Jonathan C. Hilpert

Evidence for the Latent Factor Structure of the MSLQ

The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) has a long history of use in educational psychology, yet few studies have examined the latent factor structure of the entire scale using data from a single administration of the instrument. Although using the subscales individually was encouraged by the creators of the instrument, the practice has produced piecemeal evidence for the latent factor structure. In the current study, we administered all 15 subscales of the MSLQ to a large population of postsecondary students enrolled in introductory geoscience courses and used confirmatory factor analysis to examine the latent factor structures described in previous MSLQ literature. Faced with unsatisfactory evidence for the hypothesized structures, we describe our respecification process and provide some commentary on a more parsimonious latent factor structure that may be of use in similar research projects.

Future Time Perspective Connectedness to a Career: The Contextual Effects of Classroom Knowledge Building

Professor Willy Lens has provided inspiration through his scholarship and mentorship for research in Future Time Perspective (FTP) theory. The traditional conceptualization of FTP consists of hierarchically organized psychological constructs that define individual differences in perceptions of the future across varying levels of specificity. The levels of specificity create a nested variable structure that is often described in a top-down fashion, from domain-general to context-specific. In the current study, relations among measures of connectedness, an FTP construct regarding concern for and planfulness about the future, are examined at three levels of specificity: domain-general, domain-specific, and context-specific. We examine interactions between domain-specific and domain-general levels of FTP. A sample of 3962 undergraduate engineering majors (mean age 20) from a large research university in the southwestern United States of America were surveyed. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the hypothesis that aggregate classroom levels of student knowledge building moderate relations in the nested connectedness variable structure. At the student level of analysis measures of students’ domain-general, domain-specific, and context-specific connectedness were significantly and positively related. At the classroom level of analysis, results indicated that higher levels of aggregate classroom knowledge building shifted the direction of relations suggesting that in more engaging classroom contexts perceived value of learning for reaching a future goal may shape how students plan for future careers (domain-specific FTP). Implications for FTP theory are discussed.

Instructional improvement and student engagement in post-secondary engineering courses: the complexity underlying small effect sizes

Abstract The current study leveraged a professional development programme for engineering faculty at a large research university to examine the impact of instructional improvement on student engagement. Professors who participated in the professional development were observed three times and rated using an existing observation protocol. Students in courses with instructors who participated and did not participate in the professional development were surveyed about their classroom engagement. The responses were used to conduct quasi-experimental comparisons. Results indicated that students in courses with professors who participated in the professional development self-reported 3% more behavioural and 2% more cognitive engagement than students with professors who did not participate. Within professional development group, follow-up comparisons showed that students in courses with the highest rated instructors self-reported 7% more cognitive engagement than students with lower ranked professors. Thematic coding of the qualitative data suggests that the highest rated instructors may have achieved these gains through the use of three domain general instructional strategies: activating prior knowledge, facilitating classroom interaction and promoting reflection. Findings are contextualised within extant literature reporting similar effect sizes, and implications for future engagement research from a classroom systems perspective are discussed.

Complex Systems Research in Educational Psychology: Aligning Theory and Method

The purpose of this work is to provide an overview of complex systems research for educational psychologists. We outline a philosophically and theoretically sourced definition of complex systems research organized around complex, dynamic, and emergent ontological characteristics that is useful and appropriate for educational psychology. A complex systems approach is positioned as a means to align underexplored elements of existing theory with appropriate interaction dominant theoretical models, research methods, and equation-based analytic techniques. We conclude with a brief discussion of several foundational topics for complex systems research in educational psychology.

Network-based assessment of collaborative research in neuroscience

The purpose of this study was to describe collaborative research in neuroscience within the context of the Center for Neurodegeneration and Translational Neuroscience (CNTN), a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence supported by the National Institute of General Medical Science. Drawing upon research on the science of team science, this study investigated the way that interactions around research emerged over the course of establishing a new research center. The objectives were to document changes in research activity and describe how human research support infrastructure functioned to support the production of science.

Extending Future Time Perspective Theory through Episodic Future Thinking Research: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Thinking About the Future

This chapter considers expanding the work on time perspective to include both imagining and planning for the future. Specifically, the authors argue that Future Time Perspective (FTP) and motivation researchers have focused on how we set and achieve goals, but have failed to consider how imagining the future affect can influence our motivation in the present. The authors also dispute the representation of FTP and other future-oriented motivation as cold and rational, highlighting the empirical neglect of how thinking of the future may support positive emotions. Additionally, they assert that neurocognitive research on episodic future thinking may provide FTP researchers with a path to bring thinking about the future together with feeling about the future.

Complex Dynamic Systems Approaches to Educational Research

THIS SPECIAL ISSUE seeks to engender new understanding of educational phenomena by bringing together empirical examples of research grounded conceptually, methodologically, and analytically in Comp...

Using domain general learning models to guide engineering education research

The goal of this session is to help attendees understand the difference between domain general and domain specific theories of learning, and how to apply domain general models of learning to engineering classroom research. The participants will work with the presenter to develop new ways of thinking about their own research through the use of examples and group work.