Differences in motivation for biology learning: A measurement invariance testing and latent mean comparison approach

Educational and psychological research often involves comparing motivation across groups. It is critical to ensure that observed differences in motivation are true variations by group, not due to measurement biases. With a diverse sample of undergraduate students (N = 2200), this study measured internal consistency and gathered validity evidence based on the internal structure of five motivation scales. To compare motivation for biology between groups of undergraduate students, this study tested for measurement scalar invariance by group and, accordingly, conducted latent factor mean comparisons to understand true group differences. On average, female students held lower expectancy beliefs and self-efficacy for biology learning than males. Female students perceived higher attainment value and utility value for biology learning and higher psychological cost. First-generation college students held lower expectancy beliefs and self-efficacy but perceived higher attainment value for biology learning than continuing-generation students. No differences in average motivation for biology learning were found between underrepresented racial minority (URM) and non-URM students. The implications of these findings and future research directions are also discussed.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Violation Appraisal Measure (VAM)

Mental contamination refers to feelings of dirtiness and/or urges to wash that arise without direct contact with a contaminant. Cognitive models propose that this results from "serious, negative misappraisals of perceived violations". However, the specific violation misappraisals most relevant to mental contamination have yet to be established empirically, in part due to the lack of a comprehensive validated inventory of violation appraisals. Therefore, this study's aim was to develop and validate such a measure. Items for the new Violation Appraisal Measure (VAM) were developed from qualitative interviews, theoretical models, and previous empirical work. An Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted in a sample of (n = 300) undergraduate participants, which revealed a four-factor structure: Responsibility/Self-Blame, Permanence, Mistrust, and Self-Worth. The VAM showed excellent internal consistency (α  = 0.90), good convergent (r = .50 to .64) and adequate divergent (r = -.01 to .46) validity and was predictive of mental contamination symptoms over and above existing related appraisal measures, Δ F(1,289) = 29.35, p < .001, Δ R2 = 0.06. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis in a second sample of (n = 300) undergraduate students confirmed strong model fit for the four-factor structure of the VAM. The development of the VAM is an important contribution to the search for empirically based cognitive mechanisms in mental contamination and other violation-related sequelae.

Development and evaluation of the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation to deliver Physical Activity in School Scale (COM-PASS)

BACKGROUND

Teachers are recognized as 'key agents' for the delivery of physical activity programs and policies in schools. The aim of our study was to develop and evaluate a tool to assess teachers' capability, opportunity, and motivation to deliver school-based physical activity interventions.

METHODS

The development and evaluation of the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation to deliver Physical Activity in School Scale (COM-PASS) involved three phases. In Phase 1, we invited academic experts to participate in a Delphi study to rate, provide recommendations, and achieve consensus on questionnaire items that were based on the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Behavior (COM-B) model. Each item was ranked on the degree to which it matched the content of the COM-B model, using a 5-point scale ranging from '1 = Poor match' to '5 = Excellent match'. In Phase 2, we interviewed primary and secondary school teachers using a 'think-aloud' approach to assess their understanding of the items. In Phase 3, teachers (n = 196) completed the COM-PASS to assess structural validity using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

RESULTS

Thirty-eight academic experts from 14 countries completed three rounds of the Delphi study. In the first round, items had an average rating score of 4.04, in the second round 4.51, and in the third (final) round 4.78. The final tool included 14 items, which related to the six constructs of the COM-B model: physical capability, psychological capability, physical opportunity, social opportunity, reflective motivation, and automatic motivation. In Phase 2, ten teachers shared their interpretation of COM-PASS via a 20-min interview, which resulted in minor changes. In Phase 3, CFA of the 3-factor model (i.e., capability, opportunity, and motivation) revealed an adequate fit to the data (χ2 = 122.6, p < .001, CFI = .945, TLI = .924, RMSEA = .066). The internal consistencies of the three subscale scores were acceptable (i.e., capability: α = .75, opportunity: α = .75, motivation: α = .81).

CONCLUSION

COM-PASS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing teachers' capability, opportunity, and motivation to deliver physical activity interventions in schools. Further studies examining additional psychometric properties of the COM-PASS are warranted.

The impact of science teaching strategies in the Arabic-speaking countries: A multilevel analysis of TIMSS 2019 data

This paper analyses teaching strategies in relation to the science achievement of 4th-grade students using TIMSS 2019 data. It focuses on seven Arabic-speaking countries, which share similar cultures and distinct features of their societies and school systems. It applies multilevel modeling with student- and classroom-level information to decompose variance and understand relationships at these two levels. Overall, the results show the importance of analysis at the classroom level, as half of the science achievement variance is associated with differences between classrooms. Our results indicate that in the Arabic-speaking countries, emphasis on academic success and more active instruction are positively related to student achievement. On the other hand, science investigation methods such as planning and running experiments are negatively related to achievement, although the effects are small in magnitude. Moreover, the results from multilevel models with random coefficients for home resources suggest that higher emphasis on academic success increases differences in student achievement depending on their socioeconomic background.

Revisiting the academic self-concept transcultural measurement model: The case of Spain and China

BACKGROUND

Modelling academic self-concept through second-order factors or bifactor structures is an important issue with substantive and practical implications; besides, the bifactor model has not been analysed with a Chinese sample and cross-cultural studies in the academic self-concept are scarce. Likewise, latent structure validity evidence using network psychometrics has not been carried out.

AIMS

The aim of this study is twofold: to analyse (1) the internal structure of ASC through the Self-Description Questionnaire II-Short (SDQII-S) in Chinese and Spanish samples using two approaches, structural equation modelling and network psychometrics conducting an exploratory graph analysis; and (2) the measurement invariance of the best model across countries and investigate the cross-cultural differences in ASC.

SAMPLE

The sample was composed by 651 adolescents. Seven models of ASC were tested.

RESULTS

Results supported the multi-dimensional nature of the data as well as the reliability. The best-fitted model for the two subsamples was the three-factor ESEM model, but only the configural invariance of this model was supported across countries. The graph function shows that the school dimension appears more related to the verbal factor in the Spanish subsample and to the math dimension in the Chinese subsample. Likewise, the relationship between verbal and math factors in Spanish students is non-existent, but this connection is more relevant for Chinese students.

CONCLUSION

These two differences may be behind the difficulty in finding invariance using SEM models. It is a question of the construct's nature, less related to analytical phenomena, and deserves deeper discussion.

A guide to exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) and bifactor-ESEM in body image research

Traditionally, assessments of factor validity of body image instruments have relied on exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis. However, the emergence of exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), a resurgence of interest in bifactor models, and the ability to combine both models (bifactor-ESEM) is beginning to shape the future of body image research. For these analytic approaches to truly advance body image research, scholars will need to have a deep understanding of their use and application. To facilitate such understanding, we describe ESEM and bifactor-ESEM models for body image researchers and provide them with the tools they need to apply these methods in their own work. Specifically, we provide an overview of ESEM and bifactor-ESEM models, and describe their broad applicability to body image research. Next, we describe how ESEM and bifactor models can be used and, using an existing dataset of responses to the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale, demonstrate how ESEM and bifactor-ESEM models can be deployed. To facilitate wider application of these ideas, we provide our Mplus syntax (inputs) in Supplementary Materials. Through this manuscript, we hope to assist researchers to better understand the strengths ESEM and bifactor models, and to use these approaches in their own work.

The stability of the twofold multidimensionality of academic self-concept: A study of Chinese secondary school students

Introduction

The present investigation examined the stability of the twofold multidimensional structure of academic self-concepts (ASCs) in three domains, namely Chinese, math, and general school using four-wave data collected over 2 years among 552 Chinese secondary school students.

Method

Adopting both a within-network and a between-network approach, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) and factor correlations were performed in Mplus 8.2.

Results

The within-network results showed that CFA models wherein competence and affect dimensions were conflated generated unacceptable fit. In contrast, the CFAs in which competence and affect were modeled as separate latent factors consistently produced superior fit to the data. The between-network results demonstrated that in the Chinese and math domains and across the four-time waves, the competence components were more strongly related to the achievements in matching domains than the affect components were. Furthermore, both the competence and affect components of ASCs and achievements were positively correlated in the non-matching domains, which were somewhat contradictory to the internal/external frame of reference model predicting zero or negative relations.

Discussion

Such results seem to suggest more involvement in social comparison than in dimensional comparison of Chinese students, which might be attributed to the collectivistic Chinese culture and the common phenomenon of academic social comparisons among Chinese adolescents in schools.

Temporal cortex activation explains children's improvement in math attitudes

Math attitudes are related to achievement, yet we do not know how the brain supports changes in math attitudes. 51 children (54.9% female, 45.1% male; 37.3% White, 33.3% Black, 11.8% Latino, 5.9% Asian, 11.8% Other) solved a multiplication task inside the scanner when they were approximately 11 (time 1; T1) and 13 (time 2; T2) years old (i.e., mean age). Results revealed clusters in the left middle to superior temporal gyri at T1 associated with math attitudes at T1 and with their longitudinal improvement. However, changes in attitudes were not associated with brain changes over time. These findings suggest that relying on the storage of arithmetic facts, involved in memory retrieval, explains the development of positive math attitudes.

Factors influencing medical students' approaches to learning in Qatar

BACKGROUND

This study investigated the relevance of the revised 2-factor study process questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) for exploring medical students' approaches to learning in Qatar and identify how factors like gender, age, educational attainment, and prior experience with health care influence students' adoption of deep approaches to learning.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 108 medical students (44% male, 56% female) from all four years of medical school at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q). Participants completed the 20-item R-SPQ-2F questionnaire to measure their learning approaches through a structural model contrasting deep and surface learning. Participants also completed a survey collecting demographic information.

RESULTS

Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in deep learning approaches across year levels for both men and women. Additionally, educational attainment played a significant role in students' approaches to learning.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on structural equation modeling, this cross-verification study supports the R-SPQ-2F instrument and offers additional evidence for its robustness and application to medical education. These findings may help educational and program leaders in Qatar better understand medical students' learning approaches to enhance their pedagogical practices.

Benefits of psychological detachment from work in a digital era: How do job stressors and personal strategies interplay with individual vulnerabilities?

This study examined how individual strategies (boundary creation around information and communication technology; ICT) and job stressors (work-related extended availability) relate to psychological detachment, and how the latter associates with employees' behaviors (presenteeism) and attitudes (family life satisfaction). This research also explored the moderating role of performance-based self-esteem in these relationships. Questionnaire surveys were collected among 321 teachers in Sample 1 and 283 workers in Sample 2. Results from Sample 1 revealed that boundary creation surrounding ICT was positively linked to psychological detachment but only among employees with low performance-based self-esteem. Results from Sample 2 indicated that work-related extended availability negatively related to psychological detachment but only among employees with high performance-based self-esteem. In addition, psychological detachment was associated with lower levels of presenteeism (Samples 1 and 2) and higher levels of family-life satisfaction (Sample 2). More generally, these results confirm performance-based self-esteem to be a maladaptive individual characteristic, adding up to a negative cycle of stressors to decrease psychological detachment, in turn leading to maladaptive functioning.

The Role of Stereotype Threat in Ethnically Minoritized Students' Science Motivation: A Four-Year Longitudinal Study of Achievement and Persistence in STEM

Grounded in expectancy-value and stereotype threat theories, this four-year longitudinal study examined associations between changes in stereotype threat and motivation (self-efficacy, task values, and perceived costs) among 425 undergraduates from racial/ethnic groups typically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Growth analyses indicated that students' stereotype threat and perceived cost of studying science increased during college, whereas science self-efficacy, intrinsic value, and attainment value declined. Parallel growth analyses suggested that higher initial stereotype threat related to a faster decline in attainment value and faster increase in perceived costs throughout college. Higher initial levels and a steeper increase in stereotype threat related to lower STEM GPA. Higher initial levels and a slower decline in motivation variables related to higher STEM GPA and more completed STEM courses. These findings provide empirical evidence for the relations between stereotype threat and motivation among underrepresented minority students during a key developmental period.

Comparisons of Science Motivational Beliefs of Adolescents in Taiwan, Australia, and the United States: Assessing the Measurement Invariance Across Countries and Genders

This study utilized international, large-scale assessment data to compare science motivational beliefs of adolescents within and between countries and genders. The study focused on the beliefs about science of eighth graders, including their self-concept in science, the intrinsic value they ascribed to science, and their beliefs about the utility of the subject. The study data were derived from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in 2019 (TIMSS) that was conducted in Taiwan, Australia, and the United States. To ensure the validity of mean cross-group comparisons, the measurement invariance (MI) of the constructs was first assessed. The multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis and latent factor mean comparisons were applied to the data. The results indicated that the MI of science motivational beliefs across the three countries attained only metric invariance, rendering a latent mean comparison implausible. However, the cross-gender MI within each country attained scalar invariance, supporting the comparison of means across genders. The science motivational beliefs of females were significantly lower than those of males, with the exception of beliefs of US students about their utility value. The findings of this study raise concerns about the validity of current international comparisons of science motivational beliefs of the students while supporting the use of TIMSS data to identify gender differences in science motivation within each country. The implications of MI across countries and genders are discussed, and the importance of establishing MI is highlighted. The findings affirm that gender disparities in science motivational beliefs can be compared using constructs with sound psychometric properties.

Toward a Comprehensive Assessment of Relationships with Teachers and Parents for Youth with Intellectual Disabilities

This study proposes a multi-informant (youth, teachers, and parents) measure of relationship quality with adults for youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). A sample of 395 youth with mild (49.15%) and moderate (50.85%) ID, aged 11-22 (M = 15.82) was recruited in Canada (French-speaking, N = 142), and Australia (English-speaking, N = 253). Results support the reliability, factor validity, discriminant validity (in relation to sex, ID level, country, and comorbidity), convergent validity (depression, anxiety, aggressiveness, and prosocial behaviors), and one-year longitudinal stability of the measure. Youth self-reports provide a complementary perspective on relationship quality with adults relative to teachers' or parents' reports, whereas teachers and parents seem unable to differentiate their own perspective from that of the target youth.

Laissez-Faire Leadership and Affective Commitment: the Roles of Leader-Member Exchange and Subordinate Relational Self-concept

Although the detrimental effects of laissez-faire leadership are well documented, research on the underlying mechanisms and the boundary conditions associated with these effects remains scarce. Using the identity orientation framework and social exchange theory, we propose that employees with stronger relational self-concepts are more likely to be affected by laissez-faire leadership. As these employees define themselves through dyadic relationships, they may react more negatively to laissez-faire leadership by diminishing their contributions to mutual goals and reducing their affective organizational commitment. These predictions were tested within a three-wave longitudinal study through structural equations modeling analyses with full information maximum likelihood estimation on a sample of employees from multiple organizations (N = 449). As predicted, the relational self-concept was associated with a stronger negative effect of laissez-faire leadership on the contribution dimension of leader-member exchange and a stronger negative indirect effect on affective organizational commitment. The implications of these findings for our understanding of the mechanisms related to laissez-faire leadership are discussed.

Development and Evaluation of the High-Intensity Interval Training Self-Efficacy Questionnaire

This study involved the design and evaluation of the High-Intensity Interval Training Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (HIIT-SQ). Phase 1: Questionnaire items were developed. Phase 2: Australian adolescents (N = 389, 16.0 ± 0.4 years, 41.10% female) completed the HIIT-SQ, and factorial validity of the measurement model was explored. Phase 3: Adolescents (N = 100, age 12-14 years, 44% female) completed the HIIT-SQ twice (1 week apart) to evaluate test-retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis of the final six items (mean = 3.43-6.73, SD = 0.99-25.30) revealed adequate fit, χ2(21) = 21, p = .01, comparative fit index = .99, Tucker-Lewis index = .99, root mean square of approximation = .07, 90% confidence interval [.04, .11]. Factor loading estimates showed that all items were highly related to the factor (estimates range: 0.81-0.90). Intraclass coefficients and typical error values were .99 (95% confidence interval [.99, 1.00]) and .22, respectively. This study provides preliminary evidence for the validity and reliability of scores derived from the HIIT-SQ in adolescents.

Mathematics Motivation in Students With Low Cognitive Ability: A Longitudinal Study of Motivation and Relations With Effort, Self-Regulation, and Grades

Expectancy-value theory (EVT) is a popular framework to understand and improve students' motivation. Unfortunately, limited research has verified whether EVT predictions generalize to students with low levels of cognitive ability. This study relies on Grade 5 and 8 data from 177 students with low levels of cognitive ability and a matched sample of 177 students with average to high cognitive ability from the German "Project for the Analysis of Learning and Achievement in Mathematics." Results showed that students with low levels of cognitive ability were able to differentiate EVT components. Both groups demonstrated a similar downward developmental trend in motivation from early to middle adolescence, and similar relations between EVT components and levels of efforts, self-regulation, and mathematics class grades.

Value Beliefs About Math

Abstract. This study proposed an improved representation of the factor structure of the Gaspard et al. (2015) value beliefs about math scale relying on bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (B-ESEM). Using a convenience sample of 537 Italian students (327 males; Mage = 18.2), our results supported the superiority of a B-ESEM solution including nine specific factors (intrinsic, importance of achievement, personal importance, utility for school/job, utility for life, social utility, effort required, opportunity cost, and emotional cost) and one global value factor. The results further revealed that the specific factors (with the exception of personal importance) retained meaning over and above participants’ global levels of value. Finally, our results confirmed that global value beliefs predicted career aspirations, whereas expectancies of success remained the strongest predictor of math achievement.

Multi-informant universal screening: Evaluation of rater, item, and construct variance using a trifactor model

Universal screening is a proactive method for identifying student risk, yet remains under-utilized in school systems. Instead, many schools rely on teacher reports and referrals without accounting for different informant perspectives. In the current study, multi-informant universal screening in evaluated using a trifactor model. The study utilized the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS), specifically the teacher (SAEBRS-TRS) and student (mySAEBRS) self-report forms, with items indicating risk for social, academic, and emotional behavior. Data from a national sample of over 24,000 K-12 teacher-student dyads were used to examine the extent and variance of discrepant reports between students and teachers of common, perspective, and item factors. Results demonstrated that informant perspective factors were a strong predictor for student and teacher emotional behavior item ratings. Whereas age had a positive effect on younger student reports of risk on the behavior items compared to older student reports, teachers showed the opposite effect. The teacherperspective of social and emotional behaviors of students was predicted by gender. Implications and directions for future research are further discussed.

Effects of motivation and workload on firefighters' perceived health, stress, and performance

This study investigated the effects of autonomous and controlled motivations, and workload on perceived stress, health, and performance. Workload was also considered as a moderator of the effects of autonomous motivation on perceived health and performance and of controlled motivation on perceived stress. We conducted an empirical study using a sample of 654 firefighters. Consistent with our predictions, results showed positive effects of autonomous motivation and negative effects of workload and controlled motivation on perceived health and performance. They also revealed positive effects of controlled motivation and workload and negative effects of autonomous motivation on perceived stress. Moreover, workload moderated the relations between autonomous motivation and perceived health and performance, so that the positive relations between autonomous motivation and perceived health and performance were lower when workload was high. Finally, workload moderated the relation between controlled motivation and perceived stress so that the positive relation between controlled motivation and perceived stress was stronger when workload was high. Theoretical contributions and perspectives, as well as implications for practice, are discussed.

Measurement Invariance of the Self-Description Questionnaire II in a Chinese Sample

Abstract. Studies on the construct validity of the Self-Description Questionnaire II (SDQII) have not compared the factor structure between the English and Chinese versions of the SDQII. By using rigorous multiple group comparison procedures based upon confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of measurement invariance, the present study examined the responses of Australian high school students (N = 302) and Chinese high school students (N = 322) using the English and Chinese versions of the SDQII, respectively. CFA provided strong evidence that the factor structure (factor loading and item intercept) of the Chinese version of the SDQII in comparison to responses to the English version of the SDQII is invariant, therefore it allows researchers to confidently utilize both the English and Chinese versions of the SDQII with Chinese and Australian samples separately and cross-culturally.

Evaluating Individual Students' Perceptions of Instructional Quality: An Investigation of their Factor Structure, Measurement Invariance, and Relations to Educational Outcomes

Students' perceptions of instructional quality are among the most important criteria for evaluating teaching effectiveness. The present study evaluates different latent variable modeling approaches (confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory structural equation modeling, and bifactor modeling), which are used to describe these individual perceptions with respect to their factor structure, measurement invariance, and the relations to selected educational outcomes (achievement, self-concept, and motivation in mathematics). On the basis of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 large-scale data sets of Australia, Canada, and the USA (N = 26,746 students), we find support for the distinction between three factors of individual students' perceptions and full measurement invariance across countries for all modeling approaches. In this regard, bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling outperformed alternative approaches with respect to model fit. Our findings reveal significant relations to the educational outcomes. This study synthesizes different modeling approaches of individual students' perceptions of instructional quality and provides insights into the nature of these perceptions from an individual differences perspective. Implications for the measurement and modeling of individually perceived instructional quality are discussed.

Hope, friends, and subjective well-being: a social network approach to peer group contextual effects

Research on adolescence has previously shown that factors like depression and burnout are influenced by friendship groups. Little research, however, has considered whether similar effects are present for variables such as hope and subjective well-being. Furthermore, there is no research that considers whether the degree of hope of an adolescent's friends is associated with well-being over the individual's level of hope. Data were collected in 2012 from a sample of 15-year-olds (N = 1,972; 62% Caucasian; 46% identified as Catholic; 25% had professional parents) from the East Coast of Australia. Findings suggest that individuals from the same friendship group were somewhat similar in hope and well-being. Multilevel structural equation modeling indicated that friendship group hope was significantly related to psychological and social well-being.

Grandparenthood and Subjective Well-Being: Moderating Effects of Educational Level

OBJECTIVES

Research on the influence of relationships with grandchildren on older adults' subjective well-being (SWB) has been sparse. Moreover, empirical results differ between studies. We examined whether grandparents' relationships with adolescent and adult grandchildren were associated with four aspects of SWB among grandparents and contrasted the strength of these associations with parent-adult child relationships. As conceptual work on the topic emphasizes a moderating role of social inequality, we tested whether the association between relationship qualities with kin and grandparents' SWB differs between educational groups.

METHOD

We used data from the German Ageing Survey (N = 990; age, M = 74 years) and applied multi-group structural equation models.

RESULTS

Relationships with adolescent and adult grandchildren were associated with all four facets of SWB. The association of relationship quality and SWB was moderated by grandparents' educational level for negative aspects of SWB (i.e., loneliness and negative affect) only.

DISCUSSION

Relationships with adolescent and adult grandchildren seem to generally boost positive aspects of SWB. The extent to which they may reduce negative aspects of SWB may be unequally distributed across educational groups. Less educated grandparents might be more exposed to and might be less able to cope with stressful aspects of grandparenthood than their better educated counterparts.

The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect in Mathematics

This substantive-methodological synergy demonstrates evolving multilevel latent-variable models for cross-cultural data. Using Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 data for U.S. and Saudi Arabian eighth grade students, we evaluate the psychometric properties (measurement invariance, method effects, and gender differences) of math self-concept, positive affect, coursework aspirations, and achievement. Extending the studies of the “paradoxical cross-cultural self-concept effect” largely based on U.S.-Asian comparisons, country-level differences strongly favored the United States for achievement test scores, but favored Saudi Arabia for self-concept and aspirations. Latent mean gender differences, of particular interest because of Saudi Arabia’s single-sex school system, interacted with country for all constructs. The largest interaction was for achievement test scores; there were no significant gender differences for U.S. students (in coed schools), but in single-sex Saudi schools, Saudi girls performed substantially better than Saudi boys. Consistently with previous (mostly Western) research, but not previously evaluated with TIMSS, in each of the four (2 gender × 2 country) groups all three outcomes (self-concept, affect, and aspiration) were positively influenced by individual student achievement but negatively influenced by class-average achievement (the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect: BFLPE). BFLPEs were similar in size for boys and girls in coeducational (United States) and in single-sex (Saudi) classrooms.