The Psychometric Properties of Translating Self-Efficacy Belief: Perspectives From Chinese Learners of Translation

Nurturing Success: E-Learning readiness and academic self-efficacy in nursing students

BACKGROUND

As nursing education embraces e-learning as a vital component of its pedagogical approach, understanding the interplay between students' readiness for E-learning and their academic self-efficacy becomes imperative in nurturing successful learning outcomes amidst evolving educational paradigms.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to explore the relationship between e-learning readiness, academic self-efficacy, and the academic achievement of nursing students within the dynamic educational environment.

DESIGN

This study employed a cross-sectional design.

METHODS

A total of 208 nursing students were recruited through convenience sampling at the end of the second semester in 2022. The evaluation included the utilization of Grade Point Average, the Online Learning Readiness Scale, and the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale.

FINDINGS

Previous research has indicated a significant positive correlation between academic achievement and readiness for e-learning, suggesting that higher levels of readiness for e-learning among nursing students lead to improved academic achievement (p ≤ 0.001). Additionally, the findings of the current study revealed a notable positive correlation between academic achievement and academic self-efficacy (p ≤ 0.001).

CONCLUSION

This study provides valuable insights into the critical role of academic self-efficacy and e-learning readiness in enhancing academic achievement among nursing students.

The Effect of Critical Thinking on Translation Technology Competence Among College Students: The Chain Mediating Role of Academic Self-Efficacy and Cultural Intelligence

Background

It is increasingly essential for translators to possess a high level of technological proficiency to succeed in their work, as technology is becoming an integral part and common practice of the translation industry. Several previous studies found that critical thinking, academic self-efficacy, and cultural intelligence independently influenced the translation competence of college students. However, the underlying psychological mechanism through which these salient factors affect student translators' technology competence has not been fully explored. Therefore, this research sought to examine the systematic interactions between critical thinking, academic self-efficacy, cultural intelligence, and translation technology competence among college students.

Methods

This study adopted an empirical approach to collect data from 663 seniors from 7 colleges in China. The questionnaires of the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (CTDS), General Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (GASE), Short Form measure of Cultural Intelligence (SFCQ), and Translation Technology Competence Scale (TTCS) were used for the online survey. The quantitative data were investigated by employing descriptive statistics with SPSS 27, covariance-based structural equation modelling with AMOS 24 to test the proposed hypotheses by assessing relationships between observed and latent variables, and bootstrap method with PROCESS 3.5 to examine the mediating effects.

Results

Critical thinking, academic self-efficacy, and cultural intelligence were significant predictors of students' translation technology competence. Additionally, academic self-efficacy and cultural intelligence acted as independent and chain mediators in the relationship between critical thinking and student translators' technology competence.

Conclusion

The findings provide valuable insight into how psychological factors, including critical thinking, academic self-efficacy, and cultural intelligence, can impact students' competence in translation technology. This study contributes to future research and practices that seek to understand how these psychological factors can be leveraged to promote students' success in translation technologies.

The impact of task complexity and translating self-efficacy belief on students’ translation performance: Evidence from process and product data

Previous studies that explored the impact of task-related variables on translation performance focused on task complexity but reported inconsistent findings. This study shows that, to understand the effect of task complexity on translation process and its end product, performance in translation tasks of various complexity levels needs to be compared in a specific setting, in which more factors are considered besides task complexity—especially students’ translating self-efficacy belief (TSEB). Data obtained from screen recording, subjective rating, semi-structured interview, and quality evaluation were triangulated to measure how task complexity influenced the translation performance of Chinese students with high and low TSEB. We found that the complex task led to significantly longer task duration, greater self-reported cognitive effort, lower accuracy, and poorer fluency than the simple one among students, irrespective of their TSEB level. Besides, the high-TSEB group outperformed the low-TSEB group in translation accuracy and fluency in both tasks. However, the interaction effect of task complexity and TSEB was not significant, due possibly to weak problem awareness among students. Our study has implications for effectively designing task complexity, getting the benefits of TSEB, and improving research on translation performance.

Self-Efficacy in the Prediction of GPA and Academic Computer Use in Undergraduate Translation Students at a Saudi University

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, academic institutions have faced the challenge of understanding the social-psychological features that produce better academic performance among translation students in an online learning environment. Although self-efficacy is widely studied in a variety of teaching and learning models, few studies have examined self-efficacy in regard to translation students. This empirical study aims to examine the roles of general self-efficacy and computer self-efficacy in terms of the academic achievement and computer use of translation students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants included 83 undergraduate translation students at the English Language Department of Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia. They completed the General Self-Efficacy Scale and Computer Self-Efficacy Scale questionnaires. The results found self-efficacy scores were a significant predictor of overall GPA scores, highly predictive of computer self-efficacy, and also predicted an increased typing frequency and computer usage. This study suggests that translation students with greater levels of self-efficacy will be more likely to possess social-psychological features that align with the independent, self-directed nature of online learning environments.