What are the most common motives invoked by 9th graders when asked about their plans to take (or not) more mathematics courses during high school? How do beliefs about math course-taking affect students' actual planning? To what extent is planning of math course-taking associated with high school students' sociodemographic backgrounds? The study…

Students' learning environments often change during school career, due to school transitions and the introduction of educational innovations, causing discontinuity in teaching and learning. Success of students entering a new learning environment depends in part on their prior expectations of education, as these influence later perceptions.…

Through a gerontological lens, using grounded theory methods and both qualitative and quantitative data, we investigated the "off-time" enrollment of mid- and later-life (MLL) community college students (age 40+) to explore how their enrollment decisions and academic goals are situated in the timing and intersection of life events and…

In education, the child is often observed as a potential to be shaped and realised. In this article, we analyse the educational program, First Lego League. Surprisingly, its aim is not simply to realise a potential, but to potentialise the child to become unlimited potential. Children should become 'a force for change', and they are told that 'you…

Goal setting and grade loss aversion have individually been found to be effective motivators for student performance. We combine these two strategies to investigate, in a university setting, the effectiveness of grade endowment within a goal-setting framework. Our participants set grade goals which some must earn the traditional way, thus framed…

This study tested the motivational and achievement-related factors associated with immigrant adolescents' high educational and occupational aspirations. Adolescents residing in Austria (457 girls; 235 first-generation, 418 second-generation and 238 2.5-generation immigrants) aged 11 to 15 years (M[subscript age] = 12.50, SD[subscript age] = 1.08)…

Background: Active learning, on average, increases student performance in STEM courses. Yet, there is also large variation in the effectiveness of these implementations. A consistent goal of active learning is moving students towards becoming active constructors of their knowledge. This emphasis means student engagement is of central importance.…

Contribution: This article applies science capital research to computing education in order to understand why students engage with a programme involving computing, and what they aspire to get out of their education. Background: Capital is a concept which has been used in educational research to study inequality, aspiration and achievement.…

This study focused on the question of how to enhance a mastery-goal orientation in the classroom. We started from the perspective of the achievement goal theory, which assumes that the goals that students have (personal goals) relate to the goals that are set in the classroom (classroom goal structures). In classrooms where teachers focus on…

Purpose: Work-study programmes aim to support young adults transitioning from tertiary education to work and contribute to enhancing their employability. The purpose of this study is to provide a detailed analysis of the learning experiences of trainees in work-study programmes within the broad field of engineering. Design/methodology/approach:…

This study bridges a gap in the current research on motivation and demotivation learning a second language (L2). It is meant to provide an overview of students' goal setting when they start to learn an L2 at university level in Australia. Drawing on goal-setting and learning goal orientation constructs (cf. Miller, 2020), goal formation is…

Research on motivation has shown that students perform better when they perceive utility-value in their course. Utility-value is a domain of motivation that is reflective of the perceived importance or usefulness of a task for accomplishing future goals. In this study, students in a community college introductory chemistry course were tasked with…

The article aims to determine the impact of a psychologically grounded interactive educational space on the professional self-realization of future art professionals. The study used the methodology "type and level of professional self-realization," methodology for studying satisfaction, test for studying the motivation of professional…

Working-class young men are often pathologised for their perceived lack of white-collar career aspirations. Historically, and in our present context, only a select minority of working-class males pursue higher education. Of those who attend, few choose to study STEM, which is often associated with academic rigour, competition and prestige. As a…

Although many kinship and foster youths have clear academic ambitions during high school, research indicates that many do not graduate high school, and fewer complete a college degree compared to non-foster youth. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study is to explore and advance an understanding of the experiences that influence…