Large-scale international studies offer researchers a rich source of data to examine the relationship among variables. Machine learning embodies a range of flexible statistical procedures to identify key indicators of a response variable among a collection of hundreds or even thousands of potential predictor variables. Among these, penalized…

Non-cognitive characteristics of students in four Southeast Asian countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Viet Nam -- were reviewed based on the PISA 2009, 2012, and 2015 data. Overall, students in this region demonstrated similarities with respect to their non-cognitive dispositions such as learning habits, approaches to learning,…

There are many studies that focus on factors affecting achievement. However, there is limited research that used student characteristics indices reported by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Therefore, this study investigated the predictive effects of student characteristics on mathematics performance of Turkish students.…

Recent efforts to identify non-cognitive predictors of academic achievement and school success have largely focused on self-constructs such as self-efficacy, self-concept and anxiety that are measured with respect to a specific domain (e.g. mathematics). We extend the measurement of the non-cognitive realm in education to incorporate both social…

The aim of this study was to examine the role of motivational beliefs in mediating the relationship among perceived teacher support, learning strategy use, and student achievement. The author analyzed the Programme for International Student Assessment mathematics scores and questionnaire responses of 4,855 15-year-old students in Turkey via…