Search

Lexical ability, an umbrella term to cover various knowledge and skills pertaining to words in print, is a key component in reading comprehension. Little is known how different facets of lexical ability jointly contribute to L2 reading comprehension and how the contributions may differ between higher- and lower-proficiency L2 learners. This study, based on 201 adults who had studied Chinese in China, explored direct and indirect effects of distinct facets of lexical ability on L2 reading comprehension. The participants completed three paper-pencil tasks that measured three facets of lexical ability, that is, morphological awareness, character knowledge, and vocabulary knowledge. Their short-term memory, grammatical knowledge, and reading comprehension were also measured. Separate sets of path analysis showed that higher- and lower-proficiency learners had distinct patterns of relationships. Whereas higher-proficiency learners relied more on morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge in L2 Chinese reading comprehension, lower-proficiency learners drew largely upon their character knowledge.

This study aimed to construct a path model on the factors influencing the mathematics achievement of Senior High School students. In particular, this study focuses on five subject components: Junior High School (JHS) math experience, JHS grade point average, attitudes toward mathematics, self-efficacy, and anxiety. The causal relationships and relative strengths of the direct and indirect relationships were explored for the sets of exogenous and endogenous variables using path analysis. The results unveiled an acceptable fit for the path model of the mathematics achievement in Senior High School. It indicated that students' mathematics achievement was influenced directly by JHS math general point average and mathematics anxiety; and indirectly by JHS math experience, attitudes, and self-efficacy. Moreover, the path model revealed that the JHS math grade point average exhibited the strongest influence on students' mathematics achievement. This suggests that a greater emphasis on developing basic mathematics skills and building a solid foundation at the Junior High School level leads to a better comprehension of higher mathematics.

Predictors of academic success at university are of great interest to educators, researchers and policymakers. With more students studying online, it is important to understand whether traditional predictors of academic outcomes in face-to-face settings are relevant to online learning. This study modelled self-regulatory and demographic predictors of subject grades in 84 online and 80 face-to-face undergraduate students. Predictors were effort regulation, grade goal, academic self-efficacy, performance self-efficacy, age, sex, socio-economic status (SES) and first-in-family status. A multi-group path analysis indicated that the models were significantly different across learning modalities. For face-to-face students, none of the model variables significantly predicted grades. For online students, only performance self-efficacy significantly predicted grades (small effect). Findings suggest that learner characteristics may not function in the same way across learning modes. Further factor analytic and hierarchical research is needed to determine whether self-regulatory predictors of academic success continue to be relevant to modern student cohorts.

This two-year follow-up study examined the predictive relationships of theory of mind (ToM) to social interaction by reciprocal social behaviors (RSBs) and social functioning (SF) in 106 children with ASD. The results of the path analysis showed that the earlier ToM predicted children's current component RSBs (B = 3.53, SE = 1.86, p = 0.039) and the current SF (B = 1.79-1.87, SE = 0.03-0.34, p < 0.001). The aloof and passive social interaction styles predicted fewer turn-taking of RSBs (B = - 48.77 to - 111.17, p < 0.001) and fewer components of RSBs (B = - 36.30 to - 81.41, p < 0.001). This finding provides empirical evidence that ToM predicts social interaction in children with ASD.

Teaching-learning activities carried out face-to-face in physical classrooms in higher education have been moved to the online environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic obligation. It is obvious that students' learning experiences and perceptions need to be researched empirically in order to optimize higher education strategies that have been moved to the online environment. Data were collected from 451 students studying in different departments in two education faculties in order to reveal the relationship between their satisfaction in the e-learning environment and their perceived learning experiences and using online self-regulation strategies based on the autonomous movement of students in the online environment. Descriptive analyses and path analysis were applied in order to answer the proposed research questions. As a result of this structural equation modeling, a relationship was determined between online self-regulation skills, goal setting and help seeking sub-factors, and satisfaction, goal setting, task strategies and self-evaluation sub-factors and perceived learning. In addition, a direct relationship was determined between satisfaction and perceived learning, supporting previous studies. With this research, it is thought that higher education institutions, administrators and instructors carrying out online teaching and learning activities will provide new perspectives on satisfaction and perceived learning outcomes when students' self-control skills are supported.

Professional Learning Community (PLC) is embedded in one of the Malaysian educational policies with the aim of improving teachers' effectiveness. However, the robust empirical evidence upon this matter is scarce, especially in terms of the relationship between school culture and PLC. Therefore, a correlational design study conducted to examine the relationships between the school culture dimensions (Collaboration, Collegiality, Emphasis on Learning, Professional Value, Sharing Planning, Transformational Leadership) and PLC. A randomized controlled trial cluster involving 612 teachers has been conducted. The Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS version 3 was applied to analyze the data. The result from SEM path analysis shows that only three constructs have significant influences on PLC, which are Professional Value ([beta] :0.045); Sharing Planning ([beta] :0.071), and Transformational Leadership ([beta] :0.040). This study has gone some way towards enhancing the understanding of the importance of school culture in promoting teachers' professional development through PLC.

This article synthesizes the roles of morphology in English reading acquisition and reports a meta-analytic structural equation modeling study (k = 107, N = 21,818) that tested the effects of morphological awareness (MA) on reading comprehension in school-aged readers. Moderator analysis was conducted through a set of subgroup comparisons based on readers' language status (monolingual vs. bilingual), age/grade (lower elementary, upper elementary, vs. middle/high school), and MA task modality (spoken vs. written). MA had significant indirect effects on reading comprehension via both word reading and vocabulary knowledge in the full sample as well as all subgroups. Its direct effect on reading comprehension, controlling for nonverbal reasoning, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge, was also significant in all subgroups except the lower elementary subgroup. Multi-group path analyses showed no significant subgroup difference in the magnitude of the direct effect of MA on reading comprehension for any moderator. However, two notable findings surfaced on the indirect effects of MA on reading comprehension: bilingual readers showed a smaller indirect effect of MA via word reading than did monolinguals; older readers showed a stronger indirect effect via vocabulary knowledge than did younger readers, whereas a converse pattern was found for the indirect effect via word reading. We conclude by pointing out the robust contribution of morphology to English reading comprehension and suggesting a strong meaning focus in morphological instruction, especially for bilingual and older school-aged readers.

School motivation is key to promoting optimal educational pathways. Some studies suggest that parental monitoring behaviors foster school motivation among adolescents; however, they did not examine the potential role of adolescents' motivation in shaping parental monitoring behaviors. This longitudinal study aimed to examine the bidirectional associations between three types of school motivation (autonomous, controlled, and amotivation) and two types of perceived parental monitoring behaviors (solicitation and control). The sample consisted of 328 adolescents (212 girls, 116 boys; M = 15.78 years), assessed at the end of their third or fourth year of secondary school, and again, 1 year later. Path analyses revealed that over a 1-year period, bidirectional associations were found between autonomous motivation and perceived parental solicitation. Moreover, parental solicitation as perceived by the adolescents was associated with a decrease in amotivation during the following year. Findings provide support for the dynamic nature of the parent-child relationships and highlight the need to consider child-to-parent effects to promote positive school-related outcomes.

The purpose of this research was to examine relationship between the eighth-grade gifted students' perceptions of science learning environment constructive learning environment perception (CLEP) and their motivations motivation to learn science (MLS) to learn science with their intellectual risk-taking (IRT) and science achievement (SA). For this purpose, the predictive research method was chosen. The sample consisted of 133 8th grade gifted students in Science and Art Centers in nine provinces of Turkey. The data collection instruments involved "IRT Scale," "Motivational Strategies for Learning Questionnaire," "Constructivist Learning Environment Scale," and "SA Test." In the research, path analysis was used to determine causal relationships between these variables. As a result of the analyzes, it was determined that CLEP predicted IRT and SA, MLS significantly predicted IRT in learning science and SA and IRT in learning science predicted SA. The findings were discussed by considering their importance for teaching and learning science in gifted education context.

Mathematics anxiety has always been an interesting topic to study and discuss in the world of education. This study aimed to (1) investigate the impact of teacher roles, mathematics content, and mathematics anxiety on learning motivation, and (2) explore how students manage mathematics anxiety as a stimulus in learning motivation. This research used mixed methods with embedded concurrent design. The research sample was 100 respondents. The questionnaire instrument was arranged based on a Likert scale with 5 answer choices. This study used a structural equation model and confirmatory factor analysis as data analysis methods. The research findings indicated that: (1) a significant direct impact emerged between mathematics anxiety and students' learning motivation, and there was an indirect impact between the teacher's role and mathematics content on learning motivation; (2) students could manage mathematics anxiety when they were in optimal anxiety or positive anxiety so that they could overcome mathematics anxiety as a stimulus for achievement and deconstruct anxiety into motivation according to experience and personal resources. Results of this study confirmed that the statements about mathematics anxiety which always has a negative impact on motivation and learning achievement is not universal, because mathematics anxiety does not always have a negative impact on motivation and learning achievement if this anxiety is managed effectively.

The current study was designed to explore the relationships between students' perceptions of the classroom environment and their academic achievement in higher education. The participants were 846 first-year undergraduate students who were learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in China. Data of students' perceptions of the classroom environment were collected by the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory. Students' academic achievement was measured by a national standardized test for English competence (the College English Test). The results of path analysis showed that students' perceptions of innovative instruction and task orientation were positive predictors of their academic achievement; students' perceptions of equity predicted their academic achievement via perceptions of teacher-student relationships; students' perceptions of peer relationships had an indirect effect on student achievement mediated by cooperative learning. However, students' perceptions of learning autonomy were not related to their perceptions of other environmental factors and learning outcomes.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between authentic leadership behaviors of school administrators and teacher professionalism and motivation. In the quantitative research, the relational survey model was used. The population of the study consists of 1040 teachers working in 44 primary schools in Kayapinar, Diyarbakir during the 2018-2019 academic year. Data collection tools were the "Authentic Leadership Scale", "Teacher Professionalism Scale", and "The Work Motivation Scale". Descriptive statistics, correlation, and path analysis of variables were made. SPSS 21 and AMOS 22 package programs were used in the analysis of the research. As a result of the research, it was determined that the school administrators were moderate according to the perceptions of the teachers who participated in the research on authentic leadership behaviour. In addition, the professionalism and motivation levels of teachers were found to be at good level. As a result of the correlation analysis, a positive and medium level between authentic leadership behaviors of school administrators and teacher motivation and a positive and low-level relationship was found between authentic leadership behaviors of school administrators and teacher professionalism. The relationship between teacher professionalism and teacher motivation was found to be positive and moderate. As a result of the path analysis, as the teachers' perceptions about authentic leadership behaviors of school administrators become positive, both the motivations and professional perceptions of teachers increase. In addition, it was found that teacher professionalism had a stronger predictive effect on teacher motivation than authentic leadership.

Studies have thus far established that learners with visual and auditory learning styles can create a strong vision of their ideal and ought to L2 selves, which positively affect their motivated L2 behavior and achievement. This study also investigated the interactions between perceptual learning styles, future self-guides, vision, L2 motivation, and achievement. Unlike the previous studies, the current one aimed to analyze the unidirectional linkages and the multifaceted linkages among the variables via path analysis. To do so, a quantitative research design was pursued using a composite instrument. The study was conducted with tertiary-level EFL learners in Turkey. Findings showed that visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles exerted significant influences on L2 motivation and achievement mediated by vision and future self-guides. Future self-guides had positive impacts upon L2 motivation, and both direct and indirect effects on L2 achievement. L2 achievement was strongly dependent on L2 motivation and actual L2 self. In proportion to these findings, addressing various learning style preferences in language education, providing vision training to the learners via external interventions, and creating a positive academic self-concept were proposed. Revisions can also be made in the L2 curriculum in line with these purposes.

Leadership is one of the essential factors that can influence community involvement in realizing the character of male and female students in the "pesantren" (Islamic boarding schools) in Jambi, Indonesia. This study proposed "Nyai"'s (female religious leaders in the "pesantren") charismatic, economic, and social responsibility leadership models in the context of community empowerment (CE). This quantitative research aimed to determine the contribution of "Nyai"'s leadership models to CE. The data from the questionnaire were analyzed using path and flowchart analysis. The results showed that the three "Nyai"'s leadership models in this study influenced and contributed to CE to support the "pesantren"'s activities and programs. This study recommended adopting the three "Nyai"'s leadership models in empowering the community in the "pesantren."

This study focused on the dimensions of source credibility and their impact on superintendent leadership effectiveness and principal job satisfaction when mediated by motivating language as part of rural superintendents' administrative talk and practice. Principal perception survey data was used in this cross-sectional study. Over 40% of the principals from a top-ten ranked state located in a rural western area of United States of America responded to the online survey. In general, the relationships between the dimension, goodwill, competence, and trustworthiness were mediated by motivating language. The path analysis findings suggest that Motivating Language (ML) serves as an important mechanism for superintendent communication effectiveness in achieving the outcomes of principal job satisfaction and superintendent leadership effectiveness. The results are discussed, along with implications for practice and future research.

Cognitive load can be induced by both learning tasks and self-regulated learning (SRL) activities, which compete for limited working memory capacity. However, there is little research on the relationship between cognitive load and SRL. This study explored how cognitive load interplayed with SRL behaviors and their joint effects on task performance (i.e., diagnostic efficiency) in the context of clinical reasoning. Specifically, twenty-seven (N = 27) medical students diagnosed three virtual patient cases in BioWorld, a simulation-based learning environment to improve medical students' clinical reasoning skills. Students' SRL behaviors were automatically recorded in BioWorld log files as they accomplished the tasks. We employed text mining techniques to extract four linguistic features from students' concurrent think-aloud, i.e., "cognitive discrepancy," "insight," "causation," and "positive emotions," which were further used to represent students' cognitive load. The latent profile analysis was then performed to cluster students into high- and low-load group. We also conducted a path analysis to investigate the mediation roles of SRL behaviors in the relationship between cognitive load and diagnostic efficiency (task performance). The results revealed that cognitive load negatively affected diagnostic efficiency, mediated by the ratio of SRL behaviors in the self-reflection phase. This study provides theoretical and methodological insights regarding the measurement of cognitive load and its interplay with SRL. This study informs the design of effective interventions for managing cognitive load in SRL within intelligent tutoring systems.

Depression is more prevalent among medical students. Its level can be changed by different factors. The present study was designed and implemented in order to determine the path analysis of factors affecting depression in students of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 291 randomly selected students of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences in 2018. Data were collected using demographic characteristics questionnaires, Beck Depression Inventory and Gadzla Academic Stress Questionnaire. The data were analysed using one-way ANOVA and F test, independent t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS software version 22, and significance level 0.05. According to the path analysis final model, there was a significant relationship between age and hope for continuing education with academic stress, and there was no significant relationship between satisfaction and academic stress. There was a significant relationship between age, hope for continuing education, academic satisfaction and stress with depression (p < 0.001). According to the obtained results, measures should be taken in order to reduce individual and environmental stresses and factors effective in depression. Detection and follow-up in disease cases, especially in the younger generation, is important in preventing debilitative effects of the disease, and its consequences should be prevented by quick and timely detection.

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.

This study aims to analyze the effect of Self-Regulation, Social Skills, Critical Thinking, and Problem-Solving Skills on Social Learning Outcomes. This research used a quantitative approach, survey methods, and path analysis techniques. The participants were class V students throughout Jakarta from November 2015 to October 2016, with a total of 250 students. The research instrument to measure students' critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, and social learning test results was multiple-choice tests, while to measure self-regulation and social skills were using a non-test instrument in the form of a questionnaire. The data analysis technique used descriptive analysis and path analysis by testing the significance of the path coefficient using the independent sample t-test. The results showed there was a positive direct effect of self-regulation, social skills, critical thinking skills, and problem-solving skills on social studies learning outcomes on learning outcomes. This research implied that efforts to improve social studies learning outcomes began with improving self-regulation strategies, practicing social skills, developing critical thinking skills, and problem-solving skills.

The digital revolution has heavily influenced digital game-based learning, yet as the revolution progresses, the conception of such learning has shifted along with the increasing complexity of the digital environment. Our study thus aims to identify research standing at this important juncture and to explain the shift in digital game-based learning research fields by adopting an integrated approach of main path analysis that yields this topic's knowledge diffusion. Using key-route 8 to construct the path, we collect a total of 2156 articles and their data from The Web of Science database. From over 30 years of digital game-based learning development, 26 of the most influential studies are identified and visualized using Pajek software. The findings show two development phases for this field: exploring the role of gaming for educational purpose as well as facilitating learning performance. The research focus in the first phase prominently explores the potentials of digital games for educational purposes, and then the focus evolves in the second phase into actualizing the identified potentials. We propose a framework of digital game-based learning affordance actualization to explain these shifting phenomena in the specific research fields. Furthermore, unveiling the changing conception of digital game-based learning research is important for instructional designers, scholars, and educators to truly understand how technology can enhance teaching and facilitate learning performance.

Purpose: The present study aimed to analyze the entrepreneurial resilience of small and medium-sized businesses among rural women. Design/Methodology: The study was conducted using a survey, and 269 individuals were selected through stratified random sampling. This research was conducted in three stages. First, the Lifespan Resilience Scale-Business was used to identify the factor structure of women's business resilience. Second, the resilience of women entrepreneurs' businesses was analyzed. And third, path analysis was carried out to identify the factors affecting the resilience of women's businesses. Findings: The business resilience of rural entrepreneur women was determined by the following components: external resources, internal resources, innovation, opportunity and adaptation, risk management, and family support. The results of the causal model indicated that the variables of marketing strategy, marketing mix, marketing methods, business communication, business plan preparation skills and supporting policies are effective factors in improving business resilience. Theoretical Implications: To improve the entrepreneurial resilience of rural women, it is necessary to identify the influential factors and their indicators to reduce entrepreneurial failure, analyze the factors that foster resilient behaviors in rural entrepreneurship, and provide contexts that are resistant against changes for women. Practical implications: Holding companies that specialize in agricultural development in Iran play an important role in improving women's entrepreneurial resilience. These companies could empower rural women to overcome barriers and apply new methods through educational and extension programs that are appropriate to changes in technology and the market. Originality/value: This study presents the Lifespan Resilience Scale-Business as a native model for measuring the resilience of rural women's businesses in Fars province of Iran.

The decomposition of the overall effect of a treatment into direct and indirect effects is here investigated with reference to a recursive system of binary random variables. We show how, for the single mediator context, the marginal effect measured on the log odds scale can be written as the sum of the indirect and direct effects plus a residual term that vanishes under some specific conditions. We then extend our definitions to situations involving multiple mediators and address research questions concerning the decomposition of the total effect when some mediators on the pathway from the treatment to the outcome are marginalized over. Connections to the counterfactual definitions of the effects are also made. Data coming from an encouragement design on students' attitude to visit museums in Florence, Italy, are reanalyzed. The estimates of the defined quantities are reported together with their standard errors to compute p values and form confidence intervals.

Despite decades of efforts to address all levels of barriers, promoting technology integration in schools continues to be challenging and one of the most active research areas in teacher education worldwide. There is a need to better understand the factors influencing teachers' intentions to integrate technology. Current models may lack parsimony and are limited in practical implications. Therefore, the primary purpose of the current study was to develop a new model by extending social cognitive theory. to explain pre-service teachers' technology integration intentions and to test its cross-cultural validity with Turkish and Spanish pre-service teachers. The participants were 135 (76 Turkish and 59 Spanish) pre-service teachers in the early childhood education department. Path analysis results supported the utility of the model and revealed that openness, facilitating conditions, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations are interrelated, and each plays a unique and complex role in explaining technology integration intentions. More importantly, multi-group invariance analysis test results revealed that the proposed model explained pre-service teachers' technology integration intentions in Turkish and Spanish samples with the exception of only one path, from openness to outcome expectations. The current extended social cognitive theory model is concise, includes pertinent constructs from other theoretical frameworks and models, and offers practical implications for teacher educators.

Objective: Extreme sport participation and injury rates have increased in recent decades. This study aimed to investigate sub-dimensions of impulsivity and sensation seeking that contribute to participation and injury risk in extreme sports. Participants: Data included cross-sectional survey responses from 7,109 college students (Mage=19.68, SD = 2.31). Methods: This study utilized path analysis to investigate sub-dimensions of sensation seeking and impulsivity as predictors of extreme sport participation and injury across 3 models. Results: Results of the final model identify risk seeking and lack of perseverance as the two strongest predictors of extreme sports injury, risk seeking, experience seeking, and lack of premeditation as the strongest positive predictors of extreme sports participation, and lack of perseverance as the strongest negative predictor of extreme sports participation. Conclusions: These results will contribute to targeted prevention and intervention efforts for extreme sports injury among young adults based on identified individual personality factors.

This study sought to investigate the relationship between language mindsets and grammar learning strategies and grammatical performance among English as L2 and L3 learners. Moreover, this study examined fixed and growth language mindsets across gender and language groups. The sample included 320 (N[subscript L2] = 160, N[subscript L3] = 160) intermediate Iranian EFL learners who responded to self-report scales ta as well as a grammar test. Independent samples t-tests indicated that there were significant differences between mindsets scores of male and female L2 learners. The results also revealed that L2 learners endorsed more growth mindsets than L3 learners. Finally, path analysis showed that language mindsets significantly predicted grammar learning strategies and grammar scores of both L2 and L3 learners.

This study investigated the direct relationship between home play opportunity and prospective school readiness, and the indirect relationships as mediated through object and social mastery motivation among Hong Kong Chinese kindergarten children. Participants were 106 local children (44.4% girls, mean age = 60.0 months) and their parents and teachers. Parents reported the demographic information and children's home play opportunity at time 1 (beginning of the school year), whereas children's object mastery motivation, social mastery motivation, and school readiness were reported by their teachers at time 2 (six months later). Research Findings: Results from the path analytic model revealed that children's home play opportunity significantly predicted their object mastery motivation, but not social mastery motivation or school readiness. Both object and social mastery motivation were positively associated with school readiness. Furthermore, the indirect relationship between home play opportunity, object mastery motivation, and school readiness was significant, but the one via social mastery motivation was non-significant. Practice or Policy: The findings highlight the collective roles of object and social mastery motivation in predicting children's school readiness. The results also suggest the desirability of providing kindergarten children with a varied and accessible home play environment which may promote their mastery motivation and school readiness.

This study aimed to investigate the test-taking strategies needed for successful completion of a lecture-based listening test by employing self-reported test-taking strategy use, actual strategy use measured via eye-tracking, and test scores. In this study, participants' gaze behavior (measured by fixation and visit duration and frequency) were recorded while they completed two listening tests of three stages each: pre-listening, in which participants (n = 66) previewed question stems; while-listening, in which participants simultaneously listened to the recording and filled in their answers; and post-listening, in which they had time to review their answers and make necessary amendments. Following the listening tests, participants filled up a posttest questionnaire that asked about their strategy use in each of the three stages. Rasch measurement, "t"-test, and path analysis were performed on test scores, questionnaire results, and gaze patterns. Results suggest that gaze measures (visit duration and fixation frequency) predicted participants' final test performance, while self-reports had moderate predicting power. The findings of this study have implications for the cognitive validity of listening tests, listening test design and pedagogical approaches in building listening competence.

External representations powerfully support and augment complex human behavior. When navigating, people often consult external representations to help them find the way to go, but do maps or verbal instructions improve spatial knowledge or support effective wayfinding? Here, we examine spatial knowledge with and without external representations in two studies where participants learn a complex virtual environment. In the first study, we asked participants to generate their own maps or verbal instructions, partway through learning. We found no evidence of improved spatial knowledge in a pointing task requiring participants to infer the direction between two targets, either on the same route or on different routes, and no differences between groups in accurately recreating a map of the target landmarks. However, as a methodological note, pointing was correlated with the accuracy of the maps that participants drew. In the second study, participants had access to an accurate map or set of verbal instructions that they could study while learning the layout of target landmarks. Again, we found no evidence of differentially improved spatial knowledge in the pointing task, although we did find that the map group could recreate a map of the target landmarks more accurately. However, overall improvement was high. There was evidence that the nature of improvement across all conditions was specific to initial navigation ability levels. Our findings add to a mixed literature on the role of external representations for navigation and suggest that more substantial intervention--more scaffolding, explicit training, enhanced visualization, perhaps with personalized sequencing--may be necessary to improve navigation ability.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is widely used in behavioral, social, and education research. Drawing publication-ready path diagrams for SEM is not a pleasant task with the existing software. The article introduces an open-source web-based graphical application, "semdiag," for drawing WYSIWYG SEM path diagrams interactively. The application is an on-going project developed by the authors using JavaScript, and it can be used in major web browsers, both online and offline. Several examples are provided to demonstrate how to use the application.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between epistemological beliefs and learning approaches of university students. The mediator effect of gender was also tested. A theoretical model was created, and considering the literature personality types' effects on learning approaches were kept under control. A total of 244 university students studying in 26 different departments of a university in Turkey participated in the study. Data collection tools were "Epistemological Beliefs Scale" (attaining knowledge, nurture vs. nature, absolute and single reality, and epistemic confliction), "Learning Approaches Scale" (deep approach and surface approach), and "Personality Types Scale" (type A and type B personality). It was hypothesized that sophisticated epistemological beliefs positively predict deep approach and naive epistemological beliefs positively predict surface approach. In addition, it is predicted that the model will differ for males and females. Path analysis method was used to test the models. Results showed that in attaining knowledge and epistemic confliction dimensions sophisticated epistemological beliefs positively predict deep approach. In absolute and single reality, nurture versus nature, and epistemic confliction dimensions naive epistemological beliefs positively predict surface approach. The moderator effect of gender was not significant in the overall model. The results of the research indicate that epistemological beliefs and learning approaches are interrelated structures.

This study examines the relationship between support from comprehensive college transition program (CCTP) staff and students' academic self-efficacy, academic behavioral change, and achievement. We surveyed 1,197 students across three campuses of the University of Nebraska system. Path analyses revealed CCTP staff support had direct and indirect effects on these outcomes. We recommend that institutions identify program staff as sources of knowledge and that research explore them as a source of academic self-efficacy.

The urgent imperative to "move online," caused by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, has led to an in-depth study of the psychological factors involved in designing successful online learning experiences. The social-cognitive model of academic satisfaction has been widely researched in conventional educational contexts in different countries. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the adequacy of this model in e-learning education contexts. The method used was path analysis, including as independent variables: social support, informational support, self-efficacy, outcome expectations and progress in goals. The results indicated that the model adjusted satisfactorily, explaining 45% of the variance in academic satisfaction. As a specific finding of this study, in an e-learning context, it can be mentioned that a greater contribution of socio-emotional support was demonstrated with respect to informational support. On the other hand, a weak contribution of outcome expectations on academic satisfaction was verified, aspect that requires furthers research and the development of specific measures for e-learning education context. In summary, the results of this research together provide preliminary evidence favorable to the social-cognitive model of academic satisfaction in virtual environments of university education.

Recent critiques of physics education research (PER) studies have revoiced the critical issues when drawing causal inferences from observational data where no intervention is present. In response to a call for a "causal reasoning primer" in PER, this paper discusses some of the fundamental issues in statistical causal inference. In reviewing these issues, we discuss well-established causal inference methods commonly applied in other fields and discuss their application to PER. Using simulated data sets, we illustrate (i) why analysis for causal inference should control for confounders but not control for mediators and colliders and (ii) that multiple proposed causal models can fit a highly correlated dataset. Finally, we discuss how these causal inference methods can be used to represent and explain existing issues in quantitative PER. Throughout, we discuss a central issue in observational studies: A good quantitative model fit for a proposed causal model is not sufficient to support that proposed model over alternative models. To address this issue, we propose an explicit role for observational studies in PER that draw statistical causal inferences: Proposing future intervention studies and predicting their outcomes. Mirroring the way that theory can motivate experiments in physics, observational studies in PER can predict the causal effects of interventions, and future intervention studies can test those predictions directly.

In two studies, we explored the associations among situational reading-related competence beliefs and task value, inference strategies, comprehension during reading, and foundational skills in college age students. In Study 1, 93 participants from a community college completed assessments of comprehension and two types of inference strategies (elaboration and bridging), each immediately followed by a survey of their competence beliefs and task value regarding the task. Results showed that competence beliefs and task value related positively to reading comprehension. In addition, task value was positively associated with both elaborating and bridging inferences, and competence beliefs correlated positively with bridging inferences. In Study 2, we investigated these associations further in a group of 418 students studying at three different colleges. Participants completed the same assessments for competence beliefs, task value, and inference strategies, as well as assessments of comprehension and foundational reading skills. Study 2 analyses revealed that foundational reading skills were a strong predictor of both types of inferencing and also comprehension. Further, when controlling for foundational reading skills, task value predicted elaboration and bridging inferences, whereas competence beliefs did not predict inferencing, but were trending as a predictor of comprehension. Finally, we created a path model to explore mediational effects, and found that task value positively predicted comprehension performance through increased elaborations while thinking aloud.

In the study, the correlations between visual mathematics literacy perceptions, reasoning skills on geometrical shapes and geometrical performances of pre-service mathematics teachers were investigated. The study participants included 384 pre-service mathematics teachers, who were attending education departments in two universities located in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions in Turkey. In the study, due to time and workforce limitations, convenience sampling method was preferred, and relational screening model was adopted. The study data was collected with visual mathematics literacy perception scale, reasoning skills on geometric shapes and geometry performance tests developed by the authors. Analysis of the correlation between the variables demonstrated that there was a moderate correlation between visual mathematics literacy perception and both the reasoning skills on geometrical shapes and the geometry performance, and there was a high correlation between the reasoning skills on geometric shapes and geometry performance. Primary model path analysis demonstrated that visual mathematics literacy perception had a moderate effect on reasoning skills on geometrical shapes and geometry performance. It was also determined that reasoning skills on geometric shapes had a strong effect on geometry performance. The findings of the path analysis conducted on the sub-dimensions revealed that all sub-dimensions had a moderate positive effect on reasoning skills on geometric shapes. It was also found that visual mathematics literacy perception had a moderate positive effect on visual perception, geometry knowledge, spatial intelligence and concretization subdimensions and geometry performance.

The aim of this study was to examine the mediating role of interpersonal cognitive distortions between perceived parental rejection and dating anxiety in emerging adults. The study also examined whether gender and grade level also differ in terms of dating anxiety. Participants were 574 (334 women, 240 men) university students studying in a state university in Turkey who were reached with stratified sampling method. The data were collected with Adult Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire-Short Form, Dating Anxiety Scale and Interpersonal Cognitive Distortions Scale. The results of the study showed positive correlations between perceived parental rejection and dating anxiety and interpersonal cognitive distortions. According to the path analysis results, interpersonal cognitive distortions were partial mediator in relationship between perceived maternal rejection and dating anxiety. However, it was found that paternal rejection had a direct effect on dating anxiety, and cognitive distortions did not have a mediating role on this relationship. It was found that dating anxiety did not differ significantly in terms of gender, while it differed in terms of grade level. Warmth and acceptance centred parent-child relationship can be considered as a protective factor that can increase the dating anxiety by increasing the cognitive distortions.

Despite the importance of retirement savings, many individuals retire with lack of adequate retirement savings. While calculating retirement savings needs was found to enhance retirement savings, little is known about what underlies this enhancement. Applying the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we developed a model in which psychological factors influence the calculation of retirement savings needs, which in turn influences the ownership of individual retirement accounts. Path analysis was used to test our model with data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study. The results showed that favorable attitudes, strong social norms, and perceived behavioral control are associated with calculating retirement savings needs. Also, calculating retirement savings needs as well as perceived behavioral control and having an employer-based retirement plan, in turn, contributed to the prediction of individual retirement account ownership. Our results suggest it is important to understand he psychological factors behind calculating retirement savings needs and to make it easy for individuals to calculate those needs.

The purpose of the present study is to ascertain the relationship between teachers' political skills and work engagement. Correlational design is employed to complete the process of this research. The population of this study is composed of 4494 teachers working in Usak Province of Turkey. Convenience sampling was used in this study. The sample size of the study was made up 297 teachers. The data were collected through 'Political Skill Inventory' and 'Work Engagement Scale.' The data analysis was conducted via arithmetic mean, standard deviation, Pearson Moment Correlation Analysis and path analysis. According to the results, the levels of teachers' political skills and work engagement were high. Another finding of the study revealed that there was a moderate, positive and significant relationship between the dimensions of social astuteness, interpersonal influence skill, networking ability and sincerity and the level of work engagement. The research has also showed that the fact that teachers' political skills had the dimensions of interpersonal influence skill and sincerity had a positive, high level and significant effect on their work engagement. In addition, it was concluded that teachers' level of social astuteness and networking ability did not predict their levels of work engagement. In light of those results, it is recommended that certain activities to improve teachers' political skills must be organized in schools.

School burnout refers to psychological reactions to academic stress and loads and has been identified as a risk factor contributing to academic failure and subsequent mental health challenges. However, academic motivation, hope, and meaning in life can be potential combating factors against school burnout. This study aimed to examine the effects of academic motivation on school burnout in college students and explore mediator roles of hope and meaning in life. A path analysis was performed with the data collected from 544 Turkish college students to test the direct and indirect effects. The results showed that the direct effects from the three academic motivation variables to school burnout variables were larger than the indirect effects. Both mediators played roles in the relations between amotivation and efficacy and intrinsic motivation and efficacy. The last finding was that hope played more significant mediator roles than meaning in life. The results were discussed, along with implications for faculty, college counselors, and future studies.

This research was about school supervisors who play a strategic role in the management of human resources in the school environment. The study aims to determine the direct and indirect influences of organizational culture, personality, job satisfaction, and trust on the school supervisor's performance. The research samples were 180 supervisors of the school Education Office Special capital Jakarta. Data collection using questionnaires with a Likert scale, before analyzed the obtained data will be validated and reliably in respondents outside of the research sample. Data were analyzed through path analysis, as data analysis requirements were tests of normality, homogeneity, and linearity. Research results there was a direct influence of organizational culture, and personality on job satisfaction; Organizational culture, and personality on trust; Organizational culture, and personality on performance; Job satisfaction, and trust on performance, then there was an indirect influence of organizational culture through job satisfaction on the performance of school supervisor. The conclusion that the performance of the school supervisor at the Education Office of Jakarta was influenced by variations level of organizational culture, personality, and Trust, but the personality of school supervisors should have a priority attention to improving their performance.

This study aims to explore the relationships between cognitive flexibility (CF), perceived quality of faculty life (PQFL), learning approaches (LA) and academic achievement (AA). This correlational comparison study was conducted with 1573 undergraduates at Ankara University. The data collection tools were "Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS)", "Quality of Faculty Life Scale (QFLS)" and "Approaches to Learning Questionnaire (ALQ)". Grade point average (GPA) was used as a measurement of AA. The three subscales of QFLS; satisfaction from faculty (SF), faculty members (SFM), and school climate and student relationships (SSCSR) were found positively correlated with deep approach to learning (DAL), CF and AA, and negatively correlated with surface approach to learning (SAL). DAL was also found positively correlated with CF and AA, but negatively correlated with SAL. CF and AA were positively correlated with all variables, except SAL. Although CF showed a positive correlation with AA, it assumed a negative explanatory role for AA when it was included in the model as a mediating variable. The regression estimates in the path analysis model revealed that DAL, SAL and SF were positive explanatory variables for AA, whereas SSCSR was a negative explanatory variable for AA and SAL was a negative explanatory variable for CF.

Researchers used path analysis to examine self-stigma, help seeking, and alcohol and other drug (AOD) use in a community sample of individuals (N = 406) recruited through the crowdsourcing platform MTurk. Self-stigma of help seeking contributed to AOD use and was mediated by help-seeking attitudes. We discuss the implications for advocacy and stigma reduction in substance use treatment. Counselors and counselor educators can implement and advocate for interventions and training that increase positive attitudes toward seeking help, such as providing appropriate training with supervisees and counselors-in-training, providing clients and the community with mental health literacy, and engaging in more advocacy. Moreover, they can challenge thoughts of seeking help as weakness, normalize seeking psychological help, and discuss the benefits of counseling and therapy to address the development and effects of self-stigma of help seeking for individuals with substance use issues.

This study aims to determine the direct effect of reading interest and achievement motivation toward comprehension. A quantitative approach with a path analysis method was used to assess reading interest and achievement motivation towards understanding English text. Furthermore, the instruments used were questionnaires of reading interest and achievement motivation. EFL Reading comprehension tests of English text were distributed to 60 students of the English Literature Undergraduate Program. Also, the data were analyzed using path analysis technique and multiple regression analysis. The results showed a positive direct effect of (1) reading interest in English texts comprehension by 21.2%, and (2) achievement motivation towards reading comprehension by 7.6%. This study recommends that the 21st-century literacy learning process, both informal or non-formal educational institutions, needs to be more relevant and supportive for the growth and increase of reading interest and achievement motivation. Therefore, it will develop 21st-century competencies, especially in literacy learning and reading comprehension of English texts.

Learning communities are often associated with higher student engagement and academic achievement. Few studies to date, however, have examined the impacts of these practices among international students. To address this gap, the following questions led the current study: "To what degree is participation in learning communities associated with international students' (1) engagement in educationally beneficial activities, (2) learning outcomes (e.g., general, practical, and professional development), and (3) overall satisfaction with their institutional environment and educational experience?" Drawing on student development theory, we designed a path analysis using a structural equation modelling to assess both the direct and the indirect effects. The results suggest that while students' participation in learning communities positively correlates to student learning gains and satisfaction, the student engagement indicators are the significant mediating predictors for both outcomes, thus recommending that institutions interested in assessing the impacts of learning communities should determine not only the direct effects but also the indirect effects of these practices. Our results also show differences in participation patterns among international student subgroups. Institutions should be aware of such differences and make efforts to scale high impact practices like learning communities to provide opportunities for more students to become involved in these educationally purposeful activities. The findings call for future research aimed at identifying the environmental and individual conditions that are most conducive to the cultivation of these practices for international students.

Numerous scholars are devoted to investigating the technology acceptance model (TAM) and its extensions, but a comprehensive TAM is still under investigation. This study aims to formulate a relatively comprehensive model by including personal investment and identify factors that influence students' adoption of CCtalk-aided English as a foreign language (EFL) courses. This study tests the proposed model based on data collected from 771 participants in China using CCtalk to acquire EFL. Confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis are conducted to identify the designed model measurement. Coefficients of determination and path analyses are adopted to access the model fit index and path hypotheses. This study reveals the following results: (1) Perceived ease of use ([beta] = 0.033, P < 0.001) and perceived usefulness ([beta] = 0.04, P < 0.001) of CCtalk-aided EFL courses significantly influence attitudes towards using CCtalk-aided EFL courses; (2) Attitude towards using ([beta] = 0.028, P < 0.001), perceived ease of use([beta] = 0.019, P < 0.01),and personal investment ([beta] = 0.04, P < 0.001) in the use of CCtalk-aided EFL courses significantly influence behavioral intention to use CCtalk-aided EFL courses; (3) Self-efficacy ([beta] = 0.061, P < 0.001), and relevance ([beta] = 0.08, P < 0.001) of CCtalk-aided EFL courses significantly influence perceived ease of use of CCtalk-aided EFL courses; (4) Social influence ([beta] = 0.046, P < 0.001), personal investment ([beta] = 0.074, P < 0.01), relevance ([beta] = 0.069, P < 0.001), and perceived ease of use ([beta] = 0.035, P < 0.001) of CCtalk-aided EFL courses significantly influence the perceived usefulness of CCtalk-based EFL courses. This research may provide enlightenment to the future research of a comprehensive TAM.