Examines gender differences in fifth- and sixth-grade students' self-reports of confidence, motivation goals, and learning strategies in whole-class and small-group sessions. Overall, results reveal few gender differences and indicate that students report greater confidence and mastery motivation in small-group lessons. Contains 55 references.…

Using Walt Whitman's poetry, a chief executive officer's speech, and a first-grade teacher's experience, a high school teacher describes the transformation of her understanding of achievement and intelligence. She concludes that having high expectations does not mean the same goals for every student and that students learn best what they learn out…

Studies have suggested that students' computer attitudes are related to their success in learning to use computer technology. The current study investigates how positive attitudes are "transferred" into higher learning achievement, and determines an intermediate variable between computer attitudes and computer learning and achievement--time spent…

In the present study, the authors examined college students' (N = 136) perceptions of the provision of extrinsic rewards given by parents and teachers for academic performance from elementary school through high school. They also examined the relations between reward history and present student motivational orientation. External rewards for…

There is a paucity of research on motivation and education in developing countries. Although psychological constructs relating to academic engagement and achievement have been identified and researched in a number of cross-cultural settings this body of research has rarely been extended to the developing world. The processes by which students from…

This review examines the available evidence in support of the argument that serum uric acid (SUA) possesses considerable promise as an indicator of one type of biochemical influence on achievement behavior. The evidence arguing for further research into the role of serum cholesterol in achievement behavior is also examined. (Author/JR)

Taking children off reinforcement programs apparently does not have the detrimental effects that many believe it to have. In this study, students who had been removed from a reinforcement program two years earlier made significantly greater gains in reading achievement than students who had not been involved in any reinforcement program.…

Research supported by the Iowa Urban Community Research Center.

The present study was undertaken to investigate differences in high school performance scholastic aptitude, and achievement motivation between disadvantaged college students who persisted successfully for 2 years and those who discontinued their studies before completing 1 year at an urban commuter university. (Author)

Examined the conceptions of learning held by second-year medical students in South Africa in relation to their academic achievement. Found that students with a good academic record expressed more transformative conceptions of learning than did their lower-achieving peers, who appeared to rely on memorization and recall. (EV)

This paper provides an overview of the theoretical bases of leading models of learning styles and empirical evidence of their impact on achievement and motivation in post-16 education and training. We describe the review process, the development of an organizing framework to understand the field, presented in a continuum of families of learning…

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of students' perception of both teacher support and students' reaction to questioning on the instrumental help-seeking strategy used by students. The researchers also examined the relationships between these three variables and the motivational components of achievement goal theory. A…

This article discusses the non-academic, social-emotional factors that contribute to student academic achievement, including the cognitive-behavioral characteristics of underachieving students and those with learning disabilities; the "You Can Do It! Education" (YCDI) theory of achievement; derivative research on social-emotional capabilities,…

The educational system of the future must embrace a learner-centered perspective to maximize high standards of learning, motivation, and achievement for all learners--for both students and their teachers. The learner-centered perspective begins with a focus on knowing and understanding each learner in the context of a deep understanding of the…