自我效能、价值、课堂环境及学习成绩与学业求助的关系

以１３５名初中二年级学生为被试,采用问卷研究了自我效能、价值、课堂环境及学习成绩与学业求助的关系。结果表明：（１）自我效能与求助益处、工具性求助呈显著正相关关系;与求助代价、执行性求助和回避求助呈显著负相关关系;（２）价值与求助益处、工具性求助呈显著正相关关系;与求助价价、执行性和回避求助呈显著负相关关系;（３）支持求助的课堂环境与工具性求助呈显著正相关关系;与来自老师的威胁和回避求助呈显著负相关     

Sex differences in historical knowledge and school grades: a 26 nation study

Sex differences among ninth grade school students in historical knowledge and grades were examined in 29 samples drawn from 26 countries. Boys obtained higher mean scores on the tests of historical knowledge in all samples, while girls obtained better grades in 22 of the samples.     

Performance feedback and self-focused attention in the classroom: When past and present interact

An experiment tested the impact of performance feedback on self-focused attention in high and low achievers. On the basis of previous research, which suggested that inconsistent feedback (i.e., feedback which contradicts one's performance history) receives considerable attention, it was predicted that such feedback would increase self-focus regardless of its valence (i.e., positive or negative). As predicted, high achievers were more self-focused when receiving failure feedback than when receiving success feedback or no feedback. The low achievers were more self-focused when receiving success feedback than when receiving failure feedback or no feedback. These findings are discussed in relation to Kluger and DeNisi's (1996) Feedback intervention theory and the literature on self-focused attention.     

Pyramid training of elementary school teachers to use a classroom management "skill package"

Three regular elementary teachers were trained in the use of a classroom management "skill package". Subsequently, each of these three teachers (tier 1 of training) trained three more teachers to use the same skill package (tier 2 of training). Direct behavioral measures of student disruptiveness were taken in the three tier-1 classrooms and four tier-2 classrooms, and permanent product measures of student productivity in arithmetic were taken in the three tier-1 classrooms. Results indicated that student disruptiveness decreased at least as much in the tier-2 classrooms as in the tier-1 classrooms. Data also indicated that serving as trainers benefited two of the tier-1 teachers who profited least from the original training by producing further reductions in disruptiveness in their respective classrooms. Productivity data suggested that use of the "skill package" increased classroom academic output, especially for those students below the median in productivity during baseline. The investigators' time investment in training a tier-2 teacher was one-fourth that of training a tier-1 teacher.     

A REVIEW OF ACADEMIC PERMANENT-PRODUCT DATA COLLECTION AND RELIABILITY PROCEDURES IN APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS RESEARCH1

Three publication sources were reviewed to determine the recent conventions for collecting, and assessing the reliability of, academic permanent-product data (handwriting, examination papers, etc in applied behavior analysis. The primary source was the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (1968–1974). Secondary sources included conference proceedings titled, A new direction in education: behavior analysis (E. Ramp and B. L. Hopkins, Eds., Lawrence, Kansas: Support and Development Center for Follow Through, Department of Human Development, University of Kansas, 1971), and Behavior Analysis and Education (G. Semb, Ed., Lawrence, Kansas: Support and Development Center for Follow Through, Department of Human Development, University of Kansas, 1972). Finally, as a test of the generality of the findings in the two applied behavior analysis sources, the current issue of each of 14 psychological and/or educational journals was reviewed. Thirty JABA studies reported academic permanent-product data, but only 14 reported reliability. Increasingly more product data through 1973 have been reported along with a greater proportion of authors reporting reliability. The review of the two conference proceeding publications revealed the same trend. In 1971, only three studies reported academic product data, none with reliability, while in 1972, 15 reported academic data, nine including reliability assessment. The review of 14 current education/psychology journal issues revealed four studies reporting academic data, none with reliability. Across all sources, about one-half of the studies reported reliability. Most of the studies reporting reliability described the frequency of reliability assessment, with approximately equal numbers of JABA studies reporting reliability for each paper or reliability for each session. The use of uninformed observers was reported in only three JABA studies and one conference study. Marks made on subjects' papers by either the teacher or the primary observer were reported masked for reliability purposes by only two JABA and two conference studies. Reliability was calculated on a session total basis in two JABA studies. Point-by-point agreement was given in nine JABA and three conference studies. Perfect reliability (mean agreement of 100%) was reported in only six JABA and three conference studies. Scores between 90 and 100% were reported in nine JABA and four conference studies. Scores below 80% were reported in three JABA studies. No other percentage agreement scores were reported, although one JABA study reported correlational reliability (Pearson r). In summary, recently more studies have dealt with academic data and, until 1974, a greater proportion of these studies reported reliability assessment, and relatively few studies reported either replicable methods, 100% agreement, or controls for maintaining rater independence.     

Peer and college-student tutoring as reinforcement in a token economy

Eighteen second-grade children initially received feedback in the form of nonredeemable tokens for reducing their disruptive classroom behavior. Four types of tutoring were then introduced in a Latin Square Design: noncontingent tutoring from fifth-grade peers, contingent peer tutoring, noncontingent college tutoring, and contingent college tutoring. No significant difference was found in the level of disruptive behavior of those children tutored by fifth-grade peers or college students, but contingent tutoring was significantly effective in reducing disruptive classroom behavior.     

Self-selection of standards by children: The relative effectiveness of pupil-selected and teacher-selected standards of performance

This study examines the effects of contingent reinforcement under conditions of pupil-selected and teacher-selected performance standards upon pupils' academic response rates. The academic response rate was measured by the number of correct responses emitted per session. Thirty pupils (15 second-graders and 15 third-graders) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups, based on matched triplets. One group worked under pupil-selected standards; the second group worked under standards selected by the experimenter with each pupil yoked to a member of the pupil-selected standards groups. Both groups participated in the calculation of their daily earnings. The third group served as a no-contingency control group. Baseline academic response rates on writing and math tasks were determined. During the experimental sessions reinforcement was provided in the form of points which were later traded for tangible rewards. The pupil-selected standards group showed a significantly greater number of correct responses in the writing and math tasks than the externally selected standards group.     

TEACHER-VERSUS PEER-MEDIATED INSTRUCTION: AN ECOBEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS OF ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES

In three experiments, we compared the effects of instructional arrangements that varied in: (a) teacher versus peer mediators, (b) methods used, (c) levels of student academic responding generated, and (d) content taught and tested. Instructional arrangements (i.e., tasks, structure, teacher position, teacher behavior) and students' levels of academic responding were measured by an observation system which served as an index of the independent variables. Students' accuracy on weekly spelling, arithmetic, and vocabulary tests and pre- and post-standardized achievement tests (Experiments 2 and 3 only) were the dependent variables. Results indicated that the classwide peer tutoring, compared to the teacher's procedure, produced more student academic responding and higher weekly test scores, regardless of treatment order or subject matter content (Experiment 1). The four lowest performing students in each class, in particular, benefited from peer tutoring, often performing as well as the other students. These findings were replicated in Experiments 2 and 3 wherein content taught/tested was also manipulated. Standardized test score gains were higher in those areas in which peer tutoring was used longest. Issues related to the functional analysis of instruction and achievement gain are discussed.     

THE EFFECTS OF PEER TUTORING WITH GROUP CONTINGENCIES ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF COLLEGE STUDENTS1

Improving the academic performance of college students who do not demonstrate mastery of course material is a major concern in traditional and nontraditional systems of instruction, where students may drop out, take incompletes, or continue to perform at low levels. The present study examined within-course peer tutoring as a potential solution. Twenty-one undergraduate students enrolled in a three-credit introductory course in Educational Psychology served as subjects. The class met one and a half hours each weekday for five weeks. Five students withdrew from the course and one student was placed on independent study before assignments to experimental conditions were made. The primary source materials were portions of Skinner's Technology of Teaching, plus two additional articles. The material was divided into nine equal units, each unit accompanied by study objectives. Nine one-hour essay exams were administered, one every other class day. Two review days were scheduled before a cumulative final was administered. Students could score a total of 20 points on each exam and the final. If a student scored 90% or better on an exam a score of 10 was earned. If a student scored 80% to 90%, a score of eight was awarded, and so on. A total score of 90 of 100 possible points at semester's end earned a student an “A”, 80 a “B”, and so on. The study consisted of three phases: Baseline I, Intervention, and Baseline II. Baseline I: after an initial introductory class, three lectures were presented—one for each unit. Each lecture day was followed by an exam day. Intervention: following the third exam, students were rank ordered and divided into high, medium, and low levels of performance on the basis of their raw scores on the previous three exams, and assigned to a paired or independent group. This assignment procedure resulted in three high-low pairs, three middle-middle pairs, two high-middle pairs, three low-independent students, and two middle-independent students. If, and only if, both students in a pair met a 90% mastery criterion on an exam did each receive five bonus points for the exam(s) reaching the criterion. The bonus points were used to offset points lost on the cumulative final. If both students in a pair met the 90% mastery criterion for units 4, 5, and 6, the pair received an automatic score of 10 on the cumulative final and had the two review days off. Other students who studied independently received identical payoffs if they met the same mastery criterion. The previous lecture time was used for inclass study. Baseline II: Baseline I procedures were reinstituted for the final three units. The test scores are the independent and paired students are shown in Figure 1. Compared to baseline, performance during peer tutoring improved for every student paired with a high partner, and not for those students who studied independently. Between-group comparisons suggest that the effective variables were related to the tutoring or its combination with the group contingency. However, the opportunity for intergroup discussion about treatment procedures and unequal assignment of subjects to the tutored and independent groups make conclusions about the between-group portion of the experiment tentative. Half to two-thirds of the students in each performance category viewed the peer-tutoring procedure favorably, and two-thirds or more reported that the procedure was effective in improving academic performance. Proportionately fewer students assigned to independent study found that procedure effective or viewed it favorably. It appears that pairing students with others who do better on tests and rewarding them for their combined performance results in considerable improvement in the performance of lower-level students.     

Parental influences on academic performance in African-American students

We investigated the relationship between parental influences and academic outcomes for African-American students. Secondary data analysis was conducted on the National Survey of Family and Household data set. Multiple regression analysis showed that parenting style (nurture and control) and parental involvement significantly predicted academic outcomes. Research has traditionally focused on the reasons for the failure of African-American students to succeed in school. This study focused on factors that determine success. The problem of negative school outcomes may be alleviated by studying what works to promote school success rather than what does not work for African-American students.