Although basing instruction on a learning trajectory (LT) is often recommended, there is little evidence regarding a premise of a LT approach--that to be maximally meaningful, engaging, and effective, instruction is best presented 1 LT level beyond a child's present level of thinking. We evaluated this hypothesis using an empirically validated LT…

Academic self-concept has received a great deal of attention in recent educational research because it mediates many other educational outcomes. Therefore, it is important to find out how students' academic self-concept develops. We examined the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) dynamically by investigating the effect of track changes in high…

This study examined the longitudinal effects of 2 first-grade universal preventive interventions on academic outcomes (e.g., achievement, special education service use, graduation, postsecondary education) through age 19 in a sample of 678 urban, primarily African American children. The classroom-centered intervention combined the Good Behavior…

Previous studies in education have inspected the relations between students' autonomous versus controlled motivation and relevant outcomes. In most of those studies a global index of self-determined motivation was created. The purpose of this article was to examine (a) how the different types of motivation proposed by Self-Determination Theory…

College students received either one half of the objectives for a certain test or no objectives at all. The subjects with objectives performed better than those without on posttest items referenced to their objectives (relevant learning) and less well on items not covered (incidental learning). Findings conflict with previous research. (Author/SE)

Goal structures reflect the motivational beliefs promoted by the prevailing instructional policies and procedures within an academic setting. Teachers' sense of efficacy refers to individuals' judgments or beliefs regarding their ability to accomplish critical instructional tasks. The relation between these constructs and differences on the basis…

The effects of requiring an overt or covert response to objectives when grouped before or interspersed throughout a text were investigated for intentional and incidental learning. In addition, two densities of specific and general objectives were investigated. (Author/BW)

Two studies examined the degree to which pursuit of achievement goals is regulated in response to ongoing competence feedback. In Study 1, conducted in a college classroom, goal pursuit remained largely stable throughout the semester, yet poor exam performance predicted a significant decrease in mastery goal and performance-approach goal pursuit…

Studied the effects of goal setting and self-monitoring during self-regulated practice on the acquisition of a complex motor skill with 90 high school girls. Results indicate that girls who shifted goals developmentally from process to outcome goals surpassed those who had only process goals. (SLD)

The primary finding of this study was that performance increments found with whole presentations of instructional objectives could be achieved with part presentation of objectives and text. In fact, the part presentations resulted in ever greater intentional learning than whole presentations. (Author/BJG)

This study focuses on the relative importance attached to selected undergraduate teaching goals. Results support the merits of Holland's Theory as a conceptual framework guiding formulation of academic policies and investigations of discipline-based differences in attitudes and activities of academic professionals. (Author/GK)

A distinctiveness of encoding hypothesis, as applied to the facilitative effects that higher order objectives have on readers' prose recall, was evaluated in three experiments. Results suggest that distinctiveness of encoding may offer a theoretical basis for the effects of adjunct aids as well as a guide to their construction. (Author/GK)

College students studied text about an imaginary solar system. Two cuing systems were manipulated to induce a single or double set of cues consistent with one or two sets of text propositions, or no target propositions were specified. Cuing systems guided construction and implementation of prose-processing decision criteria. (Author/RD)

Experiment compares students receiving an instructional intervention designed to increase intrinsic motivation with students receiving traditional instruction. Concept-oriented reading instruction (CORI) integrated reading and language arts with science inquiry, emphasizing learning goals, real-world interaction, competence support, and…