This research was conducted to determine the effectiveness of blended learning on academic achievements, motivation and learner autonomy. The scope of this research is the teaching of English through short stories. A quasi-experimental study was conducted among 116 upper secondary students and two different teaching pedagogies were utilised; a…

Background: According to self-determination theory, teachers can support their students' engagement in learning by providing autonomy support and structure. Within classes, however, there appears to be great diversity in the extent to which students experience autonomy and structure. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the degree to which…

Grounded in self-determination theory, this exploratory quantitative study investigated motivational profiles of bachelor's degree-seeking students at an online, for-profit university. Cluster analysis revealed two distinct motivational profiles (internally and externally regulated) of 158 students enrolled in a bachelor's degree program. The…

The hallmark of a well-designed game is player persistence -- the same characteristic professors hope to cultivate in their students, especially in the face of the student retention crisis. The four studies reported here include an archival study, a focus group, and two experiments. They each test a minor game mechanic that may have a small but…

Instructors' ability to foster students' disposition to engage in critical thinking (CT) is instrumental for CT growth. University students' (N = 1,352) semester-long gains across specific dispositions were compared when taught by professors who had received zero, one, two, or three semesters of training in CT pedagogy. All groups experienced…

Scores from standardized tests are common criteria for admission to a four-year college or university, and most require, recommend, or consider test scores as part of the admissions process. To help improve their chances of college admission, many high school students turn to test-preparation programs. We used an experimental design to evaluate…

The first part of the paper offers the characteristics of the affective variables of willingness to communicate, motivation, language anxiety and boredom as located within the framework of the complex dynamic systems. The second part aims to discuss the results of a study intended to examine the effect of "Second Life" on two English…

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on curricular aspects of student learning is already widely studied. However, fewer data exist for its impact on the efficacy of remote academic support. This case study summarizes the findings from a remote tutoring experience questionnaire completed during the Fall 2020 semester by tutors and tutees at a…

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many college students in developing countries to engage in online learning for the first time, and the sudden transit has raised concerns regarding students' competencies for, perception of, and attitude towards online learning. To address those concerns, this study measured three essential constructs of online…

This article reports on an intervention related to L2 learner well-being based on Oxford's (2016) EMPATHICS theoretical framework. The intervention was conducted at a women's university in Tokyo in three of the researcher's own first-year, compulsory, four-skills English-language classes. Forty-six learners agreed to take part in the study. To…

Research has shown that the effectiveness of written corrective feedback (WCF) on writing performance depends on learners' engagement with WCF and its associated motivational state. However, little research has examined the inner causal relationships between motivation, learner engagement with WCF, and writing performance. The current study fills…

Mobile devices, primarily cell phones, smartphones, and tablet PCs, have gradually been introduced into the university campus and online education over the past few decades. Does the use of mobile devices in distance learning motivate students and affect the learning process? These are important questions that were raised more than a decade ago,…

To prevent Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, distance (online) learning has quickly become the acceptable alternative option to classroom learning. This is because distance learning does not only provide a safe learning environment for students during COVID-19, but also effective social learning environment (Beck, 2015). The current study is based…

With the removal of the barriers of time and distance, E-learning platforms have attracted millions of learners, but these platforms are experiencing a significant drop-out ratio. One of the primary reasons for this problem is the lack of motivation among the learners because of the similar learning experience provided to them despite their…

Using an online survey, this mixed-method study was designed to understand how college students responded to the transition at mid-semester to online learning from face-to-face courses due to a global pandemic. The student responses indicated that the transition was not successful. Students mentioned issues with the limitations of the online…