The stability of undergraduate students\u27 cognitive test anxiety levels

Accessed 63,621 times on https://pareonline.net from August 23, 2001 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right

Self-Reported GPA and SAT: A Methodological Note

Accessed 37,775 times on https://pareonline.net from January 24, 2001 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right

Stereotype Threat and Self-Affirmation: Reconsidering the Protective Influence of Value Affirmation Interventions

The current study was designed to examine the influence of self-affirmation on the executive attention and mathematical performance of learners confronted with stereotype threat. Participants (N = 206) were exposed to self-affirmation and stereotype threat manipulations, completed operation-span and letter memory tasks, and a series of high-difficulty modular subtraction problems. Our results revealed that self-affirmed participants demonstrated lower mathematical performance when problems were completed under high stereotype threat conditions. Further, our data revealed the self-affirmation and stereotype threat manipulations had no impact on components of executive attention hypothesized to underlie stereotype threat effects. These findings add to recent literature calling into question the viability of self-affirmation as a strategy for protecting the achievement of at-risk students

Successfully Promoting 21st Century Online Research Skills: Interventions in 5th-Grade Classrooms

This quantitative study was developed to explore the ability to impact elementary student 21st Century online research skills with a planned classroom intervention curriculum. The repeated measures quasi-experimental study randomly assigned all 5th grade classes in a Midwestern, suburban school (n=418) to a 12-week intervention or control condition. Analyses of the ORCA Elementary-Revised performance prior to intervention revealed significant correlations with traditional measures of reading achievement as well as limited influence from demographic variables. In the primary research question, results demonstrated that the intervention group showed significantly higher gains from pretest to posttest on the measure of online research skills. Focused analyses of the subskills in the online reading performance measure revealed these differences were durable in locating and synthesizing skills, but not critical evaluation of websites. We discuss both theoretical and instructional implications generated from this study

Enhancing Validity in Phonological Awareness Assessment through Computer-Supported Testing

Phonological awareness is an early indicator of emergent reading skill that is known to be reliably related to eventual reading performance. This established research based coupled with federal and state requirements to measure phonological awareness as an indicator of early reading program success has heightened the attention toward phonological assessment tools. The purpose of this paper is to identify two central threats to validity that are present in the standard assessment tools and provide a methodological solution to both threats using the Standardized Assessment of Phonological Awareness as an example. Accessed 29,414 times on https://pareonline.net from November 19, 2005 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right

Validation of the State Version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory in a University Sample

Spielberger\u27s State-Trait Anxiety Model makes a theoretical distinction between the contribution of dispositional anxiety and the transitory experience of anxiety to performance difficulties during testing situations. According to the State-Trait framework, state anxiety is viewed as the primary performance barrier for test-anxious students, and as such, educators and educational researchers have expressed interest in validated, state anxiety measurement tools. Currently, the most widely used measure of state anxiety is the state version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. However, evidence regarding the psychometric properties of this scale is relatively scarce. Therefore, the current study was designed to determine the structural validity, reliability, and concurrent/divergent validity of the instrument. Participants (N = 294) completed the state version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale 2nd Edition, and an exam task. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we tested the viability of one-, two-, and bi-factor solutions for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Confirmatory factor analysis results indicated a two-factor solution consisting of State Anxiety and State Calmness dimensions provided superior fit to the observed data. Results of a reliability analysis indicated that the State Anxiety and State Calmness factors demonstrated excellent internal consistency when applied to university students. Our discussion concerns the utility of the State Anxiety factor as a tool for the identification of test-anxious students

Predicting Student Depression With Measures of General and Academic Anxieties

Universities are increasingly cognizant of the importance of attending to the psychological and emotional needs of undergraduate learners, recognizing that anxiety and depression have significant negative impacts on student retention and success. The focus of the current study was to evaluate the connections among various forms of anxiety and examine the relationships these indicators of anxiety have with depression. The results demonstrated that a broad measure of neuroticism was a meaningful predictor for depression. However, precision in detecting depressive symptoms was improved when examining an additional measure specifically focused on academic anxiety. The results provide support for a nested model of anxiety, which suggests that broad neuroticism, then academic anxiety, and finally test anxiety are progressively more specific manifestations of anxiety in university students. The collection of these findings provide early indication of avenues that may support learners who are beginning to exhibit signs of emotional distress, potentially reducing the tendency to progress from a contextual anxiety response to more serious mental health concerns

The Effects of Online Formative and Summative Assessment on Test Anxiety and Performance

This study analyzed the effects of online formative and summative assessment materials on undergraduates' experiences with attention to learners' testing behaviors (e.g., performance, study habits) and beliefs (e.g., test anxiety, perceived test threat). The results revealed no detriment to students' perceptions of tests or performances on tests when comparing online to paper-pencil summative assessments. In fact, students taking tests online reported lower levels of perceived test threat. Regarding formative assessment, findings indicate a small benefit for using online practice tests prior to graded course exams. This effect appears to be in part due to the reduction of the deleterious effects of negative test perceptions afforded in conditions where practice tests were available. The results support the integration of online practice tests to help students prepare for course exams and also reveal that secure web-based testing can aid undergraduate instruction through improved student confidence and increased instructional time