Making Learning Real: Design Principles and Evidence for Applied Learning in Schools
Category: Student Learning
Instrument Overview
Expert Notes AvailableView expert commentary on strengths and cautions for this instrument
Strengths
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.
The 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 assesses how comfortable students feel on campus and whether they feel like members of the campus community.The instrument was featured in a large-scale study published in 2007. This research was guided by earlier work from 1997 regarding student belonging. The 2007 study expanded the scope of previous research to include a national sample of nearly 3,000 first-year undergraduates. The scale helps educators understand differences in student adjustment, as research indicates that minority student populations may report a less strong sense of belonging than their Caucasian peers.
Organization
Topic
Collection Category(ies)
Content
Grades
9th Grade,
10th Grade,
11th Grade,
12th Grade
Respondent
Student
Administration Information
Length
35 items
Access and Use
Open Access
Yes
Use in Research
Anderman, E. M., & Midgley, C. (1997). Changes in achievement goal orientations, perceived academic competence, and grades across the transition to middle-level schools. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 22(3), 269–298.
Ryan, A. M., Gheen, M. H., & Midgley, C. (1998). Why do some students avoid asking for help? An examination of the interplay among students’ academic efficacy, teachers’ social-emotional role, and the classroom goal structure. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3), 528–535.
Urdan, T., Midgley, C., & Anderman, E. (1998). The role of classroom goal structure in students’ use of self-handicapping strategies. American Educational Research Journal, 35(1), 101–122.
Meece, J. L., Anderman, E. M., & Anderman, L. H. (2006). Classroom goal structure, student motivation, and academic achievement. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 487–503.
Kaplan, A., & Maehr, M. L. (2007). The contributions and prospects of goal orientation theory. Educational Psychology Review, 19, 141–184.
Al-Harthy, I. S., & Was, C. A. (2013). Knowledge monitoring, goal orientations, self-efficacy, and academic performance: A path analysis. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 10(4), 263–278.
Psychometrics (additional guidance)
Reliability
Cronbach's alpha: .7 to .86
Psychometric References
Midgley, C., Maehr, M. L., Hruda, L. Z., Anderman, E., Anderman, L. H., Freeman, K. E., Gheen, M., Kaplan, A., Kumar, R., Middleton, M. J., Nelson, J., Roeser, R., & Urdan, T. (2000). Manual for the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (PALS). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.
Item Type
Likert
