Metacognitive Regulation and Attention to Body Signals Strategies to Prevent Academic Exhaustion

In contemporary society, higher education students are confronted more and more with an avalanche of paradigms, models, theories, wider or narrower subject specializations, online learning, face-to-face activities, blended learning, knowledge assessment, competencies assessments, etc. A possible solution for preventing the negative effects of this academic burden is to develop students’ metacognitive competencies. We have developed a study on 133 participants, students in initial or continuous teacher training programs, whose aim was to the level of interrelations between academic exhaustion and the constant usage of regulation strategies and care for the body. A three-section questionnaire was applied using Google form. To test the hypothesis, we have conducted multiple comparisons between and within groups. The descriptive statistics show that the students enrolled in teacher training programs at „Aurel Vlaicu” the University of Arad declared themselves as constantly practicing reflection, planning, monitoring, and evaluation strategies when solving their academic tasks.

Self-Efficacy Beliefs of University Students: Examining Factor Validity and Measurement Invariance of the New Academic Self-Efficacy Scale

Academic self-efficacy beliefs influence students’ academic and career choices, as well as motivational factors and learning strategies promoting effective academic success. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on the academic self-efficacy of university students in comparison to students at other levels. Furthermore, extant measures present several limitations. The first aim of this study was to develop a reliable and valid scale assessing university students’ self-efficacy beliefs in managing academic tasks. The second aim was to investigate differences in academic self-efficacy due to gender, years of enrollment, and student status. The study involved 831 students (age M = 21.09 years; SD = 1.34 years; 66.3% women) enrolled in undergraduate programs. Indicators of academic experiences and performance (i.e., number of exams passed and average exam rating) were collected. A new scale measuring students’ academic self-efficacy beliefs was administered. Results from a preliminary Exploratory Factor Analysis were consistently supported by findings from a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Multigroup CFA supported the presence of measurement invariance. Analyses revealed that the new scale has eight factors: “Planning Academic Activities,” “Learning Strategies,” “Information Retrieval,” “Working in Groups,” “Management of Relationships with Teachers,” “Managing Lessons,” “Stress Management,” and “Thesis Work.” Self-efficacy dimensions showed significant relations with academic experiences and students’ performance indicators, as well as differences due to gender, years of enrollment, and student status. Findings are discussed in terms of practical implications for the implementation of intervention programs aimed at fostering self-efficacy beliefs and academic success.

The Role of Self-Efficacy in the Thesis-Writing Experiences of Undergraduate Honors Students

Writing a thesis is often the culminating experience for undergraduate students enrolled in university honors programs in the United States. Because writing a thesis is one of the most difficult academic tasks that an undergraduate student may undertake, it requires a high level of self-efficacy, or belief in one’s capabilities to achieve certain results. However, the factors that contribute to students’ efficacy expectations when writing a thesis are not fully understood. This qualitative study followed 11 honors students over the course of several months in order to understand their experiences as they completed their theses. Data was gathered through a series of four questionnaires and two interviews. Analysis revealed six themes: previous research experiences, emotions, project timelines, structure, advisors, and support networks. These themes suggest that students’ abilities to manage their emotions and employ self-regulatory strategies play a critical role in their self-assessments of efficacy during work on challenging academic tasks, findings which have implications for a variety of academic programs and campus support services. In addition, this study reveals that faculty mentoring of undergraduate students may require greater attention to cultivating emotional awareness and regulation than does the mentoring of graduate students.

The Challenges of Struggling Writers: Strategies That Can Help

Writing is a necessary skill in our technological world. Many people have a mobile device that they use for e-mailing, social media, as an alarm clock to start the day, reading the news, searching for information, ordering food, managing transportation (e.g., monitoring traffic, accessing public transit), or for relaxing pursuits, such as watching a movie or listening to music. While these tasks are natural and almost effortless for numerous people, many students struggle with composing longer prose, especially for academic tasks. The 2021 U.S. National Assessment of Educational Progress for Writing, for example, indicates that as many as 75% of students cannot write at a basic level. In this article, the author discusses recent examples from the professional literature about why writing can be a challenge for students, what is involved in writing assessment, how we can help students improve their writing skills, and how we can promote technology as part of the instruction and learning processes.

Examining the Influence of Academic and Non-academic Responsibilities on Academicians’ Job-related Stress in Higher Education

Academicians are commonly associated with academic tasks of teaching and research. However, recent scenario reveals that academicians’ workloads are not restricted to merely academic tasks. Academicians also hold administrative positions, involved with students’ development activities, community services and professional development. Shouldering with numerous responsibilities, academicians may be stressful to prioritize the assigned tasks and meeting deadlines. This necessitates serious attention to ensure that academicians can focus on the assigned responsibilities and perform their best. Thus, this study attempts to establish a relationship between academic and non-academic responsibilities with job-related stress among academicians. Through survey method, 120 usable responses received out of 391 questionnaires distributed to academicians in a public university. Using SPSS, a preliminary analysis indicates that the respondents were moderately stressful with their job. However, multiple regressions test demonstrates that job-related stress is not influenced by academic responsibilities but marginally contributed by non-academic responsibilities. The findings give insights to the university management on academicians’ reaction to their present job tasks and useful as guidance in any efforts or policy towards academicians’ workload setting. However, this study is confined to only one public university in the East coast region of Malaysia. Thus, future research may be expanded to the public universities in the West region of Malaysia with different working environment and lifestyle. Keywords Academicians, Academic Responsibilities, Non-academic responsibilities, Job-related Stress, Teaching workloads

Do all students understand the same message? High school teachers' use of non-literal expressions

<p>Studies about neuro-typical, second language (L2) learners’ understanding of non-literal (e.g., metaphoric) expressions and its relationship to academic tasks are numerous. However, there are few studies (Kerber & Grunwell, 1997; Littlemore, Chen, Koester & Barnden, 2011, Lazar, Warr-Leeper, Nicholson, & Johnson, 1989) about the awareness that teachers have of their use of figurative language / non-literal expressions and the potentially problematic nature of their use of these expressions. Parallel findings are seen in the field of autism research where much of the literature on autism has highlighted the tendency for students who have been given a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome (AS), a high functioning variant of autism, to take non-literal expressions literally. A primary aim of this study was therefore to explore to what extent (if at all) mainstream high-school teachers’ use of non-literal language poses obstacles for comprehension with AS-students in their classroom settings. A secondary aim of this study was to explore teachers’ awareness and knowledge about their non-literal language use with AS-students. Nine teachers and eighteen students from the same year group were participants, of which nine students had a diagnosis of AS and nine were neuro-typical students (NS). The participants were students and teachers from high-schools in Wellington, New Zealand who all spoke English as their first language (L1). A sample of episodes of the teachers’ in-class use of non-literal language, representing a range of established expressions (for example, idioms) as well as episodes of more ‘creative’ non-literal use of language (including irony), were selected to serve as prompts in interviews with the teachers. These episodes served to elicit the teachers’ reflections on the reasons for why they resorted to those figures of speech. They also served as prompts in stimulated recall interviews with the AS-students and their neuro-typical peers, where these participants were asked to give their interpretations of their teachers’ utterances. Overall, the results from this task suggested that the AS-students found it harder than their neuro-typical peers to recognize their teachers’ intended meanings. This finding, however, needs to be interpreted with caution, because the AS-students also seemed less inclined to offer the kind of explanations (for example, paraphrasing what the teacher had said) that provide clear evidence of comprehension. Interestingly, most of the AS-students demonstrated metacognitive strategies in the detection of their teachers’ creative use of metaphor and their teachers’ use of irony. However, this alone did not always result in a correct interpretation. When shown the instances of non-literal utterances they had used in class, most of the teachers reported motives for using these, but these were predominantly motives that emerged during real-time classroom interaction. Most of the teachers expressed surprise at the extent to which they (the teachers) used non-literal language in interactions with their students. Strategies to support student interpretation of figurative language are addressed together with recommendations for further research. It is intended that this study will be of interest to teachers and clinicians who support students with a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome.</p>

Mothers’ and Teachers’ Autonomy Support in Relation to Children’s Academic Procrastination: Self-Efficacy for Self-Regulated Learning as a Mediator

This study investigated the association between children’s perceptions of autonomy support from mothers and teachers in relation to academic procrastination. It also examined the role of self-efficacy for self-regulated learning in mediating these effects. The sample comprised 372 fifth and sixth grade elementary school students from Seoul, Korea. Each completed a questionnaire regarding mothers’ and teachers’ autonomy support, children’s self-regulated learning efficacy, and academic procrastination. The results indicated that whereas mothers’ autonomy support had a direct effect on children’s academic procrastination, teachers’ support did not. In other words, children who perceived higher levels of autonomy support from mothers tended to exhibit less academic procrastination. Regarding indirect paths, children who perceived higher levels of mothers’ and teachers’ autonomy support displayed greater efficacy for selfregulated learning, which corresponded to lower levels of academic procrastination. The discussion highlights the vital roles of autonomy support from mothers and teachers in enhancing children’s feelings of effective self-regulated learning and encouraging them to complete academic tasks. Furthermore, the present study considered not only outward behavioral factors but also the underlying cognitive and affective aspects of delaying behavior that underpin the effects of self-regulated learning efficacy and autonomy support of mothers and teachers on academic procrastination.

Do all students understand the same message? High school teachers' use of non-literal expressions

<p>Studies about neuro-typical, second language (L2) learners’ understanding of non-literal (e.g., metaphoric) expressions and its relationship to academic tasks are numerous. However, there are few studies (Kerber & Grunwell, 1997; Littlemore, Chen, Koester & Barnden, 2011, Lazar, Warr-Leeper, Nicholson, & Johnson, 1989) about the awareness that teachers have of their use of figurative language / non-literal expressions and the potentially problematic nature of their use of these expressions. Parallel findings are seen in the field of autism research where much of the literature on autism has highlighted the tendency for students who have been given a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome (AS), a high functioning variant of autism, to take non-literal expressions literally. A primary aim of this study was therefore to explore to what extent (if at all) mainstream high-school teachers’ use of non-literal language poses obstacles for comprehension with AS-students in their classroom settings. A secondary aim of this study was to explore teachers’ awareness and knowledge about their non-literal language use with AS-students. Nine teachers and eighteen students from the same year group were participants, of which nine students had a diagnosis of AS and nine were neuro-typical students (NS). The participants were students and teachers from high-schools in Wellington, New Zealand who all spoke English as their first language (L1). A sample of episodes of the teachers’ in-class use of non-literal language, representing a range of established expressions (for example, idioms) as well as episodes of more ‘creative’ non-literal use of language (including irony), were selected to serve as prompts in interviews with the teachers. These episodes served to elicit the teachers’ reflections on the reasons for why they resorted to those figures of speech. They also served as prompts in stimulated recall interviews with the AS-students and their neuro-typical peers, where these participants were asked to give their interpretations of their teachers’ utterances. Overall, the results from this task suggested that the AS-students found it harder than their neuro-typical peers to recognize their teachers’ intended meanings. This finding, however, needs to be interpreted with caution, because the AS-students also seemed less inclined to offer the kind of explanations (for example, paraphrasing what the teacher had said) that provide clear evidence of comprehension. Interestingly, most of the AS-students demonstrated metacognitive strategies in the detection of their teachers’ creative use of metaphor and their teachers’ use of irony. However, this alone did not always result in a correct interpretation. When shown the instances of non-literal utterances they had used in class, most of the teachers reported motives for using these, but these were predominantly motives that emerged during real-time classroom interaction. Most of the teachers expressed surprise at the extent to which they (the teachers) used non-literal language in interactions with their students. Strategies to support student interpretation of figurative language are addressed together with recommendations for further research. It is intended that this study will be of interest to teachers and clinicians who support students with a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome.</p>

Methodological strategies for the development of multiple intelligences in tenth year students

The application of effective methodological strategies based on the theory of multiple intelligences is the fundamental objective of research to determine and verify the potential of students at different levels of learning, according to academic tasks and activities, both theoretically and practically. The type of research is argumentative, with scientific strategies developed by various authors. It was necessary to apply analytical, synthetic, comparative methods and a bibliographic review in information sources, through documents, scientific articles, journals, among other research instruments, to identify different teaching-learning models of a pedagogical and educational nature. high impact, in addition to methodological strategies that allowed to argue the theoretical basis of the authors, the systematic they proposed, for which each of their arguments and explanations were analyzed. The different types of skills were compared through the comparative method to contrast each of the methodologies and strategies exposed by the researchers, highlighting what is based on each of them and how they differ from one to the other, as well as the advantages and disadvantages possessed by each of the models taken, generating a cluster of ideas that continued to choose the best methodological strategy to apply in the classroom.