Ming Ming Chiu

Understanding positivity within dynamic team interactions: A statistical discourse analysis

Positivity has been heralded for its individual benefits. However, how positivity dynamically unfolds within the temporal flow of team interactions remains unclear. This is an important oversight, as positivity can be key to team problem solving and performance. In this study, we examine how team micro-processes affect the likelihood of positivity occurring within dynamic team interactions. In doing so, we build on and expand previous work on individual positivity and integrate theory on temporal team processes, interaction rituals, and team problem solving. We analyze 43,139 utterances during the meetings of 43 problem-solving teams in two organizations. First, we find that the observed overall frequency of positivity behavior in a team is positively related to managerial ratings of team performance. Second, using statistical discourse analysis, we show that solution-focused behavior and previous positivity within the team interaction process increase the likelihood of subsequent positivity expressions, whereas positivity is less likely after problem-focused behavior. Dynamic speaker switches moderate these effects, such that interaction instances involving more speakers increase the facilitating effects of solutions and earlier positivity for subsequent positivity within team interactions. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of micro-level team positivity and its performance benefits.

Students’ Sense of Belonging at School in 41 Countries Cross-Cultural Variability

This study examined whether students’ sense of belonging at school (SOBAS) differed across attributes of countries, families, schools, teachers, or students. Multilevel analyses of survey and test data from 193,073 15-year-old students in 41 countries yielded four main findings. First, students in more egalitarian cultures often had higher SOBAS than those in more hierarchical cultures. Second, the teacher–student relationship had the strongest link with SOBAS and mediated the link between egalitarianism and SOBAS. Third, collectivism was not significantly linked to SOBAS. Finally, family characteristics (immigrant status, language spoken at home, socio-economic status [SES], books at home, family wealth, and family communication), schoolmates’ characteristics (SES and social communication), teacher characteristics (teacher–student relationship, teacher support and disciplinary climate), and student characteristics (reading achievement, self-efficacy, and self-concept) were also linked to students’ SOBAS and accounted for most of its variance. This ecological model shows how attributes at multiple levels are related to SOBAS.

The impact of rotating summarizing roles in online discussions: Effects on learners' listening behaviors during and subsequent to role assignment

This study investigated whether assigning students summarizing roles in online discussions during specific weeks affects how they attend to the posts of others while playing the role, and in subsequent discussion weeks. Thirty-three students in a large undergraduate course on educational psychology were assigned one of two summarizing roles (Synthesizer, Wrapper) on a rotating basis during six week-long small-group online discussions; demographic and log-file data were collected (N=198 student-weeks). Multilevel, cross-classification modeling revealed that assigning students summarizing roles increased the breadth of their listening during in-role weeks, but the effect was only weakly sustained after the role was completed. Students taking the Synthesizer role showed some increased depth of listening during in-role weeks but not post-role weeks. Other post-role behavior changes (a reduced number of sessions and review of posts) suggest unintended negative side effects of a role-rotation strategy, possibly due to post-role abdication of responsibility.

Affective Teacher—Student Relationships and Students' Externalizing Behavior Problems: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis of 57 primary studies with 73,933 students shows strong links between affective teacher—student relationships (TSRs) and students externalizing behavior problems (EBPs). Moreover, students culture, age, gender, and the report types of EBPs moderated these effects. The negative correlation between positive indicators of affective TSRs and students EBPs was stronger (a) among Western students than Eastern ones, (b) for students in the lower grades of primary school than for other students, (c) when rated by teachers or parents than by students or peers, and (d) among females than among males. In contrast, the positive correlation between negative indicators of affective TSRs and students EBPs was stronger (a) among Eastern students than Western ones, (b) for students in the higher grades of primary school than for other students, and (c) when rated by students or peers than by teachers or parents.

Emergent Readers' Social Interaction Styles and Their Comprehension Processes during Buddy Reading.

To examine the relations between emergent readers’ social interaction styles and their comprehension processes, we adapted sociocultural and transactional views of learning and reading, and conducted statistical discourse analysis of 1,359 conversation turns transcribed from 14 preschoolers’ 40 buddy reading events. Results show that interaction styles were differentially related to comprehension processes: the collaborative style was related to the use of the most comprehension processes, some comprehension processes were related to tutor and tutee interaction styles, and the parallel interaction style was not related to any comprehension processes. The findings inform early childhood teachers how to foster productive social interactions during buddy reading in order to facilitate emergent readers’ comprehension processes.

Improved analyses of single cases: Dynamic multilevel analysis.

ABSTRACT This project identifies some difficulties when analyzing single-case data and showcases a new method, dynamic multilevel analysis (DMA). We re-analyze a published, meta-analysis of single-case interventions for participants with autism. Analytic difficulties include missing data, nested data, baseline trends, time periods, recency effects, many hypotheses’ false positives, interactions among explanatory variables, indirect effects (including false negatives), and sampling errors. Furthermore, non-overlapping analyses can yield contested results, overvalue data near overlap boundaries, lose statistical power, and lack estimates of explained variance or unexplained residuals. To address these difficulties, DMA integrates several methods, including multilevel and time-series analyses. DMA re-analysis not only showed robust intervention effects, but also time-, outcome-, and intervention component-specific effects. Moreover, DMA informs the suitability of time hypotheses or meta-analysis, and DMA’s components can be used separately, notably its time-series analyses for small samples (e.g., one participant). Hence, DMA can help researchers analyze single-case data more accurately.

Comparing Social Science and Computer Science Workflow Processes for Studying Group Interactions

In this article, a team of authors from the Geeks and Groupies workshop, in Leiden, the Netherlands, compare prototypical approaches to studying group interaction in social science and computer science disciplines, which we call workflows. To help social and computer science scholars understand and manage these differences, we organize workflow into three major stages: research design, data collection, and analysis. For each stage, we offer a brief overview on how scholars from each discipline work. We then compare those approaches and identify potential synergies and challenges. We conclude our article by discussing potential directions for more integrated and mutually beneficial collaboration that go beyond the producer–consumer model.

Streaming, tracking and reading achievement: A multilevel analysis of students in 40 countries.

Grouping similar students together within schools (streaming) or classrooms (tracking) based on past literacy skills (reported by parents), family socioeconomic status (SES) or reading attitudes might affect their reading achievement. Our multilevel analysis of the reading tests of 208,057 fourth-grade students across 40 countries, and their parents’, teachers’, principals’, and their survey responses yielded the following results. Streaming was linked to higher reading achievement (consistent with customized instruction), but tracking was linked to lower reading achievement (consistent with more help opportunities). Students had higher reading achievement when classmates had stronger past literacy skills (suggesting sharing ideas) or extremely poor ones (help opportunities). Also, when classmates have higher family SES, students had higher reading achievement (suggesting sharing resources), with diminishing marginal returns. When classmates’ family SES differed more (more diversity), students with greater past literacy skills had higher reading achievement (Matthew effect). Lastly, when classmates had better reading attitudes, students with lower past literacy skills showed higher reading achievement (modeling, norms). When classmates’ reading attitudes differed more, students had higher reading achievement (contrasting cases), although extreme differences weakened this link (less homophily). These results suggest that streaming across schools and mixing of students within classrooms (by past achievement, family SES and reading attitudes) are linked to overall reading achievement.

Video Use in Teacher Education: A Survey of Teacher-Educators' Practices across Disciplines.

Video methods utilize tenets of high quality teacher education and support education students’ learning and application of learning to teaching practices. However, how frequently video is used in teacher education, and in what ways is unknown. Therefore, this study used survey data to identify the extent to which 94 teacher-educators used video in their teacher education courses along with the specific uses of video. Further, multilevel multivariate analyses identified what factors impacted these uses. Findings included that many teacher-educators underused video in their teacher education courses, and typically used only one type of video in each course. Any type of video use was significantly related to teacher-educator, course, and discipline-area factors, and interactions amongst these. Specific types of video use were significantly related to institutional-demographic, teacher-educator, support, course, discipline-area factors, and interactions amongst these. Implications for increasing video use and breadth of types of video uses in teacher education are discussed.

A Three-Pronged Approach to Video Reflection: Preparing Literacy Teachers of the Future

Abstract nPurpose nThis chapter explores whether, and how, video reflections used across three contexts in teacher education (video case-study reflections, self-reflections, and Collaborative Peer Video Analysis reflections) result in teachers’ greater depth and breadth of reflective ideas about literacy assessment practices as compared to their reflections in just one context. n n nMethodology/approach nThis qualitative case study of 18 teachers tracks their reflective content over time, and uses emergent coding and constant comparative methods to identify patterns in the breadth and depth of teachers’ reflections across three contexts: video case studies, self-reflections, and Collaborative Peer Video Analysis. n n nFindings nTeachers demonstrate greater depth and breadth of reflection across the three contexts, as compared to any one context. Three patterns were identified that describe how teachers develop depth of reflection across these contexts: identifying problems, shifting learning, and transferring learning to novel contexts. Two patterns were identified that describe how breadth of reflection occurred across these contexts: broad array of ideas for a specific topic and a broad range of topics. n n nPractical implications nTeacher educators can use a three-pronged approach to video reflection to promote depth and breadth of teachers’ reflections. Opportunities should also be provided across time, and prompts should be provided for guiding reflection to support breadth and depth of teachers’ analyses.