Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-07-12DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102400
Monika Szczygieł , Thomas E. Hunt , Mehmet Hayri Sarı
It is well-established that a negative relation exists between math anxiety (MA) and math performance. However, because there has been no systematic quantitative research on the predictors of MA, we conducted three studies in adolescents and adults to address this gap. Focusing on the Polish population, we tested whether, and to what degree, domain-specific (mathematical resilience, intellectual helplessness in mathematics, math performance) and domain-general (sociodemographic: gender, age; affective: general anxiety, test anxiety; and cognitive: fluid intelligence, working memory, response inhibition) variables predict and explain variance in MA. We found that regardless of the sample and other variables included in the models, intellectual helplessness in mathematics and mathematical resilience are consistent and independent predictors of MA. Moreover, math performance, rather than math grades, serves as a consistent predictor of MA. The findings highlight the relative importance of these variables in understanding MA and indicate a need to focus on domain-specific variables in targeting MA reduction.
{"title":"Domain-specific and domain-general predictors of math anxiety in adolescents and adults","authors":"Monika Szczygieł , Thomas E. Hunt , Mehmet Hayri Sarı","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102400","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102400","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It is well-established that a negative relation exists between math anxiety (MA) and math performance. However, because there has been no systematic quantitative research on the predictors of MA, we conducted three studies in adolescents and adults to address this gap. Focusing on the Polish population, we tested whether, and to what degree, domain-specific (mathematical resilience, intellectual helplessness in mathematics, math performance) and domain-general (sociodemographic: gender, age; affective: general anxiety, test anxiety; and cognitive: fluid intelligence, working memory, response inhibition) variables predict and explain variance in MA. We found that regardless of the sample and other variables included in the models, intellectual helplessness in mathematics and mathematical resilience are consistent and independent predictors of MA. Moreover, math performance, rather than math grades, serves as a consistent predictor of MA. The findings highlight the relative importance of these variables in understanding MA and indicate a need to focus on domain-specific variables in targeting MA reduction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102400"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144633073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Various studies have examined the relations between test anxiety and performance goals. As these are mainly cross-sectional, less is known about the directionality of these effects. Bringing together theoretical frameworks from motivation and emotion research, the present study aimed to examine the reciprocal within- and between-person links between trait test anxiety, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals in the time of transition to secondary school. Differential effects were analyzed for the two most common facets of test anxiety: worry and emotionality. For this purpose, we analyzed data of 1,770 students (MageT1 = 10.47, SD = 0.56; 51 % girls) before (4th grade) and after the transition (5th – 7th grade), using random intercept cross-lagged panel models (within-perspective) and cross-lagged panel models (between-perspective). The results support the idea of a predominance of worry and emotionality over performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals during transition to secondary school. No reciprocal effects were found. Comparing worry and emotionality, we found stronger and temporally more stable relationships of performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals with worry. The study provides a robust methodological framework, testing bidirectional emotional and motivational relations during the transition to secondary school. The results suggest that test anxiety is an important predictor of motivational coping after the transition to secondary school.
{"title":"Longitudinal reciprocal relations between trait test anxiety and performance goals during transition to secondary school: within- and between-person effects","authors":"Paulina Feige , Rebecca Lazarides , Rainer Watermann","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102380","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102380","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Various studies have examined the relations between test anxiety and performance goals. As these are mainly cross-sectional, less is known about the directionality of these effects. Bringing together theoretical frameworks from motivation and emotion research, the present study aimed to examine the reciprocal within- and between-person links between trait test anxiety, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals in the time of transition to secondary school. Differential effects were analyzed for the two most common facets of test anxiety: worry and emotionality. For this purpose, we analyzed data of 1,770 students (<em>M<sub>ageT1</sub></em> = 10.47, <em>SD</em> = 0.56; 51 % girls) before (4th grade) and after the transition (5th – 7th grade), using random intercept cross-lagged panel models (within-perspective) and cross-lagged panel models (between-perspective). The results support the idea of a predominance of worry and emotionality over performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals during transition to secondary school. No reciprocal effects were found. Comparing worry and emotionality, we found stronger and temporally more stable relationships of performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals with worry. The study provides a robust methodological framework, testing bidirectional emotional and motivational relations during the transition to secondary school. The results suggest that test anxiety is an important predictor of motivational coping after the transition to secondary school.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102380"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144297884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-05-22DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102378
Richard Göllner
Guided by the dimensional comparison theory (Möller & Marsh, 2013), this study tested the new hypothesis that students form their academic self-concepts by comparing their academic effort across different achievement domains. The hypothesis was tested using a longitudinal study following German non-academic school students from Grades 5 to 8 (N = 3,880, 46 % female). The results of latent cross-lagged panel models showed that there were dimensional comparison effects on students’ self-concept formation from their effort in mathematics and German language arts, but in the opposite direction of comparison effects from students’ achievement. Students who reported working hard in one domain showed lower self-concept in that same domain but higher self-concept in the other domain. The results highlight that students compare their perceived academic effort to judge their academic ability in the respective achievement domains, which, in turn, adds an important new ingredient of the dimensional comparison theory.
{"title":"Extending the dimensional comparison theory through students’ academic effort","authors":"Richard Göllner","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102378","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102378","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Guided by the dimensional comparison theory (<span><span>Möller & Marsh, 2013</span></span>), this study tested the new hypothesis that students form their academic self-concepts by comparing their academic effort across different achievement domains. The hypothesis was tested using a longitudinal study following German non-academic school students from Grades 5 to 8 (<em>N</em> = 3,880, 46 % female). The results of latent cross-lagged panel models showed that there were dimensional comparison effects on students’ self-concept formation from their effort in mathematics and German language arts, but in the opposite direction of comparison effects from students’ achievement. Students who reported working hard in one domain showed lower self-concept in that same domain but higher self-concept in the other domain. The results highlight that students compare their perceived academic effort to judge their academic ability in the respective achievement domains, which, in turn, adds an important new ingredient of the dimensional comparison theory.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102378"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144194620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102395
Uwe Maier, Christian Klotz
Digital learning systems widely used in secondary schools frequently utilize formative mastery assessments to evaluate prior knowledge and provide elaborated feedback with recommendations for subsequent learning steps. While elaborated feedback is often considered beneficial for low-achieving students, research indicates that these students may overlook such feedback in digital learning environments. This study examines the interplay between student aptitude (school type, grade, and prior knowledge), task complexity, response certitude, and various facets of elaborated error feedback processing after formative mastery assessments: error feedback seeking, error feedback comprehension, and error feedback appraisal (perceived usefulness).
We analyzed 20,058 formative assessment cases from an adaptive German grammar app implemented in 182 secondary classrooms, encompassing 2,826 students. The key findings are: (1) Students in higher grades and academic-track secondary schools are more likely to seek elaborated error feedback but are more critical of its usefulness. (2) Task complexity (course content and level) significantly influences error feedback processing behaviors. (3) Low formative assessment scores, indicating low prior knowledge, are strongly associated with reduced error feedback seeking and error feedback comprehension, as well as a more critical perspective on error feedback usefulness. (4) Response certitude, particularly in cases of failing formative assessments, is positively linked to error feedback seeking and perceived error feedback usefulness.
These findings contribute to advancing feedback processing models by highlighting the importance of contextual factors in digital learning environments. Future research should focus on system-specific influences such as content complexity, error feedback structure, and options to choose or disregard error feedback.
{"title":"Students ignore their mistakes: Elaborated error feedback processing in a digital learning system","authors":"Uwe Maier, Christian Klotz","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102395","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102395","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Digital learning systems widely used in secondary schools frequently utilize formative mastery assessments to evaluate prior knowledge and provide elaborated feedback with recommendations for subsequent learning steps. While elaborated feedback is often considered beneficial for low-achieving students, research indicates that these students may overlook such feedback in digital learning environments. This study examines the interplay between student aptitude (school type, grade, and prior knowledge), task complexity, response certitude, and various facets of elaborated error feedback processing after formative mastery assessments: error feedback seeking, error feedback comprehension, and error feedback appraisal (perceived usefulness).</div><div>We analyzed 20,058 formative assessment cases from an adaptive German grammar app implemented in 182 secondary classrooms, encompassing 2,826 students. The key findings are: (1) Students in higher grades and academic-track secondary schools are more likely to seek elaborated error feedback but are more critical of its usefulness. (2) Task complexity (course content and level) significantly influences error feedback processing behaviors. (3) Low formative assessment scores, indicating low prior knowledge, are strongly associated with reduced error feedback seeking and error feedback comprehension, as well as a more critical perspective on error feedback usefulness. (4) Response certitude, particularly in cases of failing formative assessments, is positively linked to error feedback seeking and perceived error feedback usefulness.</div><div>These findings contribute to advancing feedback processing models by highlighting the importance of contextual factors in digital learning environments. Future research should focus on system-specific influences such as content complexity, error feedback structure, and options to choose or disregard error feedback.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102395"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144536156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-06-05DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102388
Miriam Wuensch , Anne C. Frenzel , Reinhard Pekrun , Luning Sun
In light of the increasing use of computerized adaptive testing, we investigated how adaptive testing impacts test-takers’ subjective emotional experiences and their psychophysiological arousal. Applying a within-person design (N = 89), we compared participants’ affective states while working on an adaptive and a fixed-item test of numerical reasoning ability. During both tests, we continuously recorded participants’ skin conductance response. In addition, they filled in a self-report questionnaire after each of the three item blocks per test, assessing discrete achievement emotions (joy, pride, anger, boredom, frustration, and anxiety) and perceived level of task difficulty. As expected, participants showed higher levels of psychophysiological arousal in the adaptive compared to the fixed-item test, indicating that the adaptive test was more stimulating, independent of emotional valence. For subjective achievement emotions, we expected disordinal interaction effects between test type and ability (objective control experience) and between test type and relative perceived difficulty of the two tests (subjective control experience). This was supported for relative perceived difficulty, as participants indeed reported more joy and pride, and less frustration, anxiety, and anger on whichever test they subjectively perceived as easier. Meanwhile, no main effects of test type and no interaction between test type and ability were found. This is in line with the control-value theory and shows that it is not the adaptivity of a test that influences subjective emotional experience, but rather how difficult the adaptive test is perceived by test-takers compared to a fixed-item test. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.
{"title":"Enjoyable for some, stressful for others? Physiological and subjective indicators of achievement emotions during adaptive versus fixed-item testing","authors":"Miriam Wuensch , Anne C. Frenzel , Reinhard Pekrun , Luning Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102388","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102388","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In light of the increasing use of computerized adaptive testing, we investigated how adaptive testing impacts test-takers’ subjective emotional experiences and their psychophysiological arousal. Applying a within-person design (<em>N</em> = 89), we compared participants’ affective states while working on an adaptive and a fixed-item test of numerical reasoning ability. During both tests, we continuously recorded participants’ skin conductance response. In addition, they filled in a self-report questionnaire after each of the three item blocks per test, assessing discrete achievement emotions (joy, pride, anger, boredom, frustration, and anxiety) and perceived level of task difficulty. As expected, participants showed higher levels of psychophysiological arousal in the adaptive compared to the fixed-item test, indicating that the adaptive test was more stimulating, independent of emotional valence. For subjective achievement emotions, we expected disordinal interaction effects between test type and ability (objective control experience) and between test type and relative perceived difficulty of the two tests (subjective control experience). This was supported for relative perceived difficulty, as participants indeed reported more joy and pride, and less frustration, anxiety, and anger on whichever test they subjectively perceived as easier. Meanwhile, no main effects of test type and no interaction between test type and ability were found. This is in line with the control-value theory and shows that it is not the adaptivity of a test that influences subjective emotional experience, but rather how difficult the adaptive test is perceived by test-takers compared to a fixed-item test. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102388"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144365935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-08-26DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102404
Sanheeta Shankar , So Yeon Lee , Cole D. Johnson , Kristy A. Robinson
Persistent attrition and underrepresentation issues in STEM fields have complex causes that involve cultural, contextual, and individual motivational factors. To better understand how students make decisions about persisting in STEM, this study used a person-oriented approach to examine co-occurring patterns of academic self-efficacy, task values, perceived costs, and changes in major intentions during introductory STEM courses. Instead of treating motivational beliefs and behavioral intentions as separate or sequential—as is common in variable-oriented approaches—we modeled how these constructs cluster together during key decision-making periods. This approach allowed us to explore how students experience these beliefs in real time and how common or rare different motivational-intentional configurations are. We identified four distinct motivational profiles of expectancy, value, cost, and major intention changes and examined how students’ sense of belonging with professors, classmates, and the university predicted profile membership. Belonging with professors and university distinguished the beneficial profile from maladaptive profiles. The Confident and Interested, Stable Intentions profile was most adaptive for motivation and long-term persistence. In contrast, Moderate Mixed Motivation, Invited In, Value Focused Mixed Motivation, Weeded Out, and Cost Focused Mixed Motivation, Weeded Out profiles showed an overrepresentation of women and students from racially minoritized groups, with lower probabilities of pursuing majors related to their course. These findings underscore the value of capturing how motivational beliefs and decisions co-occur, emphasizing the need to promote belonging and provide tailored support to enhance STEM persistence.
{"title":"Make or break STEM course experiences: Profiles of situated expectancy, value, cost, and major intentions","authors":"Sanheeta Shankar , So Yeon Lee , Cole D. Johnson , Kristy A. Robinson","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102404","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102404","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Persistent attrition and underrepresentation issues in STEM fields have complex causes that involve cultural, contextual, and individual motivational factors. To better understand how students make decisions about persisting in STEM, this study used a person-oriented approach to examine co-occurring patterns of academic self-efficacy, task values, perceived costs, and changes in major intentions during introductory STEM courses. Instead of treating motivational beliefs and behavioral intentions as separate or sequential—as is common in variable-oriented approaches—we modeled how these constructs cluster together during key decision-making periods. This approach allowed us to explore how students experience these beliefs in real time and how common or rare different motivational-intentional configurations are. We identified four distinct motivational profiles of expectancy, value, cost, and major intention changes and examined how students’ sense of belonging with professors, classmates, and the university predicted profile membership. Belonging with professors and university distinguished the beneficial profile from maladaptive profiles. The <em>Confident and Interested, Stable Intentions</em> profile was most adaptive for motivation and long-term persistence. In contrast, <em>Moderate Mixed Motivation, Invited In, Value Focused Mixed Motivation, Weeded Out,</em> and <em>Cost Focused Mixed Motivation, Weeded Out</em> profiles showed an overrepresentation of women and students from racially minoritized groups, with lower probabilities of pursuing majors related to their course. These findings underscore the value of capturing how motivational beliefs and decisions co-occur, emphasizing the need to promote belonging and provide tailored support to enhance STEM persistence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102404"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144924985","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We examined a practice-based professional development (PBPD) program and implementation of a reading comprehension strategy, the Knowledge Acquisition and Transformation (KAT) Framework, over one school year and its relationship with teachers’ knowledge and self-perceptions about teaching reading comprehension. During the study, 189 upper elementary teachers from 27 schools across six U.S. school districts were randomly assigned to the KAT program (n = 102) or a control condition (n = 87). Teachers completed measures of main idea knowledge, reading comprehension knowledge, and self-perception of their ability to teach reading comprehension at three timepoints. KAT teachers demonstrated significantly higher scores than control teachers immediately following the PBPD on the main idea measure (g = 1.05) and the self-perception measure (g = 0.36), but not on the reading comprehension knowledge measure (g = -0.03). At the end of the school year, KAT teachers scored significantly higher than control teachers on the main idea measure (g = 0.97), the reading comprehension knowledge measure (g = 0.37) and the self-perception measure (g = 0.41). Results suggest the PBPD program and implementation of the reading comprehension instruction is positively associated with teachers’ content knowledge and perceptions of their ability to teach reading comprehension.
{"title":"Sustaining teacher knowledge and self-perception of reading comprehension instruction: A year-long study of practice-based professional development","authors":"Marianne Rice , Kausalai (Kay) Wijekumar , Ashley Stack , Kacee Lambright","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102391","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102391","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examined a practice-based professional development (PBPD) program and implementation of a reading comprehension strategy, the Knowledge Acquisition and Transformation (KAT) Framework, over one school year and its relationship with teachers’ knowledge and self-perceptions about teaching reading comprehension. During the study, 189 upper elementary teachers from 27 schools across six U.S. school districts were randomly assigned to the KAT program (<em>n</em> = 102) or a control condition (<em>n</em> = 87). Teachers completed measures of main idea knowledge, reading comprehension knowledge, and self-perception of their ability to teach reading comprehension at three timepoints. KAT teachers demonstrated significantly higher scores than control teachers immediately following the PBPD on the main idea measure (<em>g</em> = 1.05) and the self-perception measure (<em>g</em> = 0.36), but not on the reading comprehension knowledge measure (<em>g</em> = -0.03). At the end of the school year, KAT teachers scored significantly higher than control teachers on the main idea measure (<em>g</em> = 0.97), the reading comprehension knowledge measure (<em>g</em> = 0.37) and the self-perception measure (<em>g</em> = 0.41). Results suggest the PBPD program and implementation of the reading comprehension instruction is positively associated with teachers’ content knowledge and perceptions of their ability to teach reading comprehension.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102391"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144518008","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Despite the abundant evidence for the general decline in interest during the time spent at school, less is known about the implications of school transition for these declining trajectories of interest. While both Basic Psychological Needs Theory and Stage-environment Fit Theory suggest that students’ interest declines after school transition, they do not clearly predict the nature of the decline. However, there are two possible ways in which interest decreases as a function of school transition: a discontinuous drop during the transition (the immediate impact hypothesis) and a steeper decline during secondary school (the long-term impact hypothesis). Using four years of annual longitudinal data from Japanese students from the fifth grade to the ninth grade, the present study will investigate the developmental trajectory of students’ interest during the period that includes school transition. The impact of SES and gender on the developmental trajectories of interest during the period that includes school transition will also be examined.
{"title":"Registered Report Stage I: Developmental trajectories of students’ interest in learning through the transition from primary to secondary school","authors":"Ryo Ishii , Kou Murayama , Michiko Sakaki , Noriaki Fukuzumi , Shin-ichi Ishikawa , Naoki Nakazato , Kazuhiro Ohtani , Takashi Suzuki , Ayame Tamura , Ayumi Tanaka","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102398","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102398","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite the abundant evidence for the general decline in interest during the time spent at school, less is known about the implications of school transition for these declining trajectories of interest. While both Basic Psychological Needs Theory and Stage-environment Fit Theory suggest that students’ interest declines after school transition, they do not clearly predict the nature of the decline. However, there are two possible ways in which interest decreases as a function of school transition: a discontinuous drop during the transition (the immediate impact hypothesis) and a steeper decline during secondary school (the long-term impact hypothesis). Using four years of annual longitudinal data from Japanese students from the fifth grade to the ninth grade, the present study will investigate the developmental trajectory of students’ interest during the period that includes school transition. The impact of SES and gender on the developmental trajectories of interest during the period that includes school transition will also be examined.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102398"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144697043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-06-18DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102389
Si Chen , Shiyao Liu , Catherine E. Snow
Book giveaways offer free books to hundreds of millions of children and families worldwide. However, little evidence exists of a causal link between book giveaways and a transformative shift in parental literacy education beliefs. The Reading Start Project (RSP) is a large-scale book giveaway intervention program implemented in China. RSP distributes free picture books and literacy education materials to 100,000 families every year. We recruited 1052 Chinese families and children from the eligible population to evaluate its effectiveness. Using a randomized encouragement research design with conjoint analyses, we estimated the causal impact of RSP on parental literacy education beliefs. RSP participation increased the value parents placed on purchasing picture books and their sense of efficacy in home literacy practices, especially among lower-education mothers and families with fewer books. As the largest home literacy intervention program for Chinese children, RSP has a profound social impact and provides an important empirical reference for promoting early family literacy interventions in China and other developing countries.
{"title":"Experimental impacts of a large-scale book giveaway intervention on parental literacy education beliefs","authors":"Si Chen , Shiyao Liu , Catherine E. Snow","doi":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102389","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102389","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Book giveaways offer free books to hundreds of millions of children and families worldwide. However, little evidence exists of a causal link between book giveaways and a transformative shift in parental literacy education beliefs. The Reading Start Project (RSP) is a large-scale book giveaway intervention program implemented in China. RSP distributes free picture books and literacy education materials to 100,000 families every year. We recruited 1052 Chinese families and children from the eligible population to evaluate its effectiveness. Using a randomized encouragement research design with conjoint analyses, we estimated the causal impact of RSP on parental literacy education beliefs. RSP participation increased the value parents placed on purchasing picture books and their sense of efficacy in home literacy practices, especially among lower-education mothers and families with fewer books. As the largest home literacy intervention program for Chinese children, RSP has a profound social impact and provides an important empirical reference for promoting early family literacy interventions in China and other developing countries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10635,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Educational Psychology","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 102389"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144321926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-04-15DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102371
Paul A. O’Keefe , S.M. Ramya , E.J. Horberg
What happens when well-intentioned changes to curricula clash with students’ pre-existing academic identity? In the present study, students entered a two-year pre-university school strongly identified with science but not arts—an identity that did not fit with their school’s new multidisciplinary curriculum that mandated engagement with both academic areas. We investigated the efficacy of a growth-theory-of-interest intervention (O’Keefe et al., 2023)—which promoted the view that academic interests are developed rather than inherent and fixed—in helping students reap the benefits of the new curriculum. We conducted a randomized controlled field experiment with incoming students who overwhelmingly identified as interested in science but not arts (N = 151). Before matriculating, students were randomly assigned to complete the growth-theory-of-interest intervention or active-control materials. Approximately 7 months later, students in the intervention condition reported a stronger arts identity (without diminishing their science identity), and stronger fit and belonging in school, relative to the active control condition. Moreover, whereas developing a stronger arts identity was associated with lower belonging in the control condition, this drop was eliminated in the intervention condition. Finally, by improving students’ school belonging, the intervention indirectly predicted higher year-end GPAs. The results underscore the intervention’s efficacy in promoting a mindset conducive to multidisciplinary learning and facilitating students’ fit and belonging within a curriculum intended to enrich their educational experiences and future career prospects.
当善意的课程改革与学生原有的学术身份发生冲突时，会发生什么？在目前的研究中，学生们进入了一所为期两年的大学预科学校，这所学校强烈认同科学而不是艺术，这与他们学校要求参与两个学术领域的新多学科课程不相符。我们调查了兴趣增长理论干预（O’keefe et al., 2023）在帮助学生从新课程中获益方面的有效性。该干预促进了学术兴趣是发展而非固有和固定的观点。我们对绝大多数对科学感兴趣但对艺术不感兴趣的新生进行了随机对照实地实验（N = 151）。在入学前，学生被随机分配完成成长兴趣理论干预或主动控制材料。大约7个月后，与主动控制组相比，干预组的学生报告了更强的艺术认同（没有削弱他们的科学认同），更强的契合度和对学校的归属感。此外，在控制条件下，发展更强的艺术身份与较低的归属感相关，而在干预条件下，这种下降被消除了。最后，通过提高学生的学校归属感，干预间接预测了更高的年终gpa。结果强调了干预在促进有利于多学科学习的心态和促进学生适应和归属于旨在丰富他们的教育经历和未来职业前景的课程方面的有效性。
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