Julia Gorges

First-Year Students’ Initial Motivational Beliefs at University: Predicted by Motivational Beliefs Derived from Within and Out-of-School Experience and Malleable Regardless of the Extent of Students’ Out-of-School Experience

The present study tested how academic self-concept of ability (ASC) and intrinsic task value (ITV) transpose onto novel university programs that depart from traditional subject areas within the framework of expectancy-value theory. The study focused on two potential sources of information used to anticipate one’s ASC and ITV regarding new learning content (here: business administration). First, students’ experiences from secondary school, especially their ASCs and ITVs established in a school subject they consider similar to business administration—mathematics—should predict their business administration-specific ASC and ITV. Second, students may have gained relevant experience in out-of-school settings such as internships with business companies or commercial vocational training prior to entering higher education. ASC and ITV developed from out-of-school experiences was hypothesized to predict students’ business administration-specific ASC and ITV as well. However, the likely mismatch between anticipated and actual experience with new contents should lead to revisions of ASC and ITV after entering university reflected in a presumably lower stability compared to secondary school settings. In addition, the extent of students’ out-of-school experience might act as a moderator. Data were collected from 341 first-year students in higher education in Germany before they began their study program and again 3–4 months later. Confirmatory factor analyses support the discriminant validity of the measures used in the study. Results from structural equation modeling show that students’ ASC/ITV derived from relevant out-of-school experience make an important contribution to their initial business administration-specific ASC and ITV beyond their mathematics-specific ASC/ITV. Furthermore, both business administration-specific ASC and ITV showed significantly lower stability coefficients over the initial study phase than research from secondary school indicating revisions to them via experience. Multiple-group structural equation modeling showed no moderating effect of the extent of students’ out-of-school experience. The discussion focuses on interpretations of the expectancy-value theory that explicitly include motivational beliefs derived from out-of-school settings as antecedents of expectancy and value. With respect to practical implications, results are discussed in the light of student counseling and support to help students develop an adequate picture of a study program’s learning contents and overcome initial motivational setbacks.

You Will Attain My Goal: The Structure of Parental Goals for Children Based on an Adapted Version of the Aspirations Index

This paper deals with parental goals for children, that is, goals parents want their children to attain by the time they reach adulthood. Presenting an adaption of the German Aspirations Index to assess parental goals for children (AI-PG), factorial structure and psychometric properties in a nonclinical sample of German parents of children between 10 and 15 years of age were investigated. Parents (NT1 = 948; NT2 = 670) rated the importance of different parental goals for children. The AI-PG structure was first examined in a subsample of mothers using confirmatory factor analyses. Main results provided support for the hypothesized hierarchical factorial structure. Accordingly, the given 21 items can be assigned to seven first-order factors that reflect goal-contents, and two second-order factors that reflect goals’ motivational orientation as either intrinsic or extrinsic. The questionnaire shows good psychometric properties (i.e., homogeneity, model-based reliability, and stability). Multiple-group analyses confirmed measurement invariance across informants (mothers and fathers), gender of target children (daughters and sons), and measurement time points. Small but significant relationships of the scales with need-threatened environment, parenting practices, and child internalizing behavior problems added to the scale’s construct validity. Results are discussed in terms of the fruitfulness of a concept of parental goals for children within self-determination theory.

Wie können motivationale und affektive Merkmale bei Kindern mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf valide erfasst werden

Der vorliegende Beitrag widmet sich der Frage, ob Verfahren zur Erfassung motivationaler und affektiver Konstrukte bei Regelschulerinnen und Regelschulern auch bei Kindern mit sonderpadagogischem Forderbedarf Lernen (SPF-L) eingesetzt werden konnen. Vorgestellt werden die Erfahrungen aus Pilotierungen und die psychometrischen Eigenschaften von eigens adaptierten Skalen zur Erfassung verschiedener motivationaler (z.B. Fahigkeitsselbstkonzept, Zielorientierungen) und affektiver Merkmale (z.B. schulisches Wohlbefinden) bei Drittklasslerinnen und Drittklasslern mit SPF-L. Die Ergebnisse basieren auf Daten der ersten Erhebungswelle der Bielefelder Langsschnittstudie zum Lernen in inklusiven und exklusiven Forderarrangements (BiLieF), bei der zwischen Oktober 2012 und Marz 2013 im gesamten Bundesland Nordrhein-Westfalen N = 421 Schulerinnen und Schuler mit SPF-L (Alter: M = 8.74 Jahre, SD = 0.67) befragt wurden. Von den untersuchten Kindern besuchten n = 183 eine Forderschule mit Forderschwerpunkt Lernen (FS), n = 181 eine Integrationsklasse bzw. gemeinsamen Unterricht (GU) und n = 57 eine Grundschule mit Unterstutzung durch ein Kompetenzzentrum fur sonderpadagogische Forderung (KsF). Die eingesetzten Skalen basieren auf etablierten Instrumenten, die in zwei Vorstudien erprobt und adaptiert wurden. Jedes Kind wurde einzeln mit einem vierstufigen Antwortformat standardisiert befragt. Alle Skalen zeigten akzeptable bis gute interne Konsistenzen und erwiesen sich bis auf wenige Ausnahmen als eindimensional. Die Skaleninterkorrelationen fielen wie erwartet aus und sind als Hinweise auf divergente und konvergente Validitaten zu werten. Insgesamt zeigt sich, dass Untersuchungen an lernbeeintrachtigen Kindern den Einsatz spezieller, an die Fahigkeiten und den Entwicklungsstand angepasster Instrumente erfordern. Zentral sind dabei die Reduzierung der sprachlichen Komplexitat der Items und die Testung im Einzelsetting.