Research on the relation between students' achievement (ACH) and their academic self-concept (ASC) has consistently shown a Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect (BFLPE); ASC is positively affected by individual ACH, but negatively affected by school-average ACH. Surprisingly, however, there are few good UK studies of the BFLPE and few anywhere in the world…

Field dependence/independence cognitive style was found to relate to general academic achievement and specific areas of mathematics; in the majority of studies, field-independent students were found to be superior to field-dependent students. The present study investigated the relationship between field dependence/independence cognitive style and…

Research in social cognition laboratories and in simulated legal settings demonstrates that people often do not understand the statistical properties of evidence and are unable to detect scientifically flawed studies. In a mock jury study, we examined the effects of an evidence-based transcript on scepticism towards evidence obtained in flawed…

This study investigated the relevance of filial piety and the three components of self-determination, namely, competence, autonomy and relatedness, on academic motivation among Hong Kong Chinese secondary school students. A total of 461 students completed the questionnaire which consisted of five scales assessing attitudes towards filial piety,…

Temperament and personality have been presumed to affect achievement goals based on the hierarchical model of achievement motivation. This research investigated the relationships of temperament dimensions and the Big Five personality traits to achievement goals based on the 2 x 2 achievement goal framework among 775 Chinese adolescent students.…

This study examines the association between teachers' preferred interpersonal behaviour in teaching and their thinking styles. A sample of 131 secondary teachers from Hong Kong (n = 94) and Macau (n = 37) participated in a survey to measure their preferred interpersonal behaviour by the questionnaire for teacher interaction (QTI) and their…

This research aims to understand university students' thinking styles and the relationship with their views of creativity. The Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised II was used to measure 13 thinking styles as defined in Sternberg's theory of mental self-government and the Conceptions of Creativity Scales was used to inquire students' views about the…

Teachers' self-efficacy (SE) in their classroom management capabilities is thought to be an important factor in teachers' overall judgements of their teaching SE. Low SE in classroom management has been linked to teacher attrition and burnout, and reduced student learning outcomes. This article provides the first comprehensive review of classroom…

We examined whether epistemic beliefs predict students' evaluation of documents. Undergraduates read two texts on climate change. Participants judged the trustworthiness of each text and then indicated the criteria for their rating. We found that readers who believe strongly in relying on personal interpretations rather than on authorities trusted…

Two major theoretical frameworks in educational psychology, namely student approaches to learning (SAL) and self-efficacy have been used extensively to explain and predict students' learning and academic achievement. There is a substantial body of research studies, for example, that documents the positive interrelations between individuals'…

Perceived competence is a key motivational determinant of physical activity behaviours in adolescents, and motivational determinants are influenced by the class environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate levels of perceived physical competence, enjoyment and effort in class, focusing on gender and class-type differences.…

The survey investigated the problems of social desirability (SD), non-response bias (NRB) and reliability in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--Revised (MMPI-2) self-report inventory administered to Brunei student teachers. Bruneians scored higher on all the validity scales than the normative US sample, thereby threatening the…

The present study examined the structural relations of social influences, task values, ability beliefs, educational expectation and academic engagement for both boys and girls. The structural equation modelling analyses provided nationally representative evidence of gender differences in: (1) the links from teacher-student relationship and peer…

At UK institutions of higher education, the academic attainment of White students tends to be higher than that of students from other ethnic groups. A postal survey of Open University students found very little difference in academic engagement in those from different ethnic groups. The differences in pass rates and course grades remained…

In this study, the authors attempted to examine the roles of trait autonomy, trait self-efficacy, important goal-related task engagement and gender in predicting whether undergraduate university students are willing to set difficult goals. One hundred and thirty-six undergraduate communications students from the North-Eastern USA completed an…