The Association Between Parents’ Growth Mindset and Children’s Persistence and Academic Skills

Parents’ educational beliefs are thought to guide children’s early development in school. The present study explored the association between parent’s growth mindset and elementary school-aged children’s self-reported persistence, as well as teacher-reported reading and math skills in 102 dyads. Findings showed that children self-reported greater persistence when their parents held more growth mindset. Teachers also rated students as more capable readers when their parents endorsed a growth, rather than fixed, mindset. Additional analysis indicated that although the effect of parents’ growth mindset on children’s reading skills became non-significant once SES was controlled, the positive association between parents’ mindset and children’s persistence was unaffected by SES. Our study provides evidence about the intergenerational association of motivational tendencies at an early age, even when children may not be able to develop a coherent system of motivational beliefs of their own.

Development of Students’ Sustainability Competencies: Do Teachers Make a Difference?

Sustainability competence is an important goal of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in school. It is therefore anchored in the education plans of almost all school tracks in Germany. However, empirical findings regarding ESD in schools are scarce. The present study thus examined how sustainability competencies of secondary-school students develop within the course of a school year. Based on a proposed framework model of sustainability competencies, we assessed (a) students’ sustainability-related knowledge, (b) their affective-motivational beliefs and attitudes towards sustainability, as well as (c) their self-reported sustainability-related behavioral intentions. Our sample comprised n = 1318 students in 79 classrooms at different secondary school tracks (Grades 5–8) in Baden-Wuerttemberg (Germany). Measurements were taken at the beginning and at the end of the school year after the introduction of ESD as a guiding perspective for the new education plan. We observed an increase in students’ sustainability-related knowledge but a decline in their affective-motivational beliefs and attitudes towards sustainability over the course of one school year. Multilevel analyses showed that, at the individual level, prior learning requirements as well as ESD-related characteristics (students’ activities and general knowledge of sustainability) proved to be the strongest predictors of their development. In addition, grade- and track-specific differences were observed. At the classroom level, teachers’ attitudes towards ESD as well as their professional knowledge were found to be significant predictors of students’ development. The higher the commonly shared value of ESD at school and the higher teachers’ self-efficacy towards ESD, the higher was the students’ development of sustainability-related knowledge and self-reported sustainability-related behavioral intentions, respectively. The significance of the findings for ESD in schools is discussed.

Motivation From a Self-Regulated Learning Perspective: Application to School Psychology

Self-regulation of learning involves developing metacognitive awareness (planning, monitoring, and evaluating) of (a) cognition—motivational beliefs, (b) behaviors—persistence, effort, engagement, and (c) affect—enjoyment, interest, and other emotions. Metacognitive awareness creates opportunities to exert metacognitive control as needed, which may involve sustaining or manipulating motivational cognition, behavior, and affect. By adopting a self-regulation perspective, this paper discusses the ways motivation develops within and across academic tasks and situations, as well as the ways learners can be supported to take control of their motivation in those contexts. Applying self-regulation principles in the practice of School Psychology means to consider the role of situation, context, and learners’ socio-historical experiences while empowering learners to focus attention on things they can control.

Nontraditional Prospective Teachers: Motivations, Goals and Mathematical Knowledge Differences among Identified Typologies

This mixed-methods study employed a typological approach and an Expectancy-Value framework to understand nontraditional prospective teachers’ motivational beliefs, teaching motivations, and goals for choosing a teaching career. All participants (N=88) were nontraditional prospective teachers, graduate students enrolled in a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in the United States. Data were collected in three phases, including quantitative (survey, pre-and posttest assessments), and qualitative (interviews). Analyses revealed three distinct typologies of teachers based on their motivational beliefs, and further differences among the identified groups based on other variables. The qualitative data showed general themes across participants about their teaching efficacy, motivation for teaching and quality of teacher preparation. Implications for teacher education programs are discussed.

When Do Students Begin to Think That One Has to Be Either a “Math Person” or a “Language Person”? A Meta-Analytic Review

Believing that one is either a “math person” or a “language person” can have important implications for students’ engagement and performance in different activities and for their educational and career choices. One important source of information children use to form such self-relevant motivational beliefs are dimensional comparisons; that is, students engage in intraindividual comparisons of their subjective abilities across domains such as math and language arts when making self-evaluations. Despite their fundamental impact on students’ educational outcomes, our understanding of when dimensional comparisons begin to influence children’s self-perceptions, how this influence might change as children grow older, and whether the pattern varies across different types of motivational beliefs is still limited. A meta-analysis of 142 independent samples, 210,954 participants, and 426 effect sizes showed that the correlations between students’ math- and language-related motivational beliefs decreased from r = .32, 95% CI [.26, .37] for Grades 1-4 to r = -.01, 95% CI [-.07, .04] for Grades 9-12/13. A meta-regression revealed a significant moderating effect of students’ grade level on the association between students’ math- and language-related motivational beliefs (b = -.06, 95% CI [-.06, -.05]), indicating an increasing differentiation in these beliefs. Findings generalized over samples across the world and studies using different research designs and held true for motivational constructs such as ability self-concepts and interests. Our results suggest that dimensional comparisons are involved in the formation of students’ domain-specific motivational beliefs across the childhood and adolescent years and that their relative importance increases over the school years.

Comparisons of Science Motivational Beliefs of Adolescents in Taiwan, Australia, and the United States: Assessing the Measurement Invariance Across Countries and Genders

This study utilized international, large-scale assessment data to compare science motivational beliefs of adolescents within and between countries and genders. The study focused on the beliefs about science of eighth graders, including their self-concept in science, the intrinsic value they ascribed to science, and their beliefs about the utility of the subject. The study data were derived from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in 2019 (TIMSS) that was conducted in Taiwan, Australia, and the United States. To ensure the validity of mean cross-group comparisons, the measurement invariance (MI) of the constructs was first assessed. The multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis and latent factor mean comparisons were applied to the data. The results indicated that the MI of science motivational beliefs across the three countries attained only metric invariance, rendering a latent mean comparison implausible. However, the cross-gender MI within each country attained scalar invariance, supporting the comparison of means across genders. The science motivational beliefs of females were significantly lower than those of males, with the exception of beliefs of US students about their utility value. The findings of this study raise concerns about the validity of current international comparisons of science motivational beliefs of the students while supporting the use of TIMSS data to identify gender differences in science motivation within each country. The implications of MI across countries and genders are discussed, and the importance of establishing MI is highlighted. The findings affirm that gender disparities in science motivational beliefs can be compared using constructs with sound psychometric properties.

The Evaluation of an English Preparatory Program Using CIPP Model and Exploring A1 Level Students’ Motivational Beliefs

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate English Preparatory School Language Program in a state university from students’ and instructors’ point of view and also investigate the students’ motivational beliefs for learning in the existing program. More specifically, Stufflebeam’s (1971) CIPP (context, input, process, product) evaluation model was used to evaluate the English language program whereas MSLQ (motivated strategies for learning questionnaire) developed by Pintrich, Garcia, Mckeachie and Smith (1991) was administered to investigate the motivational beliefs for learning of the participating students. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in this study. The quantitative data were obtained through questionnaires administered to 54 Turkish EFL students and 33 EFL instructors enrolled in the A1 (elementary level) English preparatory program. The qualitative data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with 10 students and 5 instructors from the same program. The findings of the study revealed that the program partially succeeded its objectives. Both students and instructors were content with materials, assessment dimensions of the program as well as the teaching methods. On the other hand, there was a need for the improvement of the speaking and listening skills and tasks in the A1 program. In addition to this, among the motivational beliefs of the students, control beliefs, task value and intrinsic goal orientation were perceived to be crucial for the students during the process of English learning. The study provides suggestions and pedagogical implications for the English preparatory programs.