Showing papers in "Journal of Experimental Education in 2007"

Sense of Belonging in College Freshmen at the Classroom and Campus Levels.

Abstract: The importance of students' sense of school belonging for many adaptive outcomes is becoming well established; however, few researchers have focused on college-aged populations. In this study, the authors examined associations between undergraduate students' sense of class belonging and their academic motivation in that class, their sense of class belonging and perceptions of their instructors' characteristics, and their class and campus-level sense of belonging. They distributed questionnaires to students at a southeastern university; freshmen (N = 238) completed the questionnaire. The authors found associations between (a) students' sense of class belonging and their academic self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and task value; (b) students' sense of class-level belonging and their perceptions of instructors' warmth and openness, encouragement of student participation, and organization; and (c) students' sense of university-level belonging and their sense of social acceptance. The authors found smaller ...

Motivational factors influencing teaching as a career choice: Development and validation of the FIT-Choice Scale.

Abstract: The authors apply current influential models from the motivational literature to develop the comprehensive factors influencing teaching choice (FIT-Choice) scale, to measure factors influencing the choice to teach for beginning preservice teacher education candidates. They validate the scale using 2 large cohorts (N = 488; 652) and describe the factors that teacher education candidates identified as most important in their decision to teach. Furthermore, the authors examine longitudinal relationships for participants who have now completed their teaching qualification (N = 294) to determine how entry motivations relate to exit levels of teaching engagement and professional development aspirations. The study makes several important theoretical contributions: The authors extend the values component of the expectancy-value motivational framework, go beyond high school students to examine career choices of adults, and specifically examine the domain of teaching as a career choice. The new FIT-Choice measure p...

Academic and Psychological Functioning in Late Adolescence: The Importance of School Belonging

Abstract: Few researchers have considered the influence of school context, an important construct at earlier ages, on late adolescents' college adjustment. In a sample of second-semester freshmen (N = 266), the authors explored associations between a sense of school belonging and academic and psychological adjustment. Students' reports of belonging at the university as well as in high school were both significant in predicting current academic (e.g., grades, academic competence) and psychological adjustment (i.e., self-worth, internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors), even after controlling for other important demographic and relationship factors. Last, the authors found that parental education (i.e., whether the participant was a first-generation college student) interacted with high school belonging in predicting externalizing problem behaviors.

Promoting Argument-Counterargument Integration in Students' Writing

Abstract: It is important, when writing opinion essays, for students to consider and integrate both arguments and counterarguments to develop a final conclusion. In this article, the authors explored the effect of criteria instruction and a graphic organizer to promote integration of arguments and counterarguments. The researchers randomly assigned 84 participants from an undergraduate educational psychology course to 1 of 4 conditions: training only, organizer only, combined, and control. The graphic organizer resulted in more refutations of counterarguments. However, criteria instruction resulted in better integration of argument and counterargument (with stronger rebuttals and more balanced reasoning). The authors discussed how the 2 interventions may have activated somewhat different argumentation schema in students.

A Cross-National Comparison Study on the Accuracy of Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Middle-School Mathematics Students

Abstract: In this cross-national study, the authors compared mathematics self-efficacy beliefs of American (n = 107) and Taiwanese (n = 188) middle-school students for level and calibration (accuracy and bias). Taiwanese students surpassed Americans in math achievement. American students evidenced slightly higher self-efficacy levels for easy math items but a steeper decline for moderately difficult items than did Taiwanese students. Nationality differences in level of self-efficacy diminished for difficult math items. For calibration, American students reported less accurate self-efficacy beliefs than did Taiwanese students for all items, although the accuracy of both groups declined with items of higher difficulty. Postperformance self-evaluation judgments of Taiwanese students decreased as item difficulty increased, whereas American students' judgments decreased from easy items to moderate items, but remained unchanged with difficult items. The authors found no effects for gender or gender-nationality interactio...

Predicting the Academic Motivation of Rural High School Students.

Abstract: The authors investigated predictive relationships among student characteristics that influence motivation for learning and achievement. Participants were students (N = 900) from all 4 grade levels in 18 rural public high schools in the south-western United States. The authors used AMOS 4.0 (J. L. Arbuckle & W. Wothke, 1996) to test a hypothesized path model in development and validation subsamples. Variables included perceptions of classroom climate, perceived ability, perceived instrumentality of instruction, and achievement goals as predictors of engagement and effort in school. The model fit the data reasonably well, with relatively minor variations in the strength of the paths between subsamples. The authors discuss implications for research and classroom practice.

The Roles of Instructional Practices and Motivation in Writing Performance

Abstract: The authors investigated what and how instructional practices are related to students' motivation and performance in writing. The participants were 6 teacher interns and their (N = 209) secondary-school students in Hong Kong. In a 3-session instruction unit, the teacher interns taught their students how to write an expository essay. The students completed the essay and then a questionnaire to report their motivation in the task and their perception of the instruction. Results of structural equation modeling showed that students' motivation mediated the effects of instructional practices on writing performance. The authors found that when the teachers adopted more motivating teaching strategies, the students were more motivated. When the students were more motivated, they, in turn, had better performance in writing.

Using Achievement Goals and Interest to Predict Learning in Physical Education

Abstract: On the basis of an integrated theoretical approach to achievement motivation, the authors designed this study to investigate the potential influence of mastery goal, performance-approach and avoidance-approach goals, individual interest, and situational interest on students' learning in a physical education softball unit. The authors collected and analyzed data from 6th graders (N = 177), using correlation and multiple regression analyses. The results revealed that the mastery goal was a significant predictor for the recognition of situational interest, although individual interest directly contributed to acquisition of knowledge and skill. The findings suggest a need for researchers to adopt an integrated theoretical framework to explore the complicated connection between achievement motivation and learning in physical education.

Learning in the Face of Temptation: The Case of Motivational Interference

Abstract: Students are often faced with the temptation of attractive activities, which may interfere with the learning task and result in detrimental effects on experience and performance. Seventy-seven students (50 girls, 27 boys; M age = 15.9 years; SD = 1.65 years) participated in an experiment that reflected the typical situation of students having to learn for school while other, attractive activities are present (e.g., television). Students who carried out the learning task (learning from text) while they were waiting to watch video clips reported more motivational interference and had worse learning results than did students who watched the videos first. The degree of availability of the video clips during the learning task had no differential effect.

Multivariate Hierarchical Linear Modeling in Randomized Field Experiments

Abstract: The hierarchical linear model (HLM) is now commonly accepted as a useful modeling approach for multilevel data resulting from randomized field experiments. When multiple outcomes of interest exist, a multivariate extension of the conventional univariate HLM offers advantages over the usual application of separate HLM analyses for each of the outcomes. In this article, the authors review these advantages, discuss the device that allows the univariate HLM procedure to model multiple outcomes, and present a series of multivariate models that would be useful in addressing typical questions in field experiments. In addition to the multivariate multilevel versions of basic analysis of variance (ANOVA) or analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) designs, the authors present more complex models that allow the testing of moderation and mediation of the treatment effect. The various analyses are illustrated with computer generated data for a hypothetical scenario.

Exploring Group-Wise Conceptual Deficiencies of Fractions for Fifth and Sixth Graders in Taiwan.

Abstract: Understanding students' conceptual deficiencies of fractions is an essential step toward effective teaching. The authors proposed a novel 2-component multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) model to analyze students' conceptual deficiencies of fractions in a group-wise fashion. They identified 5 latent classes for the 5th and 6th graders in Taiwan on the basis of latent class analysis with 2,612 students involved. With the 2-component MIRT model, the authors estimated students' latent abilities in 3 primary concepts of fractions: equal sharing, units, and equivalent fractions. Students' latent abilities in the fraction concepts characterized each latent class. The authors found the units concept to be a common conceptual deficiency of all students, revealing an important flaw in current teachings of fraction concepts in Taiwan.

Is the Pearson r 2 Biased, and if So, What Is the Best Correction Formula?

Abstract: In this study the authors investigated the use of 5 (i.e., Claudy, Ezekiel, Olkin-Pratt, Pratt, and Smith) R 2 correction formulas with the Pearson r 2. The authors estimated adjustment bias and precision under 6 X 3 X 6 conditions (i.e., population ρ values of .0, .1, .3, .5, .7, and .9; population shapes normal, skewness = kurtosis = 1, and skewness = -1.5 with kurtosis = 3.5; ns = 10, 20, 40, 60, 100, and 200 respectively). Results indicate that the sample Pearson r 2 is marginally biased at small sample sizes and small population effect sizes, and that the Ezekiel and the Smith R 2 corrections work well in controlling this bias.

Empirical Bayes Versus Standard Mantel-Haenszel Statistics for Detecting Differential Item Functioning Under Small Sample Conditions

Abstract: In this study, the authors assess several strategies created on the basis of the Mantel-Haenszel (MH) procedure for conducting differential item functioning (DIF) analysis with small samples. One of the analytical strategies is a loss function (LF) that uses empirical Bayes Mantel-Haenszel estimators, whereas the other strategies use the classical MH statistics (the MH chisquare statistic using high levels of significance [0.20] or empirical criteria on the basis of the magnitude of the MH-delta estimator). The authors conducted a series of computer simulations in which they manipulated different types of tests, sample sizes, and ability distributions. The results show that the loss function does not offer advantages, in terms of power and Type I error rate, over other analytical strategies that use the classical MH statistics.

Using the Domain-Specific Beliefs Questionnaire With Adolescents Enrolled in High-Poverty, High-Minority Schools: Examining Psychometric Properties

Abstract: Recent interest in epistemic beliefs has given way to a proliferation of new measures. Yet, little is known about the psychometric properties of various measures when used with diverse populations. In this study, the authors explored the psychometric properties of a measure of existing epistemic beliefs, the Domain-Specific Belief Questionnaire (DSBQ; M. M. Buehl, P. A. Alexander, & P. K. Murphy, 2002), for a diverse population of students. The authors applied the DSBQ's 4-factor model, which researchers have previously identified and confirmed, to data from 8th- and 9th-grade adolescents attending high-poverty, high-minority schools. Evidence suggested that the 4-factor model was not appropriate for this population. Subsequent analyses revealed a 2-factor model for 8th-grade students and a 3-factor model for 9th-grade students. This study underscores the importance of examining the appropriateness of using existing measures with diverse populations.

How Best to Remove the Snare From the Pair: Construction and Cognitive Load Hypotheses

Abstract: Students (N = 124) viewed 14 timed Web pages that distinguished 14 confusing word pairs. In a 2 X 2 factorial design, the authors gave all of the students matrices containing representational pictures for each pair of words, as well as examples of each word in use. One factor in the design was the absence or presence of rules of usage for each pair, which did or did not prompt rule construction, and the other factor was audio or text presentation of the examples or rules + examples, which could affect cognitive load. Results were consistent with the construction hypothesis and previous research. Students in rule-absent conditions (a) generated more novel examples of the words in use and (b) explained the rules of usage better on written tests than did students in rule-present conditions.