Chia-Lin Tsai

• Professor (Assistant) at University of Northern Colorado

The current study investigated potential coping profiles among Chinese college students and their associations with two mental health indicators: depression and life satisfaction. Utilizing indicators of coping, proactive coping, and coping self-efficacy as observed variables, the study predicted latent coping profiles among a sample of 823 Chinese...

This study investigated the effects of the Leader in Me (LiM), a social-emotional learning program implemented in thousands of schools. A mixed-method design included (1) a collective case study in four diverse, high-implementing elementary schools and (2) a post hoc quasi-experiment using propensity score 1:3 matching of 117 LiM and 348 non-LiM sc...

eacher surveys of principal leadership are a common component of school improvement efforts. The usefulness of teacher feedback surveys is dependent on teachers’ interpretation of survey items. The current study explores evidence regarding the validity and reliability of teacher surveys for evaluating principals and explores their alignment to nati...

This research will evaluate the sensitivity of IRT indicators in identifying careless responders with incomplete data, which can help with the detection of patterns of missingness in realistic data collection settings and address the need of accurate response pattern indicators. Our preliminary findings suggested to include person-fit statistics in...

Methods to identify carelessness in survey research can be valuable tools in reducing bias during survey development, validation, and use. Because carelessness may take multiple forms, researchers typically use multiple indices when identifying carelessness. In the current study, we extend the literature on careless response identification by exami...

The present studies report the development of a PROACTIVE coping scale to evaluate actions used by U.S. college students to prevent or prepare for potential future stressors. Results of EFA and CFA using two samples of U.S. college students (total N = 1123) indicated the viability and stability of a 19-item four-factor model of proactive coping: Ac...

Teacher evaluation systems across the United States are increasingly including student surveys as one source of data, but concerns remain about students’ ability to distinguish the multiple dimensions of teaching. We empirically examined this issue in an authentic evaluation system that uses a student survey based on the InTASC framework of teacher...

The purpose of the study was to examine the impacts of course activities on student perceptions of engagement and learning in online courses. Using eight interactive course activities as indicators of course interactivity, we conducted a latent profile analysis to cluster students into different groups. Based on students’ perceptions, we observed t...

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Online Learning (SeQoL; Shen et al., 2013). Using two samples of college students, this study examined evidence of construct validity, concurrent validity, convergent validity, and reliability for the SeQoL. Confirmatory factor analysis and l...

This study examined the factor structure and evidence of measurement invariance of a programme completer survey for pre-service teachers in the teacher preparation programme. The 33-item survey assessing aspects of teacher quality was completed by 455 teacher candidates, 455 cooperating teachers, and 66 university supervisors. Exploratory structura...

The affective domain and its impact on science achievement has been studied with increasing attention over the past decade. However, there has been little empirical work on how individual interest, and facilitation of situational interest in the classroom, facilitates learning of concepts within fine-grained units of instruction. Drawing upon previ...

The purpose of this study was to empirically investigate, in a large-scale assessment, the prevalence of enquiry-based teaching, as defined by PISA, implemented in science lessons, and the extent to which it is related to students from different socioeconomic status (SES) family backgrounds in the U.S. The Programme of International Student Assessm...

While much is known about the characteristics that researchers deem valuable for professional development (PD), teachers’ perceptions of their PD needs are less understood. In this study, we sought to explore teachers’ perceptions of their PD needs, including PD format, time frame, and topics covered, and how those perceptions varied by teachers’ d...

Teacher evaluation systems commonly rely on observation of teaching practice (OTP) by school principals. However, the value of OTP as evidence of teacher effectiveness depends on its psychometric quality. In this study, we address a key aspect of the psychometric quality of principals’ OTP ratings. Specifically, we investigate the degree to which r...

Teacher evaluation commonly includes classroom observations conducted by principals. Despite widespread use, little is known about the quality of principal ratings. We investigated 1,324 principals’ rating accuracy of six teaching practices at the conclusion of training within an authentic teacher evaluation system. Data are from a video-based exam...

Objective: The magnitude of acute tolerance is a strong predictor of the development of longer-term chronic tolerance and plays a decisive role in risky decisions (e.g., driving after drinking). Therefore, it is important to identify factors that increase the magnitude of this adaptive process. This study explored whether acute tolerance magnitude...

Background Working effectively in a collaborative team is not only an outcome required by ABET but also one that scholars and practitioners recognize as necessary for being a successful professional engineer. Technology-based solutions hold promise for supporting collaboration; however, research has shown that technology alone is not sufficient to...

Individual differences in subjective response to alcohol play a crucial role in the development of heavy drinking and related problems. In light of this, a growing focus of research has been identifying factors that contribute to differences in response. The aim of the present study was to determine whether individual differences in the subjective...

The need for educating engineers in the United States continues as the projected demand is still rising as the number of high school seniors planning to enter engineering careers has remained relatively stable (Sargent, 2014). Additionally, figures show that attrition rates in undergraduate engineering continue to be an area of concern, (Sargent, 2...

Although increases in subjective alcohol craving have been observed following moderate doses of alcohol (e.g., priming effects), the effects of alcohol consumption on behavioral economic demand for alcohol are largely unstudied. This study examined the effects of alcohol intoxication on alcohol demand and craving. A between-subjects design in which...

Self-efficacy is believed to be a key component in successful online learning; however, most existing studies of online self-efficacy focus on the computer. Although computer self-efficacy is important in online learning, researchers have generally agreed that online learning entails self-efficacy of multifaceted dimensions; therefore, one of the p...

Peer mentoring programs are a method often implemented to help address retention in engineering especially during the first and second years of study. This study examines the impact of a well-established engineering peer mentoring program in a large eastern U.S. university. Peer mentoring programs for women, Hispanic and African American students h...