Jenefer Husman

Control, Motivation, Affect, and Strategic Self-Regulation in the College Classroom: A Multidimensional Phenomenon.

This study of 397 undergraduate students examined relations between self-reported control, goal orientation, future time perspective, affect, and strategic self-regulation. Five patterns were found in three canonical dimensions. The high end of bipolar Dimension 1 linked high self-regulated strategy use and study effort to high self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, and effort causal attribution; high mastery and performance approach and low work avoidance goal orientations; and positive affect. The low end of Dimension 1 linked low strategy use and effort to low self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, and effort causal attribution; high work avoidance goal orientation; and low affect. The high end of bipolar Dimension 2 linked knowledge-building strategies, but not active self-regulation or study effort, to high self-efficacy, outcome expectancy for learning but not grades, and affect causal attribution; high mastery goal orientation; and positive affect. The low end of Dimension 2 linked surface learning, consisting of active self-regulation and study effort but not personal knowledge building, to high effort causal attribution but low self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. Unipolar Dimension 3 linked learned helplessness to high outcome expectancy and external causal attribution but low self-efficacy; high work avoidance goal orientation; and high negative affect and anxiety.

The Nursing Student Self-Efficacy Scale: development using item response theory.

Background:For nurse educators to optimize instruction that supports students’ accurate estimates of their ability, a sound measure of nursing self-efficacy is needed. Objective:To provide evidence for an adequate item response theory model fit to scores measuring nursing students’ self-efficacy to care for critically ill patients and to use the theory to provide evidence for reliable and valid interpretation of self-efficacy scores. Methods:The Nursing Student Self-Efficacy Scale was administered to 421 nursing students. Data regarding students’ self-efficacy beliefs for psychomotor skill performance and communication skills were analyzed using the generalized partial credit item response theory model. Results:All items showed acceptable model-data fit using the chi-square test with an alpha of .001. Review of item information functions showed that 40% of the items provided high information about self-efficacy and 20% provided moderately high information. Comparison of trait level distributions with reliability information given by the two subscales showed that the psychomotor subscale measured self-efficacy most accurately for second and third semester students and the communication subscale measured efficacy most accurately for first and second semester students. Significant mean differences in self-efficacy scores from both subscales were found between students in successive semesters of the program. Discussion:Data analysis provided some evidence for reliable interpretation of scores indicating self-efficacy beliefs of nursing students. Comparison of scores from students in different semesters provided validity evidence; the instrument could be used to discriminate between beginning students and more advanced students possessing different levels of self-efficacy. When used for scale development, item response theory procedures can be more informative about item and test reliability than classical true score theory.

Evidence for the Latent Factor Structure of the MSLQ

The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) has a long history of use in educational psychology, yet few studies have examined the latent factor structure of the entire scale using data from a single administration of the instrument. Although using the subscales individually was encouraged by the creators of the instrument, the practice has produced piecemeal evidence for the latent factor structure. In the current study, we administered all 15 subscales of the MSLQ to a large population of postsecondary students enrolled in introductory geoscience courses and used confirmatory factor analysis to examine the latent factor structures described in previous MSLQ literature. Faced with unsatisfactory evidence for the hypothesized structures, we describe our respecification process and provide some commentary on a more parsimonious latent factor structure that may be of use in similar research projects.

Future Time Perspective Connectedness to a Career: The Contextual Effects of Classroom Knowledge Building

Professor Willy Lens has provided inspiration through his scholarship and mentorship for research in Future Time Perspective (FTP) theory. The traditional conceptualization of FTP consists of hierarchically organized psychological constructs that define individual differences in perceptions of the future across varying levels of specificity. The levels of specificity create a nested variable structure that is often described in a top-down fashion, from domain-general to context-specific. In the current study, relations among measures of connectedness, an FTP construct regarding concern for and planfulness about the future, are examined at three levels of specificity: domain-general, domain-specific, and context-specific. We examine interactions between domain-specific and domain-general levels of FTP. A sample of 3962 undergraduate engineering majors (mean age 20) from a large research university in the southwestern United States of America were surveyed. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the hypothesis that aggregate classroom levels of student knowledge building moderate relations in the nested connectedness variable structure. At the student level of analysis measures of students’ domain-general, domain-specific, and context-specific connectedness were significantly and positively related. At the classroom level of analysis, results indicated that higher levels of aggregate classroom knowledge building shifted the direction of relations suggesting that in more engaging classroom contexts perceived value of learning for reaching a future goal may shape how students plan for future careers (domain-specific FTP). Implications for FTP theory are discussed.

Steps toward a sound measure of engineering student attitudes: Pittsburgh Engineering Attitudes Scale - Revised

Engineering education is currently undergoing a transition toward increased constructivist practices and a new philosophy of education that recognizes the active role of the learner in constructing knowledge. To meet the demands of the changing landscape, our research team has been reworking the Pittsburgh Engineering Attitudes Scale so that valid and reliable inferences can be made about engineering student attitudes. The current study follows up on our analysis of the scale at FIE 2008, and presents evidence of structural validity, internal reliability, and external validity of student responses to a revised version of the scale. The results of the current study suggest the Pittsburgh Engineering Attitudes Scale - Revised overcomes previous problems with the original scale reported in the literature and that we are making positive steps toward a sound measure of student attitudes.

Increasing instrumentality without decreasing instructional time: An intervention for engineering students

Calculus is essential to the engineering curriculum, though its value is not necessarily apparent when the topics are first introduced to students. Our goal was to develop a series of interventions that credibly presented students with information about the utility of calculus topics through a 5-minute video segment. If successful, this intervention would provide instructors with a way to increase the perceived utility of the curriculum without significantly decreasing their instructional time. We recruited 463 students enrolled in Calculus II for engineers. All instructors teaching this course consented to participation in this study and classes were randomly assigned to video and no-video groups. The video group received three interventions during the weeks they were being exposed to the content. The no-video group did not receive any intervention of any kind but were measured at the same points in time as the video group. Results indicate that perceived instrumentality (PI) increased after the first intervention and remained high throughout the semester in the video group. The results suggest that the intervention influenced students perceptions of instrumentality. Theoretically, this provides additional evidence that PI, value, and orientation are constructs distinct from self-efficacy (SE); practically, it provides instructors with a way to improve student motivation without making extensive changes to their courses.

Learning and Future Time Perspective: The Promise of the Future – Rewarding in the Present

Future Time Perspective (FTP) has been characterized by researchers as how far individuals plan into the future, how they perceive individual future needs, and the degree to which the present is connected to the past and future. FTP has important implications for individual learning, cultural and societal facets of learning, and for practical implementations in learning environments. As has been illustrated by several studies using Zimbardo’s Time Perspective Inventory, TP contributes to students’ motivation for learning, it influences students’ valuing of their coursework, the academic choices they make, and their persistence in the face of failure. Research has shown that future oriented students are likely to be more successful especially when classroom activities foster students’ FTP.

Work in progress: Evaluation of an online education portal from the user's perspective: An empirical investigation of a photovoltaics (PV) engineering learning portal, pveducation.org

In the last couple of decades, Photovoltaic (PV) solar systems have captured a lot of interest as a clean, renewable energy option. As a result, PV engineering has become an emerging field in engineering education. In order to meet increased learning requirements, new learning resources, an effective curriculum and proper assessment are needed. Pveducation.org is one of the disciplines oldest learning resources, providing PV content for photovoltaic professionals. The purpose of this paper is (1) evaluating the effectiveness of the pveducation.org learning portal from the users perspective, and (2) find a relationship between the effectiveness of the website and users learning gains. This study will conduct a systematic assessment of educational technology by using statistical techniques and data collected through a survey.

Learning about HPV on the Internet: The Moderating Role of Moral Values.

Young adult learning about human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has lately received increased attention in health education literature. HPVs mode of transmission, lengthy dormancy, and link to cervical cancer make the potential dangers of the infection particularly relevant for young adults. However, sexual health education in the USA is deeply intertwined with a moral debate about the appropriateness of talking openly about sexual behaviour with young people. The moral debate has extended to HPV prevention and may, in and of itself, have an impact on learning. Research suggests that constructing accurate scientific knowledge can be difficult for learners due to extra-rational factors such as personal values and motivation. The current study found that, in the context of HPV prevention, extra-rational factors associated with conventional moral beliefs may moderate the relationship between intent to learn and knowledge construction, resulting in errors in understanding among young adults about HPV infection.

Pittsburgh engineering attitudes scale — Revised: Evidence for an improved instrument

In the current study, we present data from the administration of our third and final version of the PEAS-R instrument as well as a final set of items. We administered the scale to 980 engineering students in conjunction with established measures of student motivation and strategic learning. An item analysis and a principle axis analysis with an oblimin rotation indicated student responses to the items were internally reliable and structurally valid. A confirmatory factor analysis, a more rigorous test of structural validity, also produced useful results. Finally, a correlational analysis between parceled items from the revised scale and established motivational measures provided evidence of concurrent validity.