Academic Entitlement, Grade Orientation, and Classroom Justice as Predictors of Instructional Beliefs and Learning Outcomes

Abstract

The current study utilized the instructional beliefs model to explore the relationships and impact of students’ focus on instrumental outcomes (i.e., grade orientation, academic entitlement) and perceptions of classroom justice on mediating variables of expectancy and affect beliefs, which were proposed to influence student learning. The results of a structural equation model indicated that students’ instrumental focus negatively predicted, and perceptions of classroom justice positively predicted, expectancy beliefs and affective learning. These instructional beliefs, in turn, positively predicted students’ learning behaviors. The increasing prevalence of academic entitlement combined with a grade orientation negatively impact student learning through students’ instructional beliefs.

Keywords:

• Academic Entitlement
• Classroom Justice
• Grade Orientation
• Instructional Beliefs Model
• Self-Efficacy

Notes

Some scholars (e.g., Chowning & Campbell, 2009) use two subscales of the Academic Entitlement scale, externalized responsibility and entitled expectations, separately in analyses. For use in a separate study, the authors created three items to enhance the reliability of the entitled expectations subscale. However, in the current study, academic entitlement was used as a unidimensional measure, given its loading onto a latent variable in the structural equation analysis.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessalyn I. Vallade

Jessalyn I. Vallade (Ph.D., West Virginia University, 2014) is a Faculty Lecturer in the Division of Instructional Communication and Research at the University of Kentucky.

Matthew M. Martin

Matthew M. Martin (Ph.D., Kent State University, 1992) is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at West Virginia University.

Keith Weber

Keith Weber (Ed.D., West Virginia University, 1998) is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at West Virginia University.