Despite high drop-out rates from vocational education and training (VET) throughout most countries and a long research tradition on potential drop-out reasons, little is known about the effects exerted on drop-out intentions by the quality of training. Furthermore, only rarely do scholars distinguish between different drop-out directions, and…

Background: The expectancy-value theory that constitutes the theoretical background of this study on motivation provides a strong framework for cognitive development, as it includes most of the beliefs, values, and goal variables found in various theories on motivation. Besides, this theory focuses directly on how different socializers such as…

Motivational interventions grounded in Eccles and colleagues' situated expectancy-value theory (SEVT) can promote students' motivational beliefs and academic performance. However, most prior work has focused on one construct, perceived utility value. SEVT includes multiple constructs found to influence students' academic motivation, performance,…

Identifying students' reasons for learning a language is useful for every teacher who aims to help students achieve their goals. In addition, understanding how their language learning motivation is maintained through the class and to what extent this continues away from the classroom are equally important, especially in noncompulsory adult ESOL.…

Farmer training is a key strategy for building skills that lead to enhanced productivity of small-scale farmers' fields. This result hinges on farmers transferring the training to their fields. However, the factors that determine the subsequent transfer of training including those with mediating effects are not fully known. A study was conducted…

This dissertation explores the concepts of leading operational indicators and accountability at a corporation, a global contract manufacturer, with the intent to understand what the knowledge, motivational, and organizational influences impacting overall performance. The study featured a mixed-methods, quantitative and qualitative approach…

This transcendental phenomenological study will explore the lived experiences of Southern Texas Mexican American/Chicana women pursuing a doctorate. The Chicana's experience achieving a doctorate has been overlooked by the literature, with much of the research on Mexican American women being outdated or focusing on completing high school or…

The use of movies in EFL classes has attracted the attention of researchers interested in this area. The use of sitcoms, as a type of audio-visual material, for language learning has been studied but not extensively. This study examined the effect of sitcoms on EFL learners' foreign language anxiety (FLA) and motivation for learning. A…

This qualitative descriptive study was designed to answer the following questions: How do infant/toddler teachers (ITTs) enter the infant/toddler workforce? What motivates teachers to work in the infant/toddler workforce? What recruitment strategies are identified by experienced ITTs? What retention strategies are identified by experienced ITTs?…

Through examining the perspectives of students within the Chinese Adult Higher Education sector, this paper investigates their motivation for gaining a degree (that many felt was undervalued) and their perceptions of credentialism in China's post-massification era. Forty semi-structured interviews were undertaken with adult students studying for…

As globalisation increases, Higher Education Institutions are challenged to produce more young graduates to meet the corporate world's demand for highly qualified, mobile international managers. Business and management programmes are required to have international components to attract the best students. To date, the majority of research has…

In this large-scale qualitative study, we use an emergent design to explore pre-service teachers' (PST) motivations to enter the profession. We open-code 2,798 PSTs responses to the directive, 'Explain why you decided to become a teacher', given over the course of a six-year period from one large Texas teacher preparation programme. Using constant…

A new group of Grade 12 students graduates from high school each year. This is an important time for young adults because they must make decisions for what life after high school will look like. The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to investigate what decisions students in Alberta are making for after high school, and (b) to examine how such…

This case study examines the journey of a successful Chinese language learner who has become a Chinese language instructor. His path of learning Chinese is found to be different than that of most non-heritage Chinese instructors. Key factors contributing to his success include prior experience of learning Spanish as a second language, strong…

Multiple motivation factors work together to influence how students learn and achieve. Motivation can be enhanced by instruction that supports learning-related expectancies of success and strengthens perceptions that learning is useful. It also helps to keep in check students' beliefs that learning involves unreasonable effort, emotional, or…