Cross-Cultural Validation of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM) in the Asian Setting: Hong Kong and the Philippines

Students’ achievement goals in school have received increasing research attention because they have been shown to be important in predicting important outcomes. As such, there has been a growing interest in measuring and comparing them across different cultural groups. However, these comparisons cannot be made until validity evidence has been attained to support the use of an instrument in the new cultural setting. In this study, we investigated the cross-cultural applicability of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM, McInerney et al. American Educational Research Journal 34:207-236, 1997) in the Hong Kong Chinese and Philippine contexts using both within-network and between-network approaches to construct validation. The ISM measures four types of achievement goals: mastery, performance, social, and extrinsic goals. 1,406 high school students from Hong Kong (n = 697) and the Philippines (n = 709) participated. Results of the within-network test showed that the ISM had good internal consistency reliability and the confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the hypothesized four-factor model. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses supported invariance of factor loadings across the two samples. The between-network test also indicated that these achievement goals correlated systematically with different aspects of students’ self-concepts. These findings support the applicability of the ISM among Hong Kong Chinese and Filipino students

Researching shadow education: Methodological challenges and directions

Research on shadow education has considerably increased in volume and has helped to improve understanding of the scale, nature, and implications of the phenomenon. However, the field is still in its infancy. Literature on shadow education reflects confusion over terms and parameters, and data suffer from challenges in securing evidence from actors who may be unwilling or unable to respond to enquiries in a clear manner. Particular care is needed in cross-national and cross-cultural comparisons. Nevertheless, the trajectory of improvement in both conceptualisation and instrumentation gives ground for confidence that shadow education will be progressively better documented and better understood. © Education Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 2010.published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 01 Dec 201

Age, sex and cultural differences in the meaning and dimensions of achievement

The present study explored variations in the meaning and psychological dimensions of achievement among people of different ages, sexes, and cultures. Subjects were 504 British and Chinese males and females, aged 13 to 55. The repertory grid technique was used to elicit success situations and related constructs. A group grid was then constructed and administered to the subjects. Results revealed two major types of achievement situations (affiliative and individualistic/competitive) and three major dimensions of achievement (outcome/emotional state, instrumental activity, and causal attributions). Although these dimensions were the same for all, significant differences were found between groups on importance attached to success situations. The results are discussed in terms of sociocultural, situational, and developmental factors

Achievement Motivation: a cross‐cultural comparison of British and Chinese students

This study investigated age, sex and cultural differences in achievement motivation. Subjects were a total of 764 male and female British high school and Chinese students aged 13‐55. The thematic Apperception Test (TAT) was administered to measure need for achievement (nAch). Results revealed that Chinese high school students had significantly higher nAch scores than their British counterparts. They also had significantly higher scores than the two older groups of Chinese students. Female subjects of both cultures had higher scores than males, although this difference was significant for British female subjects only. The results were discussed in terms of sociocultural and situational factors

Achievement goals and causal attributions of Chinese students

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