Winne, P. H. and Nesbit, J. C. (2010). The Psychology of Academic Achievement

Winne, P. H. and Nesbit, J. C. (2010).  The Psychology of Academic Achievement.  Annual Review of Psychology, 61, pp. 653-678.  Retrieved on June 27, 2010 from http://arjournals.annualreviews.org.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100348


Introduction
Winne and Nesbit have developed a unified account (the why, how and under what circumstance) of success or failure in schools to put forward a platform for the improvement of educational practice.  The proposed model has its own limitations, as all models do.  The authors outline the two categories of interest:

1. the psychology of 'the way things are' (e.g. universal phenomenon among learners; subject areas; not everything is under the learners' control); and
2. the psychology of 'the way learners make things' (e.g. how learners recall information, and how long they spend in retrieving it; knowing that success and failure are opportunities for improvement).

The choices made and put into action create new information that feeds the way forward, shaping the individual learning environment.  As it is a limited capacity resource, working memory can hold only so much information.  The framing effect that the environment has on an individual is reflected in the constraints and opportunities that are perceived.  Information that is acquired is more effectively retained when restudying is delayed.


Cognitive factors
Cognitive load theory categorises 'the way things are'.  Progress in some areas of psychology has been hampered by lack of attention to "proximal psychological processes" (pg. 3).  Winne and Nesbit state that academic achievement is the result of self-regulation, and improvements are necessary to transform the constructs and paradigms guiding research.


The example of cognitive load theory
Cognitive load theory models examples of working memory.  Limited capacity in working memory creates a bottleneck in cognition and reduces the flow of information.  Cognitive load makes up the component parts of the total learning experience:

• intrinsic load is the level of difficulty experienced when first engaging in a task where the number of activities are indexed interactively against schema required to perform the task;
• the results that are formed from cognitive processing create schemata and enhance performance; and
• extrinsic processing is any unnecessary processing that can be eliminated.

As these three components are additive, their sum total cannot be more than working memory capacity.


Winne and Nesbit indicate that although cognitive load is generally accepted and liberally cited in research, it is '"typically disregarded" (pg. 5) outside learning science domains.  Observation reveals that individuals experience increased cognitive load as more difficult indicating that working memory overload is consciously experienced.  Segmenting tasks for sequential work or using external artefacts eases overload (e.g. notes, maps).  While the cost of adopting new learning tactics initially adds to the level of difficulty, it should be seen as a long term investment in self.


Metacognitive factors
Metacognition is a two-step process with critical features.  In the first stage, individuals process situation awareness consisting of monitoring knowledge and consequences to action.  The metacognitive account is individual perception which may differ from actual qualities and lead to standard setting for the individual (i.e. how an individual feels about what is thought of and the subsequent action taken).  The second feature is based on the differences between individual situation awareness and standards, and how the individual exerts control (i.e. adapts, changes course, exits).  Together the process regulates self-learning.  Identifiable metacognitive achievements can be classified as:

• being alert to changes in situation;
• the selection and implementation of standards;
• accuracy of perception;
• the selection and implementation of successful strategies;
• the motivation to act; and
• modifying or locating the environment that facilitates action.

Assimilation and application of standards is a practiced skill that requires accurate self-perception.  Simplistic misinterpretation (e.g. what is important in graded assignments) may lead to a detailed focus with an incorrect perspective (e.g. work may be judged using global standards, rather than using more specific targets).  Research shows that individuals are poor at learning and are overconfident.  Judgments shift from overconfidence to underconfidence when recall is ineffective. By engaging with the information individuals improve personal accuracy by recalling experience, not just by using working memory.


Metacognitive skills facilitate learning of tactics and compares pre-training and post-training performance.  In general, individuals do not optimise metacognitive skills, and schooling has not resolved the issue.  Investigations are ongoing.


Motivational factors
Motivation can be divided into two categories: factors that either direct or limit the choice to engage, and factors that affect the strength and focus of engagement.  Winne and Nesbit state that we are prone to motivation when driven by satisfaction or similar, and review literature on motivation in goal-oriented frameworks.


Achievement goals
Achievement goals play an instrumental role in orienting the individual to what is learned.  Issues researchers face lie in understanding whether achievement goals sustain individuals during task performance. Goals represent the standard an individual is aiming for by monitoring situation awareness, and are classified as the choice for action (behaviour).  This behaviour is typically observed in students: some individuals prefer to approach a task by gaining a deep and thorough comprehension of the subject, gaining substantial increase in expertise; while some others prefer to use the opportunity to prove competence.  These differing approaches to the same task indicate that individuals may exercise metacognitive control to choose the tactics that facilitate learning.


Interest

Interest, knowledge and knowledge structure increase achievement and interest potential.  The two main forms of interest have been categorised as individual interest and situational interest.  Individual interest predicts the category (e.g. an interest in science).  Situational interest creates the opportunity for the individual to interact (e.g. either with the person/feature/environment/task).  Individuals who receive feedback about task engagement and performance that is holistically representative of self-evaluation acquire a higher degree of interest in the task and method of engagement.  The self-concept of ability correlates positively with interest and regulates achievement levels.  Monitoring developed skills facilitates future perception and task engagement.  Individuals achieve positive states of being when interest in the context is established.  Persistence is seen as a key attribute in acquiring more.  Caution is advised as interest can lead individuals into less relevant content.  Expertise predicts a higher level of interest, but does not correlate with a higher degree of performance.


Epistemic beliefs
Matching aptitude with the task is crucial.  The manner in which an individual perceives the environment (e.g. how we distinguish the context) relates to the way knowledge is understood and acquired (e.g. the origin of knowledge, how knowledge changes and how knowledge is structured).  Individuals who can distinguish between information and knowledge can approach a task that is ill-structured and comprehend a contextual methodology (e.g. being given a task that has no clarity or significance).


Muis created new knowledge from combined research in epistemic beliefs and self-regulated learning.  The four main findings from her work are that:

• learners observe features of tasks that reflect epistemic qualities;
• they use these perceptions to set goals and frame plans for accomplishing work;
• as work on a standard task proceeds, learners use epistemic standards to metacognitively monitor and regulate learning practices; and
• engaging in successful self-regulated learning can alter epistemic beliefs, specifically toward a more constructive stance.

Context factors
Peer supported learning
Groups comprising of five to six members can be said to offer "multiple social, motivational, behavioural and academic benefits" (pg. 9).  When forming groups, sociomotivational or cognitive aspects of collaboration in learning highlight positive interdependence and individual accountability.  Groups are generally mixed and include differing levels of aptitude, gender and ethnicity.  Setting goals that facilitate working together is an incentive to address mutual support within the group.  Small groups are more equipped to develop social skills, constructive feedback skills and give encouragement to other members.  The effect of learning interventions positively increases characteristics in attaining success, social competence, self-concept and task.  Embedding activities within daily interaction (e.g. individual - computer; individual - individual; individual - information) supports group learning promoting individual cognitive and metacognitive operations more effectively than individual learning can.  Group learning may help individuals to retain metacognitive self-control.  There are more opportunities within groups to provide an holistic increase in learning than with private study (e.g. asking questions).  How effective the learning environment becomes depends on the commitment levels of each group member.  Individuals who create their own knowledge from information learn better than individuals who are given the answer.  Relevancy of discussion reveals what has been absorbed.


Observation has proven that groups of individuals:

• with similar ability tend to regress in performance;
• with adult/child type interaction, only the child benefits from adult expertise and sensitivity (e.g. adult teaches child to read).

Classroom and class size
Achievement gains in individuals occur when class size is at fifteen students or fewer.  Observations conducted in the UK (children eleven years and under) revealed that children benefited from increased one-to-one interaction with the adult.  Difficulties faced stemmed from teacher-directed collaboration without consideration for alternative methods required in smaller groups.  A key factor in the performance/achievement of an individual rests in their sense of community and self-worth.  Both teaching and learning methods are outcomes of metacognitive control.  Metacognitive control sets the standard an individual aspires to.


Homework
While there are many opinions and theories regarding homework, work done by Cooper in 1989 and 2006 maps the relationship between academic achievement and homework.  The positive effects of homework are based in a morass of variables.  The three levels of analysis identified are:

• a positive relationship between the frequency of assigned homework and class achievement;
• achievement that positively relates to effort but not the time it takes to do homework; and
• in longitudinal studies, homework time related positively to achievement.

How an individual establishes self-perception sustains the creative loop of goal setting and self-regulation that predicts academic achievement.  Effective training in self-monitoring reduces the need for parental interaction.


Socioeconomic status
The environment in which a child is brought up determines individual attitude and perception (world view) regardless of socioeconomic status.  An environment that is descriptive of its attitude will predict future outcome (e.g. households where adults embed daily interactive reading activities with children).


Persistent debates
Discovery learning
Learning through discovery has been found to be more effective than teaching an answer.  Winne and Nesbit quote Piaget "each time one prematurely teaches a child something he could have discovered for himself, that child is kept from inventing it and consequently understanding it completely" (pg.15).  Discovery learning depends on curriculum based projects (e.g. science, math).  Exposing the children to questions develops creativity.  Unguided or minimal guidance allows the teacher to provide the framework (learning environment) the students can create their own meaning from (e.g. observation reveals that children work through and understand problem solving strategies more effectively when they are helped through a procedure better than when they are taught the answer).  Active learning (e.g. hands on experience) embeds cognitive engagement in goal setting.  Students who have had an opportunity to view the procedure before practice are more capable.  Instruction and self-explanation enhance procedural learning, but only self-explanation can be used as a transferable skill.  The teaching role in this approach to education lies in monitoring strategy and the direction of exploration that each student takes.


The cognitive workload is only accessible when a 'problem space' has been cleared in the individuals' mind.  Timing is critical in metacognitive guidance.


Methodological issues in modeling a psychology of academic achievement
Paradigmatic issues
Research into individual learning trajectories has not been able to accurately predict long term forecasts simply because most observation has been conducted under 'snapshot' situations (e.g. researchers interact with participants for a relatively short time and cannot predict outcomes of future situations).  More data on individual metacognitive control and goal setting procedures is required to fully understand the conditions of learning trajectories.  Related to this is the idea of merging the psychologies of "the way things are" and "the way we make things".


Shapes for future research
Winne and Nesbit state that the two streams of educational psychology are merging.  One stream has a focus on environmental impact (e.g. class size, epistemic belief, social interactions) while the other stream looks at how students work within their parameters (e.g. the way things are).  Students find their own level of comfort through a mix of exploration and instruction to develop individual accounts of learning and goal setting procedures (trial and error).  Future research will reveal the science behind the way we make things, in turn revealing the nature of standard setting.