Cooperative learning improves students' learning motivation in a diverse college student population by creating a favorable disposition toward the learning experience through personal relevance and choice; creating an understanding that learners are effective in learning something they value; and creating challenging, thoughtful learning…

Reviews and synthesizes a number of motivational models, issues, and strategies, showing their interrelationship, relevance to higher education, and strongly similar conceptual themes and terminology. The models' consistency suggests that inclusion in a coherent community raises awareness and enhances positive attitudes; what emerges is a…

The present study investigated the causes to which parents attribute their children's academic successes and failures during children's transition from preschool to primary school. It followed 182 mothers and 167 fathers of 207 children. The parents completed a questionnaire concerning their causal attributions, level of education, and parenting…

In this 2-year longitudinal study the developmental relationships among letter knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid naming, and task orientation were examined, and linguistic-motivational pathways of word reading acquisition were traced from kindergarten to Grade 1 by means of structural equation modeling. The participants were 100…

Previous research on interlanguage pragmatics revealed that, under implicit pragmatic instruction, some learners noticed the target pragmalinguistic features, whereas others receiving the same instruction did not. This suggests possible effects of individual difference (ID) variables on learners' noticing of pragmalinguistic features. Among the ID…

Two experiments investigated the effect of achievement goals on the transfer of a problem-solving strategy in 7- and 11-year-old children. In the first experiment, motivational priming took place before the learning of the strategy, affecting the learning as well as the transfer of the strategy. In the second experiment, motivational priming took…

This paper explores what students taking an international project-based course in computer systems strive to learn. Through empirical, phenomenographic work we have identified three different motives that the students strive for: academic achievement; project and team working capacity; and social competence. What a student strives to learn largely…

In many countries around the world there is a current focus on the restructuring of education systems in a bid to increase the "quality" of the educational experience for pupils in order to raise their academic achievement. However, the definition of quality as expressed through policy may not always accord with the aims and aspirations…

It is argued that rock lyrics, alternatively seen as poetry, are a source of instructional material for students of English as a Second Language (ESL), offering an opportunity for literary analysis that is highly motivating, relevant to students' lives, a potential bridge to more serious literature, and a readily-available source of authentic…

Compares and contrasts distance education and face-to-face education in terms of selected psychological dimensions, i.e., organization and learning, motivation, learning and communication processes, didactic activities and materials, and evaluation and feedback. Psychological aspects of distance education that may be favorable to learning are also…

Globalization and technology are two of the many drivers that impact today's education locally and internationally. The purpose of the research study was to identify how online learners in Korea and the U.S. perceived online learning motivation differently and what learner characteristics and cultural orientation affected the online learners'…

To study student motivation and performance on a research project in a college-level humanities class, students were given a choice of three assignments. They could choose a traditional research paper on art, a creative narrative modeled after the popular novel "Girl with a Pearl Earring," (Tracy Chevalier), or a WebQuest on the…

Examination of the construct validity of Guglielmino's Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale points toward dislike of learning as the cause of low scores. High scores seem to result from positive attitudes toward learning in general and not specifically self-directed learning. Further studies are needed to distinguish between readiness for…

This paper has two purposes. The first purpose is to develop a better understanding of the process of starting an after-school program for Japanese heritage language learners. The second purpose is to develop a better understanding of parents' expectations of their children's heritage language education. Interviews with two Japanese mothers whose…

This study examined the learning and study practices of postsecondary American Indian/Alaska Native students attending community colleges in the southwest. Using a survey design, students completed the Kagan Matching Familiar Figures Test, the Schmeck, Ribich, and Ramanaiah Inventory of Learning Processes, and the Weinstein, Palmer, and Schulte…