Simon Cassidy
University of Salford, Psychology, Faculty Member
- Dr Simon Cassidy is senior academic, researcher and postgraduate studies programme lead with research expertise and i... moreDr Simon Cassidy is senior academic, researcher and postgraduate studies programme lead with research expertise and international publications in the areas of psychological resilience, self-regulation and self-efficacy, cognitive styles and psychometrics.edit
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The aim of this research was to develop a scale that could evaluate an individual’s confidence in using the Internet. Web-based resources are becoming increasingly important within higher education and it is therefore vital that students... more
The aim of this research was to develop a scale that could evaluate an individual’s confidence in using the Internet. Web-based resources are becoming increasingly important within higher education and it is therefore vital that students and staff feel confident and competent in the access, provision, and utilisation of these resources. The scale developed here represents an extension of previous research (Cassidy and Eachus, 2002) which developed a measure of self-efficacy in the context of computer use. An iterative approach was used in the development of the WUSE and the participants were recruited via a web site set up for this purpose. Initial findings suggest that the scale has acceptable standards of reliability and validity though work is continuing to improve the psychometric properties of the scale.
Researchers in organizational psychology report that team environments perceived as psychologically safe and meaningful (positive psychological climate [PC]) are associated with greater levels of job satisfaction (e.g., Brown & Leigh,... more
Researchers in organizational psychology report that team environments perceived as psychologically safe and meaningful (positive psychological climate [PC]) are associated with greater levels of job satisfaction (e.g., Brown & Leigh, 1996). While PC has been examined in the sport setting with respect to player effort, its relationship to player satisfaction has yet to be examined. Our purpose was to study the relationship between PC and satisfaction in sport, while examining sex and competitive level as possible moderators. Athletes (N = 343) from 24 intact sport teams completed a sport-adapted PC measure (Spink et al., 2013) and satisfaction with how teammates contribute to the individual as a person (i.e., social contribution; Riemer & Chelladurai, 1998) near the end of a competitive season. Given the nested nature of the data (ICC = .10), HLM was used to predict satisfaction from 4 dimensions of PC (i.e., supportive management, role clarity, self-expression, and contribution). The overall model was significant, ?2 = 55.05, p < .001, with role clarity (s = .22) and self-expression (s = .46) emerging as significant predictors (ps < .01) of satisfaction with social contribution. Neither sex nor competitive level emerged as significant moderators of the PC/satisfaction relationship. While in need of replication, these results provide a preliminary suggestion that athletes with a clear indication of role responsibilities and the ability to express individuality within the group also report greater social satisfaction. Further, it appears that the relationship is robust across males and females and more versus less competitive sport levels.
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The thesis comprises a collection of ten published works in the field of individual differences and student learning in a, mainly, higher education context involving undergraduate student participants. The works revolve primarily around... more
The thesis comprises a collection of ten published works in the field of individual differences and student learning in a, mainly, higher education context involving undergraduate student participants. The works revolve primarily around three principal conceptual areas, identified within the field on the grounds of being recognized mediators of learning and achievement - namely, learning style, academic control beliefs and student self-evaluation. Students' perceptions of themselves as learners, and their use of various processes to regulate their learning, have been identified as critical factors in the analyses of academic development and achievement. On the basis of this, the thesis presents a programme of work concerned with establishing a clearer understanding of the conceptualisation, measurement and pedagogical utility of learning style, academic control beliefs, student peer assessment and student self-assessment. It is argued that each of these constructs plays a major ...
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Research Interests: Psychology and Cognition
Higher Education is increasingly relying on e-leaming as a means of providing students with teaching and learning resources. Almost inevitably, this means that students interact with these learning resources through the medium of the... more
Higher Education is increasingly relying on e-leaming as a means of providing students with teaching and learning resources. Almost inevitably, this means that students interact with these learning resources through the medium of the computer screen. Although there have been significant advances in the design and implementation of on-line resources, exactly how students interact with these resources is a relatively new field of research. In this study, students were asked to interact with three types of virtual learning environment, i.e. BlackBoard, IngentaConnect and Wikipedia, while their eye movements were scanned and recorded using a Tobii 1750 eye tracking system. The data gathered was analysed dynamically, statistically, and graphically in order to identify search patterns and “hot spots” within the online information source. The data was also correlated with a measure of Internet self-efficacy, the Web User Self-Efficacy scale (WUSE). Preliminary findings suggest that qualita...
Research Interests: Computer Science, Teaching and Learning, Eye tracking, Higher Education, Learning resource, and 14 moreThe Internet, Proceedings, Web Based Learning, Self Efficacy, Visual Search, Virtual Learning, Information Sources, Hot Spot, Qualitative Data, Internet Self-Efficacy, Eye Movement, Design and Implementation, E Learning, and Data Gathering
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The chapter presents a critical account of approaches, including historical, contemporary and potential approaches, to the measurement and assessment of intellectual styles. Its ultimate aim is to support ‘good’ research and practice in... more
The chapter presents a critical account of approaches, including historical, contemporary and potential approaches, to the measurement and assessment of intellectual styles. Its ultimate aim is to support ‘good’ research and practice in the field of intellectual styles by providing insights into the limitations of measurement and measures of style and emphasising contexts for measurement of style. A notional conceptual geography reflecting the relative position of the variant style constructs is proposed and then used to inform a review of style measurement, considering issues of theoretical and conceptual foundations, psychometric rigour, utilisation and continued relevance in applied settings. The chapter culminates in a summary of rudiments necessary for the future development of intellectual styles research and practice along a more cohesive, consensual, aligned, transparent, accessible and methodologically robust path, than has previously been the case.
Objectives: The study sought to inform resilience building in students by exploring potential determinants of resilience behaviours. Thus, the nature of any associations between academic self-efficacy beliefs and students’ response to... more
Objectives: The study sought to inform resilience building in students by exploring potential determinants of resilience behaviours. Thus, the nature of any associations between academic self-efficacy beliefs and students’ response to academic adversity was investigated. Design: Self-efficacy is a psychological construct concerned with an individual’s perception of their capabilities that has a clear self-evaluative dimension leading to high or low (or positive-negative) perceived self-efficacy. Individual differences in perceived self-efficacy have often been shown to be better predictors of performance than either previous achievement or ability (Cassidy, 2012) and seem particularly important when individuals face adversity (Bandura, 1997). Methods: Participants were exposed to an ’adverse situation’ case vignette describing a hypothetical situation in which they face either personal academic adversity or academic adversity experienced by another (i.e. vicarious) student. Pre expo...
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Student radiographers must possess certain abilities to progress in their training; these can be assessed in various ways. Bandura's social cognitive theory identifies self-efficacy as a key psychological construct with regard to how... more
Student radiographers must possess certain abilities to progress in their training; these can be assessed in various ways. Bandura's social cognitive theory identifies self-efficacy as a key psychological construct with regard to how people adapt to environments where new skills are developed. Use of this construct is common in health care literature but little has been noted within radiographic literature. The authors sought to develop a self-efficacy scale for student radiographers. The scale was developed following a standard format. An initial pool of 80 items was generated and psychometric analysis was used to reduce this to 68 items. Radiography students drawn from 7 universities were participants (N=198) in validating the scale. The psychometric properties of the scale were examined using analysis of variance (ANOVA), factor analysis and item analysis. ANOVA demonstrated an acceptable level of known group validity: first-year, second-year, and third-year students all scor...
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Research Interests: Ultrasound and Medicine
Abstract This paper presents a critical review of eye tracking as a research approach and evaluates its potential for usability testing in pre-school children. We argue that eye-tracking data is useful for assessing web engagement in this... more
Abstract This paper presents a critical review of eye tracking as a research approach and evaluates its potential for usability testing in pre-school children. We argue that eye-tracking data is useful for assessing web engagement in this age-group, but only if triangulated against other ...
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The Health Student Academic Locus of Contro] Scale is a 20-item context-specific scale, developed to measure Internal and External control beliefs of students in courses allied to medicine. Psychometric properties are acceptable ( N =... more
The Health Student Academic Locus of Contro] Scale is a 20-item context-specific scale, developed to measure Internal and External control beliefs of students in courses allied to medicine. Psychometric properties are acceptable ( N = 164) so the scale can be used to measure control beliefs in a longitudinal study.
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The article describes the development and validation of the 30-item Computer User Self-efficacy (CUSE) Scale. Self-efficacy beliefs have been identified as a factor which may contribute to the success with which a task is completed.... more
The article describes the development and validation of the 30-item Computer User Self-efficacy (CUSE) Scale. Self-efficacy beliefs have been identified as a factor which may contribute to the success with which a task is completed. Because of the increasing reliance on computer technologies in all aspects of life, it is important that the construct is measured accurately and appropriately. In particular, the article focuses on the measurement of computer self-efficacy in student computer users and its relevance to learning in higher education. The scale was found to have high levels of internal and external reliability and construct validity. Results also showed there to be significant positive correlations between CSE and computer experience, familiarity with computer software packages (which were significant predictors of CSE) and that owning a computer and computer training increased CSE. In addition, males showed significantly higher CSE than females. It is suggested that the s...
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... about silly things and make jokes. I can't live without my mobile phone (Mobile PhoneGuide, 2002). In general, it is not uncommon ... Mobile Phone Guide (2002), The addiction of SMS, available at: www.mobile-phone-guide.co.uk,... more
... about silly things and make jokes. I can't live without my mobile phone (Mobile PhoneGuide, 2002). In general, it is not uncommon ... Mobile Phone Guide (2002), The addiction of SMS, available at: www.mobile-phone-guide.co.uk, . ...
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Personality, Educational Psychology, Cognition, and 15 moreHealth Care, Learning Styles, Cognitive Styles, Cognitive Style, Learning Style, Learning, Strategy, Self Efficacy, Learning theories, Models, Locus of Control, Belief, Evaluation methods, Academic achievement, and Attitude
Both learning style and academic belief systems have been identified as significant factors contributing to academic achievement. This paper evaluates the efficacy of teaching and learning in higher education by investigating the... more
Both learning style and academic belief systems have been identified as significant factors contributing to academic achievement. This paper evaluates the efficacy of teaching and learning in higher education by investigating the relationship between students ...
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Higher Education, Personality, Educational Psychology, and 15 moreEducational Research, Cognition, Cognitive Style, Learning Style, Learning, Self Efficacy, Approaches to Learning, Academic Performance, Deep Learning, Locus of Control, Belief, Academic achievement, Research Method, Second Year, and Level
PurposeIn the light of the growing emphasis on independent learning and non‐technical skills in education and employment, the study aims to examine the relevance of learning style to student self‐assessment... more
PurposeIn the light of the growing emphasis on independent learning and non‐technical skills in education and employment, the study aims to examine the relevance of learning style to student self‐assessment skill.Design/methodology/approachA sample of first‐year undergraduate students was asked to provide self‐assessed marks for their coursework and to complete measures of learning style. Tutors' marks for student coursework were also gathered.FindingsResults revealed a positive correlation between a deep approach to learning and self‐assessment skill, demonstrating the relevance of learning style to self‐assessment skill. A negative correlation between student‐estimated mark and a surface approach suggested that students are sensitive to the demand characteristics of assessments and are aware of how these correspond to their preferred learning style. Both strategic and deep approaches to learning correlated positively with tutor mark, as is commonly reported.Originality/valueIt...
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ISBN: 1905732074 Copyright for all the contributions in this publication remains with the authors Published by the University of Salford http://www.edu.salford.ac.uk/her/ ... Further Development of the Web User Self-Efficacy Scale (WUSE)... more
ISBN: 1905732074 Copyright for all the contributions in this publication remains with the authors Published by the University of Salford http://www.edu.salford.ac.uk/her/ ... Further Development of the Web User Self-Efficacy Scale (WUSE) ... Peter Eachus, p.eachus@salford.ac.uk ...
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My first comment on the conference is one of congratulation. There is tangible evidence of development from last year when I was doing a similar review. The quality of papers and presentations has improved-I did not experience a poor one.... more
My first comment on the conference is one of congratulation. There is tangible evidence of development from last year when I was doing a similar review. The quality of papers and presentations has improved-I did not experience a poor one. There is a calmer, mature confidence manifest among the participants engaged in research and professional reflection. That bodes well for future development.
Resilience is a psychological construct observed in some individuals that accounts for success despite adversity. Resilience reflects the ability to bounce back, to beat the odds and is considered an asset in human characteristic terms.... more
Resilience is a psychological construct observed in some individuals that accounts for success despite adversity. Resilience reflects the ability to bounce back, to beat the odds and is considered an asset in human characteristic terms. Academic resilience contextualizes the resilience construct and reflects an increased likelihood of educational success despite adversity. The paper provides an account of the development of a new multidimensional construct measure of academic resilience. The 30 item Academic Resilience Scale (ARS-30) explores process-as opposed to outcome-aspects of resilience, providing a measure of academic resilience based on students' specific adaptive cognitive-affective and behavioral responses to academic adversity. Findings from the study involving a sample of undergraduate students (N = 532) demonstrate that the ARS-30 has good internal reliability and construct validity. It is suggested that a measure such as the ARS-30, which is based on adaptive resp...
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The study sought to establish the level of students&#x27; self‐assessment skill—particularly inexperienced students—and to examine the relationship between self‐assessment skill and learning style, student perceptions of academic... more
The study sought to establish the level of students&#x27; self‐assessment skill—particularly inexperienced students—and to examine the relationship between self‐assessment skill and learning style, student perceptions of academic locus of control and academic self‐efficacy. Students were asked to evaluate and provide estimated marks for their own work, were which compared with tutors&#x27; actual marks. Students also completed measures of learning style, academic locus control and academic self‐efficacy. Comparisons of student estimated and tutor marks indicated a good level of self‐assessment skill in the majority of students. A significant minority of students did however fail to exhibit such skills. There was also some evidence of a tendency for students to underestimate their performance. While both strategic and deep approaches to learning were shown to be positively correlated with tutor mark, only surface approach was negatively correlated with students&#x27; estimated mark, suggesting that surface learners are inclined to provide lower evaluations of their own performance. Deep approach was also correlated with accuracy of student self‐assessment skill, suggesting that deep learning is associated with self‐assessment competency. No clear or convincing associations between self‐assessment skill and perceptions of academic locus of control or academic self‐efficacy were identified. Findings suggest that while self‐assessment skill undoubtedly develops, becoming more effective during students&#x27; academic career, inexperienced students do have the capacity for self‐evaluation and should therefore be included in self‐assessment activities. In the light of findings related to learning style and the heterogeneous nature of student groups, student monitoring and skill development are proposed in order to allow the integration of self‐assessment into the learning and assessment process.
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The study investigated the association and relative influence of cognitive/motivational and demographic factors on final degree grade point average (GPA) in a single undergraduate cohort. Although academic self-efficacy, approaches to... more
The study investigated the association and relative influence of cognitive/motivational and demographic factors on final degree grade point average (GPA) in a single undergraduate cohort. Although academic self-efficacy, approaches to learning, prior achievement and age all produced significant correlations with GPA, regression analysis identified prior achievement (Rchange = .288), age (Rchange = .201) and academic self-efficacy (Rchange = .062) as the only significant predictors of GPA.
Research Interests: Higher Education, Higher Education Studies, Individual Differences, Self Efficacy, Approaches to Learning, and 10 moreCorrelation, Locus of Control, Academic achievement, Regression Analysis, Education Systems, Comparative Analysis, Perceived Control, Individual Difference, Applied Statistics Regression Analysis, and Grade point average
The study investigated the association and relative influence of cognitive/motivational and demographic factors on final degree grade point average (GPA) in a single undergraduate cohort. Although academic self-efficacy, approaches to... more
The study investigated the association and relative influence of cognitive/motivational and demographic factors on final degree grade point average (GPA) in a single undergraduate cohort. Although academic self-efficacy, approaches to learning, prior achievement and age all produced significant correlations with GPA, regression analysis identified prior achievement (Rchange = .288), age (Rchange = .201) and academic self-efficacy (Rchange = .062) as the only significant predictors of GPA.
Research Interests: Higher Education, Higher Education Studies, Individual Differences, Self Efficacy, Approaches to Learning, and 10 moreCorrelation, Locus of Control, Academic achievement, Regression Analysis, Education Systems, Comparative Analysis, Perceived Control, Individual Difference, Applied Statistics Regression Analysis, and Grade point average
The concept of self‐regulated learning is becoming increasingly relevant in the study of learning and academic achievement, especially in higher education, where quite distinctive demands are placed on students. Though several key... more
The concept of self‐regulated learning is becoming increasingly relevant in the study of learning and academic achievement, especially in higher education, where quite distinctive demands are placed on students. Though several key theoretical perspectives have been advanced for self‐regulated learning, there is consensus regarding the central role played by student perceptions of themselves as learners. There are two general aims
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... fail fully to understand or utilise assessment criteria, do not know what a good or bad piece of work looks like, are focused towards the awarded mark or grade and, as such, fail to read, understand or adequately process... more
... fail fully to understand or utilise assessment criteria, do not know what a good or bad piece of work looks like, are focused towards the awarded mark or grade and, as such, fail to read, understand or adequately process tutors&amp;#x27; feedback or act upon it (Crème and Lea, 1997; Ding ...
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Skip to content. Taylor & Francis Online: Librarians; Authors & Editors; Societies. Register; Sign in; Mobile. Home; Browse; Products; Redeem a voucher; Shortlist; Shopping Cart Cart. The online platform for Taylor & Francis Group... more
Skip to content. Taylor & Francis Online: Librarians; Authors & Editors; Societies. Register; Sign in; Mobile. Home; Browse; Products; Redeem a voucher; Shortlist; Shopping Cart Cart. The online platform for Taylor & Francis Group content. Search. Advanced Search Within current journal Entire site. Home > List of Issues > Table of Contents > Reviewers of Articles in Volume 26, 2006, for Educational Psychology. Browse journal. View all volumes and issues. Current issue. Forthcoming articles. Most read articles. Most cited articles. Authors and submissions ...
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Higher Education, Personality, Educational Psychology, and 15 moreEducational Research, Cognition, Cognitive Style, Learning Style, Learning, Self Efficacy, Approaches to Learning, Academic Performance, Deep Learning, Locus of Control, Belief, Academic achievement, Research Method, Second Year, and Level
Although its origins have been traced back much further, research in the area of learning style has been active for—at a conservative estimate—around four decades. During that period the intensity of activity has varied, with recent years... more
Although its origins have been traced back much further, research in the area of learning style has been active for—at a conservative estimate—around four decades. During that period the intensity of activity has varied, with recent years seeing a particularly marked upturn in the number of researchers working in the area. Also of note is the variety of disciplines from which the research is emerging. Increasingly, research in the area of learning style is being conducted in domains outside psychology—the discipline from which many of the central concepts and theories originate. These domains include medical and health care training, management, industry, vocational training and a vast range of settings and levels in the field of education. It is of little wonder that applications of these concepts are so wide ranging given the centrality of learning—and how best to do it—to almost every aspect of life. As a consequence of the quantity of research, the diversity of the disciplines and domains in which the research is conducted, and the varied aims of the research, the topic has become fragmented and disparate. This is almost certainly how it must appear to practitioners and researchers new to the area, with its complexities and convolutions difficult to comprehend and assimilate. As such, it is perhaps timely to present an account of the central themes and issues surrounding learning style and to consider the instruments available for the measurement of style. This paper aims to provide such an account, attempting to clarify common areas of ambiguity and in particular issues surrounding measurement and appropriate instruments. It aims to bring together necessary components of the area in such a way as to allow for a broader appreciation of learning style and to inform regarding possible tools for measurement. It is anticipated that such an account will promote research in the field by presenting it as more accessible and by developing a greater appreciation for the area across disciplines and in researchers and practitioners new to the area.