Showing papers in "Educational Studies in 2012"

Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions Across the World: (Under) Investing in the Very Young

Abstract: Milagros Nores, Assistant Research Professor, National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (NJ, United States). Email: mnores@nieer.org Address: 57 US Highway 1, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8554, United States.W. Steven Barnett, Board of Governors Professor and Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (NJ, United States). Email: wbarnet@rci.rutgers.edu Address: 57 US Highway 1, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8554, United States.This paper uses a meta-analysis to review the evidence on the benefits of early childhood interventions. The authors also analyze how the revealed effects are correlated with characteristics of the corrective measures and with the target audience.A total of 38 contrasts of 30 interventions in 23 countries were analyzed. The paper focuses on studies applying a quasi-experimental or random assignment. Studies were coded according to: the type of intervention (cash transfer, nutritional, educational or mixed); sample size; study design and duration; country; target group (infants, prekindergarten); subpopulations of interventions; and dosage of intervention. Cohen’s D effect sizes were calculated for four outcomes: cognitive gains; behavioral change; health gains; and amount of schooling.A moderate progress has been revealed in each of the outcomes. The benefits are sustained over time. Interventions that have an educational or mixed (educational and stimulation, or care) component evidenced the largest cognitive effects, as compared to cash infusions or nutrition-specific interventions. We find children from different context and countries receive substantial cognitive, behavioral, health and schooling benefits from early childhood interventions, unlike children whose development is not supported or promoted. Direct care and education appear to be the most efficient interventions, especially for development of cognitive skills in early childhood.DOI: 10.17323/1814-9545-2012-1-200-228

Building a High-Quality Teaching Profession. Lessons from around the world

Abstract: Andreas Schleicher, Head of the Indicators and Analysis Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France. Email: andreas.schleicher@oecd.org Address: 2, rue Andre Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France.These are the final chapters of the OECD report. International experience is used to describe possible methods to increase status of the teaching profession and the caliber of its recruits.Successful reform of education system cannot wait for a new generation of teachers; it requires investment in the present teacher workforce, providing quality professional development, adequate career structures and diversification, and enlisting the commitment of teachers to reform. The analysis looks at how individual development of teachers can be improved and how greater collaboration among teachers can improve the quality of teaching. School systems should provide a careful coordination between training, evaluation and compensation of teachers.Methods of successful staff management and criteria for teacher appraisal applied in different countries are described. Teacher evaluation is essential for improving the individual performance of teachers and the collective performance of education systems. Criteria for teacher appraisal need to be aligned with the objectives of the system and the schools. Improved appraisal and feedback can have beneficial effects on teachers, improving their job satisfaction and personal development as well as their effectiveness in implementing priorities for improvement. Moreover, appraisals can help teachers build confidence in themselves.Teacher engagement in the development and implementation of educational reform is crucial. The paper describes how collaboration among teachers, politicians and ministry officials is achieved in different countries to make the reform happen.DOI: 10.17323/1814-9545-2012-2-5-62

Emotion work and emotional exhaustion in teachers: The job and individual perspective

Abstract: Teaching requires much emotion work which takes its toll on teachers. Emotion work is usually studied from one of two perspectives, a job or an individual perspective. In this study, we assessed the relative importance of these two perspectives in predicting emotional exhaustion. More than 200 teachers completed a questionnaire comprising the DISQ (Demand‐Induced Strain Compensation Questionnaire), the Dutch Questionnaire on Emotional Labour (D‐QEL), and the UBOS (Utrechtse Burnout Schaal [Utrecht Burnout Scale]). In line with previous studies, our findings indicated that emotional exhaustion is positively associated with emotional job demands and surface acting. The relative importance of the two operationalisations of emotion work was assessed by comparing the results of two regression analyses. Whereas the model with job demands explained 18% of the variance, the model with emotional labour explained only 5%. In understanding what might contribute to emotional exhaustion in teachers, the emotional job ...

On Human Kinds and Role Models: A Critical Discussion about the African American Male Teacher

Abstract: This article explores the theoretical implications around positioning the Black male teacher as the central agent of social change for Black male students. In addressing such concerns, my intention is not to discourage efforts to recruit and retain more African American men as teachers, but to trouble the commonsense assumptions embedded in such efforts. To achieve these goals, I draw from philosopher Ian Hacking's (1995) notion of “human kinds” to historicize the context in which Black male teachers emerged as possible role models for Black male students. To further illustrate this point, I draw data from interviews I conducted in a qualitative study. The Black male teachers cited in the interview section of this article provide a revised theorization of the dominant discourse about their practice. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this work for ongoing concerns about the recruitment and retention of Black male teachers.

The Race for Class: Reflections on a Critical Raceclass Theory of Education.

Abstract: This article is intended to appraise the insights gained from Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Education. It is particularly interested in CRT's relationship with Marxist discourse, which falls under two questions. One, how does CRT understand Marxist concepts, such as capital, which show up in the way CRT appropriates them? The article argues that Marxist concepts, such as historical classes, class-for-itself, are useful for race analysis as it sets parameters around the conceptual use of historical races and a race-for-itself. Two, how does CRT understand the role of capitalism, therefore shedding light on its position regarding the class problem? It is no doubt attentive to class power, but this is not the same as performing an immanent critique of capitalism. As a result, within CRT class achieves a color whereby class becomes a variant of race, better known as classism. Race becomes the theory with class vocabulary superimposed on it. Last, I suggest areas where CRT could combine with Marxism in order t...

Oceans of Innovation. The Atlantic, the Pacific, Global Leadership and the Future of Education

Abstract: Michael Barber, Professor, chief education advisor at Pearson, London, UK. Email: krdonnelly@pearson.com Address: Institute for Public Policy Research, 4th Floor, 14 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6DF, UK.Katelyn Donnelly, executive director in the administration of the chief education advisor at Pearson, London, UK. Email: krdonnelly@pearson.com Address: Institute for Public Policy Research, 4th Floor, 14 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6DF, UK.Saad Rizvi, executive director in the administration of the chief education advisor at Pearson, London, UK.Email: krdonnelly@pearson.com Address: Institute for Public Policy Research, 4th Floor, 14 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6DF, UK.This essay assumes the near certainty that the Pacific region will take primary leadership of the global economy in the near future and explores the implications for their education systems. It explores the historic insights that can be taken from the Atlantic’s rise to global leadership and outlines the economic transformation over the last 50 years that has shifted leadership from the Atlantic to Pacific Asia.On this foundation, the authors lay out a new model for fostering innovation among individuals, teams, organizations and society as a whole. Lessons about creativity and innovation have major implications for public policy. Education-deeper, broader and more universal-has a significant part to play in enabling humanity to succeed in the next half century.The authors outline the key characteristics of Pacific Asian systems which contribute to performance of their educational systems.Despite the rooted nature of educational progress in the region, the leaders should not leave the educational systems well alone. The paper sketches out what features the education systems require to enable successful global leadership and innovation in the decades ahead. The authors recommend a combination of best practices in coherent reform of education systems together with the latest thinking on unlocking systemic innovation to produce the ‘whole-system revolution’ that will be required to inspire a generation and produce global leaders who are able to rise to the challenges of the 21st century.

Neoliberalism in the Academic Borderlands: An On-going Struggle for Equality and Human Rights

Abstract: The article examines the negative impact of neoliberal policies upon the work of border intellectuals within the university, whose scholarship seeks to explicitly challenge longstanding structural inequalities and social exclusions. More specifically, the notion of neoliberal multiculturalism is defined and discussed with respect to the phenomenon of economic Darwinism and the whitewashing of contemporary academic labor, despite a tradition of progressive struggle within the academy. In response to the current counter-egalitarian climate of neoliberalism, a call is issued for a critical pedagogy that supports a revolutionary vision of human rights and democratic life.

Which variables relate to the attitudes of teachers, parents and peers towards students with special educational needs in regular education?

Abstract: While there is an increased interest in describing attitudes of teachers, parents and peers towards students with special educational needs in regular education, there is a lack of knowledge about various variables relating to the attitudes of these three groups. The aims of this study are: (1) to examine which variables relate to the attitudes of teachers (N = 44), parents (N = 508) and peers (N = 1113) towards students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autistic Spectrum Syndrome or a cognitive disability in regular primary education and (2) to examine whether teachers and parents’ attitudes affect the attitudes of peers. An attitude survey was used to assess attitudes and data were analysed by means of multilevel analyses. The variables found in this study relating to attitudes can be used as a foundation to develop interventions to change attitudes.

The social fabric of elementary schools: a network typology of social interaction among teachers

Abstract: While researchers are currently studying various forms of social network interaction among teachers for their impact on educational policy implementation and practice, knowledge on how various types of networks are interrelated is limited. The goal of this study is to understand the dimensionality that may underlie various types of social networks in schools. We assessed seven types of social interaction using social network data of 775 educators from 53 Dutch elementary schools. The quadratic assignment procedure, multidimensional scaling and network visualisations were used to discern underlying dimensions that may explain the interrelatedness of these seven types of social networks. Findings suggest small to moderate similarity between the seven forms of social interaction. Results support a distinction between instrumental and expressive networks and suggest a second dimension of mutual in(ter)dependence to explain differences in social interaction among teachers. Implications for practice and research on teacher collaboration are discussed.

Determinants of international students’ adaptation: examining effects of integrative motivation, instrumental motivation and second language proficiency

Abstract: This study examined the influence of integrative motivation, instrumental motivation and second language (L2) proficiency on socio-cultural/academic adaptation in a sample of two groups of international students studying Chinese in China. Results revealed that the non-Asian student group reported higher levels of integrative motivation, socio-cultural adaptation and Chinese language proficiency than the Asian student group, who reported a higher level of instrumental motivation. No significant difference was found in academic adaptation between the two groups. Moreover, the relationships between study variables are the same across Asian and non-Asian student groups. Further evidence from this research indicated that socio-cultural adaptation was influenced more by integrative motivation and less by L2 proficiency. Integrative motivation was found to be the only significant predictor of academic adaptation. Implications for future research are discussed.

Beginning teachers' self-efficacy and stress and the supposed effects of induction arrangements

Abstract: Induction arrangements are implemented in schools all over the world to support beginning teachers (BTs) (novices) in gradually growing into their profession. The aim of this study is to gain more insight into two key psychological processes involved in the work of a qualified beginning teacher, namely perceived stress and self-efficacy. This unfolding is necessary to find a path of influence to lead the way to meaningful support interventions. Support in the form of induction arrangements is hypothesised to decrease perceived stress and to increase self-efficacy and, thus, decrease stress outcomes. To test our hypotheses 30 BTs and their school-based educators, working in 13 different schools, were surveyed. The analyses revealed that stress causes and stress outcomes are indeed interrelated and that self-efficacy affects this relationship in a mediating way. However, besides decreasing a beginning teachers’ perceived lack of learning opportunities, no other influences of induction arrangements were obta...

Financial trends in higher education: The United States

Abstract: Roger L. Geiger, Professor at the Center for the Study of Higher Education, The Pennsylvania State University, PA, United States. Email: rlg9@psu.edu Address: 400 Rackley Building University Park, PA 16802, United States.Donald E. Heller, Director at the Center for the Study of Higher Education, The Pennsylvania State University, PA, United States. Email: dheller@psu.edu Address: 400 Rackley Building University Park, PA 16802, United States. Developments in the financing of American higher education are viewed through the lens of macro-trends since 1990 in the era of privatization. For institutions in both sectors, private and public, privatization has meant increased exposure to market forces. Data on changes during this period are presented.The basic trends in enrollments, revenues and expenditures in institutions of higher education are described. The steady growth in real tuition prices has shifted the financing of higher education from state support to students and their families. This trend would not have been possible without the substantial growth in student financial aid, especially federal student loans. The system of student financial aid is now fundamental to the financing of higher education in the United States. However, its impact and utilization has been different in the private, non-profit sector, in the public sector, and in the private, for-profit sector. In both public and private colleges and universities, expenditures on academic and institutional support outpaced spending on instruction. The authors describe the pressure for ever-more spending among the country’s wealthiest universities, enlargement of the market for selective institutions, and rise of the for-profit sector of higher education. They argue that privatization has assumed quite different dynamics in funding and shaping academic research.The impact of the current economic downturn on the public and private sectors of higher education is discussed.

Exploring the educational aspirations–expectations gap in eighth grade students: implications for educational interventions and school reform

Abstract: Over the past three decades, more and more students are expressing a desire to attend college, yet for many members of disenfranchised groups, this goal is often not attained. While many factors contribute to these disparities, research has shown that students begin adjusting their expectations (what they think they can achieve) for the future in relation to their idealised aspirations (what they would like to achieve). The current study explores this gap among 207 eighth grade students from two urban middle schools. Using the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised, three factors were found to predict expectations which matched student aspirations. These factors were academic motivation and self-regulating behaviours, academic self-perception and attitudes towards teachers. Implications for educational interventions and school reform are discussed.

The effectiveness of Brain-Based Teaching Approach in dealing with the problems of students’ conceptual understanding and learning motivation towards physics

Abstract: Teachers of science-based education in Malaysian secondary schools, especially those in the field of physics, often find their students facing huge difficulties in dealing with conceptual ideas in physics, resulting thus in a lack of interest towards the subject. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the Brain-Based Teaching Approach (henceforth BBTA) in dealing with the issues of the conceptual understanding of Newtonian physics of Form Four students in secondary science schools in the state of Kedah, situated in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia, and also their learning motivation towards the subject of physics. The BBTA is based on the Brain-Based Learning Principles, where detailed attention is given to seven main steps: (1) activation; (2) clarify the outcome and paint big picture of the lesson; (3) making connection; (4) doing the learning activity; (5) demonstrate student understanding; (6) review for student recall and retention/closure; and (7) preview the new topic. T...

Faculty learning communities: improving teaching in higher education

Abstract: Faculty learning communities (FLCs) are collaborative collegial groups of faculty and other teaching staff who are interested in and committed to the improvement of their teaching to accommodate a diverse student population through group discourse, reflection and goal setting. In this article, we describe our FLC experiences that were supported by a federal grant to ensure accessible learning environments on our campus. The project, Ensuring Access through Collaboration and Technology (EnACT), sought to introduce faculty at a medium‐sized state university to a pedagogical framework to provide universal access to the curriculum for all students and to encourage faculty to adopt accessible technologies. We describe the recruitment process, the FLC meeting structure, our intended outcomes and the challenges we faced in meeting them.

Understanding and defining cognitive style and learning style: a Delphi study in the context of educational psychology

Abstract: This report outlines the findings from a Delphi study designed to establish consensus on the definitions of cognitive style and learning style amongst an international style researcher community. The study yields long-needed definitions for each construct that reflect high levels of agreement. In a field that has been criticised for a bewildering array of definitions and a proliferation of terms and concepts, this study represents an important step to address confusion in the meaning of the two terms. New researchers interested in styles are encouraged to draw on these definitions when developing new research agendas aimed at deepening our understanding of style as a core construct in educational psychology.

Teachers and testing: an investigation into teachers’ perceptions of formative assessment

Abstract: Research conducted within the past decade contributes much to an understanding of the role and potential value of formative assessment in learning. As an Advisory Teacher within a local authority, the researcher was interested to find out how teachers actually perceive formative assessment. This study therefore set out to investigate the range and nature of such perceptions and whether any relationships exist between them and independent variables such as school phase and length of teacher experience. The sample was drawn from teachers working in 24 lower and middle schools within one local authority and the research was conducted in two phases. This paper will focus on Phase 1, during which data was drawn from a questionnaire survey which elicited both quantitative and qualitative responses from 67 teachers. Analysis of this data revealed a range of perceptions about formative assessment among teachers. In particular, they acknowledged the value of formative assessment in promoting learning. However, the...

Self-regulated learning and students’ perceptions of innovative and traditional learning environments: a longitudinal study in secondary education

Abstract: This study investigated the relationship between the development of students’ self-regulated learning and students’ perceptions of the learning environment in terms of autonomy support, the emphasis on relevance and collaborative learning. In addition, we compared innovative learning environments that aim to enhance self-regulated learning with traditional learning environments. Questionnaires for measuring self-regulated learning and perceptions of the learning environment were administered by 648 students. Self-regulated learning was measured at the start of secondary education and again half way through the first year. The results point to the importance of how students perceive the learning environment for self-regulated learning. There was a positive relationship between autonomy support and relevance and self-regulated learning. Furthermore, students in innovative environments perceived more autonomy support, more emphasis on relevance and more collaborative learning than those in traditional enviro...

Hope and Despair: Southern Black Women Educators across Pre- and Post-Civil Rights Cohorts Theorize about Their Activism.

Abstract: Framed by theoretical perspectives on Black Feminist Thought, the life course, and the Generation X/Hip-Hop generation, I present findings from a subset of 10 Black women educators in Birmingham, Alabama who participated in a larger life story project. The participants, who came of age professionally across the pre- and post-civil rights movement (CRM), describe divergent and convergent social and historical contexts that shaped their professionalization, as well as their relationships with and perceptions of Black students and parents. Participants across generation theorize that teaching and leading are activist practices in their own right, which entail clandestine support and silent protest, intergenerational bridge-building, and debunking the myth of Black inferiority. Post-CRM educators, in particular, expressed ambivalence about their urban students’ futures. I conclude that multigenerational perspectives should figure more prominently in the scholarship on Black education in the US South. This emp...

It's in the Name: A Synthetic Inquiry of the Knowledge Is Power Program [KIPP].

Abstract: The task of this article is to interrogate the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) model to develop a more robust understanding of a prominent trend in the charter school movement and education policy more generally. To accomplish this task, this article details the findings of a synthetic analysis that examines the KIPP model as a Hegelian whole concept operative in a specific mode of social reality. The guidance for this analysis is grounded in a rather straightforward research question. Given the prominence that the KIPP model has achieved in the charter school movement in the United States, what can a synthetic analysis tell us about not only KIPP, but also the larger charter school movement?

Student background factors influencing student achievement in Serbia

Abstract: This paper describes student‐level findings of the first large‐scale comprehensive school effectiveness study of the primary education in Serbia. Twenty‐five student‐level variables were examined in a three‐level HLM model using a study sample of almost 5000 students, over 250 classrooms and over 100 schools. Differences between the students were in large part responsible for differences in achievement scores in mathematics and Serbian language. Parental education, Roma minority status, developmental or family problems, gender, student motivation, parental involvement in student work and homework were some of the factors associated with student achievement. Serbian policy‐makers are alerted to possible actions in order to improve mathematics and Serbian language achievement.

Academic optimism: an individual teacher belief

Abstract: In this study, academic optimism as an individual teacher belief was investigated. Teachers’ self‐efficacy beliefs were measured using the short form of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale. One subtest from the Omnibus T‐Scale, the faculty trust in clients subtest, was used to measure teachers’ trust in students and parents. One subtest from the Organizational Climate Index was used to measure academic emphasis. Pupil Control Ideology was used to measure teachers’ beliefs about classroom management. Constructivist teaching subscale of the Teacher’s Belief Survey was used to measure teachers’ instructional beliefs and practices. Organizational Citizenship Behaviour Scale was used to measure teachers’ citizenship behaviour. Life Orientation Test was used to measure dispositional optimism. The findings indicated that teachers differed in the extent of their academic optimism. The findings also indicated that teacher’s sense of academic optimism is positively and significantly related to student‐centred teach...

Using Students' Motivational and Learning Profiles in Investigating Their Perceptions and Achievement in Case-Based and Lecture-Based Learning Environments.

Abstract: A teaching method may not work for all students. Therefore, attention should be paid to the type of students entering the learning environment in order to explain how they perceive the learning environment and achieve. This study investigates students’ perceptions and achievement in four learning environments that differed in the degree to which case-based and lecture-based learning were implemented (either separately or combined), hereby making use of students’ motivational and learning profiles. Participants were 1098 first-year student teachers who took a course on child development. Results showed that autonomously motivated deep-strategic learners were significantly more positive about each type of learning environment than little motivated and less pronounced deep-strategic learners. However, with regard to achievement, student profiles did not differ. Instead, the learning environment proved to be of significant influence: students in a gradually implemented case-based setting and a completely lect...

Implementing a cooperative learning model in universities

Abstract: In the past few years, many students have begun to lose interest in science and information and engineering technology courses because they find them too boring and hard to learn. To strengthen this field of education and stimulate students’ motivation and interest in learning, this study introduces a theoretical pedagogical framework based on cooperative learning theory and tailored to the realities of the university education system in China. In the framework, a group in a class is treated as a system that goes through different stages and is subject to different input instructions and output outcomes. Based on this structure, teachers’ interventions serve as feedback for controlling inputs to promote the correct operation of the system. This study aims to promote the development of a cooperative learning model for university students. A case study of the application of the framework shows that it has positive and active effects on student learning.

Caring Teachers and Symbolic Violence: Engaging the Productive Struggle in Practice and Research

Abstract: Symbolic violence may not be a desirable theory to apply to public schooling—its structuralist limitations render it deterministic, lacking in human agency, and unpalatable to researchers and educators who see schools as viable and productive sites of social transformation. Perhaps for these reasons, it seems little has been written about symbolic violence in schools, and what has been written tends to focus primarily on the symbolic, institutionalized violence imparted by schools and teachers upon students. In this article, I offer a shift in these perspectives. I present symbolic violence as a productive analytical tool in identifying modes of resistance to specific damaging effects of schooling institutions. I also illustrate how symbolic violence victimizes one particularly caring teacher, rendering her compliant in her own victimization, without voice to accurately name her struggles, and—because of her ethic of care—complicit in reproducing damaging institutionalizing practices. Using ethnographic d...

Organisational transition challenges in the Finnish vocational education – perspective of distributed pedagogical leadership

Abstract: The article examines organisational challenges in the Finnish vocational education and training (VET) to support students’ lifelong learning pathways Investigation of organizational challenges is done through the students’ transitions either within one school level or from one school level to another or to working life For supporting the students’ learning pathways, it is argued here that specific attention has to be paid to collaborative practices of the personnel in order to guarantee the transitional fluency This kind of collaboration is here called distributed pedagogical leadership For examining the shared practices in the frame of distributed pedagogical leadership, the article introduces both quantitative results from a national survey and a Finnish VET case school and qualitative results from this particular school as several interviews of the leadership team and the teachers

Preservice science teachers reflect on their practicum experiences

Abstract: The practicum provides an opportunity for preservice teachers to apply knowledge and skills in actual classroom settings. Thus, it serves as a central component of virtually all teacher education programmes. This study focused the views of 16 preservice science teachers on their practicum experiences. Individual interviews were made to construct a picture of practicum as experienced by the preservice science teachers. Group seminar sessions, and written reflections were also utilised to confirm and support data from the interviews. The findings based on data gathered indicate that preservice science teachers were not exposed to environment that reflected their expectations toward learning outcomes. It is essential to provide conditions of a quality experience to preservice science teachers during their teacher education programmes in order to prepare preservice teachers to teach science effectively.

Reconstructing the Cultural Context of Urban Schools: Listening to the Voices of High School Students

Abstract: Through listening to the voices of students, educators and community members can begin to reconstruct the culture of urban schools that are often full of stories about student deficits, genetic explanations about achievement, and cultural mismatch theories that may be traced to historical and sociological ideologies. The purpose of this heuristic qualitative investigation was to explore the ways in which student voice can contribute to reculturing high schools in urban settings. Data sources for this study included videotaped interviews and observations in two Midwestern urban high schools to explore the stories of 28 culturally and linguistically diverse students in grades 10 through 12. Findings suggested that the teens in these urban high schools want caring teachers who listen attentively, provide engaging learning opportunities, and who demonstrate high expectations for achievement. They did not want teachers who, in essence, perpetuate hegemonic discourses via pedagogical practices, and school envir...

Emotional intelligence and academic attainment of British secondary school children: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract: Trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) covers a wide range of self-perceived skills and personality dispositions such as motivation, confidence, optimism, peer relations and coping with stress. In the last few years, there has been a growing awareness that social and emotional factors play an important part in students’ academic success and it has been claimed that those with high scores on a trait EI measure perform better. This research investigated whether scores on a questionnaire measure of trait EI were related to school performance in a sample of British pupils. Results showed that high performing students had higher trait EI scores than low performing students and that some aspects of trait EI (motivation and low impulsivity) as well as total trait EI were significant predictors of academic achievement after controlling for prior attainment at school. Therefore, initiatives to develop the emotional and social abilities of schoolchildren might be worthwhile and more effective than concentrating so...

Effects of learning approaches, locus of control, socio-economic status and self-efficacy on academic achievement: a Turkish perspective

Abstract: In this study the effects of learning approaches, locus of control (LOC), socio-economic status and self-efficacy on undergraduate students in North Cyprus was investigated. Four questionnaires were administered on 99 students in order to collect data regarding the learning approaches, LOC, self-efficacy and demographic factors. High cumulative grade point average and self-efficacy were shown to be an indicator of academic achievement and high self-efficacy was related to the use of deep approach (DA). Students, whose mothers had lower levels of education, were found to also predict academic success. No direct significant relationship between DA and academic achievement was found.