PhyLab - a virtual reality laboratory for experiments in physics: a pilot study on intervention effectiveness and gender differences.

Introduction: New technologies have great potential to facilitate students' understanding and appreciation of one of the most abstract and challenging school subjects - physics. This study aimed to examine the effects of a game-based virtual reality teaching method on secondary school students' self-beliefs, interest, and performance in physics through a quasi-experimental design using pre- and post-test data. The evaluation is based on the systemic actiotope model that explains a person's goal-oriented actions by an interplay of their environment, action repertoire (i.e., students' performance and interest in physics), and subjective action space (i.e., students' self-efficacy, self-concept, and implicit theories regarding physics). Method: A game-based virtual reality App to be used with Google cardboards was developed containing 10 teaching units from the secondary school physics class curriculum. Participants in the control group were taught using traditional teaching methods, while students in the experimental group went through the VR with the teacher and conducted the prepared VR experiments in addition to the traditionally presented content. Three tests measured students' physics performance during the semester. In addition, students answered questionnaires assessing their interest, self-efficacy, self-concept, and entity implicit theories regarding physics before and after the intervention, resulting in a Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design. Results: There were no significant differences between the control and experimental group in test scores on the first and second tests but compared to the control group, the experimental group achieved higher scores on the third test. In addition, the results indicate differential effects of the game-based virtual reality teaching method on students' interest and self-efficacy regarding physics to the advantage of students identifying as male, but no effects on students' self-concept, and entity implicit theories regarding physics. Discussion: The results of our pilot study suggest that incorporating innovative didactic methods into secondary school physics classes could potentially contribute to higher performance in and motivation for physics during this crucial period of adolescence when students develop educational and career aspirations. However, game-based virtual reality teaching methods seem to favor students identifying as male, which should be considered in their development and presentation. Other practical implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

The role of the Big Two in socially responsible behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: Agency and communion in adolescents' personal norm and behavioral adherence to instituted measures.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus urged all members of the society to adopt COVID-responsible behavioral patterns and practice them in everyday life. Given the variability in its adoption, it is critical to understand psychological factors associated with socially responsible behavior during the pandemic. This might be even more important among adolescents, who are less endangered by the virus but contribute to its spread. In this article, we focus on adolescent boys' and girls' agency and communion orientations to explain the level of importance they attribute to the instituted measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus (personal norm), as well as their behavioral adherence to those measures. In total, 12,552 adolescents (67.6% girls, Mage = 15.06, SDage = 2.44, age range 10-21) answered inventory assessing adolescents' agentic and communal orientation (GRI-JUG) and items related to personal norm regarding the instituted measures and behavioral adherence to the measures. The results showed a small positive role of communion in both boys' and girls' personal norm and behavioral adherence, whereas agency played a very small negative role in boys' and girls' personal norm and boys' behavioral adherence to measures. Nevertheless, these findings could indicate the importance of enhancing communal traits and behaviors in both genders in order to assure socially responsible behavior during the pandemic.

Benefits of Psychological Androgyny in Adolescence: The Role of Gender Role Self-Concept in School-Related Well-Being.

It has been repeatedly shown that the extent to which individuals adopt stereotypically masculine and feminine traits in their self-concept impacts their health and well-being. This is especially important in adolescence, when developmental changes and social pressures to conform to stereotypical gender roles can affect psychological functioning. However, previous studies investigating relationship between gender role self-concept and well-being in adolescents focused mostly on general well-being rather than well-being in specific contexts. Given that school is one of the most important contexts for adolescents' development and well-being, the aim of this study was to investigate differences between adolescents with different gender role self-concepts (masculine, feminine, androgynous and undifferentiated) in school-related well-being. In line with the new conceptualization of well-being uniting hedonic (pleasure attainment and pain avoidance) and eudemonic (self-actualization and having meaningful purpose in one's life) approaches, the present study used a measure of school-related well-being encompassing five domains suggested in the EPOCH (Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism, Connectedness and Happiness) model as well as a superordinate well-being factor. A total of 999 Austrian adolescents (52.2% girls, M age = 13.79, SD age = 1.53) answered inventories assessing adolescents' gender role self-concept (GRI-JUG) and school-related well-being (EPOCH-G-S). The results supported the androgyny model of well-being, showing clear advantages of having both positive masculine and feminine qualities in one's self-concept for optimal levels of school-related well-being. In addition, our results indicated the strong importance of femininity in adolescence and the school context. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Distance learning in higher education during COVID-19: The role of basic psychological needs and intrinsic motivation for persistence and procrastination-a multi-country study.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher educational institutions worldwide switched to emergency distance learning in early 2020. The less structured environment of distance learning forced students to regulate their learning and motivation more independently. According to self-determination theory (SDT), satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and social relatedness affects intrinsic motivation, which in turn relates to more active or passive learning behavior. As the social context plays a major role for basic need satisfaction, distance learning may impair basic need satisfaction and thus intrinsic motivation and learning behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between basic need satisfaction and procrastination and persistence in the context of emergency distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in a cross-sectional study. We also investigated the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in this relationship. Furthermore, to test the universal importance of SDT for intrinsic motivation and learning behavior under these circumstances in different countries, we collected data in Europe, Asia and North America. A total of N = 15,462 participants from Albania, Austria, China, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, Malta, North Macedonia, Romania, Sweden, and the US answered questions regarding perceived competence, autonomy, social relatedness, intrinsic motivation, procrastination, persistence, and sociodemographic background. Our results support SDT's claim of universality regarding the relation between basic psychological need fulfilment, intrinsic motivation, procrastination, and persistence. However, whereas perceived competence had the highest direct effect on procrastination and persistence, social relatedness was mainly influential via intrinsic motivation.

Higher Education in Times of COVID-19: University Students' Basic Need Satisfaction, Self-Regulated Learning, and Well-Being.

In the wake of COVID-19, university students have experienced fundamental changes of their learning and their lives as a whole. The present research identifies psychological characteristics associated with students' well-being in this situation. We investigated relations of basic psychological need satisfaction (experienced competence, autonomy, and relatedness) with positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, considering self-regulated learning as a moderator. Self-reports were collected from 6,071 students in Austria (Study 1) and 1,653 students in Finland (Study 2). Structural equation modeling revealed competence as the strongest predictor for positive emotion. Intrinsic learning motivation was predicted by competence and autonomy in both countries and by relatedness in Finland. Moderation effects of self-regulated learning were inconsistent, but main effects on intrinsic learning motivation were identified. Surprisingly, relatedness exerted only a minor effect on positive emotion. The results inform strategies to promote students' well-being through distance learning, mitigating the negative effects of the situation.

Adolescent well-being and learning in times of COVID-19-A multi-country study of basic psychological need satisfaction, learning behavior, and the mediating roles of positive emotion and intrinsic motivation.

The sudden switch to distance education to contain the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered adolescents' lives around the globe. The present research aims to identify psychological characteristics that relate to adolescents' well-being in terms of positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, and key characteristics of their learning behavior in a situation of unplanned, involuntary distance education. Following Self-Determination Theory, experienced competence, autonomy, and relatedness were assumed to relate to active learning behavior (i.e., engagement and persistence), and negatively relate to passive learning behavior (i.e., procrastination), mediated via positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation. Data were collected via online questionnaires in altogether eight countries from Europe, Asia, and North America (N = 25,305) and comparable results across countries were expected. Experienced competence was consistently found to relate to positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, and, in turn, active learning behavior in terms of engagement and persistence. The study results further highlight the role of perceived relatedness for positive emotion. The high proportions of explained variance speak in favor of taking these central results into account when designing distance education in times of COVID-19.

Students' basic needs and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: A two-country study of basic psychological need satisfaction, intrinsic learning motivation, positive emotion and the moderating role of self-regulated learning.

COVID-19 and its containment measures have uniquely challenged adolescent well-being. Following self-determination theory (SDT), the present research seeks to identify characteristics that relate to well-being in terms of positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation under distance schooling conditions and whether SDT's core postulates hold true in this exceptional situation. Feeling competent and autonomous concerning schoolwork, and socially related to others were hypothesised to relate to positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation. The role of self-regulated learning (SRL) as a moderator was considered. Self-reports were collected from 19,967 secondary school students in Austria (Study 1) and Germany (Study 2). In both studies, structural equation modelling revealed that all basic needs were associated with positive emotion, and that competence and autonomy were associated with intrinsic learning motivation. Moderation effects of SRL were identified in Study 1 only: The association of autonomy and both outcomes and the association of competence and intrinsic learning motivation varied with the level of SRL. The results highlight the relevance of basic psychological need satisfaction and SRL in a situation in which adolescents are confronted with a sudden loss of daily routines.

Gender Differences in Digital Learning During COVID-19: Competence Beliefs, Intrinsic Value, Learning Engagement, and Perceived Teacher Support.

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly necessitated digital learning, which bore challenges for all pupils but especially for groups disadvantaged in a virtual classroom. As some studies indicate persistent differences between boys and girls in use of technologies and related skills, the aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in the digital learning environment students faced in spring 2020. Previous studies investigating gender differences in digital learning largely used biological sex as the only indicator of gender. This study includes both biological sex and gender role self-concept in order to investigate the role of gender in different components of this stereotyped domain in a more differentiated way. A total of 19,190 Austrian secondary school students (61.9% girls, M age = 14.55, SDage = 2.49, age range 10-21) participated in an online study in April 2020 and answered questions regarding their competence beliefs, intrinsic value, engagement, and perceived teacher support in digital learning during the pandemic-induced school closures. Results showed higher perceived teacher support, intrinsic value, and learning engagement among girls than boys, while no significant sex differences were found in competence beliefs regarding digital learning. Furthermore, our results indicated clear benefits of an androgynous gender role self-concept for all studied components of digital learning. Implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed.

Learning during COVID-19: the role of self-regulated learning, motivation, and procrastination for perceived competence.

In March 2020 schools in Austria temporarily closed and switched to distance learning to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The resulting situation posed great challenges to teachers, guardians and students (Huber and Helm 2020). Research has shown that perceived competence (Deci and Ryan 2000) affects selfregulated learning (SRL), intrinsic motivation and procrastination, however few studies have considered these variables in context of distance learning among adolescents. This study investigated differences in students who perceived themselves as high vs. low in competence with respect to these constructs. In an online questionnaire, 2652 Austrian secondary school students answered closed questions regarding SRL, intrinsic motivation and procrastination as well as open-ended questions about challenges, successes and need for support in distance. Structural equation modeling was applied for the quantitative analysis which was complemented by thematic analysis for the qualitative questions (Braun and Clarke 2006). Results showed that students who experienced themselves as highly competent use SRL strategies (goal setting and planning, time management, metacognitive strategies) more often and are more intrinsically motivated than students with lower perceived competence. They also procrastinate less. Furthermore, qualitative analysis revealed that although all students face similar challenges (e.g., independent learning, time and task management, learning on the computer, lack of contact with teachers and peers), students who perceived themselves as highly competent seemed to cope better, and have less need for support. Implications for distance learning and future research are discussed. Supplementary Information: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11618-021-01002-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

When stereotype threat makes me more or less intelligent: The informative role of emotions in effort mobilization and task performance.

Studies have shown that affective states could be used as diagnostic information for the assessment of situational demands and that, as such, they can regulate resource mobilization. Accordingly, it was found that negative feelings cause overestimation of situational demands, which then leads to effort mobilization during performance on easy tasks but disengagement on difficult tasks. The present research investigated whether this emotion-motivation link could explain the usual differences in achievement on easy and difficult tasks under stereotype threat (ST). In Study 1, participants in ST, no-ST, and no-ST with fear induction conditions had to resolve a series of easy logical problems. As expected, ST and no-ST-fear groups reported higher effort investment and achieved better performance than the no-ST group. In the following two studies, the no-ST-fear condition was replaced by an ST condition in which the informative potential of threat-related feelings was prevented before the task performance. Although participants under ST reported similar elevation in anxiety, the expected increase in easy task performance (Study 2) and decrease in difficult task performance (Study 3) were observed only in the standard ST groups. Taken together, our findings suggest that threat-related feelings could govern motivational processes and account for the effect of ST.