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Abstract In an era of accountability, implementation of computer-based instruction (CBI) may be attractive to personalize learning and raise test scores. Although prior work has examined how CBI may serve these purposes, we demonstrate that it also has an unintentional impact on how teachers allocate time in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential collateral damage of implementing CBI in elementary classrooms. Using the implementation of the supplemental CBI, Spatial Temporal (ST) Math as a case study, we analyze how 468 teachers report spending instructional minutes in each subject per week, and which subjects are reported as being limited to accommodate the program. Results reveal teachers vary in time spent across subjects and from where they draw time for ST Math. Most time for ST Math comes from a reduction of non-math core subject time with some variation according to grade. We provide initial evidence of teacher autonomy in subject time allocation within the context of CBI implementation; further study is needed to illuminate drivers of teacher's decisions. Highlights • Computer-based instruction may have unintentional consequences on other subjects. • Teachers asked to describe what subjects lose time for one math CBI implementation. • Teachers reported losing time from science/social studies as much or more than math. • Results have implications for implementation and professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation is theorized to be situated and dynamic, changing across contexts and time as students interact with learning materials. To capture these dynamic relations, 9091 third through fifth graders were surveyed multiple times throughout the year as they engaged with mathematics objectives in the learning technology, ST Math. All constructs displayed greater variance in motivation within students than between students among third graders; however, variance within students declined as grade-level increased. Within students, interest and utility positively predicted subsequent performance; effort cost negatively predicted subsequent performance. After partialling out within-student associations, contextual associations of objective-content motivation and performance were smaller and often in the opposite direction; broader measures of mathematics motivation had largely null relationships with performance. Results provide insight into how motivation and performance may relate during decision-making and application of effort in classroom activities, and how these relations may be different than those considering average levels across students. • Motivation and performance relate dynamically within mathematics learning technology. • Within-student variation in motivation predicts variance in performance. • Ratings of interest and utility for learning positively predict performance. • Ratings of effort cost negatively predict performance. • Variability reduces with age among upper elementary students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly thought that strong spatial ability enhances mathematics performance and that associations between spatial ability and mathematics may be in part responsible for the gender gap in math performance. We investigated whether this spatial/math link is unique by examining the associations between mental rotation and both math and English/Language Arts (ELA) achievement using three similar samples of upper elementary students and three different measures of mental rotation. In each study, we found that the association between mathematics and mental rotation is no different than the association between ELA and mental rotation. We discuss how additions of prior achievement measures modify these associations and examine gender moderators, for which we find little support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate judgment of performance, or calibration, is an important element of self-regulated learning (SRL) and itself has been an area of growing study. The current study contributes to work on calibration by presenting practical and predictive results of varying calibration measures from authentic educational data: elementary-aged students' interactions with a year-long digital mathematics curriculum. Comparison of predictive validity of measures show only small differences in explained variance in models predicting posttest performance while controlling for pretest. A combined model including Sensitivity and Specificity outperforms other single measures, confirming results in Schraw, Kuch, & Gutierrez (2013); however, results show that student patterns of calibration within these data differ from those assumed in simulation studies and these differences have implications for the calculability of popular calibration measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper describes the results of a randomized control trial of a standards-based mathematics software on elementary school students' (3rd–5th graders; N = 10,860) mathematics achievement. Spatial Temporal Mathematics (ST Math) engages students by presenting them with a series of game-like activities that are directly tied to the California State Standards for mathematics. We report the effects of the program on students' specific mathematics skills, as well as uncover which elements of the design of the games could be responsible for gains in achievement. We pay particular attention to the alignment of design features of the games, the standards to which developers intended to align their games, and assessments of specific mathematics skills. Results indicate a statistically significant effect of the program on students' basic number sense skills as measured by a standardized measure of mathematics achievement (effect size of 0.14). Subsequent coding of the games for elements that are related to number sense, such as the occurrence of number lines and objects that represent numbers, revealed that these design elements occur throughout the software. We discuss these findings as they relate to the development and design of standards-based mathematics curricula as well as how these features relate to their assessment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We demonstrate how motivational and behavioral processes can explain which students may be more likely to select into online (OL) than face-to-face (F2F) courses and also less likely to perform well in OL courses. University students (n = 999) reported their reasons for OL course selection: university constraints, specific need for flexibility, general preference for flexibility, and learning preferences. Compared to F2F students, only OL students with certain self-selection reasons showed differences in motivation, behavior, and performance. Notably, OL students who said they had a specific need for flexibility created by the costs of competing responsibilities spent more time on non-academic activities (e.g., working, commuting), less time on academic activities (e.g., study groups), and ultimately performed worse when compared to F2F peers. These students were especially likely to be women, older, and part-time. We discuss implications for practice and for using demographic characteristics to control for selection effects. • College students select online (OL) over face-to-face courses for different reasons. • OL selection reasons are associated with different motivation, behavior, performance. • Selecting OL due to competing responsibilities predicts poor performance. • Age and gender are associated with selecting OL due to competing responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses data from an urban school district to examine the relation between students' motivational beliefs about mathematics and high- versus low-stakes math test performance. We use ordinary least squares and quantile regression analyses and find that the association between students' motivation and test performance differs based on the stakes of the exam. Students' math self-efficacy and performance avoidance goal orientation were the strongest predictors for both exams; however, students' math self-efficacy was more strongly related to achievement on the low-stakes exam. Students' motivational beliefs had a stronger association at the low-stakes exam proficiency cutoff than they did at the high-stakes passing cutoff. Lastly, the negative association between performance avoidance goals and high-stakes performance showed a decreasing trend across the achievement distribution, suggesting that performance avoidance goals are more detrimental for lower achieving students. These findings help parse out the ways motivation influences achievement under different stakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examined the effects of an instructional approach known as Spatial Temporal Mathematics (ST Math) on teacher beliefs about mathematics teaching. Participants were 339 elementary teachers teaching grades 2–5 who were randomly assigned to a control or treatment group. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to determine the effects of the intervention on self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, and instructional practices using scientific reasoning. While the treatment did not yield significant effects in teacher outcomes, our secondary analysis indicated that time on ST Math and the integration of ST Math into daily instructions were positively associated with teacher efficacy and instructional practices using scientific reasoning. Implications of the results on teacher beliefs about mathematics teaching are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]