Executive Functioning: Assessing the Role of Perceived Paranormal Ability

This study examined whether scores on self-report measures of executive functions varied in accordance with level of self-professed paranormal ability. The investigators compared three groups varying in attribution of paranormal facilities: practitioners (Mediums, Psychics, Spiritualists and Fortune-Tellers), self-professed ability and no ability. Consistent with recent research on cognitive-perceptual factors allied to delusional formation and thinking style, the researchers anticipated that practitioners would score higher on paranormal belief and self-reported executive function disruption. Correspondingly, the investigators also hypothesised that the self-professed ability group would demonstrate greater belief in the paranormal and higher levels of executive function disruption than the no ability group. A sample of 499 (219 males, 279 females) respondents completed the measures online. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) found a large effect size, alongside significant differences on all variables apart from Cognitive Reappraisal. Pairwise comparisons indicated that Paranormal Belief increased as a function of level of ability; practitioners scored higher than self-professed, who in turn scored higher than the no ability group. For executive functioning, significant differences emerged only for the no ability vs. self-professed ability and no ability vs. practising groups. Collectively, outcomes indicated that perception of ability, regardless of intensity of paranormal conviction, influenced subjective appraisal of executive functions. Failure to find consistent differences between practitioner and self-professed ability groups suggested that discernment of ability was sufficient to heighten awareness of executive functioning disruptions.

Is Kindergarten Ability Group Placement Biased? New Data, New Methods, New Answers

Half of kindergarten teachers split children into higher and lower ability groups for reading or math. In national data, we predicted kindergarten ability group placement using linear and ordinal logistic regression with classroom fixed effects. In fall, test scores were the best predictors of group placement, but there was bias favoring girls, high-SES (socioeconomic status) children, and Asian Americans, who received higher placements than their scores alone would predict. Net of SES, there was no bias against placing black children in higher groups. By spring, one third of kindergartners moved groups, and high-SES children moved up more than their score gains alone would predict. Teacher-reported behaviors (e.g., attentiveness, approaches to learning) helped explain girls’ higher placements, but did little to explain the higher placements of Asian American and high-SES children.

Teachers’ Use of Within-Class Ability Groups in the Primary Classroom: A Mixed Methods Study of Social Comparison

It is common practice within primary classrooms for teachers to spilt children into different ability groups so that children of similar level are taught together. Whilst this practice is used across the globe, research is mixed on the benefits of such grouping strategy. This paper presents data collected from mixed methods research which investigated teachers use of grouping strategies and social comparison, the act of comparing oneself with others. It focuses on when, why and with whom children from different ability groups compare themselves and the impact this has on their self-perceptions. Drawing upon data from children aged between 10 and 11 years from 12 primary schools, social comparison was found to play a significant role in daily classroom life for some children. The study identified different strands of the social comparison process including acknowledgment, topic, target, and direction, and it revealed positive and negative effects of social comparison. A difference by ability group was identified. Children within the low ability group were particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of social comparison and found to engage in more frequent and intentional social comparisons which were heavily relied upon for self-evaluation and performance evaluation. The paper discusses the educational implications of social comparison regarding pupil ability grouping strategies, motivation, engagement, and academic performance. Implications for teacher education and professional development is discussed.

Secondary Students’ Perceptions of Their Engagement in a Correcting Process

This study draws on mediated learning experience (MLE) theory to contextualize the correcting process within the sociocultural dimension of the teacher’s intervention and collaborative learning to facilitate student engagement with discovering, correcting, and rewriting practices. This correcting process was administered to eight mixed-ability groups of Vietnamese secondary students (n = 31) to investigate students’ perceptions of their engagement in the process from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives that have been under-researched so far. The statistical analysis of a closed-ended questionnaire shows that students strongly agreed with the practices and effectiveness of the process, accuracy improvement, approach preferences, and learning motivation. Eight students’ responses to semi-structured interviews elaborated on the benefits and disadvantages of group-correction and the significance of targeting errors, and on each correcting phase. While students’ responses satisfied MLE’s criteria, their perceptions of the limitations of group-correction somewhat qualified the way reciprocity occurred. The findings suggest offering students opportunities to act on language issues in their writing and confirm the usefulness of engagement with correction-feedback practices from which implications for L2 writing and further research are discussed.

Students’Metacognitive Abilityin Mathematical Problem-Solvingthrough the Problem-based Learning Model

Students lack metacognitive ability despite its vital role in mathematical problem-solving. The problem-based Learning (PBL) model is one of the learning models to improve metacognitive ability in problem-solving. This study aimed to analyze the students'metacognitive ability in mathematical problem solving through PBL and examine its improvement. This present study applied the explanatory sequential mixed-method design. The population was the Year 11 students from one of the senior high schools in South Aceh Regency, Indonesia. Data collection was conducted using three instruments: pre-test, post-test, and interview guidelines. The pre-test and post-test data were analyzed using the t-test, while students' metacognitive ability was analyzed qualitatively. The results showed that students' metacognitive ability in mathematical problem solving through the PBL model was increased. Furthermore, students' metacognitive abilitywas at the semi-reflective use, the strategic use, the aware use levels for high-ability, medium-ability, and low-ability groups.

Children’s Interactions in Ability-based Groups in a Primary Classroom

The article reports data from an aspect of the study which aimed to study the nature of children’s interactions and their perceptions of ability-based groups in a primary classroom in England. Previous studies on ability-based group have mainly used quantitative research designs to study children’s interactions and appeared to award less opportunities to children to talk about their experiences of working in ability-based groups. This study has used qualitative ethnographic research design to study children’s interactions and their perceptions of working in ability-based groups. Children’s interactions were studied using participant observations and debriefing activities were used to elicit children’s perspectives on their recorded interactions. Furthermore, informal conversational interviews were also used to hear children’s perspectives on their experiences of working in ability-based groups. The article only focuses on data related to children’s interactions, which revealed that children appeared to be cooperative, non-cooperative and competitive towards their peers in ability-based groups. We noted that children interpreted the group structure and learning task distinctively when deciding whether or not to work with others in groups. In some cases, children exhibited gender-biased attitudes while interacting with their peers. Children showed cooperative attitudes towards same-sex peers and non-cooperative attitudes towards other-sex peers. The findings highlight the importance of fully understanding children’s contexts and their dynamic influences on children’s interactions during their routinely organised ability-based group work. These also highlight the importance of listening to children’s perspectives while studying their interactions in ability groups in the mainstream primary classrooms.

Relations between Sensory Responsiveness and Features of Autism in Children

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition defined by differences in social communication and by the presence of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities (RRBs). Individuals with autism also commonly present with atypical patterns of sensory responsiveness (i.e., hyporesponsiveness, hyperresponsiveness, and sensory seeking), which are theorized to produce cascading effects across other domains of development. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in sensory responsiveness in children with and without autism (ages 8–18 years), as well as relations between patterns of sensory responsiveness and core and related features of autism. Participants were 50 children with autism and 50 non-autistic peers matched on age and sex. A comprehensive clinical battery included multiple measures of sensory responsiveness, core features of autism, adaptive behavior, internalizing behaviors, cognitive ability, and language ability. Groups significantly differed on all three patterns of sensory responsiveness. Some indices of core and related autism features were robustly associated with all three patterns of sensory responsiveness (e.g., RRBs), while others were more strongly associated with discrete patterns of sensory responsiveness (i.e., internalizing problem behaviors and hyperresponsiveness, language and sensory seeking). This study extends prior work to show that differences in sensory responsiveness that are linked with core and related features of autism persist in older children and adolescents on the spectrum.

Modes of Grouping Students, Segregation and Educational Inequalities. A Longitudinal Analysis of a Cohort of Students in Switzerland

The education system in Geneva, Switzerland, offers two organisationally contrasting modes of grouping students in secondary 1 education. Students either belong to schools which run a segmented system (students are grouped into two streams based on their academic level) or a more integrated system, with heterogeneous classes made up of ability groups for some subjects. Using longitudinal data, this article examines the impact of these two modes of grouping students and of within-school segregation on the way students are oriented in secondary 2 education. The results of a multilevel logistic regression analysis show that students attending the segmented system are less likely to be oriented towards a baccalaureate school, the most selective path of secondary 2 education. They also show that the effects of within-school segregation contribute to reinforcing inequalities between students: the likelihood of attending a baccalaureate school is much lower in classes with a high percentage of students from a disadvantaged background. Finally, they show that the negative effects of school segregation tend to be stronger in the segmented system.

COLLABORATIVE METACOGNITIVE ACTIVITIES, STUDENTS’ SOCIALLY MOTIVATED METACOGNITIVE EXPERIENCES, AND STOICHIOMETRIC PROBLEM-SOLVING

Purpose of the study: This study investigates the effect of collaborative metacognitive activities (CMA) on students’ socially motivated metacognitive experiences (SMME) during stoichiometric problem-solving. Methodology: This descriptive research employed mixed methods. To document and analyze students’ CMA, dual coding process, discourse analysis, and social network analyses were used. There were 18 participants selected purposively and grouped homogeneously based on their academic ability. Main Findings: The findings revealed that CMA affects students’ SMME quantitatively in stoichiometric problem-solving across ability groups and chemistry tasks. Successful collaboration occurs when feedback requests and other monitoring responses on the assessment of understanding and strategy influences students’ estimates of solution correctness and feeling of satisfaction across ability groups and affects the feeling of difficulty across chemistry tasks. Applications of this study: This study will help teachers design student activities that could capitalize on the advantages of collaborative metacognitive activities to help students achieve successful collaboration during problem-solving activities not only in chemistry but also in the allied fields. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study explains clearly the relevance of CMA and SMME during stoichiometric problem-solving. Moreover, this study elucidated the mechanism of successful and unsuccessful collaboration used by the different groups of students in solving the algorithmic and conceptual chemistry tasks.