Showing papers in "Journal of Educational Psychology in 1989"

A social cognitive view of self-regulated academic learning.

Abstract: Researchers interested in academic self-regulated learning have begun to study processes that students use to initiate and direct their efforts to acquire knowledge and skill. The social cognitive conception of self-regulated learning presented here involves a triadic analysis of component processes and an assumption of reciprocal causality among personal, behavioral, and environmental triadic influences. This theoretical account also posits a central role for the construct of academic self-efficacy beliefs and three self-regulatory processes: self-observation, self-judgment, and self-reactions. Research support for this social cognitive formulation is discussed, as is its usefulness for improving student learning and academic achievement.

Parent Styles Associated with Children's Self-Regulation and Competence in School.

Abstract: This study assessed three dimensions of parent style, autonomy support, involvement, and provision of structure in 64 mothers and 50 fathers of elementary-school children in Grades 3-6, using a structured interview. Aspects of children's self-regulation and competence were measured through children's self-reports, teacher ratings, and objective indices. Results are discussed in terms of the motivational impact of the parent on school competence and adjustment and in terms of transactional models of influence

Age and sex effects in multiple dimensions of self-concept: Preadolescence to early adulthood.

Abstract: Les effets de l'âge et du sexe sur l'evolution du concept de soi depuis la pre-adolescence jusqu'a l'âge adulte sont analyses a partir de 3 questionnaires d'auto-description (SDQI) portant sur 12266 sujets et les resultats discutes en relation avec les operationalisations de Shavelson et al. (1976)

Change in Teacher Efficacy and Student Self- and Task-Related Beliefs in Mathematics During the Transition to Junior High School

Abstract: In a longitudinal study of 1,329 students and the teachers they had for mathematics before and after the transition to junior high school, the relation between students' beliefs in mathematics and their teachers' sense of efficacy is examined. Using repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance, we found that the rate of change within the school year in students' expectancies, perceived performance, and perceived task difficulty in math differed at Years I and 2, depending on teacher efficacy before and after the transition. Students who moved from high- to lowefficacy math teachers during the transition ended the junior high year with the lowest expectancies and perceived performance (even lower than students who had low efficacy teachers both years) and the highest perceptions of task difficulty. The differences in pre- and posttransition teachers' views of their efficacy had a stronger relationship to low-achieving than to highachieving students' beliefs in mathematics.

Systematic Thinking Fostered by Illustrations in Scientific Text

Abstract: In 2 experiments, students who lacked prior knowledge about car mechanics read a passage about vehicle braking systems that either contained labeled illustrations of the systems, illustrations without labels, labels without illustrations, or no labeled illustrations. Students who received passages that contained labeled illustrations of braking systems recalled more explanative than nonexplanative information as compared to control groups, and performed better on problem solving transfer but not on verbatim recognition as compared to control groups. Results support a model of meaningful learning in which illustrations can help readers to focus their attention on explanative information in text and to reorganize the information into useful mental models. What can be done to improve the understandability of expository text? In particular, how can we design text so that readers will be able to use the information creatively to solve problems? To answer these questions, my colleagues and I have been engaged in a series of studies investigating the effects of advanced organizers (Mayer, 1975a, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983; Mayer & Bromage, 1980), signaling (Loman & Mayer, 1983; Mayer, Dyck, & Cook, 1984), and adjunct questions (Mayer, 1975b; Sagerman & Mayer, 1987). This work has been based on the idea that different instructional manipulations may have effects on different aspects of cognitive processing in different learners. In particular, assimilation theory—the idea that learning involves integrating new information with existing knowledge—suggests three primary functions of cognitive processes: to guide selective attention towards certain information in the text, to foster the building of internal connections among ideas from the text, and to foster building external connections between ideas in the text and the learner's existing knowledge (Mayer, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987). The present study opens a new line of attack by investigating the role of illustrations as potential vehicles for helping students understand expository text.

Phonemic awareness and letter knowledge in the child's acquisition of the alphabetic principle.

Abstract: Cinq experiences analysent l'acquisition du principe de l'alphabet chez des enfants de 3 a 5 ans du point de vue des phonemes, des lettres et de leurs associations entre des mots nouveaux (phonemes percus en tant qu'elements separes, phonemes reconnus dans differents mots)

Longitudinal Effects of Classwide Peer Tutoring.

Abstract: Les effets de l'organisation ecologique de la classe, en particulier du CWPT (Classwide Peer Tutoring, qui consiste a apparier les eleves en «tuteur-pupille»), sur les performances scolaires, sont analyses aupres de 416 eleves (âge moyen 6, 7 ans), dans une etude longitudinale portant sur quatre annees et prenant en compte les caracteristiques socio-economiques

Components analysis of cognitive strategy instruction: Effects on learning disabled students' compositions and self-efficacy.

Abstract: 22 eleves de 10 a 13 ans en difficulte d'apprentissage (QI moyen de 95) et 11 eleves normaux pratiquent un entrainement aux strategies d'auto-instruction sur des tâches de composition On analyse les performances en termes de composantes dans la redaction d'une histoire, pour determiner l'impact de cet entrainement sur chacun des groupes

Adolescent classroom goals, standards for performance, and academic achievement: An interactionist perspective.

Abstract: I investigated the relationship between adolescent efforts to achieve a variety of classroom goals, standards for performance, and academic achievement

The "testing" phenomenon: Not gone but nearly forgotten.

Abstract: L'effet de la multiplicite des tests intermediaires sur la memorisation est repris a travers quatre experiences qui tentent de determiner les facteurs d'accroissement des scores qui en decoulent selon les divers modes de rappel (rappel libre, phrases a completer, reconnaissance), et selon les intervalles entre epreuves

Domain-Specific Knowledge and Memory Performance: A Comparison of High- and Low-Aptitude Children

Abstract: Two studies compared memory performance and text comprehension of groups that were equivalent on domain-specific knowledge but differed in overall aptitude, to investigate whether prior knowledge about a particular domain or overall aptitude level was more important when the task was to acquire and use new information in the domain of interest. Both studies dealt with third-, fifuV, and seventh-grade soccer experts' and novices' memory and comprehension of a story dealing with a soccer game. Several measures of memory performance, memory monitoring, and text comprehension were used. Levels of soccer knowledge and of overall aptitude were varied in a factorial design. Neither study detected significant differences between high-aptitude and low-aptitude experts, regardless of their ages. Low aptitude experts outperformed high-aptitude novices on all memory and comprehension measures. The results indicate that domain-specific knowledge can compensate for low overall aptitude on domain-relate d cognitive tasks. Since the late 1970s, a growing body of research has examined the effects of domain-specific knowledge on memory strategies and performance on various memory tasks. These studies showed that children's prior knowledge substantially affects their choice of memory strategies and significantly influences memory performance (see Bjorklund, 1985; Chi & Ceci, 1987; Ornstein & Naus, 1985; Rabinowitz & Chi, 1987; Schneider & Pressley, 1989, for reviews). Undoubtedly, the most impressive evidence stems from studies contrasting the performance of experts and novices in a specific domain. Examples include studies of baseball expertise (Chiesi, Spilich, & Voss, 1979; Spilich, Vesonder, Chiesi, & Voss, 1979), studies of problem-solvi ng in physics (e.g., Chi, Glaser, & Rees, 1982), and studies comparing chess experts' and novices' strategies and moves (Chase & Simon, 1973; Chi, 1978). In one of the few developmental studies using the expertnovice paradigm, Chi (1978) was even able to demonstrate that child experts outperformed adult novices when the task was to memorize chess positions. From this study, it can be concluded that differences in domain-specific knowledge may outweigh all other memory differences between children and adults and can lead to impressive reversals of age-related improvements in cognitive performance. The superiority of the experts' performance was attributed to the impact of thenrich domain-specific knowledge, which enabled them to recognize many domain-relevant patterns automatically and to solve domain-specific problems. Given the powerful effects of domain-specific knowledge, a related question of interest—and the one of particular interest

Effects of reciprocal peer tutoring on academic achievement and psychological adjustment: A component analysis.

Abstract: A component analysis of the reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT) strategy was performed, which previous research had demonstrated to be effective in producing cognitive gains, lowering subjective distress, and enhancing course satisfaction. One hundred students were randomly assigned to one of four groups designed to systematically compare the RPT strategy with its hypothesized components: dyadic, mutual exchange, and structured-learning format

The computer as a zone of proximal development: Internalizing reading-related metacognitions from a Reading Partner

Abstract: We hypothesized that computer tools that provide models, opportunity for higher level thinking, and metacognitivelike guidance can serve in a learner's zone of proximal development they can develop competencies through internalization. A computerized Reading Partner presented four reading principles and metacognitivelike questions during the reading of 11 texts over three reading sessions. It was compared with one version that presented the texts with factual and inferential questions and a control version that presented only the texts

Explanatory Models in the Processing of Science Text: The Role of Prior Knowledge Activation Through Small-Group Discussion

Abstract: Two experiments assessed effects of activation of prior knowledge through small-group discussion. Subjects were given a description of natural phenomena and were asked to elaborate on possible explanations for them. In Experiment 1, small groups of subjects were presented with a problem describing the behavior of a blood cell in pure water and in a salt solution. No additional text was studied. The experimental subjects produced more than twice as many propositions about osmosis (i.e. the biological process explaining the blood cell's behavior) as a control group produced. Experiment 2 investigated effects of problem analysis on subsequent text processing for subjects with imprecise prior knowledge (novices) and subjects with precise knowledge (experts). Recall of the text showed considerable facilitative effects of problem analysis. Results are explained in terms of faster accessibility of prior knowledge and better integration of new information into explanatory models that may exist before, or are actively constructed during, problem analysis. Attempts to understand the physical world involve the use of cognitive structures that represent mechanisms or principles underlying the phenomena observed. These cognitions may vary from highly sophisticated to quite naive. They may emerge as the result of formal education but often are constructed "spontaneously" while a person is experiencing the phenomena concerned. Take thunder and lightning. By scientists, this natural phenomenon is interpreted in terms of large differences in electrical potential between clouds charged with static electricity and the earth. Young children however, generally favor explanations involving the clash of clouds, and in earlier centuries thunder was attributed to the rage of the gods. These naive "mental models" are, like the models of science, not merely descriptive of what is going on in the outer world. They are truly "explanatory," because they clarify why the world is as it is. In addition, these conceptions can be considered models because they usually consist of a set of concepts connected by causal links that help to interpret the phenomena concerned in terms of the underlying structure of these phenomena (Clement, 1979; Gentner & Stevens, 1983).

Problem solving with equals: Peer collaboration as a context for learning mathematics and spatial concepts.

Abstract: Assessed effects of peer collaboration on mathematical and spatial reasoning for fourth graders and on learning with logical-physical materials 1 year later. Subjects were 152 fourth graders, randomly divided into 4 groups: mathematics, spatial reasoning, and 2 control groups. In Year 1, pairs in the math and spatial groups worked together for six sessions on math and spatial problems respectively. In Year, 2 pairs of children in the math, spatial, and Control 1 groups worked together on a series of 6 sessions with balance scale problems

Impact of social comparisons on the developing self-perceptions of learning disabled students

Abstract: Learning disabled (LD) children's self-perceptions were investigated using the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (Harter, 1982) This self-report instrument taps children's perceptions of their scholastic and athletic competence, social acceptance, and feelings of global self-worth Participants in the study were 86 students in Grades 3-8 who attended a public school LD resource room Results indicated that social comparison processes play an important role in the formation of LD students' perceived academic competence LD students perceived themselves as becoming less academically competent across the grade span tested when they compared themselves with normally achieving students in their regular classes When they compared their abilities with LD peers in their resource room, they maintained high perceptions of their own academic competence Concern for the child's emotional and intellectual wellbeing has led those working with students who evidence learning disabilities to become interested in studies of selfconcept with this population Because, by definition, learning disabled (LD) students have experienced academic failure, a number of practitioners and researchers have been interested in the extent to which LD students feel poorly about themselves Research in the area of self-concept with LD students is inconclusive, however Although a number of studies have revealed that LD students evidence worse feelings about themselves than do normally achieving students (Alley & Deschler, 1979; Black, 1974; Griffiths, 1970; Rogers & Saklofske, 1985; Rosenthal, 1973), other studies have not indicated such differences (Brunner & Starkey, 1974; Donnell, 1975; Endler & Minden, 1972; Ribner, 1978) Silverman and Zigmond (1983) have maintained that the contradictory findings in the literature on self-concept among LD students can be attributed, in part, to the inconsistency of the definitions of both the LD population and the construct of self-concept among studies Furthermore, methodological differences, weaknesses in research designs, and the lack of data on the equivalence of the various self-concept inventories used preclude any conclusions based on these results (p 478)

Self-Modeling and Children's Cognitive Skill Learning

Abstract: Bandura (1982, 1986) contended that psychological procedures change behavior in part by creating and strengthening perceived self-efficacy, or personal beliefs about one's performance capabilities in a given domain. Self-efficacy influences choice of activities, effort expended, persistence, and task accomplishments. Individuals acquire information about their self-efficacy through their actual performances, vicarious (observational) experiences, forms of persuasion, and physiological indexes (e.g., heart rate, sweating).

A structural model of first-grade outcomes for an urban, low socioeconomic status, minority population.

Abstract: This study tested a social context, longitudinal model of the early schooling process on three first-grade outcomes for 1,539 ethnic minority children (1,470 were Black and 69 were Hispanic)

Learned helplessness in task-orienting versus performance-orienting testing conditions

Abstract: L'etude tente de decrire l'echec scolaire en termes de moindre importance attribuee a l'effort (mesure par questionnaire de responsabilite dans la performance intellectuelle -IAR-), dans l'obtention des resultats, aupres de 110 eleves, en prenant en compte l'orientation vers la performance ou vers la tâche, induite par instruction lors de resolution de problemes

Teachers' knowledge of students' knowledge in mathematics problem solving: correlational and case analyses

Abstract: This study examined the relationship of teachers' knowledges of students' knowledge to teachers' mathematics instruction and to students' mathematics problem solving. First-grade teachers (N=20) participated in a 4-week workshop in which they were given access to research-based knowledge on children's mathematics learning. Teachers were observed for 16 days throughout the school year. In May, teachers completed interviews and questionnaires about their knowledge and beliefs; their students completed achievement tests

Multidimensional self-concepts and perceptions of control: construct validation of responses by children

Abstract: The construct validity of children's responses to the Self Description Questionnaire, the Perceived Competence Scale for Children, and the Multidimensional Measure of Children's Perceptions of Control was assessed. The tests' authors emphasized the importance of distinguishing self-perceptions in the physical, social, academic, and general content domains. Tests of this content specificity included factor analyses, multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) analyses, and patterns of correlations with additional criterion variables. The subjects were 510 7th, 8th, and 9th graders (42% female) from two single-sex private high schools in Sydney, Australia. The subjects' motivation and mathematics and reading achievement were also studied. Contrary to previous research, MTMM analyses of responses to the two self-concept instruments demonstrated their convergent and discriminant validity, apparently reflecting the improved design of these newer instruments. These findings and factor analyses of responses to the self-concept instruments support claims by S. Harter (1982) and by H. W. Marsh. For the perceived control instrument, however, tnere was little support for the discriminant validity of responses with respect to content domains other than the physical domain, calling into question claims by J. P. Connell (1985). Seven tables summarize data. (Author/SLD) MMOINNUENNUENNUENWENNUENNUEMMENNUMENNMENKMMENNMENNMENNUMENKKMMX Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. xxxxxxxxamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammaxxxxxxammaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammaxxxxxxma Multidimensional Self-concepts and Perceptions of Control: Construct Validation of Responses By Children Herbert W. Marsh and Paul Gouvernet University of Sydney, Australia

Influence of Peer-Model Attributes on Children’s Beliefs and Learning

Abstract: Schunk, Hanson, and Cox (1987) investigated the effects of peer-model attributes on children's self-efficacy (i.e., perceived capabilities) and skill. Children enrolled in below-grade-level classes for mathematics instruction observed either one or three same-sex peers demonstrating rapid ( mastery model ) or gradual ( coping model ) acquisition of fraction skills, after which they received instruction. Observing a single coping model, multiple coping models, or multiple mastery models led to higher self-efficacy for learning, more rapid problem-solving during the instructional sessions, and higher posttest self-efficacy and skill than did observing a single mastery model. Children who observed coping models (single or multiple) judged themselves similar in competence to the models; children who observed mastery-models judged themselves less competent than the models.