Anupama Narayan

Relationships among individual task self-efficacy, self-regulated learning strategy use and academic performance in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment

This study investigates relationships between self-efficacy, self-regulated learning strategy use and academic performance. Participants were 96 undergraduate students working on projects with three subtasks (idea generation task, methodical task and data collection) in a blended learning environment. Task self-efficacy was measured with self-reports administered during each subtask. Learning strategies were assessed by counting each instance of strategy use as it occurred in peer-to-peer conversations typed into a computer software system. Results showed that for each subtask, learners with higher task self-efficacy had higher task performance. Those who used more learning strategies on each subtask also had higher performance. In turn, high performance was associated with high self-efficacy on subsequent subtasks. Surprisingly, results showed that task self-efficacy and learning strategy use were not significantly related during any subtask. Overall, results imply that task self-efficacy, learning strategy use and past performance are important predictors of task performance.

A Social-Cognitive Moderated Mediated Model of Psychological Safety and Empowerment

ABSTRACT This study examines the indirect role of psychological safety in shaping the four cognitions of psychological empowerment (i.e., meaning, competence, self-determination, impact) through three social mechanisms: authentic interactions, spiritual development, and perceived organizational voice. Data were collected from 229 congregation members of a nondenominational church. Preliminary analyses reveal psychological safety is: (a) linked to all four empowerment cognitions, (b) associated with the three proximal social mechanisms, and (c) indirectly predicts three of the four empowerment cognitions through heightened level of authentic interactions, spiritual development, and perceived organizational voice. Moreover, extraversion moderated the relationship of psychological safety with authentic interactions which, in turn, strengthened the size of the indirect effect for the meaning subcomponent of empowerment. Overall, this study suggests empowerment research can draw upon the potential, but frequently untapped, benefits of cultivating a secure space to facilitate member motivation through sincerity, personal development, and perceived voice.

Intrinsic Motivation, Organizational Justice, and Creativity.

For employees to generate creative ideas that are not only original, but also useful to their company, they must interact with their workplace environment to determine organizational needs. Therefore, it is important to consider aspects of the individual as well as their environment when studying creativity. Intrinsic motivation, a predictor of individual level creativity, is associated with feelings of enjoyment and interest in the task at hand. To the extent that tasks are nested in an environment, intrinsically motivated individuals may perceive their environment more favorably than individuals who are not interested in the task. Specifically, such individuals may view the rewards (i.e., distributive justice), decision-making procedures (i.e., procedural justice), and their interpersonal treatment (i.e., interpersonal justice) in their work environment as more fair, due to the positive affect associated with intrinsic motivation. This study examines the relationships between intrinsic motivation, perceptions of organizational fairness, and creativity. Participants (n = 133) worked on a task in a laboratory setting and completed measures of intrinsic motivation and organizational justice. Findings were supportive that intrinsically motivated participants viewed their environment as fairer than participants that were uninterested in the task. Consequently, distributive and interpersonal justice were shown to significantly mediate the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Applying Equity Theory to Students’ Perceptions of Research Participation Requirements

Human subject pools have been a valuable resource to universities conducting research with student participants. However, the costs and benefits to student participants must be carefully weighed by students, researchers, and institutional review board administrators in order to avoid coercion. Participant perceptions are pivotal in deciding whether coercion is a concern. In the current study, students answered an anonymous survey after completing 3 hr of research-related activities. In order to gauge the relative value of research participation in participants’ eyes, we computed perceived benefits–costs ratios for research participation and for class attendance in a sample of university students. Results indicated that participants thought attendance and research requirements were generally positive experiences even after considering the costs. However, the benefits of research participation decreased with an increase in required research hours. Suggestions on how to increase student benefits and decrease costs of research requirements are provided.