Student self-efficacy, their confidence to successfully perform a task, is positively related to course performance. Students with high self-efficacy for a task are more motivated toward that task. Yet few studies have measured students' self-efficacy and motivation levels after exams are returned in introductory biology classes or studied how…

This study investigates associations between two types of control beliefs--self-efficacy for self-regulation and implicit theories of willpower--and undergraduate biology students' (N = 535) behavioral self-regulation and performance. Findings suggest that self-efficacy is the more proximally related motive for students to engage in academic…

College students' performance in introductory-level biology course work is an important predictor of ongoing persistence in the major. This study reports on a researcher-educator partnership that designed and compared two cocurricular workshops. Seventeen laboratory sections of an undergraduate biology course were randomly assigned to one of two…

Anxiety can impact overall performance and persistence in college. Student response systems (SRSs), real-time active-learning technologies used to engage students and gauge their understanding, have been shown to elicit anxiety for some students. Kahoot! is an SRS technology that differs from others in that it involves gamification, the use of…

Research within the Cognitive load theory (CLT) framework typically assumes motivation as a precursor to learning, rather than an outcome of instruction. In this study, we observe changes in learners' motivational beliefs as outcomes of their cognitive processes, through CLT lens. Using double-blind quasi-experimental design, we manipulate the…

Epistemological beliefs about science (EBAS) or beliefs about the nature of science knowledge, and how that knowledge is generated during inquiry, are an essential yet difficult to assess component of science literacy. Leveraging learning analytics to capture and analyze student practices in simulated or game-based authentic science activities is…

Conceptual learning is a uniquely human behavior that engages all aspects of individuals: cognitive, metacognitive, and affective. The affective domain is key in learning. In this paper, that authors have explored three affective constructs that may be important for understanding biology student learning: self-efficacy--the set of beliefs that one…

There is a national effort to increase the number of undergraduate students graduating in science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) (National Science Foundation, 2007). The majority of students initially populating these STEM majors ultimately switch to and graduate from non-STEM majors (Seymour & Hewitt, 2000; Seymour, 2002). The…

Undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory biology course for nonmajors during the fall semester of 2007 were administered the Biology Attitude Scale (Russell and Hollander 1975), a constructed Mathematics Attitude Scale, and a portion of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich and Smith 1993). Together, the…