Academic Self-beliefs Research Articles

The development of mathematics expectancy-value profiles during the secondary–tertiary transition into STEM fields

BackgroundTo master the secondary–tertiary transition into fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), academic self-beliefs play a pivotal role, especially those related to learning mathematics. The framework of expectancy-value theory has been used widely in primary and secondary education and partly in tertiary education to assess the self-beliefs of students in terms of expectancy of success and perceived value of mathematics. Based on this framework, we measured how the intrinsic value, the attainment value, the utility value, and the cost of learning mathematics as well as the expectancy of success when learning mathematics developed during the secondary–tertiary transition of students into STEM fields. Data were collected in a quantitative repeated-measures questionnaire study with two measurement points (measurement point 1: n = 710, measurement point 2: n = 487, listwise: n = 409). We conducted a latent profile analysis to identify the prevalent patterns of mathematics self-beliefs, called profiles, at each of the two measurement points. We studied the relation of these profiles to prior education, achievement at school, and achievement at university. By performing a latent transition analysis, we determined the probabilities of transitioning from the initial profiles to the posterior profiles.ResultsOur analysis revealed four distinct prevalent profiles at each measurement point, ranging from highly favorable (i.e., high expectancy, high value, low cost) to highly unfavorable with respect to learning mathematics. The profiles with favorable manifestations remained stable over time, while those with undesirable manifestations deteriorated further. We observed a sharp increase in cost across all profiles. Prior achievement correlated strongly with profile membership.ConclusionsThe expenditure of time and energy increased sharply during the secondary–tertiary transition, independently of the students’ initial motivational patterns. The perceived utility of mathematics for potential future careers was shown to be a significant source of motivation. The role of mathematics in future careers should thus be made visible in university teaching. Keeping the detrimental development of initially undesirable motivational profiles in mind, university teachers should create ample opportunities for students to gain a sense of accomplishment.

An Analysis of Students’ Academic Self-Concept in English as Predictor of Their Academic Performance

The main concern of the current work was to analyze the academic self-concept (ASC) of students in English as a predictor of their performance. For this purpose, overall, 288 students representing both genders enrolled in grade 10 were the respondents of the study. A Likert scale method was administered to find students’ extent of academic self-concept to further correlate it with their obtained marks in English in the final exam of the 9th class. A demographic-based analysis was conducted under both descriptive and inferential statistics. Mean score, Standard Deviation, Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, Independent sample t-test, and ANOVA were the major data analysis techniques involved in the analysis carried over SPSS. After analysis, a positive and significant relationship was explored between these two variables. The gender-based difference in both variables was found to be insignificant. A reasonable extent of the self-concept of respondents was also evident. The study concludes that a conducive learning environment is provided to students in academic courses and subjects keeping in view their academic self-beliefs so that they may enable themselves to identify their potential, goals, and ambitions for that particular subject and ultimately excel in it. Undoubtedly, students’ healthy self-concept stimulates them for high-level performance.

Caribbean Immigrant Youths’ Ethnic Identity and Academic Achievement: The Role of Academic Beliefs

Ethnic identity (EI) can facilitate racially and ethnically marginalized youths’ academic achievement but the mediating process by which it exerts its influence is unclear. This study examines how EI is associated with academic achievement through academic beliefs in a sample of Caribbean first and second generation immigrant adolescents whose identities are connected to cultural groups outside of the U.S. Youth ( N = 128; 12–18 years old, M = 16.32, SD = 1.81; 69.3% second generation; 58.6% Black) reported on their EI affirmation and belonging and EI achievement, academic self-efficacy, academic aspirations, and grades. Results of our serial mediation model showed that stronger EI achievement was associated with higher academic self-efficacy and in turn higher academic aspirations, and higher grades. These findings offer potential targets (i.e., academic self-beliefs) for supporting the academic success of Black and Hispanic Caribbean immigrant students and have implications for their boosting educational outcomes.

Parenting profiles of academic and racial socialization: Associations with academic engagement and academic self-beliefs of African American adolescents

In addition to being involved and encouraging their youth academically, many African American caregivers also employ socialization practices that prepare their adolescents for entering into a school system where they will be an ethnic minority or be taught by predominantly non-minority educators. The purpose of the current investigation was to fill existing gaps in the literature by examining two dimensions of parental socialization practices: academic socialization (parent school involvement and academic encouragement) and racial socialization (cultural pride, preparation for bias, and egalitarian messages). Additionally, this study examined how the identified profiles are associated with African American adolescents' academic outcomes (academic engagement and academic self-beliefs). A latent profile analysis was utilized to analyze data on 140 African American adolescent participants (M = 12.4; SD = 1.13; 56% female). Profiles that were identified included (a) academic socializers, (b) low race salient socializers, (c) preparation for bias socializers, (d) unengaged socializers, (e) multifaceted socializers, and (f) race salient socializers. Although there was no demographic (age, gender, SES) variation in profile membership, there were some differences in academic engagement and adolescents' academic-self beliefs. Findings highlight the importance of examining how academic and racial socialization work together and their association with adolescents' academic outcomes. Implications are discussed for school psychologists and educators.

Measuring Self-Perceptions of Oral Narrative Competencies and Anxiety in the EFL Context

Introduction. Due to a considerable lack in empirical efforts and appropriate instruments, and theoretically rooted in a cognitive-motivational perspective on academic personality development, the present study analyzes a questionnaire for measuring EFL learners’ self-perceptions of oral narrative competencies and perceived anxiety concerning oral narrative classroom situations.Method. In a sample of N = 256 German ninth-graders from 9 inner-city grammar schools this newly developed instrument was administered along with related self-belief and performance measures and, for the purpose of discriminant validation, also with matched measures in the native language German.Results. Principal components analysis led to the formation of two subscales measuring perceived competency and anxiety. Both subscales provided psychometrically sufficient and valid data. Especially, structural equation modeling analyses evidenced the L2 self-perceptions of oral narrative competence and anxiety to be considerably stronger related to English than to German belief and performance variables. The relations between L2 and L1 constructs mainly turned out to draw a domain-specific pattern. Additional analyses of variance could verify significant gender differences in the anxiety scores indicating that female learners tended to report a higher degree of anxiety concerning oral narrative classroom situations. Furthermore, self-perceptions of narrative competencies could be clearly differentiated from the overall English self-concept variable.Discussion. The results could confirm the multidimensional and task-specific feature of academic self-beliefs in the EFL context. Accordingly, both measurement scales might serve as research instruments for further analyses of EFL learners’ cognitive-motivational orientations in a specific competence area of oral language use.

The Impact of a Holistic Conditional Cash Transfer Program in New York City on Parental Financial Investment, Student Time Use, and Educational Processes and Outcomes

ABSTRACTThis article examines the impacts of Opportunity New York City–Family Rewards, the first holistic conditional cash transfer (CCT) program evaluated in the United States, on parental financial investments in children, and high school students' academic time use, motivations and self-beliefs, and achievement outcomes. Family Rewards, launched by the Center for Economic Opportunity in the Mayor's Office of the City of New York in 2007 and codesigned and evaluated by MDRC, offered cash assistance to low-income families conditioned on family investments in three areas: children's education, family preventive health care, and parents' employment. Results that rely on a random assignment design find that Family Rewards resulted in statistically significant increases in parental spending and saving on education for all students, and increased savings for those students most academically prepared at baseline and for girls, as well as statistically significant increases in academic time use and achievement outcomes for these same academically prepared students. There were no impacts on student motivations and self-beliefs. Implications are discussed for conditional cash transfer programs as well as for interventions targeting high-risk children and families.

Academic Self-Efficacy, Information Literacy, and Undergraduate Course-Related Research: Expanding Gross's Imposed Query Model

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this article is to demonstrate the potential relevance of academic self-beliefs to Gross's imposed query model as they apply to undergraduate students, particularly at the IQ2 (transferred) and IQ3 (interpreted) stages. The author argues that, at these two stages, students will decide if they have the skills required to be successful, how much effort they will put into the research process, and if they will seek help from an expert information intermediary. Furthermore, the author proposes an expanded model of the IQ2 (transferred) and IQ3 (interpreted) stages to be tested by future research seeking to understand how undergraduate students navigate the course-related research process.

Depressive Symptoms, Self-Beliefs and Academic Performance among Brazilian Children and Adolescents

This study investigated the rate of depressive symptoms among students of a public school in Curitiba, Brazil, as well as data concerning their beliefs related to self and school grades, aiming to outline correlations between academic performance, self-beliefs, and possible indicators of lowered mood. Theoretical foundation has been described as the interaction between cognitive and affective aspects of human development, such as self-regulation and self-beliefs. Data collection was done by means of standardized scales and school supplies, such as annual grades in Portuguese and Mathematics. Participants were 322 students from 5th to 8th grades of elementary school (10–15 years old), and the 1st to 3rd year of middle school (14–17 years old) in the first stage of study, and 44 students (selected from the first numbers of students displaying depressive symptoms, characterizing a negative correlation between the described variables. Also, significant and positive correlations between the components of self-...

Modeling the Interaction of Academic Self-Beliefs, Frequency of Reading at Home, Emotional Support, and Reading Achievement: An RCT Study of At-Risk Early Readers in First Grade and Second Grade

The current article examines what factors explained the success of a reading program delivered by older adult volunteers to at-risk early readers. The article also examines the direction of the relationship over time (both direct and mediated) between reading achievement, frequency of reading at home, and academic self-beliefs. Two hundred and twenty nine socially disadvantaged children recruited at the start of first and second grade at risk of reading failure participated in the randomized controlled trial study over an 18-month period. The results from structural equation modeling show the combined instructional and emotional support was a proximal outcome, whose distal outcomes included gains in reading achievement. There was no evidence that either academic self-beliefs or frequency of reading at home mediated program impact on reading achievement. In addition, academic self-beliefs became more accurate and stable as children advanced through school. Reading achievement mediated the impact of earlier reading achievement on both academic self-beliefs and frequency of reading at home for children entering second and third grade. In contrast, for the youngest children (at the start of first grade), academic self-beliefs were negatively associated with subsequent academic self-beliefs and frequency of reading at home.

The Relationship of Physical Fitness, Self-Beliefs, and Social Support to the Academic Performance of Middle School Boys and Girls

We examined the influence of physical and psychosocial variables on math and reading achievement test scores. Between 1 and 5 months prior to taking annual standardized reading and math tests, a sample of ( N = 1,211) sixth through eight graders (53.7% girls; 57.2% White) self-reported levels of physical activity, academic self-beliefs, general self-esteem, and social support and participated in objective testing to obtain measures of body composition (body mass index [BMI]) and cardiorespiratory fitness. Socioeconomic status (SES) and state-based reading and math achievement test scores were provided by the school district. Regression analyses revealed that SES, academic self-beliefs, and cardiorespiratory fitness were the consistent predictors of the students’ performance in reading and math; perceived social support from family and friends and higher levels of self-esteem were related to higher reading scores for the boys only. Our findings support schools re-examining policies that have limited students’ involvement in physical education classes.

Higher-order structure of noncognitive constructs and prediction of PISA 2003 mathematics achievement

The present study investigates higher-order factor structure among fifteen primary variables selected from four broad noncognitive domains of academic self-beliefs, motivation, learning strategy, and attitudes toward school. The PISA 2003 international dataset was analyzed. Several EFA, CFA, and SEM models were tested, hypothesizing the structure among the primary first-order variables and their relationships to the mathematics scores. The analyses indicated no single, general factor at the second-order level, encompassing all fifteen first-order variables. Instead, the fifteen primary variables were best represented by a three-level factor structure with the four salient domain factors at the second-order level and one general noncognitive factor at the third-order. The most plausible SEM model had each of the three self-belief primary variables individually linked to the mathematics achievement scores, independent of the third-order factor. Self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of mathematics achievement and its predictive power was comparable to that of the common part of all 15 primary variables captured by the general noncognitive factor.

Does Geographic Setting Alter the Roles of Academically Supportive Factors? African American Adolescents' Friendships, Math Self-concept, and Math Performance

The study is one of few to examine how living in rural, suburban, or urban settings may alter factors supporting African Americans adolescents' math performance. The study examines the relationship of math self-concept and perceptions of friends' academic behaviors to African American students' math performance. Participants (N = 1,049) are African American adolescents from rural, suburban, and urban schools. Findings suggest that having higher academic perceptions of friends related to greater math self-concept, which then related positively to math performance for students in all settings. However, urban students had less gender stratification in both academic perceptions of friends and math self-concept. Findings highlight how academically supportive factors are present for African American adolescents in various levels of urbanization.Keywords: friends, African American, math, academic motivation, urban, ruralResearch and the popular press often highlight negative aspects of African American adolescents, such as underperforming on standardized tests (Lee, Grigg, & Dion, 2007) and the presence of academically detrimental friendships (e.g., Fordham & Ogbu, 1 986). Lesser research and popular media focuses on the roles of academically supportive factors for African American adolescents' scholastic performance. Prior work suggests that academic self-concept and friends can enhance African Americans' academic functioning. African Americans hold favorable academic selfconcept (Graham, 1994; Ryan & Ryan, 2005) and can perceive friendships as enabling academic performance (Azmitia & Cooper, 2001; Horvart & Lewis, 2003; Witherspoon, Speight, & Thomas, 1997). Friendships and academic self-concept often interrelate, such that friendships can affect academic self-concept (Marsh, 1986; Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts, 2006). A strong line of empirical and theoretical research highlights the academic benefits of friendships and academic self-beliefs (Berndt, 1999; Berndt & Keefe, 1995; Bouchey & Harter, 2005; Kindermann, 1993, 2007; Patrick, 1997; Ryan, 2001).A growing number of African Americans have and continue to move away from urban areas. This trend is noted by both the popular press (Bilefsky, 201 1) and supported by U.S. Census data. In 2000, 36% of African Americans lived in suburban settings and another 12.5% in rural settings (McKinnon, 2003). Despite nearly half of all African Americans living outside large cities, urban settings are the location for much of the research on the relationship among African Americans' friendships, academic self-concept, and academic achievement (e.g., Benner & Graham, 2007; Eccles, Wong, & Peck, 2006; Estell, Farmer, Caims, & Cairns, 2002). There is reason to believe that the academically supportive roles of friendships and academic self-concept could have differential relationships to academic performance based on students' geographic setting. For example, people in rural areas tend to emphasize social relationships and connections with others to a greater extent than those in urban settings (Hektner, 1995; Howley, 2006; Rojewski, 1999). Other research shows urbanization differences also exist in the academic influence of peers (e.g., Hardre, Sullivan, & Crowson, 2009) and academic achievement (Provasnik et al., 2007).Little existing research considers how academically supportive factors may vary by African Americans' geographic location. This is despite the growth of African Americans in non -urban settings (McKinnon, 2003). Therefore, the present study examines how perceptions of friends' academic behaviors and academic self-concept might aid students' academic achievement, and whether such supportive factors differ among African Americans in different geographic settings.AFRICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS, FRIENDSHIPS, AND ACADEMICSA single definition of friendships is not fully agreed upon in the literature, but most researchers agree that friendships involve peers who regularly interact with each other, share beliefs and information, and freely associate with each other in dyadic relationships or groups of peers (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 2006; Urberg, 1999). …

A Look Beyond Cognitive Predictors of Academic Success: Understanding the Relationship Between Academic Self-Beliefs and Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between academic self-beliefs (i.e., self-efficacy and degree aspirations) with various academic outcomes. Based on previous findings, it was hypothesized that students with more positive academic self-beliefs would perform better in school. The results supported prior research as students with higher academic self-beliefs also had higher SAT scores, grades, and second-year retention rates. Students with more negative writing and math self-efficacy beliefs were more likely to state that they would desire help with improving those skills. Suggestions for those in college counseling positions to intervene and provide assistance are discussed.

Adaptive and Effortful Control and Academic Self-efficacy Beliefs on Achievement: A Longitudinal Study of 1 through 3 Graders.

The linkages between self-regulatory processes and achievement were examined across three years in 733 children beginning at 1(st) grade (M = 6.57 years, SD = .39 at 1(st) grade) who were identified as lower achieving in literacy. Accounting for consistencies in measures (from one year prior) and for influences of child's age, gender, IQ, ethnicity and economic adversity on achievement, results indicate that adaptive/effortful control at 1(st) grade contributed to both academic self-efficacy beliefs at 2(nd) grade, and reading (but not math) achievement at 3(rd) grade. Although academic self-efficacy did not partially mediate the linkage between adaptive/effortful control and achievement, academic self-efficacy beliefs were positively correlated with reading and math. Results support the notion that early efforts to promote children's self-regulatory skills would enhance future academic self-beliefs and achievement, particularly in literacy.

The Optimistic Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Studentswith Learning Disabilities

This article reviews three studies that provide evidence that students with learning disabilities (LD) display optimistic academic self-beliefs, even in the face of relatively poor academic performance. In the fi rst study, a quantitative approach was used to explore the spelling and writing self-effi cacy of 133 adolescents with and without LD. Students with LD over-estimated their performance in spelling and writing. In the second study, a series of interviews with 28 adolescents with LD and 7 specialist LD teachers revealed that the students viewed themselves as low in academic optimism, whereas the teachers viewed the students as overly optimistic about academic tasks. A third study explored the academic motivation and procrastination of 208 undergraduates with and without LD, and found students with LD had moderate levels of optimism about academic tasks, but lower levels of optimism about self-regulatory capabilities. The paper concludes with a presentation of common and emergent themes from the three studies, and offers recommendations for practitioners and avenues for future research.

“I think I can, I think I can …”: The interrelationships among self-assessed intelligence, self-concept, self-efficacy and the personality trait intellect in university students in Scotland and New Zealand

The constructs and measures of self-assessed intelligence (SAI), the personality trait Intellect, self-efficacy and academic self-beliefs by definition appear to be distinct, but at the item level there appears to be considerable content overlap. It is possible that researchers working largely in isolation from one another have developed different construct names for the same underlying construct or trait. This article examines the overlap between these constructs in a sample of 301 university students. Structural equation modelling indicated that SAI, academic self-concept, academic self-efficacy and the personality trait Intellect all contain an underlying component of academic self-belief, but that the overlap was not as high as expected. These findings suggest that the constructs are distinct from one another and should be used independently.

Contextual Influences in the Relationships Between Academic Standing and Academic Self-Beliefs

The goal of the present research was to examine the relationships between academic achievement and the academic self-concept and their role in the construction of academic self-beliefs. In four studies, we assessed (1) the general academic self-knowledge of students, (2) the academic self-knowledge of older students, and (3) academic self-knowledge in a specific discipline when participants were assigned a specific social position. In the first two studies, all participants exhibited self-beliefs related to superiority, including those whose academic standing was poor. The pattern was weaker for poor students whose academic history was longer (Study 3). When referring to a specific academic situation (English class), however, participants endorsed traits as self-descriptive that were consistent with their academic standing. When assigned a specific social position based on academic achievement, only average students endorsed traits that conformed to their assigned social position.

Race, gender and pre-adolescent self-structure: A test of construct-specificity hypothesis

The present study is an attempt to determine if racial differences are uniformly present in various components of self-esteem structure. Racial differences in self-perceptions have been found in many studies among children and adolescents, but with inconsistent results. According to one explanation for these inconsistences, measures of “self-concept” in the literature are actually measures of different components of a construct with a hierarchical structure. Due to such construct differences, patterns of racial differences might be inconsistent across studies. In the present study it was hypothesized that although African American youth would have higher general self-esteem scores than Whites, racial differences in specific self-beliefs would not consistently favor one group over another. A sample of 637 (299 African American and 338 white) middle school students in two small southern towns were studied. As expected, African American pre-adolescents had significantly higher self-esteem scores. On only a few specific self-belief components, however, were there considerable differences between the two groups. The largest differences in favor of African Americans pertained to self-beliefs regarding appearance and attractiveness, and academic self-beliefs regarding. The reverse direction was present in relation to self-beliefs that reflected self-efficacy and control of events that happened to self.

What Are Pupils' Attitudes toward the School Curriculum?

Previous articleNext article No AccessWhat Are Pupils' Attitudes toward the School Curriculum?Michael D. BeckMichael D. Beck Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Elementary School Journal Volume 78, Number 1Sep., 1977 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/461086 Views: 5Total views on this site Citations: 7Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1977 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article: 윤유라, Soon Young Lee A Case Study on Reading Promotion Projects Led by the Korean Education Office Focused on the Project of ‘Ulsan Studnets’ Reading Day~, Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society 50, no.11 (Mar 2019): 225–250.https://doi.org/10.16981/kliss.50.1.201903.225Allyn Fives The Association of Attitude to Reading and Reading Achievement Among a Representative Sample of Nine Year Olds in Ireland, Reading Psychology 37, no.11 (Mar 2015): 27–54.https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2014.977983Allyn Fives, Dan Russell, Norean Kearns, Rena Lyons, Patricia Eaton, John Canavan, Carmel Devaney, Aoife O'Brien The association between academic self-beliefs and reading achievement among children at risk of reading failure, Journal of Research in Reading 37, no.22 (Mar 2014): 215–232.https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12025 YeonOk Lee Elementary Students' Attitudes Toward Reading, Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society 42, no.33 (Sep 2011): 293–309.https://doi.org/10.16981/kliss.42.3.201109.293Yaacov Petscher A meta-analysis of the relationship between student attitudes towards reading and achievement in reading, Journal of Research in Reading 33, no.44 (Oct 2009): 335–355.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.2009.01418.xRuth E. Knudson Writing Experiences, Attitudes, and Achievement of First to Sixth Graders, The Journal of Educational Research 89, no.22 (Nov 1995): 90–97.https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1995.9941199Susan S. Stodolsky Telling Math: Origins of Math Aversion and Anxiety, Educational Psychologist 20, no.33 (Jun 2010): 125–133.https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep2003_2