This paper reviews the research of Ference Marton and his group of researchers at Goteborg University. It describes and explains research on: 1) what students learn, 2) how students approach learning, 3) the relationship between approach and learning outcome, 4) student perceptions of learning, and 5) the possibility of manipulating student…

An assessment of educational game playing in the classroom is presented. The assessment is based mainly on observations and reports of the game Empire (Educational Services Incorporated). In separate sections of the report, the author considers arrangements for game playing, the motivational appeal of educational games, and how and what children…

National Merit Scholars, chosen in 1956 and 1957, were studied to assess career progress made by highly gifted students 7 to 8 years after they had entered college and to identify factors that possibly contributed to the differential progress observed. Before entering college, each of the 368 subjects was asked what level of education he intended…

Understanding the connection between motivation and education is crucial for the achievement of adult educational goals. In social psychological terms, for each individual the learning process proceeds selectively in the context of motivational forces. With increasing age and ego development, basic motivational forces are socially defined,…

The research interests of developmental and educational psychologists concerned with children's learning appear to be converging. Simultaneously, the study of children's learning is at a significant crossroads. In the last decade, research has progressed rapidly and has moved from a problem to a variable orientation. If there is to be a…

The purpose of this outline is to give teachers and counselors general information on the vocational utility of foreign language skills, on the assumption that this information will help to increase and maintain enrollment in foreign language classes. Information is divided into two basic categories: "language important careers" and "language…

The author contends that there is a strong relationship between a students' scholastic success and self-image. Following a brief literature review, the Self-Anchoring Attitude Scale (SAAS), an inventory designed to assess attitude, is discussed. Each subject is asked to write down what they would say about students who like to learn, and what they…

The state of continuing education for physicians was examined by a World Health Organization Expert Committee. The study touched on five major areas: (1) the motivation and stimulation during basic medical education and during the physicians professional career; (2) the definition of objectives, selection of instructional methods, and evaluation…

Second language instruction in the U.S. and Europe is in difficulties. The choice of a second language is artibrary and the motivation dubious. In Europe and now also in the U.S., attention has turned to the planned interlanguage Esperanto, which offers a maximally regularized structure, is considered "easy" by learners, and has the…

Assuming the direct connection between vocational instruction and work, I want to discuss the implications of language and language research and of new research on the human brain for the future of vocational education. A language such as ours which uses alphabet signs rather than pictorial characters greatly facilitates the development of modern…

In an effort to clarify understanding of the concept of critical learning periods, this paper discusses problems that people concerned with the motor development of children have had determining relationships between critical periods and learning, and a "readiness model" is offered as a solution that could enhance understanding of critical…

The effects of specificity and position of written instructional objectives on learning from an audiotaped lecture were investigated using materials from Rothkopf and Kaplan (1972). Subjects received either specific or general objectives before or after the four sections of the lecture. A control group received no objectives. Vocabulary items used…

If motivation to read fails to develop, reading failure is the outcome. All of us have very delicately balanced neural systems for integrating incoming sensory inputs, evaluating their significance in the light of past experience, and storing the learning for future use. Autistic and hyperkinetic children apparently have unbalanced neurological…

This paper deals with the question of academic motivation. It argues that perseverance at learning is not a function simply of inheritance, early socialization, or current cultural conditions, but rather an interaction of these factors with key aspects of the educational environment. Two distinct conceptions of motivation are outlined: motivation…

An attempt is made in this working paper to synthesize the existing empirical evidence concerning the utility of simulation games in social studies teaching, training, and research. The data are drawn from several sources: published literature dealing with simulation games, descriptions of games in use, communications with people who use games,…