Large-Scale Assessment of Change in Student Achievement: Dutch Primary School Students’ Results on Written Division in 1997 and 2004 as an Example

This article discusses large-scale assessment of change in student achievement and takes the study by Hickendorff, Heiser, Van Putten, and Verhelst (2009) as an example. This study compared the achievement of students in the Netherlands in 1997 and 2004 on written division problems. Based on this comparison, they claim that there is a performance decline in this subdomain of mathematics, and that there is a move from applying the digit-based long division algorithm to a less accurate way of working without writing down anything. In our discussion of this study, we address methodological challenges that come in when investigating long-term trends in student achievements, such as the need for adequate operationalizations, the influence of the time of measurement and the necessity of the comparability of assessments, the effect of the assessment format, and the importance of inclusion relevant covariates in item response models. All these issues matter when assessing change in student achievement.     

The Effects of Presenting Multidigit Mathematics Problems in a Realistic Context on Sixth Graders' Problem Solving

Mathematics education and assessments increasingly involve arithmetic problems presented in context: a realistic situation that requires mathematical modeling. This study assessed the effects of such typical school mathematics contexts on two aspects of problem solving: performance and strategy use. Multidigit arithmetic problems presented in two conditions—with and without a realistic context—were solved by 685 sixth graders from The Netherlands. Regarding performance, the same (latent) ability dimension was involved in solving both types of problems, and the presence of a context increased the difficulty level of the division problems but not of other operations. Regarding strategy use, strategy choice and strategy accuracy were not affected by the presence of a problem context. In sum, the presence of a typical context in multidigit arithmetic problems had no marked effects on students' problem-solving behavior, which held for different subgroups of students with respect to language ability and gender.     

Adults' representations of division facts: a consequence of learning history?

There has been a recent increase in the study of adults' performance on simple division problems. Researchers up to now have focused on the relationship between multiplication and division and have found that multiplication often has a mediating role in the solution of division problems (Campbell, 1997, 1999; LeFevre & Morris, 1999; Mauro, LeFevre, & Morris, 2002). In this study, division was exclusively examined to determine the strategies that are used to solve these problems and to identify factors relating to particular strategy use. Thirty-two participants were asked to solve two sets of 64 simple division problems (from 4 divided by 2 to 81 divided by 9) and error, latency, and strategy report data were collected. Fewer errors were made on easy problems, which were also solved more quickly than difficult problems. Participants used retrieval, multiplication, and other strategies to solve the problems and tended to use retrieval more on easy than difficult problems and used multiplication more on difficult problems than easy problems. Unexpected age differences in strategy use were also found. Older participants tended to rely more heavily on retrieval than younger participants. These results suggest that older participants may have stronger representations for simple division problems than younger participants.     

Do multiplication and division strategies rely on executive and phonological working memory resources?

The role of executive and phonological working memory resources in simple arithmetic was investigated in two experiments. Participants had to solve simple multiplication problems (e.g., 4 x 8; Experiment 1) or simple division problems (e.g., 42 / 7; Experiment 2) under no-load, phonological-load, and executive-load conditions. The choice/no-choice method was used to investigate strategy execution and strategy selection independently. Results for strategy execution showed that executive working memory resources were involved in direct memory retrieval of both multiplication and division facts. Executive working memory resources were also involved in the use of nonretrieval strategies. Phonological working memory resources, on the other hand, tended to be involved in nonretrieval strategies only. Results for strategy selection showed no effects of working memory load. Finally, correlation analyses showed that both strategy execution and strategy selection correlated with individual-difference variables, such as gender, math anxiety, associative strength, calculator use, arithmetic skill, and math experience.     

Academic achievement in the Chinese context: the role of goals, strategies, and effort

Previous studies have suggested that Western constructs of academic motivation may operate in different ways in Asian contexts due to differences in the cultural environment. In the present study, the integrative effects of achievement goals, strategy orientations, and effort expenditure on achievement outcomes were examined among 1950 seventh-grade Chinese students in Hong Kong. Participants completed separate questionnaires for mathematics and English. Results for the two subjects were largely similar. There were significant positive relationships between mastery and performance goals, between cooperative and competitive orientations, as well as between understanding and memorizing strategies. Regression analyses further revealed that goals and strategies were highly predictive of effort expenditure, but only goals and effort significantly predicted achievement outcome, with strategies being barely significant. The need to further investigate how Chinese students reconcile the apparently antithetical orientations in learning as well as the effective strategies contributing to their learning is indicated.     

Anxiety, depression and coping: CDI, MASC and CRI-Y for screening purposes in schools

This study used depression (CDI - Kovacs, 1981), anxiety (MASC - March, 1997) and coping strategy (CRI-Y - Moos, 1993) scales and studied the fitness and discriminant validity of reduced versions. The sample consisted of 916 Portuguese pupils, 54.3% feminine, aged 10 to 21 years old. The participants were selected from a set of public schools nation-wide. Two classes were chosen from the 5th to the 12th grades. A set of principal component analyses was carried out in a randomly chosen sample (n = 394) and all the three reduced measures were found to be strongly correlated with the previous. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) using the other part of the sample (n = 522) revealed adjustment indexes suggesting a good fit for both the whole model and gender and age groups separately. All scales revealed a good internal consistency. Globally, girls were more anxious and developed more coping strategies than boys. Older students tended to be less depressed, while younger adolescents present higher scores in depression and anxiety and less coping strategies. Reduced scales are sensitive to gender and age differences and can be used in school settings in order to establish a baseline and roadmaps for both universal and selective mental health school based programs.     

HIGHLY ANXIOUS PUPILS IN FORMAL AND INFORMAL PRIMARY CLASSROOMS; THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INFERRED COPING STRATEGIES AND: I—COGNITIVE ATTAINMENT

Summary . This study was carried out in conjunction with the Teaching Styles project (Bennett, 1976). Questionnaire measures of ‘anxiety’ and ‘achievement motivation’, together with cognitive tests of English, mathematics and reading were administered to a sample of 956 primary school pupils in classes taught by teachers representing formal, informal and mixed teaching styles at the beginning and towards the end of the final year in primary school. Based on the premise that self-report measures of ‘anxiety’ and ‘achievement motivation’ may be indicative of coping strategies, zonal analyses of post-test data were carried out separately by sex and within teaching style. Results showed higher levels of attainment for highly anxious highly motivated pupils (an inferred coping strategy of approach) than for highly anxious low motivated pupils (an inferred coping strategy of avoidance). Further analyses indicated a close link between anxiety, motivation and ability for girls, a finding interpreted in terms of sex-related conformity, but for boys considerable discrepancies in attainment in relation to the inferred coping strategies were still in evidence at the lower ability level under all teaching styles. At the upper ability level significant discrepancies in attainment were shown only for boys in formal classrooms, where an inferred coping strategy of ‘approach’ was found to be associated with the highest level of attainment and an inferred coping strategy of ‘avoidance’ was associated with the lowest level of attainment. These findings are interpreted in terms of extrinsic motivational incentives, success and failure experience and possible parental influence. Further analysis indicated that ‘avoiders' tended to be introverted and ‘approachers' extraverted in personality. This finding is interpreted in the light of Gray's 1970 postulate that introverts are relatively more susceptible to punishment/non-reward, whereas extraverts are relatively more susceptible to reward.     

The effects of metacognitive training on the academic achievement and happiness of Esfahan University conditional students

Although the current literature supports the effectiveness of metacognition as a learning strategy, little is known about the effects of metacognition on academic achievement and happiness. This study analyzed the effectiveness of training metacognition on the academic achievement and happiness of Esfahan University conditional students. Conditional students are the students whose averages are lower than 12 (12 out of 20). After three times of becoming conditional they are expelled from university. The sample consisted of 60 once-conditional female students. They were randomly selected and allocated to an experimental group and a control group. The independent variable was the metacognitive training sessions performed in the experimental group. The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire scores and the students’ second semester average scores in 2003–2004 were dependent variables. The study predicted that training in metacognition should have positive effects on the academic achievement and that it would increase students’ happiness. The results suggested that metacognitive training had increased the academic achievement average of the experimental group. Similarly, metacognitive training had increased the happiness scores average of the experimental group.     

作文前构思时间分配及其对写作成绩影响的研究

通过3个分实验考察了优差生的作文前构思时间分配及其不同的构思时间分配策略对作文成绩的影响。实验1发现“优生”和“差生”在无时限写作情况下,前者花在构思上的时间更多,并运用了较好的构思策略;实验2发现“优生”和“差生在限时写作情况下,在构思时间上没有显著的差异,但他们在构思策略上仍表现出差异;实验3发现长时限构思比短时限构思能够带来更好的文本质量。作者对写作前构思的计划和管理,可能是提高作文质量的自我调控策略之一。     

小学三年级数学学优生与学困生解决比较问题的差异

运用实验法和临床访谈法研究了数学学优生与学困生在解决比较问题时的差异及元认知对解题成绩的影响。被试为40名小学三年级学生。比较问题分为一致问题和不一致问题。元认知包括元认知知识和元认知监控技能。结果表明：(1)学优生与学困生解决比较问题的成绩差异显著,学优生在一致问题和不一致问题上的解题成绩均优于学困生。这种差异与其解题时所运用的表征策略有关。(2)学生在解决比较问题中出现的主要错误为转换错误,在不一致问题中出现的错误多于一致问题中出现的错误。(3)学优生与学困生在元认知知识和监控技能上均有显著差异,元认知监控技能对解决比较问题的成绩有显著预测作用。     

The Reading Development of Swedish L2 Middle School Students and Its Relation to Reading Strategy Use

This two-year longitudinal study investigated Swedish L2 middle school students’ reading development and its relation to reported strategy use. Reading comprehension was measured on three occasions and strategy use was examined using the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) scale. The results show that student reading comprehension scores develop significantly over the last two years of middle school (grades 5–6). As expected, second-generation immigrant students score higher than first-generation immigrants, but the differences are not statistically significant. The study shows no gender-related differences in relation to reading strategy use. Boys and girls use strategies to a similar extent. However, good readers reported using all types of reading strategies, particularly global strategies, to a greater extent than poor readers. Interestingly, the reading achievement of boys was strongly correlated to the reported use of global strategies, while the reading achievement of girls was not correlated to strategy use at all. Implications of the study and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

The influence of problem features and individual differences on strategic performance in simple arithmetic

The present study examined the influence of features differing across problems (problem size and operation) and across individuals (gender, amount of daily arithmetic practice, calculator use, and arithmetic skill) on simple arithmetic performance. Regression analyses were used to investigate the role of these variables in both strategy selection and strategy efficiency. Results show that more skilled and highly practiced students used memory retrieval more often and executed their strategies more efficiently than did less skilled and practiced students. Furthermore, calculator use correlated with both retrieval and procedural strategy efficiency but not with strategy selection. Only very small associations with gender were observed, with boys retrieving slightly faster than girls. Implications of the present findings for models of mental arithmetic are discussed.     

Stability and change in children's division strategies

Age-related changes in children's performance on simple division problems (e.g., 6/2, 72/9) were investigated by asking children in Grades 4 through 7 to solve 32 simple division problems. Differences in performance were found across grade, with younger children performing more slowly and less accurately than older children. Problem size effects were also found in that children were faster and more accurate on small problems than on large problems. Two strategies changed across age, with children in Grade 4 relying heavily on the strategy of "addition" (adding the divisor until the dividend was reached) to solve the problems and children in Grades 5 through 7 relying primarily on the strategy of "multiplication" (recasting the division problem as a multiplication problem) to solve the problems. Surprisingly, the frequency of direct retrieval (retrieving the answer directly from memory) did not increase across grade and never became the dominant strategy of choice. Reasons for why retrieval use remains infrequent and age invariant are discussed. Overall, the results suggest that division is a unique operation and that the continued study of division may have implications for further understanding of how procedural and conceptual knowledge of arithmetic develops.     

中学生英语学习策略水平及其与英语学业成绩的相关研究

本研究运用《学生学习策略评价表》对安徽省两所中学的239名学生进行调查,考察中学生的英语学习策略水平及其与英语学业成绩的关系.结果发现:(1)中学生英语学习中经常使用的学习策略多集中于认知和调控策略.(2)省示范高中与一般中学学生在英语学习策略存在显著差异.性别上则不存在显著差异.(3)中学生的英语学习策略及其认知和调控策略与学生学业成绩之间呈显著正相关,交际和资源策略与学生的学业成绩则没有显著相关.     

初中生乐观主义与其学业成绩的关系及中介效应分析

通过问卷考察了初中生乐观人格和乐观解释的关系、乐观主义与学生学业成绩的关系以及积极应对策略的中介效应,分析表明两种乐观主义存在着联系,乐观主义与学业成绩存在密切关系,不同水平的乐观对学生学业成绩产生的影响不一样,积极应对策略的中介效应不明显。结论:乐观主义是影响初中生学业成绩的一个重要影响因素,不同乐观主义对学业成绩产生的直接影响不一样,高水平的乐观是有利于学业成绩的。     

Cognitive and attributional strategies among unemployed young adults: A case of the failure-trap strategy

This study concerns the extent to which people who display evident problem behaviour show signs of applying inefficient cognitive and attributional strategies in an achievement context. Twenty unemployed young adults, 14 people with health problems, and 23 students of a vocational school were compared in terms of the strategies they applied. The Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire (SAQ) and the Cartoon-Attribution-Strategy Test (CAST) developed for this study were used. The results showed that the unemployed young adults reported higher levels of failure expectations and task-irrelevant behaviour, and lower levels of self-esteem and self-serving attributional bias, than the control group. This pattern of results does not fully fit in with the conceptualizations of self-handicapping and learned helplessness. Therefore, a failure-trap strategy is discussed as an alternative type of maladaptive strategy. Typical of this strategy is that people with low self-esteem concentrate on task-irrelevant behaviour, but do not refer to this behaviour as an external excuse for failure.     

初中生人格型乐观、应对策略与学业成绩的关系

采用生活取向测量、应对方式量表对514名初中生进行调查,旨在了解人格型乐观主义、应对策略与学业成绩之间的关系。运用相关分析和回归分析的方法对它们的关系进行了考察。结果发现初中生积极和消极应对策略在其乐观主义影响学业成绩中的中介效应不显著,在不同学业成绩群体中,乐观主义、应对策略和学业成绩的关系会产生变化,乐观主义和积极应对策略对学业成绩有显著的预测力。     

Predicting physical activity intention and behaviour using achievement goal theory: A person-centred analysis

The purpose of the current study was to identify the 2 × 2 achievement goals profiles at the intraindividual level using a latent profile analyses (LPA) approach while controlling for the nesting of students within classroom. Additional analyses involving the direct inclusion of predictors and outcomes to the final latent profile solution were also used to examine the relationships between the latent profiles and perceived motivational climate, intention to be physically active and physical activity participation. A sample of 1810 school children aged 14–19 years drawn from 79 classes in 13 Singaporean schools took part in the study. Using the latent profile analysis, four distinct motivational profiles could be identified. The results from multinomial logistic regressions showed that profile membership was significantly predicted by perceptions of mastery and performance climate. Finally, the results showed that the four profiles differed significantly in terms of intention to be physically active and physical activity participation.     

课堂成就目标定向、任务难度、学业水平与元认知监控策略运用

以217名高中生为被试,采用计算机监控的活动操作法,探讨课堂成就目标定向、任务难度对不同学业水平学生元认知监控策略运用的影响。结果表明：（1）课堂掌握目标定向下均比在课堂成绩目标定向下更多地运用元认知监控策略;（2）高学业学生在较难任务上比较易任务上更多地运用元认知监控策略;低学业学生,在课堂掌握目标定向下．在较难任务上比较易任务上更多地使用元认知监控策略;在课堂成绩目标定向下,与课堂掌握目标定向情形相反;（3）临场动机中的自我效能感、目标方向、努力程度在课堂成就目标定向、任务难度对元认知监控策略的影响中具有中介作用。