Capturing the Multiplicative Effect of Perseverance and Passion : Measurement Issues of Combining Two Grit Facets

Non peer reviewe

Building Grit : The Longitudinal Pathways between Mindset, Commitment, Grit, and Academic Outcomes

Despite academics' enthusiasm about the concept of grit (defined as consistency of interest and perseverance of effort), its benefit for academic achievement has recently been challenged. Drawing from a longitudinal sample (N=2018; 55.3% female; sixth-nineth grades) from Finland, this study first aimed to investigate and replicate the association between grit and achievement outcomes (i.e., academic achievement and engagement). Further, the present study examined whether growth mindset and goal commitment impacted grit and whether grit acted as a mediator between growth mindset, goal commitment, and achievement outcomes. The results showed that the perseverance facet of grit in the eighth grade was associated with school achievement and engagement in the nineth grade, after controlling for students' conscientiousness, academic persistence, prior achievement and engagement, gender and SES, although the effect on engagement was stronger than on achievement. In addition, grit was predicted by goal commitment in the sixth grade, but not by the growth mindset in the sixth grade. Finally, the perseverance of effort (not the consistency of interest) mediated the effect of goal commitment on engagement. These findings suggest that grit is associated with increased engagement and academic achievement; and practitioners who wish to improve grit of adolescents may encourage goal commitment more than growth mindset.Peer reviewe

A Chebyshev Confidence Guided Source-Free Domain Adaptation Framework for Medical Image Segmentation

Source-free domain adaptation (SFDA) aims to adapt models trained on a labeled source domain to an unlabeled target domain without the access to source data. In medical imaging scenarios, the practical significance of SFDA methods has been emphasized due to privacy concerns. Recent State-of-the-art SFDA methods primarily rely on self-training based on pseudo-labels (PLs). Unfortunately, PLs suffer from accuracy deterioration caused by domain shift, and thus limit the effectiveness of the adaptation process. To address this issue, we propose a Chebyshev confidence guided SFDA framework to accurately assess the reliability of PLs and generate self-improving PLs for self-training. The Chebyshev confidence is estimated by calculating probability lower bound of the PL confidence, given the prediction and the corresponding uncertainty. Leveraging the Chebyshev confidence, we introduce two confidence-guided denoising methods: direct denoising and prototypical denoising. Additionally, we propose a novel teacher-student joint training scheme (TJTS) that incorporates a confidence weighting module to improve PLs iteratively. The TJTS, in collaboration with the denoising methods, effectively prevents the propagation of noise and enhances the accuracy of PLs. Extensive experiments in diverse domain scenarios validate the effectiveness of our proposed framework and establish its superiority over state-of-the-art SFDA methods. Our paper contributes to the field of SFDA by providing a novel approach for precisely estimating the reliability of pseudo-labels and a framework for obtaining high-quality PLs, resulting in improved adaptation performance

Cross-cultural generalizability of social and dimensional comparison effects on reading, math, and science self-concepts for primary school students using the combined PIRLS and TIMSS data

Previous cross-cultural studies of social and dimensional comparison processes forming academic self-concepts (the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) and Internal-external frame-of-reference (I/E) models) have mostly been based on high-school students and two subject domains. Our study is the first to test the cross-cultural generalizability of both comparison processes across reading, mathematics, and science by combining of the TIMSS and PIRLS 2011 databases (15 OECD countries, 67,386 fourth-graders). Consistent with the I/E model, high achievement in mathematics/reading had positive effects on self-concept in the matching domain but negative effects in the non-matching domain. Extending the I/E model, students engaged in assimilating comparisons between science and reading (i.e., achievement in one subject had positive effects on self-concept in the other) but contrasting comparisons between mathematics and science. Strong BFLPEs (negative effects of class-average achievement on self-concept) were found for mathematics but were smaller for reading and science. The results generalized well across all countries

In-the-moment profiles of expectancies, task values, and costs

This study focuses on the situational heterogeneity of motivation by investigating in-the-moment profiles of expectancies, task values, and costs within learning situations during a university lecture. In a sample of 155 undergraduate students followed across one semester we examined the occurrence of six hypothesized profiles, situational profile change, and the associations of situational motivation profiles with students’ dispositional motivation. Results of multilevel latent profile analysis revealed three profiles with symmetric levels of expectancies, values, and costs (reflecting high, medium, and low motivation situations), and one profile reflecting motivating but costly situations. Furthermore, situational profiles were associated with students’ motivational dispositions at beginning and end of the semester, and partly related to changes in these dispositions during the semester

Achievement, motivation, and educational choices : A longitudinal study of expectancy and value using a multiplicative perspective

Drawing on the expectancy-value model, the present study explored individual and gender differences in university entry and selection of educational pathway (e.g., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM] course selection). In particular, we examined the multiplicative effects of expectancy and task values on educational outcomes during the transition into early adulthood. Participants were from a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 15-year-old Australian youths (N = 10,370). The results suggest that (a) both math self-concept and intrinsic value interact in predicting advanced math course selection, matriculation results, entrance into university, and STEM fields of study; (b) prior reading achievement has negative effects on advanced math course selection and STEM fields through math motivational beliefs; and (c) gender differences in educational outcomes are mediated by gender differences in motivational beliefs and prior academic achievement, while the processes underlying choice of educational pathway were similar for males and females

A moderated mediation analysis of conscientiousness, time management strategies, effort regulation strategies, and university students' performance

This paper examined the interplay of conscientiousness, two categories of learning strategies (i.e., time management and effort regulation), and academic performance in higher education. Based on data from two samples of first-year students (N1 = 106; N2 = 355), we aimed to validate previous results on a mediation model using a repeated measurement design. Second, we aimed to extend prior research by testing the hypothesis that the mediation process is conditional on the level of conscientiousness. Results of both studies indicate that the effect of conscientiousness on academic performance is mediated by using effort regulation strategies and time management strategies. Furthermore, for effort regulation strategies, the effect is moderated: the effect vanishes when conscientiousness is low (though this effect occurred only in Study 2). This study sheds light on the mechanisms through which both conscientiousness and the use of relevant learning strategies affect academic performance and implies practical applications to assist with greater achievement in higher education

Directionality of the associations of high school expectancy-value, aspirations, and attainment : A longitudinal study

This study examines the directionality of the associations among cognitive assets (IQ, academic achievement), motivational beliefs (academic self-concept, task values), and educational and occupational aspirations over time from late adolescence (Grade 10) into early adulthood (5 years post high school). Participants were from a nationally representative sample of U.S. boys N = 2,213. The results suggest that (a) self-concept and intrinsic value have reciprocal effects with academic achievement and predict educational attainment, (b) self-concept is consistently found to predict occupational aspirations, (c) the associations between achievement and aspirations are partially mediated by motivational beliefs, and (d) academic self-concept in high school had stronger long-term indirect effects on future occupational aspirations and educational attainment than task values and IQ

Extending expectancy-value theory predictions of achievement and aspirations in science : Dimensional comparison processes and expectancy-by-value interactions

Based on TIMSS data (18,047 Grade 8 students from the four OECD countries that collected data for multiple science domains), this study integrated dimensional comparison theory and expectancy-value theory and tested predictions about how self-concept and value are related to achievement and coursework aspirations across four science domains (physics, chemistry, earth science, and biology). First, strong support for social comparisons suggested that high achievement in a particular domain enhance students' motivation in the same domain, which in turn predicted domain-specific aspirations. Particularly, self-concept significantly interacted with value to predict aspirations. Second, in the processes underlying the formation of self-concept and intrinsic value, students tended to engage in negative dimensional comparisons between contrasting domains (physics vs. biology) but positive dimensional comparisons between assimilating domains (physics vs. chemistry). Similar dimensional comparison processes were evident for the effects of self-concept and intrinsic value on aspirations. The results generalized well across all countries

Joint trajectories of task value in multiple subject domains : From both variable- and pattern-centered perspectives

This study used variable- and pattern-centered approaches to better capture the impact of adolescents’ joint developmental trajectories of subjective task values (STVs) in three domains (Finnish, math and science, and social subject) from grades 9 to 11 on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) aspirations at four years postsecondary school and STEM participation at six years postsecondary school (N = 849 Finnish youth; 52.1% female; 99% native Finnish). Results showed that while adolescents’ average STVs in different domains remained stable, three differential joint STV trajectories emerged across domains. Individual changes of STVs in one domain shaped STVs in other domains to form unique relative STV hierarchies within subgroups that impacted long-term STEM aspirations and participation. Gender differences in STV trajectory profile distributions partially explained the overall underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. This study is among the first to incorporate multiple domains and explore how STVs fluctuate over time in both homogeneous and heterogeneous fashions. These findings underscore the importance of examining heterogeneity in motivational trajectories across domains.Peer reviewe