Although students' affects and behaviors in achievement situations have been shown to be influenced by their previous learning experiences, less is known about how they relate to students' dispositional characteristics, such as temperament. This study examined to what extent children's temperament is related to their affective and behavioral…

In a three-group, gender-matched, preexisting knowledge-controlled, randomized experiment, we evaluated the effect of learner control over study pace on healthcare executives' performance in an online statistics course. Overall, frequent deadlines enhanced distribution of practice and improved learning. Students with less control over pace (in…

Numerous studies showed that general cognitive ability (GCA) is a reliable predictor of academic achievement. In addition, parental involvement in their children's academic development is of major importance in early adolescence. This study investigated the incremental validity of parental involvement over GCA in the prediction of academic…

Two studies examined the effects of university students' achievement goals on performance under low versus high challenge conditions. The first was a laboratory experiment in which participants were assigned goals to pursue on a novel mathematics task alleged to be simple or complex to use. The second was a survey study in which students set goals…

Using structural equation modeling with a population-based cohort of French-speaking children from Quebec (Canada), prospective associations were made between two previously established factors underlying student performance--classroom engagement and the teacher-student relations. Our results show developmental continuity in classroom engagement…

The target articles make significant advances in our understanding of students' judgments of their cognitive processes and products. In general, the advances are relative to a subset of common themes, which we call the four cornerstones of research on metacognitive judgments. We discuss how the target articles build on these cornerstones (judgment…

Personal best goals (PB goals) articulate a target performance standard that matches or exceeds one's previous best. This study examined the role of PB goals in academic and social functioning. Alongside academic and social outcome measures, PB goal items were administered to 249 high-school students at the beginning and end of their school year.…

Immigrant students' school success is often hampered by limited second language (L2) proficiency, yet the effectiveness of different approaches to L2 support is unclear. Using a summer camp setting, we tested effects of (1) implicit support focusing on meaning of language by engaging students in language-intensive activities without drawing their…

The predictive power of cognitive ability and self-control strength for self-reported grades and an achievement test were studied. It was expected that the variables use of time structure, academic procrastination, and motivational interference during learning further aid in predicting students' achievement because they are operative in situations…

For self-regulated learning to be effective, students need to be able to accurately assess their own performance on a learning task and use this assessment for the selection of a new learning task. Evidence suggests, however, that students have difficulties with accurate self-assessment and task selection, which may explain the poor learning…

Grounded in self-determination theory, the aim of this study was (a) to examine naturally occurring configurations of perceived teacher autonomy support and clear expectations (i.e., a central aspect of teacher structure), and (b) to investigate associations with academic motivation, self-regulated learning, and problem behavior. Based on…

We examined achievement goals measured by self-reports and by traces (behavioral indicators) gathered as undergraduates used software tools to study a multimedia-formatted article. Traces were operationalized by tags participants applied to selections of text and hyperlinks they clicked in the article. Tags and hyperlinks were titled to represent…

It is widely recognized that we need to know more about effects of class size on classroom interactions and pupil behavior. This paper extends research by comparing effects on pupil classroom engagement and teacher-pupil interaction, and examining if effects vary by pupil attainment level and between primary and secondary schools. Systematic…

It was hypothesized that students' value orientations are connected to their experience of motivational interference in a conflict between a school- and a leisure-related activity as well as to school marks as indicators of learning outcomes. In a self-report study with Italian adolescents (N = 433; M = 14.5 years) using a school-leisure conflict…

This study examined the effect of different goals (process, performance outcome, and multiple goals) and self-recording on self-regulation of learning a dart-throwing skill. Participants were 105 fifth and sixth graders who were randomly assigned to six (3 Goal type x 2 self-recording) experimental and one control group. Results showed a positive…