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The mixed-methods sequential explanatory design study presented here sought to investigate the acceptance and self-perceived self-efficacy of Augmented Reality technology among English as a Foreign Language teacher candidates. This study’s contribution to the field of AR as an instructional technology lies in that research on the using AR technology in language teacher education are particularly limited. To bridge this research gap, one-group pre-test-post-test design was used in this study, in which ten weeks of AR-enhanced English language teacher training treatment was carried out. To answer the research questions, quantitative data were gathered from 50 volunteers by using the Technology Acceptance Model survey and Self-Efficacy Scale. Qualitative data were received via semi-structured interviews carried out with 12 pre-service teachers. Findings revealed that there was a significant increase in EFL teacher candidates’ levels of AR technology acceptance whereas no significant difference was identified in their self-perceived self-efficacy. The interviewees proposed interpersonal, intrapersonal, technological, and technical factors to explain their low self-efficacy levels. Based on the findings, the paper offers implications and suggestions for researchers, teacher educators, and policymakers. The solutions to increase the level of acceptance and self-perceived self-efficacy levels to use AR among EFL Teacher Candidates include courses on Emergent Technologies (ICT, MALL, CALL, AR), training via seminars, workshops, input sessions through (inter)nationally funded projects, real-life examples, field-specific samples, and hands-on experiences.

Analyzing additional data from a longitudinal field experiment, the present research investigate whether pretraining perceived social self-efficacy (PSSE) may moderate cross-cultural training effectiveness. On the basis of the interactionist perspective, we hypothesized that sojourners with high pre-training PSSE would benefit more from a cross-cultural coping orientation program, called “Realistic Orientation Program for Entry Stress” (ROPES), than sojourners with low pre-training PSSE. As a result, the treatment effects (the ROPES program over the control program—a traditional cross-cultural orientation program) would be more positive for high-PSSE sojourners than for low-PSSE sojourners. Seventy-two incoming graduate students from East Asia entering a large US public university were randomly assigned to either a ROPES program or a control program, and were assessed pre-entry and multiple times post-entry. The results strongly supported our predictions, as the hypothesized PSSE × Treatment interactions were observed on a comprehensive set of training outcomes based on multisource data. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Science communication is an important part of science literacy that helps build trust in science, promotes the public interest, and supports informed decision-making on scientific issues. However, the literature lacks studies examining undergraduate student’s competence, interest, and self-efficacy in science communication. This study investigated undergraduate student’s competence, interest, and perceived self-efficacy skills in science communication. Two instruments were used to collect data from 226 undergraduate students in a public research university. The findings revealed that participants’ competence and interest in science communication were moderate. The data shows that STEM students lack confidence in their ability to engage in science communication and are not particularly interested in it. The study found no significant differences in competence, interest, perceived self-efficacy, and gender. Likewise, no significant differences were found in competence and perceived self-efficacy across different grade levels. However, there was a significant relationship between participants’ interests and their grade levels. The effect size was small for competence and interests in science communication. The conclusion discusses the implications of the findings for future studies.

Purpose: To identify factors influencing patients’ anti‐retroviral therapy (ART) adherence at four clinics in Botswana. Design: Quantitative descriptive. Structured interviews were conducted with a random sample of 400 patients out of the population of all patients attending the four randomly selected ART clinics in Botswana during April and May 2007. Methods: Data were analysed using SPSS version 13. Chi‐square and p‐value calculations were done to test significance of the relationships between categories or variables. Findings: Patient‐centred barriers to ART adherence included inadequate knowledge about ART, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), CD4 cell and viral‐load results, stigma, travelling costs, waiting times at clinics, side effects of ART, use of traditional (indigenous or folk) medicines, and abuse of alcohol. Service‐centred barriers included nurses’ attitudes and knowledge, health workers’ inability to conduct home visits and to contact defaulters, limited clinic hours, delays in getting CD4 and viral‐load results. Conclusions: ART adherence requires more than free ART. Adherence levels will improve if both patient‐centred and service‐centred barriers are addressed. Clinical Relevance: Nurses play key roles in educating patients about ART adherence and side effects, but they should also educate patients about CD4 and viral‐load test results and about the dangers of using traditional medicines and alcohol with ART. Shorter waiting times at clinics could make ART patients’ lives more manageable.

The primary treatment for breast cancer patients is surgery which often impacts physical activity (PA). This study aimed to investigate factors associated with the PA level of Thai women with breast cancer after surgical mastectomy at Siriraj Hospital, Thailand. Ninety-three participants completed the questionnaires which included personal information, the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, interpersonal influence and situational influence, the Thai Body Image Index score, and the Thai Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square statistics (Odds-Ratio and 95% Confidence Interval) and multiple logistic regression analysis. The study found that post-mastectomy Thai women participated in sufficient PA (2.8 metabolic equivalent of tasks (METs)). It was also found that PA at work was associated with occupation, higher incomes, moderate satisfaction as assessed by the Thai Body Image Index score, and higher levels of anxiety and depression. Participation in recreational activities was associated with older age, higher perceived self-efficacy, and greater interpersonal influence. However, statistically significant associations from the chi-square test did not remain significant after analysis with the multiple logistic regression. By exploring these associations, we can tailor supportive care strategies to address the PA needs of individuals affected by breast cancer which is essential for the development of comprehensive interventions that optimize patient health and well-being throughout the cancer journey.

PurposeIn advanced societies, lifestyles are increasingly sedentary, and it is important to identify strategies to help people acquire healthy habits, such as exercise. The present study proposes the use of gamification as a strategy for encouraging users to exercise regularly, based on the possibilities offered by “smart” devices such as smartbands.Design/methodology/approachThe work analyzes how individuals experience their participation in a gamification program, on the premise that it should provide an experience that is intrinsically motivating and fun. Also the moderator effect of the gender and age on the relationship between their experience of participating in a gamification program and perceived self-efficacy.FindingsThe results show that individuals' experience of participating in a gamification program exerts a positive influence on their perceived self-efficacy in the practice of sport or exercise. The study also finds that the variables “gender” and “age” moderate the relationship between their experience of participating in a gamification program and perceived self-efficacy, such that it exerts a greater influence on women and older people.Practical implicationsThe practical implications for the professionals and institutions involved in promoting the adoption of regular sport and exercise in society are about taking advantage of the potential of wearable technology such as smartbands. The present study finds that the use of gamification for encouraging people to adopt regular physical activity is more effective for women than for men, and for older people than for younger users.Originality/valueThe findings of this study provide a better understanding of whether gamification is an appropriate strategy for helping participants to perceive themselves as having greater self-efficacy in their chosen sport or exercise, taking into account the moderating effect of participant gender and age.

Dropout is a problematic issue in education due to its high prevalence and impact on students and society. In fact, it can limit students’ future options, and it involves a substantial cost for public budgets in most countries. This is not an easy problem to solve, since student dropout is a complex decisional process involving such factors as personal and contextual characteristics, educational variables, and psychosocial aspects. Very few studies have examined whether sociodemographic and psycho-educational variables affect educational dropout at different academic levels. For this reason, the present study aims to provide a better understanding of the role of several variables (age, academic results, gender, sexual orientation, academic help-seeking, academic self-efficacy, and planning as a strategy to cope with academic stress) in educational dropout thoughts in a sample of 759 students resident in Spain (age: M  = 22.91, 74.0% women). Regression analyses showed that dropout thoughts were significantly predicted by academic results, planning, sexual orientation, academic self-efficacy, and academic help-seeking. Agreements and discrepancies with previous research are discussed. The results of the current study can be used by educators, policy makers and institutions to develop programmes to reduce student dropout by enhancing self-regulated learning strategies.

Machine translation post-editing (MTPE) is a process where humans and machines meet. While previous researchers have adopted psychological and cognitive approaches to explore the factors affecting MTPE performance, little research has been carried out to simultaneously investigate the post-editors’ cognitive traits and the post-editing task properties. This paper addresses this gap by focusing on perceived post-editing self-efficacy (PESE) as a key cognitive trait. By adopting mixed methods of keylogging, screen-recording, and subjective rating, this paper attempts to empirically assess the effects of student translators’ PESE and machine translation (MT) quality on their cognitive effort and post-edited quality. Data were obtained from 106 Chinese student translators concerning cognitive effort (indicated by processing time per word, pause density, pause duration per word, and perceived cognitive effort) of post-editing tasks and the post-edited quality (indicated by average accuracy score and average fluency score). Results show that MT quality significantly influences both the process and product within a PE task. PESE has effects on participants’ perceived cognitive effort and post-edited quality, but not on actual cognitive effort. No significant interaction effect of MT quality and PESE on PE performance was observed.

Background Need for cognition (NFC) measures the enjoyment of and the search for intellectual challenges and is probably the best-known construct for measuring cognitive motivation. Several studies have shown that individuals high in NFC invest more mental effort in complex tasks, process information more deeply and perceive themselves to be effective problem solvers. To date, however, there has been little research investigating the need for cognition in relation of failure in cognitively challenging tasks. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether NFC influences the extent to which anger is experienced after a failure in cognitively demanding tasks and whether individuals high in NFC are more intended to continue after failure (persistence) than those low in NFC. Method A total of 194 participants took part in this study. Each participant completed two solvable tasks (one anagram, one tangram; control-condition) and two unsolvable tasks (one anagram, one tangram) to generate the experience of failure. After completing each task, the participants were asked to report their state anger. Furthermore, after each of the two unsolvable tasks, the participants had to decide whether they wanted to solve the tasks again to assess their intention to persist after a failure. Based on studies showing that perceived self-efficacy (PSE) influences emotional responses to failure, PSE was also considered as an independent variable and as a moderator of the relationship between NFC and the experience of failure. Results The results demonstrate that NFC positively affects feelings of state anger after failure in cognitively challenging tasks and that this effect was moderated by PSE. Furthermore, state anger positively affected the intention to show persistence in individuals higher in NFC and PSE. Discussion Thus, these experimental results support conceptual assumptions of NFC as intrinsic motivation to engage in cognitive endeavors and underline the potentially important role of NFC and PSE in modulating responses to failure.