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Young children frequently exhibit persistent overconfidence when evaluating their own physical and cognitive abilities. Although task persistence due to overconfidence may be beneficial in some instances, it may also have adverse effects on academic performance. For example, children may reduce cognitive effort because they mistakenly believe that they understand novel tasks. The present work examined two contexts under which young children make more accurate predictions regarding their own ability to recall previously presented items: peer modeling and the number of items to be recalled. Two experiments using the picture recall paradigm demonstrated that both peer modeling and item magnitude may positively impact prediction accuracy and decrease overconfidence in young children. Despite the impact of these interventions on children's recall predictions as a whole, most children were still overconfident in their judgments of learning (JOL). Thus, lending support to our hypothesis that targeted interventions may reduce, but not eliminate, children's overconfidence in their own cognitive abilities.

When individuals' attention shifts away from the primary tasks they are involved in, their minds start to wander. This mental phenomenon, also known as mind-wandering, can interact with other variables and affect the performance of academic tasks. The current study focuses particularly on the mind-wandering (MW) of Omani students while they were taking TIMSS-like science tests and examines the results in relation to their performance levels in the test, their grade level (i.e. age), and the cognitive level of the test items. The participants were 776 Omani students, 342 in Grade 5 and 434 in Grade 9. The tests used were designed to resemble actual TIMSS science tests and are therefore referred to as TIMSS-like science tests. Student MW was measured by the embedding of self-report probes at four points in the tests; the use of self-report probes has been widely adopted in previous research studies. The current researchers designed a mobile application to host the tests; the app was installed on tablets which participants used to take the test. Results indicated that low-scoring learners in both grade levels had significantly higher MW than high-achieving learners, and that this was true when they were doing both lower-order and higher-order test questions. However, there was a difference in the patterns of MW between students in the two different grades. For Grade 5 students, the difference in MW between low and high scorers followed a similar pattern at all stages of the test, while this was not the case with Grade 9 test-takers. There were significant differences in the repeated measures of MW of both low and high performers in Grade 9, while the repeated measures of MW interacted significantly with the levels (low and high) of performance on the lower-level questions in Grade 5 only. No other interaction was detected. The findings of this study have shed light on the importance of taking into consideration students' MW while they are taking tests, but further research is needed to explore potential methods to keep their attention focused on the test.

The present study examined the predictive role of students' perceptions of parenting styles on their academic efficacy beliefs. This relationship was examined using two large sets of national data that were collected from school and university students to see how the relationship between parenting styles and academic efficacy beliefs may or may not vary across life stages. The sample included 1431 school students and 1119 university students cross the Sultanate of Oman. The participants responded to the Arabic version of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) and to the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES) constructed by the researchers. Using linear regression model for each sample, the results showed that the amount of variance in school students' academic self-efficacy beliefs explained by parenting styles (R[superscript 2] adjusted = 0.21) was higher than the amount of variance explained for the university sample (R[superscript 2] adjusted = 0.10). The researchers concluded that the effects of parenting styles on students' self-efficacy beliefs decrease as children grow up.

The current study aimed to adopt and assess the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of Grit-S among Omani and American students (N = 487) using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The scale's construct validity was estimated by investigating its associations with achievement goal orientations (AGOs). EFA results suggested that a two-factor solution (i.e., perseverance of effort [G_PE] and consistency of interest [G_CI]) was the best factorial structure, explaining 47.74% and 51.02% of the variance in the Omani and American samples, respectively. The factors had good reliability coefficients in the two samples. Related to the intercultural differences, G_PE explained more variance among Omanis (31.02%) relative to American sample, whereas G_CI explained a larger proportion of variance among Americans (36.86%) compared with Omani sample. The first level of measurement invariance, configural invariance, was not supported, necessitating the investigation of the other levels of measurement invariance using a new sample. Grit correlated positively with mastery and performance-approach goals (r = 0.29 and 0.12, respectively) and negatively with avoidance goals (r = -0.25), supporting the scale's construct validity. These findings showed that Grit-S scale can be used as valid and reliable assessment tool to assess student interest and perseverance in the academic context in Arabic/Omani and American cultures.

Introduction: Homework is one of the daily assessment methods used by the classroom teacher. In the literature, there are many studies dealing with homework management from the perspectives of students and parents. However, studies concerning teachers' self-efficacy for homework management are scarce. This study aimed at developing and validating a scale for measuring teachers' self-efficacy for homework management. Method: A descriptive research design was employed in this study. The participants were 127 teachers randomly selected from one educational governorate in the Sultanate of Oman. The literature was reviewed to construct 20 items reflecting various aspects of the homework design and implementation. The items and the responses were subjected to a validation process. Results: Factorial structure of the scale revealed three subscales: efficacy for planning and designing homework; efficacy for monitoring, assessing, and providing feedback on homework; and efficacy for considering individual differences in homework. The three subscales showed acceptable evidence of validity and reliability. Discussion and Conclusion: The psychometric analysis of the teachers' responses showed that the three subscales were reliable measures of teachers' self-efficacy for homework management. These results support the usefulness of using the scale as an assessment tool for research purposes and the professional development of teachers. These results present new knowledge about teachers' management of homework with planning and designing being the salient factor.

The current study focused on the role of feedback on students' prediction accuracy (calibration). This phenomenon has been widely studied, but questions remain about how best to improve it. In the current investigation, fifty-seven students from sixth grade were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Thirty pictures were chosen from the curriculum and these were the same in the trials for both groups, 10 for each trial. The pilot study showed all pictures had the same difficulty level and that they were appropriate for 6th graders. During three trials, students in the experimental group received feedback about their prediction and recall. The purpose of the feedback was to assist students in monitoring their learning. Results demonstrated that students in the experimental group showed improvement in predication and prediction accuracy in trials 2 and 3. Significant differences were found among groups in trials 2 and 3, but not in trial 1. Implications and future studies are recommended.

This study investigated the ability of discriminate variables (perceptual-motor, hyperactivity disorder, neurological and psychological skills) to distinguish between normal (n = 68) and students with learning disabilities (n = 72) in fourth grade. Three instruments were developed: perceptual-motor scale, hyperactivity disorder scale, skills test neuropsychiatric. Eight schools were purposely chosen for their collaboration with the College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University. The sample consists of 140 students (68 students with learning disabilities and 73 normal students; 73 males). The results demonstrated a positive significant correlation between perceptual-motor and neurological and psychological skills. In addition, a negative significant correlation was found between hyperactivity disorder, perceptual-motor and neurological and psychological skills. Using discriminate analysis, the study shows that the three developed measurements can discriminate between normal students and students with learning disabilities. We recommend using the three scales on students with learning disabilities for the purpose of early examination. There is a need to conduct a similar study, with other scales, for better examinations.

The current study investigated the associations between three maternal and paternal parenting styles, moral intelligence, academic self-efficacy and learning motivation in three serial mediation models. Omani adolescents enrolled in 7th to 11th grades (N = 296) responded to an online survey containing demographic items and scales measuring the variables noted above. Results of Path Analysis indicated that the three models had a good overall fit. In detail, the three paternal styles (authoritative, authoritarian and permissive) had direct associations with moral intelligence and indirect associations with learning motivation. However, only two maternal parenting styles (i.e., authoritative and authoritarian) correlated directly with learning motivation and these two styles did not associate with moral intelligence. All effects were in the hypothesized direction except the effect of authoritative maternal and paternal styles. Moral intelligence had a positive direct correlation with students' academic self-efficacy and learning motivation. Moral intelligence also mediated the negative associations between three types of fathers' parenting styles and students' motivation. Academic self-efficacy had a positive association with students' motivation. These findings provided useful insights about the various association between external factors (e.g., parenting styles), internal factors (i.e., moral intelligence and self-efficacy) and students' motivation among adolescents in middle and high schools.

The aim of the current study was to investigate students' mind wandering while reading different types of textual narrations (macroscopic and submicroscopic) in chemistry. Another goal was to determine the relationship between mind wandering and students' reading comprehension. The participants were 65 female ninth grade students in Oman. Using a computer screen, participants were required to read about sodium chloride. A probe-catch procedure was used to measure students' mind wandering. Half of the slides presented textual narrations at the macroscopic level and the other half presented narrations at the submicroscopic level. We gave the students a paper and pencil reading comprehension test at the conclusion of the reading task. The findings indicated that participants' mind wandering while reading submicroscopic textual narrations was significantly higher when compared to reading macroscopic textual narrations. Also, there was a significant negative relationship between mind wandering and reading comprehension for both macroscopic and submicroscopic textual narrations. Implications and future research are discussed.

Introduction: Two constructs that have received a great deal of attention in Educational Psychology research are Achievement Orientation and Identity Status. However, the relationship between these two constructs has not received the attention that the current researcher feel is warranted. The impetus for the current study is the paucity of research in this area. Method: The current study employed a self-report measure of academic identity status founded in Marcia's theory of identity states. A second measure adopted from Elliot's trichotomous framework of goal orientation was used to capture student's achievement goal orientation. Data collected from 407 undergraduate students was submitted to correlational and path analyses to examine the relationship between the two constructs. Results: Results indicated that the specific academic identity status of a student is related to the type of academic goals one adopts. Discussion or Conclusion: The results of our analysis support our hypothesis that a relationship exists between a student's academic identity status and the types of goals a student will adopt. Implications for educators and research are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Young children are typically overconfident regarding both cognitive abilities. This overconfidence may be due to development underpinnings. Previous research has demonstrated that children exhibit robust and persistent overconfidence in a simple memory-recall task. Two experiments investigated this overconfidence in 1st–4th and 4th–6th grade students. In the first experiment, we explored both the development of accurate predictions of recall and young students’ confidence in their memory performance predictions. It was found that not until 4th grade did students’ overconfidence begin to wane. In the second experiment, we investigated a condition under which 4th–6th graders might make more accurate predictions of their ability to recall simple stimuli, specifically, when the items to be remembered were unfamiliar to the students. The results confirmed our overconfidence in familiarity hypothesis. We discuss these findings in the context of metacognition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]