Abstract
Reflecting on academic errors is a critical skill for engaging with feedback for learning. However, teachers lack training in knowing how to create environments that promote reflection and help students to acquire this skill (Metcalfe, Annual Review of Psychology, 68, 465-489). Part of the problem is that many teacher education programs in North America and Europe do not require preservice teachers to explicitly reflect on their own academic errors. In fact, specific tools for probing, measuring and discussing preservice teachers’ attitudes toward their academic errors are missing. In the absence of empirical evidence of preservice teachers’ attitudes about errors, the effects of these attitudes on later practice remains unknown. The objective of the present study was to develop an inventory to measure preservice teachers’ attitudes towards mistakes in learning environments. In two separate studies, the Attitudes Towards Mistakes Inventory–Learning Environments (ATMI-LE or ATMI for short) was developed and refined. The first exploratory factor analytic study involved 225 preservice teachers and was designed to develop the ATMI. The second confirmatory factor analytic study involved an independent sample of 207 preservice teachers and was designed to replicate findings from study 1 and refine the inventory. The second study incorporated other survey/scale measures to evaluate the criterion validity of the ATMI in relation to fear of failure, performance orientations, trust in instructor and persistence. Results indicated three distinct dimensions of the ATMI—beliefs, emotions and actions – underlying preservice teachers’ attitudes towards mistakes. Moreover, each dimension was internally consistent and shared expected correlations with related constructs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education (AERA, APA, NCME). (2014). Standards for educational and psychological testing. . Author.
Ajzen, I. (2012). Values, attitudes and behavior. In S. Salzborn, E. Davidov, & J. Reinecke (Eds.), Methods, theories, and empirical applications in the social sciences. (pp. 33–38). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 261–271.
Anderson, A., Hamilton, R. J., & Hattie, J. (2004). Classroom climate and motivated behaviour in secondary schools. Learning Environments Research, 7, 211–225.
Bentler, P. M., & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analyses of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 588–606. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.88.3.588.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Accountability, 21, 5–31.
Boateng, G. O., Neilands, T. B., Frongillo, E. A., Melgar-Quiñonez, H. R., & Young, S. L. (2018). Best practices for developing and validating scales for health, social, and behavioral Research: A primer. Frontiers in Public Health, 6, 1–18.
Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models. (pp. 136–162). Sage.
Butler, R., & Shibaz, L. (2008). Achievement goals for teaching as predictors of students’ perceptions of instructional practices and students’ help seeking and cheating. Learning and Instruction, 18(5), 453–467.
Cobb, P., Stephan, M., McClain, K., & Gravemeijer, K. (2001). Participating in class- room mathematical practices. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 10, 113–163.
Conroy, D. E., Willow, J. P., & Metzler, J. N. (2002). Multidimensional fear of failure measurement: The Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14, 76–90.
Daniels, L. M., Frenzel, A., Stupnisky, R. H., Stewart, T. L., & Perry, R. P. (2013). Personal goals as predictors of intended classroom goals: Comparing elementary and secondary school preservice teachers. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 396–413.
De Vellis, R. F. (2003). Scale development: Theory and applications. (2nd ed., Vol. 26). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Dresel, M., Fasching, M. S., Steuer, G., Nitsche, S., & Dickhäuser, O. (2013). Relations between teachers’ goal orientations, their instructional practices and students’ motivation. Psychology, 4(7), 572–584.
Dweck, C. S. (2002). Messages that motivate: How praise molds students’ beliefs, motivation, and performance (In surprising ways). In J. Aronson (Ed.), Improving academic achievement. New York: Academic Press.
Forsyth, P. B., Adams, C. M., & Hoy, W. K. (2011). Collective trust: Why schools can’t improve without it. . Teachers College Press.
Fraser, B. J. (2012). Classroom learning environments: Retrospect, context and prospect. In B. Fraser, K. Tobin, & C. McRobbie (Eds.), Second international handbook of science education. (pp. 1191–1239). Springer.
George, D., & Mallery, P. (2003). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference. 11.0 update. (4th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.
Elliot, A. J., & Dweck, C. S. (Eds.). (2005). Handbook of competence and motivation. . Guilford.
Hitlin, S., & Pinkston, K. (2013). Values attitudes and ideologies Explicit and implicit constructs shaping perception and action. In J. DeLamater & A. Ward (Eds.), Handbooks of sociology and social research Handbook of social psychology. (pp. 319–339). Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media.
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1998). Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3, 424–453.
Leighton, J. P. (2019). Students’ interpretation of formative feedback: Three claims for why we know so little about something so important. Journal of Educational Measurement (Special Issue on Classroom Assessment), 56(4), 793–814.
Matteucci, M. C., Corazza, C., & Santagata, R. (2015). Learning from errors or not An analysis of teachers beliefs about errors and error-handling strategies through questionnaire and video. In R. V. Nata (Ed.), Progress in education. (pp. 33–54). Nova Science: Italy.
McMillan, J. H. (2018). Using students’ assessment mistakes and learning deficits to enhance motivation and learning. . Routledge.
Meece, J. L., Anderman, E. M., & Anderman, L. H. (2006). Classroom goal structure, student motivation, and academic achievement. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 487–503.
Metcalfe, J. (2017). Learning from errors. Annual Review of Psychology, 68, 465–489.
Midgley, C., Maehr, M. L., Hruda, L. Z., Anderman, E., Anderman, L., Freeman, K. E., Gheen, M., Kaplan, A., Kumar, R., Middleton, M. J., Nelson, J., Roeser, R., & Urdan, T. (2000). Manual for the patterns of adaptive learning scales (PALS). . University of Michigan.
Miller, R. B., Greene, B. A., Montalvo, G. P., Ravindran, B., & Nichols, J. D. (1996). Engagement in academic work: The role of learning goals, future consequences, pleasing others, and perceived ability. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 21(4), 388–422. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1996.0028.
Muthén, B., & Asparouhov, T. (2002). Using Mplus Monte Carlo simulations in practice: A note on non-normal missing data in latent variable models. Retrieved as a PDF file on March 15, 2015 from https://www.statmodel.com/download/webnotes/mc2.pdf.
Muthén, L. K. & Muthén, B. O. (1998-2015). Mplus user’s guide. (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory. (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Ohlsson, S. (1996). Learning from performance errors. Psychological Review, 103, 241–262.
Patrick, H., Anderman, L., Bruening, P. S., & Duffin, L. (2011). The role of educational psychology in teacher education: Three challenges for educational psychologists. Educational Psychologist, 46, 71–83.
R Core Team (2016). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R: Foundation for statistical computing, Vienna, Austria. URL http://www.R-project.org.
Ryan, J., Pollock, K., & Antonelli, F. (2009). Teacher diversity in Canada: Leaky pipelines, bottlenecks, and glass ceilings. Canadian Journal of Education, 32(3), 591–617.
Rybowiak, V., Garst, H., Frese, M., & Batinic, B. (1999). Error Orientation Questionnaire (EOQ): Reliability, validity, and different language equivalence. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20, 527–547.
Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18, 119–144.
Shim, S. S., Cho, Y. J., & Cassady, J. (2013). Goal structure: The role of teachers’ achievement goals and theories of intelligence. The Journal of Experimental Education, 81, 84–104.
Spychiger, M., Kuster, R., & Oser, F. (2006). Dimensionen von Fehlerkultur in der Schule und deren Messung [Dimensions of error culture at school and their measuring]. Revue Suisse des Sciences de l’Education, 28, 87–110.
Steuer, G., & Dresel, M. (2015). A constructive error climate as an element of effective learning environments. Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling, 57(2), 262–275.
Steuer, G., Rosentritt-Brunn, G., & Dresel, M. (2013). Dealing with errors in mathematics classrooms: Structure and relevance of perceived error climate. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38(3), 196–210.
Statistics Canada. (2011). National Household Survey. Table 2: The 20 most common occupations among women aged 15 years and over and the share of women in the total workforce. Retrieved June 15, 2020 fromhttps://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/dai/smr08/2014/smr08_190_2014
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics. (5th ed.). Allyn and Bacon.
Tulis, M. (2013). Error management behavior in classrooms: Teachers’ responses to student mistakes. Teaching and Teacher Education, 33, 56–68.
Tulis, M., Steuer, G., & Dresel, M. (2016). Learning from errors: A model of individual processes. Frontline Learning Research, 4(2), 12–26.
Turner, J. C., Midgley, C., Meyer, D. K., Gheen, M., Anderman, E. M., Kang, Y., & Patrick, H. (2002). The classroom environment and students’ reports of avoidance strategies in mathematics: a multi-method study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 88–106.
Valero, A. L., Fernandez, E. E., Iseni, A., & Clarkson, C. P. (2008). Teachers’ attitudes towards correcting students’ written errors and mistakes. Porta Lingua, 10, 21–30.
Van Dyck, C., Frese, M., Baer, M., & Sonnentag, S. (2005). Organizational error management culture and its impact on performance: A two-study replication. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1128–1240.
Van Lehn, K., Siler, S., Murray, C., Yamauchi, T., & Baggett, W. (2003). Why do only some events cause learning during human tutoring? Cognition & Instruction, 21, 209–249.
Wuttke, E., & Seifried, J. (2017). Competence, teacher competence, and professional error competence: An introduction. In E. Wuttke & J. Seifried (Eds.), Professional error competence of preservice teachers: Evaluation and support. (pp. 1–14). Springer International Publishing.
Zander, L., Kreutzmann, D. P. M., & Wolter, I. (2014). Constructive handling of mistakes in the classroom: The conjoint power of collaborative networks and self-efficacy beliefs. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 17(5), 205–223.
Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, O., Kuhn, C., Brückner, S., & Leighton, J. P. (2019). Evaluating a technology-based assessment (TBA) to measure teachers’ action-related and reflective skills. International Journal of Testing, 19(2), 148–171.
Acknowledgement
Preparation of this paper was supported by a grant to the first author from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC Grant No. 435-2016-0114). Grantees undertaking such projects are encouraged to express freely their professional judgment. This paper, therefore, does not necessarily represent the positions or the policies of the Canadian government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. Correspondence pertaining to this article should be directed to Jacqueline P. Leighton, Professor, by airmail at 6-119D Education North; Centre for Research in Applied Measurement and Evaluation (CRAME); Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA T6G 2G5 or email at jacqueline.leighton@ualberta.ca.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Leighton, J.P., Guo, Q. & Tang, W. Measuring preservice teachers’ attitudes towards mistakes in learning environments. Learning Environ Res 25, 287–304 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-021-09362-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-021-09362-1