Relationships Between the Perceived Value of Instructional Techniques and Academic Motivation

Relationships Between the Perceived Value of Instructional Techniques and Academic Motivation

Elias, Jenann

ET, CA

Komarraju, M., & Karau, S. J. (2008). Relationships Between the Perceived Value of

Instructional Techniques and Academic Motivation. Journal Of Instructional

Psychology, 35(1), 70-82.

In this article, the authors discuss the relationships between the perceived value of instructional techniques, including technology enhancements like course material websites (lecture notes, review sheets, grades, sample tests), and the student motivation and learning.

The authors propose that instructional techniques do not impact all students equally. Research prior to this paper has been on the relative effectiveness of different instructional techniques. This assumes that these techniques are perceived equally by all students.

All 172 subjects, students in this case who were enrolled in psychology or business classes. Most had easy access to a computer. The subjects were questioned on their perception of different instructional techniques. All the courses had an online presence including lecture notes, review sheets, grades, sample tests, and links to articles). They stated the perceived value of course websites, active learning, and traditional lectures. The subjects were asked to fill an Academic Motivations Inventory (AMI) that consists of 90 items and includes 16 dimensions of academic motivation.

About 93% of the students reported that they find the course websites useful. The interesting part was that when the 16 dimensions of the AMI and the three instructional strategies (website usage, active learning, and traditional lecture) were correlated, some statistically significant correlations emerged. In layman's terms, “one size does NOT fit all.”

The authors state that “The results of our study clearly suggest that various teaching techniques are significantly associated with distinct aspects of students' academic motivation.” Three profiles of academic motivation emerged, they were engagement, avoidance, and achievement motivation, each associated with unique learning preferences.

From a teaching perspective, engaged students are ideal for learning. These students desire self-improvement and will respond to the widest spectrum of teaching techniques. Avoidant students worry about their performance and grades and are more likely to dislike school and experience stress. They present a challenge to the teacher. Achievement motivated students placed a high value on traditional lectures as well as course websites and online learning.

It is surprising that the questions that the authors, Meera Komarraju and Steven J. Karau, raise here have not been asked before. From my own experience in the field of education (both as a student and as a teacher), I find that not all students react the same way to a presentation, whether in class on online. I am glad that they addressed this point in this paper. My observation is that further study is needed, and with much more refined statistics. The authors acknowledge that there were some internal inconsistencies. It will be interesting to hear the experiences of teacher-librarians and other information professionals working in these situations.

TED Talks Education

Karen Rogers

ET
CA
CO

TED. (2013, May 11). TED Talks Education. Retrieved July 13, 2016, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dilnw_dP3xk

Summary:  This video has a plethora of educators, Bill Gates, psychologists, and students who talk about educational theory, new ways of looking at curriculum and assessment, and how to improve our teaching.  The speakers talk about the importance of relationships, inquiry, perseverance, how to motivate students, and ways to help teachers improve.

Review:  The video is incredibly empowering and inspiring.  It encourages teachers to change their traditional mindset and take some risks in education.  It talks about the problems faced in education and ways to improve them.  It talks about the importance of building up student confidence and passion for knowledge being even more important than talent.  I think it is something all people in education should watch before starting the school year.

A win for all

Bradshaw, Trina

CA

Z

Miller, R.T. 2016. A win for all. Library Journal, 141(1), p. 8. Retrieved from: http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=112018047&site=ehost-live

Summary:

In this article, Miller describes the transformation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) into the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). These important pieces of legislation guide how schools operate and in some cases can determine funding and staffing. One extremely important addition is the inclusion of libraries, validating the important contribution they make to student learning and enabling funding to support their development. The article also discusses how this could have a positive impact on public and academic libraries as well. Public librarians are often left attempting to aid students when their is no school librarian on staff to help them. They often don’t have the necessary skills and resources needed to truly help. This support of school librarians will help lessen this burden. In addition, academic librarians will benefit from having more students that are well trained in library use in the lower grades. Finally, the author acknowledges the hard work by stakeholder groups in making sure that libraries were adequately represented in this important legislation, including the American Library Association (ALA), the American Library Association Washington (ALAWASH), and library advocates at all levels. This success truly shows what can be attained through the political process when there is the patience required to move something forward over time and maintain commitment.

Review:

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was a hovering threat that caused many changes in many schools across the nation. After years of backlash, it is satisfying to know that the call for change has finally been answered. Though this article talks about many of the benefits and successes, it does not go into detail about the language of the actual legislation or how it may affect accountability measures. It would be beneficial to include some of those details so that librarians can spread the information to the decision makers in their schools and districts.  

A look at the new SAT

Bradshaw, Trina

CA

IL

Long, Rosemary. 2016. A look at the new SAT. Booklist, p. 19. Retrieved from: http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=116167865&site=ehost-live

Summary:

Long describes the recent changes to the SAT test, an important assessment tool for students that are planning on going to college. The first observation is that the SAT has adopted some of the popular feature of the ACT test, the SAT competitor for measuring student readiness for college. The first is that test takers are not penalized for wrong answers as they were previously, making it less likely that students will leave answers blank. Additionally, they reduced the number of answer choices from five to four. To accommodate for these changes, the testing time has also been reduced, with an optional essay question making up the change in time. The material being tested has been adjusted so that it focuses on real knowledge that connects to learning in school and the real world, rather than on a student’s mastery of test-taking tricks. There has also been an increase in the use of vocabulary in context rather than in isolation. The writing section has been shifted so that students are asked to analyze a provided text rather than write on a self-selected topic. In addition, the scale has been minimized, with a report being provided on subcategories as well as an overall score. The article ends by giving valuable resources that have been updated to address the changes in the SAT including practice exams, databases of college admission requirements, financial aid support, career exploration tools, and resources for students with special needs.     

Review:

Knowledge of the new SAT is essential for educators and librarians since it is the primary tool used to measure college readiness. With the impending announcement of how the state will calculate the Academic Performance Index (API), and the suggestion that SAT scores will be an important qualifier, we want to prepare our students to be able to meet these new demands and succeed. As a classroom teacher, I have yet to receive any training or information on the new SAT. Thus, the resources mentioned at the end will be invaluable for my own edification and for sharing with colleagues.   

Collaborative Planning

Reece, Madison

CO

Garderen, D. V., Scheuermann, A., Jackson, C., & Hampton, D. (2009). Supporting the collaboration of special educators and general educators to teach students who struggle with mathematics: An overview of the research. Psychology in the Schools, 46(1), 56-78.

Garderen, Scheuermann, Jackson, and Hampton (2009) argue “Collaboration, in theory, between general educators and special educators is grounded in the idea that each educator has a unique knowledge base and expertise that, taken together, can address any gaps the other may have” (p. 57). The authors realize that each educator has differing perspectives and emphases, and this may be a source of contention when trying to collaborate with other educators.

Collaboration requires a dialogue between staff members to continually improve student performances. Educators should work together to plan their curriculums in order to produce greater understanding among their students. Though Garderen et al. (2009) argue collaboration may be frustrating at the beginning of the collaboration process, the outcomes outweigh the differing perspectives educators may have. Due to an immensely diverse range of learning styles, it’s important for educators to collaborate successfully and efficiently. 

Co-Teaching with Student Teachers

By Terry Funk

CA 

DelColle, J. & Keenan, C. (2014). Co-Teaching partnerships for excellence in the age of accountability: A preliminary study of the effects of co-teaching in student teaching” (2015). NERA Conference Proceedings 2014. Paper 5. Retrieved from: http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/nera_2014/5

Summary: This article reports the findings from a pilot study in New Jersey at Richard Stockton College and sets the stage for continued research on Co-teaching with student teachers and host/master teachers. Traditionally, student teachers in New Jersey complete a third semester in a take-over model (in which they teach a class for 14 weeks by themselves). With the current State and National accountability standards emphasis on student test scores and the use of those scores to determine teacher performance, classroom teachers have been reluctant to have student teachers take over their classes. With this model the student teacher is an apprentice rather than peer of the master teacher. The master teacher makes explicit the workings of the classroom in an ongoing dialog, providing guidance and encouragement. In the present study, a control group of 32 students were assigned the traditional take-over model while the experimental group consisted of 15 students in the Co-teaching model. Host teachers in the experimental group had initial training about co-teaching and the option to complete an additional 3 unit Coaching and Mentoring graduate course tuition free. Measures were taken by survey, observation evaluation of host teacher (4 formative, 1 summative), and supervisors. Additionally in the experimental group, elementary reading scores and middle and high school teacher grades were collected. Similarities and differences between the groups were documented. Modest to significant gains for the experimental group included self-reported satisfaction levels among Co-teaching pairs, learning gains of varying magnitudes among students, degree of professionalism observed by supervisors, and host teacher growth.

Evaluation: The article is particularly important in a time when schools are challenged to increase the quality of their clinical partnerships. Student teaching experience is one of the most critical parts of teacher preparation and is where theory meets practice. As a retired special educator, I have some reservations about tying student grades to teacher performance. Indeed, some of the neediest children may not even be graded on State tests and if they are, then they are automatically considered performing below standard, even when they are making progress. To attract very qualified teachers to underperforming students is a challenge too. Aside from the politics, Co-teaching may be better for all concerned, including special needs students. There were limitations in this pilot that are being worked out in subsequent studies with new and better design/instruments. If research can show that students are performing well with this model then master teachers will be less anxious about State assessments and better partners in clinical practice.