Teacher Enthusiasm, Supportive Instructional Practices, and Student Motivation in Mathematics Classrooms

This longitudinal study examined the relations between teacher enthusiasm, supportive instructional practices, and students’ mastery goal orientation and behavioral engagement in mathematics. All variables were assessed by means of student reports. A total of 751 9th and 10th grade secondary school students from 46 mathematics classrooms were presented with questionnaires at the beginning (Time 1) and the middle of the school year (Time 2). Structural equation analyses revealed that student-perceived teacher enthusiasm at Time 1 predicted student-perceived support for autonomy, competence, social relatedness, and subject matter relevance at Time 2. Student-perceived support for autonomy and social relatedness (Time 2) were related to students’ mastery goal orientation and their behavioral engagement (Time 2). Moreover, student-perceived teacher enthusiasm (Time 1) indirectly predicted students’ mastery goal orientation (Time 2) via student-perceived support for social relatedness and autonomy (Time 2). The findings contribute to research aimed at identifying teacher characteristics and instructional processes that promote student motivation.

Examining High School Students’ Personality Traits of Extraversion and Emotional Stability in Relation to their Academic Expectation and Value Appraisals

Both personality and motivational characteristics can be considered to estimate individuals’ potential for adjustment and development. That said, these characteristics are rarely studied in conjunction. In this study, we examine how personality and motivational characteristics relate one to the other and influence how students approach learning. More precisely, we analyzed the additive and interactive effects of two intimately related traits (extraversion and emotional stability) from the Big Five model of personality on five motivational dimensions reflecting academic expectations (sense of competence) and values (interest, utility, and mastery and performance goal orientations). Data was collected from a sample of 303 students in tenth and eleventh grade (108 boys and 195 girls; Mage = 16.275 years, SD = 1.149) in a French-Canadian public high school in the greater Quebec City area. Primary analyses included both bivariate correlation and hierarchical regression analyses. Correlations indicated that emotionally stable students were more interested in learning. Hierarchical regression showed that emotionally stable students were more likely to exhibit a performance goal orientation, especially when they were extroverted. These analyses also revealed that emotionally stable students were more interested in learning, especially when they had a strong sense of competence. Results are discussed in light of the limited but relevant existing literature.

Combating the Stress of an Urgent Move to Remote Learning Caused by the COVID Pandemic

Remote learning became the primary venue for university education throughout the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some academic institutions already had remote learning mechanisms in place by design, many higher education institutions – along with faculty and students – had to adapt to virtual or online education for the first time, while school was in session, in spring 2020. The continued effort to improve on-line pedagogy during the 2020-21 academic year suggests new pedagogical norms are now being established, with longer term implications for educators and students alike. In this paper, the authors explore different technologies used in the “classroom” and observed impacts on teaching effectiveness, particularly as they relate to an undergraduate economics course. The authors find that while it is challenging to replicate the in-person class experience, basic economics courses can be effectively taught in a remove environment by leveraging technology.

The Development of the French Version of the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) Questionnaire: An Analysis of its Structure, Properties and Potential for Research with at-risk Students

Introduction. As it plays an important role in students' adjustment, and positively impacts their motivation and academic success, school belonging seems to be a pivotal determinant of the overall quality of a school experience. However, measuring such a belonging and estimating its contribution to the overall quality of school adjustment remain a challenge for the scientific community. Method. Thus, the French version of the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) questionnaire was tested to determine its latent structure, validity, and capacity to predict dropout among at-risk students. In Study 1, the French version of the PSSM scale was thoroughly analyzed for validity while performing exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis on self-reported data provided by a sample of high school students. In study 2, answers of a particular sample of at-risk students were carefully analyzed with ANOVAS to determine the potential of the PSSM to predict high school dropout. Results. The exploratory factor analysis and the confirmatory factor analysis revealed four predominant dimensions: (1) teacher-student relationships; (2) peers' relationships; (3) sense of acceptance; and (4) sense of attachment, while the multigroup confirmatory factor analysis revealed the PSSM to be partially invariant with regards to the gender of the participants. In Study 2, we found that the PSSM can be used as a tool to help identify students who are at risk of dropping out of school. Conclusion. Strategies to develop students' school belonging are discussed.

The Making of Relatives: Creating a home away from Home for American Indian Pre-Service Teachers at a Predominantly White Institution

Despite the many retention models in place to support American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students’ academic success within Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) of higher learning, AI/AN student persistence and degree completion continues to be in a state of crisis. Here we highlight the factors that enhance or diminish persistence and describe culturally congruent mentoring approaches. In this article we are focusing on the extraordinary group of American Indian achievers who are members of the Society of INdigenous Educators (SINE) and who, against tremendous odds, persisted and graduated from their teacher preparation program at a land grant institution in the western United States. The SINE mentoring program was created to recruit, retain, graduate, place and provide ongoing support to these pre-service teachers. As is, the status quo at PWIs falls short at best, and in many circumstances diminishes AI/AN students’ chances for persistence and completion. By embracing the concept of creating a secondary home away from Home, where students in college have the social, and academic supports necessary, we have conceptualized and developed a culturally congruent, discipline-specific mentoring program. As key advocates, faculty mentors need a repertoire of knowledge and capacities to support novices’ induction into teaching, and to help students navigate institutional, departmental, and programmatic requirements in the university context by developing a constellation of supporters. Given only .4 % of faculty on college campuses are AI/AN, it is unlikely that AI/AN students will have an AI/AN faculty mentor in the leadership position of their culturally congruent, discipline-specific mentoring group. This being the case, we identify specific attributes that we recommend for selecting a faculty mentor to serve AI/AN students.

Identifying Effective and Successful Teaching Strategies Using the PERIA Model

The purpose of this paper is to outline effective strategies that increase student learning and stimulate the development of reflective thinking in undergraduate courses. Specifically, it shows that class activities using the PERIA model (Preparation, Experience, Reflection, Integration, and Application) can increase student learning in a variety of technical and non-technical courses. The first example illustrates the use of games and simulations to stimulate and encourage reflective learning in an economics course where students discuss, reflect, practice and apply what they learned from the simulation. The second technique illustrates cooperative learning using small group discussions, case studies, and brief presentations in the context of a discussion-oriented moral philosophy class. The third example uses a Nearpod application in an active, learner-centered Spanish classroom to encourage metalinguistic discussion, communicative uses of language, and even intercultural comparisons. The final example demonstrates how a mathematics course, historically dependent upon lecture, can use consulting projects and a cyclical approach to the PERIA process to increase student learning.