Showing papers in "Journal of Intelligence in 2022"

Utilizing the Metaverse for Learner-Centered Constructivist Education in the Post-Pandemic Era: An Analysis of Elementary School Students

Abstract: Due to COVID-19, numerous new technologies are being implemented in education, with a growing interest in the metaverse. The term “metaverse” refers to an immersive digital environment where one can interact with virtual avatars. This study aims to analyze the experiences and attitudes of the metaverse for learner-centered education from a constructivist perspective to determine how closely related this virtual environment is to the lives of elementary school students. This study also examined how students are becoming the focal point of new educational technologies. After reviewing the literature on this topic, a survey of 336 elementary school students in Korea was conducted using 18 items for measuring each factor in the metaverse, followed by statistical analyses that included a difference of means and an independent sample t-test. The results revealed that, on average, 97.9% of elementary school students had experiences with the metaverse, with 95.5% of them considering it closely related to their everyday life. In addition, various conclusions according to each metaverse factor and each participant’s gender are provided.

Less-Intelligent and Unaware? Accuracy and Dunning–Kruger Effects for Self-Estimates of Different Aspects of Intelligence

Abstract: People’s perceptions of their intelligence correlate only moderately with objective intelligence measures. On average, people overestimate themselves. According to the popular Dunning–Kruger effect, this is particularly true for low performers: across many domains, those in the lowest quartile overestimate their abilities the most. However, recent work using improved statistical approaches found little support for a Dunning–Kruger effect in general intelligence. We investigated accuracy and Dunning–Kruger effects for self-estimates of general, verbal, numerical, and spatial intelligence—domains that differed in how well they can be judged in the past. A total of 281 participants completed self-estimates and intelligence measures online. Self-estimates showed mostly moderate correlational accuracy that was slightly higher for numerical intelligence and lower for verbal intelligence. Across domains, participants rated their intelligence as above average. However, as their intelligence was indeed high, this was not an overestimation. While standard analyses indicated Dunning–Kruger effects in general, verbal, and spatial intelligence, improved statistical methods only yielded some support for one in verbal intelligence: people with lower verbal intelligence tended to have less self-knowledge about it. The generalizability of these findings is limited to young, highly educated populations. Nevertheless, our results contribute to a growing literature questioning the generality of the Dunning–Kruger effect.

Parental Stress and Children’s Self-Regulation Problems in Families with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Abstract: Background: Increased parental stress is strongly related to the severity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptomatology. Parents’ coping strategies and social support issues add to the complexity of this relationship. Aim: The present study investigated the relationship between self-regulation skills and parenting stress in parents of nonverbal children with ASD. Methods and procedure: The Parenting Stress Index–Short Form (PSI-SF) was administered to 75 families, and self-regulation scores on a Motor Behavior Checklist for children (MBC) were recorded by students’ class teachers (level of functioning-behavioral problems). In addition, interviews were conducted with a focus group of six parents (four mothers and two fathers) to explore the underline factors of parental stressin-depth. Results: Correlation analyses revealed that parenting stress was positively correlated with elevated scores on MBC children’s self-regulation subscale. On the other hand, parenting stress was negatively correlated with the level of social functional support reported. Qualitative data were analyzed using transcripts, revealing additional stressors for families and parents, and resulting in recommendations to overcome these factors. Conclusions and implications: Aiming at developing strategies to improve self-regulation skills in nonverbal children with ASD may be particularly important in reducing parental stress for families having nonverbal children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Parents’ stressors and suggestions during interviews are also discussed.

Academic Achievement: Influences of University Students’ Self-Management and Perceived Self-Efficacy

Abstract: Successful students are more than just those who have more effective and efficient learning techniques for acquiring and applying information. They can also motivate, evaluate, and adjust their behavior if they are not learning properly. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of university students’ self-management during their learning experience and their self-efficacy on their academic achievement. Additionally, the study investigated the differences between the Egyptian and Saudi students’ perceptions of self-management skills and self-efficacy in their academic achievement within the two countries. A total of 889 students from two different Arab countries took part in the study (Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). The sample was given an online questionnaire to evaluate their self-management abilities, perceived self-efficacy, and academic achievement. A quantitative approach using SmartPLS-SEM was deployed. The findings demonstrate that self-management and self-efficacy have positive influences on students’ academic achievement in both countries. Further, self-management skills have been proven to influence self-efficacy, which in turn highly influences academic achievement. Moreover, the findings of the Multi-Group Analysis (MGA) did not report significant differences between the Egyptian and Saudi students in terms of their perception of self-management, self-efficacy, and academic achievement.

Effects of AR Picture Books on German Teaching in Universities

Abstract: In this paper, we discuss the teaching effects of augmented reality (AR) technology in German instruction. We conducted one prestudy and three formal studies on German learners in China’s mainland and Taiwan region. In the formal studies, a total of 120 students participated in the survey, allowing us to compare the differences in interest in learning between AR picture books and traditional picture books. A total of 114 students took part in the survey, which enabled us to compare the contribution of AR picture books to teaching when students’ satisfaction and German proficiency were different. To improve satisfaction, 514 students participated in the survey regarding the influence of the interactive narrative design effect and peer learning on satisfaction with using AR picture books. The results suggest that when learning German with AR picture books, satisfaction is the key construct that determines students’ learning states.

Measuring Personality through Images: Validating a Forced-Choice Image-Based Assessment of the Big Five Personality Traits

Abstract: Selection methods are commonly used in talent acquisition to predict future job performance and to find the best candidates, but questionnaire-based assessments can be lengthy and lead to candidate fatigue and poor engagement, affecting completion rates and producing poor data. Gamification can mitigate some of these issues through greater engagement and shorter testing times. One avenue of gamification is image-based tests. Although such assessments are starting to gain traction in personnel selection, few studies describing their validity and psychometric properties exist. The current study explores the potential of a five-minute, forced-choice, image-based assessment of the Big Five personality traits to be used in selection. Study 1 describes the creation of the image pairs and the selection of the 150 best-performing items based on a sample of 300 respondents. Study 2 describes the creation of machine-learning-based scoring algorithms and tests of their convergent and discriminate validity and adverse impact based on a sample of 431 respondents. All models showed good levels of convergent validity with the IPIP-NEO-120 (openness r = 0.71, conscientiousness r = 0.70, extraversion r = 0.78, agreeableness r = 0.60, and emotional stability r = 0.70) and were largely free from potential adverse impact. The implications for recruitment policy and practice and the need for further validation are discussed.

Examining the Influence of Using First-Person View Drones as Auxiliary Devices in Matte Painting Courses on College Students’ Continuous Learning Intention

Abstract: In terms of the teaching process of matte painting, it is essential for students to develop a sound understanding of the relationship between virtual and physical environments. In this study, first-person view (FPV) drones are applied to matte painting courses to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching, and to propose more effective design suggestions for FPV drones that are more suitable for teaching. This provides students with a better learning environment using a digital education system. The results of the study indicate that the flow experience, learning interest, and continuous learning intention of students who use FPV drones in matte painting are significantly greater than those of students who only utilize traditional teaching methods. Furthermore, the technology incentive model (TIM) was developed in this study after being verified by the structural equation model. The results demonstrate that the second-order construct ‘technology incentive’ comprising perceived interactivity, perceived vividness, and novel experience positively influence students’ learning interest and continuous learning intentions under the mediation of flow experience.

Creativity and Artificial Intelligence—A Student Perspective

Abstract: Creativity is a core 21st-century skill taught globally in education systems. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being implemented in classrooms worldwide, a key question is proposed: how do students perceive AI and creativity? Twelve focus groups and eight one-on-one interviews were conducted with secondary school-aged students after they received training in both creativity and AI over eight weeks. An analysis of the interviews highlights that the students view the relationship between AI and creativity as four key concepts: social, affective, technological and learning factors. The students with a higher self-reported understanding of AI reported more positive thoughts about integrating AI into their classrooms. The students with a low understanding of AI tended to be fearful of AI. Most of the students indicated a thorough understanding of creativity and reported that AI could never match human creativity. The implications of the results are presented, along with recommendations for the future, to ensure AI can be effectively integrated into classrooms.

The Creativity Diamond—A Framework to Aid Creativity

Abstract: There are many facets to creativity, and the topic has a profound impact on society. Substantial and sustained study on creativity has been undertaken, and much is now known about the fundamentals and how creativity can be augmented. To draw these elements together, a framework was developed called the creativity diamond, formulated on the basis of reviews of prior work, as well as the consideration of 20 PhD studies on the topics of creativity, design, innovation, and product development. The framework embodies the principles that quantity of ideas breeds quality through selection, and that a range of creativity tools can provoke additional ideas to augment our innate creativity. The creativity diamond proposed is a tool consisting of a divergent phase associated with the development of many distinctive ideas and a convergent phase associated with the refinement of ideas. The creativity diamond framework can be used to prompt and help select which tool or approach to use in a creative environment for innovative tasks. The framework has now been used by many students and professionals in diverse contexts.

Traits of Complex Thinking: A Bibliometric Review of a Disruptive Construct in Education

Abstract: The purpose of this research is to contextualize the behavior of publications on complex thinking in education. A total of 428 documents compiled in Scopus from 1937 to 2022 were analyzed with a bibliometric study considering criteria such as “complex thinking”, “complex thought”, and “reasoning for complexity”, all combined with education. The results show 153, 47, and 5 publications for each criterion with their related disciplines, citations, types of documents, universities, prominent authors, researching countries, and the general diachronic evolution of the subject, this allows to establish an idea about the implications of the present study according to one of the most important databases in the world. It is concluded that complex thinking and its relationship with education awakens a greater interest in the academy, not only because of its incidence in diverse fields that are nourished by it for the generation of new multidisciplinary knowledge but also because of the published research that demonstrates its transcendence.

A New Perspective on Assessing Cognition in Children through Estimating Shared Intentionality

Abstract: This theoretical article aims to create a conceptual framework for future research on digital methods for assessing cognition in children through estimating shared intentionality, different from assessing through behavioral markers. It shows the new assessing paradigm based directly on the evaluation of parent-child interaction exchanges (protoconversation), allowing early monitoring of children’s developmental trajectories. This literature analysis attempts to understand how cognition is related to emotions in interpersonal dynamics and whether assessing these dynamics shows cognitive abilities in children. The first part discusses infants’ unexpected achievements, observing the literature about children’s development. The analysis supposes that due to the caregiver’s help under emotional arousal, newborns’ intentionality could appear even before it is possible for children’s intention to occur. The emotional bond evokes intentionality in neonates. Therefore, they can manifest unexpected achievements while performing them with caregivers. This outcome shows an appearance of protoconversation in adult-children dyads through shared intentionality. The article presents experimental data of other studies that extend our knowledge about human cognition by showing an increase of coordinated neuronal activities and the acquisition of new knowledge by subjects in the absence of sensory cues. This highlights the contribution of interpersonal interaction to gain cognition, discussed already by Vygotsky. The current theoretical study hypothesizes that if shared intentionality promotes cognition from the onset, this interaction modality can also facilitate cognition in older children. Therefore in the second step, the current article analyzes empirical data of recent studies that reported meaningful interaction in mother-infant dyads without sensory cues. It discusses whether an unbiased digital assessment of the interaction ability of children is possible before the age when the typical developmental trajectory implies verbal communication. The article develops knowledge for a digital assessment that can measure the extent of children’s ability to acquire knowledge through protoconversation. This specific assessment can signalize the lack of communication ability in children even when the typical trajectory of peers’ development does not imply verbal communication.

Adversity Quotient Promotes Teachers’ Professional Competence More Strongly Than Emotional Intelligence: Evidence from Indonesia

Abstract: Teachers’ professional competence has become a popular issue since the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study investigates teachers’ professional competence, in terms of emotional intelligence (EI), adversity quotient (AQ), and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), when teachers need to deal with abnormal situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, this study also seeks to explore the relationship of EI and AQ with teachers’ professional competence mediated by OCB. The research data were collected through a questionnaire using a Likert scale from 589 participants: elementary school teachers in Indonesia were chosen through accidental sampling. The data analysis used structural equation modeling (SEM), complemented by common method bias, correlational, and descriptive analysis. The result shows that EI, AQ, and OCB have a significant relationship with teachers’ professional competence. However, AQ more strongly promotes teachers’ OCB and professional competence than EI does. In addition, OCB mediates the relationship between EI and AQ with teachers’ professional competence. Accordingly, a new model regarding the relationship of EI and AQ with teachers’ professional competence mediated by OCB was confirmed. Therefore, it is suggested that teachers’ professional competence can increase through EI, AQ, and OCB. Hence, the new empirical model deserves to be discussed, adapted, and even adopted by practitioners and researchers to develop the professional competence of teachers in the future.

How Is Cultural Intelligence Related to Human Behavior?

Abstract: Cultural intelligence is an individual’s ability to recognize, understand, and adapt to cross-cultural contexts in order to change his or her self-capacity. Hence, this study explores the relationship between cultural intelligence and interpersonal communication, psychological capital (PsyCap), and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among teachers in Indonesia and investigates the possibility of finding relevant new models. A Likert questionnaire was used to collect research data. The research participants included 450 Indonesian junior high school teachers selected by accidental sampling. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis, supported by descriptive statistics and correlational matrices. The results indicate that cultural intelligence is significantly related to teachers’ interpersonal communication, PsyCap, and OCB. Additionally, this study also produces a new model regarding the relationship between cultural intelligence and a teacher’s OCB, mediated by interpersonal communication and PsyCap. Therefore, researchers and practitioners can discuss and adopt a new empirical model to increase cultural intelligence.

On the Relation between the Development of Working Memory Updating and Working Memory Capacity in Preschoolers

Abstract: This study aims at investigating the relationship between working memory updating and working memory capacity in preschool children. A sample of 176 preschoolers (36–74 months) was administered a working memory updating task (Magic House) along with three working memory capacity tests that specifically measure their core attentional component (M capacity, as defined in the theory of constructive operators): Backward Word Span, Mr. Cucumber, and Direction Following Task. Correlational analyses and cross-classification prediction analyses were performed. Updating and capacity were significantly correlated, although the correlations were not high when age was partialled out. Capacity increased with age, and mediated the relation between age and updating. More importantly, cross-classification prediction analysis revealed that high updating scores with low M capacity, and low updating scores with relatively high M capacity, are possible events; the only combination ruled out was a low updating score with precocious development of M capacity. These facts demonstrate that updating skills in preschoolers depends on M capacity but does not coincide with it. Therefore, in cognitive developmental theories, the constructs of working memory updating and capacity should be distinguished, and on practical grounds, different tests should be used to measure them.

The Search for the Elusive Basic Processes Underlying Human Intelligence: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Abstract: This article discusses the issues of the basic processes underlying intelligence, considering both historical and contemporary perspectives. The attempt to elucidate basic processes has had, at best, mixed success. There are some problems with pinpointing the underlying basic processes of intelligence, both in theory and as tested, such as what constitutes a basic process, what constitutes intelligence, and whether the processes, basic or not, are the same across time and space (cultural contexts). Nevertheless, the search for basic processes has elucidated phenomena of intelligence that the field would have been hard-pressed to elucidate in any other way. Intelligence cannot be fully understood through any one conceptual or methodological approach. A comprehensive understanding of intelligence requires the converging operations of a variety of approaches to it.

School Readiness Test and Intelligence in Preschool as Predictors of Middle School Success: Result of an Eight-Year Longitudinal Study

Abstract: Research has shown that the development of cognitive and social skills in preschool predicts school readiness in kindergarten. However, most longitudinal studies are short-term, tracking children’s development only through the early elementary school years. This study aims to investigate the long-term impact of preschool predictors, intelligence, and mothers’ education on grade six school performance. This study presents the results of an eight-year-long longitudinal study. The sample includes 202 Hungarian children (89 boys) from a disadvantaged region of southeastern Hungary. The independent variables were the preschool measures: DIFER (Diagnostic System for Assessing Development), a widely used, standardized school readiness test that measures cognitive and social skills; the Raven intelligence test; and socioeconomic status. The dependent variables in grade six were: National Standardized tests in math and reading (NABC, National Assessment of Basic Competencies) and school grades (GPA). Cronbach’s alpha reliability of each test is above 0.76. Correlations and a series of multiple regressions were used for analysis. All three independent variables have significant predictive power for school performance in sixth grade. DIFER skills were the best predictors for reading achievement, intelligence for math achievement, and GPA was best predicted by mothers’ education. The results show that developing preschool skills, mothers’ education and IQ in preschool are essential to long-term learning success.

The Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory (BESSI): Psychometric Properties of a German-Language Adaptation, Temporal Stabilities of the Skills, and Associations with Personality and Intelligence

Abstract: Social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills comprise a broad set of abilities that are essential for building and maintaining relationships, regulating emotions, selecting and pursuing goals, or exploring novel stimuli. Toward an improved SEB skill assessment, Soto and colleagues recently introduced the Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory (BESSI). Measuring 32 facets from 5 domains with 192 items (assessment duration: ~15 min), BESSI constitutes the most extensive SEB inventory to date. However, so far, BESSI exists only in English. In three studies, we comprehensively validated a novel German-language adaptation, BESSI-G. Moreover, we expanded evidence on BESSI in three ways by (1) assessing the psychometric properties of the 32 individual skill facets, in addition to their domain-level structure; (2) providing first insights into the temporal stabilities of the 32 facets over 1.5 and 8 months; and (3) investigating the domains’ and facets’ associations with intelligence, in addition to personality traits. Results show that BESSI-G exhibits good psychometric properties (unidimensionality, reliability, factorial validity). Its domain-level structure is highly similar to that of the English-language source version. The facets show high temporal stabilities, convergent validity with personality traits, and discriminant validity with fluid and crystallized intelligence. We discuss implications for research on SEB skills.

Metacognition, Mind Wandering, and Cognitive Flexibility: Understanding Creativity

Abstract: The goal of this article is to review work on mind wandering, metacognition and creativity in order to consider their relationship with cognitive flexibility. I introduce a model of the role that mind wandering and metacognition have in the generation and exploration of novel ideas and products in the creative process. I argue that managing the interaction between metacognition and mind wandering is the main role of cognitive flexibility in creativity. Furthermore, I claim that balancing the influence of metacognition during the generation and exploration of pre-inventive structures is a quintessential part of creativity, probably in almost any domain. Thus, I advance a general framework that can be applied to understanding how creators monitor and think about their own cognition when they engage in the generation and exploration of ideas. Additionally, I discuss the evolution of controlled and spontaneous cognition and metacognitive judgements during the development of a creative person.

Familiar Strategies Feel Fluent: The Role of Study Strategy Familiarity in the Misinterpreted-Effort Model of Self-Regulated Learning

Abstract: Why do learners not choose ideal study strategies when learning? Past research suggests that learners frequently misinterpret the effort affiliated with efficient strategies as being indicative of poor learning. Expanding on past findings, we explored the integration of study habits into this model. We conducted two experiments where learners experienced two contrasting strategies—blocked and interleaved schedules—to learn to discriminate between images of bird families. After experiencing each strategy, learners rated each according to its perceived effort, learning, and familiarity. Next, learners were asked to choose which strategy they would use in the future. Mediation analyses revealed, for both experiments, that the more mentally effortful interleaving felt, the less learners felt they learned, and the less likely learners were to use it in future learning. Further, in this study, strategy familiarity predicted strategy choice, also mediated by learners’ perceived learning. Additionally, Study 2 verified that, in contrast to learners’ judgments, the less familiar interleaving schedule resulted in better learning. Consequently, learners are making ineffective learning judgments based on their perceptions of effort and familiarity and, therefore, do not make use of optimal study strategies in self-regulated learning decisions.

Students Can (Mostly) Recognize Effective Learning, So Why Do They Not Do It?

Abstract: Cognitive psychology research has emphasized that the strategies that are effective and efficient for fostering long-term retention (e.g., interleaved study, retrieval practice) are often not recognized as effective by students and are infrequently used. In the present studies, we use a mixed-methods approach and challenge the rhetoric that students are entirely unaware of effective learning strategies. We show that whether being asked to describe strategies used by poor-, average-, and high-performing students (Study 1) or being asked to judge vignettes of students using different strategies (Study 2), participants are generally readily able to identify effective strategies: they were able to recognize the efficacy of explanation, pretesting, interpolated retrieval practice, and even some interleaving. Despite their knowledge of these effective strategies, they were still unlikely to report using these strategies themselves. In Studies 2 and 3, we also explore the reasons why students might not use the strategies that they know are effective. Our findings suggest that interventions to improve learners’ strategy use might focus less on teaching them about what is effective and more on increasing self-efficacy, reducing the perceived costs, and establishing better habits.

Cultural Intelligence: What Is It and How Can It Effectively Be Measured?

Abstract: We administered both maximum-performance and typical-performance assessments of cultural intelligence to 114 undergraduates in a selective university in the Northeast of the United States. We found that cultural intelligence could be measured by both maximum-performance and typical-performance tests of cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence as assessed by a maximum-performance measure is largely distinct from the construct as assessed by a typical-performance measure. The maximum-performance test, the Sternberg Test of Cultural Intelligence (SCIT), showed high internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. Sections with problems from two content domains—Business (SCIT-B) and Leisure (SCIT-L) activities—were highly intercorrelated, suggesting they measured largely the same construct. The SCIT showed substantial correlations with another maximum-performance measure of cultural intelligence, Views-on-Culture. It also was correlated, at more modest levels, with fluid intelligence and personal intelligence tests. Factorially, the (a) maximum-performance cultural intelligence tests, (b) typical-performance cultural intelligence test and a test of openness to experience, and (c) fluid intelligence tests formed three separate factors.

Teachers’ Professional Development and Intelligent Ways of Coping with It: A Systematic Review in Elementary and Middle School Education

Abstract: This research addresses teacher training at different generational stages, with the aim of analysing the training actions developed by school teachers and the intentionality of linking them to their professional development, in order to offer a broad perspective of the paradigm of smart schools, allowing for the adjustment of the quality of training to real demands. To this end, a systematic review of articles published between 2012 and 2022 in the main databases (WoS, Scopus, Eric, Dialnet, and Google Scholar) was carried out. After applying the inclusion criteria, 56 articles were selected and analysed following the PRISMA 2020 statement. The findings showed the interest and importance of initial, continuous, and lifelong learning among teachers as a driver of professional development. The results also showed that research is mostly focused on novice teachers and qualitative methodologies predominate, although this is limited to certain countries and specialised publications. However, generational differences were observed. While younger teachers are more highly trained in ICT, older teachers have a higher level of competence at a processual and relational level in the classroom. In conclusion, it should be noted that teacher training linked to professional development has an impact on school improvement, especially if it is carried out from an intergenerational collaborative perspective, and the acquisition of new skills.

Taking a Closer Look: The Relationship between Pre-School Domain General Cognition and School Mathematics Achievement When Controlling for Intelligence

Abstract: Intelligence, as well as working memory and attention, affect the acquisition of mathematical competencies. This paper aimed to examine the influence of working memory and attention when taking different mathematical skills into account as a function of children’s intellectual ability. Overall, intelligence, working memory, attention and numerical skills were assessed twice in 1868 German pre-school children (t1, t2) and again at 2nd grade (t3). We defined three intellectual ability groups based on the results of intellectual assessment at t1 and t2. Group comparisons revealed significant differences between the three intellectual ability groups. Over time, children with low intellectual ability showed the lowest achievement in domain-general and numerical and mathematical skills compared to children of average intellectual ability. The highest achievement on the aforementioned variables was found for children of high intellectual ability. Additionally, path modelling revealed that, depending on the intellectual ability, different models of varying complexity could be generated. These models differed with regard to the relevance of the predictors (t2) and the future mathematical skills (t3). Causes and conclusions of these findings are discussed.

Teachers’ Professional Development and Intelligent Ways of Coping with It: A Systematic Review in Elementary and Middle School Education

Abstract: This research addresses teacher training at different generational stages, with the aim of analysing the training actions developed by school teachers and the intentionality of linking them to their professional development, in order to offer a broad perspective of the paradigm of smart schools, allowing for the adjustment of the quality of training to real demands. To this end, a systematic review of articles published between 2012 and 2022 in the main databases (WoS, Scopus, Eric, Dialnet, and Google Scholar) was carried out. After applying the inclusion criteria, 56 articles were selected and analysed following the PRISMA 2020 statement. The findings showed the interest and importance of initial, continuous, and lifelong learning among teachers as a driver of professional development. The results also showed that research is mostly focused on novice teachers and qualitative methodologies predominate, although this is limited to certain countries and specialised publications. However, generational differences were observed. While younger teachers are more highly trained in ICT, older teachers have a higher level of competence at a processual and relational level in the classroom. In conclusion, it should be noted that teacher training linked to professional development has an impact on school improvement, especially if it is carried out from an intergenerational collaborative perspective, and the acquisition of new skills.

The Role of Metacognitive Strategy Monitoring and Control in the Relationship between Creative Mindsets and Divergent Thinking Performance

Abstract: Previous research has shown that creative mindsets influence creativity. Compared with people with a fixed creative mindset, those with a growth creative mindset performed better in creative tasks. The underlying mechanism, however, is not completely understood. The present study has extended previous works to explore whether metacognitive strategy monitoring and control influence the relationship between creative mindsets and divergent thinking performance. The thinking aloud method was used to summarize four strategies in a divergent thinking task (an alternative uses task, AUT) in a pilot study: memory retrieval, splitting, property-based, and general use strategies. In the formal study, the creative mindsets scale, AUT, self-strategic utility judgment (i.e., an index of metacognitive strategy monitoring), and frequency of strategies usage (i.e., an index of metacognitive strategy control) were used to explore the relationships among creative mindsets, divergent thinking, and metacognitive strategy monitoring and control. The results indicated a positive correlation between a growth creative mindset and divergent thinking but a negative correlation between a fixed creative mindset and divergent thinking. More importantly, there were identified mediating roles of metacognitive monitoring and control of splitting and property-based strategies in the relationship between creative mindsets and divergent thinking. The findings reveal that creative mindsets are a critical predictor of divergent thinking, and metacognitive monitoring and control of abstract strategies mediate this association.

Is Flexibility More than Fluency and Originality?

Abstract: Flexibility (i.e., the number of categorically different ideas), fluency (i.e., the answer quantity), and originality (i.e., the quality of ideas) are essential aspects of the ability to think divergently. Theoretically, fluency and ideational flexibility tasks are akin to one another. However, flexibility was also considered to be uniquely related to working memory capacity due to the task requirements involved in generating diverse answers (e.g., self-monitoring, suppression, and category generation). Given that the role of working memory is strengthened in flexibility tasks relative to fluency and originality tasks, flexibility should be more strongly related with working memory. Additionally, mental speed should show a similar pattern of results because mental speed has been previously related to task complexity. Based on a sample of N = 409 adults (Mage = 24.01 years), we found in latent variable models that fluency/originality strongly predicts flexibility and accounts for 61% of its variance. Creative flexibility was unrelated to working memory and mental speed after controlling for fluency/originality. Additionally, the residual of a latent flexibility factor was unrelated to self-reported creative activities. We concluded that flexibility, as measured here, can be deemed primarily a method factor that did not show value over and above fluency/originality as assessed in traditional fluency and originality tasks. We discussed perspectives for disentangling trait and method variance in flexibility tasks.

Accepting the Challenge: Helping Schools Get Smarter about Supporting Students’ Creative Collaboration and Communication in a Changing World

Abstract: Although the purpose of schools can be (and has been) debated, one common goal that most people agree upon is that schools can and should play a role in preparing young people for the complexities of the future. This goal is somewhat paradoxical in that the future is unknown. So how might schools prepare young people for the unknowable? The prototypical response has been to design learning experiences based on what is already known in the hope that the knowledge, skills, and experiences in school will be durable enough to equip students for navigating the complexities of the problems they will encounter in the future. Consequently, most of what students learn in schools is predetermined. Although we recognize that some of these experiences can be beneficial for helping students in the future, we assert in this concept paper that schools can (and need to) get smarter about the kinds of educational experiences that students engage with if we are to prepare them for addressing the uncertainty of complex problems that they face now and into the future. More specifically, we open this concept paper by briefly discussing the prototypical curricular experience that schools provide young people and how these experiences sometimes fall short in providing students with the opportunities, experience, and confidence necessary to creatively engage with, resolve, and communicate about their experiences addressing complex problems. We then introduce a collaborative creative curricular experience called Journalistic Legacy Challenges (JLC). JLCs can support students in learning how to identify, address, document and communicate about complex problems that can make a difference in their communities and in their own and others’ lives. The experiences offered by JLCs differ from prototypical learning experiences because they require young people to identify problems that matter to them, collaborate with skilled others to address those problems, develop their creative confidence, and learn how to use journalistic learning to document and communicate about their work to broader audiences.

Intelligent Academic Specialties Selection in Higher Education for Ukrainian Entrants: A Recommendation System

Abstract: In this article, we provide an approach to solve the problem of academic specialty selection in higher educational institutions with Ukrainian entrants as our target audience. This concern affects operations at universities or other academic institutions, the labor market, and the availability of in-demand professionals. We propose a decision-making architecture for a recommendation system to assist entrants with specialty selection as a solution. The modeled database is an integral part of the system to provide an in-depth university specialties description. We consider developing an API to consume the data and return predictions to users in our future studies. The exploratory data analysis of the 2021 university admission campaign in Ukraine confirmed our assumptions and revealed valuable insights into the specifics of specialty selection among entrants. We developed a comprehension that most entrants apply for popular but not necessarily in-demand specialties at universities. Our findings on association rules mining show that entrants are able to select alternative specialties adequately. However, it does not lead to successful admission to a desired tuition-free education form in all cases. So, we find it appropriate to deliver better decision-making on specialty selection, thus increasing the likelihood of university admission and professional development based on intelligent algorithms, user behavior analytics, and consultations with academic and career orientation experts. The results will be built into an intelligent virtual entrant’s assistant as a service.

Shaky Student Growth? A Comparison of Robust Bayesian Learning Progress Estimation Methods

Abstract: Monitoring the progress of student learning is an important part of teachers’ data-based decision making. One such tool that can equip teachers with information about students’ learning progress throughout the school year and thus facilitate monitoring and instructional decision making is learning progress assessments. In practical contexts and research, estimating learning progress has relied on approaches that seek to estimate progress either for each student separately or within overarching model frameworks, such as latent growth modeling. Two recently emerging lines of research for separately estimating student growth have examined robust estimation (to account for outliers) and Bayesian approaches (as opposed to commonly used frequentist methods). The aim of this work was to combine these approaches (i.e., robust Bayesian estimation) and extend these lines of research to the framework of linear latent growth models. In a sample of N = 4970 second-grade students who worked on the quop-L2 test battery (to assess reading comprehension) at eight measurement points, we compared three Bayesian linear latent growth models: (a) a Gaussian model, (b) a model based on Student’s t-distribution (i.e., a robust model), and (c) an asymmetric Laplace model (i.e., Bayesian quantile regression and an alternative robust model). Based on leave-one-out cross-validation and posterior predictive model checking, we found that both robust models outperformed the Gaussian model, and both robust models performed comparably well. While the Student’s t model performed statistically slightly better (yet not substantially so), the asymmetric Laplace model yielded somewhat more realistic posterior predictive samples and a higher degree of measurement precision (i.e., for those estimates that were either associated with the lowest or highest degree of measurement precision). The findings are discussed for the context of learning progress assessment.

Intelligence IS Cognitive Flexibility: Why Multilevel Models of Within-Individual Processes Are Needed to Realise This

Abstract: Despite substantial evidence for the link between an individual’s intelligence and successful life outcomes, questions about what defines intelligence have remained the focus of heated dispute. The most common approach to understanding intelligence has been to investigate what performance on tests of intellect is and is not associated with. This psychometric approach, based on correlations and factor analysis is deficient. In this review, we aim to substantiate why classic psychometrics which focus on between-person accounts will necessarily provide a limited account of intelligence until theoretical considerations of within-person accounts are incorporated. First, we consider the impact of entrenched psychometric presumptions that support the status quo and impede alternative views. Second, we review the importance of process-theories, which are critical for any serious attempt to build a within-person account of intelligence. Third, features of dynamic tasks are reviewed, and we outline how static tasks can be modified to target within-person processes. Finally, we explain how multilevel models are conceptually and psychometrically well-suited to building and testing within-individual notions of intelligence, which at its core, we argue is cognitive flexibility. We conclude by describing an application of these ideas in the context of microworlds as a case study.