Heather A. Davis

Emotions and self-regulation during test taking

Lifelong, self-regulated learning has been a topic of considerable interest in educational psychology. However, one area of self-regulation that has received less attention is the process of regulating emotions. The goal of this article is to explicate a model of self-regulation that incorporates recent theory and research on emotions and emotional regulation. From the perspective presented, emotions and our regulation of them are directly involved in self-regulation and, therefore, need to play a more important role in current research and theory on the nature of goal-directed, lifelong, self-regulated learning. A general model of self-regulation is described, followed by a discussion of current views about the nature of emotional regulation during test taking. This is followed by a discussion of research during the phases of test taking. Finally, conclusions and areas for future research are discussed.

Exploring the Contexts of Relationship Quality between Middle School Students and Teachers

The purpose of this article is to introduce a framework for understanding relationship quality between middle school students and their teachers. The framework draws on findings from 3 literatures (motivation, attachment, and sociocultural) and from analyses of a year‐long case study in a rural middle school. I begin with a brief overview of the framework and identify constructs from the literature incorporated into the framework. I describe the design and methods employed to explore student‐teacher relationship quality and its effect on student motivation and achievement. Synthesizing across survey data from 905 students and 25 teachers, interview data collected from 6 students and 6 teachers, and journal data from 28 teachers, I elaborate on 4 contexts I believe exert a press on teacher‐student dyadic relationship quality. These include the context of the student, the teacher, the peers, and the interpersonal culture of the classroom and school. Finally, I explore the implications of the framework for practice, policy, and future research.

Understanding the Role of Teacher Appraisals in Shaping the Dynamics of their Relationships with Students: Deconstructing Teachers’ Judgments of Disruptive Behavior/Students

In this chapter we examine the emotional by-products of developing relationships with students. We begin the chapter by reviewing the power of student–teacher relationships in promoting adaptive student outcomes including enhanced motivation and achievement. We examine the pleasant and unpleasant emotional by-products of being involved with students and the role repeatedly experiencing unpleasant emotions may play in teacher burnout. We tackle the emotional life of “challenging relationships” specifically with regard to the judgments teachers may make about student behavior that can lead to emotional exhaustion and compassion fatigue. Our central question is: When things don’t “feel good,” what are adaptive strategies for reframing, rethinking, and reinvesting in relationships?

The emotional regulation during test-taking scale

The article describes the development and initial validity efforts for a context-specific measure of Emotional Regulation during Test-taking (ERT). Presented are results from both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis on independent half samples, one used for development and one used for validation, which supported a 39-item, four-dimensional structure (i.e., Task-Focusing, Emotion-Focusing, Regaining Task-Focus, and Cognitive-Appraising Processes). In addition, results examining the relationship between the ERT and relevant measures of test anxiety, mood regulation, and coping showed support for the construct validity of the ERT scale.

Civic Responsibility and the Student Athlete: Validating a New Conceptual Model

This study tested a new conceptual model that explains how precollege traits, college culture, and cocurricular engagement impact civic responsibility by athletic status. The results showed group differences on engagement in charitable activities. Moreover, the model has utility for predicting social activism and charitable involvement regardless of sport participation.

Introduction: The Interpersonal Contexts of Teaching, Learning, and Motivation

Ohio State University In recent years, there has been increasing interest in exploring social-contextual factors both within and outside of the classroom. Within a sociocultural framework, “context” has traditionally been defined as the cultural and historical situation one finds oneself in as one engages in a learning process (Wertsch, 1991). This is to include immediate social groups such as dyads, small groups, and broader cultural settings. In this vein, many studies in educational psychology have attempted to define and explore the role of social context as adultchild relationships, peer relationships, cooperative group dynamics, and classroom climate. However, there have been few attempts to integrate findings across multiple “contexts” in order to examine teaching, learning, and developmental outcomes in a complex and dynamic manner. One notable exception is Anderman and Anderman’s (2000; see also Juvonen & Wentzel, 1996) special issue of Educational Psychologist. Since then, educational psychologists have focused more on the awareness of social dynamics in the classroom by increasing research on the role of social contexts in education. Although the issue (Anderman & Anderman, 2000) helped us understand researchers’ need to examine theory in social contexts, our issue goes one step further by presenting new frameworks and empirical studies currently exploring the social contexts of classrooms and schools. For example, researchers across the Educational Psychologist special issue called for explorations of learning and motivation to be more inclusive of the multiple perspectives operating in the classroom and the differing levels of context. Our authors an-

One Cognitive-Developmentalist Speaks as an Educator

The purpose of this article is to frame the divide between cognitive and developmental researchers and findings and educational practitioners. Specifically, the author argues that the divide emerges as a result of practitioners and researchers approaching childhood and instruction from differing perspectives. The article presents four questions organized around themes designed to support practitioners in becoming critical consumers of findings from the fields of cognitive and developmental psychology. The author also attempts to support researchers in sharing their findings in a way that contributes to shaping educational theory and practice.