Computer-based assessment of transversal competence. The case of problem-solving competence.

Scientific Conference (2016, October)

Determinants of Academic Self-Concept

Presentation (2016, September 13)

Predicting the problem-solving self-concept using the GI/E model

Presentation (2016, July)

Using behavioral data from computer-generated log files to understand complex problem solving performance in a computer-based assessment

Scientific Conference (2016, July)

Lesbian and Gay Identity: Testing for Equivalence Across Germans and US-Americans

Scientific Conference (2016, July)

Regenbogenfamilien: Forschungsfelder und Befunde

Presentation (2016, June 16)

Wie entstehen domänenübergreifende Fähigkeiten und Selbstkonzepte? Prädiktoren des Problemlöseselbstkonzepts

Scientific Conference (2016, March)

Soziale Vergleiche jenseits der Schule: Der Anteil von Frauen in mathematisch-technischen und Ingenieursberufen sagt das mathematische Selbstkonzept von Schülerinnen in 24 Ländern voraus

Scientific Conference (2016)

Understanding students' performance in a computer-based assessment of complex problem solving. An analysis of behavioral data from computer-generated log files.

in Computers in Human Behavior (2016), 61

Computer-based assessments of complex problem solving (CPS) that have been used in international large-scale surveys require students to engage in an in-depth interaction with the problem environment. In ... [more ▼]

Computer-based assessments of complex problem solving (CPS) that have been used in international large-scale surveys require students to engage in an in-depth interaction with the problem environment. In this, they evoke manifest sequences of overt behavior that are stored in computer-generated logfiles. In the present study, we explored the relation between several overt behaviors, which N=1476 Finnish ninth-grade students (mean age=15.23,SD=.47 years) exhibited when exploring a CPS environment, and their CPS performance. We used the MicroDYN approach to measure CPS and inspected students' behaviors through log-file analyses. Results indicated that students who occasionally observed the problem environment in a noninterfering way in addition to actively exploring it (noninterfering observation) showed better CPS performance, whereas students who showed a high frequency of (potentially unplanned) interventions (intervention frequency) exhibited worse CPS performance. Additionally, both too much and too little time spent on a CPS task (time on task) was associated with poor CPS performance. The observed effects held after controlling for students' use of an exploration strategy that required a sequence of multiple interventions (VOTAT strategy) indicating that these behaviors exhibited incremental effects on CPS performance beyond the use of VOTAT. [less ▲]

The choice between what you want now and what you want most. Self-control explains academic achievement beyond cognitive ability

in Personality and Individual Differences (2016), 94

Achieving a university degree is a demanding long-term goal, and students often show varying levels of academic achievement despite similar intellectual abilities. In order to help students, researchers ... [more ▼]

Achieving a university degree is a demanding long-term goal, and students often show varying levels of academic achievement despite similar intellectual abilities. In order to help students, researchers thereby need to understand the origins of these individual differences. However, it remains unclear whether self-control is important for students' academic achievement beyond their general cognitive ability. To answer this question,N= 150 German university students completed a measure of general cognitive ability as well as a German translation of the Brief Self-Control Scale. Grade point average (GPA) served as an objective indicator of academic achievement, complemented by personal ratings as a measure of subjective academic achievement (SAA). Both cognitive ability and self-control explained substantial amounts of variance in GPA; however, only self-control accounted for variance in SAA. The study's keyfinding was that self-control indeed contributed to explaining GPA and SAA, even when cognitive ability was controlled for. On the basis of these results, we argue that self-control holds important explanatory value for both objective and subjective academic achievement, and we discuss the results' practical relevance with regard to student success at university. [less ▲]