Abstracts - Earli

Students’ conceptions of assessment: Studies of New Zealand secondary students within theconceptions of assessment and feedback project.Gavin T. L. Brown, University of Auckland, New ZealandS. Earl Irving, University of Auckland, New ZealandElizabeth R. Peterson, University of Auckland, New ZealandGerrit H. F. Hirschfeld, University of Münster, GermanyThis paper presents findings from three surveys (two small-scale, one nationally representative) ofsecondary students in New Zealand concerning the structure of their conceptions of the purposesof assessment. Data were analysed with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis andacceptable fitting measurement and structural models to the data were derived. Preliminaryanalysis of the small-scale surveys has found up to eight different conceptions of assessment anddiscovered that self-regulation and formative assessment frameworks identify the conceptions thatwere most strongly related to student achievement outcomes. Students who used assessment totake responsibility for their learning achieve more than those who ignored assessment, blamedschools, or treated assessment as fun. Students associated self, peer, and interactive assessmentsmostly with fun and this may explain why formative assessment practices are not alwayssuccessful. The paper will also report the as-yet-unanalysed results from the national profile ofstudents’ conceptions of assessment.Dimensions of teacher self-efficacy and relations with strain factors, perceived collective teacherefficacy, and teacher burnoutSidsel Skaalvik, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NorwayEinar M. Skaalvik, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NorwayIn this study we developed and factor analyzed a Norwegian Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale. We alsoexamined relations between teacher self-efficacy, perceived collective teacher efficacy, strainfactors, and teacher burnout. Participants were 244 elementary and middle school Norwegianteachers. The analysis supported the conceptualization of teacher self-efficacy as amultidimensional construct. We found strong support for six separate, but correlated dimensions,namely teacher self-efficacy related to instruction, adapting education to individual students’needs, motivating students, keeping discipline, cooperating with colleagues and parents, andcoping with changes and challenges. We also found support for a strong second order teacher selfefficacyfactor underlying the six dimensions. Teacher self-efficacy was conceptuallydistinguished from perceived collective teacher efficacy and external control (teachers’ generalbeliefs about limitations to what can be achieved through education) which is often referred to asteaching efficacy. Strain factors were negatively related to collective teacher efficacy andpositively related to teacher burnout. Collective teacher efficacy was strongly related to individualteacher self-efficacy. Collective teacher efficacy was also indirectly related to teacher burnout.This relation was mediated through individual teacher self-efficacy, which was strongly related toburnout. External control (or teaching efficacy) was not significantly related to burnout.Mathematics teachers’ beliefs and their impact on instructional quality and student achievementThamar Dubberke, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, GermanyMareike Kunter, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, GermanyNele Julius-McElvany, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, GermanyTeachers’ beliefs about the nature of knowledge and the nature of learning and teaching areassumed to play a significant role in shaping their instructional behaviour. Empirical studies have– 702 –