The current study aimed to qualitatively explore participants' perceived effectiveness of the UWorkItOut UWin program (a six-week exercise and counseling intervention) as well as the perceived outcomes. Previous research has found the UWorkItOut UWin program to be effective at decreasing psychological distress in university students. Exit…

University students experience stress from academic demands. Stress is in fact expected in academic settings and important for achieving goals. How students experience the inevitable stress in the academic context, and whether stress is a support or hindrance for them, is related to their beliefs about stress. This study examined two types of…

In this paper, we discuss core ideas arising from research undertaken in a Leverhulme Trust (IN2016-002) funded international network project. The project examined youth activism, engagement and the development of new civic learning spaces within and across six countries (Australia, Canada, England, Hungary, Lebanon and Singapore). Arising from…

We conducted a national study of the Collegiate Leadership Competition (CLC), which since inception in 2015, has included over 75 higher education institutions. The CLC brings students together in collaborative institution-based teams to compete with other teams in competitions to achieve goals and practice effective leadership skills. Our goal…

The COVID-19 crisis dramatically impacted how academic classes were taught. The present two studies used two-wave prospective longitudinal designs (following two separate cohorts of university students) to examine the predictive role of the Big 5 personality traits of openness to experience and conscientiousness on students' engagement in online…

The increasing number of students requiring special education support is a plea for students to be taught the way they learn best. Through the authentic educational experiences of a diverse family, this paper explores the impact of theories of motivation to support all learners. This exploration proposes that educators may be able to support the…

The current study investigated the impact of performance feedback on female students' motivation following a summative classroom assessment in STEM. Seventh through ninth grade students (N = 161) were randomly assigned by their math or science class to one of the following conditions: grades, written comments, grades and comments, and no feedback.…

Integrating educational assessment tools, such as the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), into university classrooms can help students and faculty gain insight into areas of strength and challenge for students. The present study adapted and integrated the MSLQ into a set of first-year communication courses for Faculty of Arts…

This study aimed to understand the role of regulatory focus for influencing self-directed learning activities during a job search. The authors surveyed 185 job-searching university students at two time points to explore the conditions under which regulatory focus (promotion and prevention foci) impacts self-directed learning activities and the…

This study examines how one teacher supported low-achieving students' self-regulated learning (SRL) in the context of a secondary mathematics class. The teacher's scaffolding provided students with multiple opportunities to use feedback and adapt learning and study strategies. Data compared pre- and post-measures of metacognitive skills,…

Students' mental health has been an increased concern since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, academic outcomes have received very little attention. In this study, changes in students' achievement motivation are investigated using an expectancy-value framework. Participants (n = 90) were high school students (grades 9 and 10) who…

A strong willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language is associated with successful language learning. ESL learners with high levels of WTC will seek opportunities to interact in meaningful communication in English. Engagement in meaningful communication is necessary for language learning as it increases access to comprehensible input,…

The HEXACO dimensions of personality traits (honesty--humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) have been linked to many adaptive outcomes in physical education-related (PE) settings; yet, little is known about the relationship between personality traits and motivation in students of school…

This study examined differences in the psychological constructs of motivation, academic self-efficacy, and learning strategies between higher education students who participated in a work-integrated learning (WIL) programme and those who did not. Undergraduate WIL (n = 1048) and non-WIL (n = 656) students in all years of study and from several…

The current study investigated learning attributes, academic self-efficacy and sense of belonging of mature adult students in higher education. Undergraduate students of all ages at a large Canadian research intensive university were recruited to participate in an online survey. Mature and traditional age students were compared on their motivation…