Ellen Jansen

Is the Motivation to Become a Teacher Related to Pre-Service Teachers' Intentions to Remain in the Profession?.

This study investigated 198 pre‐service teachers’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for becoming teachers and focused on the distinction between adaptive motives, which promote lasting and effective engagement, and maladaptive motives, which promote superficial engagement. We examined the relationships with teacher self‐efficacy, the quality of the teacher training programme, classroom teaching experiences and the time pre‐service teachers expect to spend in the profession. The analyses indicated that female pre‐service teachers and pre‐service teachers with higher prior ability showed more intrinsic adaptive motives. Intrinsic adaptive motives were positively related to the quality of the teacher training programme and the classroom teaching experiences. Pre‐service teachers with positive teaching experiences indicated greater teacher self‐efficacy. Pre‐service teachers with extrinsic maladaptive motives indicated having had negative teaching experiences and they intended to remain in the profession for shorter periods. Teacher self‐efficacy was positively related to the amount of time pre‐service teachers intended to remain in the profession.

‘It’s almost a mindset that teachers need to change’: first‐year students’ need to be inducted into time management

This article discusses the findings related to a number of research projects investigating students’ expectations and experiences of the first year in higher education. In particular, findings with regard to first‐year students’ expectations and challenges with issues of time management are reported. It was found that many students were realistic about having to plan their work independently, and having to spend a good amount of their time during the week on self‐study. However, many students found it difficult to regulate their self‐study and keep up with the work. They were also not always sure how they were to organise their self‐study time. It is argued that universities could and should play a more active role in helping first‐year students to make sense of time management.

The effect of the fit between secondary and university education on first‐year student achievement

Central in this study is the role of student variables and the fit between secondary education and university education in the explanation of first‐year student achievement. The fit between two levels of education can be defined in different ways. In this study the focus is on four fit‐aspects: appropriateness of expectations, and the degree to which there is a continuance with respect to teaching approaches, knowledge and workload. The conceptual model, a synthesis of the Model of Student Attrition, the Educational Productivity Model and the Transition Model, is tested with structural equation modelling, based on maximum likelihood estimation. The results indicate that the fit between secondary and university education, in terms of resemblance between the learning environments and experience of some adjustment, as well as social integration, student employment and motivation, affect first‐year achievement indirectly through time investment. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

How teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching relate to their continuing professional development

Teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) can improve teacher quality and teaching practice, yet teachers differ greatly in the extent to which they engage in CPD. In extensive research into which factors affect teachers’ participation in CPD, the effects of teachers’ beliefs have received limited attention, despite their strong influences on people’s working and learning. Teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching in particular influence their teaching practices. Does a comparable relationship exist between these beliefs and teachers’ own learning or participation in CPD? To explore this relationship, 260 Dutch secondary school teachers completed a survey that focused on the teachers’ student-oriented and subject matter-oriented beliefs, as well as on teachers’ updating, reflective and collaborative activities. Because teachers’ characteristics reflect both belief dimensions, this study relied on cluster analysis, which revealed three distinct belief profiles. These results indicated that teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching relate to their participation in CPD: the more a teacher’s profile is student oriented and subject matter oriented, the higher his or her participation in CPD. The results have implications for enhancing teachers’ reflections on their beliefs about learning and teaching, in conjunction with participation in CPD.

Educational productivity in higher education: An examination of part of the Walberg educational productivity model

Several factors in the H. J. Walberg Educational Productivity Model, which assumes that 9 factors affect academic achievement, were examined with a limited sample of 1st-year students in the University of Groningen. Information concerning 8 of these factors—grades, motivation, age, prior achievement, home environment, support from peers, classroom environment, quality of instruction, and quantity of instruction—was collected through the departmental administration, self-report questionnaires, rating questionnaires, and through paper sources. A multilevel analysis showed that the model with 8 productivity factors explained 23% of the variance found in achievement, as well as the variables prior achievement and expectancy, the classroom environment, the quality of assessment, and the quantity of instruction affected achievement.

Teachers’ beliefs and continuing professional development

– Teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) should improve teacher quality and teaching practices, though teachers vary in the extent to which they participate in CPD activities. Because beliefs influence working and learning, and teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching influence their instructional decisions, this study aims to explore the link between teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching and their participation in CPD., – This study features two belief dimensions (student and subject matter orientation) and three types of CPD activities (updating, reflective, and collaborative). Survey data from 260 Dutch secondary school teachers were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling., – Student‐oriented beliefs relate positively to teachers’ participation in CPD: the more student‐oriented teachers are, the more they participate in CPD. No relationship emerges between subject matter–oriented beliefs and CPD., – To intensify teachers’ participation in CPD and thereby improve teacher quality and teaching practices, schools should emphasize a student orientation among their teachers., – The original empirical study examines the relationship between teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching and their participation in CPD and thus furthers understanding of factors that influence teachers’ participation in CPD.

When will I succeed in my first‐year diploma? Survival analysis in Dutch higher education

The goal of this study was to illustrate survival analysis with higher education data and gain insight into a limited set of factors that predict when students passed their first‐year examination at a Dutch university. Study participants consisted of 565 first‐year students in four departments. Data were collected on when students pass their first‐year examination, prior achievement and procrastination. The analysis showed that 69% of the students had not passed their examination within the nominal study length of 12 months. The estimated median lifetime, the time when 50% of the students had passed their examination, was after 23 months. Students from the 2nd department passed their examination fastest. Female students reached the estimated median lifetime at 20 months, younger students at 16 months, older students at 24+ months and students with high prior achievement scores at 12 months. The analysis finally indicated that age, prior achievement and procrastination predicted passing first‐year examinations.

Predicting undergraduates' academic achievement: the role of the curriculum, time investment and self-regulated learning

The time students invest in their studies and their resulting achievement is partly dependent on curriculum characteristics. Degree programmes differ greatly with respect to how the curriculum is organized, for example in the type (e.g. lectures, practicals) and the number of classes. The focus of this study is on the relationships between curriculum characteristics, self-regulated learning, time investment and achievement. Structural equation modelling was used to study the relations between these variables in a sample of 200 bachelor degree students in four degree programmes. Results show separate positive effects of the number of scheduled classes and class attendance on academic achievement. At the same time, more scheduled lectures and practicals lead to lower class attendance and time spent on self-study. Self-discipline and motivation predict achievement indirectly through class attendance.

Predicting first-year achievement by pedagogy and skill development in the first weeks at university

Central in this study is the relationship between the pedagogical approach and generic skill development in the first 10 weeks at university, students’ perception of the fit between secondary and university education and first-year achievement. Information regarding the pedagogical approach and generic skill development was gathered through questionnaires, interviews and analyses of syllabus information. Students’ perception of the fit was examined with a questionnaire, and their achievement scores were obtained from the university administration. A conceptual model was tested by means of structural equations modelling, and showed a good fit with the data. Results showed that the pedagogical approach affects first-year achievement directly and indirectly, through skill development and the perceived fit. Attention for basic skills and collaboration skills showed positive effects on achievement, whereas the effects of higher-order skills were adverse.

The relationship between first-year achievement and the pedagogical-didactical fit between secondary school and university

Central in this study is the degree to which the pedagogical‐didactical approach in undergraduate programmes aligns with the pedagogical‐didactical approach in secondary schools, and how this is related to first‐year achievement. Approaches to teaching at secondary schools and in first‐year university programmes were examined by interviewing school management, school teachers and university lecturers. The teaching approaches found within the schools were contrasted against the academic teaching approaches, resulting in four types of fit. With multiple regression analysis the relationships between these four types of fit, gender, prior achievement and first‐year achievement were examined. The results showed that prior performance is positively related to first‐year achievement, as well as a fit characterised by more student‐centred teaching in the first year compared to the approach to teaching at secondary school.