Learning behaviour and learning outcomes : the roles for social influence and field of study

Research has demonstrated a significant role of discipline social identification in predicting learning approaches, even controlling for individual differences. Smyth et al. (Educ Psychol 35(1):53–72, 2015. doi:10.1080/01443410.2013.822962) suggest that learners share discipline-based social identifications, and that this identification, in combination with relevant norms, influences the adoption of learning approaches. The current paper extends this analysis in two directions. First, the effect of broad field of study is examined for systematic differences across content domains. Secondly, the model examines effects on student perceptions of teaching quality and intentions to continue within a discipline. Results provide support for Smyth et al.’s (2015) model, demonstrating links between discipline identification, perceived norms, learning approaches and outcomes. Strongly identified students, students who perceived deep learning norms and students taking a deep learning approach all reported more positive outcomes. Disciplinary variations in responses to learning approaches and outcomes were also found, broadly in line with that found in the Biglan–Becher literature.PostprintPeer reviewe

Social identification and academic performance : integrating two existing models of tertiary student learning

Recent research has mapped the ways social identification and normative influence affect students’ self-reported learning approaches and course experience, and also, the ways in which social identification and learning approach impact directly on grades. However, there is not yet evidence for a model incorporating both these processes. The current paper aims to address this in a dataset drawn from a range of courses and disciplines at a mid-size Australian university. The data capture student demographics, social identification with the field of study, perceived learning norms and learning approaches, and examine how these map onto end of semester academic outcomes. Findings indicate support for the Bliuc (2011a) identification-to-grade, through learning approach model. Further, we find support for the Smyth (2015, 2017) identification-by-norm moderation model of predicting learning approaches. Added to which, we find support for a combined moderated mediation model, where the identification-norm interaction moderates the indirect effect of identification predicting grades through learning approach. Implications for course design are discussed.PostprintPeer reviewe

Unity through Diversity: Value-in-Diversity Beliefs, Work Group Diversity, and Group Identification

Research on work group diversity has more or less neglected the possibility that reactions to diversity may be informed by individuals' beliefs about the value of diversity (vs. homogeneity) for their work group. We studied the role of such diversity beliefs as a moderator of the relationship between work group diversity and individuals' identification with the work group across two studies. Study 1 was a cross-sectional survey that focused on gender diversity and gender diversity beliefs. Study 2 was a laboratory experiment in which work group diversity and diversity beliefs were manipulated. Results of both studies support the prediction that work group diversity and group identification are more positively related the more individuals believe in the value of diversit

Chinese adolescents' belief in a just world and academic resilience: The mediating role of perceived academic competence

The current study examined the relationship between belief in a just world and self-reported academic resilience, and whether perceived academic competence mediated this relationship. Seven-hundred fifty-one students enrolled in a middle school and a high school (45.81% male, 15 to 16 years old) from two regions of China participated in this study. Structural equation modeling indicated that general belief in a just world was: (1) directly associated with academic resilience, and (2) indirectly associated with students' academic resilience through perceived academic competence, after controlling for the effects of gender and socioeconomic status. This study provides insight into how broader social-ideological understandings of the world (e.g., belief in a just world) may guide individual self-construals (e.g., perceived academic competence) to affect individual persistence in the face of adversity (e.g., resilience). Implications and limitations of the current study are discussed

Medical decision making using knowledge of patient identification as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander: what do medical students think?

Objective Best-practices guidelines require Australian health practitioners to ask all patients “are you [is the person] of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin?”. The present study investigated medical student attitudes regarding medical decisions made after asking this standard status question. Methods A hypothetical interaction between a doctor and an Aboriginal patient was presented in a pen-and-paper questionnaire in which: (1) the doctor considered (or did not consider) the patient’s Indigenous status relevant to make a medical diagnosis, and (2) the doctor registered (or did not register) the patient for the Closing the Gap PBS co-payment. Participants were first- and second-year medical students at the Australian National University who evaluated the doctor’s decisions against 20 attributes characterising professionalism and prejudice. Results Students evaluated the doctor more favourably when the doctor registered the patient for the co-payment and when the doctor did not consider Indigenous status relevant to making a medical diagnosis. Conclusions Encouragingly, medical students recognise that withholding registration for the co-payment is unprofessional. At the same time, medical students clearly do not think medical diagnoses should be made using the knowledge a patient identifies as Aboriginal. Implications With the continual development of policy and guidelines (and the prospect of diagnostic guidelines) to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, students and practitioners must understand how to use this knowledge of a patient’s status to benefit health outcomes

Risk-taking that signals trust increases social identification

ocial identification predicts many important phenomena; however, its determinants have received comparably little research attention. We argue that people are more likely to socially identify with others who engage in risky behavior that implies trust than with those who act cautiously, and test this in four experiments with over 900 participants. The experiments found support for the hypotheses across diverse risk contexts – specifically, risk of physical injury, disease risk, and financial risk. These findings indicate that others’ risk taking can strengthen shared psychological group membership