In learning diagnostic assessments, the attribute hierarchy specifies a sequential network of interrelated attribute mastery processes, which makes a test blueprint consistent with the cognitive theory. One of the most important functions of attribute hierarchy is to guide or limit the developmental direction of students and then form a…

The attribution of learning success or failure is crucial for students' learning and motivation. Effective attribution of their learning success or failure in the context of a small private online course (SPOC) could generate students' motivation toward learning success while an incorrect attribution would lead to a sense of helplessness. Based on…

Over the past fifty years, extensive research has examined the influence of causal attributions on cognitions, emotions, and behaviours in educational contexts. However, these studies often relied on inferences about dimensional properties of attributions, and not on students' perceptions of them. This study innovates by directly assessing these…

The need for educators to utilize culturally responsive pedagogy to support culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) student populations is critical. This research examines the formation of teacher candidates' culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE) and attributional beliefs for teaching CLD learners. Findings inform existing…

This study examined children's emotion attributions and moral judgements to hypothetical procedural justice outcomes when the candidates were equal in merit but different in need. Children (7 to 11 years old, N = 88) were presented with four vignettes depicting resource-rich and resource-poor candidates losing educational materials and…

We exploit information about parental preference and a randomized component in the assignment of students to schools within a deferred acceptance (DA) mechanism to estimate the causal effect of enrolling in a charter school in Newark, New Jersey, on student test scores. The estimates incorporate variation from students attending about 70% of the…

The retention of students is a challenge faced by many universities in countries where participation rates are high. Living learning communities (LLCs) have been adopted by college administrators to increase retention, even though evidence of their effectiveness is largely anecdotal. This paper uses propensity score matching to address selection…

Reform efforts in statistics education emphasize the need for students to develop statistical thinking. Critical to this goal is a solid understanding of design in the process of collecting data, evaluating evidence, and drawing conclusions. We collected survey responses from over 700 college students at the start of an introductory statistics…

Teacher shortages and attrition are problems of international concern. One of the most frequent reasons for teachers leaving the profession is a lack of job satisfaction. Accordingly, in this study we have adopted a causal inference machine learning approach to identify practical interventions for improving overall levels of job satisfaction. We…

We use the method of situational decomposition in an attempt to identify the causal effect of alcohol intoxication on adolescent sexual intercourse and contraception use. This approach assumes that the relationship between frequency of alcohol intoxication and behavior "while sober" is entirely spurious. With this in mind, the…

Optimistic attributional style has been shown to be reliably associated with high well-being and low depression and (Hu et al., "Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology," 34(4): 304-321, 2015). Via both a meta-analysis and two new studies, we examine the relationship between optimistic attributional style for explaining negative and…

Young children tend to rely on reactive cognitive control (e.g. strongly slow down after an error), even when task accuracy would benefit from proactive cognitive control (taking a slower task approach up front). We investigated if giving young primary school children opportunities to repeatedly experience tasks where success rates depend on…

The impact of a major historical event on child and youth development has been of great interest in the study of the life course. This study is focused on assessing the causal effect of the Great Recession on youth disconnection from school and work. Building on the insights offered by the age-period-cohort research, econometric methods, and…

Past research has shown that counterfactual ("If…then…") thoughts influence causal and responsibility attribution in the judicial context. However, little is known on whether and how the use of counterfactuals in communication affects lay jurors' and judges' evaluations. In two studies, we asked mock lay jurors (Study 1) and actual…

The present study had a dual objective: to verify the existence of profiles of anxious students and to relate the possible profiles with causal self-attributions in the area of mathematics. The sample consisted of 1,730 Chilean children from 9 to 11 years old (M = 10.05; SD = 1.03). The Visual Analog Scale for Anxiety-Revised and the Sydney…