The article presents a cross-national study of social work students' interest in working with the elderly, based on a sample of 679 graduating BSW students from 7 countries: Australia, Brazil, England, Germany, Hungary, Israel, and the United States. The findings among all the national cohorts show that the motivation to work with the elderly was…

Instrumental Enrichment was compared with direct help in school subjects under field conditions in Israel. Effects favoring Instrumental Enrichment on intellective and nonintellective criteria and residential settings on some intellective measures were obtained. Results indicated that mediating basic deficiencies in problem solving produces better…

Discusses a project to transform a short story into a play and perform it on stage in order to enhance student understanding of the Japanese cult of obedience and of the political events that led Japan to join the Germans in World War II. The article emphasizes that students become more motivated when they are exposed to subject matter in an…

The hypothesis that student groups working under conditions of intergroup competition will adopt different motivational orientation than will groups not in competition was studied using 89 Israeli fourth graders (50 males and 39 females). The impact of prior socialization on group behaviors and implications for cooperative learning are discussed.…

Examines the possible effects of four important school variables on the cognitive preference styles of students. The variables are the school environment, the attitude of the teachers toward an inquiry oriented approach, the nature of the curriculum and that of the subject matter. (Author/DEP)

Elementary school-age Israeli hearing-impaired children of two hearing-impaired parents (HIC/HIP; n=31) and of two normally hearing parents (HIC/NHP; n=93) were compared. HIC/HIP outperformed HIC/NHP in reading comprehension and teachers' ratings of emotional adjustment, self-image, and motivation for communication, and were comparable in social…

Describes support given to Israeli teachers and several students who could not keep up in an advanced English-as-a-Second Language classroom. A special program allowed the teacher to meet with them two extra hours per week immediately before class. As students' motivation to learn increased, they began completing their homework, improving…

One hundred and sixty eight students from five 11th grade chemistry classes participated for 2 months in an experiment that examined the effects of the Group Investigation (GI) method of cooperative learning on students' achievement, motivation and perceptions of their experience. An achievement test and Harter's Motivation Questionnaire were…

Discusses the creation of a reading niche for second-language learners to motivate their development as independent readers, emphasizing that book selection for this niche should cater to student interests and that informal discussion of the books' subject matter should take place. (six references) (CK)

Israeli 2nd and 6th graders (n=159) working puzzles in task or ego goal conditions were more likely to request help and to explain help avoidance as motivated by effort toward independent mastery in the task-focus condition. Results clarify the role of motivational factors in academic help seeking. (SLD)

Describes how many Israeli English-as-a-Second-Language students use cyber-English to chat with peers worldwide via the Internet, suggesting that this is a useful addition to standard instruction because it is a motivating and powerful means of communication, and using English language e-mail is a vital skill that all students need for the 21st…

Examines the role of playgrounds that use discarded items or "junk" as an integral part of kindergarten classes in an Israeli kibbutz. Suggests that play in the junkyard, by including the whole person--muscles and senses, emotion and intellect, individual growth and social interaction--can offer the experiential foundations on which…

Studies the attitudes and achievements of immigrants from the Soviet Union studying at the tertiary level at Haifa University in Israel. A series of questionnaires probing the students' language use and attitudes were administered in order to provide a general description of their linguistic profile in first, second, and third languages. (15…

The attitudes of 100 Israeli-Jewish students toward learning Arabic and coexistence with Arabs within Israel were investigated, as was their evaluation of characters they read about in familiar and unfamiliar texts. The students were found to possess low instrumental and low indoors integrative motivation, but their army service motivation and…

We focused on potential effects of directly controlling teacher behaviors (DCTB), such as giving frequent directives, interfering with children's preferred pace of learning, and not allowing critical and independent opinions. We hypothesized that children's perceptions of their teachers as directly controlling would arouse anger and anxiety in…