A. Construction of the pupil scales

Authoritative Kinds of Parental Instruction

Two subscales were administered: autonomy support (6 items) and responsiveness (7 items). All items were adapted from the German Parental Help in Home Learning Questionnaire (Fragebogen zur elterlichen Hilfe beim häuslichen Lernen) by Wild (1999) and the revised version by Lorenz and Wild (2007). The details of the subscales are as follows:

The subscale of autonomy-support assesses pupils’ perceptions of their parents’ encouragement of the child’s self-initiated expression and action, provision of opportunities to make choices, and acknowledgement of the child’s feelings and ideas. It begins with the stem, “When I get a worse math grade than usual, . . ..” followed by the list of items. Sample items are “My parents ask me how they can help me”, and “My parents try to explain to me without pressure: If I do not study regularly, it will be more and more difficult to keep up”.

The subscale of responsiveness assesses the pupils’ perceptions of their parents’ readiness to take the child’s perspectives, acknowledgement of the child’s feelings, dedication of resources and time, interest in the child’s behaviours, provision of consolation, and encouragement of continuous self-regulation in failure situations.

Sample items are “My parents ask me how thing were at school”, and

“When I learn with my parents, I feel that they understand and support me”.

Authoritarian Kinds of Parental Instruction

Two subscales were administered, namely: control (6 items) and structure or strictness (4 items). All items were also adapted from the German Parental Help in Home Learning Questionnaire (see Wild, 1999; Lorenz & Wild, 2007). The details of the subscales are as follows:

The subscale of control assesses pupils’ perceptions of their parents’

attempts to change the child by pressuring him/her to do, think, feel, or behave in particular ways. It began with the stem, “When I get a worse math grade than usual,...” followed by the list of items. Sample items included: “My parents scold me and tell me to study more”, and

“My parents make me study at home until I complete all my tasks”.

The subscale of structure assesses pupils’ perceptions of their parents’

provision of clear and consistent guidelines as well as expectations and rules. Sample items included: “When I study for a test, I know exactly how much effort my parents expect”, and “When I take a test result home, I know in advance, whether my parents will be disappointed”.

Autonomous Learning Motivation

Two subscales were administered, namely: intrinsic regulation (6 items) and identified regulation (6 items). These 12 items were adapted from the German Academic Self-Regulation (ASRQ-G) by Wild and Krapp (1995). The details of the subscales are as follows:

The subscale of intrinsic regulation assesses the extent to which pupils’ learning behaviours are motivated by the persons’ interest, enjoyment, and inherent satisfaction. It begins with the stem, “Why do you make an effort in math class/doing math homework?” followed by the list of items. Sample items are “Because I have a strong interest in math”, and “I like to calculate”.

The subscale of identified regulation assesses the extent to which pupils’ learning behaviours are motivated by the self as personally important or valuable. It begins with the same stem as the intrinsic regulation subscale. Sample items are “Because I want to understand the content”, and “Because it is important to me to be able to calculate”.

Controlled Learning Motivation

Two subscales were administered, namely: introjected regulation (13 items) and external regulation (6 items). All 12 items were also adapted from the ASRQ-G by Wild and Krapp (1995). The details of the subscales are as follows:

The subscale of introjected regulation assesses the extent to which pupils’ learning behaviours are motivated by internal prods and pressures such as threats of guilt or self-esteem-relevant contingencies. It begins with the stem, “Why do you make an effort in math class/doing math homework?”. Sample items are “So that I can feel proud”, and “Because I would be ashamed, if I did not do my best”

The subscale of identified regulation consisted of six items assessing the extent to which pupils’ learning behaviours are motivated by contingencies overtly external to the individual. It begins with the same stem as the introjected regulation subscale. Sample items are “So that I don’t get into trouble with my parents”, and “Because doing my math tasks is expected of me”.

Academic Well-Being

Two subscales were administered, namely: school satisfaction (5 items) positive academic emotion/absence of negative academic emotion (5 items for positive and 5 items for negative). The details of the subscales are as follows:

The subscale of school satisfaction assesses the extent to which pupils are satisfied with their school generally. Five items were adapted from the Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale for Children (MSLSS) by Huebner (1994). Sample items are “Normally, the school makes me happy”, and “I have fun learning”.

The subscale of positive academic emotion-absence of negative academic emotion assesses the extent to which pupils experience pleasant engagement and the absence of subjective distress and unpleasant engagement with their parents as a result of home-based parental involvement. These 10 items were adapted from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C) developed by Laurent et al. (1999). Pupils’ scores on negative academic emotion were reversed and used as the absence of negative academic emotion.

This subscale begins with the question, “Please think of the last time that you did your homework with your parents. How did you feel?”

followed by the list of items. Sample items for positive academic emotions are “I felt glad/proud/hopeful/relieved/relaxed”. Sample items for negative academic emotions are “I felt anxious/angry/ashamed/ bored/discouraged”.

Regulation of Academic Motivation

Two subscales were administered, namely: interest enhancement (4 items) and self-consequating (5 items). Nine items were adapted from the scale by Wolters (1999). The details of the subscales are as follows:

The subscale of interest enhancement assesses the extent to which pupils make a learning task into a game, or make it more enjoyable or fun to get it done. Sample items are “I try to solve my tasks playfully”

and “I think about how to finish my tasks and have fun at the same time”.

The subscale of self-consequating assesses the extent to which pupils use self-provided rewards in order to reinforce their desire to complete

a learning task. Sample items are “I promise to myself that I will do something nice when I am done with my task” and “I tell myself that I can do something interesting later, if I do my homework now”.

Regulation of Positive Academic Emotion

Three subscales were administered, namely: reinforcement (7 items), self-affirmation (4 items), and seeking social self-affirmation (7 items). All items were adapted from The German Regulation of Positive Emotions Questionnaire (Fragebogen zur aktuellen Regulation positiver Emotionen: RPE 36-ak). This questionnaire was developed by Manfred Holodynski, Eva Regine Bartsch, and Christine Ullmann in 1995 (see Bartsch, 1996; Holodynski, 1995; Ullmann, 1996). The details of the subscales are as follows:

The subscale of self-reinforcement consisted of seven items assessing the extent to which pupils promise to give a reward to themselves in recompense for a pleasant learning situation. It began with the stem,

“If I have solved a difficult math task quite well” followed by the list of items. This stem was also used for two other subscales. Sample items are “I like to jump up in the air” and “I treat myself to something nice”.

The subscale of seeking social affirmation consisted of four items assessing the extent to which pupils attempt to obtain such confirmation from others that they are experiencing a pleasant learning situation. Sample items are “I would love to tell others how successful I was” and “I keep on thinking back to the moment when I experienced my success”.

The subscale of self-affirmation consisted of seven items assessing the extent to which pupils think of doing certain things to confirm to themselves that they are experiencing a pleasant learning situation.

Sample items are “I will think that I have done well” and “I will praise myself”.

Regulation of Negative Academic Emotion

Three subscales were administered— situation control (4 items), positive self-instructions (4 items), and seeking social support (4 items). These 12 items were adapted from The German Coping Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents

(Stressverarbeitungsfragebogen für Kinder und Jugendliche: SVF-KJ) by Hampel et al. (2001). The details of the subscales are as follows:

The subscale of situation control assesses the extent to which pupils take control over a difficult learning situation. Sample items are “I am making a plan to fix the problem!” and “I am wondering what to do!”.

The subscale of positive self-instructions assesses the extent to which pupils use vocal statements to encourage themselves to think that a difficult learning situation can be manageable. Sample items are “I say to myself: I know I can solve the problem!” and “I tell myself: I will get that under control!”.

The subscale of seeking social support assesses the extent to which pupils attempt to obtain concrete advice about how to handle a difficult learning situation and make an effort to discuss their feelings about it with others. Sample items are “I let somebody help me” and “I talk to somebody about that”.

3.4.2B Internal Consistencies of the Pupil Scales for the German and Thai