In recent years there has been considerable interest in how many learners complete MOOCs, and what factors during usage can predict completion. Others, however, have argued that many learners never intend to complete MOOCs, and take MOOCs for other reasons. There has been qualitative research into why learners take MOOCs, but the link between…

The objective of the present study was to better understand a relatively under-researched topic, namely, undergraduate students' attitudes towards mistakes and how their attitudes relate to academic achievement. A series of online surveys were administered to a sample of 207 first- and second-year undergraduate students. Using structural…

This study examined the relationships among peer alignment (the feeling that one is similar in important ways to one's engineering peers), instructor connectedness (the sense that one knows and looks up to academic staff/faculty members in the department), self-efficacy for engineering class work (confidence in one's ability to successfully…

The purpose of this study was to describe the current state of psychological wellbeing in gifted and nongifted undergraduate student sample populations and identify undergraduate populations experiencing heightened levels of distress within a large Midwestern public university. Study participants included 641 honors and 386 nonhonors undergraduate…

The present study investigated the mediating role of motivational self-talk strategies (i.e., mastery self-talk, extrinsic self-talk, and efficacy enhancement self-talk) in the relationships between achievement goals and academic engagement (i.e., involvement, withdrawal in the face of difficulties, avoidance of challenges, and disruptive…

Self-appraisals can combine with aspects of the school environment in predicting adolescent emotions and behaviors. This study examined how academic self-efficacy and social self-efficacy are related to anxiety and aggression, and how these relations are moderated by school stressors, academic achievement, and school belonging. The participants of…

The relations of academic and social goal orientations to academic and social behaviors and self-concept were investigated among academically talented adolescents (N = 1,218) attending a mastery-oriented academic residential summer program. Results supported context effects in that academic mastery goal orientations predicted academic (in-class…