Stephanie Pieschl

The Role of Epistemic Beliefs in Students’ Self-Regulated Learning With Computer-Based Learning Environments: Conceptual and Methodological Issues

Users benefit most from computer-based learning environments (CBLEs) when they are adept at self-regulated learning (SRL). Learner characteristics, such as epistemic beliefs, influence SRL processing. Therefore, research into learning with CBLEs must account for interactions between epistemic beliefs and SRL. In this article we integrate epistemic belief frameworks and models of SRL, and we argue that both phenomena should be modeled as a dynamic series of events. Such modeling allows for an examination of how various epistemic beliefs may be activated and deactivated through the process of self-regulation. We also show how CBLEs can be used to measure epistemic beliefs in novel ways and study how epistemic beliefs and SRL interact. Finally, we identify areas for future research and educational implications.

Beware of Publicity! Perceived Distress of Negative Cyber Incidents and Implications for Defining Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is usually defined by utilizing offline criteria for bullying (repetition, power imbalance, intent to harm). However, this ignores the potential relevance of cyber-specific factors (publicity, medium, type [i.e., denigration]). We compared six factors, each with multiple attributes, with respect to associated socioemotional distress, measured directly (Study 1: N = 58 Ecuadorian adolescents) and by applying adaptive conjoint analyses (Study 2: N = 131 German adolescents; Study 3: N = 82 German young adults). Results indicated that type, publicity, and repetition were most relevant for distress, and that attributes differed significantly in terms of perceived distress. For example, public incidents were perceived to be more distressing than semipublic or private ones. Furthermore, regarding most factors, previous cyber-perpetrators reported lower levels of distress than cyber-nonperpetrators. Implications for defining cyberbullying are discussed.

Adaptation to Context as Core Component of Self-Regulated Learning: The Example of Complexity and Epistemic Beliefs

In this chapter we raise two important issues regarding the metacognitive self-regulation of learning with technologies: First, adaptation to the external context is a core component of self-regulated learning. Empirical research regarding task complexity and text complexity – two exemplary external conditions – shows that learners systematically adapt their whole self-regulated learning process within a hypermedia learning environment to these contextual conditions. Therefore, careful construction and evaluation of learning tasks and learning content is warranted. In this context communicating and teaching the demands of complex learning scenarios deserves special attention. Second, learner characteristics play an important role in self-regulated learning and adaptation. Empirical research regarding epistemic beliefs – one exemplary learner characteristic – shows that learners with absolutistic beliefs will plan and execute different learning processes than those with sophisticated beliefs; these differences are especially pronounced under conditions of high complexity. Given the general superiority of the learning and adaptation processes of more sophisticated learners such beliefs should be a learning goal of their own and should be explicitly addressed in learning scenarios.

An examination of coping styles and expectations for whiplash injury in Germany: comparison with Canadian data

Cross-sectional cohort study: to examine concurrent expectations and coping style for whiplash injury in injury-naive subjects in Germany. Studies suggest the recovery rate from whiplash injury may be faster in Germany than in Canada. Canadians have a high expectation for chronic pain following whiplash injury and Germans do not. Expectation of recovery not only predicts recovery in whiplash victims but is also known to correlate with coping style. The Vanderbilt Pain Management Inventory was administered to university students and staff in Germany. Subjects who had not yet experienced whiplash injury were given a vignette concerning a neck sprain (whiplash injury) in a motor vehicle collision and were asked to indicate how likely they were to have thoughts or behaviours indicated in the coping style questionnaire. Subjects also completed expectation questionnaires regarding whiplash injury. Sixteen percent of subjects held an expectation of chronic neck or back pain after whiplash injury. The mean active coping style score was 27.4 ± 3.6 (40 is the maximum score for active coping). The mean passive coping style score was 27.0 ± 6.3 (50 is the maximum score for passive coping). Coping style scores and patterns were not different from those previously observed in Canadian studies, but there was no correlation between expectations and coping style among German subjects, a finding that differs from Canadian studies. Although expectations and coping styles may interact or be co-modifiers in the outcomes of whiplash injury in Canadian whiplash victims, in Germany, despite having similar coping styles to Canadians, the lack of expectation for chronic pain may be protective from the effect of passive coping styles. Further studies of coping style as an aetiologic factor in the chronic whiplash syndrome are needed.

Violent Lyrics = Aggressive Listeners? Effects of Song Lyrics and Tempo on Cognition, Affect, and Self-Reported Arousal

Research on music has had an impressive impact. For example, the semantic content of lyrics seems to cause associated short-term effects regarding cognition and affect. However, we argue that these effects might have been confounded by other musical parameters related to time, pitch, texture, or voice of the selected songs. This study overcame this methodological problem by using different versions of an experimentally manipulated song. In a 2 · 2 between-subjects design, 120 university students listened to four versions of a song with violent or prosocial lyrics presented in slow or fast tempo. As predicted by theories of priming, violent lyrics increased aggressive cognitions (word completion test) and aggressive affect (self-reported state anger) in comparison with prosocial lyrics. However, the reverse effects of prosocial lyrics on prosocial cognitions and prosocial affect could not be confirmed. Finally, the tempo of the song did not consistently increase self- reported arousal, and we did not find more extreme effects under conditions of fast tempo as predicted by the arousal-extremity model.

The Case of Plant Identification in Biology: When Is a Rose a Rose?

In this chapter we illustrated problems and possibilities for the development of expertise within the domain of plant identification. To identify plants novices in botany must acquire a combination of robust but also flexible knowledge from the very beginning. Therefore, constructivist principles as suggested by Cognitive Flexibility Theory and Cognitive Apprenticeship constitute important heuristics for fostering this kind of knowledge acquisition. Because the tight curriculum of university courses does not allow the application of these principles, it needs to be supplemented by new ways of learning. On the basis of an extensive problem analysis as well as a detailed analysis of cognitive and operative processes a learning environment with various help functions especially tailored to the beginners’ needs was designed.

Expecting Collective Privacy: A New Perspective on Trust in Online Communication

Digitization has opened unprecedented opportunities for online communication. In contrast to face-to-face communication, online communication often involves large audiences that consist of other social media users (network audience) but also of governmental and private institutions (institutional audiences). Consequently, how users manage their privacy is a key component of digital literacy. Interestingly, users’ privacy-management behaviors may largely be influenced by trust. Here, we argue that traditional conceptualizations of dyadic trust cannot adequately explain this aspect of online communication and therefore need to be extended. Thus, we suggest that when communicating online, users act in a default trust mode based on their trust in collective privacy: users experience a common online phenomenon, such as information overload, and might project this experience onto other users. As such, they might assume that other users also have limited capacities to process all incoming content. As a consequence, users may expect collective privacy; namely, that their disclosed information is not actively processed by large audiences because it is surrounded by so much other “noise”. Moreover, this expectation may take the shape of a stable subjective theory, thereby shaping all privacy-related perceptions and behaviors. We discuss theoretical and empirical evidence for these arguments, as well as their implications for digital privacy regulation.

Epistemological Beliefs and Students’ Adaptive Perception of Task Complexity

Epistemological beliefs are usually defined as beliefs about knowledge and knowing. One of the most widely used framework within educational psychology (Buehl & Alexander, 2001; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997), among others widely used (Niessen, Vermunt, Abma, Widdershoven, & van der Vleuten, 2004), comprises four identifiable and more or less interrelated dimensions of beliefs.

Qualitätsentwicklung bei der Lernsoftware-Entwicklung durch partizipative, formative Evaluation:

Zusammenfassung. Die Entwicklung von Lernsoftware erfordert zunehmend eine interdisziplinare Kooperation verschiedener Fachdisziplinen, wie beispielsweise Inhaltsexperten, Designern, Programmierern und evaluativ tatigen Psychologen. Eine moglichst fruh im Entwicklungsprozess integrierte, formative Evaluation kann hierbei wesentlich zum Qualitatsstandard der Software beitragen. In diesem Beitrag wird die Sichtweise vertreten, dass hierzu eine masgeschneiderte und partizipative Evaluation erforderlich ist. Anhand eines Projektbeispiels aus dem Bereich der Biologie wird aufgezeigt, wie partizipative Evaluation umgesetzt werden kann. Innerhalb des interdisziplinaren Projekts waren evaluativ tatige Psychologen bereits in die Phasen der Planung und Entwicklung der Lernsoftware integriert. Mit Hilfe des Erfahrungsberichts wird verdeutlicht, wie durch verhaltnismasig einfach einsetzbare Methoden der Evaluation (checklisten, user-trials, pragmatisch orientierte Experimente) die Qualitat der Lernsoftware entscheide...