School interventions are often based on the assumption that such variables as self-concept and locus of control should have a meaningful impact on achievement. Yet research support for such influence is inconsistent. Because this inconsistency may be due to methodological problems, a study was conducted which used path analysis to determine the…

This study explored ways in which students obtained efficacy perceptions of self-regulated learning. High school students (N=297) were self-administered American College Testing Assessment (ACT) practice examinations and Bandura's self-regulated learning subscale with specific reference to English and mathematics. Path analytic results suggested…

According to social cognitive theorists, people's judgments of their own capabilities to accomplish specific tasks strongly influence human motivation and behavior. Path analysis was used to test the influence of math self-efficacy and general mental ability on the math problem-solving performance of 329 high school students. A model that also…

Frame of reference theory (Marsh, 1990) proclaims that students make both internal ability comparisons across academic domains and external ability comparisons relative to peers in determining academic self-concept. The validation of this theory with academically able students seems crucial to their appropriate placement in specialized program…

Path analysis was used to test the influence of writing self-efficacy, self-concept, apprehension, and aptitude on the essay-writing performance of 181 ninth-grade students in a public high school in the southwestern United States. A model that also included gender accounted for 53% of the variance in performance. As hypothesized, both aptitude…

Extending research on the Marsh/Shavelson model of self-concept, a set of 14 academic self-concept scales was related to school performance in 8 school subjects for a sample of 507 high school students. Correlations between matching areas of self-concept and achievement (0.45 to 0.70; mean r=.57) were substantial and larger than correlations…

A longitudinal study of political attitudes and behavior of high school students reveals varying results when two different methods of data analysis are applied. A sample of 293 students was questioned (during their sophomore year in 1974 and again in 1976 when they were seniors) about political orientation, number of social studies classes taken,…

Relationships among motivation, use of general and content-specific learning strategies, and achievement were examined for 283 high school geometry students early and late in the semester. Results suggest that teachers should emphasize domain-specific strategies when introducing a unit, and emphasize less domain-specific strategies later in the…

Three models of multiple regression analysis (MRA): single equation, commonality analysis, and path analysis, were applied to longitudinal data from the Pennsylvania Vocational Development Study. Variables influencing weekly income of vocational education students one year after high school graduation were examined: grade point averages (grades…

Causal path analysis was used to determine the direct and indirect influences of intellectual ability, quality of instruction, achievement motivation, quantity of academic coursework, and time spent on homework on high school students' learning, as measured by their grade point averages (GPAs). Other relevant influences on grades were controlled.…

Since the mean score for a sample composed of several subgroups can be viewed as the sum of the mean of each subgroup weighted by the proportional size of the subgroup, then the mean change in a time period--in this case, from 1972 to 1980--is the sum of the differences between the means for each subgroup, with each mean weighted by its…

This study examined students' active roles in constructing knowledge when learning new information in the domain of biological evolution. A computer-based connectionist methodology was developed to provide a way to present students with new information while the experimenter provides probe statements congruent with or contradictory to the…