This report describes a program to increase intermediate students' interest in writing through the integration of technology. The targeted population consisted of fifth grade students at a medium sized elementary school in the suburb of a large midwestern city. The problem was the low level of student interest in classroom writing activities. The…

The purpose of this report is to provide a detailed overview of the development and initial validation of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The MSLQ is an 81-item, self-report instrument designed to measure college students' motivational orientations and their use of various learning strategies (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, &…

Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) has been around in various forms for over 40 years. While this subject has received much study in elementary schools, the influence of SSR on typical, non-at-risk high school students' reading habits appears to be lacking. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of SSR on ninth grade students' recreational…

A higher education version of the Diligence Inventory for Secondary Students was developed to address student effort in regard to his/her educational development. Undergraduate and graduate students completed the survey. The new version underwent some structural modifications in the scales, but both versions possessed excellent reliability and…

A study of seventh and eighth graders in the southwest compared effects on exercise-intrinsic motivation and physical self-worth of taking either the President's Challenge or the Fitnessgram fitness test battery. Results did not support the premise that fitness test batteries would produce different motivational and self-perception outcomes. (SM)

A study investigated the effectiveness of a method for improving the writing skills and attitude through increased writing experiences. The targeted population consisted of second-, third-, and fourth-grade students in two adjacent, stable, middle-class suburban communities northwest of Chicago, Illinois. The lack of skills and motivation of…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in low socioeconomic fourth graders' retention of library information skills who are taught these skills in isolation and those who are taught within the context of a Social Studies lesson. Two groups of fourth graders participated. Library information skills lessons…

A study was conducted to determine the primary reasons that community college students enrolled in foreign language classes. Surveys were distributed to 61 students in 6 German and Spanish language classes at California's Chaffey Community College, requesting information on their motivation for enrolling in the class, level of satisfaction, and…

Case studies of six foreign adolescents participating in a 3-week immersion English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program at the American Village language camp in Big Sky, Montana, are examined, including the students' motivations in learning and using English. Research focused on exploring student motivations toward learning and using English at the…

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure students' attitudes toward multimedia classrooms and to investigate students' attitudes toward learning in multimedia classrooms. The research questions examined: (1) whether the instrument of students' attitudes toward multimedia classrooms valid and reliable; (2)…

One teacher's experience with traditional language tests suggested that the tests did not reflect the kind of communicative language learning going on in the classroom and might be counterproductive. As a result, an experiment in oral testing was undertaken in which examinees were required to process natural discourse and to relate language to…

The population of this study consisted of 18 students who withdrew from the Glasgow Independent School System (Kentucky) during the 1975-76, 1976-77, and 1977-78 school years. The questionnaires submitted to the former students and their parents sought to determine how they felt about school prior to leaving, reasons for leaving school, opinions…

This action research project investigated the effectiveness of having immediate access to grades, attendance, homework, and teachers' comments for parents and students alike. There are many involved in the success of children including the administration, teachers, parents and the students themselves. Advancing technology helps students become…

This action research project evaluated an intervention to motivate elementary students to be more responsible for their learning. Participating was a targeted class of fifth graders in a medium-sized rural community in northern Illinois. The problem of inadequate class participation and percentage of homework completed was documented through…

Research has shown that student mid-term feedback has significantly increased subsequent ratings of teacher effectiveness, student achievement, and student attitudes when the feedback results were accompanied by expert consultation. A gap in the literature is an instrument intended to provide specific feedback on systematic planning and delivery…