People have several different reasons to learn a foreign language; people often learn a language for practical reasons while others have a particular love for the language and its people. Language teachers are often very aware of the career benefits that language proficiency can offer, but learning the language is just an abstract undertaking…

Helping children find personal meaning and improve proficiency while submersed in the value of sport is critical to emotional/social development. Self-talk (ST) is a cognitive learning strategy that we can harness to encourage and prepare children to solve a problem or address an imminent situation, while acknowledging that they mature at…

Using a creative route of developing pedamantras, or teaching slogans, teacher candidates can develop their philosophy as an organic expression of their essential belief or felt sense about teaching.

An innovative assignment to capture soft-skills and create opportunities for a health profession program is presented. A full description of this semester-long assignment will be highlighted, including the associated rubric and a student example. Assessment results provide initial insight as to how the HOT Sheet supported opportunity for soft…

Excellent schools strive to develop a comprehensive and integrative improvement process for students and their families that integrate best practices of positive school culture, climate, and social and emotional learning; character development skills, enhanced academic achievement strategies, and positive parent engagement. Character.org's…

By the start of 2015 all University courses in Australia were required to be compliant with the new the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). Quality in higher education seeks to achieve three goals - quality of design, quality of conformance and quality of performance. This paper brings together a number of higher education principles such…

We discuss the major processes involved in individuals' motivation and self-regulation of goal striving throughout the life course. While much is regulated based on the biological and societal scaffolding of lifespan development, certain challenges for motivation and self-regulation are more substantial and need to be managed by the individual,…

Students' attitudes towards teaching and learning must be addressed with the same seriousness and effort as we address content. Establishing a personal connection and addressing our students' basic psychological needs will produce positive attitudes towards teaching and learning and develop life-long learners. It will also promote constructive…

Often students have a difficult time when asked to use critical thinking skills to solve a problem. Perhaps students have a difficult time adjusting because teachers frequently tell them exactly what to do and how to do it. When asked to use critical thinking skills, students may suddenly become confused and discouraged because the teacher no…

Self-talk (ST) is a strategy that has been found to change behavior by decreasing interference or distractions to better face challenges related to an impending task. Self-talk is typically a dynamic use of words, phrases or cues that may be positive, negative, instructional or motivational in nature. Physical education teachers and coaches have…

Intelligent tutoring systems have been developed to help students learn independently. However, students who are poor self-regulated learners often struggle to use these systems because they lack the skills necessary to learn independently. The field of psychology has extensively studied self-regulated learning and can provide strategies to…

The importance of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) professions to America's ability to advance its quality of life have long been a matter of discussion on a national level. The rewards of study in these areas are as evident to those who teach it, as they are, often, difficult for students to appreciate. This article…

For many years, pedagogical scholars and physical education (PE) teachers have worked to enhance effective teaching and learning environments. Yet for some children, youth, and young adults, many of the benefits associated with a physically active lifestyle remain elusive. Enhancing programming and performance to meet physical activity goals may…

Self-Determination is a combination of attitudes, knowledge, and skills that enables individuals to make choices and engage in goal-directed, self-regulated behavior. Research in special education has demonstrated the benefits of promoting self-determination in achieving positive adult outcomes. However, to date, very little has been written about…

The main purpose of this article is to provide guidelines to physical educators for setting up a self-talk program during their lesson. The article briefly presents definitions of self-talk and research findings in sport and physical education to highlight the important benefits of positive self-talk in enhancing task performance. It also provides…