attended more to those words in a different context.

Conclusion: Overall results suggest a relationship between letter knowledge, attention and developing orthographic knowledge.