Scientific research and student involvement are critical to the formation of physicians, yet the number of medical researchers has decreased over time. To implement corrective strategies, the variables associated with positive research attitudes and productivity among medical students must be identified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the…

Background: Free-choice learning, which often takes place in settings such as zoos, is where the learner has autonomy to choose what, where, how, and with whom to learn. Currently, little is known about the potential of free-choice learning experiences at informal settings to engage undergraduates in biology. Purpose: We sought to explore how…

Stable individual differences in cognitive motivation (i.e., the tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive activities) have been documented with self-report measures, yet convergent support for a trait-level construct is still lacking. In the present study, we used an innovative decision-making paradigm (COG-ED) to quantify the costs of…

Background: Employment is often central to individuals' lives. However, individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities are often absent from the workplace, and little research has examined their interest in working. Aims: This study examined whether people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities want jobs; why they do or…

Background: Previous research suggests a relationship between teacher behaviors and students' effort. However, it is not clear what role the students' expectations (i.e., importance of teacher behaviors) play in this relationship. Objective: Utilizing the teacher behavior checklist, this study sought to investigate whether teacher behaviors…

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…