Robert Klassen | University of York (original) (raw)

Papers by Robert Klassen

Educational Research Review, 12, 59-76

Considerable research has been conducted based on the assumption that teachers’ psychological cha... more Considerable research has been conducted based on the assumption that teachers’ psychological characteristics are associated with teaching effectiveness. However, the evidence for this assumption is limited: most research on the topic has been limited to investigations of the links between teachers’ self-reported characteristics and other within-teacher, self-reported outcomes. The purpose of this study was to systematically analyze the research exploring two psychological characteristics (self-efficacy and personality) and measures of teaching effectiveness (evaluated teaching performance and student achievement). Analysis of 43 studies representing 9216 participants reveals a significant but small effect size of 􏰂r 1⁄4 :10 between overall psychological characteristics and teaching effectiveness. The strongest effect found was for self-efficacy on evaluated teaching performance (􏰂r 1⁄4 :28). Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

The purpose of this longitudinal mixed methods study was to examine the development of self-effic... more The purpose of this longitudinal mixed methods study was to examine the development of self-efficacy and work stress of pre-service teachers during a teaching practicum. Participants were 150 pre-service teachers who completed eight weekly electronic surveys during their two-month final practicum in a Canadian teacher education program. The study investigates the patterns of self-efficacy and work stress during a critical period in the formation of new teachers. Latent growth curve analysis revealed a pattern of significantly increasing self-efficacy and significantly decreasing stress, although the trajectories were independent of each other. Qualitative analysis of multiple collective cases highlighted the variability of self-efficacy and stress patterns within the practicum experience, and underscored the critical influence of relationships with mentor teachers on self-efficacy and stress.

The goal of this study was to create and validate a brief multidimensional scale of teacher engag... more The goal of this study was to create and validate a brief multidimensional scale of teacher engagement-the Engaged Teachers Scale (ETS)-that reflects the particular characteristics of teachers' work in classrooms and schools. We collected data from three separate samples of teachers (total N = 810), and followed five steps in developing and validating the ETS. The result of our scale development was a 16-item, 4-factor scale of teacher engagement that shows evidence of reliability, validity, and practical usability for further research. The four factors of the ETS consist of: cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, social engagement: students, and social engagement: colleagues. The ETS was found to correlate positively with a frequently used work engagement measure (the UWES) and to be positively related to, but empirically distinct from, a measure of teachers' self-efficacy (the TSES). Our key contribution to the measurement of teacher engagement is the novel inclusion of social engagement with students as a key component of overall engagement at work for teachers. We propose that social engagement should be considered in future iterations of work engagement measures in a range of settings.

Journal of educational Psychology, Jan 1, 2010

The authors of this study sought to examine the relationships among teachers' years of experience... more The authors of this study sought to examine the relationships among teachers' years of experience, teacher characteristics (gender and teaching level), three domains of self-efficacy (instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement), two types of job stress (workload and classroom stress), and job satisfaction with a sample of 1,430 practicing teachers using factor analysis, item response modeling, systems of equations, and a structural equation model. Teachers' years of experience showed nonlinear relationships with all three self-efficacy factors, increasing from early career to mid-career and then falling afterwards. Female teachers had greater workload stress, greater classroom stress from student behaviors, and lower classroom management self-efficacy. Teachers with greater workload stress had greater classroom management self-efficacy, whereas teachers with greater classroom stress had lower self-efficacy and lower job satisfaction. Those teaching young children (in elementary grades and kindergarten) had higher levels of self-efficacy for classroom management and student engagement. Lastly, teachers with greater classroom management self-efficacy or greater instructional strategies self-efficacy had greater job satisfaction.

Contemporary …, Jan 1, 2009

The purpose of this article was twofold. The first purpose was to test the validity of the Teache... more The purpose of this article was twofold. The first purpose was to test the validity of the Teachers' Sense of Self-Efficacy Scale (TSES) in five settings-Canada, Cyprus, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. The second purpose was, by extension, to establish the importance of the teacher self-efficacy construct across diverse teaching conditions. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to better understand the measurement invariance of the scale across countries, after which the relationship between the TSES, its three factors, and job satisfaction was explored. The TSES showed convincing evidence of reliability and measurement invariance across the five countries, and the relationship between the TSES and job satisfaction was similar across settings. The study provides general evidence that teachers' self-efficacy is a valid construct across culturally diverse settings and specific evidence that teachers' self-efficacy showed a similar relationship with teachers' job satisfaction in five contrasting settings.

Journal of Educational Psychology, Jan 1, 2004

Journal of Educational Psychology, 2012

Using a self-determination theory (SDT) framework, we explored the relationship between the satis... more Using a self-determination theory (SDT) framework, we explored the relationship between the satisfaction of teachers' basic psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence and their self-reported levels of teaching-related engagement, emotions, and emotional exhaustion. In particular, we tested a 2-component model of teachers' need for relatedness, with representation of the need for relatedness with students and the need for relatedness with colleagues. One thousand and forty-nine teachers participated in 3 studies. In Study 1 (n ϭ 409), we tested a model that examined how perceptions of autonomy support are associated with teachers' relatedness with colleagues and students and how relatedness subsequently predicts teaching engagement and emotional exhaustion. In Study 2 (n ϭ 455), we tested a full SDT model, hypothesizing that perceptions of autonomy support lead to satisfaction of teachers' needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness with colleagues and students, which in turn lead to teachers' engagement and expression of emotions (anxiety, anger, and enjoyment). In Study 3 (n ϭ 185), we used scenarios to test participants' beliefs about 2 hypothesized teachers, 1 with high student and low peer relatedness and the other with low student and high peer relatedness. Results from the 3 studies consistently emphasize the finding that for teachers, satisfaction of the need for relatedness with students leads to higher levels of engagement and positive emotions, and lower levels of negative emotions, than does satisfaction of the need for relatedness with peers.

Journal of Experimental Education, 2012

This study explored the validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale in a sample of 853 practici... more This study explored the validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale in a sample of 853 practicing teachers from Australia, Canada, China (Hong Kong), Indonesia, and Oman. The authors used multigroup confirmatory factor analysis to test the factor structure and measurement invariance across settings, after which they examined the relationships between work engagement, workplace well-being (job satisfaction and quitting intention), and contextual variables (socioeconomic status, experience, and gender). The 1-factor version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale was deemed preferable to the 3-factor version and showed acceptable fit to the cross-national data. The 1-factor Utrecht Work Engagement Scale showed good internal consistency and similar relationships with workplace well-being and contextual variables across settings. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale was invariant within broadly construed Western and non-Western groups but not across Western and non-Western groups. The authors concluded that the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale needs further development before its use can be supported in further cross-cultural research.

Educational Psychology Review, 2002

This review examines and summarizes 16 research studies examining the writing self-efficacy belie... more This review examines and summarizes 16 research studies examining the writing self-efficacy beliefs of 6th to 10th grade students. In the majority of the studies, self-efficacy was found to play a primary role in predicting student writing performance. Students with learning disabilities were found to over-estimate their ability to complete specific writing tasks. Several studies found gender differences, with boys rating their confidence higher than girls, although actual performance did not differ. Grade-level differences in perceived efficacy for writing were found in some studies, but not in others. Most studies emphasized that those working with young adolescents need to be aware of the importance of self-efficacy and other motivational beliefs in conjunction with academic functioning. Difficulties with specificity of self-efficacy measures, and with correspondence between measure and critical task were found in several studies. The article concludes with suggestions for future self-efficacy research. (Contains 58 references and 2 tables of data. Appendixes contain a summary of reviewed studies and a chart indicating specificity of self-efficacy measures and correspondence between self-efficacy measure and critical task.) (Author/RS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Journal of School Psychology, Jan 1, 2009

This study examined collective efficacy, group cohesion, and group performance in 125 randomly as... more This study examined collective efficacy, group cohesion, and group performance in 125 randomly assigned groups of older (mean age 13.45 years) and younger (mean age 11.41 years) early adolescents working on three cooperative tasks. Collective motivation significantly predicted performance, even after controlling for past performance and self-efficacy for the older but not the younger participants. For the older (but not the younger) participants, groups with high collective efficacy and group cohesion scored higher on performance tasks than groups with low collective efficacy and group cohesion. The results point to the emergence of collective motivation beliefs in early adolescence, consistent with theories of social and cognitive development. Implications for theory and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Advances in motivation and …, Jan 1, 2010

Journal of …, Jan 1, 2009

We provide further evidence for the two-factor structure of the 9-item Academic Expectations Stre... more We provide further evidence for the two-factor structure of the 9-item Academic Expectations Stress Inventory (AESI) using confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of 289 Canadian adolescents and 310 Singaporean adolescents. Examination of measurement invariance tests the assumption that the model underlying a set of scores is directly comparable across groups. This study also examined the cross-cultural validity of the AESI using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis across both the Canadian and Singaporean adolescent samples. The results suggested cross-cultural invariance of form, factor loadings, and factor variances and covariances of the AESI across both samples. Evidence of AESI's convergent and discriminant validity was also reported. Findings from t-tests revealed that Singaporean adolescents reported a significantly higher level of academic stress arising from self expectations, other expectations, and overall academic stress, compared to Canadian adolescents. Also, a larger cross-cultural effect was

Learning Disability Quarterly, Jan 1, 2010

This study examined the self-efficacy for self-regulated learning of 146 early adolescents with a... more This study examined the self-efficacy for self-regulated learning of 146 early adolescents with and without learning disabilities (LD). Results from the study showed that a 7-item selfregulatory efficacy measure demonstrated factorial invariance for the adolescent sample and also for a validation sample of 208 undergraduates with and without LD. Adolescents with LD rated their self-regulatory efficacy and reading self-efficacy lower than their NLD peers. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that selfregulatory efficacy made a significant contribution to end-of-term English grade after controlling for sex, SES, reading self-efficacy, and reading score. Finally, students with LD who scored low on self-regulatory efficacy were significantly more likely than their higher-scoring LD peers to have a low end-of-term English grade, although there was no difference on a reading performance score. Several suggestions for teachers working with adolescents with LD are provided, along with directions for future research.

British Educational Research …, Jan 1, 2009

Journal of Research …, Jan 1, 2009

In this study, we explore academic procrastination and associated motivation variables in 612 ado... more In this study, we explore academic procrastination and associated motivation variables in 612 adolescents from Canada and Singapore. Few studies have explored adolescent procrastination and no previous studies have investigated adolescent procrastination using a cross-cultural framework. Singaporean adolescents reported higher levels of procrastination and lower levels of self-efficacy for self-regulation than Canadian adolescents. Males across settings reported higher levels of procrastination and lower levels of self-efficacy for self-regulation than females. Bivariate relationships between procrastination and the motivation variables showed similar patterns in Singapore and Canada. Multigroup structural equation modeling revealed that self-efficacy for self-regulation showed the strongest multivariate relationship with JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, 19(4), 799-811 r procrastination for adolescents in both settings. The article concludes with implications for practitioners and researchers.

Applied …, Jan 1, 2010

Two studies are reported examining academic procrastination and motivation in 1,145 university st... more Two studies are reported examining academic procrastination and motivation in 1,145 university students from Canada and Singapore. In Study 1, relationships between procrastination and motivation variables were found to be similar across contexts, with self-efficacy for self-regulated learning most strongly associated with procrastination in both contexts. In Study 2, patterns of procrastinating behavior and the negative impact of procrastination were examined and compared in Canadian and Singaporean undergraduates. Participants in both contexts reported writing to be the academic task most prone to procrastination. More Singaporeans than Canadians were classified as negative procrastinators (i.e. rated procrastination as a negative influence on academic functioning). In both contexts, negative procrastinators spent more time procrastinating than neutral procrastinators and displayed lower self-efficacy for self-regulated learning.On décrit deux recherches portant sur la motivation et la procrastination universitaire (tendance à remettre au lendemain) de 1145 étudiants du Canada et de Singapour. Dans la première étude, les relations entre la motivation et la procrastination sont apparues être analogues dans les deux pays, la variable la plus fortement associéà la procrastination étant l'auto-efficience pour l'apprentissage autorégulé. Dans la deuxième étude, les schémas comportementaux de procrastination et son impact négatif ont été analysés et comparés chez les étudiants de 1° cycle canadiens et singapouriens. Les sujets des deux pays ont mentionné la rédaction comme étant la tâche universitaire la plus soumise à la procrastination. Davantage de Singapouriens que de Canadiens été classés en procrastinateurs négatifs (c'est-à-dire que la procrastination est considérée comme étant un handicap pour les études). Dans les deux cas, les procrastinateurs négatifs gaspillaient plus de temps que les procrastinateurs neutres et manifestaient une moindre auto-efficience pour l'apprentissage autorégulé.

Teaching and Teacher …, Jan 1, 2011

Motivations for choosing teaching as a career were investigated in 200 pre-service teachers from ... more Motivations for choosing teaching as a career were investigated in 200 pre-service teachers from Canada and Oman. We used a novel structured qualitative approach and two theoretical models to analyze how pre-service teacher career-choice motivation varied according to cultural context. The results of the study showed that Canadian participants made more self-references, and expressed higher levels of individual-focused motivation and social utility value as career motivators than did Omani participants. Participants from Oman expressed greater endorsement of teaching as a fallback career and higher levels of socio-cultural influences than Canadian participants. Results extend teacher motivation “teacher motivation theory” by investigating socio-cultural influences.► Pre-service teachers in Canada are more likely to describe their motivation for teaching in terms that are self-oriented compared to pre-service teachers from Oman. ► Pre-service teachers from Oman were more likely to endorse socio-cultural influences on their motivations for teaching than pre-service teachers from Canada. ► The results provide partial support for the cross-cultural generalizability of the FIT-Choice teacher motivation model. ► The study highlights the importance of attending to cultural factors in building an understanding of motivations for teaching

Contemporary Educational Psychology

Previous research suggests that adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) are less accurate in ... more Previous research suggests that adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) are less accurate in predicting academic performance than normally achieving (NA) adolescents and display a tendency to overestimate their level of performance (e.g., Klassen, 2007). However, no studies have been conducted investigating whether this overestimation is specific to academic contexts or a phenomenon that extends across domains. Ninety-four adolescents (46 LD, 48 NA) predicted their performance on a spelling task and on a ball-throwing task. Results revealed group differences in performance calibration across domains with adolescents with LD showing an overestimation of ability on the spelling and ball-throwing tasks, and NA adolescents demonstrating more precise self-appraisals. Additionally, the accuracy of non-academic performance predictions remained stable with increasing difficulty in the NA group whereas the adolescents with LD demonstrated a decrease in accurate performance prediction as the difficulty level increased.► Across domains, adolescents with LD showed an overestimation of ability. ► Increases in task difficulty resulted in greater performance miscalibration. ► Overly optimistic efficacy may reflect a lack of metacognitive awareness. ► Awareness of skill deficits and task demands may improve performance predictions and calibration.