This paper investigates the validation of the computer-based listening subtest in the "Certificate of English for Primary Teachers" (CEPT), which is addressed to in-service primary teachers who work in state Italian schools. Since 2004, these teachers, specialists in other subjects, have been asked by the Italian Ministry of Education to…

This article reports the development and psychometric requisites of Visions About Future (VAF), a measure to assess optimism, pessimism, and hope in early adolescence. Two different studies involving Italian middle school students were conducted. With the first study, the items were developed and the factor structure verified by using item…

My Career Story (MCS) comprises a self-guided autobiographical workbook designed to assist individuals across life's diverse spectrum to narrate and shape their career stories. We describe the development and use of the MCS and its relevance for all people contemplating career transitions. Results of a study using the MCS with 20 emerging adults…

After the 2008 economic crisis, the financial condition of youth has become a frequent research topic and the need for an instrument measuring financial constructs relevant for this stage of life is increasing. The current paper consists of four studies aiming to develop and validate an instrument measuring subjective financial well-being in a…

The elusive character of student agency makes it a relevant construct to be investigated and measured. An initial effort in this direction was represented by the Agentic Engagement Scale, a five-item instrument designed to assess the degree to which students constructively contribute to the flow of the instructions they receive from the teacher.…

Teacher burnout is a growing phenomenon that may dramatically reduce the quality of life of both teachers and students. Many studies have conceptualized teaching as a high-contact profession and, focusing on the emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout, they have highlighted the relation with students as a key dimension of teachers' stress. This…

This study investigated the structure and validity of the Italian translation of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. Data were self-reported from 227 participants. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the four-factor structure of the scale. Hierarchical regressions also demonstrated its incremental validity beyond demographics, the…

The State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory--Trait Version (STCI-T60) measures the temperamental basis of sense of humor involving theoretically derived personality dispositions of cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood. The reliability and validity of the newly developed STCI-T60 Italian version were assessed in a sample of Italian speakers (N =…

In this article, we discuss the development and the administration of a multiple-choice test, which we named "Test of Calculus and Vectors in Mathematics and Physics" (TCV-MP), aimed at comparing students' ability to answer questions on derivatives, integrals, and vectors in a purely mathematical context and in the context of physics.…

The recently developed short form of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale--Revised Child version (ECR-RC) is a promising tool to assess anxious and avoidant attachment in children and adolescents. Yet, evidence concerning its validity in middle childhood is limited. This study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the 12-item ECR-RC…

Psychological sense of community among early adolescents has been investigated using instruments developed for adolescents/adults or ad hoc scales. The aim was to contribute to the validation of a scale of Sense of Community in Early Adolescents (SoC-EA) using a 3-year longitudinal study. Participants were 576 Italian students attending middle…

In this paper, we give possible suggestions for a classroom lesson about an application of probability using basic mathematical notions. We will approach to some combinatoric results without using "induction", "polynomial identities" nor "generating functions", and will give a proof of the "Vandermonde…

Drawing from research on revision competence and revision didactics, and based on the proposal of a multi-component revision competence model, a short-term revision course was offered in 2015 as part of a Specialized Translation module. During the course, students were also involved in an experimental study whose overall aim was to investigate the…

The aim of this manuscript is to examine the perceived parental perfectionism in undergraduate Italian students. Study 1 aimed at exploring the factorial structure, reliability, and construct validity of the Italian version of the Family Almost Perfect Scale (FAPS). The aim of Study 2 was to cross-validate the FAPS structure with a different…

Through two studies, this work examined the applicability, interpretability, and construct validity of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System K-3 (CLASS) to measure quality of classroom interactions. In the first study, the CLASS was used in 332 classrooms to test three alternative models (in time order, the one-, three-factor, and two-factor…