Mathematics anxiety negatively impacts cognitive processing, performance, expectations, motivation, and future choices. However, research has not examined patterns in students' mathematics anxiety levels over time. The current study addresses this gap by exploring group-based trajectories in mathematics anxiety during the transition to junior high…

This study is to investigate whether "My Class Activities" (MCA; Gentry & Gable, 2001a), an instrument developed to measure students' perceptions of their classroom activities, yields valid data when used with elementary students in China after translation into Chinese. The four factors measured by the instrument (Interest,…

This study extends previous research on the long-term connections between motivation constructs in expectancy-value theory and achievement outcomes. Using growth mixture modelling, we examined trajectories of change for 421 students from 4th grade through college in their self-concept of ability (SCA) in math, interest in math, and perceived…

How do educators engage students in the curriculum? State and Common Core Standards determine what to teach; how those standards are taught varies. This research examined a group of at-risk elementary and secondary students using underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) as part of an experiential education program in a rural Michigan school…

The purpose of this study is to describe the impact of implementing different strategies on fifth grade academically gifted students in order to motivate them to perform to their full potential. My research project is based on the motivation of gifted students in the general education classroom. I will study eight academically gifted fifth…

Data from a longitudinal study of adolescent development of approximately 2,300 sixth and seventh graders (the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions) provide a basis for the hypothesis that optimal developmental outcomes should result from an environment that gradually reduces adult control as the child's desire for autonomy increases.…

As part of the investigation into the achievement differentials between white and black students in Michigan, a study was done of the nature of sense of futility (SOF) at the individual student level and the relationship between the SOF correlates and self-concept ability. The sample included 2 groups of fourth and fifth graders in a random sample…

How students perceive standardized tests and routine classroom tests on subject matter units was studied by surveying 61 fifth-grade and 65 eighth-grade students in public schools in Michigan. It was hypothesized that older students would more often distinguish between the types of test and would be more cynical and less motivated than would…