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Self-regulation is an important target in early childhood given robust evidence of broad associations with immediate and later-life outcomes, and is thus considered a foundational ability. While research demonstrates the impact the home learning environment has on children's development, there is little guidance for parents to engage in behaviours that promote children's self-regulation development. This protocol presents an intervention program sought to address this gap, enriching parent-child play through supported play groups to foster early self-regulation abilities. The intervention presented here offers a means to effectively, yet efficiently, intervene in non-formal learning contexts.

Despite the growing prominence and importance of the field of teacher dispositions for addressing selection criteria and assessment in educational research, there is an absence of psychometrically evaluated instruments to facilitate investigations. Furthermore, research thus far has not explored the relationship between teacher dispositions and better student outcomes. To address this paucity, key dispositional factors conducive to successful teaching and learning were identified through interviewing high performing teachers. Based on the interview, data a 24-item Teacher Disposition Scale (TDS) was constructed consisting of five dimensions: Motivation to teach; Teacher efficacy; Willingness to learn; Conscientiousness; and Interpersonal and communication skill. The scale was psychometrically tested on 179 pre-service undergraduate students at an Australian university. Both factor analysis and Rasch measurement modelling indicated evidence of a reliable and valid multi-dimensional scale. The article concludes with a discussion on the implications of the scale for future research.

Prior research on plagiarism has indicated that men may have a greater predisposition toward academic dishonesty than women. However, little research has been conducted using psychometrically tested instruments to validate such claims. To address this gap, a survey was conducted with 377 undergraduate students at a Canadian university on their attitudes toward plagiarism using a psychometrically validated instrument (the Attitudes Toward Plagiarism Questionnaire - Revised). Using differential item functioning/Rasch analysis, no overall differences in attitudes toward plagiarism based on gender were found. A descriptive analysis of both men and women revealed that while only a concerning minority of students reported engaging in plagiarist behaviours; there was a tendency for students to take a permissive stance on plagiarism. These results are discussed within the wider context of plagiarism research in higher education.

Standardised educational assessments are now widespread, yet their development has given comparatively more consideration to what to assess than how to optimally assess students' competencies. Existing evidence from behavioural studies with children and neuroscience studies with adults suggest that the method of assessment may affect neural processing and performance, but current evidence remains limited. To investigate the impact of assessment methods on neural processing and performance in young children, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify and quantify the neural correlates during performance across a range of current approaches to standardised spelling assessment. Results indicated that children's test performance declined as the cognitive load of assessment method increased. Activation of neural nodes associated with working memory further suggests that this performance decline may be a consequence of a higher cognitive load, rather than the complexity of the content. These findings provide insights into principles of assessment (re)design, to ensure assessment results are an accurate reflection of students' true levels of competency.

Human movement has been found to have positive effects on learning performance. This study examined the effects of using Dynamic Geometry Software (DGS) CABRI to manipulate geometric properties of triangles or observing those manipulations made by an instructor on learning geometric properties with DGS-CABRI. Participants were 60 year 5 students, who received instructions on geometric problems and were randomly assigned to three conditions: A condition in which they performed mouse movements to manipulate geometric properties of triangles, a condition in which they observed the teacher performing those manipulations, and a conventional condition in which they studied a static format of the learning materials without any manipulations. We hypothesized that learning conditions involving manipulations of geometric properties of triangles would result in lower cognitive load and higher performance on a retention and transfer test than the conventional condition. Moreover, we hypothesized that making manipulations of the geometric properties of triangles through mouse movements would be superior to observing those manipulations being made by an instructor in terms of cognitive load, retention- and transfer test performance. Whereas the first hypothesis was confirmed, the latter hypothesis was only confirmed for retention test performance. Possible implications for educational practice are discussed.

Background: A fundamental aim of standardized educational assessment is to achieve reliable discrimination between students differing in the knowledge, skills and abilities assessed. However, questions of the purity with which these tests index students' genuine abilities have arisen. Specifically, literacy and numeracy assessments may also engage unintentionally assessed capacities. Aims: The current study investigated the extent to which domain-general processes - working memory (WM) and non-verbal reasoning - contribute to students' standardized test performance and the pathway(s) through which they exert this influence. Sample Participants were 91 Grade 2 students recruited from five regional and metropolitan primary schools in Australia. Methods: Participants completed measures of WM and non-verbal reasoning, as well as literacy and numeracy subtests of a national standardized educational assessment. Results: Path analysis of Rasch-derived ability estimates and residuals with domain-general cognitive abilities indicated: (1) a consistent indirect pathway from WM to literacy and numeracy ability, through non-verbal reasoning; (2) direct paths from phonological WM and literacy ability to numeracy ability estimates; and (3) a direct path from WM to spelling test residuals. Conclusions: Results suggest that the constitution of this nationwide standardized assessment confounded non-targeted abilities with those that were the target of assessment. This appears to extend beyond the effect of WM on learning more generally, to the demands of different assessment types and methods. This has implications for students' abilities to demonstrate genuine competency in assessed areas and the educational supports and provisions they are provided on the basis of these results.

This research investigated the viability of learning by self-managing split-attention worked examples as an alternative to learning by studying instructor-managed integrated worked examples. Secondary school students learning properties of angles on parallel lines were taught to integrate spatially separated text and diagrammatic information by using online tools to physically move text to associated parts of a diagram. The moving of text aimed to reduce learners' need to search between text and diagram, freeing cognitive resources for learning and affording learners' control of their learning materials. The main hypotheses that learners who self-manage split-attention worked examples would perform better on test items than learners who study split-attention worked examples, and perform as well as learners who study instructor-managed integrated worked examples were confirmed. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of failing to psychometrically test questionnaire instruments when measuring university students' attitudes towards plagiarism. These issues are highlighted by a psychometric evaluation of a commonly used (but previously untested) plagiarism attitudinal scale. Design/methodology/approach - The importance of psychometric testing is shown through an analysis of a commonly used scale using modern techniques (e.g. Rasch analysis) on 131 undergraduate education students at an Australian university. Findings - Psychometric analysis revealed the scale to be unreliable in its present form. However, when reduced to an eight-item subscale it became marginally reliable. Research limitations/implications - The main implication of this paper is that questionnaire instruments cannot be assumed to function as they are intended without thorough psychometric testing. Practical implications - The paper offers valuable insight into the psychometric properties of a previously untested but commonly used plagiarism attitudinal scale. Originality/value - The paper offers a straightforward and easy to understand introduction to researchers in higher education who use questionnaires/surveys in their research but lack an understanding of why psychometric testing is so critical. While similar papers have been written in other fields which advocate psychometric approaches, such as Rasch analysis, this has not been the case in higher educational research (or mainstream educational research for that matter).

presented at the 8th Cognitive Load Theory Conference, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, June 15th - 17th, 2015.

presented at the 8th Cognitive Load Theory Conference, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, June 15th - 17th, 2015.

Research has demonstrated that instruction that relies heavily on worked examples is more effective for novices as opposed to instruction consisting of problem-solving. However, excessive guidance for expert learners may reduce their performance.This study investigated optimal degrees of guidance using geometry worked examples. Three conditions were used. In the Theorem & Step Guidance condition, students were told the steps to find each angle, the measure of the angle, and the theorem used to justify the answer. In the Step Guidance condition, learners were told the sequence of steps needed to reach the answer, but not told the theorem required to make a step. The problem solving condition required learners to solve problems with no guidance.It was hypothesized that by using Step Guidance, a new concept could be more readily incorporated into existing knowledge held in long-term memory compared to a Problem Solving approach or a Theorem & Step Guidance approach. Problem Solving would impose the heavy cognitive load associated with problem solving search while providing information concerning well-known theorems would be redundant. In other words, as long recognised by cognitive load theory, most students need to learn to recognise problem states and the moves associated with those states and this information is provided by Step Guidance without additional, redundant information. A series of geometry instruction experiments supported these hypotheses. The results of these experiments revealed that for students who already understand the relevant theorems, learning to solve problems primarily consists of learning to recognise problem states and their associated moves. Information concerning theorems only should be provided if students have yet to learn and automatise theorem schemas.