Panayiota Metallidou

Epistemological beliefs as predictors of self-regulated learning strategies in middle school students

This study examines the contribution of epistemological beliefs to middle school students’ reported use of self-regulated learning strategies. One hundred and sixty 8th and 9th graders from three public middle schools participated in the study. Gender was about equally represented in the sample (89 girls, 71 boys). During the group examination phase, the participants were asked to complete a Greek version of Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire (EBQ), based on Schommer-Aikins, Mau, Brookhart and Hutter’s (2000) middle school version of EBQ. During the individual examination phase, they were interviewed using the Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule (SRLIS). Epistemological beliefs about the speed of learning and the ability to learn significantly predicted the reported use of cognitive as well as motivational regulation strategies. The educational implications of the results are discussed in relation to cultural influences on the formation of epistemological beliefs.

Do learning difficulties differentiate elementary teachers’ attributional patterns for students’ academic failure? A comparison between Greek regular and special education teachers

This study aimed to (a) investigate whether the presence of learning difficulties (LD) in primary school children differentiates Greek teachers’ attributional patterns, emotional responses, expectations and evaluative feedback for the children’s academic failures and (b) to examine possible differences between regular and special education teachers’ ratings. A total of 265 teachers (163 regular & 102 special teachers), were asked to rate eight vignettes about children’s difficulties. The description of each vignette provided three types of information: the presence or absence of LD, a statement of students’ ability (high/low ability) and effort expenditure (high/low effort). For the purposes of this study, the analysis focused only on the existence or absence of Learning Difficulties (LD/NLD). The results of the study indicate that the label of LD differentiates teachers’ attributions, emotions and future expectancies of students’ failure. Both groups of teachers (regular and special education) reported lower stability and controllability attributions for students with LD than for students without LD. At the same time, however, special education teachers view student difficulties as more manageable, and their responses convey less stable and uncontrollable attributions as compared to regular teachers. The effect of teachers’ gender was not found significant in most of the cases. Correlations among teachers’ ratings showed that the two groups of teachers seem to use a different attribution schema towards failure depending on the presence or absence of LD. Implications from the findings and future recommendations are also presented.

Psychometric properties of the Test of Everyday Attention for Children in Greek-speaking school children

The present study aimed at exploring the psychometric properties of the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch) in normally developing Greek-speaking school population (6–12 years old). TEA-Ch is an assessment that captures the multidimensional nature of the developing attentional system with child-friendly test tasks. The sample consisted of 174 Greek-speaking primary school children of both genders (N = 88 girls). Children were assessed individually using the TEA-Ch and two tasks (Vocabulary and Working Memory) from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-3rd edition (WISC-III)-Greek Version. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the factorial validity of the TEA-Ch in the Greek-speaking population. The results verified both a two-factor (attentional control/switching and sustained attention) and a theory-driven three-factor structure of the TEA-Ch, namely selective attention, attentional control/switching and sustained attention. Moreover, the weak correlations of TEA-Ch tasks with vocabulary and working memory tasks provide evidence for its divergent validity and its usefulness as an additional measure of abilities that are not captured by well-known conventional intelligence tasks. Furthermore, TEA-Ch appears to be an age-sensitive assessment tool.

Help seeking as a self-regulated learning strategy and achievement goals: The case of academically talented adolescents

ABSTRACT Seeking help as an important self-regulated learning strategy has been consistently associated with student motivation. Despite the extensive body of research on typically achieving students, no studies have included help seeking in the literature on talented children. The present study explored the help-seeking intentions and beliefs and achievement goal motivational profiles of academically talented adolescents (n = 207) who were identified via a special testing process organized by the Center of Talented Youth in Greece. Students were administered self-report scales measuring mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals, general intention to seek academic help, intention to seek instrumental help, avoidance of help seeking, and perceived help-seeking benefits and costs. Latent class analysis indicated four latent clusters based on the four goal orientations as indicator variables. The probabilities of seeking instrumental help and perceived help-seeking benefits were high for students in the high mastery and low performance goals profile. Students in the high performance goals profile were more likely to perceive help-seeking costs, whereas students having all goal orientations low were less likely to perceive help-seeking benefits and to seek instrumental help. Findings are discussed in light of current theory and evidence for typically achieving student motivation and help-seeking beliefs and tendencies. Implications for educational practices with talented adolescents are discussed.