J.J. Beishuizen

A Conceptual Framework for Research on Self-Regulated Learning

In the international community of educational researchers, self-regulated learning has become an important topic in educational and psychological research over the last three decades. One reason for this is that it has been found that the extent to which learners are capable of regulating their own learning markedly enhances their learning outcomes.

Does a community of learners foster self‐regulated learning?

Although self‐regulated learning is considered as a characteristic of individual students, the question may be raised as to whether a community of learners with its emphasis on inquiry learning in teams of students provides an appropriate environment to acquire and develop active and dynamic self‐regulation strategies. Two cases of communities of learners in university education are described and analysed. Both examples demonstrated that the acquisition and development of self‐regulation strategies is supported by a learning environment in which a community of learners has been established. However, the role of the teachers as expert, model and coach was more explicit in one of the two cases, which gave rise to the question as to whether in university education a community of learners should address genuine research questions in order to foster self‐regulation strategies. If real research issues are not at stake and the project is not going to provide data which contribute to a research programme, then precautions should be taken to actively involve teachers in providing explicit instruction, in modelling, in encouraging peer interaction, and in providing feedback to students.

Computer-supported inquiry learning: effects of training and practice

Inquiry learning requires the ability to understand that theory and evidence have to be distinguished and co-ordinated. Moreover, learners have to be able to control two or more independent variables when formulating hypotheses, designing experiments and interpreting outcomes. Can sixth-grade (9-10 years) children be trained to acquire these inquiry learning skills? Or is the opportunity to practice in a computer-supported simulation environment a sufficient condition to foster inquiry learning skills? In this study, two groups of sixth grade children were compared: a training group, and a practice group. The training group received an off-line inquiry learning training in which we focused on fostering strategies for proper inferencing and designing experiments. The practice group conducted four inquiry learning tasks during two practice sessions. Learning outcomes and inquiry learning process measures were collected to study whether training and practice resulted in desired changes in learning behaviour. Both training and practice resulted in better performance during the test problems. Compared to the practice group, the training group showed some advantage in discovering an interaction effect. Practice and training effects appeared to be dependent on type of domain.

Developing a teacher identity in the university context: a systematic review of the literature

ABSTRACT This literature review summarises the growing body of literature discussing teacher identities of university teachers. The aim was to understand what strengthens or constrains the development of a teacher identity. A qualitative synthesis of 59 studies was carried out. The review showed that several factors contribute to the development of teacher identity. While contact with students and staff development programmes were experienced as strengthening teacher identity, the wider context of higher education was experienced as having a constraining effect. Furthermore, the impact of the direct work environment was experienced as either strengthening or constraining, depending on whether or not teaching is valued in the department. Five psychological processes were found to be involved in the development of a teacher identity: a sense of appreciation, a sense of connectedness, a sense of competence, a sense of commitment, and imagining a future career trajectory. The findings suggest that developing a teacher identity in the higher education context is not a smooth process. In order to empower university teachers, it is important to reward teaching excellence and build community. Staff development activities can play a role in helping teachers to develop strategies for gaining confidence and taking active control of their work situation, both individually and collectively. The authors argue that more attention should be paid to the implicit messages that departments convey to their teaching faculty.

Teacher Scaffolding in Small-Group Work: An Intervention Study

Adapting support contingently to student needs by first diagnosing their current understanding, that is, scaffolding, is considered a key aspect of excellent teaching. The use of classroom scaffolding is rare, however. We therefore investigated the benefits to teachers of a professional development program that was based upon a model of contingent teaching (MCT) with the following 4 steps: diagnostic strategies, checking of diagnoses, giving contingent support, and checking of student learning. In our experimental study, 17 of 30 teachers participated in this program. All of the teachers (prevocational education; teaching social studies) taught the same 5-lesson project on the European Union. The frequency and quality of their use of the 4 steps from the MCT were then compared. The teachers who worked with the MCT increased their teaching quality more than the teachers who did not participate, especially with regard to the steps of contingent teaching. They also showed more complete cycles of contingent teaching at postmeasurement than the other teachers. Less successful teachers showed a tendency to provide less support because they mistakenly thought that prompting was not part of scaffolding. Future scaffolding research and professional development efforts aimed at promoting scaffolding can benefit from the MCT, provided that teachers’ understanding of scaffolding is closely monitored.

FILE: a tool for the study of inquiry learning

A computerized learning environment (Flexible Inquiry Learning Environment; FILE) is discussed. FILE allows researchers in inquiry learning to design, administer, and analyze learning tasks in which content domain and task complexity can be configured independently, while other factors (e.g., the interface) are held constant. This allows for more valid across-task generalizations. FILE is based on a descriptive model of inquiry learning and its monitoring facilities allow for the extraction of learning indicators derived from the model. Furthermore, FILE is suitable from the age of eight years, which allows developmental issues in inquiry learning to be addressed. It is concluded that FILE can be used to set up studies in inquiry learning in an efficient way, saving expensive programming time.

Studying inquiry learning with FILE

The FILE program (flexible inquiry learning environment) is a research tool, which allows researchers in inquiry learning to design and administer learning tasks in which task domain and task model (i.e. the relations between input and output variables) can be adjusted independently, while other factors (e.g. interface) are held constant. Its monitoring facilities allow for on-line measurement of learning behavior. This paper offers one example of the possibilities FILE has to offer to researchers. Data are presented which illustrate the sensitivity of FILE to age differences in inquiry learning outcome and processes. Instructional applications of FILE are also discussed.

Contribution of a professional development programme to the quality and retention of teachers in an urban environment

This study examined the effects of a professional development programme aimed at equipping teachers for the challenges of teaching in urban schools. The contribution of the programme to teacher quality and teacher retention was evaluated using a mixed research design in which both quantitative (N = 133) and qualitative (N = 42) approaches were used. The results showed a significant effect of the programme on teacher knowledge and self-efficacy. Furthermore, teachers greatly appreciated the programme and they perceived a positive impact on their competences, self-efficacy and professional orientation. The opportunity to share experiences within a network of teachers was considered the most valuable element of the programme.

The development of community competence in the teacher education curriculum

Teachers are expected to frequently collaborate within teacher communities in schools. This requires teacher education to prepare student teachers by developing the necessary community competence. The present study empirically investigates the extent to which teacher education programmes pay attention to and aim to stimulate the development of community competence in the intended curriculum, the implemented curriculum and the attained curriculum. Various types of data are gathered and analysed in respect of these three curriculum representations. It appears that community competence is weakly conceptualised in the intended curriculum. In the implemented, and especially the attained curriculum, this results in no systematic and explicit practice in terms of the development of community competence.

Career guidance and student success in Dutch higher vocational education

To enhance student success, a growing number of vocational education and training institutions in the Netherlands are nowadays implementing new career guidance practices in their competence-based approaches to learning. Based on individual-level data of undergraduate first-year full-time students from a Dutch university of applied sciences, this study investigated the influence of career guidance on first-year student success given other known influences such as prior academic performance, faculty and gender. First of all, students obtained more credits in the competence-based educational system in which they from 2006 are guided. Furthermore, students who completed their first year not only obtained more credits after career guidance was introduced in 2006, but at the same time scored substantially higher first-grade points in their first year of study compared to students who left during the first six months.