Table 7 Overview of content-related aspects of item deletions

Organizing

The deletions are acceptable (e.g. the aspect of structuring subject matter to make it easier to remember is contained in orga2 and orga3). However, compiling one’s own lists is not included anymore—but writing your own summaries is

Elaborating

The deletions seem particularly appropriate for engineering students, who are either explicitly taught the connections to their other subjects and courses, or they do not stand a chance to discover them on their own

Repeating

The deletion only concerns one item rather referring to texts (reciting paragraphs) which does not fit to mathematics very well

Metacognition

The deletions can be regarded as critical, as here we find aspects that are neither covered by other scales nor is their depth reflected anywhere else, see text for details

Effort

This scale does not lose its focus on perseverance but a more concrete manifestation of this attitude, namely working late and long hours. Comparing one’s learning time with others’, though, measures not only objective effort but also subjective self-confidence and seems problematic in terms of multidimensionality

Attention

The six original items are paraphrases of each other, so that deleting half of them does not result in any loss of information, as the high Cronbach’s α for this scale shows (cf. Table 6)

Time Management, Using Reference

The deleted items are mirrored in those kept

Learning Environment, Peer Learning

The deletions seem unexciting. The deleted item about always sitting at the same place when studying does not match students’ reality well, as most have places of study at home and meet fellow students on campus. The same applies to comparing notes with fellow students in times of digital uploads