Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine and condense the literature on influence and persuasion. Design/methodology/approach: The article identifies basic principles of influence in the theoretical and research literature, which are supported by empirical study. Findings: Ten principles of influence were identified, empirical support…

This article describes elaboration in "literary letters" (Atwell, 1984, 1987) written by developmental reading students. Nineteen community college students received instruction in "elaborative thought patterns," or types of elaboration, to improve the quality of their responses to popular fiction. This instruction was part of…

How to acquire a second language is a question of obvious importance to teachers and language learners, and how to teach a second language has also become a matter of concern to the linguists' interest in the nature of primary linguistic data. Starting with the development stages of second language acquisition and Stephen Krashen's theory, this…

Although having a sense of purpose and meaning in life has been found to play an important role in overall life and career satisfaction, this is not an area that is typically cultivated during career exploration activities. This article provides a model for aiding students in developing a sense of purpose in their career search through…

This article chronicles the work of the Llano Grande Center for Research and Development, an educational nonprofit organization in South Texas, by following the narrative of one of its students and two of the authors, who are also founders of Llano Grande. Through the use of ethnography, visuals, and storytelling, they present an emerging theory…

Motivation is a key factor in promoting academic success, and intrinsic motivation is especially important for developing autonomous learners. Reluctant learners, in particular, benefit from intrinsic motivation that makes learning relevant to their lives. In this article, the author describes commonalities of reluctant learners and presents…

Wilbert J. McKeachie has been the president of the American Psychological Association (APA), the American Association of Higher Education, the American Psychological Foundation, the Division of Educational and School Psychology of the International Association of Applied Psychology, and APA's Divisions 2 and 15. He received his PhD at the…

In this article, the authors discuss how learning contracts can motivate students. "A learning contract is simply a written agreement between teacher and learner in which the learner undertakes to complete mutually agreed upon tasks in a specified amount of time on his or her own initiative" (Greenwood, 2003, p.1). Contracts are designed to…

The current policy context established by "No Child Left Behind (NCLB)" calls for schools and teachers to develop and execute plans of action they believe will effectively address achievement gaps. This article uses conceptual and research literature to explore the construct of teachers' collective sense of efficacy and its potential…

This paper explores the relationships between the development of expertise and transitions. It sets out what we know about the development of expertise, changes in the brain as expertise develops, and how transitions between different learning contexts and the challenges that they present may impact on developing expertise. It sets out a series of…

This article seeks to present some of the key challenges in facilitating autonomous learning and effective engagement in the teaching of statistics to undergraduate medical students involved in short-term research projects. With a view to addressing these challenges, recommendations for good practice are presented in the form of ten tips for…

Brookhart maintains that clear, positive teacher feedback, which provides precise information on the next steps a student can take to reach their learning targets, is at the heart of formative assessment. Because feedback is closely tied to students' feelings of self-efficacy, it can be destructive as well as motivating. Drawing on research and…

Difficulties characterizing developmental college students are reviewed within the context of motivational theories of learning. The author highlights problems of low self-efficacy and inadequate self-regulated learning for developmental college students. The author argues that the use of Facebook, a widely-used social networking technology, may…

The ability to express and decode nonverbal cues is assumed to be an essential quality in communication and teaching. To validate, generalize and expand upon earlier research on the importance of nonverbal competencies in communication and teaching, i.e., the relationship of nonverbal competencies (e.g., expressiveness/"charisma" and…

Technology-enhanced learning environments (TELEs) deliver instructional content and provide an array of scaffolding features designed to support independent student learning. TELEs also support teacher efforts to guide student inquiry within these sometimes complex environments. Self-efficacy, defined by Bandura [Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy.…