The study focuses on how subjective stress and mastery skills impact physical and mental wellbeing among UNLV undergraduate college students. Bovier, Chamot, and Perneger's (2004) study was repeated within a racially diverse campus setting. The Transactional Model of Stress and Coping provided the foundation of this study with an emphasis on…

While language aptitude and motivation are considered to be important contributors to second language (L2) attainment, two major gaps in the past research have been (1) a lack of nonlinear models stemming from a naive and tacit assumption that learning outcomes are linearly related to their predictors, and (2) a lack of unified and integrative…

Students take standardized tests and in most cases, the results have implications not only to the students, but also teachers and administrators. The students' motivation to perform may be a factor, especially in the infrequent situations when there aren't consequences to the students, only the administration. The tests in the middle school years…

The current context of education, with an emphasis on high stakes testing and curricular mandates, is affecting motivation in schools (Au, 2007; Barksdale-Ladd & Thomas, 2000; Ryan & Brown, 2004; Supovitz, 2009). It is important to study the relations between teaching in such contexts and teacher and student motivation. The purpose of this…

This mixed-method phenomenological study was conducted in 2 concurrent phases. The quantitative phase consisted of a researcher designed questionnaire conducted with 103 public school kindergarten teachers in California. Thirty-five close-ended and 2 open-ended questions were included. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to find…

Despite the increase in their college enrollment, nontraditional students in U.S. postsecondary institutions are less likely to stay in college until they earn their degree. What could explain nontraditional student high attrition rates and overall success beyond what their demographic characteristics reveal? The purpose of this study was to…

Motivation is a fundamental educational challenge for adolescents in the United States, and particularly for immigrant youth. The motivation to achieve, especially in mathematics, declines during adolescence. Most of what is known about motivation is based on studies of predominately middle-class White students; yet the influx of immigrants over…

The major purpose of this study was to ascertain how intermediate grade teachers' culturally relevant beliefs and practices might contribute to mastery proficiency for African American students on New York State English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics assessments. The study measured how teachers in similar high need suburban elementary schools…

With the widespread growth of broadband Internet access, teachers, and in many cases, schools and school districts are transitioning from traditional paper-based grade books to student accessible online (Web-based) grade books. Online grade books offer students 24/7, on demand access to grades and various other student data, and have the potential…

This study explored patterns of the ethical conduct of collegiate students in academic and athletic domains employing social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986, 1997) using non-experimental, comparative and correlational designs. The study explored response patterns on anonymous surveys between varsity (N = 1151) and non-varsity (N = 227)…

This quantitative research study explores the correlation between instructional formats and the measurement of knowledge retention, as well as subsequent course mastery and whether other factors such as age, ethnicity, gender, number of study hours, number of work hours, and family responsibilities influence learning outcomes. The healthcare data…

This study set out to examine the relationships between the classroom social environment, motivation, engagement and achievement of a group of early entrant Honors students at a large urban university. Prior research on the classroom environment, motivation, engagement and high ability students was examined, leading to the assumption that the…

In this study, I examined the relationship that exists among school belonging, achievement motivation, and academic achievement in a sample of student-athletes at UC Berkeley. The goal of the study was to achieve a deeper understanding of how and why achievement motivation and academic achievement is often discrepant between revenue and…

The purpose of this study was to analyze student achievement growth and motivational goal orientations in a standards-based reporting environment in a rural SC school district. More specifically, this study sought to determine if student achievement growth is related to the number of years students received standards-based reports in middle…

First-year students experience academic, social, and emotional adjustments as they transition to college. First-year experience courses support students in this transitional phase by helping them integrate into the campus environment and by teaching them college-appropriate learning strategies. This study explored the role that participation in a…