Tobias Ringeisen

Assessing the Multi-faceted Nature of Test Anxiety Among Secondary School Students: An English Version of the German Test Anxiety Questionnaire: PAF-E.

ABSTRACT The current study concerns the validation of an English version of the German Test Anxiety Inventory, namely the PAF-E. This questionnaire is a multi-faceted measure of test anxiety designed to detect normative test anxiety levels and in consequence meet the need of consultancy. Construct and criterion validity of (PAF-E) were examined with a sample of 96 secondary students (Mage = 12.8, SD = 0.67; 55% girls) from an international school in Berlin (Germany) and 399 secondary students (Mage = 13.4, SD = 0.80; 56% girls) from Montréal (Canada). Both samples completed the PAF-E and related constructs, such as school-related self-efficacy, inhibitory test anxiety, achievement motivation, and the Big Five. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the four-factor-structure (worry, emotionality, interfering thoughts, lack of confidence) of the original German Test Anxiety Inventory (PAF). Each subscale consists of five items with a total of 20 questions. Cronbachs alpha, ranging from.71 to.82 among Germans and.77 to.87 among Canadians as well as the re-test reliability (from.80 to.85 among Canadians) were sufficient. The differential patterns of correlations between other constructs and the indices of test anxiety indicate good construct validity.

Validating the proposed structure of the relationships among test anxiety and its predictors based on control-value theory: evidence for gender-specific patterns

Control-value theory (CVT) proposes a framework for the structure of the relationships between the various predictors of achievement-related emotions, particularly anxiety. Despite existing evidence for the role of anxiety predictors, research has not yet justified their proposed structure. Hence, the current study validated the structure of test anxiety (TA) predictors as proposed by CVT. A sample of German adolescent students (N = 845) completed questionnaires that measured their school-related self-efficacy, test-related cognitions (expected grades and their perceived relevance) and the two major facets of TA: worry and emotionality. Multi-group structural equation modelling was used to test for gender differences in the interplay of the variables. Findings supported the assumptions of CVT for girls and boys, in that the proposed structure of relationships among the various predictors of TA was largely equivalent for both genders. However, emotionality was not related to subjective relevance for boys. Implications for further research on predictors of anxiety and its application to the school context are discussed.

Prüfungsängstlichkeit im Kulturvergleich

In der Prufungsangstlichkeitsforschung gewinnen kulturvergleichende Ansatze zunehmend an Bedeutung. Dabei lasst sich Kultur aus zwei Perspektiven betrachten, aus einer „etischen“ und einer „emischen“ Perspektive (Berry, 1999). Die etische Betrachtungsweise entspricht einer kulturubergreifenden Ausensicht. Kultur wird hierbei meist anhand von kulturellen Merkmalen, wie beispielsweise sozialen Normen oder Werten, operationalisiert und demnach als eine den Menschen beeinflussende Variable aufgefasst.

Fostering students’ moderation competence: the interplay between social relatedness and perceived competence*

ABSTRACT Using a longitudinal design, the present study examined whether two teaching concepts that varied in their capacity to foster students’ self-determination affected students’ sense of social relatedness and their perceived moderation competence, as well as the interplay between these two components and the students’ performance during a moderation exam. We conducted a quasi-experimental field study with university students (N = 160), who were evenly distributed between an experimental (EG) and a control group (CG). The results of multi-group path analysis suggest that simultaneously fostering autonomy, competence, and relatedness (EG), in comparison to providing autonomy and competence support only (CG), leads to a stronger link between perceived competence and social relatedness. If students experience moderation competence, they in turn feel socially related to their teacher, which leads to an even higher competence perception thereafter. The crucial role of teachers’ behaviour, in particular relatedness support, in learning development is discussed.

Kulturelle Diversität in Bildungssettings

Das Kapitel vermittelt einen Uberblick zur Bedeutung von kultureller Diversitat in Bildungssettings aus psychologischer Perspektive. Zum einen verfugen Schuler*innen mit mehrkultureller Identitat uber vielfaltige Ressourcen, sehen sich beim Auftreten von Sprach- und/oder Akkulturationsbarrieren jedoch haufig mit leistungsbezogenen und/oder emotionalen Herausforderungen konfrontiert. Zum anderen stellen interkulturelle Lernumgebungen multiple Anforderungen an Lehrende, die sich neben fachlich-didaktischen Qualifikationen vor allem auf sozial-kommunikative und emotional-regulative Kompetenzen beziehen. Abschliesend werden Forderansatze prasentiert, um kulturelle Diversitat als Ressource im Lernalltag nutzbar machen zu konnen.