The aim of the present study was to examine the intraindividual level and instability of perceived academic control (PC) among first-year college students, and their predictive effects on academic achievement. Two studies were conducted measuring situational (state) PC on different schedules: Study 1 (N = 242) five times over a 6-month period and…

Background and Aims: The literature documents fewer classroom mastery goal structures in secondary school compared to elementary. However, little is known about how personal achievement goals may influence classroom goal structures. This is especially true at the level of pre-service teachers. Our objective was to investigate if pre-service…

Aside from test anxiety scales, measurement instruments assessing students' achievement emotions are largely lacking. This article reports on the construction, reliability, internal validity, and external validity of the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ) which is designed to assess various achievement emotions experienced by students in…

It has been theorized that students are most likely to ask why following unexpected, negative, and/or important events (Weiner, 1985); however, the unique contribution of these precursors to causal search and the resultant cognitions, emotions, and behaviors remain largely unclear. In the current study we examined causal search regarding test…

The linkages of achievement-related boredom with students' appraisals and performance outcomes were examined in a series of 5 exploratory, cross-sectional, and predictive investigations. Studies 1 and 2 assessed students' boredom in a single achievement episode (i.e., state achievement boredom); Studies 3, 4, and 5 focused on their habitual…

Affect and emotions are frequently seen as outcomes of mastery and performance goals, but affective experiences may also predict goal adoption. In a predictive study (N = 669 first-year college students), the authors used structural equation modeling to estimate relationships from 2 initial affective experiences to mastery and performance-approach…

Within achievement goal theory debate remains regarding the adaptiveness of certain combinations of goals. Assuming a multiple-goals perspective, we used cluster analysis to classify 1002 undergraduate students according to their mastery and performance-approach goals. Four clusters emerged, representing different goal combinations: high…

Two measures, perceived academic control and action control (i.e., preoccupation with failure), were administered to college students. Achievement-related cognitions, emotions, motivation, and final grades were measured at the end of the course. Of note, high-control, high-failure-preoccupied students outperformed the other groups by one to two…

Previous "educational seduction" research suggested that teacher differences in expressiveness controlled the degree to which lecture content affected student ratings differently from student achievement. We attempted to replicate this Expressiveness x Content x Measures interaction in four simulated college classes. Student incentive and study…

One half of the subjects were introduced to a professor using a written biographical description including a positive teaching evaluation, while with the other subjects a negative evaluation replaced the positive one. Following the lecture, subjects completed a teaching evaluation. The two lectures differed only in the material presented.…

This study examined whether the density of noncontingent outcomes limits instructor expressiveness as an effective teaching behavior in different lecture content conditions. Results indicated that for high-content lectures, instructor expressiveness facilitated achievement and confidence in students who received contingent and low noncontingent…

Students (N=340) at the University of Manitoba (Canada) with internal and external loci of control (LOC) received no training or received either contingent or non-contingent feedback. Student achievement and achievement attributions were measured against variations in expressiveness in a videotaped lecture. Training and LOC influenced students'…

Type A and B students (N=159) received contingent or non-contingent feedback on an aptitude test, attended a lecture from an expressive or unexpressive instructor, and received an achievement test and attributional questionnaire. Non-contingent feedback lowered perceived control for both types. Self-perceptions of Type A students were unaffected…

Three causal attributions--ability, effort, and test difficulty--were examined for 223 University of Manitoba (Canada) students in relation to perceived performance and the quality of instruction. When instruction was good, causal attributions produced less variability in achievement and control. Implications for teaching are discussed. (SLD)

Following an incentive (low, high) manipulation, college students received response-outcome contingency training. All students then observed a lecture. Postlecture results indicated that the high- compared to the low-expressive lecturer increased achievement and internal locus in contingent but not noncontingent students for low-incentive…