Shirley Mary 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 Influence of Optimism and Pessimism on Student Achievement in Mathematics

Students’ causal attributions are not only fundamental motivational variables but are also critical motivators of their persistence in learning. Optimism, pessimism, and achievement in mathematics were measured in a sample of primary and lower secondary students on two occasions. Although achievement in mathematics was most strongly related to prior achievement and grade level, optimism and pessimism were significant factors. In particular, students with a more generally pessimistic outlook on life had a lower level of achievement in mathematics over time. Gender was not a significant factor in achievement. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The Effects of Age, Positive Affect Induction, and Instructions on Children's Delay of Gratification.

Abstract In two experiments children were subjected to a delay of gratification procedure in which higher levels of reward were contingent upon the maintenance of waiting behavior. In Experiment 1 positive affect induction facilitated delay behavior in 8-year-olds but not in 4-year-olds. However, delay behavior in the 4-year-old children was facilitated by a treatment combining positive affect induction with specific instructions to maintain positive thinking. This pattern of results was replicated in Experiment 2, but, in addition, waiting times were found to relate to the type of strategy reported by the children in the waiting test. Longer waiting times were associated with motoric activity and distractive cognition.

Explanatory style, ego-orientation and primary school mathematics achievement

Abstract This project was concerned with the relationship between childrens explanatory style (optimism vs pessimism) and achievement in mathematics indexed by the Progressive Achievement Test. A total of 145 children from Grades 4, 6 and 7 (aged 8 to 12 years) participated as subjects. The Childrens Attributional Styles Questionnaire (CASQ) correlated significantly (r= 0.34) with current achievement and scores on the negative subscale of the CASQ correlated with achievement data collected 2 and 3 years previously. On a further questionnaire concerned with motives for learning, optimistic children endorsed task‐orientation goals, whereas ego‐orientation goals were endorsed by both optimistic and pessimistic children. Significant sex differences were found on the CASQ, with a greater number of boys displaying a relatively depressogenic pattern.

Teacher Identification of Student Learned Helplessness in Mathematics

Teachers frequently encounter students with learned helplessness who are discouraged, turned off, or have given up trying to learn mathematics. Although learned helplessness has a long history in psychology, there has been no reliable means by which mathematics teachers can identify students exhibiting these debilitating yet changeable characteristic behaviours in the classroom. The psychometrically robust Rasch calibrated “Student Behaviour Scale” consisting of ten items rated on a five point scale provides teachers with an efficient interval measure of student learned helplessness and an ordered hierarchy of these behaviours as they are manifest in mathematics classrooms.

Rasch and Attitude Scales: Explanatory Style

Explanatory style was measured with the Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ) in 243 students from Grades 3 to 9 on two occasions separated by almost three years. The CASQ was analysed with the Rasch model, with separate analyses also being carried out for the Composite Positive (CP) and Composite Negative (CN) subscales. Each of the three scales met the requirements of the Rasch model, and although there was some slight evidence of gender bias, particularly in CN, no grade level differences were found.

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.

Moral Reasoning in Young Children: A Review of Research into Intentionality and Implications for Education.

This article reviews recent investigations into intentionality (use of motive information) in young childrens moral judgements. Intentionality has been shown to vary as a function of the nature of the vignette used in assessment and the manner in which the vignette is presented. Research has disclosed that young children can reliably use motive information in moral evaluations and that this capability can be facilitated through training experiences. The educational implications of Piagetian theory and cognitive social learning theory for moral development are discussed.