The aim of this study was to examine the effects of teacher supporting tools that present summaries, visualizations, and analyses of student participation and discussion on the way teachers guide ...collaborating groups of students in a digital learning environment. An experimental set-up was used in which authentic student data was converted to simulation vignettes that participants could interact with, enabling them to act as the teacher. The vignettes contained groups that had a problem concerning participation or discussion. When presented with the supporting tools, teachers and student teachers were better able to spot the problems regarding participation, intervened more often in problematic groups as time progressed, and displayed more specific explanations of their actions.
•Effects of two learning analytics (LA) tools on teacher behavior are investigated.•A unique combination of an experimental set-up with authentic vignettes is used.•Teachers show better ability to diagnose problems concerning participation of students.•Teachers display more specific explanations of their actions.
This paper reports on results of research from a 25-year program of studies investigating teacher–student relationships in secondary classrooms. The authors review the research that examines teaching ...from an interpersonal perspective using a communicative systems approach and propose a model to describe teacher–student relationships in terms of teacher behavior. The studies used the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) to collect data on students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the teacher–student relationship. The authors review studies showing that teacher–student relationships appropriate for high student outcomes are characterized by a rather high degree of teacher influence and proximity towards students. Studies on non-verbal behavior and the spatial position of the teacher in the class support the need for beginning teachers to portray the image of an experienced teacher whenever they address the class as a group. The paper concludes that the QTI is a useful research tool, but research on the QTI as a feedback instrument for teachers is insufficient to prove its usefulness.
•Teacher regulation of CSCL was investigated in terms of diagnosing and intervening.•Results demonstrate how teachers regulate multiple groups simultaneously.•Opportunity for teachers to monitor ...student activities real time.•However, this also leads to high information load, with several consequences.•Possible benefit of learning analytics in this situation are discussed.
Teachers regulating groups of students during computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) face the challenge of orchestrating their guidance at student, group, and class level. During CSCL, teachers can monitor all student activity and interact with multiple groups at the same time. Not much is known about the way teachers diagnose student progress and decide upon appropriate interventions when they regulate multiple groups synchronously. This explorative study describes the strategies and experiences related to regulating the activities of seven groups of students, as reported by two teachers, and aimed to widen the framework for describing teacher regulation of CSCL settings that are characterized by synchronicity. Recurring themes included the high amount of information load teachers experienced while diagnosing students’ needs, the focus and level of regulation, and the way the teachers used prior knowledge of students to decide on an intervention after diagnosis. Both teachers valued the ability to monitor student progress online, and mentioned the necessity of students being able to follow the teacher’s activity as well. Theoretical implications are described in terms of understanding teacher regulation, synchronicity, and information load. Practical implications are described for lowering information load.
► Teacher interventions during computer-supported collaborative learning were analyzed. ► Coding was done for focus and means across lessons. ► Focus and means varied between lessons and groups and ...interventions were group-sensitive. ► A remarkably low percentage of interventions focused at students’ social activities. ► Suggestions are made for supporting tools aimed at teachers.
Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments facilitate collaboration between students. There is a growing interest in studying the role of the teacher during CSCL. This study aims to contribute to the conceptualization of teacher interventions during CSCL. A teacher and his class worked in a CSCL environment for 8 lessons. Focus and means of teacher interventions were analyzed across these 8 time points. The results show that the teacher’s behavior varied greatly between lessons and also between groups, which contradicts research that has aggregated teacher behavior to types or teaching styles. Findings consistent across time points include the predominance of the teacher’s focus on students’ cognitive rather than social activities, and a higher number of interventions in groups where student activity was higher. Suggestions are made for future research, which include studying the effectiveness of supporting tools for teachers.
Several researchers have suggested the importance of being responsive to students' needs in research supervision. Adapting support strategies to students' needs in light of the goals of a task is ...referred to as adaptivity. In the present study, the practice of adaptivity is explored by interviewing expert thesis supervisors about diagnosing student characteristics in order to determine students' needs and concurrent adaptive support strategies. The findings suggest that next to competence, supervisors also diagnose elements of students' determination and context. With respect to support strategies, it is suggested that supervisors adapt to student needs in terms of explicating standards, quality or consequences, division of responsibilities, providing more/less critical feedback and sympathising. The complexity of the relationship between diagnosing student characteristics and adapting support strategies is illustrated and needs further study.
Students in the social margins of their classroom peer group, in the current study operationalized as students who are often by themselves, do not belong to a group of friends, and are unpopular, are ...hampered in their social development. In line with social referencing, which states that teachers can affect peer perceptions through their interactions with students, we hypothesized that teachers may contribute to the social participation and integration of these students, by modeling frequent and positive interaction with them. We therefore explored teacher behavior with socially marginalized students, and how these interactions were related to changes in the severity of their social marginality over time. Multilevel analyses were performed with a sample of Dutch 824 fifth-grade students (Mage = 10.63) and their 32 teachers. Teachers had less frequent interactions with students in the social margins of the group, particularly when these students were unpopular. Nonetheless, we found some evidence for a social referencing mechanism: latent growth modeling showed that when teachers acted less negatively toward socially marginalized as well as rejected students, they became more socially integrated in their peer-group over time.
By collaboratively solving a task, students are challenged to share ideas, express their thoughts, and engage in discussion. Collaborating groups of students may encounter problems concerning ...cognitive activities (such as a misunderstanding of the task material). If these problems are not addressed and resolved in time, the collaborative process is hindered. The teacher plays an important role in monitoring and solving the occurrence of problems. To provide adaptive support, teachers continuously have to be aware of students' activities in order to identify relevant events, including those that require intervention. Because the amount of available information is high, teachers may be supported by learning analytics. The present experimental study (n = 40) explored the effect of two learning analytics tools (the Concept Trail and Progress Statistics) that give information about students' cognitive activities. The results showed that when teachers had access to learning analytics, they were not better at detecting problematic groups, but they did offer more support in general, and more specifically targeted groups that experienced problems. This could indicate that learning analytics increase teachers' confidence to act, which in turn means students could benefit more from the teacher's presence.
•It was examined whether learning analytics (LA) support teachers during CSCL.•LA visualized students' cognitive activities.•LA did not improve detection of students' problems nor lowered cognitive load.•LA increased the frequency and probability of teacher interventions.•It is hypothesized that LA increase teachers' confidence of their diagnoses.
We studied the development of teacher–student relationships and teachers' job satisfaction throughout the careers of four veteran teachers who retained high job satisfaction. Teacher data gathered ...with the narrative-biographical method were compared with students' perceptions of the teacher–student relationships, using the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction. Teachers' job satisfaction appeared positively related to the self-reported quality of the teacher–student relationships. Positive retrospective teacher perceptions did not always coincide with positive student perceptions. It appeared that teachers may have positive job satisfaction despite, in the eyes of the students, a poor teacher–student relationship.
► Veteran satisfied teachers report a high quality of the relationship with students. ► Differences between teachers' and students' perception of their relationship. ► Trends revealed in former research were recognized, there are also differences.
The present study investigated whether the classroom social climate varies between lessons. Specifically, the within- and across-lesson associations of coercive and supportive teacher behaviour ...incidents with the classroom social climate were studied. Participants in the study were 48 Dutch secondary school teachers and their classes, that is, 1208 students. Multilevel process analyses showed that supportive behaviour incidents correlated with a positive social climate during the current lesson and the lesson a week later in terms of teacher interpersonal proximity. Supportive behaviour incidents did not, however, correlate with social climate in terms of teacher interpersonal influence. Coercive behaviour incidents correlated with disrupted teacher proximity during the current lesson and the lesson a week later, but did not virtually correlate to increased levels of a teacher’s influence in the classroom.
Teacher-student relationships play a crucial role in the quality of teaching and learning. Daily interpersonal interactions in classrooms are the building blocks of teacher-student relationships. ...With the aim to add to insights on teaching and learning, we specifically explored interpersonal adaptation in daily interactions. Adaptation, i.e., how people respond to each other's actions and reactions, is a defining characteristic of interactions.
We studied 35 classrooms in secondary education. Although the degree and nature of interpersonal adaptation was in general consistent with interpersonal theory, degree of adaptation varied considerably between classrooms. In classrooms with a more preferred teacher-student relationship, behaviour of teachers and the adaptation to the behaviour of their students was more in accordance with professional standards, compared to classrooms with a less preferred relationship.
Conceptualizations and results of the present study contribute to theory on teacher-student interaction, as well as the practice of teacher professional development (e.g., video coaching).
•Studying micro-processes of adaptation in teacher-student interactions is needed.•We obtained continuous time series data using Sadler's computer joystick apparatus.•Complementarity, entrainment, and synchronicity of rhythmic qualities were studied.•All interactions showed entrainment and synchronicity in cyclical patterns.•When necessary, teacher behaviour deviated from the complementarity principle.
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