Presents findings from a study entitled "Developmental Students' Perceptions of the Factors that Contribute to Academic Success." Focuses on the factors students identify as being significant in creating, nurturing, and maintaining commitment. Specifies the influence of role models, goals, personal circumstances, and the observation of the…

Contributors to this special issue present information that has accrued within specific subfields of self-regulated learning. Essays discuss key issues of self-regulated learning, providing suggestions on how the modeling, scaffolding, and fading of self-regulatory skills can be done. (SLD)

Discusses how warm-up activities can help to make the English-as-a-foreign-language classroom a lively and interesting place. Warm-up activities are games carried out at the beginning of each class to motivate students to make good use of class time. (Author/VWL)

A 1997 survey of students at the Open University of Hong Kong showed that distance learners strongly depend on face-to-face (F2F) tutorial support for their learning. A new pedagogical model is proposed which builds on existing lecture-cum-tutorial delivery. This system of lecturing followed by templated tutorials inspires student-student and…

Shares observations about implementation issues that have emerged during efforts to find and evaluate computer-based solutions for students' learning and studying problems. Notes these issues fall into five topic areas: access issues, motivational issues, curriculum integration issues, labeling issues, and funding issues. Describes each issue,…

A study investigated how providing choice opportunities to children (ages 5-9) with autism impacted their performance during teacher-assigned homework activities. Results showed that providing the students with opportunities to make choices regarding the order to task completion and use of stimulus materials improved participants' accuracy,…

Examines changes in first- and second-graders' reading motivation across the course of a school year in the United States and Finland. Explores possible developmental patterns in early reading motivation that operate universally across cultural contexts. Finds that in both countries first-graders' reading motivation increased significantly across…

Presents results of an empirical survey aimed at obtaining classroom data on student motivational strategies. Hungarian teachers from various language teaching institutions were asked how important they considered a selection of 51 strategies, and how frequently they used them in their teaching practice. (Author/VWL)

Discussion of project-based learning focuses on a study that examined if being hypermedia designers could have an effect on fourth graders' motivation and learning of design knowledge. Results show enhanced motivation, and the development of design knowledge and higher-order thinking skills, including collaboration and time management. (Author/LRW)

Examined the nature of Turkish students' motivation to read. Objectives were to explore the mean level of Turkish students' reading motivation; to identify students' reading frequencies; and to understand the relation between their reading motivations and their reading frequencies. Students completed the Motivations for Reading Questionnaire and…

Of 74 students taking web-based agriculture courses, two-thirds were identified as field independent. There were no achievement differences between field-dependent and field-independent students. Students enjoyed the convenience and pacing and were motivated by competition and high expectations. Motivation was the only significant factor…

Investigated expectancy-value predictors for experiencing shame from test feedback and possible consequences of these reactions. If students believe they have the capabilities and are committed to a future goal for which the course grade is relevant, then a shame reaction may be a warning signal that future goals might be unattainable. (BF)

Examines third year university physics students' use of models when explaining familiar phenomena involving interaction between metals and electromagnetic radiation. Concludes that few students use a single model consistently. (Contains 27 references.) (DDR)

Investigated the impact of negative teacher feedback on elementary students' motivation. Fifth and sixth graders were randomly assigned to receive one of five feedback patterns after an activity. All students received positive competence-related feedback at the end of the activity. Relative to the other conditions, typical male feedback decreased…

Examines the relationships among receiver apprehension, teacher clarity, and teacher immediacy in the instructional context. Examines the relationships between state receiver apprehension and student motivation, affect, and cognitive learning. Finds that, although state receiver apprehension is significantly related to negative instructional…