Higher Academic Self-concept Research Articles

Internal structure validity of the Self Description Questionnaire II and latent academic self-concept profiles of 9th grade students

The study was designed in two parts. First, we assessed the internal structure validity, measurement invariance across gender, and reliability of scores on the Slovenian version of the Self Description Questionnaire II (SDQ-II) in a sample of 9th grade students from Slovenian primary schools (N = 370). The modified nested Marsh/Shavelson model fit the data best, while measurement invariance across gender was not supported. In the second part, we used latent profile analysis to investigate different profiles of students' academic self-concept. We identified five distinct and interpretable profiles that differed by profile level (high, medium, and low academic self-concept) and profile shape (high academic self-concept in one domain vs. low academic self-concept in another). Subsequent covariate analysis revealed meaningful differences between latent profiles by gender and in overall and three subject-specific school grades (math, Slovenian, geography). The psychometric properties of the SDQ-II and individual differences in academic self-concept are discussed. Educational relevance and implications statementThis study has important educational implications for researchers, teachers and school counsellors. The Slovenian version of the SDQ-II questionnaire was validated, providing a reliable tool for understanding the adolescents' academic self-concept (ASC). The identification of ASC profiles supports personalized teaching strategies and emphasizes the link between ASC and academic achievement, highlighting the importance of fostering students' self-concept. It also expands the understanding of ASC profiles in students by uncovering qualitative, i.e. different patterns of profiles for domain-specific self-concepts, and quantitative differences, i.e. different profile levels from low to high self-concepts.

청소년기 학교적응 프로파일의 전이 양상 및 영향변인 검증

The purpose of this study is to identify the latent profile classification of adolescents’ school adjustment and the transition patterns of latent profiles after school-level transitions, to explore the variables that affect them. To do this, we applied latent transition analysis with 3-step approach to Korean Education Longitudinal Study 2013 data from the 3th and 6th wave (7th and 10th grades). The main results are as follows. First, four latent profiles commonly appeared across the 7th grades and the 10th grades: ‘average-level adjustment group’, ‘high-observance of rules average-level adjustment group’, ‘high-level adjustment group’, and ‘low-level adjustment group’. Second, as a result of examining the transition patterns of latent profiles for school adjustment, the overall rate of maintaining the same group was the highest. Third, the higher academic self-concept, social self-concept, self-management, parent-child interaction, interactive teaching methods, teachers’ enthusiasm and achievement pressure, the higher the probability of belonging to a latent profile with relatively higher mean of school adjustment in the 7th grades. Fourth, the higher individualized teaching methods, interactive teaching methods, teachers’ enthusiasm and achievement pressure, the higher the probability of belonging to a latent profile with relatively higher mean of school adjustment in the 10th grades. Fifth, academic self-concept and self-management had statistically significant effects on the transition of latent profiles. Based on the findings, implications for improving adolescents’ school adjustment were discussed.

(How) do self-concept, interest, and conscientiousness function together in academic motivation? A typological approach developed and replicated in two large-scale samples

BackgroundFollowing a call for integrative attempts to study academic motivation, we apply a typological approach. AimTo identify and replicate naturally existing combinations of general academic self-concept, school interest, and conscientiousness. SampleTwo national representative samples of Luxembourgish 9th grade students (N > 12,000). MethodLatent profile analysis (LPA) to identify motivation profiles, as well as BCH method and R3STEP approach to relate profiles to academic adjustment and background variables. ResultsLPA's revealed six robust motivation profiles, three of which mainly reflect differences in students' general motivation level (i.e., “Highly motivated”, “Lowly motivated”, and “Amotivated” students). In line with the assumption of synergistic motivation processes in expectancy and value, these differences in motivation strength were reflected uniformly in different indicators of academic adjustment (e.g., standardized test scores and school anxiety). However, we also replicated three profiles whose nature and relation to academic adjustment point to compensatory and interference processes of motivation. While “Self-confident” students, who are characterized by a high general academic self-concept only, showed a better academic achievement as would have been expected by their motivation level, “Unconfident” students showed a rather poor academic adjustment, despite a relatively high interest in schooling and a high conscientiousness. In addition, we found some evidence that for “Conscientiously motivated” students, being highly conscientious may compensate for relatively low interest, seemingly at the cost of relatively high school anxiety. ConclusionOur typological approach complements previous variable- and person-oriented research on the interplay between expectancy beliefs, value beliefs, and conscientiousness.

Analyzing the associations between motivation and academic performance via the mediator variables of specific mathematic cognitive learning strategies in different subject domains of higher education

BackgroundThere are different teaching methods and learning content in the academic field of mathematics between school and university. Many students fail in their studies when the proportion of mathematics is high. Additionally, dropout rates, due to mathematical performance, are high. However, there are different strategies used to improve mathematical skills. Based on the process model of self-regulated learning, an analysis of the association between motivational aspects in the pre-action phase as well as seven special cognitive learning strategies for mathematics in the action phase was conducted. The variables were compared with student performance. The study drew on data from 548 retrospective interviews of cooperative students, using a cross-sectional research design.ResultsThe analysis via structural equation modeling shows a direct association between motivational aspects, such as academic self-concept and curiosity, and the seven learning strategies in mathematics. Furthermore, there is a direct effect of academic self-concept on performance. However, the learning strategy of practicing was the only variable with associations to performance. Additionally, the indirect effect of curiosity on performance via practicing is analyzed.ConclusionIt can be seen, that curiosity on its own is not enough to ensure a good level of performance in mathematics. The findings suggest student learning strategies focusing on harnessing their curiosity and on practicing. A high academic self-concept is also relevant to the performance level achieved. Lecturers should create a learning environment to support such student behavior.

The role of academic self-concept in post-compulsory achievement, transitions and labour market outcomes

ABSTRACT Pupils’ Academic Self-Concept (ASC) has been shown to be related to educational outcomes during compulsory school years, but there is little evidence on the role ASC plays beyond this stage. Using longitudinal data from the English Next Steps survey the authors examine whether young people with higher ASC are more likely to study A levels, participate in further education and attend university. For university attenders, they examine whether higher ASC is associated with attending high status universities or studying higher status subjects. Finally, they explore the relationship between ASC and employment status and income. They find ASC is associated with differences in some of the post-educational routes but not with all. ASC is associated with an increased likelihood of studying for A levels and, for those with the highest ASC, more ASC increases the likelihood of going to university. However, there is no evidence that ASC is associated with going to an elite Russell Group university or related to differences in subjects studied at university, nor is it directly associated with later labour market outcomes once background variables and prior educational attainment are included. However, there will be an indirect relationship which should not be overlooked, as ASC influences A levels and the likelihood of going to university, both of which are associated with improved labour market outcomes. Although not causal, this work suggests that policies aimed at increasing ASC might have the ability to improve students’ educational trajectories, increasing the likelihood that students will study A levels and, for some, increasing the likelihood of attending university. Both of these are pivotal educational cross-roads, so influencing routes at these points not only has the potential to improve opportunities for individuals, but also widen access to HE among groups with traditionally lower participation rates, thereby improving later outcomes, indirectly.

Academic self-concept mediates the effect of online learning engagement on deep learning in online courses for Chinese nursing students: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundOnline learning is prevalent among nursing students, but the effect of online learning seems not as good as expected. Deep learning, as a learning approach that could help people solve complex problems and make innovative decisions, is associated with individual behavior and psychology. However, from the perspective of individual behavior and psychology to explore the potential influence mechanism of deep learning in online courses is little, in China or indeed internationally. ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between online learning engagement, academic self-concept and deep learning in online courses for Chinese nursing students, and the mediating effect of academic self-concept on the relationship between online learning engagement and deep learning in online courses of Chinese nursing students. DesignA cross-sectional electronic survey. Settings and participantsThe study was conducted using a convenience sample of 617 nursing students in five schools in eastern, central, and western China from September 2021 to October 2021 (the number of eligible students in the five schools was 2065). MethodsThe data were collected with the College students' learning engagement scale in cyberspace, Academic self-concept scale and Deep learning scale in online courses, and analyzed by correlation analysis, univariate analysis, multiple linear regression and PROCESS macro. Results594 valid questionnaires were collected (effective response rate: 96.2 %). High online learning engagement and high academic self-concept were correlated with a high level of deep learning in online courses (correlation coefficient: 0.731 to 0.800). Part of the influence of online learning engagement on deep learning in online courses was mediated by academic self-concept, and the indirect effect accounts for 39.75 % of the total effect. ConclusionsChinese nursing students' online learning engagement may partially influence deep learning in online courses through academic self-concept.

Learning in Adverse Circumstances: Impaired by Learning With Anxiety, Maladaptive Cognitions, and Emotions, but Supported by Self-Concept and Motivation.

The COVID-19 summer semester 2020 posed many challenges and uncertainties, quite unexpectedly and suddenly. In a sample of 314 psychology students, it was investigated how they experienced learning and preparing for an end-of-semester exam, which emotions and strain they experienced, how academic performance was affected, and how personal antecedents of learning as important facets of a learner’s identity could support or prevent overcoming adverse circumstances of learning. The participants of the study filled in a questionnaire about their achievement emotions and strain they experienced during learning and exam preparation as well as academic self-concept, motivation, gender, proneness to anxiety. Points achieved in the exam were also recorded. The interaction between the variables was investigated by a structural equation model. It showed that the investigated variables can be distinguished into two groups, variables that contribute mainly negatively to performance and variables with a positive contribution. Strain experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and unpleasant emotions “belong together” in the sense that they inhibit academic performance directly or indirectly. Proneness to anxiety in academic situations was related with higher levels of mental, emotional, and physical disturbances due to the COVID-19 situation. In contrast, motivation and a high academic self-concept acted as support for learning and performance. Both contribute to pleasant achievement emotions in the learning situation; moreover, motivation had a direct relationship to academic performance. The results from the present study do not only provide insight into important students’ personal dispositions and their role for learning in adverse circumstances but also give advice how to strengthen students for successful learning.

Attenuating the school context increases students’ academic self-concept

We show two examples of how attenuating school-context-generated automatic social comparison leads to an increase in students’ academic self-concept (ASC), which is known to regulate the effort students put into education. In Study 1, we exploited COVID-19 induced home-based education to find that students’ ASC in reading and writing increased outside the school context. In Study 2, we activated/attenuated the school context by different priming in a randomized survey experiment. Here, we found that students who first reported their ASC, and subsequently their grades, had higher ASC in reading (but not in writing) than those who first reported their grades. The results indicate that social comparison might indirectly harm students’ educational achievement and attainment via their ASC.

Resilience and Academic Self-Concept as Explanatory Variables of Achievement Motivation Among College Students

People with high achievement motives will act in ways that will help them to outperform others, meet or surpass some standards of excellence, or do something unique. Several variables have been suggested in the literature to significantly contribute to students’ achievement motivation. As the principal aim, the study sought to investigate whether or not resilience and academic self-concept significantly contribute to students’ achievement motivation. A cross-sectional research design was employed to sample 327 first year college students from five College of Education institutions in Ghana using proportionate stratified sampling procedure. Three instruments (i.e., resilience scale, academic self-concept scale and achievement motivation scale) were adapted and used for the study. Findings of the study showed that students’ sampled were resilient and had high academic self-concept. The results further showed that resilience and academic self-concept variables were significant predictors of achievement motivation. The study recommends that academic counseling within Colleges of Education in Ghana should be made a priority in order to address issues of self-doubt and that of learned helplessness, particularly to maintain or improve individual resilience and achievement motivation. Other implications are discussed.

Differences in Effects of Priming Culture, and in Effects of Diversity, on Dimensions of Identity

ABSTRACT The study tested the effects of priming culture on academic self-concept (ASC) and ethnocentrism, and the relationship between prior intergroup contact (PIC) and familial ethnic socialization (FES) and those two outcomes. The study asked: Does priming culture affect achievement outcomes and manifestations of social identity? Do immigrant generation groups differ in ASC and ethnocentrism? Does the extent someone experiences diversity, and ethnic socialization, affect confidence and interest in academic study and feelings of group superiority? Hispanic and White 8th graders (N = 72) in six middle schools were surveyed on PIC and FES and later engaged in either a cultural priming or neutral priming activity and were surveyed on ASC and ethnocentrism. Significant group differences were found in both ASC and ethnocentrism depending on the type of priming. Both Whites and Hispanics scored higher in ASC and ethnocentrism after Hispanic priming than after American priming. In other words, including Hispanic culture in classrooms benefited indirectly the achievement of both Hispanic and White students through ASC. Increasing acculturation was correlated with higher ASC and lower ethnocentrism. PIC was related to higher ASC and lower ethnocentrism. FES predicted higher ethnocentrism. Results support the bidirectional influence of culture and that diversity affects ethnocentrism.

All better than being disengaged: Student engagement patterns and their relations to academic self-concept and achievement

Student participation and cognitive and emotional engagement in learning activities play a key role in student academic achievement and are driven by student motivational characteristics such as academic self-concept. These relations have been well established with variable-centered analyses, but in this study, a person-centered analysis was applied to describe how the different aspects of student engagement are combined within individual students. Specifically, we investigated how the number of hand-raisings interacts with student cognitive and emotional engagement in various engagement patterns. Additionally, it was analyzed how these engagement patterns relate to academic self-concept as an antecedent and achievement as an outcome. In an empirical study, high school students (N = 397) from 20 eighth-grade classrooms were surveyed and videotaped during one mathematics school lesson. The design included a pre- and post-test, with the videotaping occurring in between. Five within-student engagement patterns were identified by latent profile analysis: disengaged, compliant, silent, engaged, and busy. Students with higher academic self-concept were more likely to show a pattern of moderate to high engagement. Compared with students with low engagement, students with higher engagement patterns gained systematically in end-of-year achievement. These findings illustrate the power of person-centered analyses to illuminate the complexity of student engagement. They imply the need for differentiation beyond disengaged and engaged students and bring along the recognition that being engaged can take on various forms, from compliant to busy.

Effect of Interactive Learning environment on Nursing Students’ Engagement and Academic Self-Concept

Background: To provoke engagement and higher levels of learning and improving academic self-concept, nurse educators are exploring newer interactive methods of teaching. Nursing educators can create this opportunity by providing diverse settings and activities for interactive learning that is preferred by today’s students. Aim: The study aimed to determine the effect of interactive learning environment on nursing students' engagement and academic self-concept. Hypothesis: The students who are instructed through interactive learning environment exhibit more engagement and higher academic self-concept than those who are not. Design: Aquasi-experimental design was used in the current study. Setting: This study was conducted at Faculty of Nursing Alexandria University. Sample: A convenience sampling of 120 nursing students comprised the study subjects. Results: a statistically significant difference, regarding the engagement and the academic self-concept, was found in the favor of the study group. Moreover, a correlation was found between classroom engagement and academic self-concept. Conclusion: The results of the present study support theoretical model which emphasizes the effect of interactive learning environment on students’ classroom engagement as well as their academic self-concept. Recommendation: It is necessary to work further as a teacher in developing interactive learning strategies, to improve students' abilities to be more active learners in their educational context and to improve their classroom engagement and academic self-concept.

Does an option to review instructional explanations enhance example-based learning? It depends on learners’ academic self-concept.

Example-based learning often uses a design in which learners first receive basic instructional explanations of new principles and concepts and then examples thereof. In this sequence, it is crucial that learners self-explain by using the content of the basic instructional explanations to elaborate on the examples. Typically, learners are not provided with access to the basic instructional explanations while they engage in self-explaining. However, it is reasonable to assume that this established design is suboptimal to some extent. When learners cannot retrieve the required knowledge components of the instructional explanations from memory, they can hardly generate the crucial self-explanations. Against this background, we analyzed the effects of a potential remedy for this suboptimality. Specifically, in 2 experiments with high school students we tested the effects of providing learners with constrained access to the basic instructional explanations while they engaged in self-explaining. The constraints were that learners were instructed to review the instructional explanations only when they could not remember certain required knowledge components or when they needed to check their self-explanations. We found that the effects of the constrained review option depended on learners’ academic self-concept. Learners with low academic self-concepts benefitted from the review option, whereas learners with high academic self-concepts were even hindered by it. We conclude that the constrained review option should not be provided to learners with high academic self-concepts. On a more general level, we furthermore conclude that a high academic self-concept can be an obstacle rather than a beneficial resource in certain learning settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

The Effects of Students’ Self-Perceptions of Behaviors, Attitudes, and Aptitudes on their First-to-Second-Year Persistence

The study used the data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey to examine the effects of first-year students’ perceptions of their behaviors, attitudes, and aptitudes on their first-to-second-year persistence at a small, private, faith-based institution. Logistic regression analysis revealed that attending a private high school, high school GPA, academic self-concept, and likelihood of college involvement positively influenced students’ persistence, while being a first-generation college student was negatively related to persistence to the second year. Implications of these results for practice and policy are provided.

The Psychosocial Factors of Academic Achievement: Three Different Theoretical Models

Within individual factors that affect academic achievement, personality traits have been the least explored eventhough there is evidence that suggest conscientiousness, neuroticism and self-efficacy are direct contributors ofacademic achievement. We used a sample of 725 Mexican public high school students (Mage =18, SDage =1.09,59% female) to test three Path Analysis models based on those proposed by Stajkovic, Bandura, Locke, Lee andSergent, (2018). Although the models present very similar fit statistics and explanatory power, the intrapersonalmodel is more parsimonious, presents better fit indices and was therefore chosen as our final model. The modelidentifies middle school GPA, self-efficacy, neuroticism and conscientiousness as direct predictors of high schoolacademic achievement, and both extraversion and academic self-concept as indirect predictors when mediatedby self-efficacy. Students can use the power of their own self-efficacy beliefs as support for staying in school,boosting their aptitudes and enhancing previously acquired knowledge. We would suggest the addition of stronger correlates to high school academic achievement such as self-control as well as experimental data on how easy cognitions and capabilities can change in the sample.

Does academic self-concept drive academic achievement?

ABSTRACTGaps in GCSE attainment have long been the concern of policy makers, academics, and social commentators, largely due to the importance of these exams for setting children on their future academic and career pathways. In the past a wide range of factors relating to the pupils, their families, and their schools have been found to account for differences in GCSE attainment. In this paper we examine the role of pupils’ beliefs in their own academic ability (academic self-concept). Using Next Steps data, we examine whether pupils with higher academic self-concept do better or worse in their GCSEs than pupils with lower academic self-concept. Results show that on average, controlling for other characteristics, having high academic self-concept increases GCSE scores by four grades. When we compare academic self-concept to measured achievement we find that both high and low attainers have higher probabilities of achieving five A*–C GCSEs and higher GCSE point scores on average if they have high academic self-concept than similarly able students who have lower academic self-concept.

The relationship between first-year university students’ academic self-concept and lifelong learning tendency

The relationship between first-year university students’ academic self-concept and lifelong learning tendency

STUDENTS' ACADEMIC SELF-CONCEPT AND THEIR ABILITY IN SOLVING MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS

The connection between academic self-concept and mathematics achievement has been widely studied, but the consideration from students’ internal process when solving a mathematical test is surprisingly rare. Students’ mathematical problem-solving ability was evaluated from their ability to solve trigonometry problems, while students’ academic self-concept was obtained from a questionnaire. The result indicated that students’ academic self-concept is linearly connected with their ability to solve mathematical problems. Students with high academic self-concept also possess an excellent ability to solve mathematical test problems and vice versa.

Parental Age and Academic Self Concept of Secondary School Students

The adolescence is a very crucial period of any student's life. At this stage students face many psychological and sociological pressures in their life. Parental involvement and nature of parent student relation have an important impact on students’ academic self-concept as well as their overall academic performance. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of parental age on secondary school students’ academic self-concept. The participants consisted of 615 secondary students of CBSE board, session 2016–17 of Varanasi city, India. Academic self-concept was measured using Kample & Naik (2013) Academic Self Concept Scale (ASCS). The result of the study revealed that parents’ age plays an important role in determining the academic self-concept of secondary school students. Students whose parents were younger keep higher academic self-concept than students whose parents were older. Mothers’ age plays an important role in students’ academic self-concept than fathers’ age. Finding of the study would be helpful in understanding the role of parental age and parent adolescent relation in adolescent students’ academic self-concept.

Fish swimming into the ocean: How tracking relates to students’ self-beliefs and school disengagement at the end of schooling.

In this study, we analyzed how secondary school tracking relates to students’ self-beliefs (i.e., their academic self-concepts in different domains and their beliefs regarding their labor market chances) and school disengagement during a time period that has received little attention in educational psychological research on tracking: when students are at the end of schooling and on the verge of entering the labor market. In doing so, we disentangled 2 distinguishing features of tracking: tracks as social contexts (operationalized via track level and the mean achievement of students’ schoolmates) and tracks as pathways to different future opportunities (operationalized via educational certificates). Using questionnaire, achievement, and administrative school data from 2,155 students from 29 low-track schools, 23 intermediate-track schools, and 35 comprehensive schools in Berlin, Germany, we found educational certificates to be the most important factor shaping students’ self-beliefs and school disengagement. Irrespective of their individual achievement, their schoolmates’ achievement, and their track level, students who received the intermediate school-leaving certificate had higher academic self-concepts, believed that their certificate would give them better chances of success in the labor market, and were less disengaged from school than students who received the low school-leaving certificate. In contrast, students’ track level did not serve as a predictor for the outcomes considered. The achievement of students’ schoolmates (i.e., the big-fish-little-pond effect) was only relevant for students’ academic self-concepts and not for students’ self-beliefs regarding labor market entry or their school disengagement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)