The EZ-Yale Personality Motivation Questionnaire (EZPQ) was used to measure motivation as a facet of school readiness in a sample of 133 children during the spring of their final year of Head Start. Three motivational constructs assessed by the EZPQ, academic mastery motivation, negative reaction tendency, and outerdirectedness, were associated…

This study examined the relative benefits of mastery learning, overlearning, and fluency-building instructions for academic performance and long-term retention. College students enrolled in introductory quantitative methods classes (n = 168) were asked to practice every week with a computerized flash-card program until they attained various…

This article reports the findings of a study that examined how middle school struggling readers transact with the reading task demands of his or her respective classroom. The study also examined how each student's teacher transact with the student's reading challenges. The author used a descriptive, case study approach. Findings showed that the…

The educational "pipeline" that provides tomorrow's scientists and engineers leaks far more females than males, particularly in the junior high age range. The reasons for this are complex and still being studied. However, by college age, the gender differences seen at earlier ages seem to narrow or disappear when one considers only those students…

This paper explores motivational factors underpinning undergraduates' learning of research skills through individual research projects with collaborative tutorials. Research has long pointed to group support, positive affect and scaffolding as important for motivating and facilitating learning. Furthermore, UK government priorities have placed an…

There is concern among second language educators in Canada that male students are losing interest in studying French as a second language (FSL). In response, in the fall of 2003, a study was conducted to investigate gender differences in second language (L2) motivation among Grade 9 core French students. Building upon the traditional model of L2…

This paper outlines the implementation of a Science Rally held at Palm Beach State Primary School (Australia) which has a high proportion of disadvantaged families. Fostering the principles of multi-age grouping in primary schools, the rally aimed at engaging children in meaningful and exciting activities in a non threatening and success oriented…

Some causes of difficulty experienced by Chinese learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in attaining communicative competence in the target language include lack of appropriate teacher strategies; teachers' limited English language proficiency; neglect of education in the target culture; lack of communicative activities; students'…

The goal of this paper is to articulate a theoretical basis for work with at-risk students and to provide a foundation for new methods for teachers who will be working with this population. The topic is narrowed to concerns related to academic achievement. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that external conditions are major antecedent…

Self-monitoring refers to deliberate attention to aspects of one's behavior, and is an important component of self-regulated learning, which depends on favorable self-evaluations of one's capabilities and progress toward learning goals. This paper argues that self-regulated learning is enhanced when students self-monitor their learning progress,…

A British study verified whether the educational participation of Ford Motor Company's manual workers significantly increased following introduction of the Employee Development and Assistance Program (EDAP) and identified the features that contributed to its success. Over the past 15 years, studies of working class adults' educational…

This paper focuses on the development and analysis of a survey designed to assess two aspects of motivation to read, specifically for adults enrolled in community college reading courses: self-perceived competence (self-concept) and valuing of the task (value). It also assesses developmental reading students' use of strategic reading behaviors.…

A Mexican study investigated the relationship between foreign language learning motivation, anxiety, and learning strategies of beginning-level university English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students who are at risk of failing the EFL class only. Subjects were 68 students identified as having serious problems with listening comprehension and…

This study investigated the relationship between student motivation, both extrinsic and intrinsic, and learning strategies for English as a foreign language (EFL) students. Subjects were 46 Taiwanese undergraduate and graduate students of advanced EFL at a public university in the United States who were administered motivation and learning…

A study examined the relationship between the motives and needs of 658 adult students enrolled in a Dutch adult high school program and the curricular and instructional design of an educational reform--an open learning program. The population was all 4,442 adult learners in 3 schools who started an open learning experiment. When the students…