i-manager's Journal on Educational Psychology (JPSY)


Volume 3 Issue 3 November - January 2010

Article

Better Quality Collaboration: A Proposed Facilitating Relationship between Heedful Interrelating and Cooperative Learning

Sarah R. Daniel* , Brandon K. Vaughn**
* Doctoral Student, The University of Texas at Austin.
** Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Austin.
Sarah R. Daniel and Brandon K. Vaughn (2010). Better Quality Collaboration: A Proposed Facilitating Relationship Between Heedful Interrelating And Cooperative Learning. i-manager’s Journal on Educational Psychology, 3(3), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.26634/jpsy.3.3.1075

Abstract

Van den Bossche (2006) points to how fruitful collaboration is not merely the case of putting people with relevant knowledge together. Studies on collaborative learning suggest that group outcomes improve when members focus not only on the task but also on the interpersonal group processes (Johnson & Johnson, 2005). However, attempts to improve these processes, through training modules, are often divorce from the main group task. The concept of heedful interrelating (HI) offers a method for addressing the need for high quality interpersonal processes by its focus on the skills necessary for successful interrelating in the moment-by-moment interactions of members working to accomplish a task. HI is defined as interacting with sensitivity to the task at hand while at the same time paying attention to how a person’s individual actions affect group functioning. To interrelate heedfully requires that one notice, take careful action, and pay attention to the effect of that action (Weick & Roberts, 1993). HI’s focus is on how best to interrelate effectively, in real time, to reach the group goal. This article focuses on how HI provides a tangible framework for facilitating group members’ effective engagement in high quality interpersonal processing which, in turn, should translate into an increase in beneficial collaborative outcomes.

Article

Self Concept: Should we follow Cognitive or Social Construction with Students with Disabilities?

Laura Rader*
Professor of Special Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Special Education, The City College of New York.
Laura Rader (2010). Self Concept: Should We Follow Cognitive Or Social Construction With Students With Disabilities? i-manager’s Journal on Educational Psychology, 3(3), 9-17. https://doi.org/10.26634/jpsy.3.3.1076

Abstract

Initial Investigations into the development of self-concept have been largely descriptive and focused primarily on the concept of self-representation, namely, how the me-self evolves across childhood and adolescence. Investigators sought to document developmental differences in self-representation through coding of spontaneously generated descriptions of the self. These efforts identified broad, discontinuous, qualitative skills in how the self was described. However, there was little analysis of the structural organization of self-concept. Interest in self-processes has burgeoned in the past decade within many branches of psychology. Riding on the bandwagon of the cognitive revolution, self-theorists reconceptualized the self as a cognitive construction that is quite functional in bringing organization and meaning to one’s experiences. In addition to psychologists’ emphasis on self-concept, educators have become interested in the implications of self-concept among special populations within the school setting. Thus, this paper explores the common principles across these newer frameworks and provides educators with specific practical implications to use in the classroom.

Article

Guidance In The Secondary School

V. Jurist Lionial Kumar*
Lecturer in Psychology, KABD College of Education, Painkulam, Kanyakumari District, TamilNadu.
V. Jurist Lional Kumar (2010). Guidance in the Secondary School. i-manager’s Journal on Educational Psychology, 3(3), 18-22. https://doi.org/10.26634/jpsy.3.3.1077

Abstract

Secondary School Students face a lot of problems in their body as well as in mind due to puberty that tends to adolescence stage. Adolescence has peculiar characters of their own. They need proper Guidance and Counselling to tackle their own problems. Guidance described as a counselling service to assist the individual in achieving self direction and educational, vocational and personal adjustment and to take positive steps in the light of new orientations. Guidance at secondary school stage is an important aspect in moulding the personality of the future leaders of the nation. In this article the author gives the importance aspects of guidance service in the secondary schools.

Research Paper

Which Social Skills Predict Academic Performance of Elementary School Students?

YoungJi Yoon Sung* , Mido Chang**
* Visiting Assistant Professor, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C
** Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, Virgina Tech.
Youngji Y. Sung and Mido Chang (2010). Which Social Skills Predict Academic Performance Of Elementary School Students. i-manager’s Journal on Educational Psychology, 3(3), 23-34. https://doi.org/10.26634/jpsy.3.3.1078

Abstract

The study explored various aspects of students’ social skills in an attempt to identify specific aspect that has significance in predicting their academic performance and examined the longitudinal relationship of these social skills with academic performance. The study used two models that applied advanced statistical tools to a nationally representative database of the U.S., the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. In the first model which employed the discriminant analysis, the authors successfully classified overall performance levels of fifth graders based on their five subscales of social skills, identifying approaches to learning as the most important skill among the five. In the second model which used the profile analysis, the significant longitudinal relationship between social skills and academic achievement from kindergarten to fifth grade was confirmed; students of different achievement levels showed significantly different developmental trajectories of social skills over the six years.

Research Paper

Adolescents’ Computer Mediated Learning And Influences On Interpersonal Relationships

Lence Miloseva* , Tom Page**, Milka Lehtonen***, Jozefina Marelja****, Gisli Thorsteinsson*****
*Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Goce Delcev University, Stip, R.Macedonia.
** Lecturer of Electronic Product Design, Department of Design & Technology, Loughborough University, UK.
*** Researcher, University of Lapland, Finland.
**** Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
***** Assistant Professor, Iceland University.
Lence Miloseva, Tom Page, Miika Lehtonen, Jozefina Marelja and Gisli Thorsteinsson (2010). Adolescents' Computer Mediated Learning And Influences on Inter-Personal Relationships. i-manager’s Journal on Educational Psychology, 3(3), 35-43. https://doi.org/10.26634/jpsy.3.3.1079

Abstract

This study reports the findings of the several projects initiated at the Faculty of Education , “Goce Delcev “University , Stip,  to investigate the motivation skills, but is uniquely specific to as interpersonal relationships and resources that influence the learner’s participation in the teaching/learning process in the context of online-learning and face to face learning (FtF).Uniquely it also explores e-mail romantic relationships with regard to the levels of relationship satisfaction, intimacy, "inclusion" and interpersonal attraction. Empirical research of this kind is arguably rare and will lead to a better understanding of the possibilities and limitations of a medium that could have large effects on the relationships we have in the lives of participants of computer mediated learning.

Research Paper

Effectiveness Of Instructional Strategies Based On Gagne’s Instructional Design (ID) In Improving Thinking Skills Of Secondary School Students

Flosy C.R. D'sourza* , H.M. Kasinath**
* Reader, St.Ann's College of Education, Mangalore.
** Professor of Education & Director of School of Correspondence Education, Karnatak University, Dharwad.
Flosy C.R.D'souza and H.M. Kasinath (2010). Effectiveness of Instructional Strategies Based On Gagne's Instructional Design (ID) in Improving Thinking Skills of Secondary School Students. i-manager’s Journal on Educational Psychology, 3(3), 44-54. https://doi.org/10.26634/jpsy.3.3.1081

Abstract

The study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of Instructional Strategies based on Gagne’s Instructional Design and Conventional Strategies of teaching science in improving the Thinking Skills of secondary school students. The seven Thinking Skills suggested by Raths, Louis (1967) namely; Observation; Comparison; Classification; Summarization; Interpretation; Inference and Evaluation were considered. The Pre-test and Post-test Parallel Group, T x L (Treatments x Levels) design was used. A self made Thinking Skills test was used to collect the data from the sample consisting of 96 students studying in standard Eight. Findings of this research revealed that; i) Instructional Strategies based on Gagne’s Instructional Design when compared to that of Conventional Strategies of teaching is significantly effective in improving the Thinking Skills as a Whole and its sub skills namely, Comparison, Summarization, Interpretation, Inference, and Evaluation. ii) Above Average performed significantly better than Average and Average performed significantly better than Below Average in Thinking Skills as a Whole. iii) All the students and at all the three levels, namely, Above Average, Average and Below Average sustained the Thinking Skills improved through Instructional Strategies based on Gagne’s Instructional Design. This study has made an attempt to infuse Thinking Skills into the existing curriculum through Instructional Strategies based on Gagne’s Instructional Design. It has implications for the design and development of Instructional Materials in line with Gagne’s Instructional Design to achieve different learning outcomes. It has been found to be a systematic strategy to improve classroom instruction across various disciplines and hence its inclusion in the teacher education curriculum will be a major step in making its application possible at the grass root level.