The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a simple motivational treatment (consisting of immediate feedback, goal setting, and positive reinforcement) on the reading performance of an 11-year-old boy with learning difficulties. We applied an ABAB reversal design to test the impact of our approach. The dependent measure was the…

Fostering adolescents' self-efficacy and positive emotions through learning contexts which induce beneficial achievement goals can prevent motivational decline in adolescents. Achievement goal theory states that the learning context and gender moderate the interplay of self-efficacy, emotions, and achievement goals. This study compared female and…

This paper presents evidence how pupils choose different types of non-monetary rewards for educational attainment. These rewards are external to the learning process, but unlike cash-for-grades rewards internal to the practice of schooling. We collected data from a non-incentivized survey and an incentivized survey, which was part of a larger…

It is generally accepted and well documented that mastery goal orientation positively affects students' learning behavior. However, less is known about this association in self-directed learning during adolescence, which additionally promotes student's positive emotions. This study tested whether positive emotions mediate the association between…

Research has shown that there are positive associations between students' goals and learning behavior. However, less is known about these associations for adolescent students in competency-based learning compared to adolescent students in teacher-directed learning. The current study was conceptualized with the aim of getting more in-depth…

Participation in science is unevenly distributed among secondary school students, depending on gender, social class, and ethnicity. In the present study, the influence of the home environment on students' chemistry self-concept is investigated as a factor for explaining participation in science. For this, the sociological lens of chemistry capital…

Bullying against lesbian and gay adolescents continues to be a problem in Western societies. Interventions to reduce homonegative attitudes could help to address bullying. We evaluated the effectiveness of a workshop against homonegativity in adolescents (N = 214) aged between 14 and 16 years in a pretest, posttest, follow-up design with a control…

Competitions are discussed as a measure to foster students' interest, especially for highly gifted and talented students. In the current study, participants of a cognitive school competition in science were compared to non-participants of the same age group (14-15) who either did not participate in any competition or who participated in a…

School motivation and attachment typically decline after the transition to middle school. According to the stage-environment fit approach, extracurricular activities are supposed to promote motivation. However, research has shown that the effects depend on the quality of the activities, which usually is measured by assessing students' individual…

In a cross-sectional study with 541 German students (mean age: 12.61 yrs) and (for a subsample of N = 350) one of their parents, developmental conditions for a particular resource of self-regulation ("Flexibility of Goal Adjustment"; Brandtstadter & Renner, 1990) are investigated. Theoretical ¨ arguments and empirical results from…

This book contains a compilation of papers presented at the International Conference on Education and New Developments (END 2017), organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.). Education, in our contemporary world, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the…