Multi-Item Scale:
Item Text:
Item 15: When I get a good grade or evaluation for an assignment, I often believe that I have deceived my teachers about my abilities. [Wenn ich eine gute Note oder Bewertung für eine Aufgabe bekomme, glaube ich oft, dass ich meine Lehrer / Lehrerinnen über meine Fähigkeiten getäuscht habe.]
Different Answer Format Tested:
Nein
Findings:
Almost all respondents answered item 15 with “Never true” (n = 8). One respondent answered, “Sometimes true” and one left the item unanswered (TP06). The respondents' explanations pointed out two problems with the item. Three respondents stated that it was unclear to them what the statement was getting at. One of the respondents left the item unanswered:
- “What does ‘I often believe that I have deceived my teacher about my abilities’ mean? [...] Maybe that you didn't write something yourself, but copied it from someone else? I don't know, I would leave that open now. Otherwise, I might mark the wrong answer.” (TP06, 9 years old, 4th grade, answer: No answer)
- “I don't understand this: ‘I often believe that I have deceived my teachers about my abilities’. Does this mean that you don't put your hand up in class and then get a good grade in the test? Then I would say 'never'. I actually always put my hand up in class.” (TP07, 9 years old, 4th grade, answer: Never true)
- “I must think about this one a bit. I find this the most difficult of all the questions. The teachers actually like me, I don't pretend anything to them. [...] I think it's about whether you're pretending to your teachers or not. Someone who really only tries to impress teachers, who pretends to please them, would certainly answer 'Always true'.” (TP05, 13 years old, 7th grade, answer: Sometimes true)
Six of the remaining seven respondents interpreted the item to mean that the teachers had deceived themselves and not that they had deceived the teachers:
- “I didn't really understand that. I understood it to mean that if you couldn't do something before but then learned a lot, you suddenly could do it and that surprised the teacher.” (TP01, 8 years old, 3rd grade, answer: Never true)
- “I understand that, for example, I got a bad grade and then a good one. And my teachers then thought that I was rather bad, and after the good grade they no longer think that.” (TP02, 11 years old, 6th grade, answer: Never true)
- “I have never thought about that, that my teachers were wrong about my abilities.” (TP08, 10 years old, 5th grade, answer: Never true)
Respondent 04 was the only one to interpret the item as being about whether she herself had deceived the teacher. However, even this respondent could not imagine how deception could take place in the context of an assessment:
- “I think that if I've done something and the teachers have corrected everything correctly, then it can't be better than I was. So, I can't have deceived them.” (TP04, 10 years old, 5th grade, answer: Never true)
Recommendations:
Overall, the respondents found item 15 the most difficult to answer. The respondents' statements show that the term “deceive” in the school context evokes associations with attempts to deceive (e.g. in the sense of copying), which is not the intention of the item. We recommend reformulating the item according to the most common interpretation, although this changes the focus of the item slightly:
When I get a good grade or evaluation for an assignment, I often believe that my teachers were wrong about my abilities.
[Wenn ich eine gute Note oder Bewertung für eine Aufgabe bekomme, glaube ich oft, dass sich meine Lehrer / Lehrerinnen über meine Fähigkeiten getäuscht haben.]
Revised version:
When I get a good grade or evaluation for an assignment, I often believe that my teachers overestimate me.
[Wenn ich eine gute Note oder Bewertung für eine Aufgabe bekomme, glaube ich oft, dass mich meine Lehrer / Lehrerinnen überschätzen.]
When I get a good grade or evaluation for an assignment, I often believe that my teachers were wrong about my abilities.
[Wenn ich eine gute Note oder Bewertung für eine Aufgabe bekomme, glaube ich oft, dass sich meine Lehrer / Lehrerinnen über meine Fähigkeiten getäuscht haben.]
Revised version:
When I get a good grade or evaluation for an assignment, I often believe that my teachers overestimate me.
[Wenn ich eine gute Note oder Bewertung für eine Aufgabe bekomme, glaube ich oft, dass mich meine Lehrer / Lehrerinnen überschätzen.]