Jonathan Smith

Université de Sherbrooke | UdeS

This paper examines fluctuations in motivation to learn over the primary to secondary school transition. Students (N=323) in Quebec, Canada were surveyed at the end of their final year of primary school and at the beginning and end of their first year of secondary school regarding their expectancies for success and the value they placed on learning...

Both personality and motivational characteristics can be considered to estimate individuals’ potential for adjustment and development. That said, these characteristics are rarely studied in conjunction. In this study, we examine how personality and motivational characteristics relate one to the other and influence how students approach learning. Mo...

Students’ mental health has been an increased concern since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, academic outcomes have received very little attention. In this study, changes in students’ achievement motivation are investigated using an expectancy-value framework. Participants (n=90) were high school students (grades 9 and 10) who report...

This article reports an international initiative to develop and validate a situational interest questionnaire in three cultural/linguistic contexts: Canada (French), USA (English), and Taiwan (Chinese). The 20-item solution (α = .90) presented four factors: enjoyment, value, attention/sustained work, and usefulness. These factors and the convergenc...

Objective: This study investigates the effects of an alternative approach to grade retention, known as a “remediation measure”. Method: This measure was tested in 2010-2011 in two high schools in Quebec (Canada) and its effects on students’ achievement motivation were analyzed. Specifically, the evolution of general and domain-specific expectancy a...

Background Several studies conducted since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic have shown its harmful effects on young people’s mental health. In Québec and Canada, few studies have focussed on adolescents, and even fewer of these studies have examined this subject using a methodology that involved comparisons of data obtained before and during...

The use of reward systems is common in education, particularly at the primary school level. Indeed, there are very few classes in primary schools in which such systems are not implemented. Token economy are used to encourage students to adopt appropriate target social and academic behaviors. However, consensus on their effectiveness is lacking. It...

Over the last two decades, several studies have overlooked at-school belonging and engagement, two dimensions that are associated with several positive outcomes. However, the relative influence that contexts and interventions may have on these components has received much less attention. In this study, school belonging and engagement were examined...

Over the last two decades, several studies have overlooked at-school belonging and engagement, two dimensions that are associated with several positive outcomes. However, the relative influence that contexts and interventions may have on these components has received much less attention. In this study, school belonging and engagement were examined...

Relationships that students develop in school exert a major influence on their motivation to learn (Simpkins, Fredricks, & Eccles 2015; Wenzel, 2017). Indeed, whether at elementary or secondary level, students who benefit from warm and supportive relationships with their peers tend to better evaluate their chances of success and the value of learni...

The present study investigated short-term longitudinal effects of COVID-19-related trauma and separation, social, and generalized anxiety symptoms on children’s body image satisfaction. Participants were 247 Canadian children (121 boys, 123 girls) aged between 7 and 12 years (M = 9.04). Two cohorts of parents were recruited to complete a questionna...

L’aménagement physique de la classe n’est pas une préoccupation nouvelle, quoiqu’il fasse l’objet d’un intérêt grandissant depuis quelques années. Pourtant, encore relativement peu d’études scientifiques portent sur le sujet. Quelques recherches sur la classe flexible commencent à émerger, mais elles occultent souvent des dimensions de l’apprentiss...

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents have experienced limitations in their everyday activities. Consequently, their mental health has become an area of concern. However, there has been much less of a focus on the factors and mechanisms contributing to how they have approached their various academic activities during the pandemic. The current s...

In an article published early in 2021, we shared results indicating that expectancy (i.e., competence beliefs) and value (i.e., interest in learning, utility value, mastery and performance goals) perceptions among a sample of 90 French Canadian students ( M age = 14.81) in grades 9 and 10 remained at similar levels from few weeks before the first w...

For many years, studies have explored the relationship between school belonging and engagement, two concepts that are associated with several positive outcomes. However, the relative influence that school climate may have on these components has received little attention. Based on the theoretical perspective of Janosz et al (1998), school belonging...

Humor is a concept that has been examined so far in several fields of study such as health, philosophy, or history, to name a few. In education, the use of humor has been presented as a strategy which, when used sensitively, can create a pleasant atmosphere in the classroom that is not only conducive for student learning, but also for their persona...

Dans le cadre de cette communication, nous comptons examiner attentivement les projets pédagogiques particuliers qui connaissent un essor remarquable depuis le début des années 2000, dans les écoles publiques du Québec. Les projets en question sont conçus et mis en œuvre afin de retenir les élèves issus de milieux plus favorisés et de leur offrir u...

This study investigated the effects of online schooling and screen-based activities on Canadian children’s COVID-19-related trauma and generalized anxiety symptoms and how parents’ coping strategies influenced these associations. The participants were 121 Canadian children aged from 7 to 12. Parents were asked to report on their children’s school a...

The present study explored the impacts of a contextualised outdoor science curriculum on what and how elementary students learn when immersed in the local contexts in which natural phenomena occur. We conducted 63 individual interviews with fifth- and sixth-graders (between 10 and 12 years old) living in the inner city of Montréal, Québec province,...

Despite a growing interest for flexible classrooms in this past decade, few studies have been initiated to investigate this strategy. This exploratory study focusses on teachers’ motivations and inspirations, intentions and ways of implementing flexible classroom, challenges encountered, perceived benefits, and available resources and support helpi...

La pandémie de coronavirus actuelle a bouleversé les pratiques enseignantes. Après avoir été sommés d’interrompre leurs activités à partir du 13 mars 2020, les établissements d’enseignement ont dû graduellement et variablement selon les régions rouvrir leurs portes en mai. Évidemment, cette réouverture nécessitait l’adoption de mesures sanitaires s...

Cet article a pour objectif de documenter l’intention de persister des étudiants en éducation préscolaire et en enseignement primaire. Une analyse de contenu lexicométrique des réponses formulées par un échantillon de 33 d’entre eux a permis de mettre en lumière quelques fondements d’opinions et d’attributions pour rendre compte de cette intention.

As it positively impacts, among other things, students' adjustment, as well as their motivation and academic success, school belonging seems to be a pivotal determinant of the overall quality of a school experience. However, measuring school belonging and predicting high school dropout still remain a challenge for the scientific community. Thus, th...

Introduction. As it plays an important role in students' adjustment, and positively impacts their motivation and academic success, school belonging seems to be a pivotal determinant of the overall quality of a school experience. However, measuring such a belonging and estimating its contribution to the overall quality of school adjustment remain a...

Self-efficacy beliefs (SEB) are known to be significantly predictive of how well individuals perform in specific situations, as well as how they flourish through these. A remarkable amount of research has allowed to unveil the functioning of such beliefs in different contexts. In teaching practice, SEB could influence the level of effort that is ap...

This presentation reports the findings of a research about the personality traits and the development of teacher self-efficacy (TSE) of 92 French-speaking students enrolled in the Quebec’s teacher education program. We monitored changes for three dimensions of TSE occurring at three moments of the third academic year and we discuss them under the l...

Cet article présente les résultats d’une analyse de contenu de nature lexicométrique, réalisée sur un corpus de textes composé de rapports du Groupe de travail sur l’enseignement de l’histoire (1996), du Groupe de travail sur la réforme du curriculum (1997) et du Comité d’experts chargé d’étudier la question du renforcement de l’histoire au seconda...

Cet article propose une analyse conceptuelle des écrits scientifiques anglophones sur la pensée historique sous l’angle de la problématisation des apprentissages. Une telle démarche est nécessaire dans le contexte actuel. D’une part, les prescrits didac- tiques incitent les enseignants à problématiser les apprentissages en classe d’histoire. D’autr...

This pilot project explores the links betw een a personality trait and perceptions that play a prominent role in motivation to learn. Data collected from 30 students w ere submitted to linear regression analysis. Results suggest that a preference for extraversion may coincide with better perceptions about competence and value of learnings.

Tout au long de leur scolarité, les élèves vivent des situations qui peuvent les mener à douter d’eux. En fait, plus ils avancent dans leur parcours, plus ils font face à des demandes et exigences complexes et variées et font l’objet d’évaluations et de comparaisons. De telles circonstances les incitent à faire l’inventaire de leurs ressources pers...

This study assesses the results of a grade-cycle extension course, as an alternative to repeating a grade, on the motivation to learn. The course was taken by students lacking the requisites to move on to the second cycle of secondary school. The students under study were compared with peers of the same age who graduated to the next grade, with res...

This paper presents the results of a lexicometrical analysis of the content of the History and Citizenship Education program implemented in Quebec from 2006 until 2017, in order to shed light on the heated debates that went on during these years. Various actors strongly criticized this program for its avoidance of conflictual social and national ev...

https://fr.calameo.com/read/001898804013bab24cedf

Cette étude cherchait à documenter différentes trajectoires en lien avec l’évolution de la motivation à apprendre dans le contexte de la transition au secondaire. Les résultats jusqu’alors disponibles permettaient surtout d’apprécier les changements généraux, c’est-à dire des diminutions, qui se produisaient sur différentes dimensions associées soi...

http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/2017/12/amotive-a-apprendre/

L’objectif de la présente étude est de documenter l’incidence du soutien des parents et des enseignants en mathématiques, et du rendement en mathématiques sur le choix de filières de formation préuniversitaire des filles comparées aux garçons. Des questionnaires auprès de 586 filles et 543 garçons finissants du secondaire et issus de classes de mat...

The present study examined the link between students’ relationships with teachers and achievement motivation in the context of the transition to secondary school. Participants were 323 French-speaking students from various public schools of the Province of Quebec (Canada). A self-reported questionnaire measuring students’ appreciation of their rela...

Building and sustaining students’ sense of belonging at school has been proposed by teachers and researchers as a means of stimulating students’ intent or desire to learn and of reducing student attrition. This article will present the results of an inquiry into the literature on belonging to support the perspective that is it necessary, not only t...

This article outlines a strategy that we, as high school teachers, used in the academic year 2012-2013 to improve a student’s school engagement. Extracurricular activities such as sports have proven useful (among other strategies) to counter school disengagement, specifically in enhancing positive social relations among the teachers and students in...

La présente étude s'est donnée pour objectif de documenter les fluctuations associées à la motivation à apprendre, à l’adaptation psycho-sociale et aux apprentissages en lecture et en mathématiques à la suite de la transition au secondaire, et ce, en prenant en considération le sexe et le statut socio-économique des élèves. Elle s’est aussi employé...