Abstract
Two types of assessment instruments were developed to assess middle school students’ learning strategies, and their effectiveness in predicting various learning outcomes was examined. The participants were 565 middle school students. Three subscales (rehearsal, organization, elaboration) from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich et al. 1991) formed a unique Learning Strategy scale. Memorization strategies (rehearsal and organization) were assessed with a specific learning task (memorizing word list). Math and language skills, assessed in Grade 7 and Grade 8, were used as outcome measures. The reported use of learning strategies, measured by Learning Strategy scale, was not related to any learning outcomes. In contrast, students who used memorization or organization during learning task differed in all outcomes. Results indicate a serious need to consider which assessment methods will be used in middle school. In the future, self-report questionnaires could benefit from subject-specific and more concrete descriptions of tasks. Meanwhile, we advise using questionnaire and cognitive behavioral learning task methods concurrently to assess learning strategies of middle school students.
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Acknowledgments
The study was supported by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (institutional research grant IUT 3-3 and special grant no. 10.1-8.1/933) and European Social Fund Program Eduko (via Archimedes Foundation, grant 30.2-4/549). We would like to thank Anu Palu, Krista Uibu, and Piret Soodla for developing the math and language tests and Teri Talpsep for valuable comments on an earlier version of this article.
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Eve Kikas, School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Narva mnt. 25, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia; E-mail: eve.kikas@tlu.ee.
Current themes of research:
Children’s development and learning in kindergarten and school. The role of individual characteristics and contextual factors (e.g., teaching practices, parental support) in students’ learning, considering varying skill levels and ages.
Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education
Kikas, E., Silinskas, G., and Soodla, P. (2015). The Effects of Children’s Reading Skills and Interest on Teacher Perceptions of Children’s Skills and Individualized Support. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39, 402–412. DOI: 10.1177/0165025415573641.
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Kikas, E., Lerkkanen, M.-K., Pakarinen, E., Poikonen, P.-L (2014). Family- and Classroom-Related Factors and Mother-Kindergarten Teacher Trust in Estonia and Finland. Educational Psychology.
Kikas, E., Peets, K., Palu, A., and Afanasjev, J. (2009). The role of individual and contextual factors in the development of maths Skills. Educational Psychology, 29, 541–560.
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Anna-Liisa Jõgi, School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Narva mnt. 25, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia; E-mail: annaliisa.jogi@tlu.ee.
Current themes of research:
Motivational and cognitive factors influencing math performance. The role of learning skills in learning.
Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education
Jõgi, A.-L, Kikas, E., Lerkkanen, M.-K., and Mägi, K. (2015). Cross-lagged relations betweenmath-related interest, performance goals and skills in groups of children with different general abilities. Learning and Individual Differences, 39, 105–113.
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Kikas, E., Jõgi, AL. Assessment of learning strategies: self-report questionnaire or learning task. Eur J Psychol Educ 31, 579–593 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-015-0276-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-015-0276-3