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What It Takes to Do Well in School and Whether I've Got It: A Process Model of Perceived Control and Children's Engagement and Achievement in School
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A new conceptualization of perceived control was used to test a process model describing the contribution of these perceptions to school achievement for students in elementary school (N = 220). Three sets of beliefs were distinguished: (a) expectations about whether one can influence success and failure in school (control beliefs); (b) expectations about the strategies that are effective in producing academic outcomes; and (c) expectations about one's own capacities to execute these strategies. Correlational and path analyses were consistent with a process model which predicted that children's perceived control (self-report) influences academic performance (grades and achievement test scores) by promoting or undermining active engagement in learning activities (as reported by teachers) and that teachers positively influence children's perceived control by provision of contingency and involvement (as reported by students). These results have implications for theories of perceived control and also suggest one pathway by which teachers can enhance children's motivation in school.
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... Engaged students not only perform better in the short term (Fredricks et al., 2004), disengagement has also been labeled the single most important determinant of unqualified school dropout (Janosz et al., 2008). Scholars explain the origins of (dis)engagement by referring to the perceived control theory (Demanet & Van Houtte, 2014;Skinner et al., 1990), which states that students will disengage when they perceive their own efforts at school to be pointless in improving their scholastic attainment. Empirical research attests to this line of reasoning. ...
... One explanation for this higher prevalence of antischool attitudes and behavior in the lower tracks lies in students' perceived controlthat is, their perceived level of mastery about their lives in general, and academic matters in particular (Skinner et al., 1990;You et al., 2011). Research shows, for example, that students in the lower tracks tend to be more fatalistic and less self-efficacious (Friedkin & Thomas, 1997), and display lower levels of control of the future (Malmberg & Trempala, 1997). ...
... When teachers communicateconsciously or notto students that they have higher expectations for them, students are more likely to perceive a higher control (Jussim & Harber, 2005;Skinner et al., 1990). ...
... Research indicates that students' behavioral engagement is likely to lead to greater academic achievement and school retention (Hattie & Anderman, 2013). Studies established a positive correlation between behavioral engagement and the academic performance of the students (Connell, Spencer, & Aber, 1994;Connell & Wellborn, 1991).The study of (Connell et al., 1994;Skinner et al., 1990) confirmed the correlation between the achievement and two dimensions emotional and behavioral in the combined form of student engagement. ...
Student engagement is viewed as learners’ attention, interest, investment, and effort students expend in their work of learning. Studies and research in the field of education have revealed that students' engaged learning methods in science are increasingly focusing on aspects like behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify engaged learning and demographic influences on such practices. The study was carried out with a sample of. A Likert scale-type questionnaire of 30 items was employed with 88 undergraduate students studying chemistry on two campuses of Kathmandu. Students were found to have better engagement in all dimensions of engagement. They showed higher behavioral engaged learning practice as compared to other two dimensions. No differences were established between behavioral engagement and gender, ethnicity, and religion. Similar findings were established for cognitive and emotional engagement practices. The implications of the findings were examined, including their value for future researchers in the same field of study, science teachers, and policymakers.
... They should design meaningful tasks for their students that focus on interest, internal pleasures, and self-improvement rather than comparing them to their peers. Skinner et al. (1990) noted that engaging amotivated middle-school students more fully in learning would be possible if the students were provided with autonomy-supportive activities and were more active and meaningful, thus students will be more autonomously motivated for learning and engagement. Teachers should also explain the reasons and benefits of the activities to emphasize the importance of learning outcomes and improving new skills (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). ...
... For example, metacognitive research has shown that the accuracy of students' knowledge of what they know affects their effort and performance (e.g., de Bruin et al., 2017); students' knowledge of how memory works may contribute to their choice of learning strategy and effective remembering (e.g., Karpicke, 2009); and students' conception and belief of what constitutes knowing and knowledge contributes to their active learning (e.g., Hofer, 2004). Students' knowledge and beliefs about the malleability of their ability (e.g., Dweck & Yeager, 2020) and about their control over their achievement (e.g., Skinner et al., 1990) have also been shown to contribute to learning engagement and achievement. ...
Metamotivational knowledge is a burgeoning area of study. It refers to people’s knowledge about motivation, and it has been shown to contribute to motivation and behavioral outcomes. The current study bridges metamotivational knowledge with self-determination theory (SDT), one of the most prominent theories of academic motivation. SDT proposes self-determination as a critical aspect of academic motivation. The current study thus answers two questions: What do students know about self-determination in academic motivation, and how does this knowledge predict outcomes? Two studies with college student samples from diverse cultures (American and Chinese) seek to answer these questions. The results show that students generally believe self-determined types of motivation to be more normative, more effective for performance and more beneficial for well-being than non-self-determined types. This is generally accurate, with some exceptions (e.g., the tendency to underestimate the relative normalcy of certain types of self-determined motivation). Path analyses support the hypothesized mediation model, such that believing self-determined academic motivation to be more normative and associated with better outcomes in performance and well-being, on average, predicts students' higher performance and well-being via the mediation of self-determined academic motivation. The effects of the metamotivational knowledge of self-determination hold after controlling for needs support and satisfaction processes, supporting metamotivational knowledge as an intraindividual resource for academic self-determination. In general, the mediation effects hold for both cultures, and similarities and dissimilarities from cross-cultural comparisons of metamotivational knowledge are also interpreted. The current research paves the way for metamotivational knowledge interventions aiming to improve student self-determination.
... Particularly, RET posits that engagement may derive from the desire to counter opposing forces (Lee, 2009) or forces that threaten someone's feelings of control. It is therefore not surprising that engagement has long been considered in relation with -and more specifically, as an outcome of-perceived control (e.g., Skinner et al., 1990). As emphasized by Skinner (1996), all people "innately desire to engage in effective interactions with the environment, interactions in which they experience themselves as producing desired effects" (p. ...
Prior research has established a link between lacking control over one's life, the resulting stress, and the maladaptive outcome of eating disorders. However, such research has left unexamined the exact link among perceptions of control, stress, and unhealthy food choices. This study aims to fill this gap by identifying the exact sequence linking these variables and explaining why stress induced by low control leads to engagement in vice food consumption. Based on self‐licensing theory, we predict that a perceived lack of control indirectly prompts people to engage in vice food and beverage consumption, because a lack of control leads to higher personal stress and, consequently, a need to escape through self‐indulgence. Across one survey‐based study in France and two experiments (in the United States and the United Kingdom), we find consistent support for our hypothesis. The results support the prediction that a perceived lack of control increases the consumption of unhealthy foods and beverages. Specifically, when consumers feel a lack of control over their life, they experience stress, seek an escape from this stress, and end up self‐indulging through the consumption of vice food and beverages. For public policy‐makers and brand managers, the results suggest that having people perceive more control over their life is of particular importance to staying healthy.
Bu araştırmada, kontrol duygusunun üniversite birinci sınıf öğrencilerinin üniversite yaşamına uyum sürecindeki rolünün incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Ayrıca öğrencilerde kontrol duygusunun yaş, cinsiyet, ikamet durumu gibi demografik değişkenlere göre farklılaşıp farklılaşmadığı da incelenmiştir. Araştırma grubu, Ankara Üniversitesi’nde farklı bölümlerde öğrenim gören 181’i kadın, 139’u erkek olmak üzere toplam 320 birinci sınıf öğrencisinden oluşmaktadır. Araştırma kapsamında Lachman ve Weaver (1998) tarafından geliştirilen Kontrol Duygusu Ölçeği yazar tarafından Türkçeye uyarlanmıştır ve veri toplama aracı olarak kullanılmıştır. Bu ölçeğin yanı sıra Aladağ, Kağnıcı, Tuna ve Tezer’in (2003) geliştirdiği Üniversite Yaşamı Ölçeği ile öğrencilere yönelik veri toplamak amacıyla kişisel bilgi formu kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analiz edilmesi amacıyla SPSS aracılığıyla bağımsız örneklem t testi, tek değişkenli varyans analizi (ANOVA) ve basit doğrusal regresyon analizi yapılmıştır. Bu araştırma sonucunda, üniversite birinci sınıf öğrencilerinin yarıdan fazlasının (%53.4) Kontrol Duygusu Ölçeği’nden elde edilen toplam puan ortalamasının üzerinde olduğu ortaya konmuştur. Araştırma sonuçları, öğrencilerin kontrol duygusu düzeyinde, yaş, cinsiyet, kardeş sayısı, yabancı dil hazırlık okuyup okumama, ailesinde kendisinden önce üniversitede okuyan biri olup olmaması, geldiği yerleşim biriminin büyüklüğü, ikametgâh durumu değişkenlerine göre anlamlı bir farklılık olmadığını göstermektedir. Araştırmada ayrıca, kontrol duygusunun üniversite yaşamına uyumu ve alt boyutlardan üniversite ortamına uyumu, duygusal uyumu, kişisel uyumu, akademik uyumu ve sosyal uyumu yordadığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.
Recognized as key actors in the education and socialization of children, parents play
an important role in fostering children’s academic success. As such, this thesis investigated the contribution of parental involvement on the school adjustment of a sample of elementary school students coming from immigrant families. In addition to providing a model of parental involvement and developing a questionnaire to reflect this involvement, this thesis examined the differential effect of parenting depending on parents’ region of birth.
The data used for the purposes of this thesis came from the project Culture et
engagement scolaire. Data were collected from students in first through sixth grade through questionnaires and individual interviews. Students’ parents and teachers were also asked to complete questionnaires.
In this thesis, we first focused on the definition of parental involvement in school
monitoring and validated an instrument designed for parents of elementary school students. As such, a summary of studies addressing definitions of parental involvement is presented and a definition based on this synthesis is proposed. A questionnaire derived from this definition is next validated. Results show the existence of five dimensions that account for parental involvement. These dimensions are parents’ supervision during homework, parent-child
communication about school, parents’ emphasis on school achievement, as well as a behavioral and an emotional dimension of the school-parent link. In addition, predictive associations were established between some of these dimensions and student academic performance.
We next took the validated instrument and examined the extent to which dimensions of parental involvement predict two aspects of student school adjustment, namely school performance, and school engagement. Thereafter, differences in parental involvement depending on parents’ region of birth were observed. The three regions of birth taken into account in the study were Canada, North Africa, and the Caribbean. Results suggest the existence of differences between these three groups in terms of students’ school adjustment,
parental practices, and the association between parental practices and students’ school adjustment.
Overall, the studies presented in this thesis show associations between parental
involvement in school and the school adjustment of students coming from an immigrant family and attending a disadvantaged elementary school. This thesis also highlights that future research amongst this population of students ought to take into account the differences attributable to parents’ region of birth.
هدف البحث إلى دراسة مدى إسهام التركيز التنظيمي (التحسين- الوقاية) والصلابة الأكاديمية (الالتزام- التحدي- التحكم) و الذكاء الضمني (المعتقدات الذاتية الثابتة- المعتقدات الذاتية النامية) في الاندماج في التعلم الإلكتروني، فضلًا عن دراسة العلاقات الارتباطية بين المتغيرات المستقلة لدى عينة بلغ عددها (339) طالبًا وطالبةً من الطلاب المقيدين بالفرقة الثالثة عام بكلية التربية- جامعة بنها، والمقيدين خلال العام الجامعي (2021/ 2022)، وبعد تطبيق أدوات الدراسة ومعالجة البيانات إحصائيًا أشارت النتائج إلى: توجد علاقة ارتباطية موجبة دالة إحصائيًا عند مستوى (0.01) بين بُعدي التركيز التنظيمي (التحسين- الوقاية) وأبعاد الصلابة الإكاديمية (الالتزام- التحدي- التحكم)، توجد علاقة ارتباطية سالبة دالة إحصائيًا بين بُعدي التركيز التنظيمي (التحسين- الوقاية) وبُعد المعتقدات الذاتية الثابتة، توجد علاقة ارتباطية موجبة دالة إحصائيًا عند مستوى (0.01) بين بُعدي التركيز التنظيمي (التحسين- الوقاية) وبعد المعتقدات الذاتية النامية، وتوجد علاقة ارتباطية موجبة دالة إحصائيًا عند مستوى (0.01) بين بُعد المعتقدات الذاتية النامية وأبعاد الصلابة الأكاديمية (الالتزام- التحدي- التحكم)، وعلاقة ارتباطية سالبة دالة إحصائيًا عند مستوى (0.01) بين بًعد معتقدات الثبات وبُعد التحكم، فضلًا عن إسهام الأبعاد الثلاثة (تركيز التحسن- الالتزام- المعتقدات الذاتية النامية) في التنبؤ بالاندماج في التعلم الإلكتروني.
In this chapter a theory of motivation and emotion developed from an attributional perspective is presented. Before undertaking this central task, it might be beneficial to review the progression of the book. In Chapter 1 it was suggested that causal attributions have been prevalent throughout history and in disparate cultures. Studies reviewed in Chapter 2 revealed a large number of causal ascriptions within motivational domains, and different ascriptions in disparate domains. Yet some attributions, particularly ability and effort in the achievement area, dominate causal thinking. To compare and contrast causes such as ability and effort, their common denominators or shared properties were identified. Three causal dimensions, examined in Chapter 3, are locus, stability, and controllability, with intentionality and globality as other possible causal properties. As documented in Chapter 4, the perceived stability of a cause influences the subjective probability of success following a previous success or failure; causes perceived as enduring increase the certainty that the prior outcome will be repeated in the future. And all the causal dimensions, as well as the outcome of an activity and specific causes, influence the emotions experienced after attainment or nonattainment of a goal. The affects linked to causal dimensions include pride (with locus), hopelessness and resignation (with stability), and anger, gratitude, guilt, pity, and shame (with controllability).
The notion that caregiver sensitive and contingent behavior is closely related to children's perceived control has been proposed both by theorists interested in the effects of parent-child interactions and by those focusing on the origins of control beliefs. The present study investigated this relationship by analyzing the interactions between mothers and their 3-1/2-to 4-1/2-year-old children (N = 120) during a problem-solving task. First, using separately derived indices of contingency, sensitive responsiveness, and sensitive initiation, a correlational analysis revealed that children's perceived control (assessed using an open-ended measure) was most closely related to mother sensitive initiation; all three mother behaviors were interrelated and correlated with child active engagement in the problem-solving task. Second, a conditional probability analysis showed that the relation between mother sensitive initiation and child engagement was reciprocal in that mother sensitive initiation increased the probability of child active engagement and child passivity increased the probability of mother low sensitive initiation. The advantages of a differentiated conception of caregiver behavior and of perceived control are discussed.
The last decade has seen a change in emphasis regarding the role of stimulation in sustaining and fostering cognitive, motivational and emotional development. Whereas, during the ‘60’s such diverse pathologies as dwarfism, mental retardation, depression and affectionless psychopathology were attributed to lack of sufficient stimulation, particularly maternal stimulation, during infancy (Ainsworth, 1962; David and Appell, 1961; Levine, 1969; Province and Lipton, 1962; Rheingold, 1960), during the ‘70’s these same pathologies have been attributed to lack of sufficient response-contingent, or controllable stimulation (Levine, this volume; Lewis and Goldberg, 1969; Seligman, 1975; Watson, 1966). This change in emphasis from stimulation, per se, to contingent stimulation has been brought about by an increasing recognition of the importance of control for normal functioning and for coping with stress (see reviews by Averill, 1973; Lefcourt, 1976; Seligman, 1975; and other articles in this volume). It has been argued that experiences with control alter one’s motivation to respond, ability to learn contingent relationships, and behavioral and physiological responses to aversive stimulation (Bandura, 1977; Levine and Hennessy, this volume; Overmier, this volume; Seligman, 1975).
Perceived control of events is one motivational variable that appears to affect children’s academic achievement. In this review the conceptualization and measurement of the control dimension is discussed from three theoretical perspectives: social learning theory, attribution theory, and intrinsic motivation theories. For each of these three perspectives evidence on the relationship between achievement and perceptions of control is summarized, and possible explanations for the relationship are discussed. Throughout this review similarities and differences among these orientations are pointed out. Specific recommendations are made for research which will advance our understanding of this relationship and which will provide the most useful information to educators.