Dr 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.
The aim of this research was to develop a scale that could evaluate an individual’s confidence in... 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 psychological... 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.
The thesis comprises a collection of ten published works in the field of individual differences a... 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 ...
Higher Education is increasingly relying on e-leaming as a means of providing students with teach... 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...
The aim of this research was to develop a scale that could evaluate an individual’s confidence in... 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 psychological... 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.
The thesis comprises a collection of ten published works in the field of individual differences a... 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 ...
Higher Education is increasingly relying on e-leaming as a means of providing students with teach... 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...
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