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Background: Students often show unfavourable attribution: they attribute poor school performance to stable factors such as lack of ability and good school performance to variable factors such as effort. However, attribution can be influenced by individualized digital re‐attributional feedback leading to positive motivational effects and higher learning outcomes. This is very promising, but it still is unclear, whether this digital re‐attributional feedback can also be successfully integrated in everyday classroom activities. Objectives: The present field experiment investigated how integrating digital re‐attributional feedback into classroom instruction affects student attribution, motivation and learning outcomes. Methods: In the experiment, 8th–10th grade high school students (N = 322) worked with a digital mathematics learning program which was integrated in a three‐week teaching unit. Half the students in each classroom received only standard feedback after each practice task (SF group); the other half received additionally an individual re‐attributional feedback (RF group) after every third task. Attribution, mathematics self‐concept, and self‐efficacy were measured by an online questionnaire twice a week; learning outcomes in mathematics were measured weekly. Results and Conclusion: Hierarchical analyses showed that re‐attributional feedback led to a more favourable attribution in case of success on stable factors. Especially low‐performing students benefited from this feedback. No effects on attribution in case of failure, self‐efficacy or learning outcomes could be found. Further research could investigate if certain adaptations to the digital re‐attributional feedback is more effective in a real classroom setting and has a broader impact on different students. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Working with computers in the classroom and at home is becoming more common.Re‐attributional feedback can increase student's motivation when given directly after solving a task and at a high density.Digital re‐attributive feedback can be given in a high density.Re‐attributional training sessions have been shown to be effective in individual training sessions or outside the students' classroom. What this paper adds: The study took place within a real teaching environment during mathematics class for 4 weeks.Digital re‐attributional feedback sessions were directly integrated into the students' online learning which was part of the teaching plan. The implications of study findings for practitioners: Computer‐based re‐attributional training show some limited effects in regular classroom instruction and could be well integrated in student online learning—when adapted accordingly.Low‐performing students show less favourable attribution than better‐performing students in case of success and benefit the most from re‐attributional training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although research on mathematics learning programs has taken off in recent years, little is known about how different person characteristics are related to practice behaviour with such programs. When implementing a mathematics learning program in the classroom, it might be important to know whether students with specific characteristics need more encouragement to make use of this learning opportunity. Objectives: Using a supply‐use model, we analysed the predictive power of students' cognitive characteristics (prior mathematics knowledge), personality traits (conscientiousness), motivational‐affective characteristics (mathematics self‐concept and mathematics anxiety), and family background characteristics (socioeconomic status and migration background) for practising with an adaptive arithmetic learning program. Methods: We used longitudinal data from 203 fifth graders from seven non‐academic‐track schools in Germany. Practice behaviour, measured by completed tasks in the learning program, was recorded weekly for every student over a period of 22 weeks. Results and Conclusions: The results of our multilevel analyses showed that mathematics anxious students practised less with the program. We did not find any relationship with the other characteristics. Takeaways: Our results suggest that mathematics anxious students need more encouragement when practising with a mathematics learning program; otherwise, they do not get the chance to benefit from the use. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: The use of mathematics learning programmes in mathematics education has recently intensified.It is important that students practice with such learning programmes regularly over a longer period of time in order for them to achieve learning success.Students differ in their mathematics learning behaviour. What this paper adds: Little is known about how person characteristics are related to practice behaviour with mathematics learning programmes.Students may differ in their use of a mathematics learning programme, which is why cognitive characteristics, personality traits, motivational‐affective characteristics, and family background characteristics may affect students' practice behaviour. Implications for practice: Mathematics anxious students practiced less with a mathematics learning program, and need more encouragement to benefit equally from the implementation in school.Teachers should keep in mind that after the initial enthusiasm, practice with a programme may decrease over time, especially after school holidays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Computer‐based assessment allows for the monitoring of reader behaviour. The identification of patterns in this behaviour can provide insights that may be useful in informing educational interventions. Objectives: Our study aims to explore what different patterns of reading activity exist, and investigates their interpretation and consistency across different task sets (units), countries, and languages. Three patterns were expected: on‐task, exploring and disengaged. Methods: Using log data from the PISA 2012 digital reading assessment (9226 students from seven countries), we conducted hierarchical cluster analyses with typical process indicators of digital reading assessments. We identified different patterns and explored whether they remained consistent across different units. To validate the interpretation of the identified patterns, we examined their relationship to performance and student characteristics (gender, socio‐economic status, print reading skills). Results and Conclusions: The results indicate a small number of transnational clusters, with unit‐specific differences. Cluster interpretation is supported by associations with student characteristics—for example, students with low print reading skills were more likely to show a disengaged pattern than proficient readers. Exploring behaviour tended to be exhibited only once across the three units: It occurred in the first unit for proficient readers and in later units for less skilled readers. Major Takeaways: Behavioural patterns can be identified in digital reading tasks that may prove useful for educational monitoring and intervention. Although task situations are designed to evoke certain behaviours, the interpretation of observed behavioural patterns requires validation based on task requirements, assessment context and relationships to other available information. Lay Description: What is already known about the subject matter?: Students differ in how they read, comprehend and use digital information.Indicators from process data provide insight about how students engage with digital reading tasks. What does this paper add to the subject matter?: Based on multiple process indicators, a small number of clusters indicating different behavioural activity can be distinguished.These clusters can be described as on‐task, passive, hasty, exploring, disengaged, persistent and lost interest.A meaningful interpretation of the clusters must consider the requirements of the underlying tasks. Implications for practice and/or policy: Knowledge of how students engage with digital resources may provide useful feedback for teachers to guide students' learning or intervene when they struggle.Educational monitoring: The high comparability of country‐specific results suggests an invariant set of solution strategies in the digital reading assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although mathematical modeling plays an important role in many curricula worldwide, significant discrepancies persist in the importance of mathematical modeling in ordinary mathematics classrooms and teacher education. This paper compares pre-service mathematics teachers' professional mathematical modeling competencies in three different regions—Germany, Mainland China, and Hong Kong—where educational and cultural traditions differ, including the role of mathematical modeling. In total, 232 pre-service mathematics teachers from the three regions completed a modeling task covering mathematics content knowledge (MCK) of modeling and mathematical pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) of modeling. The results show that pre-service teachers from Germany demonstrated the strongest MCK and MPCK of mathematical modeling; by contrast, pre-service mathematics teachers from Mainland China and Hong Kong demonstrated relatively weaker MCK and MPCK of mathematical modeling. MCK and MPCK of mathematical modeling were also found to be unevenly developed at different competence levels for the three regions. These differences may be attributed to the history of mathematical modeling in mathematics curricula, teacher education, and teaching culture in these three regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of self-concept and test anxiety as well as "constructive support" by teachers for the social acceptance of students in secondary school. With regard to constructive support, a distinction is made between two central facets, namely socio-emotional support and instructional support. Here, for the first time, the role of these facets for the social acceptance experienced by students is investigated and it is examined which differential effects are shown for learners with individual risk factors of school failure. Survey data from two time points (mean interval 8 weeks) of 1,116 students in 49 secondary school mathematics classes in Germany were analysed using multi-level analyses. The results show that both facets of constructive support were related to students' perceived social acceptance. Students with low mathematics self-concept or high anxiety felt less well integrated into class. The facets of constructive support played a special role for these correlations: The connection between self-concept and social acceptance was moderated by instructional support, so that in classes with high instructional support, learners with low self-concept felt comparably well socially integrated as the other learners. The relationship between anxiety and social acceptance was moderated by both facets of constructive support, so that in classes with high constructive support, learners with high performance anxiety perceived themselves as socially accepted as their less anxious peers. This contribution thus supports the high importance of relationship quality in school and provides new insights into differential connections between teaching and school outcomes depending on the learning prerequisites of the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presented in the paper has the following goals. The first is to review and compare teacher competence frameworks developed in Eastern (Chinese) and Western (German) contexts, exemplified for the domain of mathematics. Major similarities of the two contexts could be reconstructed in the conceptualization of teacher competence as a multidimensional construct comprising knowledge, teaching-related skills and beliefs. Distinct differences could be identified as well, with the Chinese frameworks including a wider range of teacher-competence facets and emphasizing more teaching-related competencies than the Western (German) frameworks. The second purpose is to adapt and validate a German framework of the measurement of mathematics teacher competence in a Chinese context. This adaptation and validation uses exemplarily mathematics teacher, in detail follow-up-studies of the international Teacher Education and Development Study: Learning to Teach Mathematics (TEDS-M). With the integration of a qualitative approach (e.g. elemental validity) and a quantitative approach (e.g. construct validity) to validate the framework, the results of both approaches suggest a satisfactory validity for the adaptation. Overall, the results point out that the examined teacher competence framework and its instruments can be used for comparative analyses in Germany and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany has been officially free of bovine tuberculosis since 1996. However, in the last years there has been an increase of bovine tuberculosis cases, particularly in the southern part of Germany, in the Allgäu region. As a consequence a one-time tuberculosis surveillance program was revisited with different premortal and postmortal tests. The aim of this paper was to estimate diagnostic sensitivities and specificities of the different tests used within this surveillance program. In the absence of a perfect test with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity, thus in the absence of a gold standard, a Bayesian latent class approach with two different datasets was performed. The first dataset included 389 animals, tested with single intra-dermal comparative cervical tuberculin (SICCT) test, PCR and pathology; the second dataset contained 175 animals, tested with single intra-dermal cervical tuberculin (SICT) test, Bovigam® assay, pathology and culture. Two-way conditional dependencies were considered within the models. Additionally, inter-laboratory agreement (five officially approved laboratories) of the Bovigam® assay was assessed with Cohen's kappa test (21 blood samples). The results are given in posterior means and 95% credibility intervals. The specificities of the SICT test, SICCT test, PCR and pathology ranged between 75.8% [68.8–82.2%] and 99.0% [96.8–100%]. The Bovigam® assay stood out with a very low specificity (6.9% [3.6–11.1%]), though it had the highest sensitivity (95.7% [91.3–99.2%]). The sensitivities of the SICCT test, PCR, SICT test, pathology and culture varied from 57.8% [48.0–67.6%] to 88.9% [65.5–99.7%]. The prevalences were 19.8% [14.6–26.5%] (three-test dataset) and 7.7% [4.2–12.3%] (four-test dataset). Among all pairwise comparisons the highest agreement was 0.62 [0.15–1]). In conclusion, the specificity of the Bovigam® assay and the inter-laboratory agreement were lower than expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2001 and Programme for International Student Assessment 2003 data for Germany, this paper examines whether second-generation immigrants and girls are graded worse in math than comparable natives and boys, respectively. Once all grading-relevant characteristics, namely math skills and oral participation, are accounted for, pupils should obtain same school grades. Results of a matching approach and class fixed effects regressions suggest that second-generation immigrants have grade disadvantages in primary education which could bias their secondary school track choice. Regarding secondary school, most immigrants are not affected by grade discrimination and girls enrolled in upper-secondary school are systematically graded better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper offers an exploration of the role achievement values play in the generation of mathematical achievement as measured in school grades and test scores. Based on a comparative study of 1665 German, Israeli, and Canadian 14-year-olds two hypotheses are tested. First, it is assumed that achievement value preferences have a dual role in the generation of high academic performance. On the one hand, they are assumed to facilitate a high achievement-related self-esteem, which itself is a strong covariate of good academic performance. On the other hand, they are expected to sensitize for achievement pressure from parents, which in turn increases anxiety, and henceforth lowers the achievement-related self-esteem. Secondly, it is assumed that one will find cross-cultural variation in the strength of the two postulated effects. The "positive" role of achievement values is assumed to be stronger in cultures with a more positive view on achievement (Canada, Israel), whereas the "negative" role is assumed to be stronger in cultures with a less positive view on achievement (Germany). Hypotheses were tested in a structural equation modeling frame, and are essentially confirmed. Effect sizes are, however, low, and confirmation pertains almost exclusively to grades, not to test scores as measures of mathematical abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First study investigating causal inference of a math remedial program in Germany. • Microanalysis of a math remedial program with detailed information of the sample. • Semester-long remedial courses can be helpful compensating missing math skills. Almost all German universities complain that the math skills of students entering the higher education system do not meet the level demanded by universities. This is a major problem, particularly in math-related study programs such as economics, engineering or science. To bridge the gap, almost all universities offer some remedial math courses. However, there is only weak empirical evidence for the effectiveness of these courses in Germany. This paper aims to fill this gap by evaluating a remedial math course given within the Economics Department of a German university. A key finding: taking a math remedial course on a regular basis will enhance students' math skills and increase the probability of passing the final math exam by 35 percent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]