Handbook of psychology volume 7 educational psychology
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- RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS
- Advances in Assessment
- Research Implications 619
- Authentic Outcomes and Developmental Considerations
- Research Synthesis and Integration
Research Implications 617 Pintrich and by Wentzel in this volume). Researchers will seek to more accurately determine the directional and causal precedence of motivational components on cognition and learning. This work will link affective, motivational, and cognitive processes—possibly by integrating prior research on the effect of emotions on test performance with assess- ments of self-esteem and self-identity. Debates about the im- pact of development, experience, and culture will help expand the ages and places in which we study critical learn- ing and relationships and the practices and policies that influ- ence such processes (Pianta & Walsh, 1996). Finally, with no clear consensus in sight as to what consti- tutes intelligence or optimal cognitive, problem-solving, or learning behavior, researchers will continue to contrast and distinguish the strengths and weaknesses of competing alter- natives that bridge classical and constructivist information- processing views. Future work will carry on the century-old debate that intelligence is not a fixed, genetically based trait, but rather is strongly affected by environmental influences that transpire over an individual’s lifetime as well as across generations (see chapter by Sternberg in this volume on the Flynn effect). Competing concepts and constructs proposed to account for important individual differences will be inte- grated into more comprehensive models that combine social and cultural contexts with the biological and affective bases of cognition. Theoretical ties will be strengthened by linking the literature on cognition, self-regulation, and learning to other motivational constructs involved in predecision processing and volition, which is invoked in postdecision processing (see chapters by Pintrich and by Schunk & Zimmerman in this volume).
RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS The longevity of emerging theories and research domains in educational psychology will depend largely upon future empirical documentation that will incorporate new method- ologies and levels of inquiry.
Methodological expansions in the new century will extend beyond a focus on individuals in decontextualized settings to include examinations of group learning in situations in which newly acquired knowledge must be applied and adapted. This will require descriptions and assessments of interactive and multidirectional relationships situated in broader social and cultural contexts. Such inquiry calls for the incorporation of advanced methodologies and psychometric procedures that allow for the study of interdependent individual and social variables during problem solving in natural settings. Data collection traditions will be blended across anthropology, lin- guistics, psychology, and education using a variety of obser- vational, interview, and participant methodologies (see chapters by Sternberg and by John-Steiner & Mahn in this volume). Traditional statistical analyses also will be broad- ened to include more rigorous models of item analysis such as IRT (Item Response Theory) and path and survival analy- ses that can capture multiple complex latent and direct rela- tionships within changing populations. These advances would not be trivialized by debates about the value and relevancy of qualitative versus quantitative methodologies. Instead, future researchers would move be- yond this debate to discussions of how these two traditions can coexist and be profitably combined (Levin & Robinson, 1999). Recognition of the contribution of both would lead to integrated designs that capture qualitative and quantitative at- tributes. One such approach that permits legitimate general- ization and prescription is the randomized classroom trial discussed originally by Levin (1992), elaborated by Levin and O’Donnell (1999), and further captured by Levin, O’ Donnell, and Kratochwill (this volume). Also in the past two decades there has been greater acceptance of rigorous single-subject and quasi-experimental designs and a growing recognition of their instructional and evaluative relevance (Kratochwill & Levin, 1992; Levin & Wampold, 1999; Neuman & McCormick, 2000). The push to enhance our understanding of educationally relevant constructs must be based on robust theory and cred- ible evidence (see Levin & O’Donnell, 1999; also see chapter by Levin et al. in this volume). These researchers suggest that this goal will best be accomplished when we utilize a contin- uum of methodologies that abide by high standards of inves- tigative quality and rigor. Expanded investigative repertoires will include innovations that involve contextually based in- quiry, individual experimental study, and large-scale experi- mental implementation designs. A continuum of research within a domain would embrace and merge findings from naturalistic and laboratory approaches using longitudinal and cross-sectional designs and individual and group methods that take place in a variety of culturally relevant and cultur- ally distinct contexts. A few examples would serve to highlight how these advances have been incorporated in contemporary work. Ex- perimental methodologies complemented by descriptive or correlation methods and ethnographic approaches have pro- vided rich understandings about the complexities of literacy instruction (Florio-Ruane & McVee, 2000; Juel, 1988) and other teaching and classroom processes (see chapter by
618 Future Perspectives in Educational Psychology Pressley et al. in this volume). Integrated approaches have been reflected heavily in the study of literacy and mathemat- ics development and instruction (see chapters by Lehrer & Lesh and by Pressley in this volume). One example is a longitudinal ethnographic study of family communication and subsequent language and literacy development (Hart & Risley, 1995) in 42 families of emergent readers in preschool who were observed in a variety of settings over 2 years. An- other is a year-long nationally conducted observational study of expert versus typical teachers who were selected based on administrator nomination, parent ratings, and student out- comes (Pressley, Allington, Wharton-McDonald, Block, & Morrow, 2001). Key findings associated with these combined methodologies have contributed to the design of innovative instructional strategies that are currently under empirical in- vestigation, using randomized classroom designs to assess the strategies’ impact on teacher communication and student performance (see chapter by Pressley et al. in this volume). Quasi-experimental methodologies also have contributed to broader, more ecological validations of ongoing classroom instructional strategies (Brown, Pressley, Van Meter, & Schuder, 1996). Future attempts to combine methodologies will lead to further insight about the holistic contexts that improve student learning. In the technology field, Goldman-Segall and Maxwell (this volume) review how formal experimental methods that stress quantifiable enhancements for learning have been bal- anced with more descriptive, introspective studies of learn- ers’ perceptions and ongoing decision-making strategies. These researchers point to new technological advances that stress community sharing and learning and the need to em- ploy anthropological observation and participatory tech- niques to answer very different sets of questions from within the learning environment rather than studying it from without (Wenger, 1998). Indeed, researchers exploring new techno- logical learning domains have been at the forefront of such expanded methodologies that allow for dense and realistic ex- planations and descriptions (Salomon, Perkins, & Globerson, 1991) in combination with more conventional scientific, experimental approaches that isolate independent variables to determine causality and generalizability across settings. Finally, Goelman and colleagues (this volume) discuss how play has been studied across a number of disciplines, in- cluding biology, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, art, lit- erature, and psychology, using an array of naturalistic and experimental methodologies (see chapter by Goelman et al. in this volume). Such an interdisciplinary focus has strongly augmented our comprehension of this key learning process and has led to important advances in early childhood theory, research, and practice. Expanded investigative repertoires that lead to complimentary efforts can greatly enhance our understanding and contribute to more valid recommenda- tions for addressing critical educational issues in the future. Advances in Assessment Theory-driven assessment strategies that capture complex interrelationships and processes have led to a wider array of measurement alternatives within and across studies. McCormick (this volume) points to progress in the assess- ment of metacognition through measures taken before, dur- ing, and after task performance (e.g., Feelings of Knowing, Test Readiness, and Test Judgment measures). She encour- ages future researchers to overcome the limits and criticisms raised against subjective reflection judgments of ongoing monitoring in order to develop broader metacognitive assess- ments. Such recommendations have also been forwarded across the domain of self-regulatory and motivational assess- ment. Mayer and Pintrich (this volume) recommend more precise appraisals of cognitive mental representations by merging cognitive laboratory tasks with metacognitive and motivational outcomes. Assessment innovations will lead to greater integration and combinations of physiological measurement to tap ele- mentary cognitive information processing and affective be- havioral reactions. For example, comprehensive assessments of physical reactions (heart rate), brain functioning (blood flow), and cognitive behavioral reactions (visual scanning, verbal responses during problem solving) might be recorded during instruction and learning. Traditional intellectual test- ing would be pooled with an array of other assessments that might vary depending on whether a given problem requires analytical, creative, or practical thinking abilities (see chapter by Sternberg in this volume). Pintrich (this volume) predicts that the discovery of links between motivation and cognition will occur through combinations of lab and naturalistic stud- ies that track basic motivational processes in addition to cognitive and metacognitive processing. A variety of new measures and approaches to measurement have been developed in many of the areas reviewed. In the early childhood and literacy field, advances have included in- creased use of play-based procedures and the development of reliable early assessments of innate abilities and aptitudes like those currently used to study infants’ audition and phonologi- cal awareness (see chapters by Goelman et al.; by Lehrer & Lesh; and by Pressley in this volume). In the future, such as- sessments will help establish how early literacy, numeracy, communication, and artistic or musical skills emerge and are reflected in children’s primary learning and living environ- ments. This will require extended observations in home and
Research Implications 619 school settings and will also require the use of dynamic assessment methods. Dynamic assessments and design experiments—in which students receive guided adult feed- back as they are exposed to a variety of task demands, instructional strategies, and learning contexts—are critical for discovering the effects of scaffolded, transactional instruction (see chapters by John-Steiner & Mahn; by Lehrer & Lesh; and by Pressley in this volume). Such methods will help establish parameters of performance malleability and will lead to more valid instructional recommendations. Finally, Reschly (this volume) discusses a number of contemporary and future diag- nostic challenges facing the field of school psychology, in- cluding a push towards direct versus standardized measures of educational and behavioral skills in relevant domains. Advances in technology have increasingly added to our repertoire of alternative assessments for gathering compre- hensive learning-based observations (also discussed later in this chapter). Many newly emerging computer environments require fresh ways to judge how children develop, process, and represent their thinking. The recent advent of structured conferencing and online multimedia sharing allows for rene- gotiated and interlinked information use and reuse during dynamic collaborations. Currently this innovation is used in several ongoing research projects to connect multiple class- rooms across the world. See discussions of the National Geographic Kids Network (NGKNet) project, in which thou- sands of students collaborate on data collection and research of local and global significance (i.e., acid rain; Feldman, Konold, & Coulter, 2000, cited in the chapter by Goldman- Segall & Maxwell in this volume). These new environments that take advantage of technology to enable collaboration may be the wave of the future for studying both the effects of and effects with technology (see chapter by Goldman-Segall & Maxwell in this volume). Such innovations will necessitate new assessment methodologies, such as longitudinal digital ethnographies of children’s thinking that can allow one to ex- amine individual and collaborative learning processes and re- lations (see chapter by Goldman-Segall & Maxwell in this volume). Future studies of computer environments also would move beyond examinations of behavior and cognition to consider the emotional and relational support required and affected by such learning environments. In fact, the affective capacity and impact of computers are the main focus of an ongoing project pioneered by Rosalind Picard (1997) at MIT (cited in the chapter by Goldman-Segall & Maxwell in this volume). In the future, educational psychologists will continue to forge and evaluate comprehensive methods to assess an array of learning, behavioral, affective, motivational, and interper- sonal outcomes. Immediate and long-term indexes of perfor- mance will include some combination of physiological re- sponses, psychometric testing, introspective and third-party interviews, direct observation, contextual manipulation, and dynamic instruction of key processes expected to affect learning and development. Authentic Outcomes and Developmental Considerations Across many of the domains reviewed here, there was a com- mon call for the replication of key findings using authentic tasks in authentic contexts. To move beyond fixed notions of abilities, researchers expect that newer psychometric tests will be designed to capture both typical, real-world perfor- mance and maximal, conventional performance (see chapter by Sternberg in this volume); this would involve measures of idiosyncratic and alternative intellectual skills that more ade- quately capture indexes of out-of-school success. Skills re- lated to schooling would be supplemented with those needed for successful functioning within families, work, and commu- nity settings. Such assessments will allow for the exploration of interpersonal problem-solving and intellectual behavior during ongoing, practical life endeavors or simulations. Sternberg (this volume) also predicts that future intellectual assessments will be relatively independent of current psycho- metrically defined intelligence tests as they begin to provide more comprehensive evaluations of contemporary constructs. Replication and extensions of research with authentic tasks are essential for educational and curriculum improvements. Researchers have begun to generalize and investigate key findings within relevant curriculum domains. Information- processing and metacognitive researchers in particular have studied theoretical applications through instructional pro- grams in mathematics, writing, and reading. Students taught using empirically derived instruction evidence significantly improved performance over those students taught through more traditional methods (especially see the chapters by Lehrer & Lesh; by Mayer; and by McCormick in this volume). There was a call for advances in the early identification of children with exceptional needs or talents (see chapters by Olszewski-Kubilius; by Siegel; and by Walker & Gresham in this volume). Difficulties associated with assessing younger children and the limitations of traditional and standardized intelligence measures will be overcome by an array of di- verse procedures. Reschly (this volume) discusses the push toward new conceptual definitions and classification criteria for educationally funded disabilities that rely on noncategor- ical criteria, especially for specific learning disabilities (also see chapter by Siegel in this volume). Developmental assess- ment in the future will more accurately capture both synchro- nous and asynchronous development patterns and recognize
620 Future Perspectives in Educational Psychology idiosyncratic progressions of development across tasks, set- tings, and persons (see chapter by Goelman et al. in this vol- ume). Such approaches are critical to identify giftedness and learning disabilities because restricted testing in one domain often compromises early identification (see chapters by Olszewski-Kubilius and by Siegel in this volume). Another area of continued research is a focus on develop- mental foundations and trajectories across the domains re- viewed here. Researchers increasingly are addressing how critical competencies are modified or moderated by enduring characteristics—such as ethnicity, gender, and exceptionality —and by critical contextual variables. These trends will lead to future studies of dynamic functional relationships over extended periods of time—for example, to determine how motivation and cognition interrelate over time and how per- sonal characteristics and interpersonal relationships affect such processes across a variety of settings. Developmental in- vestigations will help clarify the characteristics of schooling contexts, including relationships that promote social skills and learning (see chapters by Koch; by Pianta, Hamre, & Stuhlman; and by Wentzel in this volume). Furthering our un- derstanding of developmental mechanisms responsible for al- tering or harnessing critical contextual and relational resources (i.e., the influence of parents, teachers, and peers) will lead to more effective school-based prevention and early intervention programs (see chapters by McCombs and by Walker & Gresham in this volume). Research Synthesis and Integration Researchers in the next century will probably address the complexities of synthesizing and integrating research meth- ods and findings on a much broader level, which will help refine our predictions of academic and social performance. Key constructs within a domain often are studied indepen- dently within one theoretical paradigm. Self-regulation, for example, has been represented by distinctly separate lines of research across operant, information processing, develop- mental, social-constructivist, and social cognitive theories. These orientations have led to diverse explanations of self- regulatory constructs and the reciprocal interactions that define when and how self-regulation processes are invoked (see chapter by Schunk & Zimmerman in this volume). In other cases, completely different constructs and factors are used to explain an area of study, as in motivation and metacognition (see chapters by McCormick and by Pintrich in this volume). Although enormous knowledge has been gained through such theoretical autonomy, continued separation may lessen our ability to discriminate and detect tandem variables not directly under investigation. Kuhn (1972) suggested that competing paradigms can produce a divided community of researchers whose differences in terminology, conceptual frameworks, and ideas about legitimate questions of inquiry can hinder rather than foster advances in theory, research, and practice. Researchers across many of the domains pre- sented here have called for future integration of theories and methodologies in order to avoid conducting research simply to establish settings and conditions that favor one’s own the- oretical perspective (see chapter by Schunk & Zimmerman in this volume). Finding ways to bridge research paradigms might be ac- complished through the use of consistent variable definitions, instruments, sample ages, and criterion measures. Not only would building such connections help reconcile similar con- cepts labeled differently, but it also would help clarify differ- ences between concepts labeled with similar terms and lead to synthesis methodologies that might encourage a closer re- view of construct dependency (see chapter by Schunk & Zimmerman in this volume). Domains of research across reading, writing, and literacy (Adams, Treiman, & Pressley, 1998) and writing, science, and mathematics (see chapter by Lehrer & Lesh in this volume) have been profitably com- bined in recent years. Innovative consolidation and integra- tion will arbitrate and expand our understanding of the conditions under which various forms of learning and social experiences affect students’ development and achievement. For example, play might be simultaneously examined as a medium through which to study children’s intellectual, cog- nitive, metacognitive, and self-regulatory behavior; affective and motivational growth; and interpersonal relationships in order to discover how children make sense of who they are in relation to their world and to others. The next generation of theorists will be more knowledgeable of cross-domain findings. Collective studies collaboratively de- signed will constructively combine different theoretical view- points, resulting in a wider spectrum of criterion and predictor variables investigated within one study. There also will be an in- crease in longitudinal investigations using a common frame- work to compare key variables in learning and development. Many examples of such synthesis and integration were for- warded by our authors. An array of individual attributes (e.g., gender, ethnicity, temperament), perceptions of relationships, self-regulatory and motivational constructs, and verbal and nonverbal communication exchange processes employed in one study would enhance our understanding of child-teacher relationships (see chapter by Pianta et al. in this volume). Inte- grated methodologies would help illuminate how different personal constructs facilitate or impede various achievement or motivational outcomes across home and school contexts (see chapter by Wentzel in this volume) and male and female populations (see chapter by Koch in this volume). Cooperative
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