Evaluating teachers’ professional development initiatives : towards an extended evaluative framework

Evaluating teachers’ professional development initiatives (PDI) is one of the main challenges for the teacher professionalisation eld. Although di erent studies have focused on the e ectiveness of PDI, the obtained e ects and evaluative methods have been found to be widely divergent. By means of a narrative review, this study provides an extended framework to guide the evaluation of (the e ectiveness of ) PDI. Furthermore, and in accordance with this framework, an overview of measurement instruments that are currently in use is provided. The study concludes with implications for educational research and developers of PDI

Tracing spontaneous spatial text-learning strategies in late elementary education : comparing trace data, digital writing pen data and eye tracking data.

C

The challenge of promoting self-regulated learning among primary school children with a low socio-economic and immigrant background

This study explores the effects of student tutoring as an approach to provide support on self-regulated learning (SRL) to fifth and sixth graders with a low socio-economic and/or immigrant background. In total, 401 Flemish (Belgium) students participated. A quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test, and retention test control group design was used, combining teacher ratings, self-report questionnaires, and think-aloud protocols. The teacher rating results show a significantly positive effect from pre-test to post-test for the experimental condition, but this was not maintained at the retention test. The questionnaire and think-aloud results reveal no significant effects on students’ SRL. However, differential effects depending on students’ motivational profile were found. This study illustrates the complexity of promoting SRL among primary school children with a low socio-economic and/or immigrant background, recommending further research into conditions and factors influencing the effectiveness of student tutoring programmes promoting SRL

Opening the black box of students’ text-learning processes: A process mining perspective

The current study uncovers secondary school students’ actual use of text-learning strategies during an individual learning task by means of a concurrent self-reported thinking aloud procedure. Think-aloud data of 51 participants with different learner profiles, distinguished based on a retrospective self-report questionnaire (i.e., 15 integrated strategy users, 15 information organizers, 10 mental learners, and 11 limited strategy users), were analysed by means of educational process mining. Both the frequency of students’ strategy use, as well as the temporal patterns between these strategies were studied. The process mining results clearly demonstrated differences between students with different learner profiles with respect to the frequency of their applied strategies, as well as concerning the sequences wherein strategies were applied throughout the course of students’ text-learning process. The added value of combining both retrospective and concurrent self-report measures of students’ strategies as well as conducting process mining analysis is discussed

Assessing and mapping reading and writing motivation in third to eight graders : a self-determination theory perspective

The twofold aim of this study was to substantiate the validity of the Self-Regulation Questionnaire-Reading Motivation and Self-Regulation Questionnaire-Writing Motivation for third to eight graders and to map motivational trends in elementary and secondary education students' academic and recreational reading and writing. More specifically, we adopted the innovative and coherent theoretical framework of the Self-Determination Theory to study qualitatively different motives for reading and writing and to examine the relationships between them. In total, 2,343 students from third to eighth grade were involved. Based on confirmatory factor analyses, a two-factor model, distinguishing between autonomous and controlled motivation, for academic and recreational reading and writing was confirmed in all grades. Furthermore, the scales were reliable, and the measurement models were invariant across students' gender and their general achievement level. Despite the absence of strong invariance for the measurement models across each of the different grades, we found evidence that students within the same grade level (i.e., middle elementary, upper elementary, and lower secondary grade) interpreted the SRQ-Reading and Writing scale items in a conceptually similar way. Factor correlations confirmed the interrelatedness of reading and writing motives, as well as strong associations between students' motivation to read and write in either academic and recreational contexts. Finally, concerning the motivational trends, the present results advert to a significant decline of students' autonomous motivation to read and write, both in and outside school. Accordingly, we point out that the late elementary and the lower secondary grades are crucial phases to engage students in motivating literacy activities. In light of these alarming results, we recommend future experimental research studies to focus on evaluating the effectiveness of instructional reading and writing activities that foster students' innate need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness