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Students' learning experiences shape their perceptions of effective learning practices, and these perceptions affect the effort and approaches students engage in when in a learning environment. The type of learning environment students engage with may vary across disciplines, therefore students' perceptions may be domain-specific. Data for this study were students' discipline-specific perceptions of effective course structures and activities for chemistry and humanities and their general epistemic beliefs. The responses (N = 532) across three courses were grouped as either constructivist or instructivist learning approaches and then reported as a ratio. A step-wise regression was used to determine domain-specific differences in the students' responses, and the association to epistemic beliefs and perceptions of learning. Results revealed disciplinary differences in students' perceptions of learning. Understanding students' perceptions of learning have implications for students' future enrollment, effort towards learning, and approaches to learning within different courses.

To understand instruction during the spring 2020 transition to emergency distance learning (EDL), we surveyed a sample of instructors teaching undergraduate EDL courses at a large university in the southwest. We asked them how frequently they used and how confident they were in their ability to implement each of nine promising practices, both for their spring 2020 EDL course and a time when they previously taught the same course face-to-face (F2F). Using latent class analysis, we examined how behavioral frequencies and confidence clustered to form meaningful groups of instructors, how these groups differed across F2F and EDL contexts, and what predicted membership in EDL groupings. Results suggest that in the EDL context, instructors fell into one of three profiles in terms of how often they used promising practices: Highly Supportive, Instructor Centered, and More Detached. When moving from the F2F to EDL context, instructors tended to shift "down" in terms of their profile--for example, among F2F Highly Supportive instructors, 34% shifted to the EDL Instructor Centered profile and 30% shifted to the EDL More Detached Profile. Instructors who reported lower self-efficacy for EDL practices were also more likely to end up in the EDL More Detached profile. These results can assist universities in understanding instructors' needs in EDL, and what resources, professional development, and institutional practices may best support instructor and student experiences.

To understand instruction during the spring 2020 transition to emergency distance learning (EDL), we surveyed a sample of instructors teaching undergraduate EDL courses at a large university in the southwest. We asked them how frequently they used and how confident they were in their ability to implement each of nine promising practices, both for their spring 2020 EDL course and a time when they previously taught the same course face-to-face (F2F). Using latent class analysis, we examined how behavioral frequencies and confidence clustered to form meaningful groups of instructors, how these groups differed across F2F and EDL contexts, and what predicted membership in EDL groupings. Results suggest that in the EDL context, instructors fell into one of three profiles in terms of how often they used promising practices: Highly Supportive, Instructor Centered, and More Detached. When moving from the F2F to EDL context, instructors tended to shift “down” in terms of their profile—for example, among F2F Highly Supportive instructors, 34% shifted to the EDL Instructor Centered profile and 30% shifted to the EDL More Detached Profile. Instructors who reported lower self-efficacy for EDL practices were also more likely to end up in the EDL More Detached profile. These results can assist universities in understanding instructors’ needs in EDL, and what resources, professional development, and institutional practices may best support instructor and student experiences.

Khan Academy is a large and popular open educational resource (OER) with little empirical study into its impact on student achievement in mathematics when used in schools. In this study, we examined the use of Khan Academy as a mathematics intervention among seventh grade students over a 4-week period versus a control group. We also compared differences between students who had supplemental mathematics instruction and those who had not. In both cases, we found no statistically significant differences in student test scores. Khan Academy has several internal metrics used to track student performance and use. We found significant relationships between these metrics and student test scores in this study. Khan Academy and other OER provide access to information and knowledge to large numbers of the population. This research adds to the discourse methods by which Khan Academy and other OER may affect learners.

Identifying which early mathematics skills have the largest effects on later mathematics achievement has important implications. However, regression-based estimates often rely on untested assumptions: (a) Scores on different mathematics skills reflect unique constructs, and (b) other factors affecting early and later mathematics achievement are fully controlled. We illustrate a process to test these assumptions with a sample of third and fourth graders who completed measures of mathematics skills, working memory and motivation, and standardized mathematics and English language arts tests. Factor analyses indicated that mathematics skills largely reflect the same underlying construct. The skills that loaded highest on the general factor most predicted both later mathematics and English language arts, even after adjusting for working memory and motivation. Findings suggest that relations between earlier mathematics and later achievement largely reflected more general factors that contribute to children's learning. We discuss the importance of establishing construct validity in correlational studies.

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: Fifty-two low performing schools were randomly assigned to receive Spatial-Temporal (ST) Math, a supplemental mathematics software and instructional program, in second/third or fourth/fifth grades or to a business-as-usual control. Analyses reveal a negligible effect of ST Math on mathematics scores, which did not differ significantly across subgroups defined by prior math proficiency and English Language Learner status. Two years of program treatment produced a nonsignificant effect. Publication of evaluation results from large-scale real-world supplemental mathematics instructional implementations such as this one can provide a realistic view of the possibilities, costs, and limitations of this and other computer aided instruction supplemental interventions.

Students' learning experiences shape their perceptions of effective learning practices, and these perceptions affect the effort and approaches students engage in when in a learning environment. The type of learning environment students engage with may vary across disciplines, therefore students' perceptions may be domain-specific. Data for this study were students' discipline-specific perceptions of effective course structures and activities for chemistry and humanities and their general epistemic beliefs. The responses (N = 532) across three courses were grouped as either constructivist or instructivist learning approaches and then reported as a ratio. A step-wise regression was used to determine domain-specific differences in the students' responses, and the association to epistemic beliefs and perceptions of learning. Results revealed disciplinary differences in students' perceptions of learning. Understanding students' perceptions of learning have implications for students' future enrollment, effort towards learning, and approaches to learning within different courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from a sample nationally representative of the United States (N = 1,115), this study investigates the association between emotional well-being and discrepant educational possible selves. Discrepancy is characterized as a mismatch between child educational expectations and parent educational aspirations for child or child educational aspirations for self. Age-related hypotheses are tested. Results suggest that middle school children who have expectations that don't match their parents' aspirations for them have lower well-being, and that among high school students, mismatch between a child's own aspirations and expectations is linked with lower well-being. Antecedents of discrepancies are explored: reading and math self-efficacy emerge as having small, but significant positive associations with well-being, partially mediated in middle school students by aspiration/expectation matches between parent and child. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]