The Information Systems (IS) discipline is facing a sharp downturn in student enrollments. Despite the steady decline in students pursuing the IS major, the demand for information technology (IT) professionals continues to increase. These trends indicate that there might be a shortage of qualified IT employees in the near future. In order to…

This study was undertaken in order to better understand prospective elementary school teachers' motivations for working with fractions before and after taking a course designed to deepen their understanding of mathematics, as well as what instructional practices might be related to any changes detected in their motivations. Eighty-five education…

This article presents an annotated bibliography of recent research related to academic advising. It includes 13 research papers that focus on advising.

Background: Research has suggested that students can approach their studies with different goals, one goal being to understand material (mastery) and another to obtain better grades than others (performance). Aim: The main aim of this study was to assess whether these goals change as students progress through their degrees. Sample: 1857 students…

Much research has been done on the effectiveness of Supplemental Instruction programs, (Peer Assisted Study Sessions, PASS, in Australasia). Less research has emerged on on students' reasons for participating in PASS and their perceptions of the effectiveness of the program. In this article, we will report on a small improvement-focused research…

This article presents a case study of a two-year pilot to increase pre-collegiate math course success rates at a large community college. The EnableMath pilot involved the use of computerized software that allowed students to practice math problems in a lab during class time. Additional components of the program included the administration of the…

This study explores what classroom behaviors and activities in the basic speech course contribute to student connectedness. The results indicate that student encouragement, humor, honesty, interactive exercises and individual speeches, can help student bonding and motivation, and impacts their overall college experience.

Technology is not currently used in ESP classrooms at the College of Home Economics. Therefore, an attempt was made to use online learning in ESP instruction from home, in addition to traditional classroom instruction. Comparisons of pre- and posttest scores of ten graduate students revealed significant differences in students' achievement.…

The present study examined the capacity of 2 different theoretical models of motivation to explain why an externally provided rationale often supports students' motivation, engagement, and learning during relatively uninteresting learning activities. One hundred thirty-six undergraduates (108 women, 28 men) worked on an uninteresting 20-min lesson…

There are many educational interventions being implemented to address workforce issues in the field of nanotechnology. However, there is no instrument to assess the impact of these interventions on student awareness of, exposure to, and motivation for nanotechnology. To address this need, the "Nanotechnology Awareness Instrument" was…

The goal of this study was to describe what motivates adult women enrolled in a community college to pursue higher education. Utilizing profile analysis and multiple regression analyses, this study investigated the extent to which gender, English as a first language, and age predicted the seven factors of the Education Participation Scale (A-form)…

This paper presents a qualitative study that used classroom observations, faculty interviews, and student interviews to investigate the meaning and importance of seven non-cognitive variables to a cohort of developmental writing students at an urban community college. The variables studied included finances, study management, college surroundings,…

Student teachers should be prepared to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) into their future teaching and learning practices. Despite the increased availability and support for ICT integration, relatively few teachers intend to integrate ICT into their teaching activities (e.g., Ertmer, 2005). The available research has thus…

Research has established that individual student interest has a positive effect on learning and academic achievement. However, little is known about the impact of a blended learning approach on individual student interest and whether combinations of online and face-to-face learning activities significantly enhance student interest. This paper…

This research examined the change in the perceptions of preservice teachers regarding the use of digital minigames to support middle school level social studies learning. The results of a Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test for matched pairs revealed that participants' (N = 18) perceptions were positively modified by participation in a series of digital…