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Short scales are time‐efficient for participants and cost‐effective in research. However, researchers often mistakenly expect short scales to have the same reliability as long ones without considering the effect of scale length. We argue that applying a universal benchmark for alpha is problematic as the impact of low‐quality items is greater on shorter scales. In this study, we proposed simple guidelines for item reduction using the "alpha‐if‐item‐deleted" procedure in scale construction. An item can be removed if alpha increases or decreases by less than.02, especially for short scales. Conversely, an item should be retained if alpha decreases by more than.04 upon its removal. For reliability benchmarks,.80 is relatively safe in most conditions, but higher benchmarks are recommended for longer scales and smaller sample sizes. Supplementary analyses, including item content, face validity, and content coverage, are critical to ensure scale quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: For Chinese students, learning is seen as their duty and obligation to the society and their parents. Thus, in contrast to the Western students, the effects of extrinsic motivation on academic performance may not necessarily be always negative. The present study examined the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as their multiplicative effect among Chinese students.Method: A total of 13,799 students in China were followed longitudinally in three waves (Grade 10, beginning of school year, midyear, and end-of-year; 5-month interval each). The main and multiplicative effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations were used to predict academic growth in a latent growth model.Results: The multiplicative effect between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations showed that extrinsic motivation was detrimental to academic performance for students with high intrinsic motivation. For students with low intrinsic motivation, however, the extrinsic motivation helped to improve academic performance. Worth noting, intrinsic motivation also had a moderate positive effect on academic performance.Conclusions: For Chinese learners, interest is not the only key motive to learn. Extrinsic reasons could facilitate students' learning when they are not interested in the subject. Extrinsic motivation harms only for highly intrinsically motivated students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research examines possible differences in the mutual reinforcement (i.e. multiplicative) effect between intrinsic and instrumental motivation on academic performance across different cultures. Eight representative countries and economies from two large‐scale databases—the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012—were used, respectively. Results showed that among the Confucian economies, instrumental motivation was more helpful in improving the mathematics performance of students with low intrinsic motivation than for those with high intrinsic motivation. This was shown by the multiplicative effect between intrinsic and instrumental motivation. Despite the difference, students in both Confucian and Western cultures with high intrinsic motivation had better mathematics performance than students with low intrinsic motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents his view on the research on Asian students' achievement motivation. He states that the study of achievement motivation in different cultural groups has been of great interest to researchers. He points out that the importance of such research is that discoveries of similarities and differences in the application of existing theories in different cultures provide the chance to revise, accommodate and expand those theories so that they could become better and more comprehensive.

Previous studies have suggested that Western constructs of academic motivation may operate in different ways in Asian contexts due to differences in the cultural environment. In the present study, the integrative effects of achievement goals, strategy orientations, and effort expenditure on achievement outcomes were examined among 1950 seventh-grade Chinese students in Hong Kong. Participants completed separate questionnaires for mathematics and English. Results for the two subjects were largely similar. There were significant positive relationships between mastery and performance goals, between cooperative and competitive orientations, as well as between understanding and memorizing strategies. Regression analyses further revealed that goals and strategies were highly predictive of effort expenditure, but only goals and effort significantly predicted achievement outcome, with strategies being barely significant. The need to further investigate how Chinese students reconcile the apparently antithetical orientations in learning as well as the effective strategies contributing to their learning is indicated. Les etudes anterieures ont suggere que les construits occidentaux de la motivation academique peuvent fonctionner de differentes facons dans les contextes asiatiques a cause de differences dans l'environnement culturel. Dans la presente etude, les effets integratifs des buts d'accomplissement, des orientations strategiques et de l'effort fourni sur les resultats d'accomplissement ont ete examines chez 1950 etudiants chinois de niveau 7 a Hong Kong. Les participants ont complete des questionnaires separes pour les mathematiques et l'anglais. Les resultats pour ces deux matieres etaient largement similaires. Il y avait des relations positives significatives entre les buts de maitrise et de performance, entre les orientations de cooperation et de competition, tout comme entre les strategies de comprehension et de memorisation. De plus, des analyses de regression ont revele que les buts et les strategies etaient fortement predictifs de l'effort fourni, mais seulement les buts et l'effort predisait significativement le resultat d'accomplissement, avec les strategies etant tout juste significatives. Le besoin d'etudier davantage la facon dont les etudiants chinois concilient les orientations apparemment antithetiques dans l'apprentissage tout comme les strategies efficaces contribuant a leur apprentissage est souligne. Estudios previos han sugerido que los constructos occidentales respecto de la motivacion academica pueden operar de modo distinto en contextos asiaticos debido a las diferencias en el contexto cultural. En el presente estudio se examinaron en 1950 escolares chinos del 7 Grado en Hong Kong los efectos integradores de las metas de logro, las estrategias de orientacion y el esfuerzo invertido en relacion al resultado final. Los participantes completaron de manera separada cuestionarios de matematica y de ingles. Los resultados de estas dos pruebas fueron muy parecidos. Se observo una relacion positiva y significativa entre dominio y rendimiento; entre orientaciones cooperativas y competitivas, asi como entre estrategias de comprension y de memorizacion. Analisis de regresion revelaron adicionalmente que las metas y las estrategias fueron altamente predictivas del esfuerzo invertido, pero solamente las metas y el esfuerzo predijeron de manera significativa las respuestas de logro, mientras que las estrategias eran apenas significativas. En este estudio se enfatiza la necesidad de investigaciones adicionales respecto del modo como estudiantes chinos reconcilian orientaciones aparentemente contrarias en el aprendizaje, asi como de las estrategias efectivas que contribuyen a su aprendizaje. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maximum likelihood estimation in confirmatory factor analysis requires large sample sizes, normally distributed item responses, and reliable indicators of each latent construct, but these ideals are rarely met. We examine alternative strategies for dealing with non-normal data, particularly when the sample size is small. In two simulation studies, we systematically varied: the degree of non-normality; the sample size from 50 to 1000; the way of indicator formation, comparing items versus parcels; the parcelling strategy, evaluating uniformly positively skews and kurtosis parcels versus those with counterbalancing skews and kurtosis; and the estimation procedure, contrasting maximum likelihood and asymptotically distribution-free methods. We evaluated the convergence behaviour of solutions, as well as the systematic bias and variability of parameter estimates, and goodness of fit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multistage adaptive testing (MST) has been recently adopted for international large‐scale assessments such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). MST offers improved measurement efficiency over traditional nonadaptive tests and improved practical convenience over single‐item‐adaptive computerized adaptive testing (CAT). As a third alternative adaptive test design to MST and CAT, Zheng and Chang proposed the “on‐the‐fly multistage adaptive testing” (OMST), which combines the benefits of MST and CAT and offsets their limitations. In this study, we adopted the OMST design while also incorporating response time (RT) in item selection. Via simulations emulating the PISA 2018 reading test, including using the real item attributes and replicating PISA 2018 reading test's MST design, we compared the performance of our OMST designs against the simulated MST design in (1) measurement accuracy of test takers’ ability, (2) test time efficiency and consistency, and (3) expected gains in precision by design. We also investigated the performance of OMST in item bank usage and constraints management. Results show great potential for the proposed RT‐incorporated OMST designs to be used for PISA and potentially other international large‐scale assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In computerized adaptive testing (CAT), traditionally the most discriminating items are selected to provide the maximum information so as to attain the highest efficiency in trait (θ) estimation. The maximum information (MI) approach typically results in unbalanced item exposure and hence high item-overlap rates across examinees. Recently, Yi and Chang (2003) proposed the multiple stratification (MS) method to remedy the shortcomings of MI. In MS, items are first sorted according to content, then difficulty and finally discrimination parameters. As discriminating items are used strategically, MS offers a better utilization of the entire item pool. However, for testing with imposed non-statistical constraints, this new stratification approach may not maintain its high efficiency. Through a series of simulation studies, this research explored the possible benefits of a mixture item selection approach (MS-MI), integrating the MS and MI approaches, in testing with non-statistical constraints. In all simulation conditions, MS consistently outperformed the other two competing approaches in item pool utilization, while the MS-MI and the MI approaches yielded higher measurement efficiency and offered better conformity to the constraints. Furthermore, the MS-MI approach was shown to perform better than MI on all evaluation criteria when control of item exposure was imposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]