A Bayesian approach to students’ perceptions of teachers’ autonomy support

Background: How to best operationalize teachers’ autonomy support, an instructional style aiming to satisfy students’ psychological need for autonomy, is unclear because teachers can support the whole class and/or individual students. Students might perceive inequalities concerning the autonomy support they receive relative to classmates, which might undermine their motivation and engagement. Aims: The current study aims to contribute to the conceptualization of autonomy support. We investigated students’ perceptions of teachers’ autonomy support (individual, class-directed, and perceived differences), concerning choice provision, fostering relevance, stimulating interest, and acknowledging frustration, and associations with students’ motivation and engagement. Sample: 446 Dutch primary school students (agerange = 9–14) from 22 mathematics classes. Methods: With Bayesian Multilevel-CFA and -SEM, we examined the factorial structure of students’ perceptions of teachers’ autonomy support and associations with motivation and engagement. We evaluated whether individual and class-directed autonomy support were distinct constructs, both concerning individual ratings at the student level, and regarding the whole-class-aggregated assessments at the class level. Results: Individual and class-directed autonomy support was differentiated at the student level. At the class level, one factor (overall autonomy-supportive atmosphere) was found. Regarding perceived differences, we revealed three student-level factors (e.g., relative lack of autonomy support). At the student level, individual and class-directed autonomy support positively predicted intrinsic motivation, effort, and persistence; perceived relative lack of autonomy support positively predicted extrinsic regulation. Conclusions: Both individual and class-level support should be high to yield optimal results for students’ motivation and engagement. Focusing solely on class-directed autonomy support may omit essential information

Do social cues in instructional videos affect attention allocation, perceived cognitive load, and learning outcomes under different visual complexity conditions?

Background: There are only few guidelines on how instructional videos should be designed to optimize learning. Recently, the effects of social cues on attention allocation and learning in instructional videos have been investigated. Due to inconsistent results, it has been suggested that the visual complexity of a video influences the effect of social cues on learning. Objectives: Therefore, this study compared the effects of social cues (i.e., gaze & gesture) in low and high visual complexity videos on attention, perceived cognitive load, and learning outcomes. Methods: Participants (N = 71) were allocated to a social cue or no social cue condition and watched both a low and a high visual complexity video. After each video, participants completed a knowledge test. Results and Conclusions: Results showed that participants looked faster at referenced information and had higher learning outcomes in the low visual complexity condition. Social cues did not affect any of the dependent variables, except when including prior knowledge in the analysis: In this exploratory analysis, the inclusion of gaze and gesture cues in the videos did lead to better learning outcomes. Takeaways: Our results show that the visual complexity of instructional videos and prior knowledge are important to take into account in future research on attention and learning from instructional videos

Education or provision? A comparison of two school-based fruit and vegetable nutrition education programs in the netherlands

A healthy diet is important for optimal child growth and development. School-based opportunities to encourage children to achieve healthy eating behaviors should be explored. Nutrition education programs can provide school children with classroom-based nutrition education and access to fruits and vegetables (FV). However, the effectiveness of specific program components implemented separately has not yet been comprehensively evaluated. The current study examined effectiveness of individual components of two programs targeting primary school children (n = 1460, n = 37 schools) aged 7–12 years. Nutrition knowledge and FV consumption were measured using a student questionnaire, and presence of school food policies was measured in the teachers’ questionnaire. A quasi-experimental design with three arms compared: (1) schools that implemented both programs: FV provision + education (n = 15), (2) schools that implemented the FV provision program only (n = 12), (3) schools that did not implement either program (n = 10). Outcomes were assessed pre-intervention (T0), during the intervention (T1), and 6 months post-intervention (T2). Results indicated a significant increase in nutrition knowledge for children attending schools that had participated in both programs, compared to control schools (p < 0.01), but no significant increase in FV intake. In schools without food policies, FV provision alone contributed to an increase in child FV intake (p < 0.05).</p