The best help parents can offer students with their homework is instituting a formal study program. Rather than assisting with reading, writing, and arithmetic, parents should spend more time teaching students to organize, budget time, plan ahead, concentrate, handle responsibility, and solve problems. (SM)

This paper discusses the two important domains affecting the success of learning strategy training for students with learning disabilities or other mild handicaps: students' knowledge of critical skills and information potentially related to strategy use, and students' motivation to learn and use the strategy. The paper presents an eight-stage…

Considers the consequences of adult praise of children, focusing on when praise is dispensed, its indiscriminate use, children's dependence on others' judgment, use of praise to manipulate behavior, and its effect on motivation. Lists questions for evaluating the use of praise. (KB)

This article discusses the role that "willingness to work" must play in any definition of giftedness. Strategies are provided for promoting the work ethic in gifted students: provide students with models of excellence, provide examples of people who have worked hard and enjoyed their labors, and support meaningful hard work. (CR)

Students' motor performance can be enhanced through the use of mental imagery. This article presents nine ways that physical education teachers and coaches can use mental imagery to accomplish various outcomes. These include imagery for: learning, performing, focusing, self-confidence, motivation, arousal, changing negatives into positives,…

Five pamphlets (Practitioner's Guides) present guidelines from the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented at the University of Connecticut. The guidelines are supported by theory-driven quality research that is problem-based, practice-relevant, and consumer-oriented. Each pamphlet has a section summarizing research from the literature…

In a previous book entitled "Zapp! The Lightening of Empowerment", a new system for motivating employees and improving productivity in a corporate setting was presented. This book adapts that empowerment guide to the classroom with workable, hands-on suggestions to help educators motivate their students and themselves. Empowerment in…

Recent psychological research in motivation has resulted in several goal orientation theories that have important implications for improving learning and instruction, especially for musical performance groups. Goal theory proposes that there are two general goal orientations students can adopt: a task-focused orientation with an intrinsic focus on…

This guidebook was designed to familiarize educational practitioners--teachers, developers, counselors, administrators--with several concepts of motivation and methods of measuring them. Six concepts, or approaches, that are particularly relevant to understanding motivation in education are considered: achievement motivation, locus of control,…

Discusses the results of interviews with five non-theater majors taking an elective course in child drama. Concludes that individuals with different backgrounds in creative drama can bring a diversity of opinions and knowledge to a college-level methods course. (MM)

Discusses effective writing techniques to be utilized by technical writers who develop training materials (initial drafts, creating interest, applying instructional technology techniques, use of illustrations, and publication layout tips). A checklist of factors to consider when editing material is also presented. (MBR)

Teachers can use microcomputers in informal assessment of learning disabled students' academic achievement, math and science progress, reading comprehension, cognitive processes, motivation and social interaction. Selected software for unobtrusive, informal assessment is listed. (CL)

Suggests five techniques for combining learning with fun, including (1) lessons that evoke the joy and pride of mastery, (2) learning adventures, (3) "democratic" classrooms, (4) educational games and discovery learning centers, and (5) reward or rest breaks from study. (CJM)

This fastback document examines student absenteeism and offers advice on what schools can do to improve attendance. It looks at truancy, absenteeism, and tardiness and how, since the first days of compulsory education, educators have had to deal with these obstacles to education. Since the 1970s absenteeism has been identified by many educators as…

This book, one of a series, shows how to help motivate children to learn. The message of the series urges parents and children to spend time together, talk about stories, and learn together. The first part of each book presents stories appropriate for varying grade levels, both younger children and those in grades three and four, and each book…