Perceived Stress Scale
Expert NotesStrengths:Broadly validated measure of students’ perceived stress. Used across college and educational settings. 10-item version available.
Cautions:Not education-specific: Measures general stress rather than school-related stressors. Captures perceptions, not specific causes: Scores do not identify whether stress comes from academics, finances, relationships, or other factors.
Topics: Student Well-BeingTags: Motivation, Stress and copingThe Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a 14-item survey instrument. It measures a person's global level of perceived stress. Specifically, it assesses the degree to which an individual appraises situations in their life as stressful. The PSS uses Likert-style items to determine how unpredictable,…Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales
Expert NotesStrengths:Strong theoretical foundation: Grounded in achievement goal theory and measures well-established motivational constructs. Broad coverage: Assesses student goals, classroom goal structures, and related learning beliefs.
Cautions:Subscales vary in quality: Psychometric evidence differs across PALS scales. Context-dependent: Responses may be influenced by specific classroom or school environments.
Topics: Student LearningTags: Motivation, Student engagementThe Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (PALS) is a 5-item survey instrument. The items are self-reporting scales that examine the connection between the learning environment and students' motivation, affect, and behavior based on students' sense of belonging within a college community. The tool…Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales
Expert NotesStrengths:Strong theoretical foundation: Grounded in achievement goal theory and measures well-established motivational constructs. Broad coverage: Assesses student goals, classroom goal structures, and related learning beliefs.
Cautions:Subscales vary in quality: Psychometric evidence differs across PALS scales. Context-dependent: Responses may be influenced by specific classroom or school environments.
Topics: Student LearningTags: Motivation, Student engagementThe Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (PALS) is a 5-item survey instrument. The items are self-reporting scales that examine the connection between the learning environment and students' motivation, affect, and behavior based on students' sense of belonging within a college community. The tool…Overall Sense of Belonging subscale
Expert NotesStrengths:Validated with racially diverse first-year U.S. college students. Useful for examining how campus climate and college experiences relate to students’ sense of belonging.
Cautions:Evidence is strongest for first-year college students.
Topics: Student Well-BeingTags: Belonging, MotivationThe Overall Sense of Belonging subscale is a brief, 3-item survey that measures how well students connect to their school community. This instrument was developed by Dawn Johnson, Matthew Soldner, Jeannie Brown Leonard, Patty Alvarez, Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas, Heather Rowan-Kenyon, and Susan…Online Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire
Expert NotesStrengths:Strong psychometric performance: high discrimination, acceptable internal consistency, and good overall model fit with clear separation of factors
Cautions:Cross-group comparability concerns: several items may not demonstrate measurement invariance across racial/ethnic groups, gender, and first generation status
Topics: Student LearningThe Online Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire (OSLQ) is a 24-item survey. Researchers at Baylor University and Texas Tech University developed this instrument. It measures how well students manage their own learning in online or blended environments. The tool is designed for students at the post…Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale – Adolescent
Expert NotesStrengths:Strong evidence for measuring present-moment awareness and detecting change following mindfulness interventions.
Validated across U.S. adolescents and adults and multiple international student populations. Strong internal consistency (often α ≈ .85–.92).Cautions:Self-report scores should not be treated as direct evidence of actual mindful behavior.
Topics: Student Well-BeingTags: College readinessThe Mindful Attention Awareness Scale – Adolescent (MAAS – A) is a 2011 adaptaption of the Brown & Ryan (2003) MAAS. It measures a single concept called dispositional mindfulness and is used for screening and progress monitoring. Research shows that higher scores relate to improved well-being…Metacognitive Awareness Inventory
Expert NotesStrengths:Comprehensive coverage of regulation skills: captures important aspects like planning, monitoring, and evaluating one's learning. Widely used and recognized: makes it easier to compare findings across studies and settings. Strong overall construct: works well as a general metacognitive measure with acceptable internal consistency for total scale. Stable over time: strong measurement invariance supports longitudinal use.
Cautions:Subscales may be less reliable like evaluation and debugging, especially when administered using True/False format. Dimensional ambiguity: using the two-dimension solution (knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition) may be more psychometrically appropriate than having all subscales within each dimension. Self report limitations: Responses may reflect what students think they do rather than what they actually do while learning. Cross-group differences: some items may not show measurement invariance across racial/ethnic groups, especially reflection-related items.
Topics: Student LearningTags: College readinessThe Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) is a 52-item survey. Metacognition was defined by Schraw and Dennison as: "the ability to reflect upon, understand, and control one's learning."This instrument measures a student’s ability to reflect upon, understand, and control their learning. The tool…Metacognitive Activities Inventory
Expert NotesStrengths:Validated for assessing metacognitive skillfulness in chemistry problem solving, including identifying students who may benefit from metacognitive interventions. Has been used to evaluate changes in metacognition following instruction or interventions; higher MCA-I scores also corresponded to more metacognitive problem-solving strategies.
Cautions:Evidence is primarily from postsecondary chemistry students; it has not been established for predicting chemistry achievement or making high-stakes individual decisions.
Topics: Student LearningTags: College readinessThe Metacognitive Activities Inventory (MCA-I) assesses students’ use of metacognition during chemistry problem solving—how they plan, monitor, and evaluate their thinking and problem-solving processes. Developed and validated by Sandi-Ureña (2008), the MCA-I was created to address the difficulty…