Gregory C. R. Yates

Teacher effectiveness research: Towards describing user-friendly classroom instruction.

Abstract In this article we examine the teachers role as a mediator of knowledge and cognitive learning in the classroom. We cite findings from the research areas of teacher effectiveness, teacher expertise, and curriculum knowledge. These data strongly support user‐friendly explicit methods of classroom teaching. We also discuss issues raised in conjunction with alternative conceptions of the teaching process. Finally, we note the importance of incorporating teacher effectiveness research findings into teacher education programmes, and of identifying the various misconceptions that have been used to criticise this body of information.

The Cognitive Psychology of Knowledge: Basic Research Findings and Educational Implications

This article reviews empirical findings that implicate personal knowledge in human information processing. It cites findings in relation to intelligence, automaticity, learning, schemata activation, analogical processing, problem solving, reading, and cognitive development, and indicates ways in which the impact of prior knowledge typically is not obvious to a teacher, and ways in which prior knowledge can, at times, disrupt the learning process (especially via misconception and know-it-all effects). Educational implications, especially the Matthew effect, are discussed

“How Obvious”: Personal reflections on the database of educational psychology and effective teaching research

From a personal perspective, the author reflects upon the notion that many research findings appear falsely to possess the quality of being “obvious”. Specific attention is given to the topic of teacher effectiveness. The feeling that findings are obvious can be related to the following: the false consensus effect, self‐serving cognition, hindsight bias, base‐rate neglect, illusory correlations, and the fundamental computational bias. The author suggests ways in which teacher effectiveness findings can be used, and notes how one “obvious” notion, that discovery learning produces more meaningful learning than direct instruction, is a fundamental misconception.

Ego Depletion Effects on Mathematics Performance in Primary School Students: Why Take the Hard Road?

Reduction in performance level following on from brief periods of self‐control is referred to as ego depletion. This study aimed to investigate if a brief ego depletion experience would impact upon primary school students working through an online mathematics exercise involving 40 computational trials. Seventy‐two students participated in the control group, and 80 students participated in the ego depletion group. The students were 10–14 years of age. A three‐minute task involving resistance to distraction was used as the depletion experience. Before each trial, participants selected task difficulty level. Control group students began by working at a moderate difficulty level and then progressed to work on more difficult items. Ego‐depleted students chose to work on easy problems throughout. Ego depletion did not markedly affect error rate after the first trial. Depletion effects can be evident in students’ academic application through encouraging students to undertake easier options.

Restrictive and Supportive Parenting: Effects on Children's School Affect and Emotional Responses.

In this project upper primary school students were surveyed about their general liking for school, and reasons for going to school. Their parents were asked to respond on a questionnaire indicating their restrictiveness and also support for their child’s autonomy. Data were collected from 92 middle SES two-parent families and analysed using SmartPLS path modelling. It was found that children of mothers high on autonomy support enjoyed school more, and endorsed cognitive learning reasons for attending. Restrictive parenting (in either mothers or fathers) did not relate significantly to school affect, but was associated with elevated levels of negative emotional symptoms, notably loneliness and unhappiness.

Clay Modelling and Social Modelling: Effects of Interactive Teaching on Young Children's Creative Artmaking.

Abstract In this project, 28 6‐year‐olds were taught skills involved in artistic claywork using principles of social modelling and cognitive learning in a classroom situation, over a series of six lessons. A further 28 students, serving as controls, were taught according to the normal art curriculum. The students’ clay models were photographed on pre‐test and post‐test, and rated by three expert judges (professional artists familiar with childrens artwork) blind to treatment conditions. The cognitive social learning group evidenced strong gains on measures of creativity as defined by approximation to a three‐dimensional form, technical competency, decorative competency and aesthetic appeal. The control group students failed to evidence any significant change in rated creativity.

Impact of a Brief Ego Depletion Procedure on Creative Behaviour in the Upper Primary Classroom.

In the course of normal classroom lessons, 103 students (median 11.10 years) were asked to spend 15 min writing ‘anything you can think of’ about the number 50 on a blank page. The products were independently scored by 2 specialist art teachers and 2 specialist mathematics teachers on criteria relevant to their specialisations. Immediately before this task, however, half the students (depleted group) worked on difficult matching problems for 3 min, whereas controls worked on facile problems. Although volume of creative response appeared only marginally affected, depleted students were rated as lower on overall creativity (d = .8) by the arts teachers. The mathematics teachers also rated the depleted students as showing less quality in their work (d = .97). The depleted students cited fewer mathematical statements, but displayed more errors in statements they had written. The findings were interpreted in terms of ego depletion effects upon creativity.

Optimising the content and delivery of postgraduate education in engineering management for government and industry

Optimising the content and delivery of postgraduate education requires a systems approach, and attention to a number of issues, the most important of which is the recognition that the needs (requirements) of postgraduate students employed in the workforce are different to those of traditional full-time students. This paper describes such a systems approach and addresses those issues in the context of a proposed new Master of Engineering Management Degree for implementation at the University of South Australia (UniSA).

The Implications of Social Modelling Research for Education

The topic of imitative learning, or social modelling, has stimulated a large amount of empirical research in recent years. This article reviews this research from the perspective of social learning theory which emphasizes the human capacity for higher-order rule learning to occur through modelling exposure. Variables relevant to observational learning are distinguished from the variables more directly relevant to imitative performance. Educational implications of these findings are discussed, particularly through research into vicarious reinforcement, teacher modelling and peer modelling.

Family Context and Five-Year-Old Children’s Attitudes Toward Literacy When They are Learning to Read

This study explored associations in the family context, conceptualized as comprising parent–child practices and parental expectations, and five-year-old childrens attitudes toward literacy. A total of 94 children from four primary schools and their parents participated in the study. Each child completed an individually administered Literacy Attitude Scale that assessed her enjoyment in reading-related activities. Parents completed a questionnaire about aspects of their family context. The results revealed a high level of positive attitudes toward literacy by beginning readers, with no gender difference. Frequency of parent–child everyday interactions and parental expectations had significant relationships with childrens attitude toward literacy. This study highlights the importance of looking beyond parent–child literacy activities when examining childrens attitudes toward literacy.