Examines skills and understandings that preservice teachers need to create caring classroom communities, noting the supportive conditions they need, both as student teachers and as teachers, to make positive contributions to students' character development. Discusses why it is necessary to create caring environments, how to teach the various…

Asserts that research indicates that parents have a strong influence on the development of their children's achievement motivation. Reports a study of 180 Bophuthatswana adolescents to determine the effects of living in a boarding school or with family. Finds significantly higher achievement motivation scores for the adolescents living with…

Teacher trainees' responses to open-ended questions about career choice were used to determine their motives for selecting a career in teaching in Brunei Darussalam. The results indicated that extrinsic motives were the main determinants for trainees to choose teaching, and altruistic and intrinsic reasons were less prominent. (SM)

Both gifted (n=69) and regular (n=66) French Canadian elementary students were compared for school intrinsic motivation and perceived competence. Results indicated that gifted students perceived themselves as being more competent and intrinsically motivated toward school activities than did regular students. No gender effects were obtained.…

A 1996 study attributed adolescent remedial readers' low comprehension to poor motivation, lack of experience, and egocentricity. Secondary teachers can help by connecting reading assignments to real-world learning experiences, providing self-directed activities, and inviting collaborative learning and varied self-expression. A San Diego program…

Presents Flow Theory as a theoretical model to help those who work with children in physical activity environments better understand how to motivate children to become and remain physically active. Explains why children participate in and drop out of physical activities, what Flow Theory is, how to tap into flow experiences, and implications for…

Tested the hypothesis that home environment positively predicts academic intrinsic motivation from childhood through early adolescence, controlling for socioeconomic status. Found that home environment had statistically positive and significant, direct and indirect paths to academic intrinsic motivation; children whose homes had greater emphasis…

Examines the relationship of perfectionism with measures of achievement and achievement motivation and mental health aspects of depression and self-esteem in high school students (N=123). Results indicate that students' personal standards were significant predictors of academic achievement and academic motivation. Also reveals that as students'…

This study examined the role of motivational factors on the academic achievement of children in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Four motivational factors were assessed: the child's motivational attributions, motivational goal orientation, self-perception, and mastery-oriented behaviors in the classroom. Mastery-oriented behaviors include being…

Discusses the effects of different motivational orientations on students with learning disabilities and the variables affecting intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Instructional recommendations are made for enhancing academic intrinsic motivation, including involving students in the learning process, responding positively and praising students,…

Researchers measured the constructs of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for college students' learning, examining self-assessed motivation, composite ACT score, and grade point average (GPA). Extrinsic motivation more strongly (though negatively) predicted GPA. There was a significant positive relationship between GPA and intrinsic motivation.…

A French measure of motivation toward education was cross-culturally validated in English with 745 Canadian university students. Results demonstrate satisfactory internal consistency and temporal stability for the English version, the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). A LISREL confirmatory factor analysis confirms the seven-factor structure of the…

Two studies with 277 intermediate grade students (106 males, 107 females, and 64 males and females) show that motivational orientations, measured by the scale of S. Harter (1981), are not distributed similarly across gender but that girls are more likely to be extrinsically motivated and influenced by adult feedback. (SLD)

Develops previous research by examining the roles of parent and teacher in the biographies of young music students. Confirms earlier findings that support by both parent and teacher motivates initial music learning and adds that over time motivation becomes intrinsic and self-sustaining. Examines the implications for music education. (DSK)

Investigated how students' perceptions of teachers' communicative style related to students' extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, examining links between these variables and various language-learning outcomes (effort, anxiety, and language competence). Students in a French immersion course completed questionnaires. Perceptions of teacher's…