Science in the Learning Gardens: A Study of Motivation, Achievement, and Science Identity in Low-Income Middle Schools

Background: Science in the Learning Gardens (henceforth, SciLG) program was designed to address two well-documented, inter-related educational problems: under-representation in science of students from racial and ethnic minority groups and inadequacies of curriculum and pedagogy to address their cultural and motivational needs. Funded by the National Science Foundation, SciLG is a partnership between Portland Public Schools and Portland State University. The sixth- through eighth-grade SciLG curriculum aligns with Next Generation Science Standards and uses school gardens as the milieu for learning. This provides the context to investigate factors that support success of a diverse student population using the motivational framework of self-determination theory. Results: This study reports results from 113 students and three science teachers from two low-income urban middle schools participating in SciLG. Longitudinal data collected in spring of sixth grade in 2015 and fall of seventh grade in 2015 for the same set of students included a measure of students’ overall motivational experiences in the garden (that combined their reports of relatedness, competence, autonomy, and engagement and teacher-reports of re-engagement in garden-based learning activities) to predict four science outcomes: engagement, learning, science grades, and science identity. Findings suggest that garden-based activities show promise for supporting students’ engagement and learning in science classes and in fostering students’ interest in pursuing science long-term. Conclusions: As concern for social justice is growing based on the underachievement of students from minority groups, resurgence of the school garden movement over the last several decades provides an opportunity to tip the scales by engaging students in authentic, real-world learning of science and cultivating their interests in science with holistic garden-based learning. This study highlights the role of students’ views of themselves as competent, related, and autonomous in the garden, as well as their engagement and re-engagement in the garden, as potential pathways by which garden-based science activities can shape science motivation, learning, and academic identity in science. Findings also suggest that the motivational model based on self-determination theory can be useful in identifying some of the “active ingredients”—in pedagogy, curriculum, and social relationships—that engage students in these garden-integrated science learning activities

Developmental Perspectives on Motivational Resilience: Predictors of Eighth-grade At-risk Students\u27 Academic Engagement and Achievement

This study uses the concept of stage-environment fit (Eccles et al., 1993) in conjunction with self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) to guide an investigation of at-risk eighth graders\u27 motivational and academic resilience. A developmentally-calibrated method was used to divide students into motivational and academic resilience groups based on their resilient, average, or stress-affected levels of academic engagement and GPA. Data from 167 eighth graders and 155 sixth graders were used to examine the extent to which students\u27 ratings of autonomy, teacher support, peer support, and engagement in garden-based education were related to resilience group membership, and whether these four resources seemed more important to eighth graders than to sixth graders. Results provided support for the overall hypothesis that the four developmental resources (autonomy, teacher support, peer support, and garden engagement) seemed to serve as motivational and/or academic resources, but did not, generally, provide support for their being more important for eighth graders than for sixth graders. Analyses of variance and regressions showed that autonomy, teacher support, and garden engagement were all resources for eighth graders\u27 motivation and achievement, with autonomy and teacher support as the strongest resources. Peer support was only a resource for motivation, and only for eighth-grade boys. In terms of unique effects, only autonomy uniquely predicted eighth graders\u27 dual (motivational and academic) resilience group membership when controlling for the other developmental resources. In contrast, autonomy, teacher support, and garden engagement all uniquely predicted sixth graders\u27 dual resilience group membership. Autonomy\u27s status as the only unique predictor of eighth-grade resilience contrasted with an overall trend in which correlations among all variables were weaker for eighth graders than sixth graders. This contrast suggested that one part of eighth-grade risk might be an increased immunity to motivational resources. Autonomy seemed to fully mediate the relationship between teacher support and dually-resilient group membership for eighth graders, highlighting autonomy\u27s role as a key component in motivational processes for at-risk eighth-graders. The study shed light on the educational risk posed by eighth-gradeness in conjunction with having an at-risk demographic status and a being traditional middle school setting, and suggested that autonomy might be a necessary, if not sufficient, route to eighth-grade motivational and academic resilience in light of this risk

Trajectories, Time Windows, and Alternative Pathways of Engagement: Motivational Resources Underlying Academic Development during Middle School

The middle school years are, in many ways, a key window for students\u27 motivational development. Despite the numerous developmental gains that characterize early adolescence, levels of academic motivation tend to decline as students age, and show steeper drops during the transitions to middle school and to high school. Maintaining high levels of motivation during this period may be particularly important for students from marginalized groups who are at risk for even steeper motivational drops--and for whom academic motivation may be an especially critical resource for later success. Because academic motivation seems to stabilize after middle school, students\u27 later success may hinge upon their maintaining (or recovering) sufficiently high levels of motivation by the end of eighth grade to withstand the transition to high school and carry students through their high school years. In order for practitioners to intervene in support of such a goal, they would first need to know the patterns and pathways of motivation that typically do (vs. do not) result in students having high motivation levels at the end of eighth grade, and then know whether there are malleable resources that enable students to successfully traverse these motivational pathways. Using academic engagement as a key marker of motivation, academic achievement as an indicator of academic success, and a set of personal and inter-personal resources identified by self-determination theory, the current study seeks to shed light on these patterns of successful motivational development. Findings from previous longitudinal studies of engagement during middle school offer preliminary information about three kinds of motivational patterns that do (vs. do not) tend to culminate in high levels of engagement in eighth grade. First, findings from studies of normative trajectories of engagement show patterns of declines across middle school such that students do not, on average, end with high levels of engagement. Significant variation in these trajectories, however, suggests that there may be a subset of students who do maintain high levels throughout middle school. Second, findings in several of these studies also showed periods of steeper declines or brief recovery punctuating the otherwise gradual declines in engagement across middle school. These discontinuities could suggest potential key windows of time during which more motivational changes might occur (and at which interventions might be especially impactful). Third, studies of multiple trajectories of engagement have identified sub-groups of students who follow common alternative trajectories of engagement, including those who maintain high levels throughout middle school, those whose trajectories are characterized by even steeper declines, and those who show motivational recovery across middle school. No studies to date, however, have identified personal or interpersonal resources that significantly distinguish sub-groups of students whose engagement levels remain high, show steeper drops, or show recovery over middle school. Building on this research, this study drew on data from 576 students at a highly-diverse middle school, who were followed for up to six time points from sixth to eighth grade, to address gaps in the current literature regarding patterns of motivational success. To that end, this study used three developmental approaches--examining normative trajectories, time windows, and alternative pathways of student engagement--to identify the pathways by which students do (and do not) reach the end of eighth grade with high levels of engagement and achievement, and to discern the processes by which a set of theoretically-guided personal and interpersonal resources can support those pathways. Results from analyses of normative trends in engagement showed that some students do reach the end of middle school with high absolute levels of engagement and achievement. Results from analyses of time windows suggested that sixth grade may be a time of instability, carrying both opportunity and vulnerability; seventh grade may be a possible respite from declines and change for recovery; and eighth grade may be a time of steeper declines. The findings on alternative trajectories supported the existence of the hypothesized groups, including a small group who started with positive levels of engagement that then steeply declined, a small group whose levels started low and increased, and a large group of students who were able to avoid the normative declines and maintain high levels of engagement in motivation across middle school. Moreover, findings showed that the set of six personal and interpersonal resources were significantly associated with the successful navigation of each of these motivational pathways. Multiple resources (often all six) supported each pathway, suggesting the importance of studying motivational supports with methods that allow for consideration of predictors as a system or set as opposed to lone asset. The alternative trajectory groups whose engagement levels showed steeper drops or recovery over middle school were characterized by differences in resource changes over time. The group whose engagement levels remained high across middle school had higher levels of all six resources, suggesting that the full suite of resources--relatedness, competence, autonomy, teacher support, parent support, and peer support--may be necessary for truly successful motivational development in middle school

“I Get Knocked Down but I Get up Again”: Integrative Frameworks for Studying the Development of Motivational Resilience in School

Many subareas share a common interest in students’ motivational resilience, defined broadly as patterns of action that allow students to constructively deal with, overcome, recover, and learn from encounters with academic obstacles and failures. However, research in each of these areas often progresses in relative isolation, and studies rarely utilize developmental or social-contextual approaches. As a result, we do not yet have a clear understanding of how to help children and adolescents develop a rich and flexible repertoire of tools to deal productively with everyday academic challenges and difficulties. In this article, we knit together these disparate areas of work to create an integrated developmental and social-contextual framework that can guide the future study of these processes. First, we summarize nine areas of work that focus on students’ actions on the ground when they encounter academic difficulties: academic resilience, mastery versus helplessness, engagement and re-engagement, academic coping, self-regulated learning, adaptive help seeking, emotion regulation, and buoyancy as well as tenacity, perseverance, and productive persistence. In each area, we highlight work that is explicitly developmental and that depicts key social-contextual factors that shape motivational resilience. Second, we sketch an overarching social-contextual and developmental framework that holds a place for each of these processes. Third, we identify multiple areas where cross-fertilization among researchers can contribute to improved educational practice and study of the development of motivational resilience. An overarching goal of this article (and the special section more generally) is to take first steps toward “field building” on this crucial topic

A cross-sectional workforce survey of three traditional and complementary medicine professions in Ontario, Canada.

BackgroundWorkforce studies about traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) occupations in industrialized countries are scant; and, these occupations' position within the broader occupational workforce remains unclear. This study aims to address these gaps using a comparative approach.MethodsNaturopaths, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) / acupuncture practitioners, and homeopaths in Ontario, Canada were surveyed regarding their demographics, practice characteristics and self-reported income. Results were compared with parallel data from within and outside of Ontario.ResultsStudy response rate: 23.3% (n = 1205). While predominantly female (57.9%), Ontario's TCM/acupuncture profession was less feminized than the naturopathic (77.1%) and homeopathic (78.3%) groups. Naturopaths were significantly younger than, and reported fewer years of clinical experience than, the other two groups. About half of TCM/acupuncture practitioners, and almost one-third of homeopaths had trained outside of Canada, predominantly in East and South Asia, respectively. More TCM/acupuncture practitioners (58.9%) and homeopaths (57.6%) had multilingual clinical practices than naturopaths (19.1%). Homeopaths worked fewer hours and saw fewer patients per week than the other occupations. Self-reported mean incomes varied across groups, with naturopaths earning more on average ($63,834, SD$57,101) than did TCM/acupuncture practitioners ($45,624, SD$44,081) or homeopaths ($29,230, SD$41,645). Holding other variables constant, internationally-trained practitioners reported earning one-third less than their Canadian-trained counterparts.Discussion & conclusionsStudy findings echo occupationally-specific data from other industrialized jurisdictions; and, affirm that different T&CM occupations have distinctive demographic and practice characteristics. The demographic makeup of Ontario's TCM/acupuncture and homeopathy occupations suggests a role for these groups in delivering culturally-responsive care within Asian ethnic communities. T&CM practitioner incomes, in particular for internationally-trained practitioners, fell below the provincial population income median, and in many cases below the poverty line. T&CM occupations' relative socio-political marginality may be impacting clinicians' ability to earn a viable living

Science in the Learning Gardens (SciLG): a study of students’ motivation, achievement, and science identity in low-income middle schools

Abstract Background Science in the Learning Gardens (henceforth, SciLG) program was designed to address two well-documented, inter-related educational problems: under-representation in science of students from racial and ethnic minority groups and inadequacies of curriculum and pedagogy to address their cultural and motivational needs. Funded by the National Science Foundation, SciLG is a partnership between Portland Public Schools and Portland State University. The sixth- through eighth-grade SciLG curriculum aligns with Next Generation Science Standards and uses school gardens as the milieu for learning. This provides the context to investigate factors that support success of a diverse student population using the motivational framework of self-determination theory. Results This study reports results from 113 students and three science teachers from two low-income urban middle schools participating in SciLG. Longitudinal data collected in spring of sixth grade in 2015 and fall of seventh grade in 2015 for the same set of students included a measure of students’ overall motivational experiences in the garden (that combined their reports of relatedness, competence, autonomy, and engagement and teacher-reports of re-engagement in garden-based learning activities) to predict four science outcomes: engagement, learning, science grades, and science identity. Findings suggest that garden-based activities show promise for supporting students’ engagement and learning in science classes and in fostering students’ interest in pursuing science long-term. Conclusions As concern for social justice is growing based on the underachievement of students from minority groups, resurgence of the school garden movement over the last several decades provides an opportunity to tip the scales by engaging students in authentic, real-world learning of science and cultivating their interests in science with holistic garden-based learning. This study highlights the role of students’ views of themselves as competent, related, and autonomous in the garden, as well as their engagement and re-engagement in the garden, as potential pathways by which garden-based science activities can shape science motivation, learning, and academic identity in science. Findings also suggest that the motivational model based on self-determination theory can be useful in identifying some of the “active ingredients”—in pedagogy, curriculum, and social relationships—that engage students in these garden-integrated science learning activities

Additional file 1: of Science in the Learning Gardens (SciLG): a study of students’ motivation, achievement, and science identity in low-income middle schools

Garden Curricular Examples with Next Generation Science Standards. (DOCX 46 kb

Additional file 2: of Science in the Learning Gardens (SciLG): a study of students’ motivation, achievement, and science identity in low-income middle schools

Survey Measures. (DOCX 28 kb

Effectiveness of multigenerational transfer of Sumai 3 fusarium head blight resistance in Canada western hard red spring wheat breeding populations

Several quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been identified for fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance in the cultivar Sumai 3. Wheat breeders need to know which Sumai 3 loci are present in derived lines used as parents effective marker assisted selection (MAS) for genetic improvement. This study was conducted to identify the loci in Sumai 3 derived parents that contribute FHB resistance in breeding populations. Three doubled haploid (DH) populations utilizing Sumai 3 derived parents ND3085, ND744, and Alsen were evaluated during 2007 and 2008 in FHB nurseries near Carman MB, Ottawa, ON and Charlottetown, PEI. The percentage of incidence, severity, fusarium damaged kernels (FDK) and deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation were measured and FHB index calculated. DNA markers at six FHB resistance loci detected in Sumai 3 were evaluated on the populations. For each trait, a t-test was applied to means of observations pooled by parental type of each marker to determine which loci contributed to resistance. The alleles at the 3BS and 5AS most frequently contributed to Type I and Type II FHB resistance as well as to reduced FDK and deoxynivalenol (DON) in all three populations. Markers revealed resistance on 3BS and 5AS in Alsen, ND3085 and ND744, on 3BSc, 4D and 6BS in ND744, on 4D in ND3085, and on 6BS in Alsen. In some environments the susceptible parent Infinity contributed minor QTL on 2D, 3BSc, and 6BS. Likewise, Helios contributed minor QTL on 5AS and 6BS.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author