Measurement Invariance of Test Anxiety Across Four School Subjects

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Schneider ◽  
Jörn R. Sparfeldt ◽  
Christoph Niepel ◽  
Susanne R. Buch ◽  
Detlef H. Rost
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Measurement Invariance ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
School Subject ◽  
School Students ◽  
Correlation Pattern ◽  
Specific Test ◽  
School Subjects ◽  
Subject Specific ◽  
Residual Variances

Abstract. School-subject-specific test anxieties have been widely examined, but there is a lack of analyses of measurement invariance of test anxiety across subjects. In order to preclude a mixture of test anxiety construct differences across school subjects with actual test anxiety differences and to ensure meaningful comparisons of test anxiety across school subjects, we examined such measurement invariance. Two test anxiety factors (worry and emotionality) were inspected across four school subjects (mathematics, physics, German, and English) in a sample of secondary school students ( N = 1,280). Strict measurement invariance was ascertained (i.e., comparable factor loadings, intercepts, and residual variances of the items of worry and emotionality factors across school subjects). The correlations of subject-specific test anxiety factors with subject-specific academic self-concepts and grades showed a convergent/divergent correlation pattern, thereby supporting criterion-related validity. The results of this study provide insights into the comparability of test anxiety assessments across school subjects.

scholarly journals The Teacher as One of the Factors Influencing Students’ Perception of Biology as a School Subject

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-140
Author(s):  
Milan Kubiatko ◽  
Gregor Torkar ◽  
Lenka Rovnanova
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Lower Secondary School ◽  
School Subject ◽  
School Students ◽  
Biology Teachers ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
School Subjects ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Significant Factors

The main aim of our research was to determine whether the teacher is one of the factors influencing students’ perception of biology as a school subject. The study also aimed to identify the influence of certain other factors in this regard, specifically: students’ gender and place of residence, the number of biology teachers who have taught the students, and theteachers’ gender. The sample consisted of 261 lower secondary school students (ISCED 2) in Slovakia, aged 14 and 15 years. A questionnaire with Likert-type items was used as a research instrument. The findings confirm the impact of the biology teacher on students’ perception of the subject. After removing the influence of the teacher, the students’ gender and placeof residence did not have any significant influence on their perception of the subject. Two additional significant variables were the number of biology teachers who had taught the students and the teachers’ gender. The research confirmed that the teacher’s personality is one of the significant factors that can influence students’ perception of school subjects.

scholarly journals Validation of the Mathematics Motivation Questionnaire (MMQ) for secondary school students

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Logan Fiorella ◽  
So Yoon Yoon ◽  
Kinnari Atit ◽  
Jason R. Power ◽  
Grace Panther ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematics Achievement ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mathematics Motivation

Abstract Background Motivation is critical for supporting persistence and achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In this study, we focus on the assessment of mathematics motivation among secondary school students. We provide validity and reliability evidence for the Mathematics Motivation Questionnaire (MMQ)—adapted from the Science Motivation Questionnaire designed for college students—using data from 2551 secondary students from seven states across the United States. Results Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed five latent factors of the MMQ indicated by 19 items: intrinsic value, self-regulation, self-efficacy, utility value, and test anxiety. The nonlinear SEM reliability coefficients of the five constructs ranged from 0.76 to 0.91. To assess criterion validity, analyses using a subset of the data that included students’ mathematics standardized scores (n = 536) indicated that intrinsic value, self-regulation, and self-efficacy were significantly positively correlated with mathematics achievement, whereas test anxiety was significantly negatively correlated with mathematics achievement. Conclusions The MMQ provides a reliable, valid, and feasible measure of the specific factors underlying mathematics motivation among secondary students.

Test Anxiety in Elementary and Secondary School Students

1989 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan Wigfield ◽  
Jacquelynne S. Eccles
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
School Students

scholarly journals Effects of Meditation Technique on Test Anxiety Among Secondary School Students in Anambra State, Nigeria

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (32) ◽  
pp. 271
Author(s):  
Chinyelu Nwokolo ◽  
Obianuju Blessing Mokwelu ◽  
Uche Eva Eneasator
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
School Students ◽  
Anambra State ◽  
Meditation Technique ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Research Questions

Test anxiety constitutes a serious academic impediment to lots of students in schools. This study investigated the Effects of Meditation technique on test anxiety among secondary school students in Anambra State, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Quasi-experimental research was adopted in carrying out the study. A sample size of 101 adolescents was chosen from a population of 475 adolescents in SS2 with test anxiety. The sample was derived from two schools selected using purposive sampling technique based on the number of students that scored high on Test Anxiety Inventory. Data relating to research questions were analysed using statistical Mean while data relating to hypothesis was analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Findings from the study revealed among others that though the reduction of secondary school students’ test anxiety after meditation technique differed significantly with that of the conventional counselling group, meditation technique was not effective on secondary school students’ test anxiety. It further revealed that meditation technique reduced the secondary school students’ test anxiety. Based on the findings, implications of the study were noted and recommendations made that since the technique meditation was found not to be effective, but significantly reduced the test anxiety of the participants, the technique should not be used alone by the guidance counsellors in helping clients, especially students in overcoming their test anxiety in schools.

scholarly journals Striving for Success but at What Cost? Subject-Specific Achievement Goal Orientation Profiles, Perceived Cost, and Academic Well-Being

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heta Tuominen ◽  
Henriikka Juntunen ◽  
Markku Niemivirta
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Achievement Goal ◽  
Achievement Goal Orientation ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Subject Specific

Most studies utilizing a person-oriented approach to investigating students’ achievement goal orientation profiles have been domain-general or focused on a single domain (usually mathematics), thus excluding the possibility of identifying distinct subject-specific motivational profiles. In this study, we looked into this by examining upper secondary school students’ subject-specific achievement goal orientation profiles simultaneously in mathematics and English. As distinct profiles might contribute to how students invest time and effort in studying, we also examined differences in perceived subject-specific cost (i.e., effort required, emotional cost, opportunity cost) among students with different profiles, and how this was linked with students’ more general academic well-being (i.e., school engagement, burnout). The 434 Finnish general upper secondary school students participating in the study were classified based on their achievement goal orientations in the two subjects using latent profile analysis, and the predictions of the latent profile on distal outcomes (i.e., measures of cost and academic well-being) were examined within the mixture model. Five divergent achievement goal orientation profiles were identified: indifferent (29%), success-oriented (26%), mastery-oriented (25%), English-oriented, math-avoidant (14%), and avoidance-oriented (6%). The English-oriented, math-avoidant students showed the most distinct domain-specificity in their profile but, in general, profiles indicated more cross-domain generality than specificity. Overall, mastery-oriented students showed the most adaptive academic well-being, while avoidance-oriented students were the least engaged. Success-oriented students were characterised by high multiple goals in both subjects, elevated costs, and high scores on both positive (engagement) and negative (burnout) well-being indicators. The English-oriented, math-avoidant students perceived studying math as costly. The findings suggest that addressing students’ achievement motivation in different subjects may be useful for recognising factors endangering or fostering student learning and well-being.

scholarly journals Smak för hållbar utveckling?

2021 ◽  
pp. 130-157
Author(s):  
Lolita Gelinder
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Lower Secondary School ◽  
School Subject ◽  
School Students ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Teachers And Students

In the school subject Home- and Consumer Studies, the curriculum includes knowledge about sustainable food consumption, i.e. the students should learn to make sustainable food choices. Previous research has shown that taste is an important factor when people choose what to eat. The purpose of this study is to investigate teaching about sustainable food consumption, by focusing on how teachers and students talk about taste during foodwork, more specifically what meaning that is construed in relation to taste and how this content may be understood in relation to different perspectives on taste. Video data from two classes of Swedish lower secondary school students is analyzed using pragmatic discourse analysis methods. The results show that taste is mainly used in terms of taste assessments and thus provide an understanding of taste as something fixed and unchangeable. A transactional perspective on taste is suggested as an alternative, working with taste as something changeable and reflexive. In this way teaching can be a part in students developing new taste experiences, which is crucial for wanting to change eating habits, or for learning to eat new dishes, and foods, which will be required in order for people to make sustainable food choices.

scholarly journals Measurement Invariance of the Flourishing Scale among a Large Sample of Canadian Adolescents

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (21) ◽  
pp. 7800
Author(s):  
Isabella Romano ◽  
Mark A. Ferro ◽  
Karen A. Patte ◽  
Ed Diener ◽  
Scott T. Leatherdale
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Measurement Invariance ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Psychological Wellbeing ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
School Students ◽  
Confirmatory Factor

Our aim was to examine measurement invariance of the Flourishing Scale (FS)—a concise measure of psychological wellbeing—across two study samples and by population characteristics among Canadian adolescents. Data were retrieved from 74,501 Canadian secondary school students in Year 7 (2018–2019) of the COMPASS Study and from the original validation of the FS (n = 689). We assessed measurement invariance using a confirmatory factor analysis in which increasingly stringent equality constraints were specified for model parameters between the following groups: study sample (i.e., adolescents vs. adults), gender, grade, and ethno-racial identity. In all models, full measurement invariance of the FS across all sub-groups was demonstrated. Our findings support the validity of the FS for measuring psychological wellbeing among Canadian adolescents in secondary school. Observed differences in FS score among subgroups therefore represent true differences in wellbeing rather than artifacts of differential interpretation.

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