International Journal of Quantitative Research in Education (5 papers in press)

Regular Issues

• A multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) model of engagement in English language learning and self-directed behaviours  
  by Ernest Afari, Myint Swe Khine 
  Abstract: The present study sought to examine the effect of gender on student engagement in English language learning and self-regulation in a tertiary institution. Three hundred and eighty-nine first-year students from a Gulf state responded to the engagement in English language learning and self-regulation (EELLS) survey developed by Zubaidi et al. (2016). Multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) approach was used to investigate the effect of gender on the structure of a four-factor model of EELLS survey consisting of learning goal orientation (LGO), task value (TV), self-efficacy (SE), and self-regulation (SR). The results indicated statistically significant differences in gender in LGO, TV, SE, and SR.
  Keywords: multiple indicators multiple causes; MIMIC; confirmatory factor analysis; CFA; covariates; self-regulation; task-value; self-efficacy; learning goal.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJQRE.2023.10052278
   
  
• Personality, Self-regulation and Academic Success: Differences and Interactions across Academic Major  
  by Tianna Loose, Alejandro Vasquez-Echeverría 
  Abstract: Personality traits would be meaningfully associated with academic performance and distinguish students across academic majors. One recent study suggested that personality traits had different associations with achievement as a function of students major. As this was the case for personality traits, self-regulated learning and feelings of belonging could also differ. Self-report questionnaires were administered to 265 students from the psychology and engineering department. Agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, self-regulation, intrinsic value and use of cognitive strategies differed across groups. Academic major moderated relationships between neuroticism or intrinsic value and grade point average, as well as the relationship between openness and feelings of belonging. Dispositional and motivational characteristics distinguish students across academic majors. The prevalence and associations of these characteristics differed across field, unveiling a crucial need to account for academic major and cautioning generalisations.
  Keywords: personality; self-regulation; intrinsic value; self efficacy; cognitive strategies; moderation; higher education; academic major; feelings of belonging; academic performance.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJQRE.2024.10052984
   
  
• Building the future: a structural equation modelling approach of relationships among self-determination, self-concept, student transition planning, and life skills  
  by Mihaela Cristea 
  Abstract: The relationship between self-determination and life skills development in students with disabilities has been explored in limited research. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the pattern of the relationships through the lens of direct, mediation, and moderation effects among self-determination components, self-concept, student transition planning, and life skills development in students with disabilities. The data were collected using standardized instruments from 304 adolescents with learning disabilities and intellectual disability (M = 14.93; SD = 1.42). A structural equation modeling approach was performed to estimate two models: a latent causal model for the direct and mediation effects, and a causal path model for the moderation effects. The findings indicated that self-determination and self-concept directly affected life skills development. Self-concept had a moderator role in the relationship between the four self-determination components and life skills development. Implications for future research and educational practice are discussed.
  Keywords: self-determination; self-concept; transition; life skills; intellectual disability; structural equation modelling.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJQRE.2023.10057513
   
  
• Community involvement and students’ learning achievements in public and private junior high schools in Senegal  
  by Jean-Baptiste M.B. Sanfo, Mamadou Ciss, Cheikh Beye 
  Abstract: Community involvement may play a role in improving education quality, but research does not show &145;who’ the community is and ‘what’ involvement refers to. This study investigates the association between community involvement and learning achievements and explores how the association varies by school type. It employed a three-level hierarchical linear model and Senegalese PISA for Development data. Results indicate that community involvement is not associated with learning achievements when the community is conceived as bodies around the school and involvement as contributions to infrastructure construction /maintenance, teaching, or support in feeding programs. However, the association varies by school type for the first form of involvement. Moreover, community involvement (PTA and contribution to the construction/maintenance of facilities) is associated with mathematics achievements. The association between community involvement (PTA and involvement as contributing to teaching activities or as support in school feeding programs) and mathematics or reading achievements varies by school type.
  Keywords: community involvement; PTA; hierarchical linear model; PISA-D; Senegal.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJQRE.2023.10058858
   
  
• Choosing teaching as a career in French-speaking Belgium: research at the dawn of a reform using the FIT-Choice scale  
  by Joachim De Stercke, Antoine Derobertmasure, Emilie Bastin, Laëtitia Delbart 
  Abstract: The Wallonia-Brussels Federation is considered to be one of the least effective education systems according to international surveys. The results obtained from students in international surveys depend on the quality of teaching. This is affected by a number of factors, including teacher motivation and well-being. Empirical findings on future teachers’ motivations to become teachers are still lacking in French-speaking Belgium. The aim of this article is to identify the initial career motivations of future teachers in French-speaking Belgium. To this end, a questionnaire based on an adaptation of Watt and Richardsons (2007) FIT-Choice scale was conducted among 1,318 students enrolled in the first year of a bachelor’s degree in Hainaut province. Our analyses show that these students mainly invoke intrinsic and altruistic career motivations, confirming observations made using the same tool in other educational systems. They also show that a career choice motivated by altruistic motives and judged to be satisfying is associated with a higher level of satisfaction with life in general.
  Keywords: initial training; teacher; career choice; motivation; satisfaction with life; FIT-Choice; Belgium.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJQRE.2024.10064168