Showing papers in "Journal of Educational Psychology in 1993"

Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year.

Abstract: On the basis of a new model of motivation, we examined the effects of 3 dimensions of teacher (n = 14) behavior (involvement, structure, and autonomy support) on 144 children's (Grades 3-5) behavioral and emotional engagement across a school year. Correlational and path analyses revealed that teacher involvement was central to children's experiences in the classroom and that teacher provision of both autonomy support and optimal structure predicted children's motivation across the school year. Reciprocal effects of student motivation on teacher behavior were also found. Students who showed higher initial behavioral engagement received subsequently more of all 3 teacher behaviors. These findings suggest that students who are behaviorally disengaged receive teacher responses that should further undermine their motivation. The importance of the student-teacher relationship, especially interpersonal involvement, in optimizing student motivation is highlighted. What are the factors that motivate children to learn? Educators and parents value motivation in school for its own sake as well as for its long-term contribution to children's learning and self-esteem. Highly motivated children are easy to identify: They are enthusiastic, interested, involved, and curious; they try hard and persist; and they actively cope with challenges and setbacks. These are the children who should stay in school longer, learn more, feel better about themselves, and continue their education after high school. Recent research has borne this out (Ames & Ames, 1984, 1985; Pintrich, 1991; Stipek, 1988). Although motivated students are easy to recognize, they are difficult to find. Research shows that across the preschool to high school years, children's intrinsic motivation decreases and they feel increasingly alienated from learning (Harter, 1981). Why is it so difficult to optimize student motivation? Decades of psychological and educational research

Situational interest: Its multifaceted structure in the secondary school mathematics classroom.

Abstract: The present study attempted to tackle a hurdle that continues to plague the research on interest: the lack of an adequate theoretical model. In particular, the tenability of a hypothetical construct of interest as it applies to the secondary mathematics classroom was proposed and empirically assessed. Building on previous theoretical work, the study used qualitative and quantitative methodologies to first develop a model and then assess its construct validity. The results indicate that it is useful to distinguish between personal and situational interest. Furthermore, the results indicate that the structure of situational interest is multifaceted, clarifying 5 subfacets of situational interest in the high school mathematics classroom

Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness.

Abstract: A study investigated the factors influencing the English word identification performance of Spanish-speaking beginning readers. Beginning readers were administered tests of letter naming, Spanish phonological awareness, Spanish and English word recognition, and Spanish and English oral proficiency. Multiple-regression analyses revealed that the readers' performance on EngIish word and pseudoword recognition tests was predicted by the levels of both Spanish phonological awareness and Spanish word recognition, thus indicating cross-language transfer. In contrast, neither English nor Spanish oral proficiency affected word-identification performance. Results suggest a specific way in which first-language learning and experience can aid children in the beginning stages of reading

Epistemological development and academic performance among secondary students.

Abstract: This is an investigation of the development of secondary students' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning, or epistemological beliefs, and the influence that these beliefs have on academic performance. An epistemological questionnaire that assesses students' beliefs about simple knowledge, certain knowledge, quick learning, and fixed ability to learn was modified and administered to more than 1,000 high school students. Factor analysis of students' responses replicated the factor structure found in previous research. Differences in epistemological beliefs among students across the high school years and between genders were examined. Belief in simple knowledge, certain knowledge, and quick learning decreased from freshman to senior year

Does Being Good Make the Grade? Social Behavior and Academic Competence in Middle School.

Abstract: This study examined relations of prosocial and antisocial classroom behavior to academic achievement, taking into account the possible mediating effects of academically oriented classroom behavior and teachers' preferences for students. Correlational findings based on 423 students in 6th and 7th grade indicated that prosocial and antisocial behavior are related significantly to grade point average and standardized test scores and to teachers'preferences for students and academic behavior. Results from multiple-regression analyses suggested that both types of social behavior are significant, independent predictors of classroom grades, even when academically oriented behavior and teachers' preference for students, IQ, family structure, sex, ethnicity, and days absent from school are taken into account

Development of young readers' phonological processing abilities

Abstract: In a cross-sectional study of 184 kindergarten and 2nd grade students, confirmatory factor analysis of a battery of phonological and control tasks were used to compare alternative models of young readers' phonological processing abilities. We found evidence for 5 distinct but correlated phonological processing abilities. Latent phonological processing abilities were more highly correlated with general cognitive ability than previous reports would suggest, although they accounted for variance in word recognition independent of general cognitive ability. The results of this study, coupled with those of a previous study of prereaders, suggest that phonological abilities are best conceptualized as relatively stable and coherent individual difference attributes, as opposed to relatively unstable measures of reading-related knowledge

A pattern analysis of students' achievement goals.

Abstract: Cluster analysis procedures were used to classify 257 5th- and 6th-grade students on the basis of their mastery, ego, and work-avoidant goal orientations. The results identified 3 clusters of students with different achievement profiles in science. Students who exhibited a pattern in which mastery goals were stronger than the other 2 goals, showed the most positive achievement profile. In contrast students who were high on both mastery and ego goals did not perform as well academically; students low on both mastery and ego goals showed the most negative achievement profile. Additional analyses revealed that the cluster analysis provided a more distinctive and internally consistent set of findings than did pattern analyses that were based on median split procedures

Structural equation modeling of relationships among developmental skills and writing skills in primary- and intermediate-grade writers.

Abstract: We used multiple-group structural equation modeling to analyze structural relationships between latent factors underlying writing-related developmental skills and component writing skills in Grades 1-6. For handwriting, both motor skills and orthographic coding contributed to the model fit, but only the path from orthographic coding was significant at all grade levels. For spelling, only the path from orthographic coding was significant in the primary grades, but both that path and the path from phonological coding were significant in the intermediate grades. For compositional quality, both reading and oral language contributed in the primary grades but the model was unclear in the intermediate grades because of high covariance between those factors

Evaluation of a program to teach phonemic awareness to young children: A 1-year follow-up.

Abstract: A follow-up of a study evaluating a program to teach young children about phonemic structure is reported. In the original study (Byrne & Fielding-Barnsley, 1991 a), preschoolers were trained with the program for 12 weeks and gained in phonemic awareness and knowledge of the alphabetic principle as compared with a control group. The children were retested at the end of kindergarten on phonemic awareness, word identification, decoding, and spelling. Children who entered school with advanced levels of phonemic awareness scored significantly higher on each of the measures. Alphabetic knowledge predicted literacy development, but phonemic awareness accounted for significant additional variance in decoding and spelling. Verbal intelligence did not influence reading and spelling performance

Phonological Processing Skills and the Reading Recovery Program.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine whether the Reading Recovery program would be more effective if systematic instruction in phonological recoding skills were incorporated into the program. First-grade at-risk readers were divided into 3 matched groups of 32 children each: a modified Reading Recovery group, a standard Reading Recovery group, and a standard intervention group. The children in the modified Reading Recovery group received explicit code instruction involving phonograms. Results indicated that although both Reading Recovery groups achieved levels of reading performance required for discontinuation of the program, the modified Reading Recovery group reached these levels of performance much more quickly

Where does knowledge come from? Specific associations between print exposure and information acquisition.

Abstract: In a study of 268 college students, measures of exposure to print predicted individual differences in knowledge in a variety of domains even after individual differences on 4 indicators of general ability (high school grade point average, Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices, Nelson-Denny Reading Test-Comprehension subtest, and a mathematics ability test) had been statistically controlled. Although correlational, our results suggest that print exposure is an independent contributor to the acquisition of content knowledge. The data challenge the view that knowledge acquisition is determined only by the efficiency of cognitive components that encode and store information

Role of Mathematics Self-Efficacy in the Structural Model of Mathematics Achievement.

Abstract: A structural model of mathematics achievement was tested with 117 male and 108 female high school seniors. Two attitude measures, 3 mathematics self-efficacy scales, and a mathematics achievement test were administered in the same order to all the subjects. Teacher-assigned marks in a selected mathematics course the subjects were taking were also obtained. The covariance matrices of boys and girls were analyzed with a 2-group LISREL procedure. The LISREL model specified mathematics self-efficacy as a mediator between mathematics attitude and achievement. The postulated model for similarly specified parameters was a good fit to the data for both boys and girls

Influence of Behavior Perceptions and Gender on Teachers' Judgments of Students' Academic Skill.

Abstract: This study evaluated the hypothesis that gender and behavior, as perceived by teachers, affect judgments of the academic skills of their students A path model was proposed to describe the relationships among tested academic skill, gender, behavior grades, and teachers' academic judgments The model was evaluated separately in each of 3 grades (kindergaten-2nd) in 2 locations, with scholastic grades and structured ratings in specific academic skill areas as the dependent variables Results showed that, after tested academic skill and gender were controlled for, teachers' perceptions of students' behavior constituted a significant component of their scholastic judgments

Styles of engagement with learning: multidimensional assessment of their relationship with strategy use and school achievement

Abstract: This investigation examined ways in which student beliefs and goals distinguish different styles of engagement with learning and how such styles are associated with both the strategies students report using when preparing for exams and school achievement. Cluster analysis was used to identify groups of students with similar patterns of beliefs about their own learning. Within a cohort of 137 female llth-grade students, 6 styles of engagement were identified. Analysis of the influence of these styles on strategies adopted for exam preparation indicated differences in the strategies reported. Styles of engagement were also significantly related to school achievement. Findings are discussed in terms of insights achieved through adopting methods of analysis that preserve the multidimensional character of student engagement with learning. This investigation is concerned with examination of the relationship between an individual's general motivational orientation and some features of learning behavior. It emphasizes the interdependence of the sets of goals that guide learning. Students bring to the learning context a personal construction of the purposes of their learning and a set of beliefs about themselves as learners. These beliefs are thought to exert a powerful influence on learning (Paris & Newman, 1990). Typically, variables representing students' beliefs and goals in learning have been studied as separate variables, and their influence on learning has been assessed as independent effects. An important complementary view involves considering these variables as interdependent sets (Corno & Snow, 1986; Iran-Nejad, McKeachie, & Berliner, 1990). This investigation is concerned with a number of general student goals and beliefs about learning and with the ways in which combinations of those goals and beliefs, referred to here as styles of engagement, are associated with learning strategies and academic achievement. Groups of llth-grade students with similar patterns of goals and beliefs about learning were identified, and differences in their learning strategies and learning outcomes were examined. The learning strategy measures were based on strategies students reported using when preparing for midyear exams, and school achievement measures consisted of final grades awarded at the end of the students' 11th- and 12th-grade school years. The model of motivation in learning that informs the current investigation assumes that characteristics that the individual learner brings to the learning context shape and combine with the learner's construction of the task and its I wish to thank the students who cooperated in the collection of these data and acknowledge the helpful comments of Robert Reeve, Suzanne Hidi, Krystyna Gilowska, and two anonymous reviewers. The data analysis was supported by a Special Initiatives

First graders' cognitive representation of number and understanding of place value: Cross-national comparisons: France, Japan, Korea, Sweden, and the United States.

Abstract: This study represents an attempt to replicate the results of earlier research comparing U.S. and Japanese 1st graders' cognitive representation of number and understanding of place value. First graders from France, Sweden, and Korea were also included in the study. This investigation examines the idea that variability in mathematics performance may be due, in part, to differences in cognitive representation of number that is affected by numerical language characteristics differentiating Asian- and non-Asian-language groups. Comparison of Asian- and non-Asian language speakers revealed that the performance of the children was different across the 2 groups but similar within the groups. There is strong evidence that cognitive representation of number may differ depending on the language spoken

Impact of concreteness on comprehensibility, interest, and memory for text: Implications for dual coding theory and text design.

Abstract: The comprehensibility, interestingness, familiarity, and memorability of concrete and abstract instructional text were investigated in 4 experiments. Experiment 1 investigated relationships between ratings of concreteness, familiarity, interestingness, and comprehensibility in concrete and abstract sentences about historical figures. Experiment 2 investigated the immediate and delayed recall of those sentences, and employed rating norms from Experiment 1 as predictors of recall. Experiments 3 and 4 replicated aspects of Experiments 1 and 2 with paragraphs of varying length. Results indicated that concreteness (ease of Imagery) was the variable overwhelmingly most related to comprehensibility and recall

College students' conditional knowledge about reading.

Abstract: Strategic reading requires not only a repertoire of processing strategies but also knowledge about the conditions under which a given strategy is relevant. This study examined college students' conditional knowledge about reading. Subjects sorted descriptions of reading situations according to how they believe they read in each situation. Cluster analyses of the resulting distance matrixes identified 10 distinct categories of reading situations. Ratings of the cognitive demands of the reading situations supported the interpretations of the sorting data and suggested how reading patterns vary across different texts and task demands

Effects of signaling topic structure on text recall

Abstract: Two experiments studied effects of signaling devices (headings, overviews, and summaries) on text memory. In Experiment 1, subjects read a text with or without signals, then recalled the topics of the text. Signaling produced better memory for the topics and their organization. In Experiment 2, subjects recalled the content of the text they read, and recalls were scored for the number of accurately recalled ideas. Signals produced recalls that were better organized by text topics. Signals also influenced the distribution of recall of ideas: Subjects remembered more topics but recalled less about each accessed topic if the text they read contained signals than if it did not

Anomalous Information Triggers Questions When Adults Solve Quantitative Problems and Comprehend Stories.

Abstract: This study tested whether anomalous information causes an increase in questions generated by college students while they solve quantitative problems (i.e., algebra word problems, statistics problems, and analytical puzzles) or while they comprehend stories. Subjects were presented different versions of each problem or story: (a) complete original, (b) deletion of critical information, (c) addition of contradictory information, and (d) addition of salient or subtle irrelevancies. Some types of anomalies elicited more questions than did the original versions, and a subset of the questions directly addressed the anomalies. The deletion versions triggered more questions than did the other transformed versions

Gender differences in academically talented young students' mathematical reasoning: Patterns across age and subskills.

Abstract: When a sample of academically talented students in Grades 2-6 was given a test of mathematical reasoning ability, boys performed better overall than girls. The gender differences for mathematical ability appeared as early as 2nd grade in samples tested over a 7-year period but varied somewhat according to mathematical subskills. There were no substantial gender-related differences on tasks requiring students to identify whether enough information was provided to solve a task; however, boys performed better than girls on tasks requiring application of algebraic rules or algorithms, as well as on tasks in which the understanding of mathematical concepts and number relationships was required

What makes certain arithmetic word problems involving the comparison of sets so difficult for children

Abstract: Arithmetic word problems with an unknown reference set, such as «John has 7 eggs. He has 4 eggs fewer [more] than Peter. How many eggs does Peter have?» are considerably more difficult for children than problems with an unknown compare set (second sentence: «Peter has 4 eggs more [fewer] than John.») Six experiments with 1st graders and kindergartners investigated reasons for this finding. Experiments 1-4 revealed that neither difficulties in processing the personal pronoun nor the use of key word strategies could explain the difficulty differences. Experiment 5 and 6 indicated that the lack of access to flexible language use is what makes compare problems with an unknown reference set so difficult.

Sex Differences in Predictions of College Grades from Scholastic Aptitude Test Scores.

Abstract: In this study we appraised 2 explanations for sex differences in over- and underprediction of college grades by the Scholastic Aptitude Test: sex-related differences in (a) the nature of the grade criterion and (b) the variables associated with academic performance. An entire freshman class at a large state university was studied. Women's grade point average (GPA) was underpredicted (and men's GPA was overpredicted), but only by a small amount. When we adjusted the GPA for differences in grading standards for individual courses, over- and underprediction were not affected, but when we controlled for sex differences in individual-differences variables concerned with academic preparation, studiousness, and attitudes about mathematics, over- and underprediction were reduced

Children's concepts of authority and social contexts

Abstract: This study examined children's concepts of authority with regard to type of authority directive and social context. Ss (10 boys, 10 girls) in K-1st, 2nd-4th, and 5th-6th grades were presented with hypothetical situations in which a school principal issues directives to children in 3 contexts outside of their school: (a) a different school, (b) a public park, and (c) a child's home. Directives were aimed at stopping or allowing fighting or ball playing and making a rule against fighting or ball playing. Children's evaluations of the legitimacy of the principal's actions were assessed. In general, Ss rejected the principal's authority outside the jurisdiction of the school, although K-1st-grade subjects were more likely to accept the principal's rule making or stopping children from playing ball in the park

Comprehension of students with and without learning disabilities: Identification of narrative themes and idiosyncratic text representations.

Abstract: In an interview organized around the comprehension of a story adapted from a natural text and the identification of story theme, adolescent students with learning disabilities (LDs) performed below the level of same-age students without learning disabilities (NDs) and at the same level as younger students without learning disabilities (YNDs) matched on standardized reading comprehension scores. However, on 1 sensitive measure of theme identification (incipient awareness of theme), the LDs scored below the YNDs as well. The LDs also made more idiosyncratic importations during their summarizing and discussing of the story, and such importations were associated with poorer theme identification

Print exposure as a predictor of word reading and reading comprehension in disabled and nondisabled readers

Abstract: The relation of print exposure, measured by a revised version of Cunningham and Stanovich's (1990) Title Recognition Test (TRT), to word reading and reading comprehension was examined in disabled and nondisabled readers, Grades 5-9. In disabled readers, the TRT was a significant predictor of word reading when phonological skill was accounted for but not when orthographic ability was added to the regression equation, suggesting that the TRT overlaps considerably with orthographic skill. The TRT significantly predicted nondisabled readers' word reading after both phonological and orthographic skills were accounted for. The TRT contributed significantly to reading comprehension once variance was partialed from higher order reading processes for disabled readers only

Classroom Racial Proportions and Children's Peer Relations: Race and Gender Effects

Abstract: Peer preferences (determined by both positive and negative sociometric choices) and perceptions of African-American and White children attending either majority White or majority African-American classrooms were examined. Results indicate that classroom racial minority status (i.e., being in a classroom in which most classmates are of a different race) is associated with peer rejection of girls but not of boys. Correlates of peer preferences differed for children in majority White versus African-American classes, providing support for the subjective culture hypothesis. Implications of these findings for girls' peer relations and for educational practices regarding classroom racial proportions are discussed

Measuring Component and Sets of Cognitive Processes in Self-Regulated Learning.

Abstract: We explored forms of cognitive engagement at 2 levels ― component cognitive processes and sets of these components, labeled acquisition and transformation ― that L. Corno and E. B. Mandinach (1983) described in their model of self-regulated learning (SRL). We collected data on students' cognition using 3 different measures of SRL processes ― a global self-report scale, a self-report scale administered immediately after each of 6 academic tasks, and traces of cognition obtained while working on tasks. Also, we examined correlations between these measures of SRL and aptitude variables. Multitrait-multimethod analyses revealed that measures of SRL are not coherent

Children's use of phoneme-grapheme correspondences in spelling: Roles of position and stress.

Abstract: Whether children's ability to use phoneme-grapheme correspondences in spelling is affected by the position of the phoneme in the word or syllable and by the stress of the syllable was examined. Experiment 1, conducted with monosyllabic nonwords, was performed with kindergartners and 1st graders. Experiments 2 and 3, conducted with bisyllabic nonwords, were carried out with 1st graders. Children spelled the first and last phonemes of nonwords more accurately than the middle phonemes. Also, children performed better on syllable-initial single consonants than on syllablefinal single consonants. Errors tended to be more common for phonemes in unstressed syllables than for phonemes in stressed syllables. Together, the results suggest that the context in which a phoneme occurs influences children's ability to spell it. Learning to read and write involves learning the mappings between units in spoken words and units in printed words. For alphabetic writing systems, these units include phonemes and graphemes. Children must learn and use the link between the phoneme /m/ and the grapheme m and the link between /as/ and a. (For a key to the notation, see the Appendix.) In many homes and kindergarten and first-grade classes, children are taught links between individual letters and individual sounds. Children learn that m makes the sound /m/, that a makes the sound /ae/, and so forth. It is often assumed that once children have mastered isolated correspondences such as these, they can use the correspondences to spell and read words. For example, a child who knows that An/ corresponds to m can use this knowledge to spell words that contain Iml. The goal of the present research is to test this assumption. Is children's ability to use phoneme-grapheme correspondences indeed governed only by the intrinsic difficulty of the correspondences? Alternatively, does the context in which a correspondence occurs within a word affect children's ability to use it?

How to Promote Social Approval: Effects of Audience and Achievement Outcome on Publicly Communicated Attributions.

Abstract: Students' understanding of attributional self-presentation strategies that facilitate adults' and peers' social approval in achievement situations was examined. In Experiment 1, 8th-grade students were asked to predict how success and failure due to ability (high vs. low) and effort (high vs. low) would affect peer popularity and teacher liking. Students recognized that attributions elicit different responses depending on their audience and achievement outcome. In Experiment 2, the same participants rated the likelihood of communicating 4 attributions (ability, effort, exam fairness, and luck) as a reason of their own imagined exam performance to peers, teachers, and parents

Patterns of motivation and social behavior associated with microcomputer use of young children.

Abstract: Patterns of motivation and social behavior among children working in pairs at microcomputers were investigated over a 4-month period by observing 95 kindergarten students Students displayed a high level of interest that did not diminish over the course of the study as a novelty effect would have predicted, although on-task behavior and indications of intense interest did decline slightly over time Students were generally equitable and cooperative in their interactions Almost no gender differences were evident in either motivational or social behavior patterns Teachers were equitable in their interaction with boys and girls, and they were more likely to interact with low-achieving students than with high achievers