This explanatory sequential mixed methods study examined how belonging perceptions, academic motivation, and engagement might mediate the relationship between academic contextual characteristics and ...achievement using structural equation modeling and qualitative follow-up interviews with college students from a large, Midwestern university. In the first, quantitative phase, two hypothesized models of student belonging and motivation were tested. In line with the Self-System Model of Classroom Support for Motivation (Connell and Wellborn, in: Gunnar and Sroufe (eds.) Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology: Self-processes and Development, 1991), Model 1 hypothesized student belonging and motivation to be directly predicted by supportive classroom environment perceptions, and to directly predict engagement, which was hypothesized to predict achievement. Model 2 elaborated on the traditional self-system model and hypothesized student belonging to mediate the relationship between supportive classroom environment perceptions and student motivation. Quantitative findings revealed support for Model 2. Supportive classroom environment perceptions predicted students' belonging beliefs, which in turn predicted students' motivation, engagement, and achievement in the course. The second, follow-up qualitative phase suggested ways in which contextual characteristics might influence student belonging beliefs in the classroom. Taken together, the quantitative and qualitative data illustrate the influential role of classroom contextual characteristics on student outcomes, as well as the role student belonging plays in college student motivation and success.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of implementing the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model of instruction (Graham & Harris,
2005
; Harris & Graham,
1996
) on ...the writing skills and knowledge of six first grade students. A multiple-baseline design across participants with multiple probes (Kazdin,
2010
) was used to test the effectiveness of the SRSD intervention, which included story writing and self-regulation strategy instruction. All students wrote stories in response to picture prompts during the baseline, instruction, post-instruction, and maintenance phases and stories were assessed for essential story components, length, and overall quality. Participants also participated in brief interviews during the baseline and post-instruction phases. Results indicated that SRSD can be beneficial for first grade writers. Participants wrote stories that contained more essential components, were longer, and of better quality after SRSD instruction. Participants also showed improvement in writing knowledge from pre- to post-instruction.
Self-efficacy is an essential component of students' motivation and success in writing. There have been great advancements in our theoretical understanding of writing self-efficacy over the past 40 ...years; however, there is a gap in how we empirically model the multidimensionality of writing self-efficacy. The purpose of the present study was to examine the multidimensionality of writing self-efficacy, and present validity evidence for the adapted Self-Efficacy for Writing Scale (SEWS) through a series of measurement model comparisons and person-centered approaches. Using a sample of 1,466 8th-10th graders, results showed that a bifactor exploratory structural equation model best represented the data, demonstrating that the SEWS exhibits both construct-relevant multidimensionality and the presence of a global theme. Using factor scores derived from this model, we conducted latent profile analysis to further establish validity of the measurement model and examine how students disaggregate into groups based on their response trends of the SEWS. Three profiles emerged, differentiated by global writing self-efficacy, with substantively varying factor differences among the profiles. Concurrent, divergent, and discriminant validity evidence was established through a series of analyses that assessed predictors and outcomes of the profiles (e.g., demographics, standardized writing assessments, and grades). Theoretical and practical implications and avenues for future research are discussed.
This mixed methods study explored elementary students’ (N = 263) writing enjoyment, their perceptions of teacher writing enjoyment, self-regulation, and grades. In the quantitative strand, we ...examined how student perceptions of teacher writing enjoyment and student writing enjoyment relate to student writing self-regulation and writing grades using structural equation modeling. Findings revealed a positive relationship among student-perceived teacher writing enjoyment, student writing enjoyment, and student writing self-regulation and grades. In the qualitative strand, we explored responses of students with high or low writing enjoyment ratings to understand aspects of the instructional environment that contribute to students’ affective experiences with writing. Much of what determines students’ enjoyment of or aversion to writing fell in to one of two categories, regardless of the degree to which they enjoy writing: writing preferences (e.g., topic/genre selection, writing environment) or mood and motivation (e.g., student mood at the time of writing, self-efficacy for writing).
Curiosity is widely acknowledged as a crucial aspect of children's development and as an important part of the learning process, with prior research showing associations between curiosity and ...achievement. Despite this evidence, there is little research on the development of curiosity or on promoting curiosity in school settings, and measures of curiosity promotion in the classroom are absent from the published literature. This article introduces the Curiosity in Classrooms (CiC) Framework coding protocol, a tool for observing and coding instructional practices that support the promotion of curiosity. We describe the development of the framework and observation instrument and the results of a feasibility study using the protocol, which gives a descriptive overview of curiosity-promoting instruction in 35 elementary-level math lessons. Our discussion includes lessons learned from this work and suggestions for future research using the developed observation tool.
In this study, we examine the extent to which the discrepancy between teacher-reported and student-reported self-regulatory behaviours during writing were associated with students' end-of-year ...writing grades after controlling for student writing ability and other demographic characteristics. Results of our study, conducted with a sample of 201 middle grades students enrolled in a large, comprehensive suburban school district in the Mid-Atlantic U.S., suggest a significant and positive relationship between teacher discrepancy and grades, after controlling for writing ability, student self-regulation, gender, race/ethnicity, and SES. This has clear implications for the classroom, as it suggests that even after accounting for student difference in terms of ability background, and demographics, the effort that teachers perceive their students making in the fall are still associated with students' year-end performance in their class. This represents some of the first frontline evidence of the predictive relationship between self-regulation discrepancy and student achievement in writing.
A multifactor perspective on writing self-efficacy was examined in 2 studies. Three factors were proposed-self-efficacy for writing ideation, writing conventions, and writing self-regulation-and a ...scale constructed to reflect these factors. In Study 1, middle school students (N = 697) completed the Self-Efficacy for Writing Scale (SEWS), along with associated measures. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed SEWS data fit the proposed 3-factor model well. In Study 2, a second CFA of data from 563 students from 2 high schools likewise showed good model fit. Scores based on the 3 writing self-efficacy factors were examined in relation to students' liking writing, self-reported writing grades, and statewide writing assessment (SWA) scores. Results showed writing ideation and self-regulation self-efficacy to be significantly more strongly related to liking writing than conventions self-efficacy but less related than conventions self-efficacy to SWA scores. All 3 writing self-efficacy dimensions showed moderate positive correlations with self-reported writing performance. Further analyses showed higher levels for all 3 dimensions of writing self-efficacy for students in more advanced English/language arts classes. Overall, results from the studies were interpreted as supporting multifactor models of writing self-efficacy and the utility of closer ties between self-efficacy measures and domains being assessed.
Background
The powerful role of self‐efficacy on student achievement is clear. Less clear, however, is our understanding of the specific roles of the different factors of writing self‐efficacy on ...student writing self‐regulation and success.
Aims
This study expands our knowledge about student writing self‐efficacy – including its dimensions and the relationship between its dimensions and practical writing outcomes with students from different age groups.
Sample
Participants were 992 elementary and 518 high school students across 65 teachers and 6 schools in the United States.
Methods
Data were collected via online questionnaires, one assessing student writing self‐efficacy and the others teachers’ reports of student writing self‐regulation and writing/ELA grades.
Results
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results demonstrated significantly improved model fit for a three‐factor model of writing self‐efficacy compared to a one‐factor model. A measurement invariance analysis of the writing self‐efficacy scale indicated scalar invariance between the elementary and secondary samples. Structural equation modelling (SEM) results indicated that the second self‐efficacy factor, self‐efficacy for writing conventions, was statistically significantly related to writing/ELA grades for elementary students (β = .33, p < .001) as well as for high school students (β = .27, p < .01). Conventions were also the only factor statistically significantly related to teacher‐reported student writing self‐regulation for both elementary students (β = .26, p < .01) and high school students (β = .37, p < .001). Self‐efficacy for ideation and self‐efficacy for self‐regulation were not found to be significantly related to either student writing/ELA grades or teacher‐reported self‐regulation (all ps > .19).
Conclusions
Results support the multidimensionality of writing self‐efficacy. In addition, findings emphasize a meaningful link between students’ beliefs in their ability to conform to the rules of writing and their writing self‐regulation and success.
This explanatory sequential mixed methods study investigated the writing feedback perceptions of middle and high school students (
N
= 598). The predictive and mediational roles of writing ...self-efficacy and perceptions of writing feedback on student writing self-regulation aptitude were examined using mediation regression analysis. To augment the quantitative findings, the explanations students provided for either liking or disliking writing feedback were explored using open-ended questions. Quantitative findings revealed that students’ perceptions of the feedback they receive about their writing partially mediated the relationship between writing self-efficacy and writing self-regulation aptitude. Qualitative data suggested ways in which students perceive writing feedback—both positive and negative. Collectively, the quantitative and qualitative data illustrate the influential role writing feedback perceptions plays in middle and high school student writing motivation and self-regulation beliefs.
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