Quantifying fear of failure in STEM: modifying and evaluating the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI) for use with STEM undergraduates
Quantifying fear of failure in STEM: modifying and evaluating the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI) for use with STEM undergraduates
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DOI：
10.1186/s40594-021-00300-4
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发表时间：
2021-07-06
影响因子：
6.7
通讯作者：
Corwin, Lisa A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Henry, Meredith A.;Shorter, Shayla;Corwin, Lisa A.
在失败后克服障碍和接受迭代的能力是科学性格的标志，并被假设为增加学生对科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的坚持。然而，这种能力往往没有明确探索或解决的STEM教师。最近的集体兴趣汇集了STEM教师，心理学家和教育研究人员通过国家科学基金会（NSF）研究合作影响学习，态度和教育网络（FLAMEnet）的思维方式的因素，以调查个人因素（例如，个体差异，影响，动机），可能会影响学生的STEM坚持。其中一个因素是害怕失败（FF），当学生认为他们可能无法满足成就背景的需要时，会发生情感和认知的复杂相互作用。一个有效的衡量评估FF，绩效失败评估量表（PFAI）存在于心理学文献。然而，这一措施在社区，体育和普通本科生样本中得到了验证，这些样本可能无法准确反映本科STEM学生的动机，经验和多样性。鉴于FF在STEM学生的坚持和动机中的潜在作用，我们认为确定这项措施是否准确评估了STEM本科生的FF非常重要，如果不是，我们如何改进或调整它以达到这一目的。结果使用探索性和验证性因素分析和认知访谈，我们以参加STEM课程（主要是生物学和化学入门课程）的本科生为样本重新验证了PFAI。结果表明，修改后的15项四因素结构更适合评估STEM学生的FF水平，特别是那些来自STEM代表性不足的群体的学生。结论除了提出一个替代的因素结构，我们的数据表明，使用原始形式的PFAI措施可能会显着歪曲水平的FF在STEM的背景下。本文详细介绍了我们的协作验证过程，并讨论了在STEM本科人群中选择，使用和解释心理评估工具的结果的影响。
Background The ability to navigate obstacles and embrace iteration following failure is a hallmark of a scientific disposition and is hypothesized to increase students' persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, this ability is often not explicitly explored or addressed by STEM instructors. Recent collective interest brought together STEM instructors, psychologists, and education researchers through the National Science Foundation (NSF) research collaborative Factors affecting Learning, Attitudes, and Mindsets in Education network (FLAMEnet) to investigate intrapersonal elements (e.g., individual differences, affect, motivation) that may influence students' STEM persistence. One such element is fear of failure (FF), a complex interplay of emotion and cognition occurring when a student believes they may not be able to meet the needs of an achievement context. A validated measure for assessing FF, the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI) exists in the psychological literature. However, this measure was validated in community, athletic, and general undergraduate samples, which may not accurately reflect the motivations, experiences, and diversity of undergraduate STEM students. Given the potential role of FF in STEM student persistence and motivation, we felt it important to determine if this measure accurately assessed FF for STEM undergraduates, and if not, how we could improve upon or adapt it for this purpose. Results Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and cognitive interviews, we re-validated the PFAI with a sample of undergraduates enrolled in STEM courses, primarily introductory biology and chemistry. Results indicate that a modified 15-item four-factor structure is more appropriate for assessing levels of FF in STEM students, particularly among those from groups underrepresented in STEM. Conclusions In addition to presenting an alternate factor structure, our data suggest that using the original form of the PFAI measure may significantly misrepresent levels of FF in the STEM context. This paper details our collaborative validation process and discusses implications of the results for choosing, using, and interpreting psychological assessment tools within STEM undergraduate populations.