Journal of Educational Psychology – Annotated Notes & Reflections

Week One: October 18-22

Boden, K. K., Zepeda, C. D., & Nokes- Annotation:
Malach, T. J. (2020). Achievement Boden et al. primarily discuss two different
Goals and Conceptual Learning: An types of “goal-talk” that teachers employ in
Examination of Teacher Talk. Journal their classrooms. The first is performance-
of Educational Psychology, 112(6), focused teacher talk. This talk is characterized
1221–1242. by the statement: “In our class, getting good
grades is the main goal.” This talk has had
self-reported negative affects such as anxiety,
anger, decreased persistence, and self-
handicapping strategies. As well,
performance-based talk does not lead to
higher conceptual learning. However, There is
evidence to suggest that higher academic
achievement is attained in college settings.
The second type of “goal-talk” is mastery-
focused teacher talk. This is characterized by
the phrase: “In our class, trying hard is very
important.” This talk has numerous self-
reported benefits such as increased enjoyment
and positive mood, increased self-efficacy,
persistence on tasks, and use of metacognitive
strategies. Despite these benefits, mastery-
focused teacher talk has not been linked
towards increased academic achievement.
This study found that teachers who employed
master-focused talk experienced higher
growth in conceptual learning.

Reflection:
In my practicum experience, I have made a
concerted effort to be aware of the
implications that my language has on student
motivation. What I have learned from great
teachers is that it is never a good idea to
‘teach for the test’. This is for a number of
reasons that this article points out. By
emphasising performance, students become
focused on just that – performing. Academic
performance is not always indicative of deep
learning. I have experienced this both as a
teacher, and as a student. I am happy that I
have found academic literature that supports
this.
 All of this being said however, I acknowledge
that we operate in a learning model that
values achievement. This is sometimes
explicit, but quite often it is implicit. Students
value achievement among their peers. It is a
difficult task for teachers to help students
redefine what deep learning looks like.
Students care about marks. Parents care about
marks. Credit-based courses care about
marks. What I tried to achieve in my
practicum is a balance between these two
focuses. There have been times where I am
able to acknowledge that the language I used
has been performance based. I justified this
language because of the fact that students
must demonstrate a certain level of
performance in order graduate. The evidence
that this article provides supports this
justification. Performance-focused talk does
in many circumstances increase academic
achievement. However, it is the ability to
scale back that performance-focused talk
when mastery-focused talk is more
appropriate is what makes a good teacher.

Week Two: October 25-29

Dupere, V. (2021). Social Contagion and Annotation:
High School Dropout: The Role of This study sought out to determine whether
Friends, Romantic Partners, and social contagion theory applied in the context
Siblings. Journal of Educational of high school students who choose to drop
Psychology, 113(3), 572–584. out without earning a diploma. Through
interview-based evidence, this article suggests
that students who have experienced a
significant other (romantic partner, sibling,
friend) drop out of school, the likeliness of
themselves dropping out as well increases
significantly. The researchers also found that
this phenomenon occurs frequently in schools
where students come from low-income
backgrounds. In order to address this issue,
these researchers suggest that prevention
programs should be targeting such students.

Reflection:
When I was a student in high school, I was
fortunate enough to not come from a low-
 income background. I also had a very positive
experience in high school; I preformed well,
participated in numerous extra-curricular
activities, and had a number of close friends.
One thing that I have learned about myself
during this practicum is that this privileged
perspective has influenced how I expect my
own students to view school. I had a fantastic
time and focused, so why shouldn’t they? For
many, high school is a very difficult period of
their lives. Students at this age are also very
impressionable and can be easily influenced
by the actions of their peers and trusted
intimates. A friend dropping out may appear
to be a justification as to why dropping out is
acceptable. There are a handful of students in
my classes that I can tell are not having the
same high school experience that I had. As a
teacher, I try to help them see the greater
picture and the importance of high school
from a different perspective. I have had
conversations with students who have asked
me “How important is high school really…”
My response to them is that while the material
may fade away with time, the social lessons
are what will stay with them (a sense of
personal responsibility, how to interact with
others, time management, etc.). As well, I will
let them know that life becomes much more
difficult when you shut doors for yourself
before you even reach them. Thankfully, my
placement school has a fantastic wellness
team whom I have leaned on a number of
times.

Week Three: November 1-5

Morell, M., Yang, J. S., Gladstone, J. R., Annotation:
Turci Faust, L., Ponnock, A. R., Lim, Researchers in this article are interested in
H. J., & Wigfield, A. (2021). Grit: The specifying an academic definition of grit for
Long and Short of It. Journal of the purposes of measuring it and determining
Educational Psychology, 113(5), 1038– whether grit is a viable indicator of academic
1058. success. From their research they provide
several key findings. Such findings include:
- Grit has different meanings in
different cultures, with the implication
being that if being used as an
 observational tool, one must take
cultural influences into consideration
- The perseverance of effort is the
aspect of grit that most accurately
predicts academic success
These researchers caution educators who look
towards grit as a means of accomplishing
challenging tasks because grit is yet to be
clearly defined.

Reflection:
Personally, I am a firm believer in grit as a
fundamental skill that students ought to
develop if they wish to succeed academically.
However, this article has me considering how
I perceive grit, verses how other students
from different contexts perceive grit. Some
students may show grit by simply showing up
to class that day. For that student’s situation,
this action may demonstrate a perseverance of
effort. I am not always aware of what my
students are going through in their personal
lives and how much they are truly challenging
themselves. As well, my standard of
demonstrating grit as a pre-service teacher, is
likely different that my student’s standard. I
know that I need to address this disconnection
with some of my students. I may not
appreciate the presence of my students who
show up sporadically as much as I should.
That is because I do not have a clear enough
understanding of their perspective. My
challenge then becomes: “What is the most
effective way to understand the perspective of
my students?” I believe that I have some
fairly strong relationship-building skills. As
well, I also try to keep in mind that students
may not feel comfortable disclosing personal
details to me. What I have done in the past is
direct students to our wellness center. These
people are much more capable than I am
when it comes to addressing potential issues
at home. I am very thankful for the work that
they put in. Moving forward, I am going to
try and remind myself of my own biases and
standards in order to reconsider whether grit
 really is being demonstrated.

Week Four: November 8-12

Nancekivell, S. E., Shah, P., & Gelman, S. A. Annotation:
(2020). Maybe They're Born With It, or These researchers are less concerned with the
Maybe It's Experience: Toward a validity of the “learning style” concept and
Deeper Understanding of the Learning are more interested in why the myth still
Style Myth. Journal of Educational persists among educators and non-educators.
Psychology, 112(2), 221–235. They found that educators who work with
younger students are more likely to support
the “learning style” myth than their
counterparts who teach older students.
Contrary to initial beliefs, age, race, and
gender were not factors associated were not
found to be determining factors as to whether
an educator may have an essentialist
perspective. Finally, despite having
professional experience with students,
educators were nearly just as likely as non-
educators to support the neuroeducational
myth.

Reflection:
I have learned through my university courses
of the “learning styles” myth. At this point, I
am well-aware of the lack of evidence to
support the theory. However, I believe that it
manifests itself subconsciously in the teaching
strategies that I employ on occasion. For
example, when I allow students to create a
poster rather than write a report, am I
justifying this decision by suggesting that
those who have different “learning styles”
should have an opportunity to demonstrate
their knowledge? Or am I making this
decision to support students who are weaker
writers to demonstrate their thinking in an
alternative format? While these justifications
both sound similar, there are some very
distinct differences. Once such difference is
that the “learning style” myth is very
deterministic. Whereas the second
explanation may take other contextual
information into consideration. Maybe this
student is ESL. Just because they are ESL,
doesn’t mean that they are “visual learners”.
 This distinction makes all the difference! The
“learning style” myth is also rooted in a fixed-
mindset perspective. It suggests that someone
is innately incapable of developing a new
method of learning or expression. This
determinism does not do a student any
favours, as it legitimizes a lack of effort in
one area that requires growth.

Week Five: November 15-19

Neugebauer, S. R., & Gilmour, A. F. (2020). Annotation:
The Ups and Downs of Reading Across This article connects the characteristics of
Content Areas: The Association self-determination theory (SDT) to reading
Between Instruction and Fluctuations in motivation across content areas. It finds that
Reading Motivation. Journal of when students are empowered with the
Educational Psychology, 112(2), 344– opportunity to choose texts that they are
363. interested in or are relevant to them, their
motivation to read was enhanced. The article
cautions educator’s use of didactic materials
(textbooks and worksheets) when promoting
reading, as this inhibited reading motivation.
As well, the researchers in this article strongly
encouraged social autonomy – the ability to
choose partners to discuss a text – in order to
bolster reading motivation. All indications
point towards the environmental
circumstances of a classroom as being the
primary factors for reading motivation.

Reflection:
Applying the concepts of self-determination
theory into my practice was one of my goals
leading into my internship. What I have
experienced is that I am significantly limited
in my ability to provide student choice based
on a number of factors. One factor is resource
availability. Unfortunately, there are only so
many texts that are available in any given
textbook centre. As well, I am limited
financially as to which resources I can select
from digitally. I have found it quite difficult
to find open-access resources that are high
quality and grade-level appropriate. As well,
facilitating learning experiences that are
consistently unique is very demanding
mentally and emotionally – especially as an
 intern student still developing capability in
other aspects of the profession. This being
said, I have observed that the lessons where I
do plan for student autonomy and relatedness,
students demonstrate a level of motivation
that makes the work worth it. That way, I do
not have to reteach the concept in the next
lesson. It is because I engaged students in a
manner that motivated them to participate and
make meaning for themselves. As I move
further into my teaching career, one of my
goals is going to be planning such activities
and units that integrate SDT principles in a
sustainable manner. There have been a
number of classes thus far that have provided
such motivation. This ha included letting
students choose their own inquiry questions to
examine.

Week Six: November 22-26

Travis, J., Kaszycki, A., Geden, M., & Bunde, Annotations:
J. (2020). Some Stress is Good Stress: Researchers in this study differentiate
The Challenge-Hindrance Framework, between two kinds of stress: stress that is
Academic Self-Efficacy, and Academic challenging, and stress that is a hinderance.
Outcomes. Journal of Educational They find that challenging stress - classified
Psychology, 112(8), 1632–1643. by high difficulty and high expectations –
actually motivate students to succeed.
However, not all stress is challenging stress.
Hinderance stress on the other hand is
characterized by ambiguous expectations and
favoritism. These stressors are unmanageable
or uncontrollable for students. It is from this
lack of control where students demonstrate
hinderance stress. The data collected by these
researchers supports their hypothesis that
challenging stress and hinderance stress have
separate effects on student outcomes such as
GPA and transfer intentions. While some
stress is good stress as the title suggests, it is
more about what specific type of stress is
being levied.

Reflection:
I included this article into my schedule after a
conversation with one of my fellow interns.
We were discussing Vygotsky’s Zone of
 Proximal Development and how teachers
frequently forget that students are supposed to
struggle in this zone to a certain extent. With
this struggle likely comes some form of
stress. I was curious to discover the extent to
which such stress is healthy for learners.
Throughout my internship, I have been
searching to find the most appropriate degree
of difficulty for my assessments. This
responsive teaching I believe only comes with
experience and gaining an understanding of
student’s ability levels from class to class. It
is a common assumption that you only get
better by challenging your current abilities.
However, my responsibility is to facilitate a
manageable challenging of abilities that
students will grow from, and not shy away
from. This article uses the language of
“manageable” and “unmanageable”.
However, I make sense of these concepts by
using the terms “controllable” and
“uncontrollable”. I use these concepts when I
am coaching, as well as in my own life. To
manage stress, you need to “control the
controllables”, meaning take care of what you
have the ability to take care of, While in some
cases, you can do your best to ignore the
uncontrollables, they can still provide a
hindering stress on some students. That is
where as an educator, I can control some of
my student’s uncontrollables. I can ensure
that I have prepared them with the necessary
skills and tools in order to be successful. Be
this a study guide for a test, an essay-writing
outline, or time in class to prepare a response,
I can provide these to students in order to
reduce their hinderance stress. The remaining
stress then is up to them to manage.

Week Seven: November 29-December 3

Van Ryzin, M. J., & Roseth, C. J. (2018). Annotation:
Cooperative Learning in Middle The findings presented by these researchers
School: A Means to Improve Peer suggest that in the middle school context,
Relations and Reduce Victimization, cooperative learning opportunities mitigate a
Bullying, and Related Outcomes. number of the social problems that give rise
Journal of Educational Psychology, to bulling. Through positive academic peer
 110(8), 1192–1201. interaction, students break down barriers
between them and find commonalities
amongst themselves. However, in order for
cooperative learning to have this intended
outcome, cooperative learning opportunities
must be structured accordingly in order to
ensure that students remain on task and
focused on accomplishing a common goal.

Reflection:
I agree with the sentiment provided by the
researchers in this article. Bullying will not be
eliminated if we isolate each student in the
name of fear. Students need to learn what
proper social interactions look like in order to
overcome bullying. However, educators have
to walk a razor’s edge. We need to be
considerate of student’s feelings regarding
who they are grouped with. I have had
students privately express to me that they do
not want to work with certain students in my
class for reasons that extend outside my
classroom walls. As a professional educator, I
need to make the decision as to whether or not
any given cooperative learning activity is the
most appropriate time to try and solve such an
issue. As well, if a student confides in me this
issue and I disrespect their wishes, I run the
risk of forever damaging my relationship with
them. Therefore, I can recognize the merit of
this journal article. However, I also
understand that each class has its own
context. It is my responsibility to ensure that
all of my students feel like they are in a safe
place. That is where the structure becomes so
important. In my classes, I always ensure that
students have a clear purpose when they are
sent to work in groups. This way, I can hold
them accountable when I am visiting them. It
helps the conversations to remain relevant to
lesson material.

Week Eight: December 6-10

Wissinger, D. R., De La Paz, S., & Jackson, Annotation:
C. (2021). The Effects of Historical The authors investigated the effects of
Reading and Writing Strategy teaching fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade
 Instruction With Forth- Through Sixth- students historical reading and writing
Grade Students. Journal of Educational strategies, using a cognitive apprenticeship
Psychology, 113(1), 49–67. model of instruction, on their general and
argumentative historical writing. The 5-week
intervention yielded positive effects on the
length, holistic quality, and argumentative
historical writing of fourth through sixth
graders. However, students with stronger
incoming reading proficiency generally
benefitted more from experimental
instruction. The positive effect in students’
argumentative historical writing was still
evident six weeks after instruction ended.
This study has implications for teaching
historical literacies to students in upper
elementary and beginning middle-level
classrooms.

Reflection:
I try to get my students to see the similarities
between the written tasks that we complete in
class, and the frequent formal/informal
debates that we participate in. In both
situations, we are trying to practice the same
skills. However, students are seemingly not
always aware of the relationship between the
two. In order to bridge this gap, I have been
aware of the language that I am using when
describing the structure of debates. I ask my
students to “take a stance supported by
evidence”. This way, they are ware that there
formative learning activities are meant to
scaffold towards a formal writing assignment.
In addition to this, I try to instill in my
students the value of evidence in
argumentation. Our ideas cannot come from
nowhere! By getting into the habit of
providing evidence to claims every day in
class, I am encouraging my students to do the
same in their written responses.

Week Nine: December 13-17

Xu, K. M., Koorn, P., de Koning, B., Annotation:
Skuballa, I. T., Lin, L., Henderikx, M., The experimental study is based on a sample
Marsh, H. W., Sweller, J., & Paas, F. of secondary school students who were
(2021). A Growth Mindset Lowers presented a short lesson on how sound travels.
Perceived Cognitive Load and Improves The study showed that cultivating a growth
Learning: Integrating Motivation to mindset helped the learners adopt learning
Cognitive Load. Journal of Educational goals that focus on development of
Psychology, 113(6), 1177–1191. knowledge and skill. Learners also
experienced less cognitive load and achieved
deeper understanding of the lesson. These
results imply that interventions targeting
growth mindset may indeed increase learner
motivation and improve learning.

Reflection:
In my classroom, I aim to cultivate a culture
of growth. I do this by trying to establish
common language amongst myself and my
students so that we better understand what a
growth mindset is. If this step is skipped, and
I simply tell students to have a growth
mindset, this will more likely than not go over
their heads. That is because students have not
yet formulated a meaning of this concept for
themselves. I began this semester by showing
students a video that explains growth mindset
in order to initiate the conversation. I have
experienced over the previous months that
students did not seem to grasp the concept of
a growth mindset as much as I would have
wanted them to. I may not have given them
sufficient opportunity to make meaning for
themselves. This is something that I am going
to keep in mind for the next class I teach. The
metacognitive strategies must not be
substituted for content, as the content will not
be as impactful without the metacognition.