In order to motivate ESL students and engage them in different tasks effectively, it is necessary to make the tasks novel to the students. As one possible way of introducing novelty in the course, films could be used advantageously. In this study, a writing course integrated with videos of movies and cultural festival of different regions of the…

In this article we argue that to study or apply games as learning environments, multiple perspectives have to be taken into account. We first define game-based learning and gamification, and then discuss theoretical models that describe learning with games, arguing that playfulness is orthogonal to learning theory. We then review design elements…

Understanding students' learning dispositions has been a focus for research in education for many years. A range of alternative approaches to conceptualising and measuring this broad construct have been developed. Traditional psychometric measures aim to produce scales that satisfy the requirements for research; however, such measures have an…

The concept of intentional learning is well established in the educational community. Intentional learning implies that there is a recognized learning goal and that those involved are rational agents who can make choices with regard to achieving that goal. There are typically two different kinds of people involved in a learning situation--learners…

Different generations are constituted depending on social changes and they are designed sociologically as traditional, baby boomer, X, Y and Z. Many studies have been reported on understanding of foreign language learning generation Y. This study aims to realise the gap in and contribute to the research on language learning understanding of…

Informal learning settings such as museums have been identified as opportunities to enhance students' knowledge and motivation in science and to optimize the connection between science and everyday life. The present study assessed the role of a self-paced science education program (situated in a medical science museum) in enhancing students'…

In England, one in three 11-16-year-olds is said to illustrate poor behaviour (Sodha and Guglielmi, 2009), while students at Key Stage 4 (14-16) who are not engaged in education are often identified as, or at risk of becoming, disaffected (McKendrick et al., 2007). This paper explores the impact of a vocational learning environment on disaffected…

Purpose: Teaching methods such as Flipped Learning and Team-Based Learning require students to pre-learn course materials before a teaching session, because classroom exercises rely on students using self-gained knowledge. This is the reverse to "traditional" teaching when course materials are presented during a lecture, and students are…

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study examined how belonging perceptions, academic motivation, and engagement might mediate the relationship between academic contextual characteristics and achievement using structural equation modeling and qualitative follow-up interviews with college students from a large, Midwestern university. In the…

Introduction: In this study, the conceptions of learning and writing of a group of undergraduates enrolled in a teacher education programme were identified. The relationship between them were analysed, and a set of patterns of beliefs about learning and writing were defined. Finally, the relation between these patterns and the quality of a text…

Research suggests motivational interviewing (MI) techniques are both widely-used by educational psychologists (EPs) and effective in supporting young people of secondary age. To date, there has been no published research investigating the use of MI with primary-aged children. This study details the use of a short MI-based intervention with a…

Teacher-student interactions are at the core of the teaching-learning process. There is research evidence showing that a teacher's caring behavior is strongly related to students' attitudes and engagement in physical education (PE). This article discusses practical strategies that PE teachers can employ to create a caring learning environment,…

The concept of Serious Gaming refers to the adoption of classical entertainment games for purposes other than entertainment, including learning and instruction. In this paper the authors report on a Serious Gaming field experiment where typical board games (such as battleship, master mind and domino) were employed with the shifted purpose of…

Using the principles of positive psychology and the tools of narrative research, this article focuses on the psychology of five language learners who crossed cultural and linguistic borders. All five were university students learning Chinese in Mexico, and two of them also studied Chinese in China. The grounded theory approach was used to analyze…

All teachers (N = 32) at one middle school participated in a university-led intervention to improve student engagement. Teachers discussed four principles of motivation and related instructional strategies. Teachers enacted instructional strategies in their classrooms. We observed six randomly selected teachers and their students over 3 years.…