Background and Aim: Spaced restudy has been typically tested with written learning materials, but restudy with visual representations in actual classrooms is under-researched. We compared the effects of two spaced restudy interventions: A Diagram-Based Restudy (DBR) warm-up condition and a business-as-usual Text-Based Restudy (TBR) warm-up…

Background. Previous research has shown that observation can be effective for learning in various domains, for example, argumentative writing and mathematics. The question in this paper is whether observational learning can also be beneficial when learning to perform creative tasks in visual and verbal arts. Aims. We hypothesized that observation…

Background: Chronotype refers to individuals' preference for morning or evening activities. Its two dimensions (morningness and eveningness) are related to a number of academic outcomes. Aims: The main goal of the study was to investigate the incremental validity of chronotype as a predictor of academic achievement after controlling for a number…

Background: Marsh's internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model depicts the relationship between achievement and self-concept in specific academic domains. Few efforts have been made to examine concurrent relationships among cognitive ability, achievement, and academic self-concept (ASC) within an I/E model framework. Aim: To simultaneously…

Background: Boredom has been found to be an important emotion for students' learning processes and achievement outcomes; however, the precursors of this emotion remain largely unexplored. Aim: In the current study, scales assessing the precursors to boredom in academic achievement settings were developed and tested. Sample: Participants were 1,380…

Background: Students' perceptions of classroom goals influence their adoption of personal goals. To assess different forms of classroom goals, recent studies have favoured an overall measure of performance classroom goals, compared to a two-dimensional assessment of performance-approach and performance-avoidance classroom goals (PAVCG). Aims: This…

Background: Recent studies have investigated the causal attributions for difficult pupil behaviour made by teachers, pupils, and parents but none have investigated the temporal stability or predictive validity of these attributions. Aims: This study examines the causal attributions made for difficult classroom behaviour by students on two…

Background: The relation between academic self-concept and achievement has been examined in a large number of studies. The majority of these studies have found evidence for a reciprocal effects model. However, there is an ongoing debate on how students' achievement should be measured and whether the type of achievement indicator (grades, tests,…

Background: Most previous studies in Western societies have demonstrated a general decline in school motivation. However, it is not clear whether motivational decline occurs uniformly for all students. The moderating effects of individual and cultural differences on students' motivational decline need to be further explored. Aims: This study aimed…

Background: Both ability (measured by power tests) and non-ability (measured by preference tests) individual difference measures predict academic school outcomes. These include fluid as well as crystalized intelligence, personality traits, and learning styles. This paper examines the incremental validity of five psychometric tests and the sex and…

Background: Self-report inventories trying to measure strategic processing at a global level have been much used in both basic and applied research. However, the validity of global strategy scores is open to question because such inventories assess strategy perceptions outside the context of specific task performance. Aims: The primary aim was to…

Background: When writing a text, students are required to do several things simultaneously. They have to plan, translate and review, which involve demanding cognitive processes. In order to handle this complexity, writers need to develop a writing strategy. The two most well-defined writing strategies that have been identified, are those of a…

Background: Teachers play a critical role in promoting interactions between students and engaging them in the learning process. This study builds on a study by Hertz-Lazarowitz and Shachar (1990) who found that during cooperative learning teachers' verbal behaviours were more helpful to and encouraging of their students' efforts while during…

Background: Constructivist approaches to learning focus on learning environments in which students have the opportunity to construct knowledge themselves, and negotiate this knowledge with others. "Discovery learning" and "collaborative learning" are examples of learning contexts that cater for knowledge construction processes. We introduce a…