Title: The Interplay of Classroom Context and Children's SelfRegulated Learning Behaviors on Developing Mem
1The Interplay of Classroom Context and Children's
Self-Regulated Learning Behaviors on Developing
Memory Skills Jennifer L. Coffman, Laura E.
McCall, Jennie K. Grammer, and Peter A.
Ornstein The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
- Results
- Children were exposed to instructional
activities in the classroom in 78.2, cognitive
structuring activities in 42.6, and memory
requests in 52.7 of intervals observed. - Marked variability was seen among teachers on a
range of instructional behaviors including
deliberate memory demands and metacognitive
information. - The variability observed served as a basis for
characterizing the mnemonic orientation of each
teacher.
- Sample
- First Grade
- 107 first graders (49 boys and 58 girls)
- Ethnicity
- 45 Caucasian 26 African American
- 4 Latino 15 Asian/Pacific Islander
- 10 Mixed Race
- Second Grade
- 91 second graders continuing from the first
grade (42 boys and 49 girls)
THE CLASSROOM CONTEXT
CHILD ASSESSMENTS
LINKING MEMORY, THE CLASSROOM, AND CHILD-LEVEL
FACTORS
- Age-related changes in the efficacy of various
strategies for remembering have been widely
documented (Schneider Pressley, 1997). - There is far less information available
regarding individual childrens developmental
trajectories over time or the factors that may
influence this development (Ornstein Haden,
2001). - Childrens developing strategy use has been
linked to changing memory performance, but little
is known about the origin of these strategies. - The classroom setting has been explored as one
context that may be especially important in
shaping childrens developing memory.
Sorting and Clustering ARC Scores as a Function
of Teacher Mnemonic Orientation
HLM Analyses
- To explore childrens trajectories across the
first grade, HLM models were used to analyze
repeated measures of sorting and clustering. - Individual differences exist in the
developmental trajectories of sorting and
clustering over time, allowing for the
examination of predictors of this variability. - Although there were no differences in initial
starting point as a function of teacher group on
sorting or clustering, the strategy scores of
children with high-mnemonic teachers were
significantly higher at the end of the
first-grade year. - Significant variability remained even after the
inclusion of the measure of teacher mnemonic
orientation, suggesting the need to consider
child-level factors such as self regulation and
academic achievement.
- Procedure
- Sort-Recall Task with Organizational Training
(Moely et al, 1992) - Task Administration
- 16 line drawings (4 from each of 4 categories)
- Baseline Trial 1 at Time 1
- Training in Sorting and Clustering Trial 2 at
Time 1 - Generalizations Trial 3 at T1, and later time
points (T2, T3, T5, T6, and T7) - Measures
- The Adjusted Ratio of Clustering (ARC) Score
(Roenker, Thompson, Brown, 1971) was used to
measure childrens Sorting patterns during study
and category Clustering during recall. - ARC Scores Range from -1 (below chance levels
of categorical sorting or clustering) to 0
(chance levels of sorting or clustering) to 1
(complete categorical organization) - Recall The total number of items children
recalled was tallied.
- To describe elementary-aged childrens
developing recall and strategy use - To characterize the memory-relevant context of
early elementary school classrooms - To link aspects of the classroom setting to
childrens changing levels of memory performance - To relate childrens developing memory skills,
the classroom environment, and other child level
variables
Exploring the Interplay of First-Grade Teacher
Mnemonic Orientation and Childrens
Self-Regulated Learning
- When children were grouped according to their
first grade teachers mnemonic orientation and
individual ratings of self-regulated learning,
lower-regulated students placed into a lower
mnemonically-oriented classroom sorted less,
whereas lower-regulated children in high-mnemonic
classrooms sorted at levels equivalent to those
evidenced by students rated as high in
self-regulated learning.
ARC score
- Sample
- 14 first-grade teachers in 4 schools across 2
school districts - Method
- Classroom Observations (Coffman, Ornstein,
McCall, 2003) - Observed teacher-led instruction in language
arts and mathematics focusing on memory-relevant
language - Two observers made coding decisions in 30 second
intervals, alternating between the classification
of teacher verbalizations according to a Taxonomy
of Teacher Behaviors and a detailed contextual
narrative - Based on the narrative records, each interval
was further characterized according to the nature
of the memory demand teachers presented - 120 minutes of instruction were observed in each
classroom, for a total of 3,360 intervals across
all teachers
THE CLASSROOM CONTEXT
Fall Fall Winter Spring
Fall Winter Baseline
Generalization __________ Grade 1 ___________
______ Grade 2 ______
Exploring the Interplay of First-Grade Teacher
Mnemonic Orientation and Childrens Academic
Achievement
- Similar patterns were found with regard to
WJ-III performance, such that when placed into a
lower mnemonically-oriented classroom,
lower-achieving students in low-mnemonic classes
sorted less than their peers who were
higher-achieving, placed in a high mnemonic
classroom, or both.
- Classification of Teachers into High and Low
Mnemonic Orientation Groups - For each teacher, these percentages were
standardized and averaged to create a composite
score - Sample M 50.0 SD 7.3 Range 40.3
64.0 - Based on a median split, two groups of
teachers were identified - High 49.6 64.0 Low 40.26 47.84
MEASURE OF TEACHER MNEMONIC ORIENTATION
ARC score
Component Codes included in the Mnemonic
Orientation Score Teacher Language
Mean (SD) Range .
Strategy Suggestions
4.9 (3.6) 0.8 - 13.8 Metacognitive
Questioning 4.9
(2.7 ) 0.8 - 9.6 Deliberate Demand
Instructional Activities 37.6
(8.3 ) 25.8 - 50.0 Deliberate Demand
Cognitive Structuring Activities 23.5 (8.1
) 10.0 - 35.4 Deliberate Demand Metacognitive
Information 5.9 (3.8 ) 1.3 - 12.1
Fall Fall Winter Spring
Fall Winter Baseline
Generalization __________ Grade 1 ___________
______ Grade 2 ______
CONCLUSIONS
- First-grade teachers differed substantially in
the provision of memory-relevant language, and
this variation in mnemonic style was associated
with differences in their students sorting and
clustering over time. - An exploration of the combined impact of
child-level variables and teacher orientation
suggested that higher-regulated or achieving
students displayed high levels of sorting,
regardless of the mnemonic orientation of their
teacher. - Moreover, those children who were rated as
low-regulated (or low-achieving), but were
enrolled in classrooms with a high mnemonic
teacher, were indistinguishable from their
higher-regulated (or achieving) peers. - However, an important difference was seen in the
performance of lower-achieving and
lower-regulated children, such that when placed
into a lower mnemonically-oriented classroom,
these students sorted less through the winter of
their second grade year.
This material is based upon work supported by
National Science Foundation Grants 0217206 and
0519153.