This study examined the relationship between college students' preference for an immediately available option (e.g., go to a favorite concert the day before a test) or a delayed alternative (e.g., stay at home to study for the test). Analysis focused on how much a student would like to engage in a specific activity, the importance of the activity…

A correlational study of 62 8th grade, 60 11th grade, and 58 college students investigated developmental differences in learning goals, study strategy beliefs and their inter-relationship for science classes. Questionnaires measured levels of task orientation, ego orientation, and work avoidance, as well as belief in the utility of two types of…

Describes a study of the role of face-to-face teaching and learning in two distance education courses at Athabasca University. Concerned with effects of a seminar on adult learner success, the study addressed the questions of whether students will attend optional seminars, how distance learners perceive seminars, whether attendees perform better,…

Administers an experimental college version of the Musical Aptitude Profile (CMAP) and 2 motivation measures to 187 nonmusic majors in a music appreciation course. Eliminates CMAP results from analysis resulting from low reliability. Includes data table that were significantly related. (NL)

This review of cognitive development research in the area of computer-based reading instruction focuses on reinforcement and instructional objectives. Differences between extrinsic and intrinsic reinforcement and motivation are discussed, types of objectives and learner characteristics are described, and implications for instructional design are…

A study investigated tenacity of adult students who have once again made their way back to academia. The specific purpose was to discover how these students understood their own history of college enrollment and their perceptions of themselves as persisters. Participants were 63 "tenacious persisters" in three sections of an orientation class at a…

In an effort to further explore the experience of understanding from the university perspective, this study examined how British students' understanding was refined and committed to memory during preparation for final examinations. After piloting an interviewing procedure, in-depth interviews were conducted with eleven students from psychology…

The Learning Strategies Questionnaire (LSQ) was developed to assess students' declarative knowledge of strategy utility. Goals were to develop a reliable survey that: (1) could be administered for fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders in a group setting; (2) would provide a profile of children's declarative knowledge of strategies for classroom…

The theory of reasoned action is a social psychological model that was first considered by science educators in the early 1980s to investigate attitude-behavior relationships. The theory has encouraged intense investigations in the prediction of behavior, development of instruments, and creation of belief-based interventions. This investigation…

Japanese children's performance in school is a product of a social consensus favoring attention to children's learning, a set of cultural values focusing on the commitment of effort, and a psychological milieu in the family which encourages achievement in a safe and nurturant atmosphere. This paper treats especially this latter environment, that…

This study explored how motivational and achievement factors interact and affect persistence in minority undergraduate engineering students. Study participants were 38 entering Mexican and African American college students in an engineering program at a large, southwestern university in the Fall of 1990. Each student was assigned to a peer…