Determinants of Major Choice and Academic Expectations: Testing a Prediction Model Across Gender.

With this study, we aim to test the predictive relationships between determinants of major choice (DMC) and academic expectations (AEs) and to analyze gender differences, using six items of the Determinants of Major Choice Scale and the Academic Perceptions Questionnaire to assess AEs. A convenience sample of Portuguese (n = 839) and Spanish (n = 1,001) first-year students (age-range = 17-23 years), mostly composed of women (56.9%, n = 1,047), was selected from two public universities. The invariance of the multivariate regression model with latent variables of the effect of DMC on AEs, with determinants linked to Personal Characteristics (PCs; e.g., capacities) and Mediating Agents (MAs; e.g., parents) as AE predictors, was tested across gender with LISREL. The invariance test of the multivariate regression model across gender fit the data well and revealed an equivalence of slopes between women and men, which allows a unique interpretation of the model's predictive relationships for both genders. We also found statistically significant predictive relationships of PCs for six AE factors and MAs for five AE factors. The results showed theoretical relationships with the self-determination theory. At a practical level, they indicated the importance of PCs and MAs to design AE intervention programs in Higher Education (HE) institutions.

Gender, planning, and academic expectations in first-year higher education students: testing two alternative mediation models.

We examined the relationships among gender, planning, and academic expectations through the testing of two alternative models with latent variables tested with LISREL 8.80: one model considered planning as a mediator of the relationship between gender and academic expectations, and the other model considered academic expectations as mediators of the relationship between gender and planning. Participants were 662 first-year higher-education students from two academic years, predominantly female (60%) and mainly with majors in the juridical-social field (66.2%). The Inventario sobre Estrategias Metacognitivas (IEM; Inventory of Metacognitive Strategies) and the Academic Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ) were applied at the beginning of the first semester to assess planning and academic expectations, respectively. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the IEM's structure after examining its psychometric properties with the sample from the first academic year (N = 338). The test of the alternative mediation models with the full sample indicates that the best model was that with planning as a mediator. In this model, gender directly predicted only two APQ academic expectations, but with the mediation of planning, gender predicted all seven academic expectations. Women showed higher levels of academic expectations and planning than did men. The results are discussed at both the theoretical and practical levels.

Gender, planning, and academic expectations in first-year higher education students: testing two alternative mediation models

Abstract We examined the relationships among gender, planning, and academic expectations through the testing of two alternative models with latent variables tested with LISREL 8.80: one model considered planning as a mediator of the relationship between gender and academic expectations, and the other model considered academic expectations as mediators of the relationship between gender and planning. Participants were 662 first-year higher-education students from two academic years, predominantly female (60%) and mainly with majors in the juridical-social field (66.2%). The Inventario sobre Estrategias Metacognitivas (IEM; Inventory of Metacognitive Strategies) and the Academic Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ) were applied at the beginning of the first semester to assess planning and academic expectations, respectively. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the IEM's structure after examining its psychometric properties with the sample from the first academic year (N = 338). The test of the alternative mediation models with the full sample indicates that the best model was that with planning as a mediator. In this model, gender directly predicted only two APQ academic expectations, but with the mediation of planning, gender predicted all seven academic expectations. Women showed higher levels of academic expectations and planning than did men. The results are discussed at both the theoretical and practical levels.

Propiedades psicométricas del Cuestionario de Percepciones Académicas para la evaluación de las expectativas de los estudiantes de primer año en Enseñanza Superior / Psychometric properties of the Academic Perceptions Questionnaire for the assessment of first-year university students´ expectations

Desde una concepción multidimensional de las expectativas, este artículo pretende analizar la validez y precisión psicométrica de una escala para su medida en los estudiantes universitarios de primer año. La muestra (N = 759) estaba compuesta por alumnado de primer año, de diversas titulaciones académicas de la Universidad de Vigo-Campus de Ourense y de la Universidad de Minho. El valor de la Mdn de edad fue de 19, siendo sólo el 5.3% mayor de 23 años. A los participantes se les aplicó un conjunto de 56 ítems agrupados en siete dimensiones diferentes de expectativas. Los resultados del análisis factorial confirmatorio, se obtuvieron con el LISREL. Se garantizó la validez factorial, tanto convergente como discriminante de los factores. Ésta junto con su fiabilidad sugieren que el Cuestionario de Percepciones Académicas quedaría finalmente con 42 ítems distribuidos en siete dimensiones de expectativas: Formación para el empleo/carrera, Desarrollo personal y social, Movilidad estudiantil, Implicación política/ciudadanía, Presión social, Calidad de formación e Interacción social. Se comprobó la equivalencia del modelo de medida del instrumento en los dos idiomas y en dos grupos resultantes de la bipartición aleatoria de la muestra. Los resultados de la validez estructural de este estudio avalan la utilización del cuestionario para la medida de las expectativas de los estudiantes que inician por primera vez sus estudios en la Enseñanza Superior

This paper aims to test the psychometric validity and reliability of a measure of first-year university students’ expectations, based on a multidimensional conception of expectations. The sample consisted of 759 first-year students, attending various academic degrees at the Universities of Vigo - Ourense and University of Minho. The value Mdn age was 19,with only 5.3% with ages above 23 years. Participants answered a set of 56 items based on seven different dimensions of expectations. Results of confirmatory factor analysis, were carried out with LISREL. Factorial validity, and factors’ convergent and discriminant validity were assured. These results, along with evidences reliability, suggest that the Academic Perceptions Questionnaire presents a final structure composed of seven expectation dimensions, including 42 items: Training for employment/career, Personal and social development, Student mobility, Political and citizenship involvement, Social pressure, Quality of education, and Social interaction. The equivalence of measurement model in the two languages and in two groups randomly derived from the full sample was also verified. The results of this structural validity study support the assessment of the expectations of first-year students in Higher Education with the questionnaire

Facilitación del conocimiento alfabético en preescolar a través del entrenamiento en codificación, grafomotricidad y lectura / Facilitating alphabet knowledge in preschool through training in coding, graphomotor and reading

El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar los efectos del entrenamiento en la iniciación al aprendizaje lector. Los participantes en el estudio fueron 144 niños de Preescolar de cuatro escuelas públicas de Galicia, pertenecientes a la zona rural de la Comarca del Paradanta. Del total, 72 formaron los tres grupos experimentales y otros 72 los tres grupos de control. El diseño utilizado fue un pretestpostest con sujetos aleatorizados. La medida de las habilidades lectoras se hizo mediante el Test de Reconocimiento Visual y Conversión Grafema-Fonema (TECOL). Los datos recogidos se trataron a través de un análisis de varianza de medidas repetidas. El entrenamiento incrementó significativamente las puntuaciones de las habilidades lectoras de los grupos experimentales, comparado con los grupos controles. El programa ha mostrado una triple interacción entre Medida × Entrenamiento × Nivel Escolar. Ello significa que hubo variación significativa en las puntuaciones medias de las habilidades lectoras fruto del entrenamiento y según los distintos niveles escolares. Se concluyó que la habilidad de lectura básica a desarrollar en la Educación Infantil es la habilidad de identificación y nombramiento de letras (AU)

The goal of the present study is to analyze the influence of training in initiation to learning reading. Participants in the study were 144 preschool children from four public schools of Galicia, from a rural area of the Region of Paradanta. Out of the total sample, 72 were assigned to the experimental groups and 72 to the control groups. The design was pretest-posttest with randomized participants. Reading skills were measured with the Visual Recognition and Grapheme-Phoneme Conversion Test (TECOL). The data was analyzed with repeated measures analysis of variance. Training significantly increased the reading skill scores of the experimental groups, compared to the control groups. The program has shown a triple interaction between Measure × Training × Level School. This means that there was significant variation in mean scores of reading skills as a result of training and according to the different school levels. It is concluded that the basic reading skill to develop in early childhood education is the identification and naming of letters (AU)

[Facilitating alphabet knowledge in preschool through training in coding, graphomotor and reading]. / Facilitación del conocimiento alfabético en preescolar a través del entrenamiento en codifi cación, grafomotricidad y lectura.

The goal of the present study is to analyze the influence of training in initiation to learning reading. Participants in the study were 144 preschool children from four public schools of Galicia, from a rural area of the Region of Paradanta. Out of the total sample, 72 were assigned to the experimental groups and 72 to the control groups. The design was pretest-posttest with randomized participants. Reading skills were measured with the Visual Recognition and Grapheme-Phoneme Conversion Test (TECOL).The data was analyzed with repeated measures analysis of variance. Training significantly increased the reading skill scores of the experimental groups, compared to the control groups. The program has shown a triple interaction between Measure Training × Level School. This means that there was significant variation in mean scores of reading skills as a result of training and according to the different school levels. It is concluded that the basic reading skill to develop in early childhood education is the identification and naming of letters.