This study investigated how affective factors like attitude and motivation contribute to science achievement in PISA 2006 using linear structural modeling. The data set of PISA 2006 collected from 4942 fifteen-year-old Turkish students (2290 females, 2652 males) was used for the statistical analyses. A total of 42 selected items on a four point…

The aim of this self-report study is to analyze proposed interrelations between value orientations, self-control, frequency of school-leisure conflicts, and life-balance in adolescence. Life-balance is defined as satisfying time investment in different life areas. The tested model posits that self-control is negatively related to conflict…

This study examined the role of metacognition and intelligence in foreign language achievement on a sample of 143 Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Participants completed Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices as a measure of intelligence, and Metacognitive Awareness Inventory as a measure of metacognition. Learners' scores at…

This study examines the validity of the complex problem solving (CPS) test MicroDYN by investigating a) the relation between its dimensions--rule identification (exploration strategy), rule knowledge (acquired knowledge), rule application (control performance)--and working memory capacity (WMC), and b) whether CPS predicts school grades in…

The present study investigated the roles of cognitive (working memory, intelligence) and motivational variables (self-perceived ability, intrinsic value) in explaining school achievement. The sample consisted of N = 320 German elementary school children in the fourth grade. Working memory and intelligence were assessed in the classroom.…

Marsh and Koller (2004) combined the reciprocal-effects model and the internal/external frame-of-reference model into a unified model of relationships between academic self-concept and achievement. However, this model has only been examined with German adolescents. We decided to test this model with two-wave data drawn from a national survey of…

This study examined the extent to which first grade teachers adapt their reading instruction to the literacy skills of particular children in their classroom, and investigated whether teacher and classroom characteristics influence such adaptation. Three hundred seven Finnish children were tested with regard to their literacy skills at the end of…

The relationships of reading-related skills (rapid naming, morphological awareness, syntactic skills, discourse skills, and verbal working memory) and word reading to reading comprehension were examined among 248 Chinese fourth graders in Hong Kong. Multiple regression analysis results showed that syntactic skills (word order knowledge,…

The concept of intellectual giftedness has had a long history in the literature of psychology and education. However, though the existence of the phenomenon underlying this concept has never actually been disputed, there are multiple ongoing debates regarding its definition, methods for its identification, and subsequent programming. This essay is…

School burnout is a relatively new area of interest and as such, it is in need of foundational research. One area requiring further investigation is the construction and testing of developmental models which outline the causal relationships between emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inadequacy. The current research explored the…

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships amongst students' test emotions of hope and hopelessness, their antecedents of cognitive control and value appraisals and volitional strategies during learning, as well as their effects on academic achievement in the domain of mathematics, using the control-value theoretical framework. Sample…

This study examined structure and predictive utility of the 2 x 2 achievement goal model among Taiwan pre-university school students (ages 10 to 16) who learned Chinese language arts. The confirmatory factor analyses of Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Chinese version provided good fitting between the factorial and dimensional structures with the…

The present study tested the applicability of expectancy-value theory to adults' learning motivation. Motivation was measured as the anticipated reaction (AR) of German students (N = 300) to receiving their instructions in English as a new learning opportunity. We used structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. Expectancies of success…

The present study identified the different patterns of Chinese students' academic achievement trajectories over the high school transition period and examined the relationships between students' sense of school belonging trajectories and the different patterns of academic achievement trajectories. In a sample of 567 Chinese high school students, a…

This paper identifies the need for a deliberate approach to theory building in the context of researching cognitive and learning style differences in human performance. A case for paradigm shift and a focus upon research epistemology is presented, building upon a recent critique of style research. A proposal for creating paradigm shift is made,…