Category: Social and Motivational Outcomes

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Educational Administration and Leadership Higher Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

Low academic self-efficacy may lead to AI dependency through stress

Generative AI tools are emerging in classrooms and on student laptops across the globe. Policymakers, educators, and other influencers must understand the negative consequences of becoming unhealthily dependent on AI. Using the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, which examines how psychological factors contribute to problematic technology use, researchers studied AI dependency among 300 university students in Seoul. While they hypothesized a link between self-efficacy (students’ belief in their abilities) and AI dependency, they found no direct association. Instead, academic stress emerged as the key driver in AI dependency among students. In other words, the more academically stressed a student is, the more likely they are to become dependent on AI tools.

Notably, 84% of the students surveyed used ChatGPT for academic help, though not all showed signs of dependency. The researchers also sought to discover the negative consequences of AI dependency. Students reported that AI dependency led to increased laziness, the spread of misinformation, a lower level of creativity, and reduced critical and independent thinking. The researchers also examined the role of performance expectations: students who perceived that AI would help their performance were more likely to become dependent.

The emergency of AI tools in schools is a conundrum that generates many different opinions and policy recommendations. Rather than focusing primarily on AI restrictions and teaching AI literacy, schools may need to prioritize stress management and low-stakes practice opportunities to reduce AI dependency.

 

Source (Open Access): Zhang, S., Zhao, X., Zhou, T., & Kim, J. H. (2024). Do you have AI dependency? The roles of academic self-efficacy, academic stress, and performance expectations on problematic AI usage behavior. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 21(1), 34. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-024-00467-0… Read the rest

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Educational Administration and Leadership Secondary School Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

The impact of vision on mental well-being among rural Chinese students

Research findings have shown that visual impairment associates with mental illness such as depression and anxiety among children, especially when refractive errors remain uncorrected. A recent study published in Scientific Reports by Pang and colleagues explored the relationship between visual impairment, academic performance, and mental health among junior high school students in rural China.

The research involved a random sample of 19,425 seventh and eighth grade students from 124 schools in rural Ningxia, northwest China.  Data on students’ visual acuity, eyeglasses usage, academic performance (via standardised math test), and mental health (using SDQ) were gathered in the last quarter of 2019. The key findings included:

  • Of the students, 37.2% had visual impairment, 56.6% of whom did not wear glasses. About 9% of the total sample were at high risk for mental health problems based on SDQ scores.
  • Visual impairment students wearing glasses were less likely to experience mental health problem compared to those with normal vision, while those without glasses were more likely to have mental health problems.
  • Visual impaired students without glasses exhibited significantly poorer mental health compared to both their peers who wore glasses and those with normal vision. However, there was no significant difference in mental health between visually impaired students with glasses and those with normal vision.
  • Among visually impaired students, high math performance students who wore glasses reported better mental health than those without eyeglasses. For low math performance students, there was no significant relationship between eyeglasses usage and mental health. In addition, eyeglasses usage positively influenced students’ aspirations for higher education, regardless of academic performance.

The study highlights the importance of providing eyeglasses to visually impaired students to improve their mental health. It suggests that interventions and policies should focus on supplying eyeglasses to enhance students’ overall well-being in low-income rural settings.

 

Source (Open Access): Pang, X., Wang, H., Qian, Y., Zhu, S., Hu, Y. A., Rozelle, S., Congdon, N., & Jiang, J. (2024). The association between visual impairment, educational outcomes, and mental health: Insights from eyeglasses usage among junior high school students in rural China. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 24244. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-72119-2… Read the rest

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K-12 Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

Did interventions improve teacher well-being?

A meta-analysis by Li and colleagues investigated the effects of intervention programs on K-12 in-service teacher well-being. A total of 44 studies, comprising 176 effect sizes, published from 1990 to 2022 were included in the three-level meta-analysis. About 80% effect sizes was obtained from interventions with duration 8 weeks or less. Among these studies, 31 used a pre-test/post-test control group design, while 14 studies only compared pre/post intervention results. The overall mean effect size of 0.35.

The moderation analysis explored factors influencing effect variability across studies. The quality of each study was assessed based on five criteria (e.g., sampling method, study design), and were classified into strong, moderate, and weak. Analysis revealed that strong quality studies (g = 0.53, k=21) had the largest effect size, followed by weak (g=0.40, k=45) and moderate quality (g = 0.26, k =110) studies. Moreover, studies with a control group (g=0.39, k=111) had larger effects than those without (g=0.26, k=65), though not statistically significant.

Regarding intervention type, mindfulness-based interventions (g = 0.39, k = 79) had significantly larger effects than those targeting the mitigation of negative emotions (g = 0.15, k=13), but comparable to positive-psychology based interventions (g=0.38, k=29). While no significant differences were found, interventions had greater impact on personal well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, reducing stress) than occupational well-being (e.g., job satisfaction, occupational burnout).

The findings of the study may be inflated due to several limitations: 1) the study only included published peer-reviewed journal articles, excluding grey literature; 2) significant publication bias was found; and 3) all studies used self-report questionnaires for measurement.

Nevertheless, this meta-analysis provides a comprehensive and updated synthesis of the effects of interventions on teacher well-being.

 

Note: k = number of effect sizes.

 

Source: Li, Y., Wang, X., Chen, J., Lee, J. C.-K., Yan, Z., & Li, J.-B. (2024). The Intervention Effects on Teacher Well-being: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 36(4), 129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09966-y… Read the rest

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Primary School Education Secondary School Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

Are counselor-led SEL interventions effective? Insights from a recent meta-analysis

Social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions help students, educators, and school staff manage emotions, build relationships, and make thoughtful decisions. These programs are linked to improved academic performance and overall well-being. School counselors are crucial in implementing SEL programs but often face challenges due to limited resources, such as limited time and training. As students face increasing mental and social challenges, understanding the impact and best practices for these interventions is essential.

A recent meta-analysis reviewed the effectiveness of school counselor-led SEL interventions, including 28 studies published over the past 20 years. Using a random effects model, the analysis found an average statistically significant positive effect (ES = +0.31). Subgroup analyses and meta-regression revealed that while no moderators showed statistically significant differences, several factors were associated with larger effect sizes. Notably, larger effect sizes were observed in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (ES =+0.31) and cluster RCTs (ES = +0.42) in samples with over 50% racial/ethnic minority students (ES = +0.40 versus ES = +0.21 in samples with less diversity). Effects were larger for low SES groups (ES = +0.35 compared to +0.21 for higher SES group), and for middle (ES = +0.45) and high school students (ES = +0.43) compared to elementary students (ES = +0.08).

The interventions were more effective for academic development (ES = +0.41) than for social-emotional (ES = +0.19) or career development (ES = +0.14). Small group interventions showed the highest effect (ES = +0.44), followed by classroom lessons (ES = +0.30). Interventions grounded in theory had larger effects (ES = +0.41 for multiple theories, ES = +0.32 for a single theory) compared to those without theoretical grounding (ES = +0.17). Applying theory to measure changes in relevant constructs led to larger effects (ES = +0.34) compared to those that did not (ES = +0.26), and discussing results in relation to theory also showed higher effect sizes (ES = +0.40 vs. +0.27).

Despite the limitation of including only peer-reviewed published papers, which may lead to an overrepresentation of positive findings, this meta-analysis suggests that school counselors contribute significantly to SEL-related outcomes, especially for academic achievement. Additionally, the integration of theory in SEL programming seems to be associated with more impactful intervention results.

 

Source: Lemberger‐Truelove, M. E., Li, D., Kim, H., Wills, L., Thompson, K., & Lee, Y. (2024). Meta‐analysis of social and emotional learning interventions delivered by school counselors. Journal of Counseling & Development, jcad.12537. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12537… Read the rest

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Programme Evaluation Secondary School Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

Which format was more effective at alleviating anxiety: face-to-face or web-based intervention?

Shao and colleagues evaluated the impact of the DNA-V program, culturally adapted for Chinese adolescents, on reducing their anxiety. The DNA-V (Discover, Notice, Advise-Value) program combines mindfulness-based social-emotional learning (SEL) and cognitive behavioral strategies to enhance psychological flexibility and lower anxiety. Cognitive defusion is considered highly related to psychological flexibility, so that the study particularly examined cognitive fusion—where individuals are entangled in their thoughts, potentially increasing psychological distress—as a mediating factor in anxiety reduction.

The researchers randomly divided six eighth-grade classes from a Beijing urban middle school into three groups, each receiving different interventions: a face-to-face DNA-V group (40 students), a web-based DNA-V group (56 students), and an active control group undergoing a positive psychology program (50 students). Over six weeks, the treatment groups attended a 40-minute session weekly, with the face-to-face group in a classroom and the web-based group via an online game format.

Students completed the Chinese Secondary School Students Anxiety scale and Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire before the program (T1), immediately after (T2), and two months post-intervention (T3). Results from a repeated measures ANOVA indicated that only the face-to-face group showed a significant reduction in anxiety and cognitive fusion scores from T1 to T3 and from T2 to T3. No significant changes were observed in the web-based or control groups over time.

Further analysis used a mediation model to explore the underlying mechanism of the DNV-A intervention. Findings revealed that the face-to-face DNA-V intervention directly reduced anxiety (difference between T3 and T1) without the mediating role of decreased cognitive fusion (difference between T2 and T1). The web-based intervention showed neither direct nor indirect effects on anxiety.

These findings suggest that the culturally adapted face-to-face DNA-V program could be an effective school-based intervention for reducing anxiety among adolescents, although cognitive fusion did not mediate this effect.

 

Source: Shao, S., Zhang, Y., Yang, M., Li, C., Zhao, R., Liu, Z., Wu, M., Liu, Y., Zhu, Z., & Cui, L. (2024). The effectiveness of the DNA-V program on reducing anxiety among Chinese adolescents: Outcomes of the face-to-face and web-based versions. Journal of School Psychology, 106, 101357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2024.101357… Read the rest

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Achievement Educational Administration and Leadership K-12 Education Social and Motivational Outcomes

Effectiveness of flipped classrooms on student outcomes

Flipped classroom refers to an instructional approach where students first learn new material through videos outside of class, and then use class time for reviewing the content, hands-on activities, and deeper learning.

A meta-analysis conducted by Li and colleagues examined the effects of flipped classrooms on K–12 student outcomes. The authors included randomized and quasi-experimental studies with more than ten students in which flipped classrooms were compared to regular teacher practice. After excluding the studies that did not meet the criteria, 129 studies were included in the review.

The average effect sizes after excluding outliers were +0.53 for student performance, +0.56 for cognitive outcomes, and +0.46 for affective outcomes. Due to the high variability in effects between studies, the authors examined which characteristics are factors (e.g., duration, teacher training) that moderate the effects of flipped classrooms. Region was found to be a significant moderator, with a larger effect in low- and middle-income countries compared to high-income countries. Considering methodological characteristics, the authors found that it is more effective when the same instructor teaches consistently than when instructors change during an intervention. In addition, outcomes that include a wide range of tests show smaller effect sizes than those that use more specific measures, such as a unit test.

Overall, the characteristics related to educational context and research methodology explained a substantial portion of the variability in the overall effects.

 

Source: Li, S., Fu, W., Liu, X., & Hwang, G.-J. (2024). Effectiveness of flipped classrooms for k–12 students: Evidence from a three-level meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 00346543241261732. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543241261732… Read the rest