Tactile learning activities generated positive evaluative attitudes in fifth-grade learners toward geography. These learners did better academically when their competence was measured by content tests. (RM)

This study was undertaken to understand a motivation model in the context of the Korean elementary school mathematics class. The sample consisted of 178 fourth graders (boys=95; girls=83) from 2 Korean elementary schools. This study showed that a goal mediational model could be modified and successfully applied to the context of the Korean…

A goal mediational model to conceptualize the effects of students' motivational beliefs on their learning strategies was modified with the three goal orientations: task, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Questionnaires were administered to 161 Korean fifth graders (boys = 88; girls = 73) in an elementary school math class.…

Researchers have pointed to cultural diversity as a major source of conflict in our nation's schools, noting that these conflicts have the potential to escalate into violence. This study seeks to identify the types of intercultural encounters that young people themselves find troublesome. Participants were 906 sixth graders in 12 elementary…

Describes a study which compared the effects of a keyboard learning approach and a traditional general music approach on sixth-grade general music students' music achievement, attitudes toward music, and self-concept regarding music ability. (Author/RM)

Describes a study which explored how sixth grade students' beliefs about their competence, relative to other students, affected rates of participation in small groups. Results confirmed theoretical predictions that information about relative ability in a given skill will generalize to novel situations and is an accurate predictor of performance.…

Results revealed significantly higher acceptance of individual differences on three attitudinal dimensions by children at an experimental school (N=24) compared to children from schools where no severely handicapped children were enrolled (N=288) and schools with severely handicapped children enrolled but without the interaction program (N=288).…

Describes how the authors implemented a plan that involved building conceptual knowledge through the use of manipulatives and common threads in literature to teach a week-long unit on Rosa Parks. Notes that the students were guided to build conceptual knowledge as they personally connected with fictional heroes and real heroes, such as Rosa Parks,…

In study 1, fourth and fifth graders who joined a club under performance conditions exhibited more helplessness after apparent rejection than children who joined under learning conditions. In study 2, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders who believed personality was nonmalleable were more likely to endorse performance goals in hypothetical socially…

Fifty-seven sixth-grade gifted students were asked to depict models of ideal gifted programs in ways that were not limited by their experiences in these programs. The students appeared to endorse the practices of existing program models, though one type of gifted program was not found to be ideal for all students. (Author/JDD)

Describes a special grade-school program in which a group of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students received answers to their questions about Alzheimer's Disease. (BB)

Describes three fifth-grade students in the author's school who used humor in their writing assignments. Offers samples of their work and their observations about it. (SR)

Describes a fifth-grade classroom where student goal setting and self-evaluation were an integral part of the curriculum. Explores the growth and development of these students and their teacher. Discusses what brought about changes in instruction and learning. (RS)

Twenty fourth grade students wrote brief answers to teacher questions on laminated response cards. Compared to hand raising, 6 target students exhibited more active student response during instruction, most of the 20 students scored higher on daily quizzes, and most preferred response cards over hand raising. (JDD)

This study compared gifted and regular fifth graders' thoughts and concerns about the future in 1975 and today. Although gifted students were more pessimistic than regular students in 1975, today both groups are more negative about the future than earlier and the pessimism of gifted students has dramatically increased. Gifted students see a…