One major challenge of longitudinal data analysis is to find an appropriate statistical model that corresponds to the theory of change and the research questions at hand. In the present article, we argue that "continuous-time models" are well suited to study the continuously developing constructs of primary interest in the education…

With a growing interest in research on educational processes, there is a need to overview suitable latent variable models for students' learning experiences in real-time. This tutorial provides an introduction to intraindividual (multilevel) structural equation models (ISEM) for the analysis of process data (e.g. intensive longitudinal,…

A first-order latent growth model assesses change in an unobserved construct from a single score and is commonly used across different domains of educational research. However, examining change using a set of multiple response scores (e.g., scale items) affords researchers several methodological benefits not possible when using a single score. A…

The present study took a meta-analytic approach to investigate whether students' engagement acts as a mediator in the association between affective teacher-student relationships and students' achievement. Furthermore, we examined whether results differed for primary and secondary school and whether similar results were found in a longitudinal…

Longitudinal data analysis in education is the study growth over time. A longitudinal study is one in which repeated observations of the same variables are recorded for the same individuals over a period of time. This type of research is known by many names (e.g., time series analysis or repeated measures design), each of which can imply subtle…

This paper introduces latent growth modeling (LGM) as a statistical method for analyzing change over time in latent, or unobserved, variables, with particular emphasis of the application of this method in higher education research. While increasingly popular in other areas of education research and despite a wealth of publicly-available datasets…

Personal self-efficacy is an important theoretical orientation that helps to explain students' learning and academic achievements. One area of research inquiry has involved the four major sources of information and their predictive effects on self-efficacy. As an extension for examination, the purpose of our investigation was to explore the…

This study explores the impacts of selected early science experiences in kindergarten (frequency and duration of teachers' teaching of science, availability of sand/water table and science areas, and children's participation in cooking and science equipment activities) on children's science achievement in kindergarten and third grade using data…

This paper describes structural equation modeling (SEM) and possibilities for using SEM to address problems specific to workforce education and career development. A sample of adolescents identified as work-bound (i.e., transition directly from secondary school to work) from the National Education Longitudinal Study 1988-1996 database (NELS:…