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The aim of this report is to examine the reliability of data from the practical driving test for category B 2009-2011 and study the composition of the group of test-takers and results and changes in pass rates over time during the period. Based on the data checks done it can be concluded that data is reliable. Data from 2011 does not comprise the entire year, but when data for the equivalent period previous years is compared with the year as a whole the differences are negligible.

There are certain differences between groups as to the proportion of passed tests. A larger proportion of test-takers below the age of 20 pass the test compared to older test-takers. A larger proportion of test-takers who were registered by a driving school passed than those who registered themselves. If you divide the test-takers by gender and type of registration a somewhat larger percentage of the men passed the driving test. As for average number of mistakes there are no major differences between the sexes except for manoeuvring.

As for the content of the test, the most common areas to test are street crossing, driving towards a goal and reversing. Motorway, lanes, roundabouts and signalled crossings are more commonly tested at the main offices, while narrow winding roads, railway crossing and turning off a main road are more common in the other places. Street crossing, lanes and motorway are the situations where the largest percentage of test-takers fails. The percentage of fails for each curricular module are fairly similar for main offices and other offices, but the proportion of fails is higher for roundabouts, driving towards a goal and railway crossings at the main offices. The requirement for attention and identifying risks is the hardest for test-takers to fulfil.

When comparing the results with previous years we find that the group differences are fairly similar, but the percentage of tests registered via a driving school continues to decrease. It is more common to include reversing in the test. Even though test-takers who has failed the theory tests are now allowed to take the practical driving test the percentage of passed tests remains on the same level for tests registered via driving schools and has only decreased by a couple of percentage points for the remaining tests.

Man kan köra upp på fler än 130 orter i Sverige, alla med olika trafik­miljöer, förarprövare och provtagare. Provtagarnas ålder och anmälnings­sätt skiljer sig åt på olika orter. På några orter genomförs få prov, på andra många. En del förarprövare genomför väldigt få prov, andra väldigt många. Vissa orter saknar vissa inslag i trafikmiljön, som exempelvis motorväg, järnvägskorsning eller cirkulationsplats. Trafikintensiteten på orterna skiljer sig åt. Kort sagt, det finns väldigt många aspekter som kan variera mellan enskilda prov. I rapporten presenteras olika sätt att åskåd­liggöra hur dessa skillnader mellan orter ser ut och några sätt att katego­risera orter.

Får detta konsekvenser för resultatet? Det är svårt att utreda eftersom flera variabler sannolikt samverkar och det är svårt att särskilja dem från varandra, och eftersom data ser ut som det gör. Dels är utfallet binärt – godkänt/underkänt – vilket begränsar vilka analyser som kan göras. Dels är det många kategorier inom variablerna ort och förarprövare. För att minska antalet kategorier kan man slå ihop dem till färre och större kate­gorier. Frågan är i så fall utifrån vilka kriterier och till hur många katego­rier. Av analyser framgår att provinnehållet skiljer sig åt mellan prov, såväl inom som mellan orter. Det är dock oklart om man mäter samma eller olika kvaliteter på olika orter, men det är nog inte så enkelt att säga att det är "lättare" att ta körkort på vissa orter än andra baserat på enkla jämförelser av godkännandegrad. Provtagarnas ålder och anmälningssätt, aspekter som vi vet påverkar godkännandegraden, skiljer sig också åt mellan orter.

The purpose of this study is to describe the trend regarding the pass rate for the driving test and examine to what degree changes of the pass rate can be linked to changes in the composition of the group of test-takers. Previously there have been no trend studies exploring changes with regard to the language of the theory test, i.e. whether the test-takers take the test in Swedish or another language so special attention will be given to this aspect.

The composition of the group of test-takers has changed quite a lot over the last 20 years. Test-takers can either register for the test via a driving school or on their own. The percentage of tests registered via a driving school has decreased, and in later years the number of driving tests not registered via a driving school following theory tests in other languages than Swedish has increased. The pass rate among the tests that were not registered via a driving school has decreased more than for those registered via a driving school. If the results are weighted to reflect the distribution of groups as it was in 1998 or 2010 one may conclude that if the total group of test-takers had had the same composition in later years the pass rate would probably not have decreased as much.

If theory tests are categorised according to whether they were carried out in Swedish or another language (translated or interpreted) results show that the percentage of tests in other languages has increased significantly since 2013. The percentage of driving tests following theory tests in other languages has also increased. Most of the driving tests after theory tests in other languages are carried out by test-takers who are 25 years or older and who have not registered for the test via a driving school. Such tests are also failed to a greater degree.

Many more tests are administered today than 10 or 20 years ago. The number of test-takers increased by 87 per cent between 1998 and 2016 while the number of tests increased by 137 per cent. A contributing factor is the change in 2008 that all were allowed to take the driving test regardless of result on the theory test (previously only those who passed could). If results on the driving test are divided by result on the preceding theory test (pass/fail) it turns out that the pass rate has decreased at roughly the same rate since 2012 for both those who failed and those who passed the theory test. However, a larger proportion of those who have passed the theory test also pass the driving test.

The changes in conditions for taking the driving test does not constitute the whole explanation. If comparing the number of driving tests in 2010 (when all were part of the new system) and 2016 the increase is 22 and 33 per cent respectively.

When performing analyses based on test-takers rather than tests it is also clear that the number of test-takers who are 25 or older and not registered via a driving school is increasing. At least from 2013 this increase is almost entirely due to test-takers who have taken the theory test in other languages than Swedish.  In 1998 24 per cent of the test-takers only took tests for which they had not registered via a driving school. In 2010 that percentage was 42 per cent an in 2016 53 per cent. Students who do not register for the test via a driving school also carry out more tests on average within the year than those who do.

Test-takers who carry out many driving tests have, to a greater extent than others, had the examiner intervene (e.g. by braking) during their first test attempt, which perhaps is a consequence of not being properly prepared.

To summarize: the trend with decreasing pass rate, an increasing proportion of older test-takers and of tests not registered via a driving school that has been visible over the last 20 years or so seems to be continuing. When looking at trends in a shorter perspective, the most notable change is the increase in theory tests that are taken in languages other than Swedish. These tests are, to a great extent, taken by older test-takers, not registered via a driving school, factors that are associated with a lower pass rate. Findings may inform policy makers and other stake-holders when it comes to understanding changes in the composition of test-takers and how possible efforts to increase pass rates could be targeted.

Data har samlats i samband med körproven under många år. Ett av de mått som presenterats är andel godkända prov och denna andel har minskat sedan 1998. I en tidigare rapport diskuterades faktorer som kan påverka resultatet i termer av förändringar i provtagar­gruppens samman­sättning. Denna rapport redovisar utvecklingen under senare år och beskriver dessutom sammansättningen utifrån såväl personer som prov.

Flera av resultaten presenteras utifrån sexton delgrupper. Indelnings­grunderna har varit ålder, kön och anmälningssätt. Inom respektive grupp har resultaten varit tämligen stabila över tid. Det är bland de privatanmälda provtagarna man kan se en nedåtgående trend. Samtidigt har andelen privatanmälda prov ökat.

I och med att sammanhållet prov infördes 2008 fick även de som under­känts på kunskapsprovet genomföra körprov, vilket tidigare inte varit fallet. En sådan omställning får även konsekvenser för godkännande­graden som blev lite högre för de prov som föregåtts av godkända kunskapsprov och lite lägre för samtliga prov.

Om man viktar resultaten för att återspegla den fördelning mellan grupper som rådde 1998 kan man konstatera att om provtagargruppen hade haft samma sammansättning under de följande åren skulle andelen godkända totalt ha varit högre under dessa år än vad som nu är fallet.

Data har samlats i samband med körproven under många år. Ett av de mått som presenterats är andel godkända prov och denna andel har minskat sedan 1998. I en tidigare rapport diskuterades faktorer som kan påverka resultatet i termer av förändringar i provtagar­gruppens samman­sättning. Denna rapport redovisar utvecklingen under senare år och beskriver dessutom sammansättningen utifrån såväl personer som prov.

Flera av resultaten presenteras utifrån sexton delgrupper. Indelnings­grunderna har varit ålder, kön och anmälningssätt. Inom respektive grupp har resultaten varit tämligen stabila över tid. Det är bland de privatanmälda provtagarna man kan se en nedåtgående trend. Samtidigt har andelen privatanmälda prov ökat.

I och med att sammanhållet prov infördes 2008 fick även de som under­känts på kunskapsprovet genomföra körprov, vilket tidigare inte varit fallet. En sådan omställning får även konsekvenser för godkännande­graden som blev lite högre för de prov som föregåtts av godkända kunskapsprov och lite lägre för samtliga prov.

Om man viktar resultaten för att återspegla den fördelning mellan grupper som rådde 1998 kan man konstatera att om provtagargruppen hade haft samma sammansättning under de följande åren skulle andelen godkända totalt ha varit högre under dessa år än vad som nu är fallet.

I oktober 2009 infördes krav på förarbevis för att köra moped klass II. För att få förarbevis måste provtagarna genomgå en obligatorisk utbildning och klara ett kunskapsprov. För att få tillstånd att förrätta prov för moped klass II fick provförrättare lämna in ett exempel på ett prov till Transportstyrelsen tillsammans med ansökan. Vi har analyserat ett urval av dessa prov. Dels gjordes en innehållsanalys av frågorna i proven för att undersöka i vilken utsträckning de täcker det innehåll som stipulerats i föreskriften, och dels undersöktes om de inlämnade proven följer riktlinjer om antal frågor samt hur frågorna följer generella riktlinjer för frågekonstruktion.

Bland de 34 utvalda provförrättarna hade 11 konstruerat egna prov, övriga angav att de använde de prov som Sveriges Trafikskolors Riksförbund (STR) utformat. Föreskriften (TSFS 2010:80) anger att provet ska innehålla 25 till 35 uppgifter. Samtliga studerade prov innehöll minst 25 uppgifter. Med ett par undantag förekommer uppgifter inom samtliga fyra innehållsområden som nämns i föreskriften. Tyngdpunkten ligger på området Trafikregler. Målen för utbildningen och målen för provet i föreskriften stämmer inte helt överens, vilket förmodli­gen är anledningen till att många uppgifter gäller innehåll som inte definieras i föreskriftens krav på provet. De flesta av dessa kan dock kopplas till utbildningsmål i föreskriften.

När det gäller vilka brister som uppträder kan man exempelvis konstatera att vissa frågor kunde vara mer tydligt formulerade, en del svarsalternativ avviker eller är för osannolika, vilket gör antalet reella svarsalternativ färre, vilket är olyckligt.

Både innehåll och utformning av proven varierar avsevärt varför det vore bäst att låta Transportstyrelsen utforma även provet för förarbevis för moped klass II. Det skulle innebära ökad enhetlighet och likvärdighet och därmed en mer rättssäker prövning. Det skulle vara möjligt att sträva efter parallella prov. Det skulle också göra det lättare att övervaka resul­taten och kvaliteten i provet över tid än vad som är möjligt med nuva­rande tillsynsförfarande.

The role of intelligence and motivational constructs in school achievement is well attested. Beliefs and attitudes about assessment (including classroom assessment, homework and tests) can be adaptive within a self-regulation of learning framework. However, the role of intelligence upon the student and parent coping with school assessment practices is less well known. This paper examines responses of Swedish Grade 6 (modal age 13) students (N = 4749) participating in the Education Through Follow-up (ETF) project to four cognitive tests and survey items concerning achievement demands. Their responses were integrated with parent perceptions of grading and school pressure. Robust factors for intelligence, student perceptions, and parental perceptions were found and introduced into a structural equation model with intelligence as the predictor. The well-fitting SEM model showed that intelligence had statistically significant predictions on all four student and three parent perceptions factors, of which two predicted student factors. However, only one prediction was substantive; intelligence on coping with school demands (beta = 0.48). Although not allowing for causal inference, the results support the claim that general cognitive abilities act as a predictor of self-regulating capability of coping with school demands.

This study aims at modeling the self-reported test-taking motivation items in PISA and TIMSS Advanced studies for Swedish students using an IRT approach. In the last two cycles of the assessments, six test-specific items were included in the Swedish student questionnaires to evaluate pupil’s effort, motivation and how they perceived the importance of the tests. Using a Multiple-Group Generalized Partial Credit model (MG-GPCM), we created an IRT motivation scale for each assessment. We also investigated measurement invariance for the two cycles of PISA (i.e., 2012 and 2015) and of TIMSS Advanced (i.e., 2008 and 2015). Results indicated that the proposed scales refer to unidimensional constructs and measure reliably students’ motivation (Cronbach’s alpha above 0.78). Differential item functioning across assessment cycles was restricted to two criteria (RMSD and DSF) and had more impact on the latent motivation scale for PISA than for TIMSS Advanced. Overall, the test-taking motivation items fit well the purpose of a diagnostic of test-taking motivation in these two surveys and the proposed scales highlighted the slight increase of pupils’ motivation across the assessment cycles.

The primary aim of this randomized controlled clinical trial was to compare the outcome from two types of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. The participants were thirty-nine women with depression. Half of the participants (n = 18) received art psychotherapy and the other half received verbal psychotherapy (n = 21). Data was collected before and after psychotherapy, and at a 3-month follow-up using self-rating scales and interviewer-based ratings. Results showed that art and verbal psychotherapies were comparable, and at follow-up, the average participant in both groups had few depressive symptoms and stress-related symptoms. The conclusion was that short-term psychodynamic art therapy could be a valuable treatment for depressed women.

Using the expectancy-value model of achievement motivation as a basis, this study’s purpose is to develop, apply, and validate scores from a self-report instrument measuring student test-taking motivation. Sampled evidence of construct validity for the present sample indicates that a number of the items in the instrument could be used as an indicator of student test-taking motivation. Exploratory factor analyses suggests that the test-taking motivation construct is distinct from general attitudes toward a subject and that task value perceptions are distinct from task performance expectancies. The instrument needs further development to consolidate its psychometric properties and to laborate on the testtaking motivation construct in relation to the expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation.

The main objective of this thesis was to explore issues related to student achievement motivation in the Swedish TIMSS 2003 (Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study) context. The thesis comprises of five empirical papers and a summary. The expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation was used as the general theoretical framework in all empirical papers, and all papers are concerned with construct validation in one form or another. Aspects of student achievement motivation were measured on a task-specific level (motivation to do well on the TIMSS test) and on a domain-specific level (self-concept in and valuing of mathematics and science) and regressed on test performance.

The first paper reports the development and validation of scores from an instrument measuring aspects related to student test-taking motivation. It was shown that a number of items in the instrument could be interpreted as a measure of test-taking motivation, and that the test-taking motivation construct was distinct from other related constructs. The second paper related the Swedish students’ ratings of mathematics test-taking motivation to mathematics performance in TIMSS 2003. The students in the sample on average reported that they were well motivated to do their best on the TIMSS mathematics test and their ratings of test-taking motivation were positively but rather weakly related to achievement. In the third and the fourth papers, the internal structure and relation to performance of the mathematics and science self-concept and task value scales used in TIMSS internationally was investigated for the Swedish TIMSS 2003 sample. For mathematics, it was shown that the internationally derived scales were suitable also for the Swedish sample. It was further shown that ratings of self-concept were rather strongly related to mathematics achievement while ratings of mathematics value were basically unrelated to mathematics achievement. For the science subjects, the internal structure of the scales was less simple, and ratings of self-concept and valuing of science were not very strongly related to science achievement. The study presented in the fifth paper used interviews and an open-ended questionnaire item to further investigate student test-taking motivation and perceptions of the TIMSS test. The results mainly corroborated the results from study II.

In the introductory part of the thesis, the empirical studies are summarized, contextualized, and discussed. The discussion relates obtained results to theoretical assumptions, applied implications, and to issues of validity in the TIMSS context.

The present study investigated whether two summated rating scales used in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2003), Mathematics Self-Concept (MSC), and Students' Valuing of Mathematics (VoM) seemed appropriate, meaningful, and useful in a Swedish context. The 4,256 Swedish eighth-grade students involved in TIMSS 2003 participated in the study. Items in the TIMSS Student Background Questionnaire asking for motivational beliefs were subjected to item analyses, principal components analyses, and confirmatory factor analyses. Factor scores were saved and regressed on mathematics score. The results indicated that the MSC scale was internally consistent, showed a simple factor structure that fitted the data rather well, and was positively related to mathematics achievement. The VoM scale was unrelated to mathematics score, showed a poor model-data fit, and the items in the scale were rather heterogeneous. The findings are discussed from an expectancy-value perspective and suggestions for researchers performing secondary analyses on TIMSS data are presented.

An achievement test score can be viewed as a joint function of skill and will, of knowledge and motivation. However, when interpreting and using test scores, the 'will' part is not always acknowledged and scores are mostly interpreted and used as pure measures of student knowledge. This paper argues that students' motivation to do their best on the assessment - their test-taking motivation - is important to consider from an assessment validity perspective. This is true not least in assessment contexts where the assessment outcome has no consequences for the test-taker. The paper further argues that the quality of assessment of test-taking motivation also needs attention. Theoretical and methodological issues related to the assessment of test-taking motivation are presented from a validity perspective, and findings from empirical studies on the relation between test stakes, test-taking motivation and test performance are presented.

Student motivation and self-beliefs in relation to school are important constructs when it comes to student learning and achievement. Adaptive motivational dispositions can be valued not only as predictors of performance but also as outcomes of schooling. Thus, it is not surprising that ILSAs from the very start have attempted to assess aspects related to student motivation and self-beliefs in addition to scholastic proficiency and literacy.

In this chapter, the motivational frameworks used in different ILSAs, with emphasis on those used in PISA and TIMSS/PIRLS, are briefly described together with the characteristics of contemporary motivation theory in order to give a context to research that has been published on the topic.

The main part of this chapter is then devoted to a review of findings from studies using ILSA data to explore motivational aspects such as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, self-concept, and self-efficacy. The ambition is not to cover all existing research across time and ILSAs but rather to provide a representative and informative overview of salient research questions and main findings in relation to student motivation and beliefs in ILSA studies. In particular, findings regarding the relevance of motivational constructs for student achievement are reviewed across studies and contexts.

On a more general level, an attempt is also made to situate the ILSA motivation research within the larger achievement motivation research field. It will be argued that provided that the measured motivational constructs are properly defined and operationalized, secondary analyses using ILSA data can contribute to motivation research, in particular regarding the generalizability and universality of theoretical assumption and corroboration of findings using large-scale data.

This study explores the reported level of test-taking motivation and the relation between test-taking motivation and mathematics achievement in a sample of Swedish eighth-grade students (n = 343) participating in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003. A majority of students reported that they were motivated to do their best in TIMSS. Test-taking motivation was positively related to mathematics achievement, but the effect was small and not statistically significant when other relevant variables were held constant. Further, gender comparisons showed that test-taking motivation was positively, but not significantly related to achievement in boys, and was unrelated to achievement in girls. This result was probably due to the larger variability in boys' ratings. It was concluded that the Swedish TIMSS mathematics result is unlikely to be affected by a lack of student motivation, but that further research on the relation between test-taking motivation and test achievement is warranted.

The study’s objective was to investigate student test-taking motivation in the Swedish TIMSS 2003 context. Swedish eighth-grade students formed the study sample and the focus was on mathematics. Test-taking motivation was measured using questionnaire items and interviews, and reported level of test-taking motivation was regressed on test score. The questionnaire study showed that the Swedish students in general reported that they were well motivated to do their best in TIMSS. According to regression analysis, test-taking motivation was positively and significantly though rather weakly related to mathematics achievement. The interview study mainly corroborated the main results from the questionnaire study but added some complexity to the results. Although most interviewed students reported that they were well motivated to do their best in TIMSS and that they valued a good performance, they nevertheless seemed aware of the fact that the test was low-stakes for them personally. Many students further reported competitive, comparative, or social responsibility reasons as motivating, while other students seemed more intrinsically motivated to do their best. Findings from quantitative as well as qualitative analyses suggest that the Swedish TIMSS result is unlikely to be negatively affected by a lack of student motivation. However, nothing is known about student test-taking motivation in other countries participating in TIMSS, and further research exploring this issue in an international context is warranted.

The study’s objective was to investigate the test-taking motivation of students in the Swedish TIMSS 2003 context. Swedish Grade 8 students formed the study sample, and the focus was on mathematics. Test-taking motivation was measured using self-report measures (Likert-scale and open-ended questionnaire items), and reported level of test-taking motivation was regressed on test score. The quantitative part of the questionnaire study showed that the Swedish students in general reported that they were well motivated to do their best in TIMSS. According to regression analysis, test-taking motivation was positively and significantly, although rather weakly, related to mathematics achievement. Qualitative analysis of an open-ended questionnaire item mainly corroborated obtained findings but added some complexity to the results. In their answers to the open-ended item, most students reported they were well motivated to do their best in TIMSS and that they valued a good performance. Many students reported competitive, comparative, or social-responsibility reasons as motivating, while other students seemed more intrinsically motivated to do their best. Findings from quantitative as well as qualitative analyses suggest that the Swedish mathematics result in TIMSS 2003 is unlikely to be negatively affected by a lack of student motivation. However, nothing is known about student test-taking motivation in other countries participating in TIMSS, and further research exploring this issue in an international context is warranted.

Hur upplever 9-10 åringar de nationella proven i åk 3? Påverkar upplevelsen prestationen? Påverkas något matematikdelområde mer eller mindre av upplevelsen? Skiljer sig olika uppgifter åt beroende på om de har mer eller mindre text respektive bilder? Vad kan man som lärare tänka på och göra i allmänhet och i synnerhet vid prov/förhörssituationer?

Läsåret 2012/13 genomfördes en studie med 624 st elever i åk 3 för att bringa klarhet i ovan frågor. Eleverna fick göra olika arbetsminnesövningar och svara på frågor om stress, motivation och attityder, etc. Teoretiskt tror man nämligen att allt för hög nivå av t ex stress (prestationsångest) sänker ens prestation på ett prov/förhör. Resultaten på de olika nationella delproven i matematik kördes därför statistiskt mot nivå av självrapporterad stress/ångest och uppskattad eller egentlig prestationsförmåga hos eleverna.

Uppskattad eller egentlig förmåga att prestera i matematik för elever kan mätas genom t ex deras arbetsminneskapacitet. Arbetsminne är en kognitiv förmåga som är väl klarlagd för att väsentligen påverka prestation och utveckling inom t ex matematik- och läsförståelse hos både vuxna och barn (Menon, 2010). Det finns dessutom starka kopplingar mellan arbetsminneskapacitet och skolprestation i teoretiska ämnen. Majoriteten av de elever som har inlärningssvårigheter i skolan verkar även ha svag arbetsminnesförmåga (Gathercole et al., 2006).

Arbetsminnet kan förenklat beskrivas som bestå av tre olika specialiserade komponenter. En huvudcentral som t ex kontrollerar, fördelar, uppmärksammar och processerar information, och hämtar/lagrar information från/i långtidsminnet. Till sin hjälp har denna huvudcentral en visuell-spatial del för hantering av bilder, former och dimension, samt en auditiv del för behandling av lingvistik (Baddeley, 1986). Matematik innefattar olika områden som beror av olika kognitiva förmågor (t ex huvudräkning, problemlösning), vilka i sin tur är relaterade till visuell-spatial och/eller auditiv fakta (Rasmussen & Bisanz, 2005).

”Provstress” eller ”provängslan” är en etablerad term för att beskriva elevers påverkan och upplevelse av prov. Termen innefattar ofta för barn observerbara beteenden (t ex gå på toan, vicka på stolen, titta sig omkring), tankar/oro (t ex jag kommer aldrig att klara det här, mina föräldrar kommer att bli arga om jag misslyckas), autonoma/somatiska reaktioner (t ex svettas, ont i magen, varm om kinderna) (Zeidner, 2007). Man tror att provängslan är ett inlärt beteende som väcks tidigt i skolåren (Pekrun, 2000). Det är ett väldigt inskränkande tillstånd (Rothman, 2004) som starkt kan begränsa elevers prestation i alla åldrar (Birenbaum & Gutvirtz, 1993). Även om ett visst mått av provängslan är nödvändigt för att öka fokus, motivation och förberedelse (Gregor, 2005), kan det i allt för höga nivåer negativt påverka en elevs prestation och resultat på ett prov (Zeidner, 2007), särskilt i matematik (e.g. Putwain, 2008). 

Om och hur stark den kognitiva störningen är av provängslan används alltså i vår studie som ett mått eller symptom på elevers ev. underprestation. Vi undersöker också om eleverna uppvisar mer eller mindre av beteenden, autonoma reaktioner eller tankar relaterat till provängslan. Slutligen summerar vi våra resultat mot undervisning och prov/förhörssituationer. En jämförelse kommer även att göras med Finländska och Kinesiska åk-3 elever.

With the purpose of mapping the test-taking motivation construct, theoretically and empirically, the current paper presents a synthesis of findings from test-taking motivation studies performed in various large-scale educational assessment settings. Self-report scales measuring reported motivation to spend effort on the test, and in some studies also other aspects of expectancy and value, have been administered to Swedish samples taking tests such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study - Advanced (TIMSS), the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Swedish National Tests. Taken together, results indicate that tests with lower stakes are associated with a lower level of reported test-taking motivation, that the expectancy-value theory seems a viable framework for interpreting the test-taking motivation construct, and that reported level of motivation consistently seems to have a significant effect on test performance, also when modelled together with other motivational and background variables.

Although large-scale national tests have been used for many years in Swedish compulsory schools, very little is known about how pupils actually react to these tests. The question is relevant, however, as pupil reactions in the test situation may affect test performance as well as future attitudes towards assessment. The question is relevant also in light of the changing assessment culture in Sweden and other European countries. The main purpose of the present study was to explore how a sample of grade 9 pupils perceived their first encounter with national tests in science, mainly in terms of perceived importance of the test, reported invested effort, and feelings of test anxiety, and how these aspects were related to test performance. Results show that a majority of the pupils seemed to perceive the test as rather important and claimed that they spent effort on the test. There was, however, also a fair group of students who did not perceive the test as very important. Ratings of perceived importance and invested effort and motivation were positively related to performance, particularly for the boys. Many students also reported that they felt anxious before and during the test, but the relationship between test anxiety and test performance was rather weak. Findings illuminate how pupils may perceive and behave in the assessment situation, and point to the need of further studies investigating the psychology of test-taking.

The purpose of the study was to measure students' reported test-taking effort and the relationship between reported effort and performance on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Advanced mathematics test. This was done in three countries participating in TIMSS Advanced 2008 (Sweden, Norway, and Slovenia), and the present study is the first to make a cross-national comparison of reported effort in the TIMSS context. Students in all three samples on average reported a rather low level of motivation to spend effort on the low-stakes TIMSS test and in all nations, there was a statistically significant relationship between reported effort and test performance. These patterns of results were similar for the three nations, although there were also differences. The Swedish students reported the lowest level of invested effort, and the relationship between reported effort and test performance was strongest for Sweden. Although the study has limitations, findings are potentially important and suggest that student effort and motivation needs continued monitoring in low-stakes assessment contexts such as TIMSS, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), or National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

It is well established that math anxiety has a negative relationship with math performance (MP). A few theories have provided explanations for this relationship. One of them, the Attentional Control Theory (ACT), suggests that anxiety can negatively impact the attentional control system and increase one's attention to threat-related stimuli. Within the ACT framework, the math anxiety (MA)—working memory (WM) relationship is argued to be critical for math performance. The present meta-analyses provides insights into the mechanisms of the MA—MP relation and the mediating role of WM. Through database searches with pre-determined search strings, 1,346 unique articles were identified. After excluding non-relevant studies, data from 57 studies and 150 effect sizes were used for investigating the MA—MP correlation using a random-effects model. This resulted in a mean correlation of r = −0.168. The database search of WM as a mediator for the MA—MP relation revealed 15 effects sizes leading to a descriptive rather than a generalizable statistic, with a mean indirect effect size of −0.092. Overall, the results confirm the ACT theory, WM does play a significant role in the MA—MP relationship.

Each time new PISA results are presented, they gain a lot of attention. However, there are many factors that lie behind the results, and they get less attention. In this study, we take a person-centered approach and focus on students’ motivation and beliefs, and how these predict students’ effort and performance on the PISA 2015 assessment of scientific literacy. Moreover, we use both subjective (self-report) and objective (time-based) measures of effort, which allows us to compare these different types of measures. Latent profile analysis was used to group students in profiles based on their instrumental motivation, enjoyment, interest, self-efficacy, and epistemic beliefs (all with regard to science). A solution with four profiles proved to be best. When comparing the effort and performance of these four profiles, we saw several significant differences, but many of these differences disappeared when we added gender and the PISA index of economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS) as control variables. The main difference between the profiles, after adding control variables, was that the students in the profile with most positive motivation and sophisticated epistemic beliefs performed best and put in the most effort. Students in the profile with unsophisticated epistemic beliefs and low intrinsic values (enjoyment and interest) were most likely to be classified as low-effort responders. We conclude that strong motivation and sophisticated epistemic beliefs are important for both the effort students put into the PISA assessment and their performance, but also that ESCS had an unexpectedly large impact on the results.

Computer-based assessments can provide data reflecting not just the examinees’ item responses but also their overt behavior during the test. The PISA test is computer-based since 2015 and all student-computer interactions are logged, thus allowing researchers to look closer into test-takers’ behavior. Studies have shown that different kinds of examinee test-taking actions (or lack of actions) are related to students’ performance (e.g. Greiff, Niepel, Scherer, & Martin, 2016). However, previous studies have mainly explored selected-response items, and described students’ test-taking behavior as a sequence of different actions on this type of items. Students’ behavior on open-response items is still underexplored.

The present study therefore aims to describe the students’ test-taking behavior on open-response items in PISA 2015 as measured by number of actions.  Few studies have used number of actions as an explanatory variable and, to our knowledge, this is the first study exploring students’ test-taking behavior on open-response items in a large-scale international study. We used Swedish PISA 2015 data and chose to analyze actions on one science cluster, hence all students in the sample (n = 1227) responded to the same items, although the cluster could appear in one of four positions in the test.

Different factors influencing the number of actions were examined and the effect of number of actions on performance was investigated. Results indicated that number of actions is mediating the effect of self-reported test-taking effort on performance. Also, a significant indirect effect of cluster position on science performance through number of actions was found.

Collecting process data in computer-based assessments provides opportunities to describe examinee behaviour during a test-taking session. The number of actions taken by students while interacting with an item is in this context a variable that has been gaining attention. The present study aims to investigate how the number of actions performed on constructed-response items relates to self-reported effort, performance, and item cluster position in the test. The theory of planned behaviour was used as an interpretative framework. Data from two item clusters of the 2015 Swedish Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Science administration were utilised. Results showed that the number of actions was significantly related to performance on the items, self-reported test-taking effort, and cluster position. Latent variable models were examined separately for performance-level groups. Overall, the number of actions performed on constructed-response items as a behavioural indicator in testing situations may be useful in gauging test-taking engagement.