General intelligence, Big Five personality traits, and the construct Work Drive were studied in relation to two measures of collegiate academic performance: a single course grade received by undergraduate students in an introductory psychology course, and self-reported GPA. General intelligence and Work Drive were found to be significantly…

It might be expected that the challenges and pressures currently affecting British higher education would be stimulating an atmosphere of analysis and debate in relation to the 'official discourse' of mainstream pedagogical theory in higher education. It seems, however, that the literature offers new university teachers a fairly narrow range of…

Young people engaged as peer educators are increasingly important in sex and relationship education (SRE) programmes in a variety of settings and are particularly valued in the APAUSE programme (Rees et al., 1997). The increase in popularity of peer education raises a need to value the inputs of young people and to give formal recognition to…

Digital or computer games have recently attracted the interest of education researchers and policy-makers for two main reasons: their interactivity, which is said to allow greater agency, and their inherent pleasures, which are linked to increased motivation to learn. However, the relationship between pleasure, agency and motivation in educational…

An action research project was undertaken by a GED instructor at a rural county jail. A survey tool was developed to determine if the perceived needs of the students were being met by the educational and rehabilitative programs currently offered to them. Data from the survey were grouped into four domains: perceived inmate need, attitude toward…

The current study examined the influence of symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on student academic achievement in reading and in mathematics in a sample of 146 first- through fourth-grade students, 103 of which were identified as having ADHD and academic problems in reading and/or math. A theoretical model was examined…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among students' self-perception, attitudes toward school, study and organizational skills, achievement motivation, attributional style, gender, parental involvement and style, parental income and parental level of education, and students' academic performance or achievement. Using…

The role of motivation and collaboration in STEM learning and performance is paramount. A learning community represents an educational approach that can engage students in learning in a motivated, thoughtful, active, and collaborative way. The focus of this article is on the nature of students' interest, attitudes, learning experiences and…

This paper reports on the results of an action research to explore the effectiveness of using cooperative learning strategies on students' academic achievement, their understanding of physics concepts and their motivation to learn in the physics classroom. The study involved a secondary four express physics class of 41 students in a neighbourhood…

A computer-based attention reduction model of training is presented, and associated issues related to instructional systems design are outlined. Attention reduction training (ART) is based on the dual task assessment procedure developed by researchers in the area of memory. The technique involves having subjects respond to two tasks…

Interest or motivation, intelligence and experience, and psychosocial access are inextricably bound together in successful educational programs, and none can explain or predict performance by itself. In the realm of interest and motivation, it has been found that youth want to learn how to be effective, like to do the things their parents value,…

A new interactive model of attention, perception, memory, and arousal is introduced; and its use in assessing characteristics of the perceptual process is demonstrated. The principal concern is not the presentation of new data; rather it is placement of existing psychological data within a new context. Topics discussed include: attention as an…

Discusses the history and development of teaching machines, invented to restore the important features of personalized instruction as public school class size increased. Examines teaching and learning problems over the past 50 years, including motivation, attention, appreciation, discovery, and creativity in relation to programmed instruction.…

The Involvement in Subject Learning Scale (ISLS) was developed and validated as an educational outcome measure to be used in assessing higher education quality. The origins and development of the scale, its factor analysis, potential applications, limitations, and pilot use in France and Quebec (Canada) are described. The instrument is appended.…

Review of experimental evidence concerning the effectiveness of problem-based learning suggests that the approach may not improve content-free problem solving; may initially reduce learning levels but fosters long-term retention; may enhance transfer of concepts and integration of concepts into clinical problems; enhances intrinsic interest of…