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Over the past few years, studying abroad and other educational international experiences have become increasingly highly regarded. Nevertheless, research shows that only a minority of students actually take part in
academic mobility programs. But what is it that distinguishes those students who take up these international opportunities from those who do not? In this
study we reviewed recent quantitative studies on why (primarily German) students choose to travel abroad or not. This revealed a pattern of predictive factors. These indicate the key role played by students’ personal and social background, as well as previous international travel and the course of studies they are enrolled in. The study then focuses on teaching students. Both facilitating and debilitating factors are discussed and included in a model illustrating the decision-making process these students use. Finally, we discuss the practical implications for ways in which international, studyrelated travel might be increased in the future. We suggest that higher education institutions analyze individual student characteristics, offering differentiated programs to better meet the needs of different groups, thus raising the likelihood of disadvantaged students participating in academic international travel.
In this paper, we employ a comparative life course approach for Canada and Germany to unravel the relationships among general and vocational educational attainment and different life course activities, with a focus on labour market and income inequality by gender. Life course theory and related concepts of 'time,' 'normative patterns,' 'order and disorder,' and 'discontinuities' are used to inform the analyses. Data from the Paths on Life's Way (Paths) project in British Columbia, Canada and the German Pathways from Late Childhood to Adulthood (LifE) which span 28 and 33 years, respectively, are employed to examine life trajectories from leaving school to around age 45. Sequence analysis and cluster analyses portray both within and between country differences - and in particular gender differences - in educational attainment, employment, and other activities across the life course which has an impact on ultimate labour market participation and income levels. 'Normative' life courses that follow a traditional order correspond with higher levels of full-time work and higher incomes; in Germany more so than Canada, these clusters are male dominated. Clusters characterised by 'disordered' and 'discontinuous' life courses in both countries are female dominated and associated with lower income levels.
Effects of social and individual school self-concepts on school engagement during adolescence
(2020)
While school self-concept is an important facilitator of a student's school engagement, previous studies rarely investigated whether it may also explain the change in students' school engagement during secondary school. Moreover, as social relations play an increasingly important role in adolescence, the current research distinguishes between the social and individual school self-concepts of a student. Whereas individual school self-concept uses the perception of a student's own ability in the past in order to estimate perceived current ability, social school self-concept refers to the comparison of a student's own perceived current ability with the current perceived abilities of others. We examined the role of students' individual and social school self-concepts in the development of behavioral and emotional school engagement during the period from grade 8 to grade 9. The sample consisted of 1088 German adolescents at the first measurement time (M-age = 13.70, SD = 0.53; 53.9% girls). The findings suggested a significant decline in both emotional and behavioral school engagement over the span of 1.5 years. In addition, social-but not individual-school self-concept was associated with the change in both dimensions of school engagement over time, such as it may intensify a student's decline in school engagement levels. This might be due to the fact that students with a high social school self-concept tend to increasingly emphasize competition and comparison and strive for high grades, which lowers students' school participation and identification in the long term.
Prior research has shown that quantity of schooling affects the development of intelligence in childhood and adolescence. However, it is still debated whether other aspects of schooling-such as ability tracking or, more generally, school quality-can also influence intelligence. In this study, the authors analyzed intelligence gains in academic- and vocational-track schools in Germany, testing for differential effects of school quality (academic vs. vocational track) on psychometric intelligence. Longitudinal data were obtained from a sample of N = 1,038 Grade 7 and 10 students in 49 schools. A nonverbal reasoning test was used as an indicator of general psychometric intelligence, and relevant psychological and social background variables were included in the analyses. Propensity score matching was used to control for selection bias. Results showed a positive effect of attending the academic track.
The present study investigates school context effects on psychosocial characteristics (academic self-concept, peer relations, school satisfaction, and school anxiety) of high-achieving and gifted students. Students who did or did not make an early transition from elementary to secondary schools for high-achieving and gifted students in 5th grade in Berlin, Germany, are compared in their psychosocial development. The sample comprises 155 early-entry students who moved to an academically selective secondary school (Gymnasium) and 3,169 regular students who remained in elementary school until the end of 6th grade. Overall, a complex pattern of psychosocial development emerged for all students, with both positive and negative outcomes being observed. Specifically, the transition into academically selective learning environments seemed to come at some cost for psychosocial development. Propensity score matching analysis isolating the effects of selective school intake and the school context effect itself revealed negative contextual effects of early transition to Gymnasium on academic self-concept and school anxiety; additionally, the positive trend in peer relations observed among regular students was not discernible among early-entry students.
Background:
The overall goal of the project ‘StiEL’ is to contribute to the professional development of teachers and other educational staff working at German secondary schools. The aim is to develop an evidence-based training concept for the inclusion of students with diverse abilities. The project is organized as a collaborative research effort of three partnering institutions and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research from 2018-2021.
Methods:
To support the on-going transition towards inclusive school practices, a multi-stage approach is envisaged. The first phase aims at a scoping review of existing literature and programmes on inclusion. The overview is supplemented by interviews with school staff members. Training modules are developed in the second project phase. The third phase of StiEL puts the newly developed training program into practice. The knowledge and skills acquired by the participants through the training as well as the teaching and management of inclusive classrooms after the training are evaluated through longitudinal and ethnographic approaches. The final project phase creates a best practice manual and makes the modules available via open access databases.
Results:
The presentation will focus on the first phase and try to explore the health-related consequences of the transition towards an inclusive school system in Germany for different participants. We will present preliminary results of expert interviews as well as some results from the literature screening. Due to our findings the current practice on German schools towards the road to inclusion is very stressful for all participants. We will explore recommendations for health promoting schools under conditions of inclusion.
Conclusions:
In terms of health-related consequences for all participants, the road to inclusion is very ambitious but also very stressful. Regarding the development of an inclusive school system, we need to focus much more on health and health promotion.
Differentiation of intelligence refers to changes in the structure of intelligence that depend on individuals' level of general cognitive ability (ability differentiation hypothesis) or age (developmental differentiation hypothesis). The present article aimed to investigate ability differentiation, developmental differentiation, and their interaction with nonlinear factor analytic models in 2 studies. Study 1 was comprised of a nationally representative sample of 7,127 U.S. students (49.4% female; M-age = 14.51, SD = 1.42, range = 12.08-17.00) who completed the computerized adaptive version of the Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery. Study 2 analyzed the norming sample of the Berlin Intelligence Structure Test with 1,506 German students (44% female; M-age = 14.54, SD = 1.35, range = 10.00-18.42). Results of Study 1 supported the ability differentiation hypothesis but not the developmental differentiation hypothesis. Rather, the findings pointed to age-dedifferentiation (i.e., higher correlations between different abilities with increasing age). There was evidence for an interaction between age and ability differentiation, with greater ability differentiation found for older adolescents. Study 2 provided little evidence for ability differentiation but largely replicated the findings for age dedifferentiation and the interaction between age and ability differentiation. The present results provide insight into the complex dynamics underlying the development of intelligence structure during adolescence. Implications for the assessment of intelligence are discussed.
Differentiation hypotheses concern changes in the structural organization of cognitive abilities that depend on the level of general intelligence (ability differentiation) or age (developmental differentiation). Part 1 of this article presents a review of the literature on ability and developmental differentiation effects in children, revealing the need for studies that examine both effects simultaneously in this age group with appropriate statistical methods. Part 2 presents an empirical study in which nonlinear factor analytic models were applied to the standardization sample (N = 2,619 German elementary schoolchildren; 48% female; age: M = 8.8 years, SD = 1.2, range 6-12 years) of the THINK 1-4 intelligence test to investigate ability differentiation, developmental differentiation, and their interaction. The sample was nationally representative regarding age, gender, urbanization, and geographic location of residence but not regarding parents' education and migration background (overrepresentation of children with more educated parents, underrepresentation of children with migration background). The results showed no consistent evidence for the presence of differentiation effects or their interaction. Instead, different patterns were observed for figural, numerical, and verbal reasoning. Implications for the construction of intelligence tests, the assessment of intelligence in children, and for theories of cognitive development are discussed.
In the present paper we empirically investigate the psychometric properties of some of the most famous statistical and logical cognitive illusions from the "heuristics and biases" research program by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, who nearly 50 years ago introduced fascinating brain teasers such as the famous Linda problem, the Wason card selection task, and so-called Bayesian reasoning problems (e.g., the mammography task). In the meantime, a great number of articles has been published that empirically examine single cognitive illusions, theoretically explaining people's faulty thinking, or proposing and experimentally implementing measures to foster insight and to make these problems accessible to the human mind. Yet these problems have thus far usually been empirically analyzed on an individual-item level only (e.g., by experimentally comparing participants' performance on various versions of one of these problems). In this paper, by contrast, we examine these illusions as a group and look at the ability to solve them as a psychological construct. Based on an sample of N = 2,643 Luxembourgian school students of age 16-18 we investigate the internal psychometric structure of these illusions (i.e., Are they substantially correlated? Do they form a reflexive or a formative construct?), their connection to related constructs (e.g., Are they distinguishable from intelligence or mathematical competence in a confirmatory factor analysis?), and the question of which of a person's abilities can predict the correct solution of these brain teasers (by means of a regression analysis).
Between-School Variation in Students' Achievement, Motivation, Affect, and Learning Strategies
(2017)
To plan group-randomized trials where treatment conditions are assigned to schools, researchers need design parameters that provide information about between-school differences in outcomes as well as the amount of variance that can be explained by covariates at the student (L1) and school (L2) levels. Most previous research has offered these parameters for U.S. samples and for achievement as the outcome. This paper and the online supplementary materials provide design parameters for 81 countries in three broad outcome categories (achievement, affect and motivation, and learning strategies) for domain-general and domain-specific (mathematics, reading, and science) measures. Sociodemographic characteristics were used as covariates. Data from representative samples of 15-year-old students stemmed from five cycles of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA; total number of students/schools: 1,905,147/70,098). Between-school differences as well as the amount of variance explained at L1 and L2 varied widely across countries and educational outcomes, demonstrating the limited generalizability of design parameters across these dimensions. The use of the design parameters to plan group-randomized trials is illustrated.
The aim of the present study was to examine how different types of tracking—
between-school streaming, within-school streaming, and course-by-course
tracking—shape students’ mathematics self-concept. This was done in an
internationally comparative framework using data from the Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA). After controlling for individual
and track mean achievement, results indicated that generally for students
in course-by-course tracking, high-track students had higher mathematics
self-concepts and low-track students had lower mathematics self-concepts.
For students in between-school and within-school streaming, the reverse pat-
tern was found. These findings suggest a solution to the ongoing debate about
the effects of tracking on students’ academic self-concept and suggest that the
reference groups to which students compare themselves differ according to the
type of tracking.
This investigation examined the dynamic relation between culturally responsive teaching, teacher cultural diversity beliefs, and self-reflection on own teaching. A multiple case study with four ethnic German teachers was conducted using classroom video observations (3 lesson units X 2 raters) and post observation interviews in a culturally and ethnically diverse high school. For these teachers there was a high congruence between culturally responsive teaching and cultural diversity beliefs. Yet their degree of cultural responsiveness and their beliefs differed across teachers. The teachers who were observed to be more culturally responsive also showed elaborated patterns of self-reflection on their own teaching.
This book examines why Japan has one of the highest enrolment rates in cram schools and private tutoring worldwide. It sheds light on the causes of this high dependence on ‘shadow education’ and its implications for social inequalities. The book provides a deep and extensive understanding of the role of this kind of education in Japan. It shows new ways to theoretically and empirically address this issue, and offers a comprehensive perspective on the impact of shadow education on social inequality formation that is based on reliable and convincing empirical analyses.
Contrary to earlier studies, the book shows that shadow education does not inevitably result in increasing or persisting inequalities, but also inherits the potential to let students overcome their status-specific disadvantages and contributes to more opportunities in education. Against the background of the continuous expansion and the convergence of shadow education systems across the globe, the findings of this book call for similar works in other national contexts, particularly Western societies without traditional large-scale shadow education markets. The book emphasizes the importance and urgency to deal with the modern excesses of educational expansion and education as an institution, in which the shadow education industry has made itself (seemingly) indispensable.
This book:
• Is the first comprehensive empirical work on the implications of shadow education for educational and social inequalities.
• Draws on quantitative and qualitative data and uses mixed-methods.
• Has major implications for sociological, international and comparative research on the topic.
• Introduces a general theoretical frame to help future research in approaching this under-theorized field.
Prior research suggests that teachers with higher levels of empathy are more willing to intervene in bullying among students. However, these findings are based on hypothetical bullying situations and teachers' self-reports. In this study with 2,071 German students and their 556 teachers, we analysed reactions to hypothetical relational bullying situations as well as retrospectively reported bullying situations both from the teachers' as well as the students' perspectives. Results showed that teachers with higher levels of empathy reported stronger intentions to intervene in hypothetical relational bullying situations but were not more likely to intervene in retrospectively reported bullying situations. From the students' perspective, teachers' empathy was neither connected to the teachers' intention to intervene nor to the likelihood of intervention in the retrospectively reported situations. These different results could be taken as an opportunity to investigate whether existing findings could be influenced by methodological aspects such as teachers' self-reports. Implications for future research are discussed.
Causes, Time, and Truth
(2016)
We need causation, time, and truth in order to know how things in the broadest sense of the term hang together in the broadest sense of the term. The essays try to say something clarifying about those three classical questions of traditional metaphysics. Not dogmatic answers are offered, but guiding perspectives and possible justifiable ways of dealing with such fundamental
Social transitions are characterized by an increased heterogeneity in Western societies. Following the life course perspective, individual agency becomes central in shaping one’s life course. This article examines social transitions of adolescents using individual resource theory to explain differences of the timing of five transitions in partnership and family formation: the first sexual experience, the first intimate relationship, the first cohabitation, the first marriage, and the birth of the first child. Since little is so far known about how individual characteristics interact and influence the social transition to adulthood, we focus on the varying impacts of personal, social and socio-economic resources across the social life course. We use longitudinal data from the German LifE-Study, which focuses on the birth cohort of individuals born between 1965 and 1967. Using event history analysis, we find that the timing of the first sexual experience and first partnership transitions are mainly influenced by personal and social ressources, whereas socio-economic resources offer better explanations for the timing of entering marriage and parenthood. Most striking are the different explanatory models for women and men.
Background:
Using the internet to search for information or share images about self-harm is an emerging risk among young people. The aims of this study were (a) to analyze the prevalence of different types of self-harm on the internet and differences by sex and age, and (b) to examine the relationship of self-harm on the internet with intrapersonal factors (i.e., depression and anxiety) and interpersonal factors (i.e., family cohesion and social resources).
Method:
The sample consisted of 1,877 adolescents (946 girls) between 12 and 17 years old (Mage = 13.41, SD = 1.25) who completed self-report measures.
Results:
Approximately 11% of the participants had been involved in some type of self-harm on the internet. The prevalence was significantly higher among girls than boys and among adolescents older than 15 years old. Depression and anxiety increased the risk of self-harm on the internet, whereas family cohesion decreased the probability of self-harm on the internet.
Conclusions:
Self-harm on the internet is a relatively widespread phenomenon among Spanish adolescents. Prevention programs should include emotional regulation, coping skills, and resilience to reduce in this behavior.
In many countries, students are asked about their perceptions of teaching in order to make decisions about the further development of teaching practices on the basis of this feedback. The stability of this measurement of teaching quality is a prerequisite for the ability to generalize the results to other teaching situations. The present study aims to expand the extant empirical body of knowledge on the effects of situational factors on the stability of students’ perceptions of teaching quality. Therefore, we investigate whether the degree of stability is moderated by three situational factors: time between assessments, subjects taught by teachers, and students’ grade levels. To this end, we analyzed data from a web-based student feedback system. The study involved 497 teachers, each of whom conducted two student surveys. We examined the differential stability of student perceptions of 16 teaching constructs that were operationalized as latent correlations between aggregated student perceptions of the same teacher’s teaching. Testing metric invariance indicated that student ratings provided measures of teaching constructs that were invariant across time, subjects, and grade levels. Stability was moderated to some extent by grade level but not by subjects taught nor time spacing between surveys. The results provide evidence of the extent to which situational factors may affect the stability of student perceptions of teaching constructs. The generalizability of the students’ feedback results to other teaching situations is discussed.
Germany historically responded to student diversity by tracking students into different schools beginning with grade 5. In the last decades, sociopolitical changes, such as an increase in "German-as-a-second-language" speaking students (GSL), have increased diversity in all tracks and have forced schools to consider forms of individualization. This has opened up the scientific debate in Germany on merits and limitations of individualization for different student groups within a tracked system and heterogeneous classes. The aim of the present exploratory study was to examine how individualized teaching (i.e., teacher self-reported individualized teaching practices and individual reference norm orientation) is related to student-perceived teaching quality. Additionally, we considered moderation effects of classroom composition in relation to achievement and proportion of GSL students. Longitudinal data came from 35 mathematics classes with 659 9th and 10th grade students. Results showed significant relation between teacher self-reported individualized teaching practices and individual reference norm orientation and monitoring. Regarding the composition effects, the proportion of GSL students in class moderated the relation between teacher self-reported individual reference norm orientation and cognitive activation. Our findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that classroom composition can differentially impact the relation between teachers' behaviors and students' perceptions of teaching quality.
Wages and wage dynamics directly affect individuals' and families' daily lives. In this article, we show how major theoretical branches of research on wages and inequality-that is, cumulative advantage (CA), human capital theory, and the lifespan perspective-can be integrated into a coherent statistical framework and analyzed with multilevel dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM). This opens up a new way to empirically investigate the mechanisms that drive growing inequality over time. We demonstrate the new approach by making use of longitudinal, representative U.S. data (NLSY-79). Analyses revealed fundamental between-person differences in both initial wages and autoregressive wage growth rates across the lifespan. Only 0.5% of the sample experienced a "strict" CA and unbounded wage growth, whereas most individuals revealed logarithmic wage growth over time. Adolescent intelligence and adult educational levels explained substantial heterogeneity in both parameters. We discuss how DSEM may help researchers study CA processes and related developmental dynamics, and we highlight the extensions and limitations of the DSEM framework.
There is much interest in the identification of the main drivers controlling changes in the microbial community that may be related to sustainable land use. We examined the influence of soil properties and land-use intensity (N fertilization, mowing, grazing) on total phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) biomass, microbial community composition (PLFA profiles) and activities of enzymes involved in the C, N, and P cycle. These relationships were examined in the topsoil of grasslands from three German regions (Schorfheide-Chorin (SCH), Hainich-Dun (HAI), Schwabische Alb (ALB)) with different parent material. Differences in soil properties explained 60% of variation in PLFA data and 81% of variation in enzyme activities across regions and land-use intensities. Degraded peat soils in the lowland areas of the SCH with high organic carbon (OC) concentrations and sand content contained lower PLFA biomass, lower concentrations of bacterial, fungal, and arbuscular mycorrhizal PLFAs, but greater enzyme activities, and specific enzyme activities (per unit microbial biomass) than mineral soils in the upland areas of the HAI and ALB, which are finer textured, drier, and have smaller OC concentrations. After extraction of variation that originated from large-scale differences among regions and differences in land-use intensities between plots, soil properties still explained a significant amount of variation in PLFA data (34%) and enzyme activities (60%). Total PLFA biomass and all enzyme activities were mainly related to OC concentration, while relative abundance of fungi and fungal to bacterial ratio were mainly related to soil moisture. Land-use intensity (LUI) significantly decreased the soil C:N ratio. There was no direct effect of LUI on total PLFA biomass, microbial community composition, N and P cycling enzyme activities independent of study region and soil properties. In contrast, the activities and specific activities of enzymes involved in the C cycle increased significantly with LUI independent of study region and soil properties, which can have impact on soil organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Our findings demonstrate that microbial biomass and community composition as well as enzyme activities are more controlled by soil properties than by grassland management at the regional scale.
This study examined the relations between teacher-reported classroom management self-efficacy, stu-dent-reported teaching quality and students' enjoyment in mathematics. Data were collected from German ninth and tenth-grade students (N = 779) and their teachers (N = 40) at the beginning and the middle of the school year. Multilevel models showed that teachers' self-efficacy at time 1 significantly and positively related to class-level monitoring and relatedness at time 2. Class-level relatedness at time 2 was significantly and positively associated with enjoyment at time 2. Teacher-reported self-efficacy at time 1 was indirectly related to enjoyment at time 2 through relatedness at time 2.
Low-achieving students are at risk of experiencing a pattern of emotional, motivational, and cognitive deficits called school-related helplessness if they attribute their low achievement to low aptitude. Teachers' beliefs about the causes of students' low achievement are important sources of attributional information for students. In a sample of 2117 German ninth-graders attending the lowest track, 118 math and 129 German-language teachers, we tested whether teachers' beliefs about the extent to which aptitude causes achievement moderated the achievement-helplessness relation in students and whether there were differences between math and German. Multilevel analyses revealed that low prior achievement predicted higher helplessness in both subjects but the effect was stronger in math than in German. Teachers' beliefs amplified the achievement-helplessness relation in math but not in German. Results are discussed regarding domain-specific epistemological beliefs, and implications for research and practice are derived.
Teachers frequently express stress associated with teaching in large classrooms. Despite the timehonored tradition in teacher stress research of treating class size as a job-related stressor, the underlying premise that class size directly impacts teachers' stress reactions remains untested. In this randomized controlled experiment targeted at preservice teachers, we utilized a standardized virtual reality (VR) classroom to examine whether class size (number of student avatars) directly affected physiological (heart rate) or psychological (subjective rating) stress reactions among 65 preservice teachers. Results from linear mixed-effects modeling (LMM) showed that class size significantly predicted both their physiological and psychological stress reactions in the simulated environment: Average heart rate and subjective stress ratings were both significantly higher in the large class size condition. Further investigations into the causes of this association has been proposed. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the effects of classroom features on preservice teachers' emotional experiences and well-being.
Video is a widely used medium in teacher training for situating student teachers in classroom scenarios. Although the emerging technology of virtual reality (VR) provides similar, and arguably more powerful, capabilities for immersing teachers in lifelike situations, its benefits and risks relative to video formats have received little attention in the research to date. The current study used a randomized pretest-posttest experimental design to examine the influence of a video- versus VR-based task on changing situational interest and self-efficacy in classroom management. Results from 49 student teachers revealed that the VR simulation led to higher increments in self-reported triggered interest and self-efficacy in classroom management, but also invoked higher extraneous cognitive load than a video viewing task. We discussed the implications of these results for pre-service teacher education and the design of VR environments for professional training purposes. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Video is a popular teacher training medium given its ability to display classroom situations. Virtual reality (VR) also immerses users in lifelike situations and has gained popularity in recent years. Situational interest and self-efficacy in classroom management is vital for student teachers' professional development. What this paper adds VR outperforms video in promoting student teachers' triggered interest in classroom management. Student teachers felt more efficacious in classroom management after participating in VR. VR also invoked higher extraneous cognitive load than the video. Implications for practice and/or policy VR provides an authentic teacher training environment for classroom management. The design of the VR training environment needs to ensure a low extraneous cognitive load.
Student teachers often struggle to keep track of everything that is happening in the classroom, and particularly to notice and respond when students cause disruptions. The complexity of the classroom environment is a potential contributing factor that has not been empirically tested. In this experimental study, we utilized a virtual reality (VR) classroom to examine whether classroom complexity affects the likelihood of student teachers noticing disruptions and how they react after noticing. Classroom complexity was operationalized as the number of disruptions and the existence of overlapping disruptions (multidimensionality) as well as the existence of parallel teaching tasks (simultaneity). Results showed that student teachers (n = 50) were less likely to notice the scripted disruptions, and also less likely to respond to the disruptions in a comprehensive and effortful manner when facing greater complexity. These results may have implications for both teacher training and the design of VR for training or research purpose. This study contributes to the field from two aspects: 1) it revealed how features of the classroom environment can affect student teachers' noticing of and reaction to disruptions; and 2) it extends the functionality of the VR environment-from a teacher training tool to a testbed of fundamental classroom processes that are difficult to manipulate in real-life.
Learning analytics design
(2018)
Instructional designers use learning analytics information to evaluate designs of learning environments, learning materials, and tasks, and adjust difficulty levels, as well as measure the impact of interventions and feedback. Integrating real-time educational data and analysis into the design of learning environments, referred to as learning analytics design (LAD), seems to be a promising approach. Valid pedagogical recommendations may be suggested on the fly as learning analytics methodologies and visualizations evolve and as reliable tools become available and ready for classroom practice. This chapter aims to offer an overview on design and analytics of learning environments before reviewing opportunities of learning analytics design for optimizing learning environments in near real time. Learning analytics (LA) use static and dynamic information about learners and learning environments—assessing, eliciting, and analyzing them—for real-time modeling, prediction, and optimization of learning processes, learning environments, and educational decision-making.
Education
(2019)
Vives emphasizes needlework as an appropriate occupation for all women, even for ‘a princess or a queen’. A wide variety of schools run by individual tradesmen or women offered instruction in certain fields, such as writing and calculus, while schools erected or licensed by the authorities concentrated on religious education. A large group of orphanages founded during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries provided a sound education for boys and girls. Authorities, parents and educational thinkers of the time were much less concerned with girls’ education than with that of boys. Private tutoring at home concentrated on the same subjects but, when boys were instructed at home, some girls had a chance to participate in a more academically oriented education. In most educational settings, be it at day schools, boarding schools or in private homes, teachers, mothers and governesses were expected to raise good housewives, pious mothers and obedient spouses.
In early modern times orphans have been children who could not expect sufficient support from their family because of lack of at least one parent, in most cases the father. This article will clarify of whom we are talking if we talk about orphans and what have been the conditions of living in a society which was organised by a high variety of status for these children. Why could they be called children at risk? What options have been developed to raise these children and how was the variety of institutions founded in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries organised? The author draws from a number of studies on the history of poverty and provisions for orphans throughout Europe concluding with some considerations of the relevance of the Waisenhausstreit, a prominent German controversy brought about by enlightened educators and medical doctors during the second half of the eighteenth century when the option of raising orphans in centralised institutions became a controversial issue. Micro-historical investigation into orphanages in various European countries between 1550 and 1750 offers strong evidence that our view of orphans and orphanages are shaped by nineteenth-century notions of poverty and indigent children.
Equally able students have lower academic self-concepts in high-achieving classrooms than in low-achieving classrooms. This highly general and robust frame of reference effect is widely known as the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE; Marsh, 1987). This study contributes to research aiming to identify moderators of the BFLPE by investigating the effects of students' personality (i.e. Big Five traits and narcissism). Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to test the moderator hypotheses, drawing on data from a large sample of N= 4973 upper secondary track students (M age = 19.57). Consistent with a priori predictions, the negative effect of school-average achievement (the BFLPE) interacted significantly with narcissism. Students high in narcissism experienced smaller BFLPEs than did students with low or average levels of narcissism. The statistically significant effect for neuroticism acted in the opposite direction. The study illustrates how personality moderates frame of reference effects that are central to self-concept formation.
Migration is not a new phenomenon. However, recent data indicate that unprecedented numbers of people have experienced forced migration around the world with 51% under the age of 18 years. How can educational policies and practices respond sensitively to increasing cultural and migration-based diversity? The purpose of this special section that includes eight studies is to consider these issues more deeply. As a frame for the special section, we address the main question: What are promotive or protective factors for positive development of children and youth attending culturally diverse school contexts? In the collection of papers, these promotive and protective factors range from peers and families, to teachers, to organisational context and climate. With continued disruptions in children's lives due to a pandemic, climate change, war, conflict and poverty, migration will remain a pressing concern and will continue to transform the student populations in our classrooms and schools for the foreseeable future. The need to address how we can best provide students from diverse backgrounds equitable and supportive education, continues.
Acculturation and developmental theories and frameworks have merged steadily to portray the development and adaptation of immigrant children more comprehensively. In this article, we trace this evolution to show how research has increasingly provided greater specificity in identifying the domains, dimensions, and contexts of acculturation processes, as integrated with greater concern for developmental principles. Although models have become more complex and comprehensive, we still need well-formulated theoretical explanations for the many processes that link development with acculturation and subsequent adjustment. We argue that novel developmental and acculturation concepts could advance specific lines of research situated in these complex models. By continuing to integrate developmental science and acculturation research more explicitly, we can arrive at a clearer and more complete understanding of how immigrant children and youth adapt across the lifespan.
Does youth matter?
(2021)
Previous research has mainly concentrated on the study of certain transitions and the influence of economic and socio-structural factors on partnership status. From a life course perspective, it remains unclear how factors anchored in youth are related to the diversity of partnership biographies. Arguing that individuals act and behave based on prior experiences and resources, I analyse how personal and social resources as well as socio-demographic characteristics influence the turbulence of longitudinal partnership trajectories.
Using a longitudinal dataset from the German LifE Study, I examine partnership histories from the ages 16 to 45. The results suggest that in addition to the influence of an individual's socio-demographic placement (for example, religious commitment and regional living conditions), personal and social resources anchored in youth also have a long-term effect on the diversity of partnership trajectories. This article shows that women are influenced by their attitudes towards marriage and family, while men are influenced by their attitudes towards their careers.
Does youth matter?
(2022)
This dissertation is a compilation of publications and submitted publication manuscripts that seek to improve the understanding of modern partnership trajectories. Romantic relationships constitute one of the most important dimensions in a person’s life. They serve to satisfy social and emotional needs (Arránz Becker, 2008) and have an impact on various other dimensions of life. Since the 1970s, partnership formation has been characterized by increased heterogeneity, has become less ordered and much more diverse in terms of living arrangements and the number of unions across the life course (Helske et al, 2015; Ross et al, 2009). This dissertation argues that while partnerships have become more unstable, the need for attachment and the importance of relationship have remained high, if not increased, as evidenced by the prevalence of couple relationships that have remained quite stable (Eckhardt, 2015). The life course perspective (Elder, 1994; Elder et al., 2004; Mayer, 2009) offers an appropriate framework for the understanding of partnership formations throughout the life course. This perspective stresses the path dependency of the life course as well as the interdependencies of life domains (Bernardi et al., 2019). Thus, it can be argued that conditions, resources, and experiences in youth have a substantial influence on later life course outcomes. Given the increasing heterogeneity of partnership trajectories, research to understand partnership processes cannot be based only on single events (e.g., marriage or divorce) or life stages, but must be explored in a dynamic context and over a longer period of time. In sum, this thesis argues that partnership trajectories have to be considered from a holistic perspective. Not only single transitions or events are useful to describe modern partnership histories adequately, but rather the whole process. Additionally, as partnership trajectories are linked to various outcomes (e.g., economics, health, effects on children), it is therefore highly relevant to improve our understanding of partnership dynamics and their determinants and consequences. Findings in this field of research contribute to a better understanding of how childhood and youth are of prospective importance for the later partnership trajectories and whether there are any long-term effects of the conditions and resources formed and stabilized in youth, which then help to understand and explain partnership dynamics. Thus, the interest of this thesis lies in the longitudinal description and prediction of the dynamics of partnership trajectories in light of the individual resources formed and stabilized in youth, as well as in the investigation of the consequences of different partnership trajectory patterns on individual well-being. For these objectives, a high demand on the data is required, as prospective data at the beginning of the partnership biography are needed, as well as data on current life dimensions and the detailed partnership history. The German LifE Study provides this particular data structure as it examines life courses of more than 1,300 individuals from adolescence to middle adulthood. With regard to the overall aim of this dissertation, the main conclusion is that early life conditions, experiences, and resources influence the dynamics of individual partnership trajectories. The results illustrate that youth matters and that characteristics and resources anchored in youth influence the timing of early status passages, which sets individuals on specific life paths. However, in addition to personal and social resources, partnership trajectories were also significantly influenced by individuals’ sociodemographic placement. Additionally, individual resources are also linked to the overall turbulence or stability of partnership trajectories. This overall dynamic, which is reflected in different partnership patterns, influences individual well-being, with stability being associated with greater satisfaction, and instability (women), or permanent singlehood (men), having a negative impact on well-being. My analyses contribute to life course research by examining path dependency against the background of various individual factors (socio-structural and psychological characteristics) to model decision-making processes in partnerships in more detail. They do so by including also non-cohabitational union types in the analyses, by accounting for pre-trajectory life conditions and resources, and, most importantly, by modeling the partnership trajectory in a holistic and dynamic perspective, applying this perspective to appropriate and modern statistical methods on a unique dataset.
Objective:
Following a life course perspective, this study examines the link between partnership trajectories and three dimensions of psychological well-being: psychological health, overall sense of self-worth and quality of life.
Background:
Assuming that life outcomes are the result of prior decisions, experiences and events, partnership histories can be seen as a resource for psychological well-being. Furthermore, advantages or disadvantages from living with or without a partner should accumulate over time. While previous cross-sectional research has mainly focused on the influence of partnership status or a status change on well-being, prior longitudinal studies could not control for reverse causality of well-being and partnership trajectories. This research addresses the question of how different patterns of partnership biographies are related to a person's well-being in middle adulthood. Selection effects of pre-trajectory well-being as well as current life conditions are also taken into account.
Method:
Using data from the German LifE Study, the partnership trajectories between ages of 16 and 45 are classified by sequence and cluster analysis. OLS regression is then used to examine the link between types of partnership trajectories and depression, self-esteem and overall life satisfaction at age 45.
Results:
For women, well-being declined when experiencing unstable non-cohabitational union trajectories or divorce followed by unpartnered post-marital trajectories. Men suffered most from being long-term single. The results could not be explained by selection effects of pre-trajectory well-being.
Conclusion:
While women seem to 'recover' from most of the negative effects of unstable partnership trajectories through a new partnership, for men it was shown that being mainly unpartnered has long-lasting effects on their psychological well-being.
This mixed-method study addresses the need for a clear conceptualization of the professional reflection element of Lesson Study (LS), a popular collaborative approach to the professional development of teachers. Grounding and re-framing LS's post-lesson discussion in a theoretical framework of critical and collaborative reflection, we analyze the transcripts of four LS groups at German primary schools, focusing on depth of reflection and teachers' trajectories through their reflective practice. The findings show that LS groups differed significantly in the depth and the trajectories of their reflection processes. We consider implications for post-lesson discussions and critical reflection as a LS core skill.
Professional development on fostering students’ academic language proficiency across the curriculum
(2019)
This meta-analysis aggregates effects from 10 studies evaluating professional development interventions aimed at qualifying in-service teachers to support their students in mastering academic language skills while teaching their respective subject areas. The analysis of a subset of studies revealed a small non-significant weighted training effect on teachers' cognition (g' = 0.21, SE = 0.14). An effect aggregation including all studies (with 650 teachers) revealed a medium to large weighted overall effect on teachers' classroom practices (g' = 0.71, SE = 0.16). Methodological variables moderated the effect magnitude. Nevertheless, the results suggest professional development is beneficial for improving teachers' practice.
Example of best practice
(2021)
The Refugee Teachers Program, established at the University of Potsdam, Brandenburg, in 2016, represents a successful model for training and integrating individuals with foreign teaching qualifications through an 18-month teaching and language course. Initially created to help meet the demand for teachers in Germany, the Refugee Teachers Program has been further refined over the course of the last three years in the light of expert meetings, theoretical considerations, and negotiations with the Brandenburg Ministry of Education. This was the first program of its kind in Germany, following an influx of people being forced to migrate from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq in 2015. The program responded to these international events by providing training, work, and refuge for migrants who already had teaching experience in their home countries. More than 85 participants successfully completed the program and many have taken up newly created positions as teachers and pedagogical assistants in German schools. However, a number of hurdles still remain before most of the program's graduates can be granted full employment as teachers in Germany.
It is well-documented that academic achievement is associated with students' self-perceptions of their academic abilities, that is, their academic self-concepts. However, low-achieving students may apply self-protective strategies to maintain a favorable academic self-concept when evaluating their academic abilities. Consequently, the relation between achievement and academic self-concept might not be linear across the entire achievement continuum. Capitalizing on representative data from three large-scale assessments (i.e., TIMSS, PIRLS, PISA; N = 470,804), we conducted an integrative data analysis to address nonlinear trends in the relations between achievement and the corresponding self-concepts in mathematics and the verbal domain across 13 countries and 2 age groups (i.e., elementary and secondary school students). Polynomial and interrupted regression analyses showed nonlinear relations in secondary school students, demonstrating that the relations between achievement and the corresponding self-concepts were weaker for lower achieving students than for higher achieving students. Nonlinear effects were also present in younger students, but the pattern of results was rather heterogeneous. We discuss implications for theory as well as for the assessment and interpretation of self-concept.
When knowing is believing
(2018)
In an effort to understand teachers' technology use, recent scholarship has explored the idea of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK or TPACK). Many studies have used self-reports to measure this knowledge (SR TPCK). Several studies have examined the construct validity of these assessments by analysing the internal relationships of the knowledge domains, but little attention has been paid to how SR TPCK relates to external criteria. We tackled this question of discriminant validity by reanalysing 2 data sets. We used correlation and multiple regression analyses to explore whether conceptually related constructs explain any variance in participants' SR TPCK. In Study 1, we applied this strategy to German pre-service teachers using technology use, attitudinal variables, and objective measures of teachers' knowledge of technology and pedagogy as external criteria. In Study 2, we examined measures of technology knowledge, experience, and pro-technology beliefs for in-service teachers in the United States. Across both studies, a sizeable amount of the variance in SR TPCK is explained by teachers' prior technology use and pro-technology attitudes. In contrast, fact-based tests of technology and pedagogy are distinct from SR TPCK. We discuss implications for these findings and argue that researchers should gather complementary measures in concert.
Many educational technology proponents support the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model as a way to conceptualize teaching with technology, but recent TPACK research shows a need for empirical studies regarding the development of this knowledge. This proof-of-concept study applies mixed-methods to investigate the meta-cognitive awareness produced by teachers who participate in the Graphic Assessment of TPACK Instrument (GATI). This process involves creating graphical representations (circles of differing sizes and the degree of their overlap) that represent what teachers understand to be their current and aspired TPACK. This study documented teachers’ explanations during a think-aloud procedure as they created their GATI figures. The in-depth data from two German teachers who participated in the process captured the details of their experience and demonstrated the potential of the GATI to support teachers in reflecting about their professional knowledge and in determining their own professional development activities. These findings will be informative to future pilot studies involving the larger design of the GATI process, to better understand the role of teachers’ meta-conceptual awareness, and to better ascertain how the GATI might be used to support professional development on a larger scale.
Using German data, we examined the effects of one specific type of acceleration-grade skipping-on academic performance. Prior research on the effects of acceleration has suffered from methodological restrictions, especially due to a lack of appropriate comparison groups and a priori measurements. For this reason, propensity score matching was applied in this analysis to minimize selection bias due to observed confounding variables. Various types of matching were attempted, and, in consideration of balancing the covariates, full matching was the final choice. We used data from the Berlin ELEMENT Study, analyzing, after matching, the information of 81 students who had skipped a grade over the course of elementary school and up to 1,668 nonaccelerated students who attended the same grade level as the accelerated students. Measurements took place 3 times between the 4th and 6th grades, including the assessment of reading, spelling, and mathematics performance. After matching, the results of between-group comparisons regarding performance indices showed no significant effects of skipping a grade, other than a small positive effect found on spelling performance. Theoretical implications and methodological limitations are discussed.
Several studies have revealed that older students in a year group reach higher achievement scores than younger students in that group. But less is known about how students' relative age in class relates to their self-perception of academic achievement, their social acceptance in class and to how teachers judge their abilities. Therefore, we examined relative age effects within class on students' academic self-concept, peer relations, grades, and teachers' secondary school recommendation. Analyses were based on a sample of N = 18,956 German fourth graders, who had never been retained or accelerated. We applied multilevel regression to control for covariates at the individual and classroom level. There were no substantial relative age effects within class across any of the outcomes, except for a small advantage for the youngest in their reading self-concept. Our findings therefore contradict the common assumption that younger students in class are disadvantaged compared to their older classmates.
Gender-related aspects of political identity formation in adolescence : Theories, concepts, findings
(2005)
For decades, gender differences in political orientations were consistently found in empirical studies, particularly in youth studies. Thus, compared with male adolescents, female adolescents often come off badly in regard to pivotal political orientations like political interest and subjective political competence. Conversely, female adolescents demonstrate even more interest and involvement than males when less conventional issues and modes of political participation are concerned. How could this be explained? First of all, the article classifies the field of political orientations into five large areas and gives a detailed overview of the findings of empirical research. Subsequently, different approaches of gender differences in political orientations are presented: biology, situation, structure, socialization, personality development, and feminist political science. Finally, a stronger integrative perspective of the different approaches is argued, and a more comprehensive view on gender differences in political orientations is suggested
Almost all shapes of adolescent risky and deviant behaviour take place in the context of peer-relations. The present study examined the role of parents and peer-relations with respect to two indicators of deviant political development. In the fall 1998, directly after the German parliamentary elections, 1309 East German adolescents were asked about their voting for a right-wing extremist party and their readiness to use violence in political action. Friend's voting was a strong predictor of individual voting for a right-wing extremist party, particularly when the friend was the best friend with a reciprocal nomination, and when the friends frequently communicated about political themes. In addition, voting behaviour and willingness to use violence were associated with membership in peer groups who met frequently. Finally, the violence disposed adolescents spent more of their spare time with peers and less with their parents. Similarities of our results with the findings of research on deviant behaviour in non-political areas support the idea that deviant political behaviour could be an expression of a problematic life situation. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents
Clinical reasoning is an essential competency in medical education. This study aimed at developing and validating a test to assess diagnostic accuracy, collected information, and diagnostic decision time in clinical reasoning. A norm-referenced computer-based test for the assessment of clinical reasoning (ASCLIRE) was developed, integrating the entire clinical decision process. In a cross-sectional study participants were asked to choose as many diagnostic measures as they deemed necessary to diagnose the underlying disease of six different cases with acute or sub-acute dyspnea and provide a diagnosis. 283 students and 20 content experts participated. In addition to diagnostic accuracy, respective decision time and number of used relevant diagnostic measures were documented as distinct performance indicators. The empirical structure of the test was investigated using a structural equation modeling approach. Experts showed higher accuracy rates and lower decision times than students. In a cross-sectional comparison, the diagnostic accuracy of students improved with the year of study. Wrong diagnoses provided by our sample were comparable to wrong diagnoses in practice. We found an excellent fit for a model with three latent factors-diagnostic accuracy, decision time, and choice of relevant diagnostic information-with diagnostic accuracy showing no significant correlation with decision time. ASCLIRE considers decision time as an important performance indicator beneath diagnostic accuracy and provides evidence that clinical reasoning is a complex ability comprising diagnostic accuracy, decision time, and choice of relevant diagnostic information as three partly correlated but still distinct aspects.
Spatial abilities have been found to interact with the design of visualizations in educational materials in different forms: (1) spatial abilities enhanced learning with optimized visual design (ability-as-enhancer) or (2) spatial abilities compensated for suboptimal visual design (ability-as-compensator). A brief review of pertinent studies suggests that these two forms are viewed as mutually exclusive. We propose a novel unifying conceptualization. This conceptualization suggests that the ability-as enhancer interaction will be found in the low-medium range of a broad ability continuum whereas the ability-as-compensator interaction will be found in the medium-high range. The largest difference in learning outcomes between visual design variations is expected for medium ability. A corresponding analytical approach is suggested that includes nonlinear quadratic interactions. The unifying conceptualization was confirmed in an experiment with a consistent visual-spatial task. In addition, the conceptualization was investigated with a reanalysis of pooled data from four multimedia learning experiments. Consistent with the conceptualization, quadratic interactions were found, meaning that interactions depended on ability range. The largest difference between visual design variations was obtained for medium ability, as expected. It is concluded that the unifying conceptualization is a useful theoretical and methodological approach to analyze and interpret aptitude-treatment interactions that go beyond linear interactions.
According to the personalization principle, addressing learners by means of a personalized compared to a nonpersonalized message can foster learning. Interestingly, though, a recent study found that the personalization principle can invert for aversive contents. The present study investigated whether the negative effect of a personalized message for an aversive content can be compensated when learners are in a happy mood. It was hypothesized that the negative effect of a personalized compared to a nonpersonalized message would only be observable for participants in a sad mood, while for participants in a happy mood a personalized message should be beneficial. A 2 x 2 between-subject design with mood (happy vs. sad) and personalization (personalized vs. nonpersonalized message) was used (N = 125 University students). Mood was experimentally varied prior to learning. Learning outcomes were measured by a retention and a transfer test. Results were essentially in line with the assumption: For participants in the sad mood condition, a negative effect of a personalized message was observable for retention and transfer. For participants in the happy mood condition, a positive effect of personalized message was observable for retention, but no effect for transfer. Note that the manipulation check measure for the mood induction procedure did not detect differences between conditions; this may be due to a shortcoming of the used measure (as indicated by an additional evaluation study). The study emphasizes the importance to consider the inherent emotional content of a topic, such as its aversive nature, since the emotional content of a topic can be a boundary condition for design principles in multimedia learning. The study also highlights the complex interplay of externally induced and inherently arising emotions.
When used in a sensible way, Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) are supposed to motivate and engage students in learning in the classroom. Thereby, they might also stimulate students who are usually more restrained, such as more anxious students. However, the body of research on the impact of IWB lessons is rather small. The present study investigated whether a 45-minute lesson with the IWB compared to a conceptual identical 45-minute lesson without the IWB would support learning and motivation within the subject English as a foreign language for German students. Moreover, the study examined whether the 45-minute lesson with the IWB compared to the 45-minute lesson without the IWB would be better able to counteract the detrimental effects of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA). One hundred and two eighth graders from two secondary schools in Germany took part in this study and were either taught with the IWB (condition IWB; n = 53) or without the IWB (condition No-IWB; n = 50). Results showed that students in the IWB condition stated to be higher motivated and performed better in a vocabulary test than their counterparts in the No-IWB condition. FLCA was negatively correlated with performance in the vocabulary test. Other than expected, learning with the IWB did not compensate the detrimental effect of FLCA, meaning that learning with the IWB was more beneficial than learning without the IWB irrespective of a student's FLCA. Implications of the study will be discussed.
Achievement emotions are important prerequisites for academic outcomes and well-being, yet little is known about their relation to teaching quality. This study examines the relation between student-perceived teaching quality in mathematics classrooms in grade 9 and enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom in grade 10, at both the student and classroom levels. The original data set included 6020 students who participated in the German national extension of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Multilevel regression analyses showed that teacher support and classroom management were negatively related to student-level anxiety and boredom. Teacher support was positively related to enjoyment and negatively related to anxiety at the classroom level. Cognitive activation was positively related to enjoyment and negatively related to boredom at the classroom level. Classroom management was negatively related to classroom-level boredom. These results provide insight into differential classroom processes regarding the role of teaching quality in various aspects of student achievement emotions.
The purpose of this study is to examine whether teacher enthusiasm and classroom management self efficacy are related to classroom mastery orientation and student motivation. We used data from 803 students in grades 9 and 10 (53.3% girls) and their mathematics teachers (N = 41; 58.5% men). Student perceived teacher enthusiasm was related to classroom mastery orientation as well as to intrinsic value and cost at the student level. Teacher-reported self-efficacy was related to classroom mastery orientation at the classroom level. At both the individual and the classroom level, classroom mastery orientation was related to attainment and utility value.
Four topics were investigated in this longitudinal person-centered study: (a) profiles of subjective task values and ability self-concepts of adolescents in the domain of mathematics, (b) the stability of and changes to the profiles of motivational beliefs from Grade 7 to 12, (c) the relation of changes to student-perceived classroom characteristics, and (d) the extent to which profile membership in early adolescence predicted mathematics achievement and career plans in late adolescence and the choice of math-related college majors and occupations in adulthood. Data were drawn from the Michigan Study of Adolescent and Adult Life Transitions Study. We focused on students who participated in the following 4 waves of data collection (N = 867): at the beginning of Grade 7 (Wave 3), at the end of Grade 7, in Grade 10 (Wave 5), and in Grade 12 (Wave 6). Four profiles that were stable across Grades 7 to 12 were identified using Latent Profile Analysis. Student-reported fairness and friendliness and competition in class predicted changes in profile membership. Profile membership in Grade 7 predicted math-related career plans in Grade 12. Profile membership in Grade 12 predicted the choice of math-related college major after finishing school and of math-related occupations in adulthood.
Person-centered research has shown that individuals can be assigned to different motivational profiles, but only scattered studies have addressed motivational profiles in specific domains. We investigated the stability and change in motivational profiles in mathematics classrooms and examined how perceived teaching predicted changes in profile membership. Data for this study stemmed from the PISA-I Plus study (N=6020). Latent profile analysis identified four motivational patterns: Medium, Low, High and Highly confident, hardly interested. Stability in profiles from grade 9 to 10 was typical. Instructional clarity and teaching for meaning predicted changes in profile membership.
Background: Students' self-concept of ability is an important predictor of their achievement emotions. However, little is known about how learning environments affect these interrelations.
Aims: Referring to Pekrun's control-value theory, this study investigated whether teacher-reported teaching quality at the classroom level would moderate the relation between student-level mathematics self-concept at the beginning of the school year and students' achievement emotions at the middle of the school year.
Sample: Data of 807 ninth and tenth graders (53.4% girls) and their mathematics teachers (58.1% male) were analysed.
Method: Students and teachers completed questionnaires at the beginning of the school year and at the middle of the school year. Multi-level modelling and cross-level interaction analyses were used to examine the longitudinal relations between self-concept, teacher-perceived teaching quality, and achievement emotions as well as potential interaction effects.
Results: Mathematics self-concept significantly and positively related to enjoyment in mathematics and negatively related to anxiety. Teacher-reported structuredness decreased students' anxiety. Mathematics self-concept only had a significant and positive effect on students' enjoyment at high levels of teacher-reported cognitive activation and at high levels of structuredness.
Conclusions: High teaching quality can be seen as a resource that strengthens the positive relations between academic self-concept and positive achievement emotions.
Teacher self-efficacy and teacher interest are two key facets of teacher motivation that are important for highquality teaching. Little is known about the relative strength of the effects of teacher self-efficacy and interest on teaching quality when compared with one another. We extend previous research on teacher motivation by examining the relations linking mathematics teacher self-efficacy and interest with several relevant dimensions of teaching quality as perceived by teachers and students. Participants were 84 mathematics teachers (61.2% female) and their students (1718 students; 48.5% girls). Based on doubly latent multilevel models, we found that teacher-reported self-efficacy in instruction was positively related to teacher-reported cognitive activation, classroom management, and emotional support in mathematics classrooms. Teacher-reported educational interest showed positive associations with both student- and teacher-perceived emotional support. Future research is advised to focus more strongly on the unique relations between different teachers' motivational characteristics and relevant dimensions of teaching quality.
Teacher motivation
(2021)
An effective handling of heterogeneous groups in classrooms is one of the main challenges that teachers face when planning their instruction. However, including means of adaptive teaching in classrooms also yields the chance to re-conceptualize classroom instruction. Researchers and practitioners often discuss the question of how different ability levels can be considered adequately in teaching and learning. Because motivation is a central source of competence development and self-regulated learning, the current article discusses how teaching can adapt to learners' different motivational states and traits. In a first step, we review theoretical and empirical perspectives on intra- and interindividual motivational differences in students and their relations to other dimensions of classroom heterogeneity such as gender, ethnic background, and socio-economic status. Against this background, we discuss how instruction can adapt effectively to learners' different motivational needs. We introduce a model of adaptive teaching that refers to students' intra- and interindividual motivational differences and derive conclusions for teacher education and instructional practice.
Teacher self-efficacy for classroom management is an important component of teachers' identity with implications for their teaching quality. Theoretically, it has been described that contextual variables play an important role for self-efficacy development and its consequences. However, little is known about the interrelationships of job resources and demands with teacher self-efficacy, and consequences for teachers' professional behaviors. We extend teacher self-efficacy research by drawing on the Job Demands-Resources model in examining contextual influences on developmental dynamics between classroom management self-efficacy and teacher-reported classroom management, from prior to qualifying as a teacher until mid-career. Participants were 395 primary and secondary Australian school teachers. Longitudinal structural equation models showed teachers' classroom management self-efficacy positively related to aspects of their perceived classroom management, particularly during early career. Between early and mid-career, the positive relationship between self-efficacy and classroom management was moderated by early career excessive demands. Implications are outlined for teacher education and school administration.
Quality of mathematics education has gained significant attention in educational politics and among educators as mathematics advances the foundations of analytical thinking necessary to excel in today’s knowledge-based economy. Recent research on instructional quality has focused on students’ development of competencies. Competency-based instruction is believed to be an effective approach to instruction as it is closely aligned to educational standards. We use data from the National Assessment Study 2012 in Germany and apply the theory of planned behavior to determine what motivates mathematics teachers (n = 1660) to take a competency-based approach to instruction. Results indicate that competencies outlined in the educational standards are a tangible element of current mathematics instruction. Within the framework of this study, we identified teachers’ perceived behavior control as the strongest determinant of taking a competency-based approach to instruction. We conclude that advancement of competency-based instruction depends on teachers’ beliefs about their professional resources.
Value-added (VA) modeling can be used to quantify teacher and school effectiveness by estimating the effect of pedagogical actions on students’ achievement. It is gaining increasing importance in educational evaluation, teacher accountability, and high-stakes decisions. We analyzed 370 empirical studies on VA modeling, focusing on modeling and methodological issues to identify key factors for improvement. The studies stemmed from 26 countries (68% from the USA). Most studies applied linear regression or multilevel models. Most studies (i.e., 85%) included prior achievement as a covariate, but only 2% included noncognitive predictors of achievement (e.g., personality or affective student variables). Fifty-five percent of the studies did not apply statistical adjustments (e.g., shrinkage) to increase precision in effectiveness estimates, and 88% included no model diagnostics. We conclude that research on VA modeling can be significantly enhanced regarding the inclusion of covariates, model adjustment and diagnostics, and the clarity and transparency of reporting.
What is the added value from attending a certain school or being taught by a certain teacher? To answer this question, the value-added (VA) model was developed. In this model, the actual achievement attained by students attending a certain school or being taught by a certain teacher is juxtaposed with the achievement that is expected for students with the same background characteristics (e.g., pretest scores). To this end, the VA model can be used to compute a VA score for each school or teacher, respectively. If actual achievement is better than expected achievement, there is a positive effect (i.e., a positive VA score) of attending a certain school or being taught by a certain teacher. In other words, VA models have been developed to “make fair comparisons of the academic progress of pupils in different settings” (Tymms 1999, p. 27). Their aim is to operationalize teacher or school effectiveness objectively. Specifically, VA models are often used for accountability purposes and high-stakes decisions (e.g., to allocate financial or personal resources to schools or even to decide which teachers should be promoted or discharged). Consequently, VA modeling is a highly political topic, especially in the USA, where many states have implemented VA or VA-based models for teacher evaluation (Amrein-Beardsley and Holloway 2017; Kurtz 2018). However, this use for high-stakes decisions is highly controversial and researchers seem to disagree concerning the question if VA scores should be used for decision-making (Goldhaber 2015). For a more exhaustive discussion of the use of VA models for accountability reasons, see, for example, Scherrer (2011).
Given the far-reaching impact of VA scores, it is surprising that there is scarcity of systematic reviews of how VA scores are computed, evaluated, and how this research is reported. To this end, we review 370 empirical studies from 26 countries to rigorously examine several key issues in VA modeling, involving (a) the statistical model (e.g., linear regression, multilevel model) that is used, (b) model diagnostics and reported statistical parameters that are used to evaluate the quality of the VA model, (c) the statistical adjustments that are made to overcome methodological challenges (e.g., measurement error of the outcome variables), and (d) the covariates (e.g., pretest scores, students’ sociodemographic background) that are used when estimating expected achievement.
All this information is critical for meeting the transparency standards defined by the American Educational Research Association (AERA 2006). Transparency is vital for educational research in general and especially for highly consequential research, such as VA modeling. First, transparency is highly relevant for researchers. The clearer the description of the model, the easier it is to build upon the knowledge of previous research and to safeguard the potential for replicating previous results. Second, because decisions that are based on VA scores affect teachers’ lives and schools’ futures, not only educational agents but also the general public should be able to comprehend how these scores are calculated to allow for public scrutiny. Specifically, given that VA scores can have devastating consequences on teachers’ lives and on the students they teach, transparency is particularly important to evaluate the chosen methodology to compute VA models for a certain purpose. Such evaluations are essential to answer the question to what extent the quality of VA scores allows to base far-reaching decisions on these scores for accountability purposes.
There is no consensus on which statistical model estimates school value-added (VA) most accurately. To date, the two most common statistical models used for the calculation of VA scores are two classical methods: linear regression and multilevel models. These models have the advantage of being relatively transparent and thus understandable for most researchers and practitioners. However, these statistical models are bound to certain assumptions (e.g., linearity) that might limit their prediction accuracy. Machine learning methods, which have yielded spectacular results in numerous fields, may be a valuable alternative to these classical models. Although big data is not new in general, it is relatively new in the realm of social sciences and education. New types of data require new data analytical approaches. Such techniques have already evolved in fields with a long tradition in crunching big data (e.g., gene technology). The objective of the present paper is to competently apply these "imported" techniques to education data, more precisely VA scores, and assess when and how they can extend or replace the classical psychometrics toolbox. The different models include linear and non-linear methods and extend classical models with the most commonly used machine learning methods (i.e., random forest, neural networks, support vector machines, and boosting). We used representative data of 3,026 students in 153 schools who took part in the standardized achievement tests of the Luxembourg School Monitoring Program in grades 1 and 3. Multilevel models outperformed classical linear and polynomial regressions, as well as different machine learning models. However, it could be observed that across all schools, school VA scores from different model types correlated highly. Yet, the percentage of disagreements as compared to multilevel models was not trivial and real-life implications for individual schools may still be dramatic depending on the model type used. Implications of these results and possible ethical concerns regarding the use of machine learning methods for decision-making in education are discussed.
Motivation and activity
(1999)
Foreword and Introduction
(1999)
The purpose of this paper is to analyse data on first-year students’ needs regarding academic support services and reasons for their intention to leave the institution prior to degree completion. On the basis of the findings, a digital badge outline is proposed which could contribute to improved communication of academic requirements in order to help students to better adapt to higher education demands. Digital badges might also serve as an indicator for students’ needing additional academic support services.
Do stereotypes strike twice?
(2019)
Stereotypes influence teachers' perception of and behaviour towards students, thus shaping students' learning opportunities. The present study investigated how 315 Australian pre-service teachers' stereotypes about giftedness and gender are related to their perception of students' intellectual ability, adjustment, and social-emotional ability, using an experimental vignette approach and controlling for social desirability in pre-service teachers' responses. Repeated-measures ANOVA showed that pre-service teachers associated giftedness with higher intellectual ability, but with less adjustment compared to average-ability students. Furthermore, pre-service teachers perceived male students as less socially and emotionally competent and less adjusted than female students. Additionally, pre-service teachers seemed to perceive female average-ability students' adjustment as most favourable compared to male average-ability students and gifted students. Findings point to discrepancies between actual characteristics of gifted female and male students and stereotypes in teachers' beliefs. Consequences of stereotyping and implications for teacher education are discussed.