A COMPENDIUM OF SCALES for use in the SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

one of eight achievement emotions measured by the achievement emotions questionnaire
(AEQ; Pekrun, Goetz, & Perry, 2005; Pekrun, Goetz, Titz, & Perry, 2002).
Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ)
Achievement emotions can arise in different academic settings. Boredom, therefore, is
measured with two scales in the AEQ; one specifies it as a learning-related emotion and the
other as a class-related emotion. Instructions differ by asking participants to rate on a Likert
scale from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree) how the items pertain to feelings
they may experience during studying (learning-related) or during class (class-related; each 11
items). Learning-related boredom scale items (α = .93) include “I find my mind wandering while
I study” and “Because I’m bored I have no desire to learn.” Class-related boredom scale items
(α = .92) include “I find this class fairly dull” and “I’m tempted to walk out of the lecture
because it is so boring.”
Pekrun, Goetz, Daniels, Stupnisky, and Perry (2010) classify boredom as a negative deactivating
achievement emotion because it diminishes motivation and can have negative effects on
performance. In particular, boredom measured with the AEQ is positively related to attention
problems and negatively related to intrinsic motivation to learn, study effort, academic
performance scores and other detrimental educational outcomes (Pekrun et al., 2010). Pekrun,
Hall, Goetz, and Perry (2014) found that, with a longitudinal study across the academic year, a
reciprocal cycle exists between course-related boredom and exam performance, such that
boredom negatively impacts subsequent exam performance and exam performance negatively
impacts subsequent boredom. Unlike a lack of interest or enjoyment—neutral states
characterized by an absence of approach motivation—boredom instigates an avoidance
motivation (Pekrun et al., 2010). A desire to escape the situation occurs, which might lead
students to disengage from their learning and course-work.
Academic Boredom Survey
The 10-item Academic Boredom Survey (ABS-10) is another scale created to assess boredom
(Acee, Kim, Kim, Kim, Hsiang-Ning, Kim, Cho, Wicker, & the Boredom Research Group, 2002).
The ABS-10 takes into account whether boredom originated from a task being too hard or too
easy by asking participants to recall a situation in which they were over-challenged or underchallenged.
Instructions specify to respond on a Likert scale from 1 (not at all) to 9 (extremely)
the extent to which an item is true for each situation. Sample items are “Want to do something
else” and “Find the activity dull.” Confirmatory factor analysis of the scale revealed a 2-factor
solution for instances of being over-challenged (i.e. self-focused factor and task-focused factor)
and a 1-factor solution for instances of being under-challenged. These three factors have
demonstrated excellent levels of reliability (i.e., α’s = .86, .80, & .90, respectively; Acee et al.,
2010). However, future research should aim to further validate the measure, due to drawbacks
in analyses and assumptions made in initial measure design. Additionally, the results of the
ABS-10 compared to the AEQ, while found to be significantly related to boredom, were also
related to a greater extent to other achievement emotions (i.e. anger, hopelessness) for selffocused
scale items. Overall, boredom research using the AEQ has been most productive in
93