Anastasia N. Sidneva

Introduction. The need to develop students’ ability to learn independently has been a widely discussed issue in the theory and practice of education over the past 50 years (in research on learning to learn, self-regulated learning, metacognitive learning, etc.). If we understand instruction as a system of activities by the student and teacher, associated primarily with the transmission of cultural experience, then studying the psychological mechanism for accepting and using the proffered knowledge as an orientation for future actions is highly relevant.

Objective. We surmised that the ability to use given knowledge in the school instruction process (which we call “orientation towards given knowledge” [OGK]) would differ between fourth-graders studying in traditional educational systems (TE) and those in Developmental Education (DE), since these systems differ significantly in the principles of the selection learning material and organization of learning activity. We also sought to clarify the correlation between OGK and such important educational outcomes as the ability to identify the most important thing in a text, logical skills, memorization skills, and academic achievement.

Design. To diagnose OGK, we gave fourth-graders (N = 115) the definition of a concept, an instruction to recognize and identify objects as either being described or not described by that concept, and 10 recognition problems in the form of short texts. We assessed the level of OGK by counting the number of problems for which the answer was justified by the given definition. In addition, we measured the ability to identify the main point in the text, logical skills, and random memorization skills.

Results. Almost a quarter of all the fourth-graders (25.7%) failed to use the given definition at all; however, the DE students demonstrated a higher level of OGK (U = 2038, p < .01) significantly more often. OGK among general sample also correlated with the ability to identify the most important thing in a text (R = 0.31, p < .001), logical skills (R = +0.35, p < .001), and memorization skills (R = +0.195, p < .05 for short-term memory and R = +0.301, p < .01 for long-term memory).

Conclusions. Possible reasons for the cognitive performance of the fourth-graders are discussed. We argue that orientation towards given knowledge can be considered an essential condition for effective learning, and therefore serious attention should be paid to its development.

Background. While the current literature provides valuable insight into how school climate perceptions and student motivation impact academic achievement, research examining the mediating effects of motivation in the linking of an innovative educational system, school climate, and achievement is limited. This study considers the potential of the El’konin–Davydov system of developmental education as a basis for educational innovation. Self-determination theory is applied as a useful theoretical framework that allows for consideration of both the intensity and the quality of academic motivation.

Objective. The study examines a model that illustrates the role of intrinsic and different types of extrinsic motivation in linking the El’konin–Davydov system of developmental education (DE) and school climate to the academic achievement of elementary schoolchildren.

Design. Participants were 345 third and fourth graders drawn from four public schools in Moscow, with some (N = 192, 2 schools) educated in the traditional system and others (N = 153, 2 schools) in one that follows the DE system. A cross-sectional design was implemented.

Results. Students in the DE system showed significantly lower external motivation for all three subscales (Parents, Teachers, General) and perceived school climate more favorably. Structural equation modeling showed that the hypothesized model fit the data well, supporting the hypothesis that student external motivation plays a mediating role in linking educational system (innovative vs. traditional) with academic achievement. Students’ autonomous motivation was shown to play a mediating role in linking positive perceptions of school climate with academic achievement.

Conclusion. The elementary school students from developmental education classes compared to their peers from traditional education classes demonstrate more positive profile of academic motivation including lower external motivation, more positive attitude towards school and study; however, the two groups do not differ in the level of intrinsic, identified, and introjected motivations.

Background. Studies have shown the great importance of early mathematical development as a predictor of subsequent success, which poses the question of how to organize preschool mathematical education with a view to the children’s age characteristics, including their cognitive development. In other words, mathematical concepts and actions should be formed with the help of teaching resources appropriate to the child’s development.

Objective. To determine the effectiveness of three teaching resources (examples, models, and symbols) in formation of the concept of magnitude in older preschoolers (ages 6–7) with different levels of executive function.

Design. Four training programs (with 15 twenty-minute lessons each) were developed and conducted in a formative experiment for older preschoolers with different levels of development of executive functions. The lessons addressed the concept of magnitude (length, area, volume), using different types of teaching resources: exemplars (in traditional and game variants), models, and symbols. The total sample of 116 subjects (44% boys) was divided into 4 groups for each of the programs, plus a control group in which no sessions were conducted. The groups were equalized according to the initial level of development of concepts of magnitude and the level of development of executive functions.

Results. There was a statistically significant increase in the quality of mastery of the concept of magnitude in three experimental groups (“symbolic,” “traditional,” and “traditional with game elements”) compared with the control group. The formative effect of the “model-building” program showed no significant differences from the effect of the child’s natural development (the control group). We also showed that children with a low level of regulation learned mathematical concepts more effectively with the “symbolic” program; children with a medium level of regulation with the “symbolic” and any variant of the “traditional” program; and children with a high level of regulation with the “symbolic” and “model-building” programs.

Conclusion. The findings underline the importance of both the type of teaching resources used and the level of development of voluntary regulation, when teaching mathematics to preschoolers.