A great discrepancy exists between the potential number of adult basic education (ABE) participants (all adults who have not graduated from high school) and those who actually choose to participate in ABE. To determine why high school dropouts choose not to participate in ABE, telephone interviews were conducted with a carefully constructed,…

This annotated bibliography contains 33 references related to the topic of individual difference correlates of second-language achievement found in 26 journals available in the University of Western Ontario, and follows up a 1988 bibliography covering the years 1984-1987. Bibliographic information provided includes author, title, source, abstracts…

A study skills course offered through Project Start, a summer program for high-risk incoming college freshmen at Ball State University, Indiana, is described. While primarily designed for students who were denied regular admission because of low high-school rank and low Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, the program also allows previously…

This paper describes a model of the influence of personal and environmental factors on students' valuing of two deep-processing strategies for studying expository texts. In the model, task orientation (a form of intrinsic motivation in which learning and understanding are the major goals) interacts with perceptions of the teacher's goals to…

This survey was undertaken in order to assess the nature of tutoring projects that have been implemented in schools, particularly in urban schools. It was also an attempt to locate examples of a particular kind of tutoring project, one designed primarily to promote learning in the tutors. This objective is based on the assumption that secondary…

Two fundamental components of behavioral instruction were investigated: the reported testing feature and absolute performance standards. The component analysis was conducted by offering an undergraduate psychology course simultaneously along two dimensions: grading systems and number of study/test cycles. The 425 college student subjects were…

This is the complete report of the Schools Council Research and Development Project on Attitudes to and Motivation for the Learning of Welsh and English in Wales, based at the Department of Education, University College of Swansea. The project began in October 1967 and was completed in August 1971. Its chief aims were the following: (1) to…

Provides examples of ways in which teachers can use word processors in the classroom to improve student writing, to use instructional time more productively, and to generate student interest and involvement in learning to write. (IW)

This paper suggests that the processes one would have college teachers use to motivate students closely parallel those that should be used to gain the cooperation, commitment, and preparation of teachers for this task. It discusses the "learning orientation" versus "grading orientation" of students, along with "class-side manners" that college…

This brief highlights some of the reasons that low motivation may prevent students from reaching their full educational potential. It begins with a discussion of some of the factors that contribute to this problem, including lack of relevance, fear of failure, learning problems, lack of challenge, and emotional distress. Most of the brief is…

Classroom observation and student group interviews in two French and two English elementary schools suggest that student understanding of such educational values as authority, thought, the nature of student control over learning, and educational goals and how to achieve them are related to national culture and affect student motivation. Contains…

Characteristics of motivated and demotivated students in humanities and high and low technical secondary education were studied for 1,824 Belgian students in the eighth, tenth, or twelfth grade. Subgroups based on motivation were formed using student self-ratings, teacher ratings, and scores on predictor measures. (SLD)

A class of unmotivated inner city secondary school children were introduced to an innovative, new, dedicated physical environment where computers and multimedia software were seamlessly integrated and which was served by a socio constructivist learning pedagogy. In this environment they were taught English as prescribed in the UK national…

The present study examines the possible effects of bilinguality on third language learning among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners with a focus on reading comprehension proficiency achievement. This study is a longitudinal survey of EFL learners in Urmia University in Azerbaijan, Iran, during 2002-2004. It compared 56 Turkish-Persian…

This paper reports on research to examine the types of motivation related to school achievement. A total of 1428 students from an inner city high school in the Montreal (Quebec) area participated in the study, 714 males and 714 females. The students ranged in age from 12 to 18, and approximately 40 percent were minorities (Hispanic, Asian, Black).…