Low-performing Students Research Articles

코로나19를 전후한 고등학생 수학 성취도 변화: 실태 및 영향요인1)

Drawing on high school data from the National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA) in 2019 and 2020, we examined the deepening educational gap caused by COVID-19. Our results showed that the time spent using electronic devices increased in 2020, when online classes were conducted due to COVID-19 compared to 2019, whereas there was no significant change in the time spent on private education. Also, it turned out that the average math score did not change significantly in the upper and middle ranks in 2020 compared to 2019, but a sharp drop occurred in the lower ranks. In addition, the gap in average math scores between high-performing and low-performing students in schools in metropolitan areas widened significantly in 2020 compared to 2019. Meanwhile, multilevel model analysis results suggest that the deepening of the educational gap during the COVID-19 period was mainly due to student characteristics. Finally, quantile regression results showed that high-performing students had even higher academic achievement, while their low-performing counterparts had lower academic achievement in the wake of COVID-19. Even in the case of low-performing students, however, the negative impact of COVID-19 tended to decrease when school-level variables were controlled for.

Do Teamwork Guidelines Improve Peer Assessment Accuracy or Attitudes During Collaborative Learning?

Contribution: Students do not naturally give unbiased, accurate peer assessments (PAs). Hence, giving teamwork guidelines to students can improve their cooperation, understanding of one another, PA attitude, and PA accuracy. Background: During collaborative learning, PA can improve students’ autonomy, evaluation, and communication, which often enhances their task performance and learning outcomes. However, student bias, low effort, or imprecision can bias PA. Hypothesis: This study hypothesized that teamwork guidelines can improve students’ collaboration and hence their: 1) PA accuracy and 2) attitudes toward PA. Design/Method: This comparison study examined the 447 PAs and 143 survey responses of 143 university students studying computer science in 49 teams. 58 students received teamwork guidelines and 85 students did not. PAs and teacher assessments (TAs) were analyzed with a multilevel, structural equation model, and survey responses were analyzed with a multivariate outcome, multilevel, and ordered logit regression. Findings: PAs often exceeded TAs of the same student (positive bias), especialy for low-performing students. Compared to other students, students receiving teamwork guidelines gave PAs that resembled TAs more but had a similar positive bias. The relative and absolute differences in peer and TAs (PA – TA, |PA – TA|) mostly differed across teams rather than students. Also, students receiving teamwork guidelines viewed PA as more supportive of their learning, compared to other students without the teamwork guidelines.

ANALYSIS OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING LOW PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN INTEGRATED SCIENCE

The purpose of the study was to investigate the factors that affect the low performance of senior high school students in Integrated Science in the Tamale Metropolis. Concurrent triangulation mixed methods design was used. The instruments used during data collection were questionnaires and interview guide. A multistage sampling process was used to select four hundred students and fifteen teachers who teach Integrated Science. Data collected was analysed using exploratory factor analysis and thematic content analysis. The study revealed three factors: school environmental factor, teacher attitude and student attitude as contributors to students’ low performance in Integrated Science. It is, therefore recommend that the education ministry should provide a comfortable learning environment for effective teaching and learning to improve students’ performance in Integrated Science.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0541/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Myopia and Depression among Middle School Students in China-Is There a Mediating Role for Wearing Eyeglasses?

Compared with non-myopic students, myopic students face more barriers to learning (e.g., inability to see the blackboard clearly) and socializing (e.g., being victims of teasing, social exclusion and violence), which may lead to increased stress, anxiety and frustration. The high prevalence of myopia and depression among school-age children naturally raises a question of great policy relevance: are myopic students more vulnerable to mental health problems such as depression? This paper sheds some light on this question by analyzing data from the China Education Panel Survey, a large-scale survey of China’s middle school students. Our analysis first quantifies the association between myopia and sample students’ depression status (measured by the widely adopted CES-D scale) adjusted for potential confounding factors. We then explore whether the myopia–depression relationship is mediated by wearing eyeglasses, a cost-effective means of vision correction. Based on data on 19,299 middle school students, our analysis reveals that myopic students scored 0.12 standard deviations higher on the CES-D scale than their non-myopic counterparts. The adverse effect of myopia is more severe for relatively disadvantaged students: older students (who are more likely to suffer from both myopia and depression), lower-performing students and students from poorer families. Further medication analysis shows that wearing eyeglasses suppresses the myopia–depression relationship but cannot completely offset the adverse effect of myopia.

Aspects of self-regulated learning and their influence on the mathematics achievement of fifth graders in the context of four different proclaimed curricula.

Metacognition is a part of the models of self-regulated learning. The consideration of a broader context resonates with a social cognitive perspective approach to learning which dominates the educational academic field with the theory of self-regulated learning. Metacognition is considered a crucial factor influencing mathematics achievement. Furthermore, the affective field including pupils' self-efficacy, interest and motivation are the phenomena involved in mathematical problem-solving. On the other hand, metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulations are not a regular part of mathematics education in the Czech Republic. The main aim of this study was to investigate the relation between pupils' attitude toward mathematics; metacognitive knowledge; self-efficacy and motivation; metacognitive monitoring; and their achievement in solving mathematical problems. All together 1,133 students of Grade 5 from four types of Czech schools participated in the study. There were traditional schools; schools teaching mathematics by genetic constructivism, i.e., Hejný's method; Montessori schools; and Dalton schools were involved. The assessed variables, namely relation to mathematics; metacognitive knowledge; self-efficacy and motivation; metacognitive monitoring; and mathematical achievement were used as an input to regression analysis. Item-response theory was used for assessing the performance of the students and demands of the tasks. The metacognitive monitoring was detected as the most significant predictor of mathematics achievement for higher- and lower-performing students as well as for the item with high and low demands. The study reveals how the different mathematics curricula (un)support the metacognitive processes involved in mathematical problem-solving. The information allows teachers to spend sufficient time with particular types of mathematics problems whose solutions is determined by activation of metacognitive processes. This demonstrates the importance of including the activities for development of metacognitive monitoring in mathematics education.

Using Topic Models to Understand Rater-Mediated Writing Assessments

Integrated writing assessments are tasks that require students to construct an essay using evidence from source texts. Topic models are statistical models used toanalyze text. This study analyzes two integrated writing tasks from students in grades 6 (N=1,250) and 8 (N=1,250) using topic models. Independent evaluations of the essays were also conducted to help generalize the results across the two grades and better understand students' underlying writing techniques. Four main categories were identified: (1) use of words that appeared in the prompt, (2) words that appeared in the source texts, (3) words that reflected inference, and (4) words that reflected integration. Higher-scoring students used words that reflect inference and integration of source text more often than lower-performing students.

Измерение стартового уровня и оценка стартовых факторов финансовой грамотности студентов профтехобразования (на примере Смоленского техникума отраслевых технологий)

Modern realities of life dictate the need for graduates of secondary vocational education to have not only professional competencies, but also to be functionally literate. Financial literacy is one of the components of functional literacy. The purpose of the work is to determine the starting level of financial literacy of students of the Smolensk College of Industrial Technologies and compare it with the national indicators, as well as to assess the starting factors of students' financial literacy. Materials and methods. When developing the materials of the diagnostic study, the open international methodology for measuring the level of financial literacy of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2018 was taken as a basis, and the Unified Framework of Financial Literacy competencies for students aged 15-18 was also taken into account. The toolkit developed on the basis of these methods consists of three blocks – “financial knowledge” (17 points), “financial skills” (17 points) and “financial attitudes” (16 points). To achieve the target of the Russian Financial Literacy Index, which is 57%, respondents needed to score 28.5 points. The results of the study showed that the threshold of 28.5 points was not reached. The average score was 18.6 points, which is 37%. In part, the low performance of college students can be explained by starting factors – lack of financial experience, low starting level of general education, low motivation to study, peculiarities of social and economic status. Conclusions. The task of the secondary vocational education system is to increase the level of financial literacy of students. The introduction of elements of financial literacy into curricula and programs must necessarily take into account the specifics of students. It is necessary to focus not only on age characteristics, but also on the starting factors of the target audience

Perceptions of secondary English teachers towards modular learning modality

The present study aimed to have an in-depth phenomenological understanding of the various perceptions of the non-randomly selected five secondary English teachers in a public school in Paracale, Camarines Norte, Philippines towards the Modular Learning Modality being implemented by the Department of Education in terms of the following parameters; 1) demographic profile of the participants in terms of age, sex and location of residence; 2) the various perceptions of the participants based on their daily experiences as secondary English teachers towards the Modular Learning Modality in terms of school materials and devices navigation concerns and issues, financial aspect, and communicating with the learners and learner’s parents and; 3.) practical recommendations by the participants to the learners, parents and school administrators in order to (if not to) lessen negative perceptions (difficulties) but to also improve the system implementation of Modular Learning Modality. This study done by doing a face to face interview method (considering strict health protocols) with the participants in the data collection procedure. Thematic analysis approach specifically coding of themes was done to filter and have an in-depth understanding of the different perceptions of the participants towards MLD in a public school in Paracale, Camarines Norte. Results revealed that most of the participants perceived that the MLD is difficult in terms of materials and devices navigation concerns and issues especially when the materials and devices needed for huge volume reproduction of modules for a large number of learners are insufficient and unstable. The participants also perceived that there are challenges in the financial aspect, communicating with both parents and learners when distributing, retrieving and checking the modules, learners have low comprehension levels, have no (available) communication devices such as mobile phones (at least), internet connectivity and too far home location. The participants recommended that material supplies and devices must be made available on time, conduct face to face session with less than the usual number of students in class for a short span of time daily or at least weekly. There should be para-teachers assigned to remote and far-flung areas to assist the low-performing students and students who do not have access to adult’s assistance. Povide Filipino or Tagalog translations for the instructions in the modules especially for materials written in English, and consider risograph in reproducing modules.

Learning with Differing-Ability Peers: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in South Korea

Abstract Whether to group students based on their prior academic achievements has been at the center of policy and research debate. This article explores a quasi-experimental setting in South Korea where the “Equalization Policy” replaced ability-tracking in high school students’ allocation. The policy abolished high school entrance exams and began assigning students to high schools without considering students’ prior academic performance, which exposed students to an ability-mixing learning environment. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we show that ability-mixing considerably reduces the number of low-performers in a national college entrance test. At the same time, high-performers are hardly affected by the policy changes. We document that the behavioral changes of low-performing students may drive the main results. In contrast, we find no evidence that grouping mechanisms affect teacher-pupil interaction and teacher quality.

Framework for automatically suggesting remedial actions to help students at risk based on explainable ML and rule-based models

Higher education institutions often struggle with increased dropout rates, academic underachievement, and delayed graduations. One way in which these challenges can potentially be addressed is by better leveraging the student data stored in institutional databases and online learning platforms to predict students’ academic performance early using advanced computational techniques. Several research efforts have focused on developing systems that can predict student performance. However, there is a need for a solution that can predict student performance and identify the factors that directly influence it. This paper aims to develop a model that accurately identifies students who are at risk of low performance, while also delineating the factors that contribute to this phenomenon. The model employs explainable machine learning (ML) techniques to delineate the factors that are associated with low performance and integrates rule-based model risk flags with the developed prediction system to improve the accuracy of performance predictions. This helps low-performing students to improve their academic metrics by implementing remedial actions that address the factors of concern. The model suggests proper remedial actions by mapping the students’ performance in each identified checkpoint with the course learning outcomes (CLOs) and topics taught in the course. The list of possible actions is mapped to this checkpoint. The developed model can accurately distinguish students at risk (total grade < 70%) from students with good performance. The Area under the ROC Curve (AUC ROC) of binary classification model fed with four checkpoints reached 1.0. Proposed framework may aid the student to perform better, increase the institution’s effectiveness and improve their reputations and rankings.

Optimizing Clinical Reasoning Assessments With Analytic and Holistic Ratings: Examining the Validity, Reliability, and Cost of a Simplified Patient Note Scoring Procedure.

Post-standardized patient (SP) encounter patient notes used to assess students' clinical reasoning represent a significant time burden for faculty who traditionally score them. To reduce this burden, the authors previously reported a complex faculty-developed scoring method to assess patient notes rated by nonclinicians. The current study explored whether a simplified scoring procedure for nonclinician raters could further optimize patient note assessments by reducing time, cost, and creating additional opportunities for formative feedback. Ten nonclinician raters scored patient notes of 141 students across 5 SP cases by identifying case-specific patient note checklist items. The authors identified the bottom quintile of students using the proportion of correct items identified in the note (percent-scores) and case-specific faculty-generated scoring formulas (formula-scores). Five faculty raters scored a subset of notes from low, borderline, and high-performing students (n = 30 students) using a global rating scale. The authors performed analyses to gather validity evidence for percent-scores (i.e., relationship to other variables), investigate its reliability (i.e., generalizability study), and evaluate its costs (i.e., faculty time). Nonclinician percent- and formula-scores were highly correlated ( r = .88) and identified similar lists of low-performing students. Both methods demonstrated good agreement for pass-fail determinations with each other (Kappa = .68) and with faculty global ratings (Kappa percent =.61; Kappa formula =.66). The G-coefficient of percent-scores was .52, with 38% of variability attributed to checklist items nested in cases. Using percent-scores saved an estimated $746 per SP case (including 6 hours of faculty time) in development costs over formula-scores. Nonclinician percent-scores reliably identified low-performing students without the need for complex faculty-developed scoring formulas. Combining nonclinician analytic and faculty holistic ratings can reduce the time and cost of patient note scoring and afford faculty more time to coach at-risk students and provide targeted assessment input for high-stakes summative exams.

Differences in High- and Low-Performing Students’ Fraction Learning in the Fourth Grade

The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine the differences between high- and low-performing students’ development of fraction proficiency over a school year and to investigate how those differences were related to instruction in fractions versus instruction in other mathematics topics. The data for this study were drawn from a group of (n = 398) students from 21 fourth-grade classes, from which we formed two subgroups: the 25% highest performing students (n = 99) and the 25% lowest performing students (n = 100), based on their Danish national test scores. The students’ fraction proficiency levels were studied over eight months at five measurement time points. A multiple linear regression analysis with random effects was used to model the test scores. The results showed that the high-performing students developed their fraction proficiency during most of the school year—both when instructed in fractions and, more surprisingly, when instructed in other mathematics topics. In contrast, low-performing students only developed their fraction proficiency while being instructed in fractions. Finally, the gap between high- and low-performing students’ fraction proficiency widened both when the students were taught lessons on fractions and when they were taught other topics in mathematics.

Hong Kong high school students' perceptions of the new secondary school curriculum.

BackgroundThe New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum in Hong Kong aims to change the exam-oriented culture and promote students' all-around development. This reform emphasizes student-centered learning and promotes a shift from a top-down approach to school-based management, with the ultimate goal to help students become lifelong learners. This study examined students' perceptions of the NSS curriculum with a focus on their noncognitive development (e.g., self-understanding, positive values, purpose in life, and resilience).MethodsThe data were collected from 3,498 Secondary 6 students in Hong Kong (Girls: 47.7%; Mean age: 17.33 years) using a self-reported questionnaire in 2015. We examined the psychometric properties of the instrument, “Perceptions of the New Secondary School Curriculum” (PNSC), and conducted multigroup CFA to evaluate the measurement invariance of PNSC across genders. Paired t-test analysis was used to examine whether students perceived the junior and senior secondary curricula differently. A series of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were conducted to examine students' perceptions of the curriculum by gender and by academic performance level.ResultsResults based on percentage responses showed that most students liked the curriculum and acknowledged its benefits in promoting their noncognitive development. However, substantial proportions of the students also reported relatively negative responses to some items, particularly their fondness for senior secondary education. Students generally reported higher fondness for the junior secondary curriculum than for the senior secondary curriculum. Girls had more positive perceptions of the NSS curriculum than did boys. High-performing students liked the NSS curriculum the most and perceived the most benefits of the curriculum in promoting their noncognitive skills, whereas low-performing students showed the lowest levels of fondness for/interest in the curriculum and perceived benefits.ConclusionsOur findings support previous evidence showing initial success in promoting students' noncognitive skills but also alert educators and policymakers that the curriculum should not leave the low-performing students behind. Collective efforts from schools, educational bureaus, researchers, and policymakers are needed to take appropriate measures to cater to students' balanced development.

Voluntary participation in flipped classroom application sessions has a negligible effect on assessment outcomes in an accelerated pass-fail course.

Increasingly, basic science educators at medical and health science programs are faced with the challenge of delivering fundamental science content using evidence-based pedagogical approaches that build students' fund of knowledge while also supporting their development as self-regulated learners. This has led to an increased use of active learning-based pedagogies such as flipped classroom teaching. However, there are many open questions about the conditions necessary for successful flipped classroom sessions. In particular, the role of student compliance (i.e., participation, engagement, attendance) in mediating performance needs to be evaluated. This is especially important in accelerated curricula where multiple basic science disciplines are integrated together in pass-fail courses, presenting challenges to both students' time and cognitive load. Data on prematriculation performance, in-class participation, weekly quiz performance, and summative assessment performance from three cohorts of medical students (n = 146) at a new medical school were collected and analyzed. We found that historically high-performing students more readily participated in flipped classroom application sessions compared with historically lower-performing students. Correlational analysis of performance on weekly formative quizzes and the summative course exam was not related to in-class participation. However, performance on weekly formative quizzes played the most significant role in students' performance on summative exams. Efforts to understand the benefits of in-class participation beyond short-term assessment performance, such as long-term knowledge retention or development of noncognitive skills, should be undertaken to justify using such time- and human resource-intensive pedagogies.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study explores the use of flipped classroom teaching in a voluntary and accelerated medical school course. We found that historically high-performing students attend class, whereas historically low-performing students do not attend class as readily. Formative assessment performance appears to be more important than participation in determining the final grade. Correlation of high performance (>90%) with participation may differentiate students who excel in our curriculum from those who simply pass with superficial knowledge.

Academically Challenged Students in Mathematics in Modular Distance Learning

This phenomenological study sought to explore the lived experiences of the low-performing students in terms of the benefits, challenges, and coping strategies in a modular distance learning modality. The focused group interview was used with the purposively chosen respondents and employed triangulation of data to validate their responses. Results show that flexibility of learning, self-paced learning, access to technology, and simplified concepts and outputs were the benefits of MDL. However, lack of interaction with teachers and procrastination are the common challenges that these students have encountered and tried to cope up with. They have adopted positive methods and strategies to manage their difficulty in learning mathematics like self-motivation, seeking support, online information sources, and time management have been essential in studying in this modality. Learning mathematics is formally learned best in school but some of the students displayed positive engagement with MDL and further research should be conducted in that regard.

Online peer editing: effects of comments and edits on academic writing skills

Although the effects of online peer editing have been studied from a number of perspectives, it remains unclear how giving and receiving comments and edits affect student academic writing performance. The current study examined the influence of these aspects of peer editing on student academic writing performance in higher education during online peer editing. Participants were 76 students engaged in peer editing of one another's work in a graduate scientific writing course at a Korean university. The relationships between the giving and receiving of comments and edits, and student performance on their writing tasks were analyzed. Results showed that there is a positive correlation between the number of comments received and the student's writing score, whereas receiving edits had the opposite effect and was associated with lower student performance. Furthermore, no relationship was found between giving comments or edits and writing performance. These results add to the field's understanding of how specific elements of peer editing can impact students' performance.

Influence of Parents’ Participation on Student Academic Performance in Public Secondary Schools in Daadab Sub County, Kenya

Despite Kenya’s education system having adopted measures for seeking to ensure equitable access to quality education for all (EFA), many pupils in Daadab sub-county of Garissa county are still unable to access higher education due to their poor performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education. Despite a large body of literature, globally, there really is no definitive evidence on how parent involvement affects academic performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams in Dadaab sub county, Kenya, hence this study This study sought to establish whether there existed a relationship between parent participation and academic performance of students among secondary schools in Dadaab sub county, Kenya. The study, which embraced a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods and used pragmatism research paradigm and adopted descriptive research design. Its target population was 1198 stakeholders comprising of. 1140 parents, 50 teachers in addition to the 4 principals of secondary as well as the four chairpersons of PTAs. A sample size of 300 respondents was used in the research. Dara was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. Data from questionnaire was analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson r’ while that from interview guide was analysed using verbatim. The results were presented using tables of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The study found that parents’ participation in decision-making (r = 0.236, p&lt;0.01), parents’ school financing activity (r = 0.273, p&lt;0.01), parents’ motivation on learners (r = 0.281, p&lt;0.01), and parents’ maintenance of school physical facilities (r = 0.286, p&lt;0.01) statistically low significant and positive relationship witht performance of students among secondary school students in Dadaab sub county.

Stem education and the learning of mathematics in vulnerable populations

Introduction: This article is the product of a project developed by UNIMINUTO in the nineth grade of the Educational Institution Simón Bolivar in “La Nohora” neighbourhood of the Villavicencio - Colombia, this project was executed during 2017 and 2018.&#x0D; Problem: The problem is the low academic performance of students in mathematics, in addition to multiple possible adverse situations they face as a vulnerable population.&#x0D; Objective: The objective is to have a positive impact on the academic performance of the students.&#x0D; Methodology: In the strategy development, STEM education was used to support the learning of math through six sessions were carried out your own classroom. The students solved challenges by programming robots.&#x0D; Results: Complete each challenge had an important attitudinal impact on the students, the joy and satisfaction of them were an unexpected result. A previous knowledge test was carried out at beginning and at the end of the sessions a formative test was applied too. Afterwards, the results of both tests were compared to evidence improvements in the students' mathematical skills.&#x0D; Conclusions: It was possible to provide the target population with an alternative to understand issues mistakenly considered difficult and to propose important playful and didactic moments in cognitive development.&#x0D; Originality: This article shows an educational innovation that the team of researchers will continue to apply. through new projects that allow financing the purchase of equipment and the logistics of the workshops.&#x0D; Limitations: Lack of strategic alliances that allow financing more meetings with students and the acquisition of more robots.

De invloed van leerkrachtverwachtingen op het onderpresteren van jongens in lezen

The effect of teacher expectations on boys’ underperformance in reading Prior research indicates a gender gap in reading performance among primary school students in which boys underperform compared to girls. Based on theories on gender differences in teacher expectations and how low teacher expectations lead to low student reading performance, we, firstly, examined to what extent teacher expectations can explain this gender gap in reading performance. Secondly, by including theories on gender stereotype threat and stigmatization, we studied the possible ‘buffering’ effect of high teacher expectations against boys’ underperformance in reading. The 2016 Dutch PIRLS data were used to examine the mediating and moderating effect of teacher expectations on the effect of student gender on students’ actual reading performance. The conducted multilevel analyses show that, although the gender gap in reading performance indeed exists, teacher expectations do not significantly explain or buffer it. Limitations of the current research and implications for future research are discussed.

Higher-order thinking word problem-solving errors made by low-performing pupils: Comparative case study across school types in Malaysia.

The achievement gaps existed among the three types of Malaysian elementary schools with different instruction mediums. Thus, this study sought to compare the types of errors made by the low-performing students from different school types in solving word problems involving higher-order thinking skills by conducting a multiple case study. The study involved 18 low-performing students from a National Primary School (NPS), National-Type Chinese Primary School (NTCPS), and National-Type Tamil Primary School (NTTPS) in Malaysia. The students’ errors in solving eight word problems were identified qualitatively through conducting four sessions of diagnostic interviews, followed by the Newman’s Error Analysis. Then, a cross-case analysis was conducted. The findings indicated that the participants of the three school types made reading, comprehension, transformation, process skills and encoding errors. However, the NPS and NTTPS low-performing students made more process skills errors and encoding errors, as compared to the NTCPS low-performing students. The findings imply the need to enhance the procedural fluency of NPS and NTTPS low-performing students for reducing the achievement gaps among the school types.