Belief In Ability Research Articles

The Influence of Decision-Making Ability and Educational Beliefs on Creative Personalitys of Preschool Teachers

The Influence of Decision-Making Ability and Educational Beliefs on Creative Personalitys of Preschool Teachers

The puzzle of missing female engineers: Academic preparation, ability beliefs, and preferences

This paper uses administrative North Carolina data linked from high school to college and national surveys to characterize the largest contributor to the STEM gender gap: engineering. Disparities are the result of differential entry during high school or earlier rather than postsecondary exit. Differences in pre-college academic preparation account for 5 to 7% of the gap. Females’ relative lack of academic self-confidence explains 8%, while other-regarding preferences and professional goals capture a further 14%. Empirical evidence using identifying variation in the gender composition of twins in North Carolina shows that opposite-sex pairs are more likely to pursue gender-stereotypical majors.

‘I thought they were going to handle me like a queen but they didn't’: A qualitative study exploring the quality of care provided to women at the time of birth

ObjectiveTo explore experiences of care during labour and birth from the perspectives of both the healthcare provider and women receiving care, to inform recommendations for how the quality of care can be improved and monitored, and, to identify the main aspects of care that are important to women. DesignA descriptive phenomenological approach. 53 interviews and 10KII as per table 1 took place including in-depth interviews (IDI), focus group discussions (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII) conducted with women, healthcare providers, managers and policy makers. Following verbatim transcription thematic framework analysis was used to describe the lived experience of those interviewed. Setting11 public healthcare facilities providing maternity care in urban Tshwane District, Gauteng Province (n = 4) and rural Waterberg District, Limpopo Province (n = 7), South Africa. ParticipantsWomen who had given birth in the preceding 12 weeks (49 women, 7 FGD and 23 IDI); healthcare providers working in the labour wards (33 healthcare providers; nurses, midwives, medical staff, 5 FGD, 18 IDI; managers and policy makers (10 KII). FindingsBoth women and healthcare providers largely feel alone and unsupported. There is mutual distrust between women and healthcare providers exacerbated by word of mouth and the media. A lack of belief in women's ability to make appropriate choices negates principles of choice and consent. Procedure- rather than patient-centred care is prioritised by healthcare providers. Although healthcare providers know the principles of good quality care, this was not reflected in the care women described as having received. Beliefs and attitudes as well as structural and organisational problems make it difficult to provide good quality care. Caring behaviour and environment as well as companionship are the most important needs highlighted by women. Professional hierarchy is rarely seen as supportive by healthcare providers but when present, good leadership changes the culture and experience of women and care providers. The use of mobile phones to provide feedback regarding care was positively viewed by women. ConclusionClarity regarding what a healthcare facility can (or cannot provide) is important in order to separate practice issues from structural and organisational constraints. Improvements in quality that focus on caring as well as competence should be prioritised. Increased dialogue between healthcare providers and users should be encouraged and prioritised. Implications for practiceA renewed focus is needed to ensure companionship during labour and birth is facilitated. Training in respectful maternity care needs to prioritise caring behaviour and supportive leadership.

Using an Expectancy-Value Model to Understand Teaching Motivation among Nontraditional Preservice Teachers: A Phenomenological Study Approach

ABSTRACTThis qualitative study used a phenomenological methodology and an expectancy-value framework to understand nontraditional preservice teachers’ motivations for choosing a teaching career. Nontraditional preservice teachers in the current study are described as teacher candidates for whom teaching was not their first career choice. Ten students enrolled in a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in the United States participated in in-depth, semistructured interviews about their decisions to become teachers. Analyses revealed five thematic concepts that illustrated how participants described their entry to the teacher education program. These themes related to participants’ ability beliefs and expectancies, personal utility values, intrinsic values, social utility values, and the costs associated with choosing a teaching career. Implications for teacher education and mentoring programs are discussed.

초등예비교사의 체조수행능력믿음이 체조수업에 대한 자기인지평가와 수강태도에 미치는 영향

초등예비교사의 체조수행능력믿음이 체조수업에 대한 자기인지평가와 수강태도에 미치는 영향

Effects of Timing and Reference Frame of Feedback: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Information about past performance has been found to sometimes improve and sometimes worsen subsequent performance. Two factors may help to explain this puzzle: which aspect of one's past performance the information refers to and when it is revealed. In a field experiment in secondary schools, students received information about their absolute rank in the last math exam (level feedback), their change in ranks between the second-last and the last math exam (change feedback), or no feedback. Feedback was given either 1-3 days (early) or immediately (late) before the final math exam of the semester. Both level feedback and change feedback significantly improve students' grades in the final exam when given early and tend to worsen them when given late. The largest effects are found for negative change feedback and are concentrated on male students, who adjust their ability beliefs downwards in response to feedback.

Entering the STEM Pipeline: Exploring the Impacts of a Summer Bridge Program on Students’ Readiness

Entering the STEM Pipeline: Exploring the Impacts of a Summer Bridge Program on Students’ Readiness Shiyu Liu (bio) The high attrition rate of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) majors is a main concern in education (National Science Board, 2010). While educators have made great efforts to support students in the pursuit of STEM degrees (National Research Council, 2013), those from minoritized backgrounds (Harper, 2012) are at especially higher rates of leaving the STEM fields (Andersen & Ward, 2014; Good, Halpin, & Halpin, 2001). A number of factors may account for students’ departure, among which preparedness for STEM learning in college is a crucial determinant (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997). Extensive work has been done to enhance students’ preparedness through efforts such as bridge programs, where academic and social support is provided to minoritized students for the rigors of college (Garcia, 1991); however, discrepancies exist regarding how such programs may impact students’ cognitive and affective readiness (e.g., Reisel, Jablonski, Hosseini, & Munson, 2012). Thus, I explored the effects of a bridge program with a focus on four key aspects of readiness: self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety, epistemic beliefs, and metacognitive skills. Self-efficacy is a most influential factor in academic retention (Raelin et al., 2015). Self-efficacy is individuals’ beliefs in their competence in planning and accomplishing specific tasks (Bandura, 1986). It not only reflects students’ readiness for entering STEM, but also is a strong predictor of their persistence and success (Sawtelle, Brewe, & Kramer, 2012). Several factors may contribute to self-efficacy, among which emotions, such as anxiety, is a critical one (Usher & Pajares, 2009). Previous [End Page 635] studies have found that mathematics anxiety is closely related to students’ self-perceived competence in successful STEM learning (Ashcraft, 2002). Yet, the relationship between math anxiety and self-efficacy varies depending on the differences in personal experience and contexts (Litzler, Samuelson, & Lorah, 2014). Metacognitive skills and epistemic beliefs also constitute significant indicators of students’ readiness for college (Tsai, Jessie Ho, Liang, & Lin, 2011). Metacognitive skills entail perceiving one’s cognition and monitoring the learning processes, such as conscious use of learning strategies (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). Epistemic beliefs, on the other hand, are views about the nature of knowledge and processes of knowing (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997), including beliefs in certain knowledge (whether knowledge is absolute and will be ultimately obtained), simple knowledge (whether knowledge is discrete facts), omniscient authority (whether knowledge can be fully accessed only by authorities), quick learning (whether learning occurs in an all-or-none fashion), and innate ability (whether competence in learning is determined at birth; Schraw, Bendixen, & Dunkle, 2002). Previous studies have shown that students with more sophisticated epistemic beliefs, such as considering knowledge as constructive rather than facts, tend to demonstrate higher academic self-efficacy and stronger academic progress (Muis, Bendixen, & Haerle, 2006). In contrast, those who believe that knowledge is simple and certain are more likely to have lower self-efficacy and metacognitive skills (Bråten, Britt, Strømsø, & Rouet, 2011). Yet, while metacognitive skills closely interact with epistemic beliefs and academic self-efficacy (Muis & Duffy, 2013), our understanding of their relationship in STEM learning remains preliminary; therefore, the primary research question in this study was: What are the relations between self-efficacy, math anxiety, metacognitive skills, and epistemic beliefs? This work was conducted in the context of a summer bridge program at a large, U.S. mid-Atlantic, public university. As an initiative to support ethnically minoritized first-year students at a predominantly White institution, the program provided math and physics courses over a span of 6 weeks. The courses were delivered in lectures and remedial sessions to prepare students for intensive requirements of STEM majors. This study was conducted to investigate how participation in the program may affect students’ readiness. Of note, metacognitive skills and epistemic beliefs have been shown to be relatively stable over short time periods, whereas self-efficacy and math anxiety may present significant fluctuation (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991; Schraw et al., 2002). Hence, the second research question in this work was: How does participation in the bridge program impact students’ self-efficacy in math and physics, as well as their levels of math anxiety? METHOD Thirty-nine first-year college students who...

American Exceptionalism Reconsidered: U.S. Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and World Order by David P. Forsythe & Patrice C. McMahon

Reviewed by: American Exceptionalism Reconsidered: U.S. Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and World Order by David P. Forsythe & Patrice C. McMahon Joe Renouard, Ph.D. (bio) David P. Forsythe & Patrice C. McMahon, American Exceptionalism Reconsidered: U.S. Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and World Order (New York: Routledge, 2017), ISBN 978–1–138–95682–7, 160pages. Anyone familiar with the scholarship on international human rights and American foreign policy knows the work of David P. Forsythe, who has published an impressive body of literature on a wide range of humanitarian and human rights topics. Patrice C. McMahon, too, has assembled an impressive resumé more recently on foreign policy, human rights, and ethnic identification. Although their new book will invite comparisons with the similarly-titled volume that Michael Ignatieff edited at the height of the George W. Bush presidency, they are entirely different works.1 Whereas Ignatieff’s book featured a dozen scholars on topics as varied as the First Amendment, capital punishment, popular sovereignty, and international law, Forsythe and McMahon offer a more streamlined study of American foreign policy.2 Since American Exceptionalism Reconsidered is a synthetic work rather than a presentation of new research, readers should not expect many primary-source revelations. At the same time, because it is relatively slim, highly readable, and jargon-free, it is appropriate for classroom use, and it offers enough fresh analysis to interest specialists. It is an enlightening read, though not without some shortcomings. Forsythe and McMahon’s central claim is that, from a moral standpoint, the United States is not all that exceptional “in terms of its willingness to take universal human rights seriously—especially when inconvenient.”3 Using this narrow yardstick, they argue that “U.S. foreign policy on rights and world order does not reflect the persistent workings of moral greatness,”4 but is rather “inconsistent” and characterized by “tension and dualism.” 5 However, since liberal principles have some influence in the policymaking process and in public opinion, the authors suggest that American foreign policy is best described as “liberalized realism” (or “American globalism”)—a kind of liberal internationalism that is “adopted and implemented when convenient, depending on the context and American power.”6 Overall, this is a rather dark view of American foreign policy, though also a generally accurate one, at least based on the authors’ narrow parameters. Their perspective is shared by many liberals (who hope to see these things change) and realists (who maintain that this is [End Page 219] how the world really is).7 Forsythe and McMahon suggest that the key question is not whether liberal norms will dominate or replace realist, self-interested policies in the years to come, but rather the extent to which liberalism and humanitarianism can influence powerful nations’ foreign policies. Unsurprisingly, they conclude that national identity, state power, and national well-being will continue to matter most. “[O]n balance,” they write, “we are not terribly optimistic about this prospect for a more liberal world order.”8 The book’s structure is topical rather than chronological. The first chapter lays out scholarly perspectives and some historical examples, and it assesses how the concept of exceptionalism has been used by presidents from Reagan to Obama. The authors include polling data on support for interventions, American global leadership, and other foreign policy questions. The second and third chapters suggest that the US is not too exceptional in the areas of democracy promotion, humanitarian intervention, and the responsibility to protect. The authors contrast George W. Bush’s well-known belief in the transformative abilities of America with his administration’s ties to undemocratic regimes in the Middle East, and they highlight the limited success of his far-reaching democracy projects. As for Barack Obama, democracy and human rights were distant priorities during his first term, and his pivot to Asia paralleled the downgrading of democracy promotion in the Middle East. To Forsythe and McMahon, Obama was mostly a business-as-usual president, though he did pursue a “dual-track” engagement strategy to encourage autocratic regimes to implement reforms.9 The fourth chapter examines detention and interrogation policies after 9/11, a time when the US did not resist the trend of increasingly brutal...

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Student Interest in STEM Careers: The Roles of Motivation and Ability Beliefs

Amid growing concerns about the future of the U.S. economy and workforce, educators and policymakers alike have increasingly emphasized the need to expand the number of students interested in, qualified for and actually pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The current study draws on survey responses from a sample of 3852 high school students at inclusive STEM schools across the U.S. to investigate how project- and problem-based learning (PBL) may work to address this need. Multivariate regression results indicate that student ratings of PBL are associated with interest in pursuing a career in STEM, as well as with intrinsic motivation for science and students’ ability beliefs for both science and math. Further, mediation analysis using Hayes’ (2014) MEDIATE macro suggests that science intrinsic motivation and ability beliefs mediate the relationship between perceived PBL experiences and student interest in a future STEM career (IFSC). Our results highlight the important potential of PBL for increasing student STEM attitudes and interest in future STEM careers. As one of the only large-scale quantitative analyses of its kind, this study provides critical information for educators, school administrators and policymakers as they continue to seek effective ways of encouraging students to pursue STEM careers.

It Takes More than Grades: Estimating College Major Course-Taking with Transcript Data

This paper studies the association between major ability beliefs and course-taking patterns, and finds that previous works have likely inflated the role of ability sorting. Using administrative transcript data, I find that before declaring their first major, most students have completed at least 10% of the course requirements in many majors. I create a dynamic course-taking to interpret these diverse course-taking patterns. The model informs my estimation strategy of the association between ability beliefs and course histories on subsequent course-taking. I find positive associations between ability beliefs and continuing to satisfy a majors’ course requirements. These associations substantially attenuate when controlling for course histories, suggesting the effort costs needed to graduate act against ability sorting.

Matching Abilities to Careers for Others and Self: Do Gender Stereotypes Matter to Students in Advanced Math and Science Classes?

Interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers falls off more quickly for young women than for young men over adolescence, and gender stereotypes may be partially to blame. Adolescents typically become more stereotypical in their career interests over time, yet they seem to become more flexible in applying stereotypes to others. Models of career interest propose that career decisions result from the alignment of self-perceived abilities with occupation-required skills and that gender stereotypes may influence this process. To investigate the discrepancy between applying stereotypes to self and others, we examined if these models can be applied to perceptions of others. Focusing on students from fifth grade through college enrolled in advanced STEM courses, we investigated how STEM occupational stereotypes, abilities, and efficacy affect expectations for others’ and own career interests. U.S. participants (n = 526) read vignettes describing a hypothetical male or female student who was talented in math/science or language arts/social studies and then rated the student’s interest in occupations requiring some of those academic skills. Participants’ self-efficacy, interest, and stereotypes for STEM occupations were also assessed. Findings suggest that ability beliefs, whether for oneself or another, are powerful predictors of occupational interest, and gender stereotypes play a secondary role. College students were more stereotypical in their ratings of others, but they did not manifest gender differences in their own STEM self-efficacy and occupational interests. Experiences in specialized STEM courses may explain why stereotypes are applied differentially to the self and others.

The role of ability beliefs and agentic vs. communal career goals in adolescents' first educational choice. What explains the degree of gender-balance?

To reduce the horizontal gender segregation in the labor market, we need to understand gender differences in career choice. The current study followed a large group of Swedish adolescents as they made their first educational choice, and tested for mediation of gender differences using measures of ability beliefs and career goals, which were collected shortly prior to the choice. Findings revealed strong gender differences in high-tech ability beliefs (e.g. computers), which combined with social ability beliefs (e.g. listening skills) and, to a lesser degree, communal career goals (e.g. helping) explained gender differences in educational choice. A new measure of career goal choice revealed that a majority of the adolescents prefer agentic (e.g. status) over communal goal fulfilment if made to choose, although this preference was stronger amongst the boys. Our results support social cognitive career theory, expectancy-value theory and the goal congruity perspective as they demonstrate how gender differences in educational choice can be understood in terms of differences in competence beliefs and career goals. Furthermore, the results suggest that one reason why gender balanced programs appeal to adolescents is their perceived ability to fulfill both agentic and communal career goals.

Plurilingualism in Europe: Exploring Attitudes Toward English and Other European Languages Among Adolescents in Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain

This article explores adolescent students’ attitudes toward learning English and other European languages studied at secondary school. The study is based on 2255 qualitative responses to a survey conducted in Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. The data reveal that, although differences between countries shape the experience of foreign language learning in different ways, students in all four countries are highly aware of the global status of English. This can be a positive stimulus for students’ attitudes toward English but it can also negatively affect their attitudes toward learning other languages, as these can be perceived as less valuable. While perceived societal importance can differ from personal relevance and while identity issues, ability beliefs, contextual factors on the school and classroom level, as well as social‐relational contexts (especially the relationship to the teacher) also play a role in shaping students’ attitudes, the data demonstrate that macro‐contextual factors exert considerable influence. They also suggest that more attention must be paid to stimulating positive attitudes toward language diversity and to fostering plurilingual aspirations in young Europeans.

그림책을 활용한 놀이중심 부모교육 프로그램이 어머니의 놀이신념, 놀이참여 및 의사소통능력에 미치는 영향

그림책을 활용한 놀이중심 부모교육 프로그램이 어머니의 놀이신념, 놀이참여 및 의사소통능력에 미치는 영향

Positive Stereotype Validation: The Bolstering Effects of Activating Positive Stereotypes After Intellectual Performance.

Past research has found that members of stigmatized groups may feel more certain of poor performance when negative stereotypes are made accessible after finishing a task (i.e., stereotype validation). However, no research to date has identified the potential effects of activating positive stereotypes after performance. Based on past research and theory, we hypothesized that such positive stereotype validation may serve to bolster-rather than hinder-important beliefs related to one's abilities and future task performance. Across three studies, the accessibility of positive group stereotypes was manipulated after participants completed an initial test on a topic. Consistent with predictions, the activation of positive, self-relevant stereotypes after the initial test was found to increase how certain participants were that they performed well on it. Furthermore, these increases in evaluative certainty predicted more positive ability beliefs, higher expectations for future performance, and better performance on a follow-up test that participants completed.

A Note on Disbelief in Others regarding Backward Induction

We present experimental results on the role of beliefs in the cognitive ability of others in a problem involving backward induction. Using a modified version of the so-called race game, our design allows the effects of a player’s own inability to perform backward induction to be separated from the effects of her disbelief in the ability of others to do so. We find that behavior is responsive to the dependence on others who might fail in backward induction as well as information regarding their backward induction skills.

Implicit Theories of Ability in Physical Education: Current Issues and Future Directions

Purpose:In light of the extensive empirical evidence that implicit theories have important motivational consequences for young people across a range of educational settings we seek to provide a summary of, and personal reflection on, implicit theory research and practice in physical education (PE).Overview:We first provide an introduction to the key constructs and theoretical propositions associated with implicit theories. We then include a brief summary of the research findings on ability beliefs in school PE, which we draw on to identify several key issues that we feel are crucial to furthering our understanding of this topic. We conclude by offering a number of ideas for future research and discuss the potential misinterpretation of implicit theories when applied to professional practice in PE.Conclusions:We argue that researchers need to address more nuanced questions around implicit theories to prevent this area of inquiry stalling. Moreover, we need to provide teachers with more specific recommendations to help them integrate theory and research into practice.

What Influences Linkage to Care After Home-Based HIV Counseling and Testing?

To maximize the benefits of test and treat strategies that utilize community-based HIV testing, clients who test positive must link to care in a timely manner. However, linkage rates across the HIV treatment cascade are typically low and little is known about what might facilitate or hinder care-seeking behavior. This qualitative study was conducted within a home-based HIV counseling and testing (HBHCT) intervention in South Africa. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 HBHCT clients who tested HIV positive to explore what influenced their care-seeking behavior. A set of field notes for 196 additional HBHCT clients who tested HIV positive at home were also reviewed and analyzed. Content analysis showed that linkage to care is influenced by a myriad of factors at the individual, relationship, community, and health system levels. These factors subtly interact and at times reinforce each other. While some factors such as belief in test results, coping ability, social support, and prior experiences with the health system affect clients’ desire and motivation to seek care, others such as limited time and resources affect their agency to do so. To ensure that the benefits of community-based testing models are realized through timely linkage to care, programs and interventions must take into account and address clients’ emotions, motivation levels, living situations, relationship dynamics, responsibilities, and personal resources.

Big Jumps in Women's Presence in Parliaments: Are These Sufficient for Improving Beliefs in Women's Ability to Govern?

In this article, I examine whether sudden, big jumps in women's presence in parliament are sufficient for improving beliefs in women's ability to govern in the two cases with pre and posttest data: Iraq and Spain. I explain why big jumps lend themselves to tests of sufficiency, defend the theory confirming advantages of this analytic approach and discuss the advantages of the Iraqi and Spanish comparison. The Iraqi and Spanish tests of sufficiency include pre and posttest models of the effect of the big jump using ordinal regression analysis. The analyses are run over 5026 Iraqi respondents and 2411 Spanish respondents to surveys administered before and after the big jumps. The analysis confirms that big jumps are sufficient for improvement of beliefs in women's ability to govern in Iraq and Spain.

Relationship among Ability Beliefs, Self-Management Strategies and Performance of Middle and High School Soccer Athletes

본 연구의 목적은 중·고등학교 축구선수의 능력믿음, 자기관리전략 및 경기수행능력의 관계를 규명하는데 있다. 이 를 위해 선행연구와 이론을 기초로 외생잠재 변인으로 재미, 내생잠재변인으로 자기관리전략 및 경기수행능력을 설정하여 구 조방정식을 통해 관계를 검증하였다. 조사도구는 서울특별시, 경기도에 거주하는 중·고등학교 축구선수 314명을 대상으로, 편 의표본추출법(convenience sampling method)으로 추출하였다. 자료처리는 SPSS 18.0 및 AMOS 18.0 프로그램을 이용하여, 빈 도, 탐색적 요인분석(exploratory factor analysis), 신뢰도 분석(cronbach’s α), 측정모형 분석(confirmatory factor analysis), 상관 관계 분석(correlation analysis), 구조모형 분석(structural equation model)을 실시하였다. 이상의 연구방법과 절차를 통해 다음 과 같은 결과를 도출하였다. 중·고등학교 축구 선수의 능력믿음은 자기관리전략 및 경기수행능력에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나 타났고, 자기관리전략은 경기수행능력에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 종합적으로 중·고등학교 축구선수의 능력믿음이 높 을수록 자기관리전략 및 경기수행능력의 수준이 높음을 의미한다.