Background: The multidimensionality of the academic self-concept in terms of domain specificity has been well established in previous studies, whereas its multidimensionality in terms of motivational functions (the so-called affect-competence separation) needs further examination. Aim: This study aims at exploring differential effects of enjoyment…

Background: Students' perceived control over academic outcomes has been linked to their use of self-regulated strategies. However, students' sense of responsibility, or internal commitment to produce such outcomes, has not often been considered in this relationship. Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between…

Background: Assessment can be a powerful force in promoting student learning. Still, few measures exist to gauge Assessment for Learning (AFL) in the classroom. Literature on AFL suggests that it encompasses both a monitor to track student progress as well as a scaffold to show or help students recognize in what areas they need to improve. Aims:…

Background: Despite the recent evidence for a multi-component nature of both visual imagery and creativity, there have been no systematic studies on how the different dimensions of creativity and imagery might interrelate. Aims: The main goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between different dimensions of creativity (artistic and…

Background: Intellectual style, an encompassing term for such constructs as learning style, teaching style, teaching approach, and thinking style, refers to one's preferred way of processing information. For the past several decades, whether or not there is a need for a match between teachers' teaching styles and students' learning styles has been…

Background: The relationship between executive functions and mathematical skills has been studied extensively, but results are inconclusive, and how this relationship evolves longitudinally is largely unknown. Aim: The aim was to investigate the factor structure of executive functions in inhibition, shifting, and updating; the longitudinal…

Background: Previous work has yielded knowledge of teachers' attributions for children's behaviour. Other studies have helped to develop understanding of teachers' efficacy beliefs. Little work has been undertaken to examine teachers' efficacy beliefs with regard to classroom behaviour. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the relationship…

Background: Student learning theory (SLT) has established associations between students' approaches to learning and their perceptions of the learning environment. SLT may provide a useful framework for researching student learning within the Japanese tertiary sector. Aims: The study aims to explore and validate the Course Experience Questionnaire…

Background: The primary-secondary transition can negatively affect pupils' emotional and psychological adjustment. However, methods for assessing concerns regarding secondary school are limited. A reliable and valid measure of transition-related concerns would be useful both in evaluating and shaping the content and delivery of universal and…

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: Individual student characteristics such as competence motivation, achievement values, and goal orientations have been related in meaningful ways to task attainment. The standards-based National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) was developed in New Zealand with the intention of strengthening connections between student…

Background: Reading component models such as the Simple View of Reading (SVR; Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990) provide a concise framework for describing the processes and skills involved when readers comprehend texts. According to the Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading (Rose, 2006) strong evidence for the SVR comes…

Background: The introduction of the Australian Research Training Scheme has been a strong reason for assuring the quality of the research higher degree (RHD) experience; if students experience poor supervision, an unsupportive climate, and inadequate infrastructure, prior research suggests RHD students will be less likely to complete their degree,…