International educational mobility confronts sojourners with many challenges, including adapting to a school abroad. In this study, we focused on the relationship between affective, behavioral, and cognitive school engagement and host- and home-oriented acculturation behavior of high school students during an academic year abroad. Using data from three survey waves (N = 1299; Mage = 15.47, SDage = 0.74), we explored both within-person changes and between-person differences in these processes. At the within-person level, changes in school engagement and acculturation behaviors were weakly associated, with notable associations emerging primarily in the later stages of the sojourn. At the between-person level, stable individual differences in school engagement and acculturation orientations of adolescent sojourners were related to language skills, personality traits, and cultural characteristics of the host country. These findings help to understand how students navigate the dual challenge of academic and cultural adaptation, and which individual and contextual conditions promote engagement and adaptive acculturation behavior. They underscore the importance of fostering both school engagement and cultural integration to support adolescent sojourners in their academic and social development.

Background: There is well-documented empirical evidence of the screen inferiority effect, reflected in lower performance and a stronger metacognitive bias for reading or solving problems on screen than on paper. Shallow processing of information presented on-screen serves as an explanation. In this vein, previous studies suggested in-depth processing as a boundary condition under which screen inferiority does not occur. Aims: As previous research has been conducted in laboratory studies focusing on learning performance, this study aimed to investigate the screen inferiority effect in high-stakes testing at university, taking into account students' assessments of their mental effort. This constitutes an ecologically valid context under which high effort investment and in-depth processing can be assumed. Sample: We analyzed data from a large sample of university students taking their end-of-module exams either on paper (n = 1592) or as e-exams on tablet computers (n = 658). Methods: After taking their paper-pencil or e-exam, students estimated their performance and gave appraisals of mental effort and task difficulty. The examination office provided performance measures. Metacognitive accuracy was computed as the discrepancy between students' estimated and their actual performance. Results: No differences in exam mode were observed in performance or metacognitive accuracy; however, students reported having invested less effort in the e-exam and appraised it as less effortful and difficult than the paper-pencil exam. Conclusions: The results might be explained by shallow processing being reflected in differences of effort and difficulty appraisals even during in-depth processing, thus, in the absence of screen inferiority.

Abstract: Managing intercultural encounters is a key success factor in multicultural communities. The construct of cultural intelligence has been developed to examine individuals’ capabilities to effectively deal with cultural heterogeneity. The present study provides the validation of a German translation of the revised short scale for the assessment of cultural intelligence (SFCQ) based on a diverse sample of distance education students ( N = 526). The analyses confirmed the fit of a second-order factor model comprising one second-order factor (cultural intelligence) and three first-order factors (knowledge, metacognition, and skills). The scale demonstrated good psychometric properties and meaningful correlations with related constructs such as personality traits and emotional intelligence. Furthermore, the scale showed incremental validity as it predicted intercultural friendships and international mobility experiences above and beyond age, gender, personality trait, and emotional intelligence. These results support the validity of the German SFCQ and advocate for its application.

Previous studies suggested that associations between sociodemographic characteristics and university belonging varied between subject groups. In particular, female (first-generation) students in STEM subjects were assumed to experience a “chilly climate” that was reflected in their lower levels of university belonging. But less is known about the demographic and psychological prerequisites of the university belonging of international students. In this cross-sectional study we investigated how gender, parental academic background, students’ cultural background (i.e., region of origin) and their cultural resources (i.e., study-related language skills and acculturation orientations) as well as their intersectional interplay related to the university belonging of international STEM students in Germany and compared the results to a sample of international non-STEM students. Stepwise multi-group regression analyses with cross-sectional data of N = 1,590 degree-seeking international bachelor students (n STEM = 882, n non-STEM = 708) at the end of their first semester in Germany did not reveal substantial differences in the level and predictors of university belonging between STEM and non-STEM international students. In both subject groups, there was no main effect of gender but some significant interactions between gender and cultural background (i.e., region of origin). First-generation students showed lower levels of university belonging than continuous-generation students. Higher levels of study-related language skills and host-culture orientation were consistently related to higher levels of university belonging but none of these variables interacted with gender. The results corroborate the need for further (intersectional) research to adequately capture the heterogeneity amongst international STEM students. Theoretical and practical implications for the implementation of tailored belonging interventions are discussed.

Distance learning offers enhanced flexibility and reduced access restrictions, making it increasingly popular among non-traditional students and those juggling academic studies with professional and family obligations. This study explored the associations between study demands and resources (decision latitude and social support from lecturers and peers) and different study outcomes by applying the Job Demands-Resources Model in a distance learning context. Based on the model’s assumptions, we hypothesized that academic demands negatively predict study success in distance learning, while decision latitude and social support from lecturers and peers positively affect it. These associations were expected to be mediated by emotional exhaustion and different dimensions of engagement. The cross-sectional online study involved 286 psychology students from a German distance university. The multivariate path model revealed an association of demands and decision latitude with perceptions of competence and study satisfaction. While demands were significantly correlated with the grade point average, decision latitude was not. Consistent with the model’s assumptions, these effects were partially mediated by exhaustion and engagement. We did not find significant incremental associations of social support with the outcomes. The findings concerning measures to support students in distance education were discussed.

International educational mobility is a life event that confronts sojourners with many challenges, such as adapting to a new living environment abroad. Whether these cultural adaptation processes are successful is contingent upon different factors. In the present study, we focused on the role of personality as well as host- and home-cultural behavioral engagement in the psychological adaptation of high school students during an academic year abroad. To that end, we analyzed data from the first four waves of the project Mobility and Acculturation Experiences of Students (MAPS) ( N = 1299 students in a year abroad) using a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) to address these associations at the interpersonal and intrapersonal level. The analyses revealed the complex interplay between personality, host- and home-cultural behavioral engagement, and adaptation at both the interpersonal and intrapersonal levels of analysis. Moreover, host-cultural behavioral engagement also mediated the predictive effects of personality traits on the psychological adaptation of sojourners in the CLPM. Theoretical implications for personality and acculturation research and practical inferences for supporting students studying abroad are discussed.

BackgroundThe use of e-exams in higher education is increasing. However, the role of student diversity in the acceptance of e-exams is an under-researched topic. In the current study, we considered student diversity in terms of three sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, and second language) and three dispositional student characteristics (computer anxiety, test anxiety, and technology openness). ObjectivesThe main objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between student diversity and acceptance of e-exams. MethodsOur research combined cross-sectional analyses (N = 1639) with data from a natural experiment on the introduction of e-exams versus the established paper-pencil exams (N = 626) and used both self-report and institutional data. Sociodemographic and dispositional characteristics were indirectly related to pre-exam acceptance via expectancy variables from the Technology Acceptance Model framework. Results and ConclusionsComparisons of post-exam acceptance showed that practical experience with the e-exam led to a significant increase in e-exam acceptance, and that students with low openness toward technology particularly benefited from this effect. Students' exam performance (i.e., grades) was unrelated to the exam format or their pre-exam acceptance of the e-exam format, and this was true across students' sociodemographic and dispositional characteristics. TakeawayStudent diversity plays a role in e-exam acceptance, but its influence is mitigated by first-hand experience with e-exams. The practical implications for higher education institutions aiming to implement e-exams are discussed.

The expectancy–value theory (EVT) positions expectations and value beliefs as important predictors of academic success. We, thus, investigated the prevalence of academic self-efficacy and intrinsic, attainment, utility, and cost values amongst international STEM students in Germany, as well as their associations with gender, parental academic background, cultural characteristics, and their interplay. We also compared STEM to non-STEM students. Analyses with hierarchical multi-group regression models using data from 1590 international bachelor students (nSTEM = 882, nnon-STEM = 708) revealed high levels of academic self-efficacy, attainment, intrinsic, and utility values but also high costs. International STEM students indicated lower levels of academic self-efficacy than non-STEM students; all other results were similar in both subject-groups. There were no direct associations between gender and the expectancy–value components but continuous-generation students showed higher academic self-efficacy than first-generation students. Significant associations between cultural background and all expectancy–value components were identified, most of them applied to costs. In some cases, the associations differed by gender. Study-related language skills were related to all expectancy–value components whereas host- and home-culture orientations were distinctly associated with attainment, intrinsic, and utility values. Implications of the results for interventions supporting the academic success of international STEM students and future research needs are discussed.

Past research provided strong evidence that positive family–school partnerships were not only beneficial for students’ school success, but they also helped to promote parental involvement in schooling. However, relatively little is known about teachers’ reasons for becoming engaged in family–school partnerships and the benefits of their engagement. In fact, the role of teachers in family–school partnerships requires prosocial actions (e.g., helping, sharing, feeling empathy). As guided by self-determination theory, previous studies suggest that prosocial-oriented persons tend to take prosocial actions and these actions tend to promote a social connection, thereby promoting well-being. To the best of our knowledge, this assumption has not been applied to research on family–school partnerships yet. The aim of this study was to examine whether teachers’ prosociality would be associated with their well-being at work (i.e., job satisfaction, work-related self-esteem) and whether this connection would be mediated by teacher engagement in family–school partnerships. Using the framework of the Vodafone Foundation Germany, we focused on two important aspects of teacher engagement: effective communication and educational cooperation. A total of 190 teachers (72% females; mean age: 44.78 years) participated in an online-survey. In line with SDT, teachers’ prosociality was associated with greater well-being at work even after controlling for teachers’ background (age, gender, experience, school track). As expected, this connection was partially mediated by teacher engagement in family–school partnerships. The results and implications of the present study are discussed.

Proactive personality, i.e., individuals' disposition to take personal initiative and to initiate change, is a personality characteristic that is related to many favorable outcomes in the work domain and beyond. Yet, the conditions that promote its development amongst young adults have barely been researched. As international student mobility (ISM) has become an essential part of higher education in many countries, we assessed how proactive personality related to ISM experiences by self-selection, socialization and anticipation effects. We further explored if behavioural exploration served as a mediator of ISM socialization effects. We carried out a longitudinal study (N = 2163) with two measurement occasions and three study groups, i.e., control students who stayed at home, present sojourners who engaged in ISM and a waiting group of future sojourners. Latent change analyses indicated that all sojourners showed higher levels of proactive personality than control students before their departure abroad. Moreover, present sojourners increased in proactive personality as compared to the other two groups. This effect could partly be explained by sojourners' more frequent exploration of new behaviours. There was no indication that future sojourns affected proactivity development by anticipation effects. Implications of these findings for the understanding of adaptive personality development are discussed.

Obwohl immer mehr Bildungsausländer*innen an deutschen Hochschulen studieren, ist über die Einflussfaktoren auf ihren Studienerfolg bisher wenig bekannt. Da sie besonders gefordert sind, den Lernstoff eigenständig vor- und nachzuarbeiten, untersuchte die vorliegende Studie ihr Nutzungsverhalten kognitiver und metakognitiver Lernstrategien als Schlüsselkomponenten selbstregulierten Lernens und deren längsschnittliche Effekte auf Studienzufriedenheit und Abbruchintention. Anhand latenter Profilanalysen wurden bei N = 3,837 Bildungsausländer*innen vier Lernerprofile (Maximal-, Tiefen-, Durchschnitts- und Minimallerner) im ersten Studiensemester ermittelt und ihre prospektive Vorhersagekraft für die Studienzufriedenheit und Abbruchintention am Ende des ersten Studienjahres bestätigt. Aus den Befunden lassen sich Implikationen für die Gestaltung von (profil-)spezifischen Trainings- und Unterstützungsangeboten für Bildungsausländer*innen in Deutschland ableiten.

Facebook has been widely used among students, not only for socializing, but also for educational purposes. However, it is much less clear whether educational usage of Facebook would be beneficial for student academic achievement, especially in distance education. This paper examined whether different types of educational usage of Facebook would be differentially connected with academic achievement of distance university students. Unlike previous studies, we distinguished between the quantity and the quality of educational usage of Facebook: The former is concerned with time spent, while the latter includes three types of educational utilities offered by Facebook (communication, collaboration, and resource sharing). Taking a self-determination theory perspective, we also examined whether the connection between different types of educational usage of Facebook and academic achievement would be mediated by basic needs satisfaction in distance study. A total of 274 distance university students participated in an online survey. A path analysis demonstrated that different types of educational usage of Facebook and academic achievement were not directly associated. However, a mediation analysis showed that competence need satisfaction (and no other needs) fully mediated some linkages: time spent to achievement, communication to achievement, and resource sharing to achievement. Findings and implications of this paper are discussed.

Abstract. Although a sense of university belonging has been established as a crucial factor for students’ academic success and subjective well-being, little is known about its importance regarding the adaptation of international students in Germany. Likewise, few studies have addressed the long-term reciprocal relations of a sense of university belonging and psychological and academic outcomes. To close this research gap, we analyzed data from N = 3,837 international students with a set of cross-lagged panel models. The results showed that a high sense of belonging is beneficial for international students’ adaptation in Germany as it is related to better well-being, higher study satisfaction, and lower drop-out intention. Furthermore, these indicators of psychological and academic adaption predicted the development of a sense of university belonging across the study entrance period, which points to the dynamic relationship between both kinds of constructs. We discuss the theoretical implications and the implementation of interventions that promote a sense of university belonging to increase the psychological and academic adaptation of international students in Germany.

Studying abroad far away from family and friends may put young people at particular risk of experiencing loneliness. From this perspective, behavioral strategies to deal with the challenges of a new living environment have important implications for the development of loneliness over the course of an educational stay abroad. This study investigates adolescents' experience of loneliness over the course of a school year abroad, as well as the longitudinal interplay between loneliness and the sojourners' host- and home-cultural behavioral engagement. To that end, we analyzed data from 1,225 student sojourners using latent growth curve models and cross-lagged panel models. Participants were surveyed four times before and during the student exchange period using online questionnaires. Our results showed that loneliness increased during the transition from home to the host country but decreased again afterwards. Host-cultural behavioral engagement predicted lower levels of loneliness by a direct effect, whereas home-cultural behavioral engagement predicted higher levels of loneliness by a time-lagged indirect effect via host-cultural behavioral engagement. Implications for acculturation and loneliness research, and practical implications for the support of student sojourners are discussed.

In the last decades, many bilingual programs such as content and language integrated learning (CLIL) have emerged. A crucial question in CLIL is whether to assess students' content-subject knowledge in the common language or the dominant language of instruction. In two experimental field studies with N = 361 6th-graders and N = 703 8th-graders, we investigated test-language effects and their moderation by CLIL-experience, language background, instructional language use and item format. In both studies, students' achievement was higher when items were presented in the common language. This effect was less pronounced in experienced CLIL-learners and for multiple-choice than cloze-test items. Moderation effects of language background were only partially and for instructional language use not statistically significant. The results show that using the dominant language of instruction to assess content-subject knowledge in bilingual education might underestimate students' learning and that test-language and item-format effects need to be considered.

International student mobility (ISM) is an important educational means to promote the international (job market) potential of university students. Beyond that, it constitutes a context of personality development in young adulthood. With the present research, we tried to integrate the perspectives of applied and personality research in addressing the following questions. First, we scrutinized the robustness of ISM effects on personality development as we controlled for effects of sociodemographic characteristics and implemented a waiting group design (N = 3070). Second, we explored ISM anticipation effects as well as the moderation of ISM effects by previous international mobility experiences. Finally, in view of the public discourse on the benefits of "Erasmus crowds", we assessed the roles of international and host relationships with regard to the personality development of sojourners. The results largely corroborated the robustness of ISM effects on personality development. No ISM anticipation effects occurred, and effects of current ISM engagement were largely unaffected by previous international mobility experiences. Finally, international contact experiences were associated with personality development above and beyond effects of host country contacts. Implications for the understanding of personality development and potential inferences for the organization and improvement of ISM programs are discussed.

International educational mobility is an important instrument for immersing multicultural diversity into the thinking, feeling, and acting of young global citizens. Yet, little is known about the development of students’ host-cultural behavioral engagement during a stay abroad and the individual characteristics that predict it. We adapted the theory of planned behavior to investigate the dynamic longitudinal interplay between individual predictors and students’ host-cultural behavioral engagement over the course of the stay abroad. Data come from the first four waves of the project Mobility and acculturation experiences of students (MAPS; N = 1,225). Results confirmed the influence of acculturation attitudes, subjective norms, and multicultural self-efficacy on host-cultural behavioral engagement over time. Simultaneously, host-cultural behavioral engagement was identified as a relevant predictor of adolescents’ individual development abroad.

The present study examined the connection between retrospectively perceived parental autonomy-supportive provision of structure for homework completion during high school and current academic outcomes (i.e., interest, persistence, and academic well-being) of university students. Analyzing structural equation modeling with data from 387 students (M = 33.49 years, 84,3 % female), the results demonstrated a statistically significant association between retrospectively perceived parental provision of autonomy-supportive structure during high school and study persistence of university students. Moreover, the analyses revealed significant indirect effects of retrospectively perceived parental provision of autonomy-supportive structure during homework completion on study interest, study persistence, and well-being, which, in accordance with self-determination theory, were mediated by students' perceived experiences of competence and autonomy. This study provided insights into the long-term importance of students' perceptions of homework-related parental behavior during high school for academic outcomes in adulthood. Future studies using a longitudinal design should provide deeper insights into the associations found in this study.

International student mobility (ISM) is an important educational means to increase students’ multicultural effectiveness and their (international) job market potential. In the present study, we investigated ISM effects by addressing the following three research questions: First, how do future sojourners differ from control students in terms of their pre-departure multicultural effectiveness? Second, how does ISM affect the development of multicultural effectiveness above and beyond effects of students’ demographic characteristics, their cultural and educational background, and their previous international mobility experiences? And third, do any of these variables moderate ISM development effects and thus help to explain who benefits most from ISM? We used a sample of N = 3070 students at German higher education institutions who were assigned to three groups (i.e., control students with no mobility plans, present sojourners who participated in ISM during the study period, and a waiting group of future sojourners who participated in ISM in the semester sequencing the study period). The analyses with (moderated) latent change models showed substantially higher pre-departure multicultural effectiveness in present and future sojourners compared with control students as well as positive effects of ISM on the development of multicultural effectiveness. The strongest effects were observed amongst students without previous international mobility experiences. Theoretical implications for the understanding of adaptive development in a globalized world as well as practical inferences for ISM outreach and recruitment strategies are discussed.