Academic Risks Research Articles

Leap, learn, earn: exploring academic risk taking and learning success across gender and socioeconomic groups

Abstract Background The positive learning effects of academic risk taking (ART) in higher education has been discussed since the 1980s. However, this may not apply equally for all social groups. Men and women may differ in the way they use ART to construct their gender identity. Students with different socioeconomic status (SES) may differ in their ability to navigate academic risks due to differences in available cultural capital. Aims This study examines gender and SES disparities in ART and their impact on learning success. It explores if ART mediates and is moderated by gender and SES effects. Additionally, it assesses if ART directly predicts learning success. Sample A sample of N = 381 German university students was used. Methods Data was analyzed following a structural equation modeling approach. Results Men show more ART on the seminar group dimension, whereas women show more ART on the peer dimension. Being male indirectly predicts higher learning success via the seminar group dimension of ART. Furthermore, SES and gender moderate the effect between ART and learning success. Both ART dimensions directly predict students’ learning success. Conclusions Our research contributes to understanding the mechanisms of social disparities within higher education and offers implications for the development of inclusive teaching strategies and research on aspects of intersectionality.

Impact of 3D learning resources on learning resilience: mediating roles of positive emotion and cognitive load

Three-dimensional (3D) learning resources are increasingly being integrated into classrooms and becoming important teaching tools. Learning resilience is a crucial factor affecting learning outcomes. However, the impact of 3D learning resources on learning resilience has not been received sufficient academic attention. This study constructs a structural equation model based on the broaden-and-build theory and cognitive load theory to examine the impact of 3D learning resources on learning resilience. To examine the mechanism of this impact, including the mediating roles of positive emotion and cognitive load, we collected 963 valid questionnaires from college students in Shandong Province, China. The results indicate that 3D learning resources are significantly positively correlated with positive emotion and learning resilience and negatively correlated with cognitive load. Moreover, cognitive load is negatively correlated with learning resilience. Positive emotion and cognitive load serve as mediators in the relationship between 3D learning resources and learning resilience. Therefore, developing high-quality 3D learning resources, cultivating positive emotions among students and reducing cognitive load can enhance college students’ learning resilience and mitigate academic risks.

Directed Self-Placement for Multilingual, Multicultural International Students

Directed self-placement (DSP) methods remain relatively rare in multilingual writing programs because such methods present unique ethical and academic risks. Grounded in five years of institutional research, this article reports on a first-year writing program in which DSP is the sole means of placement for international students and in which the international student population is linguistically, educationally, and culturally diverse. We offer logistical and technical guidance for creating DSP programs for multilingual writers, and we argue that DSP can be a vehicle for more equitable, socially just writing placement for multilingual, multicultural writers.

Validity and reliability of Turkish version of the secondary screening instrument for targeting educational risk questionnaires

ABSTRACT Objective The Secondary Screening Instrument for Targeting Educational Risk Questionnaires (Secondary S.I.F.T.E.R.) is a scanning tool for teachers to evaluate the challenges and educational risks faced by deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students. In Turkey, there is a need for a screening tool to identify academic risks among DHH students. This study aimed to adapt the Turkish version of the Secondary S.I.F.T.E.R. (Secondary S.I.F.T.E.R.-T) and evaluate its validity and reliability. Materials and Methods The Secondary S.I.F.T.E.R.-T was translated and cross-culturally adapted. Subsequently, the Secondary S.I.F.T.E.R.-T was administered by teachers of 104 DHH students (group 1) and 69 normal-hearing students (group 2) in the 6th to 12th grades to evaluate. Results In the validity analysis of the Secondary S.I.F.T.E.R.-T, the item-total correlation coefficients, content validity ratio, and index were found to be compatible with the literature, and the subscale and total scale scores of the two groups were significantly different. High internal consistency reliability was determined using Cronbach's alpha, split-half Spearman-Brown correlation, and Guttman's coefficients. A scoring grid was developed to identify low-, middle-, and high-performing students. Conclusions The validity and reliability analyzes of the Secondary-S.I.F.T.E.R.-T were found to be acceptable, and scoring grids were determined. Secondary-S.I.F.T.E.R.-T can be used as a screening tool to identify academic risks among DHH students in Turkey.

Social Support and Motivation in STEM Degree Students: Gender Differences in Relations with Burnout and Academic Success

Existing research underscores the importance of both social-environmental factors (e.g., social support) and psychological factors (e.g., motivation) as buffers against attrition, low performance, and psychological maladjustment in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degree programs. Female STEM students in particular contend with additional academic challenges that can hamper their motivation and performance. This study investigated the relations between social support (personal vs. academic) and well-being, persistence, and academic outcomes as mediated by self-determined motivation and moderated by gender. Structural equation modelling with 221 STEM undergraduates showed significant indirect paths between personal support and STEM career intentions via autonomous motivation. Multigroup analyses further showed male STEM students to benefit more from both personal and academic supports, as well as from greater autonomous motivation, with the academic risks of controlled motivation observed primarily for female STEM students. Implications for motivationally supportive teaching practices in STEM degree programs are discussed.

Personality Traits, Student-Teacher Relationships and Boys’ Academic Crisis in China: Evidence From the Least Developed Regions

Gender disparity in education is a perpetually compelling issue. It is especially attention-grabbing in economically disadvantaged areas, as it may reinforce backwardness on top of economic vulnerability. Underpinned by the self-determination theory, this study examined the underlying mechanisms that gave rise to gender differences in the academic achievement of upper primary grades students from disadvantaged areas of China. We drew on a dataset of 5,032 students in grades four through six, assembled from 89 schools in three disadvantaged counties spanning two provinces. The results showed that girls significantly outperformed boys in Chinese and English across three grades. Unexpectedly, boys performed statistically identical to girls in math, where boys had generally been considered more adept. Personality explained the gender differences, while the mediating effects of student-teacher relationships were only found in the girls’ group. The findings emphasized the importance of increasing supportive efforts to address the boy’s academic risks.

Effects of Cell phone Use on Study Habits and Academic Performance of Learners

The main purpose of this study was to determine the effect of cell phone use on the study habits and academic performance of the Grade 6 and 8 learners. This study utilized a descriptive comparative design of research that examined the extent of cell phone use, study habits and academic performance among the three groups of learners. The following major findings of the study were revealed: All groups got “satisfactory” study habits. Their academic performance, on the other hand, was interpreted as “proficient” with a general weighted average of 85.37.; There is no significant difference between the three groups in terms of their study habits.; However, there exist significant differences between the academic performance of the three groups. With a p-value of 0.013, it was found out that significant differences lie between infrequent users and moderate users as well as infrequent users and frequent users. Based from the conclusions, the following recommendations are hereby formulated: There is a vital need to sensitize learners and educators about the potential academic risks associated with high cell phone use. It is also recommended for teachers to apply a detailed guidance and explanation on how to use cell phones appropriately in classroom settings. Moreover, the school management must be more alive to their responsibilities by ensuring conformity to the school laid down rules and regulations on student’s use of mobile phone device during class session.

Learning Analytics and Higher Music Education: Perspectives and Challenges

Continually monitoring student learning, improving tutoring, predicting academic risks such as performance drops or dropouts, assessing more objectively or understanding the behavior of student groups are some of the tasks that have been beyond the reach of music teachers. The current technology of massive data processing (Big Data) and its analysis (Learning Analytics-LA) allows to achieve these goals with relative ease. The possibility of extracting individual behavior patterns facilitates attention to diversity, reduces school dropout and failure, and opens the possibility of implementing new educational strategies. The phenomenon of data-based education has led to different types of studies. This paper reflects on three trends or fundamental perspectives in the use of the collection of massive information applied to learning and teaching. We offer an overview of research and applications of Learning Analytics specifically in the field of music education, as well as a reflection on its possible practical uses in higher music education in conservatories. For this purpose, we discuss some practical examples of how this technological methodology could be incorporated into music and music education research, and its influence on possible new educational paradigms that lead to innovation on teaching-learning process through new technological resources.

University students’ beliefs about errors predict their willingness to take academic risks

Students’ beliefs about errors have become a field of interest within higher education research. Studies show that these are associated with students’ GPA as well as their learning strategies. Whether students’ beliefs about errors are associated with their willingness to engage in learning situations in which making errors is likely, is still an open question. To address this research gap, we measured error beliefs on three dimensions (affect, cognition, and behavior) on a sample of N = 159 university students. Applying stepwise linear regression and using academic risk taking as dependent variable for learning behavior that is characterized by a risk of making errors, this article shows that beliefs about errors influence students’ willingness to engage in error-prone situations within seminar settings. Students who do not show negative affect after making errors tend to take more academic risks within seminar settings, and students who are behaviorally apt to work with their errors take less academic risks. In contrast, beliefs about errors do not seem to relate to students’ engagement in academic risks in front of their peers. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of students’ beliefs about their errors for educational dynamics and processes. They also offer implications for practitioners such as promoting strategies for emotional regulation following errors.

Prospective Associations Between Preschool Exposure to Violent Televiewing and Psychosocial and Academic Risks in Early Adolescent Boys and Girls.

Risks of early exposure to media violence remain unclear. This study examines typical early childhood violent media exposure and subsequent psychosocial and academic risks. Our longitudinal birth cohort comprised 978 girls and 998 boys. Child-reported and teacher-reported measures of adjustment at age 12 years were linearly regressed on parent-reported televised violence exposure at ages 3.5 and 4.5 years while adjusting for individual/family confounders. For girls, preschool violent televiewing was associated with increases in emotional distress (b = 0.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13-0.49) and decreases in classroom engagement (b = -0.97; 95% CI, -1.55 to -0.40), academic achievement (b = -2.60; 95% CI, -3.48 to -1.72), and academic motivation (b = -0.58; 95% CI, -1.09 to -0.07) at age 12 years. For boys, preschool violent televiewing was associated with increases in emotionally distressed (b = 0.33; 95% CI, 0.13-0.53), inattentive (b = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.06-0.45), conduct disordered (b = 0.11; 95% CI, 0.00-0.21), and socially withdrawn behavior (b = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.05-0.40), as well as decreases in classroom engagement (b = -0.84; 95% CI, -1.57 to -0.12), academic achievement (b = -1.19; 95% CI, -2.15 to -0.23), and academic motivation (b = -0.58; 95% CI, -1.13 to -0.03) at age 12 years. Compared with no preschool exposure, violent televiewing is associated with distinct and enduring psychosocial risks by early adolescence. Acknowledging such risks remains a pertinent health literacy target for pediatric professionals, parents, and communities.

Mindset and Academic Risk

Research has shown that students with a growth mindset perform better academically than those who have a fixed mindset; however, there is little research currently discussing the factors that may cause the correlation between mindset and academic performance. This study aimed to identify academic risk-taking as a possible factor contributing to the relationship between mindset and performance. To accomplish this, a study was devised to measure the mindset and academic risk-taking behaviors of students. If a relationship was found between these two variables, then academic risk-taking could be a contributing factor to the established correlation. This study found that risk-taking and mindset are not related. Thus, academic risk-taking is unlikely to be one of the contributing factors to the relationship between mindset and performance. Due to this finding, mindset interventions that solely focus on encouraging academic risk-taking with the goal of promoting a growth mindset may not be effective. Researchers may want to consider conducting an observational study of the classroom in order to better measure the academic risks students take. Additionally, further studies should be conducted in order to find other possible contributing factors to the observed correlation between growth mindset and academic performance.

Early Warning Method of Postgraduate Education Quality in Colleges and Universities Based on Multisource Information Fusion

With the rapid development of postgraduate education in my country, the contradiction between its quantitative growth and quality improvement has become increasingly prominent. At the same time, due to the downward shift in the focus of postgraduate education management, the role of provincial governments in the reform and development of postgraduate education has become increasingly important. Therefore, strengthening the practice of quality supervision and evaluation of postgraduate education at the provincial level is not only a realistic result of the development of postgraduate education in my country but also an inevitable requirement for the further development of postgraduate education in my country in the future, which has an important theoretical and practical significance. With the rapid development and wide application of computer network technology, communication technology, and multisensor technology, multisource information fusion has been selected by many colleges and universities as a method to evaluate the quality of postgraduate study because of its closeness to the frontier of disciplines. Therefore, how to effectively improve the teaching quality of multisource information fusion courses is a practical problem that needs to be solved urgently, and the improvement of teaching quality is also a key factor affecting the comprehensive quality of students. This paper deeply analyzes the setting and requirements of the information fusion course, combines the characteristics of mathematical theory and tools in information fusion, uses multisource data to model student behavior, and proposes a serialized prediction framework based on a deep network. The network structure reasonably integrates multisource data and automatically extracts behavioral characteristics. Combined with the static characteristics of students, the paper uses the long-term and short-term memory network to model the overall online behavior of students and finally predicts the probability that students have academic risks. The model is tested on a real university course dataset, and the experimental results show that the performance of the proposed algorithm is better than the baseline comparison algorithm.

Learning through Digital Devices—Academic Risks and Responsibilities

The purpose of this study is to examine the risks of learning through digital technology and to design the individual and academic responsibilities. We propose answering the following research questions: Are higher education students and their families equipped with digital devices? What strategy do students use in their individual learning? How frequently do they get involved in various added digital activities (gaming, social media communication, surfing the Internet)? What are the risks of excess time spent online? A total of 2210 higher education students from five European countries, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, and Ukraine, participated in the quantitative study, the data being collected by the Center of Higher Education Research and Development at the University of Debrecen, Hungary in 2019. The analysis of the data is based on the advanced statistical test carried out with the SPSS program. The results indicated that most students come from families that possess essential digital devices (smartphone, PC, notebook) with an internet connection, regardless of the country of origin. The students’ learning strategy is mixed: they use the virtual and real environment. More than half of the students declared that they never learn by watching tutorials or listening to audio recordings. Reflecting on themselves, more than a third of them stated that they generally spend too much time online. Daily surfing, gaming, and communicating on social networks are those added activities that significantly multiply their chance of spending too much time in a virtual environment. The binary logistic regression analysis proves that these students have a four times greater chance of developing a concentration crisis. In addition, it is characteristic for there to be a general time management crisis that implicitly contributes to the development of a deadline crisis in learning, and another risk is the duplication of intention to drop out of university.

Oral language comprehension interventions in school-age children and adolescents with developmental language disorder: A systematic scoping review.

Difficulties understanding spoken language are associated with several social and academic risks in school-age children and adolescents with developmental language disorder (DLD). Still, interventions for this group have received little attention, and there are no reviews focusing on oral language comprehension interventions in school-age children and adolescents. The objective of this systematic scoping review was to identify interventions targeting oral language comprehension in school-age children and adolescents with DLD. Further, the aim was to examine the focus of intervention, efficacy, and level of evidence of the identified interventions. The present review is the second part of a larger search on oral language comprehension interventions. The first review examined the same factors in children 8 years and younger. A systematic scoping review of eight databases was conducted. Of the 2399 sourced articles, 12 met the inclusion criteria. Another 8 articles were identified through reference lists of sourced articles. In these 20 articles, containing 21 studies, 1661 children aged 5-16 years participated. The data were extracted and analysed, and the intervention focus, efficacy, and level of evidence were examined.Main contribution: In the interventions intended for school-age children and adolescents with DLD, three intervention foci were identified that targeted aspects of language and language processing, as well as modifying the communicative environment. Of the included studies, 57% reported positive results, 14% reported mixed results, and 29% reported no effects on oral language comprehension. The level of evidence varied. One can have high confidence in the results of 19%, moderate in 38%, and indicative confidence in 43% of the included studies. Results of the present review suggest that there are a few interventions providing high confidence on the efficacy of improving oral language comprehension difficulties in school-age children and adolescents with DLD. Most interventions indicating efficacy provide moderate or indicative confidence in the results. More research with a high level of evidence is urgently needed. Most of the interventions indicating efficacy focused directly on language skills or modified the communicative environment. The results suggest that the therapy techniques focusing on improving language processing skills indicate efficacy only when they aim at compensating current language processing skills, not trying to improve them.Implications: The findings on different therapy techniques, their focus of intervention, efficacy, and level of evidence provide information for clinical practice and direct future investigations in this sparsely researched topic.

Student perspectives on health dialogues: how do they benefit?

ABSTRACT The vast majority of students in Sweden are healthy and live good lives, but rising health problems and declining academic performance pose risks to the country’s student population. School health services (SHS) in Sweden have a long tradition of hosting health dialogues (HD) with students to support their health and its repercussions on their learning. Purpose: To describe experiences from 6- to 16-year-old students participating in the health dialogue in school. Method: Descriptive qualitative design. Data were collected from 734 open-ended responses on a questionnaire distributed among students ranging in age from 6 to 16. The data were subjected to qualitative content analysis. Findings: The analysis identified five categories: Important to identify health and health problems, School nurse, a key profession, School environment important for both health and learning, Importance of health screening and Important to have a healthy lifestyle. The findings revealed that students aged 6 to 16 years old consider health and health problems, school environment, health screening and healthy lifestyle to be important areas for health and learning School nurses were identified as key persons in HD and for student’s experience of health and learning. Conclusion: HD is an opportunity for students to participate and influence decisions concerning their health and education, to actively engage in their own health and learning in areas that affect them for example, the school environment.

Weight-based victimization and school performance in adolescence: Can teachers help reduce academic risks?

Weight-based victimization (WBV) is a common and consequential experience for adolescents with overweight and obesity. The current study examined the relative contributions of different school-based sources of WBV (i.e., peers, friends, teachers, coaches) on academic grades, as well as the role of teachers in mitigating the academic consequences of WBV among a sample of 148 adolescents with high body weight (Mage = 15.97, SDage = 1.25; 50% female). Regression analyses revealed that the link between school-based WBV and lower grades among adolescents was due primarily to mistreatment from peers. However, this association was weakened when students perceived their teachers to be more helpful in preventing future WBV, but not as a function of how frequently students reported incidents of WBV to their teachers. These findings underscore the importance of teacher intervention in supporting the academic success of adolescents experiencing WBV from their peers in the school setting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The Relational Context of School Engagement and Associations With Youth Behaviors

Youth in foster care face many academic risks, including diminished engagement in school and behavior problems that further threaten learning and academic achievement. However, school engagement is responsive to contextual change, leaving many opportunities to intervene upon school engagement and boost overall functioning. The present study examines the mediating and moderating potential of aspects within the relational context of school engagement and academically threatening behaviors, using a national sample of adolescent foster youth. Findings indicate that greater school engagement and more positive perceptions of relationships with both peers and foster parents were associated with lower self-reported internalizing, and lower self- and caregiver-reported externalizing behaviors. Peer relationships moderated the association between school engagement and youth-reported externalizing, and foster parent–youth relationships moderated the association between school engagement and youth-reported internalizing. Furthermore, peer relationships mediated the association between school engagement and internalizing, but not externalizing behaviors, while relationships with foster parents mediated associations between school engagement and both self- and caregiver reports of both internalizing and externalizing. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

THE VALUE OF FEEDBACK IN TRANSLANGUAGING: STUDENTS’ INSIGHTS FROM AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE AT LONDRINA STATE UNIVERSITY

The recognition of plurilingualism in Brazil has drawn attention to the phenomenon of translanguaging, which has been gaining more advocates around the world. Translanguaging is a conceptual and ideological framework that seeks to account for communicative practices constructed out of diversity of linguistic and cultural repertoires. It has been used and discussed for more than two decades, mainly in the field of bilingual education and in the study of modern foreign languages. In order to contribute to the discussion about translanguaging in Brazil, this study provides a perspective for exploring the value of feedback in the translanguaging theory in higher education; namely, as observed in an academic course at Londrina State University in the State of Parana. The use of a single focus group discussion, as data collection, and of Thematic Analysis for coding allowed the researcher to identify themes for the description of both implicit and explicit ideas within the data. Results showed that students value feedback under three main themes. Feedback was valued as a task established by the professor, with clear goals. Such goals positioned feedback as a guideline for students to internalize their own learning. Finally, providing an environment of collaboration where they felt motivated to take academic risks was also perceived as valuable.

Engagement norms buffer academic risks associated with peer rejection in middle school

The current study examined school variations in academic engagement norms and whether such norms affect those most susceptible to peer influence. We presumed that behaviors associated with perceived popularity make norms salient and are most likely to affect socially marginalized (rejected) youth. Focusing on differences across 26 middle schools, the main aim was to test whether academic engagement norms moderate the association between peer rejection and subsequent academic difficulties. The U.S. public school sample included 5,991 youth (52% girls): 32% Latino/a, 20% White, 14% East/Southeast Asian, 12% African American, and 22% from other specific ethnic groups. Multilevel models were used to examine whether engagement norms moderated the association between sixth-grade peer rejection and changes in grade point average (GPA) and academic engagement across middle school (i.e., from sixth to eighth grade). Consistent with our contextual moderator hypothesis, the association between peer rejection and academic engagement was attenuated—and in the case of GPA eliminated—in schools where higher engagement was a salient norm. The study findings suggest that the behaviors of popular peers affect those on social margins and that academic difficulties are not inevitable for rejected youth.

A Parental mHealth Resource Targeting Emergent Literacy: An Experimental Study

Emergent literacy abilities of young children are strong predictors of future academic success, however, biological and environmental risks can impact their progress. Parental interventions that promote home-based stimulation of preschoolers can enhance literacy development and ensure school readiness. mHealth technology may be a viable approach to offer parents increased access to emergent literacy resources. The effect of a parental mHealth resource targeting emergent literacy abilities was investigated. Eighty-two parent-preschooler (four- to five-year-old) dyads were randomly assigned to a control or experimental group based on age and gender. The parents of preschoolers in the experimental group received the mHealth application resource for 17 weeks. At post-test, no significant between-group differences were identified. Both groups showed significant within-group differences at post-test. Only eight of the parents in the experimental group (n = 42) used the mHealth application more than 50% of the active days. Most of the feedback received from parents regarding the application was positive. Parents may require more support when implementing mHealth emergent literacy resources.