Measurement invariance and validity of a brief questionnaire on reading motivation in elementary students

In order to initiate more research on the role of reading motivation during the initial stages of learning to comprehend texts, we developed the Reading Motivation Questionnaire for Elementary Students (RMQ‐E). The sample comprised 1497 elementary students in Grades 1–3. By means of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, three factors were determined: Curiosity, involvement and competition. The three‐factor structure of the RMQ‐E was found to be invariant across grade levels (scalar invariance) and across female and male students (strict invariance). As was anticipated, students in higher grades and male students were lower in curiosity and involvement than students in lower grades and female students. Whereas competitive reading motivation did not differ across grade levels, it was higher for boys than for girls. Moreover, the contributions of involvement and competition to reading amount and reading competence were in accordance with the hypotheses. The predictive validity of curiosity, however, was not confirmed.     

Sex differences in secondary school success: why female students perform better

School success is closely linked to intelligence but also to non-cognitive factors such as achievement motivation. The present study examines which non-cognitive factors predict secondary school grades and looks at reasons why female students tend to outperform their male counterparts. A sample of 554 German freshman students provided measures of general intelligence, achievement motivation, science course choice, self-efficacy, self-perceived academic achievement, and test anxiety. Results show that achievement motivation, self-perceived academic achievement, and sex significantly contribute to the final secondary school success above intelligence. Females’ advantage in final secondary school grades becomes even larger after controlling for general intelligence. This advantage can be explained by females’ higher achievement motivation. Showing more compensatory effort as well as self-control and taking more pride in their own productivity helps females to outperform their male counterparts at secondary school.     

Testing Measurement Invariance of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Entertainment Experiences Across Media Formats

The aim of this study is to investigate the measurement invariance of media users’ entertainment experiences as conceptualized by two-process models of entertainment (i.e., enjoyment and appreciation) across different media formats. With this purpose, the present research relates to the recent rise of entertainment research, embracing more and more media types and formats with which entertainment experiences may occur. At the same time, it addresses a methodological issue that has rarely been addressed in communication research. Focusing on one of the most often used measurement instruments in entertainment research, on three different media formats (political talk shows, comedies, and dramas), the study finds evidence for configural, metric, and scalar invariance for the scale. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Sport-specific functional movement can simulate aspects of neuromuscular fatigue occurring in team sports

Fatigue protocols have been used over the years to examine muscular exhaustion. As an alternative to approaches in laboratory settings, functional agility protocols claiming to mimic the multifaceted loads of athletic activity have been proposed. This study aimed to examine the effects of a functional agility short-term fatigue protocol (FAST-FP) on neuromuscular function. Twenty-eight healthy sports students (15 males, aged 24.3 ± 2.4 years) completed the FAST-FP, which consists of four components: three counter-movement jumps (90% of individual maximum), a 20-s bout of step-ups, three bodyweight squats and an agility run. Tasks were repeated until the participants no longer achieved the required jump height in two consecutive sets. Outcomes (pre-post) encompassed subjective exhaustion (visual analogue scale [VAS]), maximum isometric voluntary force of the knee extensors (MIVF), reactive strength index (RSI), mean power frequency (MPF, measured using surface electromyography) and maximum knee range of motion (ROM). Post-intervention, VAS (+54 mm) increased significantly, while MIVF (–6.1%), RSI (–10.7%) and MPF (–4.1%) were reduced (p < 0.05). No changes were observed for ROM (p > 0.05). The FAST-FP induces small-to-moderate impairments in neuromuscular function and considerable self-perceived fatigue. Current evidence on exhaustion developing in team sports suggests that this magnitude of fatigue is similar. The protocol might thus be valuable in the evaluation of treatments counteracting post-match fatigue in team sports.     

Enhancing communicative spaces for fieldwork education in an inland regional Australian university

The diversity of fieldwork education models and practices ranges from mandatory to voluntary, from graded to ungraded, from paid to unpaid spectrums and they vary in length from less than a week to up to one year. Colleagues who work in the same university but in different schools, faculties or campuses are often so busy working within their discipline‐specific arena that there seems to be little opportunity to learn from and collaborate with other disciplines about fieldwork education programs. This paper provides a report on a project that trialled and evaluated an online debate with university staff about fieldwork education issues. The aims were to establish a sustainable university‐wide fieldwork education discourse, to break down profession‐specific silos, to inform the development of university‐wide fieldwork education benchmarks and to foster fieldwork education leadership through online debates. The findings demonstrate that, collectively, participants shared a wealth of experience and wisdom that remained largely untapped at a university‐wide level. Participants’ evaluation highlighted the perceived value of creating a communicative space for a fieldwork education discourse and it exposed aspects of the online environment and time constraints as its biggest barrier.