Goal Contents, State Empathy and Instructional Goals in a Physical Disability Vignette.

Setting and recommending instructional goals represents an important communication process in educational and health domains, which are intersected in many cases. However, little is known about the antecedents of instructional goals. The aim of the present study was to examine how the contents of participants' personal goals in life (i.e. goal contents) and state empathy during message processing affected the processes of prioritizing instructional goals in the case of an adolescent who presented physical disability and impaired cognitive functioning, as presented in a video vignette. Health and care practitioners who were members of the educational system, in-service teachers and university students of disciplines related to health, rehabilitation or education, participated in a cross-sectional study. The findings showed that the participants proposed instructional goals according to their current goal contents and state empathy. In particular, state empathy demonstrated both main effects and mediations in influencing intrinsic instructional goals. However, state empathy, in fact its associative component, influenced an extrinsic goal domain as well. Interpretations of this phenomenon are presented, and the limitations of some tools are demonstrated. In addition, suggestions are put forward regarding implications and future research for a proximal causation of the instructional goals.

The Gifted Rating Scales - School Form in Greek elementary and middle school learners: a closer insight into their psychometric characteristics.

The Gifted Rating Scales - School Form (GRS-S), an evaluation tool for the identification of gifted elementary and middle school children, was the subject of the current study, which focused on its psychometric features (internal consistency reliability and structural validity). Four hundred and eighty-nine teachers (342 women, 139 men, and 8 without gender declaration) used the GRS-S to estimate the dimensions of giftedness in their students for the current study. Particularly, 489 children (253 girls and 236 boys) were evaluated by their teachers. Eight elementary and middle school classes and sixteen 6-month age bands were used to stratify the student population. The scales' outstanding internal consistency and good factorial validity were revealed by statistical analyses (EFA, CFA, and Cronbach's coefficients). According to the current research findings, the GRS-S as a reliable and valid assessment tool for identifying gifted students (by their teachers) within the Greek cultural environment.

The Gifted Rating Scales-Preschool/Kindergarten Form (GRS-P): A Preliminary Examination of Their Psychometric Properties in Two Greek Samples.

The present paper is based on data of two samples concerning the Gifted Rating Scales-Preschool/Kindergarten Form (GRS-P) that aimed to gain insight into the psychometric properties (internal consistency reliability, structural and convergent validity) of the Greek version of the GRS-P. In both studies, teachers estimated their students' giftedness with the GRS-P and executive functions with the Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (Study 1). In Study 2, kindergarteners were examined in cognitive measurements which included the colored progressive matrices, the children category test, the Athena test, and the mini-mental state examination. Statistical analyses (EFA, CFA, Cronbach's α, and Pearson's r coefficients) revealed the excellent internal consistency of the scales as well as their good factorial and convergent/discriminant validity. In relation to the children's cognitive ability measures, it emphasized the fact that the GRS-P is a reliable and valid tool for teachers to assess their gifted students in a Greek cultural context.

Development and initial validation of a scale for the situational recognition of the basic psychological needs.

Centered on the Basic Psychological Needs Theory, recent theoretical underpinnings were used and initial empirical processes were initiated to conceptualize, develop and validate a new questionnaire about how teachers shape instructional goals. In a first exploratory study, 188 university graduates and 211 in-service teachers from both the general and special education domains were recruited to recognize the basic psychological needs of an adolescent with physical and mild cognitive disability presented in a short video vignette. In the second confirmatory study, the sample consisted of 239 in-service teachers. According to the results, the new instrument demonstrated acceptable psychometric qualities. For instance, the goodness-of-fit indices CFI and NNFI were both good (1.00) in the confirmatory factor analysis. In both studies, the recognition of the basic psychological needs was involved in a series of statistically significant correlations with participants' intrinsic life goals (R ≥ .34), state empathy (R ≥ .38) and intrinsic instructional goals (R ≥ .51). This preliminary research suggested that participants integrated the new concept in their intrinsic motivational style. Overall, the results highlight the importance of recognizing the basic psychological needs by including this construct both in research and practice.

Relationships between gross- and fine motor functions, cognitive abilities, and self-regulatory aspects of students with physical disabilities.

This article reports research on self-regulatory aspects (i.e., goal-setting, self-efficacy and self-evaluation) of secondary and post-secondary students with congenital motor disabilities, who performed a ball-throwing-at-a-target task. Participants were divided into four subgroups presenting distinct combinations of motor and cognitive abilities (i.e., normal cognitive development and mild physical disabilities, normal cognitive development and severe physical disabilities, mild-to-moderate intellectual disability and mild physical disabilities, and mild-to-moderate intellectual disability and severe physical disabilities). Results showed that students presenting mild motor disabilities exhibited a positive self-concept and self-regulation profile, irrespective of their cognitive functioning. Students with considerable motor disabilities, but without cognitive challenges, presented a negative, though realistic self-concept and self-regulation profile. Finally, students with considerable motor disabilities and mild-to-moderate cognitive disabilities showed a positive, though unrealistic, self-regulation profile. The nature of the diverse relationship of motor and cognitive (dis)abilities to specific self-regulatory aspects are discussed, and important instructional implications are mentioned.

Profiles of self-concept, goal orientation, and self-regulation in students with physical, intellectual, and multiple disabilities: Implications for instructional support.

The present study explored physical self-concept, goal orientation in sport, and self-regulation in regard to a motor task, in 75 secondary students with physical, intellectual, and multiple disabilities, who were educated in the same special education units. It was found that students with intellectual disabilities generally presented a positive profile in all three psychosocial constructs, whereas students with physical disabilities presented low scores in most measures. Students with multiple disabilities did not differ essentially from students with intellectual disability in regard to physical self-concept and goal orientation; however, they compared unfavorably to them regarding self-regulation. The delineation of a distinct and defendable profile of self-concept, goal orientation, and self-regulation for each disability group allows the formulation of proposals for the implementation of appropriate instructional programs for students belonging to the above mentioned categories.