This study aimed to identify reading behavior profiles in nine-to-eleven year old children based on their think-aloud responses while reading narrative and expository texts. Three profiles emerged... Show moreThis study aimed to identify reading behavior profiles in nine-to-eleven year old children based on their think-aloud responses while reading narrative and expository texts. Three profiles emerged while reading narratives: Literal Readers, who stay close to the literal text by predominantly repeating it; Paraphrasing Readers, who extract meaning from the text by paraphrasing it; and Elaborating Readers, who use background knowledge to explain the text by generating inferences. The three profiles also emerged while reading expository text. Children generally exhibited the same profiles across the two text genres, however, expository texts elicited fewer correct inferences but more invalid inferences than did narratives, suggesting that children are influenced by text demands. Elaborating Readers had better word decoding skills, reading comprehension ability, and non-verbal reasoning ability than readers of the two other profiles, indicating a positive relation between inference generation and language abilities and cognitive resources. Show less
Herein, we provide an introduction to the special issue "Latent variable mixture models in research on learning and individual differences". Latent variable mixture models are argued to be a... Show moreHerein, we provide an introduction to the special issue "Latent variable mixture models in research on learning and individual differences". Latent variable mixture models are argued to be a powerful tool for capturing non-linear and qualitative individual differences in learners' knowledge, characteristics, and development. The current special issue provides an overview of the use of these analytical tools in investigations of learning and individual differences by presenting a wide-range of empirical studies utilizing the methods. A practical non-technical introduction and discussion are also included in the special issue. Show less
Analogical reasoning is essential for acquiring and integrating new knowledge and skills. Although much research has focused on this important skill, children's paths from non-analogical to... Show moreAnalogical reasoning is essential for acquiring and integrating new knowledge and skills. Although much research has focused on this important skill, children's paths from non-analogical to analogical reasoning remain unclear. In this study, 388 children (ages 4–10 years) solved a series of figural analogies within a pretest-training-posttest design, with training comprising either multiple tries (N = 196) or tutoring feedback (N = 192). Working memory tasks were also administered. Latent transition analyses identified five phases with qualitative individual differences in children's analogy solving: duplication, idiosyncratic, beginner analogical, intermediate analogical and advanced analogical reasoning. Children's paths through these phases were not sequential; there was great variability between children and how they progressed through these phases. Working memory was related to children's reasoning phase at pretest, but not to their rate and path of change. Age and the type of feedback received during training were the clearest indicators of children's learning paths and rates of change. Show less
Strategy flexibility, adaptivity, and the use of clever shortcut strategies are of major importance in current primary school mathematics education worldwide. However, empirical results show that... Show moreStrategy flexibility, adaptivity, and the use of clever shortcut strategies are of major importance in current primary school mathematics education worldwide. However, empirical results show that primary school students use such shortcut strategies rather infrequently. The aims of the present study were to analyze the extent to which Dutch sixth graders (12-year-olds) use shortcut strategies in solving multidigit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems, to what extent student factors and task instructions affected this frequency of shortcut strategy use, and to what extent the strategies differed in performance. A sample of 648 sixth graders from 23 Dutch primary schools completed a paper-and-pencil task of 12 multidigit arithmetic problems, designed to elicit specific shortcut strategies such as compensation. Based on the students’ written work, strategies were classified into whether a shortcut strategy was used or not. Results showed that the frequency of shortcut strategies ranged between 6 and 21% across problem types, and that boys and high mathematics achievers were more inclined to use shortcut strategies. An explicit instruction to look for a shortcut strategy increased the frequency of these strategies in the addition and multiplication problems, but not in the subtraction and division problems. Finally, the use of shortcut strategies did not yield higher performance than using standard strategies. All in all, spontaneous as well as stimulated use of shortcut strategies by Dutch sixth graders was not very common. Show less
Hickendorff, M.; Mostert, T.M.M.; Dijk, C.J. van; Jansen, L.L.M.; Zee, L.L. van der; Fagginger Auer, M.F. 2018
We aimed to investigate upper elementary children's strategy use in the domain of multidigit division in two instructional settings: the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium). A cross‐sectional sample... Show moreWe aimed to investigate upper elementary children's strategy use in the domain of multidigit division in two instructional settings: the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium). A cross‐sectional sample of 119 Dutch and 122 Flemish fourth to sixth graders solved a varied set of multidigit division problems. With latent class analysis, three distinct strategy profiles were identified: children consistently using number‐based strategies, children combining the use of column‐based and number‐based strategies, and children combining the use of digit‐based and number‐based strategies. The relation between children's strategy profiles and their instructional setting (country) and grade were generally in line with instructional differences, but large individual differences remained. Furthermore, Dutch children more frequently made adaptive strategy choices and realistic solutions than their Flemish peers. These results complement and refine previous findings on children's strategy use in relation to mathematics instruction. Show less
