- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Avi Kaplan
Temple University, Educational Psychology, Faculty Member
- Avi Kaplan is a Professor of educational psychology at Temple University. His research focuses on motivation, self-regulation, and identity development in educational contexts.edit
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In a series of 4 studies we investigated the relations of mastery goal structure and 4 dimensions of the classroom social climate (teacher academic support, teacher emotional support, classroom mutual respect, task-related interaction).... more
In a series of 4 studies we investigated the relations of mastery goal structure and 4 dimensions of the classroom social climate (teacher academic support, teacher emotional support, classroom mutual respect, task-related interaction). We conducted multidimensional scaling with separate adolescent samples that differed considerably (i.e., by racial and demographic characteristics, grade level, and educational contexts). Studies 1, 2, and 3 (Ns 537, 537, and 736, respectively) showed that mastery goal structure items occupied a central space among the climate items and overlapped partially with the areas formed by the respect and academic and emotional support items. In Study 4 (N 789) we investigated the structural relations of mastery goal structure and the 4 social climate scales with another adolescent sample. Using confirmatory factor analysis we compared these 2 models: (a) all 5 measures at the same level and (b) mastery goal structure as a 2nd-order factor, with the 4 social climate measures as its indicators. The fit for both models was good, although the 1st-order model fit was better. Nevertheless, in the 2nd-order model mastery goal structure accounted for between 92% and 67% of the variance in the climate measures.
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This paper offers an assessment of the efforts to de-Arabize the Bedouin Arab youth of the Negev. We show that despite the extensive efforts to achieve this goal, they have become pronouncedly alienated from the State of Israel, and are... more
This paper offers an assessment of the efforts to de-Arabize the Bedouin Arab youth of the Negev. We show that despite the extensive efforts to achieve this goal, they have become pronouncedly alienated from the State of Israel, and are increasingly perceiving themselves as an integral part of Israel’s Palestinian Arab national minority. The findings of our research illustrate the futility of the policy to de-Arabize the Bedouin and to instill in them the unfounded belief that they are full and equal citizens of the State of Israel. We argue that the failure of the policy in this regard is inevitable primarily for the following reason: Israel’s national identity is constructed in a manner that leaves no room for Arab culture and heritage and this identity provided the legitimization for discriminatory policies against the Bedouin, as well as against other Arab groups. Thus, the shift toward Palestinian national and cultural identity found among Bedouin youth, can be partly explained as a result of their growing awareness of this political reality and their decreasing readiness to accept it. But then again, this shift is nothing but another manifestation, albeit a sobering one at that, of the challenge facing Zionist ideology since the pre-state era, more than 50 years ago. To put it succinctly, the challenge is this: if Israel aspires to be judged as a liberal democracy and to ensure its legitimacy and political stability, it must make significant changes in its basic governing principles. It must either incorporate the culture and collective aspirations of its Arab citizens within the national identity, and/or allow them some form of political autonomy.
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Students who are disengaged from learning and schooling are a primary concern of researchers, educators, parents, and the nation at large. Unfortunately, some students do not like school, do not feel like a valued member of the school... more
Students who are disengaged from learning and schooling are a primary concern of researchers, educators, parents, and the nation at large. Unfortunately, some students do not like school, do not feel like a valued member of the school community, are skeptical ...
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This article highlights an important mediating process in rhetoric: the situational reconstruction of collective self-boundaries of speaker and audience. We illustrate this process by a rhetorical case study. Using a psychorhetorical... more
This article highlights an important mediating process in rhetoric: the situational reconstruction of collective self-boundaries of speaker and audience. We illustrate this process by a rhetorical case study. Using a psychorhetorical analysis of a missionary speech that was given by a Jewish ultra-orthodox preacher to a Jewish Israeli nonorthodox audience, we point to the rhetorical context markers -the rhetorical strategies that construct a discursive context -that the orator used to manipulate the audience's collective self and nonself in a way that would serve his rhetorical goals.
This study reports on the perceptions, emotions and attitudes of 172 Jewish and Arab undergraduate and graduate students of education concerning their own national identity, the intergroup relations between Arabs and Jews in Israel, and... more
This study reports on the perceptions, emotions and attitudes of 172 Jewish and Arab undergraduate and graduate students of education concerning their own national identity, the intergroup relations between Arabs and Jews in Israel, and the desired political solution for the Arab minority in Israel. Against the background of the continuously changing political situation that involves advances and drawbacks in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the perceptions, emotions and attitudes of future educators concerning the Jewish-Arab conflict seem important as a foundation for strengthening pupils' orientation towards equality and pluralism. Results are presented concerning four domains: identity markers of students in the two groups, intergroup perceptions and emotions manifested in indicators of social distance, Jewish students' attitudes towards cultural autonomy of the Arab minority, and opinions concerning a desired political solution. The findings are discussed in light of the characteristics of the sample, in relation to previous studies that asked similar questions, and in relation to the processes taking place in the region in the last few years.
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We wish to thank the teachers and students who participated in all phases of the development of this project. We also acknowledge our colleagues Revathy Arunkumar, Leslie Morrison, Julie Schumaker, Karen Strobel, Cindy Winston, and... more
We wish to thank the teachers and students who participated in all phases of the development of this project. We also acknowledge our colleagues Revathy Arunkumar, Leslie Morrison, Julie Schumaker, Karen Strobel, Cindy Winston, and Stewart Wood, who were involved in the classroom observations, and Allison Young and Tim Urdan who assisted with training. Lynley Anderman is now at the
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Self-determination theory provided the theoretical framework for a cross-sectional investigation of elementary and junior high school students’ autonomous motivation for homework. More specifically, the study focused on the role of... more
Self-determination theory provided the theoretical framework for a cross-sectional investigation of elementary and junior high school students’ autonomous motivation for homework. More specifically, the study focused on the role of teachers’ support of students’ psychological needs in students’ motivation for homework in the two school systems. The study also investigated the contribution of a match between teachers’ support and students’
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Some researchers have called for a reconceptualization of goal theory that acknowledges the positive effects of performance-approach goals. The authors of the present article review studies that indicate that performance-approach goals... more
Some researchers have called for a reconceptualization of goal theory that acknowledges the positive effects of performance-approach goals. The authors of the present article review studies that indicate that performance-approach goals are associated with adaptive patterns of ...
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ABSTRACT The current short-term longitudinal study investigated the role of college students’ identity development and motivational beliefs in predicting their chemistry achievement and intentions to leave science, technology,... more
ABSTRACT The current short-term longitudinal study investigated the role of college students’ identity development and motivational beliefs in predicting their chemistry achievement and intentions to leave science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors. We collected 4 waves of data over 1 semester from 363 diverse undergraduate STEM students enrolled in a chemistry lab course. The results of analyses that examined the reciprocal relations among the variables over time (i.e., cross-lagged path analysis) suggested that identity development that involved exploration (e.g., information-seeking, reflection) was positively related to students’ beliefs about their competence and value for the STEM major and negatively related to perceptions of effort cost (drawbacks associated with time and effort) for the major. Identity development that did not involve exploration was related to low competence beliefs and high perceptions of costs for the STEM major. Competence beliefs, values, and perceptions of cost for the major were dynamically related to chemistry achievement and to students’ intentions to leave the STEM major over the semester, with different kinds of cost perceptions (drawbacks associated with effort, lost opportunities, and stress and anxiety) relating differentially to students’ intentions. The results support the role of identity development in students’ motivation for a STEM major and address a gap in the literature regarding the role of perceived cost in students’ academic choices.
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In moderate religious communities, adolescents and young adults are increasingly exposed to modern ideas and lifestyles and thus may face a potential tension between religion and modernity. The current study investigated the exploration... more
In moderate religious communities, adolescents and young adults are increasingly exposed to modern ideas and lifestyles and thus may face a potential tension between religion and modernity. The current study investigated the exploration processes of one hundred and four Jewish Modern Orthodox higher education students in Israel. The participants responded to semi-open-ended questionnaires regarding their way of coping with religious issues. A thematic analysis identified three different religious exploration styles and one non-exploration style. The findings concerning the character of the different exploration styles raise questions concerning long-held assumptions about the nature of exploration. The findings further point to the need for new conceptualizations in the domains of exploration and identity formation, particularly, but not only, in the domain of religion.
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... Promoting Identity Exploration within the School Curriculum: A Design-Based Study in a Junior High Literature Lesson in Israel. ... and more complex learning, connection with the subject-matter and content, and sense of belonging to... more
... Promoting Identity Exploration within the School Curriculum: A Design-Based Study in a Junior High Literature Lesson in Israel. ... and more complex learning, connection with the subject-matter and content, and sense of belonging to the academic context ( [Faircloth, 2009] and ...
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... in Sport and Physical Activity: An Achievement Goal Interpretation 39 Glyn C. Roberts, Frank Abrahamsen, and P. Nicolas Lemyre 4. Meaning ... Program 135 Stuart A. Karabenick, Bridget V. Dever, juliane Blazevski, AnneMarie M. Conley,... more
... in Sport and Physical Activity: An Achievement Goal Interpretation 39 Glyn C. Roberts, Frank Abrahamsen, and P. Nicolas Lemyre 4. Meaning ... Program 135 Stuart A. Karabenick, Bridget V. Dever, juliane Blazevski, AnneMarie M. Conley, Jeanne M. Friedel, Melissa C. Gilbert ...
... Aging; Genomic Assay Technology; Genomic Endocrinology; Genomic Physiology; ... Molecular Neuroscience; Neural Circuits; Neuroanatomy; Neuroendocrine Science; Neuroenergetics; ... Neuropharmacology; Neuroprosthetics; Neurorobotics;... more
... Aging; Genomic Assay Technology; Genomic Endocrinology; Genomic Physiology; ... Molecular Neuroscience; Neural Circuits; Neuroanatomy; Neuroendocrine Science; Neuroenergetics; ... Neuropharmacology; Neuroprosthetics; Neurorobotics; Synaptic Neuroscience; Systems Biology ...