Background: Observation Studies, Unmeasured Confounding, and Sensitivity Analysis: An important part of educational research is identifying important, potentially causal, factors that influence children's learning from observational studies. However, it is well-known that discovering such factors from observational studies can be biased due to…

The emancipatory dimension to higher education represents one of the sector's most compelling characteristics, but it remains important to develop understanding of the sources of determination that shape practice. Drawing on critical realist perspectives, we explore generative mechanisms by which methodology in pedagogic research affects the…

Each year teachers and principals in schools across Australia invest much time and effort, and considerable expense, in activities related to communicating student learning progress. However little is known about the effectiveness of these activities, including the extent to which they are valued by stakeholders, whether they are considered to…

This article discusses how mapping techniques were used in university teaching in a humanities subject. The use of concept mapping was expanded as a pedagogical tool, with a focus on reflective learning processes. Data were collected through a longitudinal study of concept mapping in a university-level Classics course. This was used to explore how…

Executive function (EF) skills are the attention-regulation skills that make it possible to sustain attention, keep goals and information in mind, refrain from responding immediately, resist distraction, tolerate frustration, consider the consequences of different behaviors, reflect on past experiences, and plan for the future. As EF research…

The present paper was written under the auspices of the interdisciplinary research group "Educational Processes, Competence Development, and Selection Decisions at Preschool and Primary School Age (BiKS)" (FOR 543), funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The surveys were conceptualised and supervised as part of the developmental…

Using a cluster randomized trial design, we evaluated the persistence of effects of a research-based model for scaling up educational interventions. The model was implemented in 42 schools in two city districts serving low-resource communities, randomly assigned to three conditions. In pre-kindergarten, the two experimental interventions were…

In the era of mobile devices and services, researchers in the educational domain have been interested in how to support learning with mobile technology in both local and global contexts. Recent human-computer interaction (HCI) research in the educational domain has particularly focused on how to develop mobile learning services and how to evaluate…

During the past two decades, volition, defined as the ability to stay task-focused and ward off distractions, has become of special relevance for educational research and practice. It describes how decreased motivation or negative emotions can be dealt with by applying action control strategies. However, despite its potential, an important area of…

This study estimated separately the unique effects of three dimensions of good practice and the global effects of a composite measure of good practices on the cognitive development, orientations to learning, and educational aspirations of students during their first year of college. Analyses of longitudinal data from a representative sample of…

This document provides a current assessment of the role and character of longitudinal studies. Eighteen articles define this type of study, discuss its applications to the educational process, advise when to use longitudinal inquiry, and describe barriers formed by lack of statistical techniques in manipulating the data. The traditional argument…

This conference paper discusses two factors which seem to be responsible for the lack of clear progress in research dealing with motivation and learning in the schools: first, an overemphasis on the presumed influence of motivation on learning, which has resulted in a neglect of the many other processes that are directly influenced by motivational…

This document is the fourth volume in a 5-part series that reports the results of a project undertaken to critically review and analyze major longitudinal studies of child and student development. These studies were conducted to discover the variables, techniques, methodologies, and problems pertinent to evaluation studies of the effects of…

The following are among the 42 papers and 8 poster sessions included: "Association of Methodology and Student Learning Style on Student Perception of a Collegiate Leadership Course" (McNulty, Townsend); "Learning Styles and Cognitive Performance of Secondary School Pupils" (Cox, Connors); "Effect of Style-Specific…