Valentina McInerney

Cultural Perspectives on School Motivation: The Relevance and Application of Goal Theory

The aim of this research was to determine whether the goals held by students from diverse cultural backgrounds differ and to determine the relationship of these goals to school motivation and achievement. Participants completed a self-report instrument (the Inventory of School Motivation) based on goal theory. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to establish the adequacy of the instrument for use across the selected groups. Group differences were analyzed through the application of ANOVA. Finally, multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between the goals held by the participants and school achievement criteria.

Student Teachers, Computer Anxiety and Computer Experience

Recent research has demonstrated the debilitating effect of computer anxiety on achievement in computer related learning. As controversy exists over the merits of increasing experience with computers in order to reduce computer anxiety, the effects of increased computing experience on computer anxiety were assessed for students enrolled in a University teacher education course. In addition, other hypothesized correlates of computer anxiety were studied, viz., age, sex, school background, and computer competence. The Computer Anxiety Rating Scale (CARS) was used to measure computer anxiety prior to and at the conclusion of computer training. A control group, not undergoing computer training, was used for comparison purposes. Many of the teacher trainees in this study exhibited a high degree of computer anxiety on a number of key dimensions related to computing. The evidence from this study gives some support to the notion that increased experience leads to a diminution in computer anxiety. However, the high levels of anxiety remaining for some students after treatment suggest that a simplistic belief that increased computer experience alone will reduce computer anxiety is not tenable. The article discusses the issue that initial anxiety and continuing anxiety, after computer training, may be a function of an individuals prior computing experiences, attitudes towards computing, perceptions of self efficacy, and expectations of success associated with computer interaction.

The Designing of the Computer Anxiety and Learning Measure (Calm): Validation of Scores on a Multidimensional Measure of Anxiety and Cognitions Relating to Adult Learning of Computing Skills using Structural Equation Modeling

This article discusses the process through which a powerful multidimensional measure of affect and cognition in relation to adult learning of computing skills, the Computer Anxiety and Learning Measure (CALM), was derived from its early theoretical stages to validation of its scores using structural equation modeling. The discussion emphasizes the importance of ensuring a strong substantive basis from which to develop reliable items for a measure as well as the usefulness of gathering qualitative data in both the factor and item design stages. The final instrument comprises 11 first-order factors and 1 negative item factor. These can be more parsimoniously represented as 5 factors, 2 of which are second order, and a measurement-method effect. Although tests of factorial invariance across different faculties provide considerable support for the stability and generalizabilty of the model, future research would need to examine whether the CALM model is invariant across different adult populations in similar computer learning/training environments.