"Free-agent" employees focus on employability based on their expertise, knowledge base, reputation, and networks. Their skills make them value-added contributors and they expect something in return from their employers such as opportunities for growth and the application of learning. (JOW)

Interviews with a lifelong learning manager and adult learners in rural Lincolnshire illuminated differences between continuing education providers' and learners' expectations of lifelong learning. Learners were job focused and interested in improving labor market outcomes. Policies that reflected community and citizenship benefits from learning…

In one section of a graduate course (n=26), the instructor gave enthusiastic verbal praise 27% of the time for homework logs and administered no verbal praise in the other (n=28). The praise group had higher average scores, studied longer per lesson, and had higher motivation. (Contains 51 references.) (SK)

The opportunities paradigm assumes that participation in lifelong learning is positive and voluntary, yet discourse analysis reveals pervasive pressure to be permanent learners. Recent research suggests that learners may switch between discourses of compulsion and self-realization, and they may combine participant and nonparticipant identities.…

Agricultural producers in Nevada who enrolled in a tax management program (n=33) rated their knowledge of 6 business management tools higher than 36 nonparticipants. Although nonparticipants reported lower financial management knowledge, they were not interested in attending Extension classes nor in home study or the Internet. (SK)

An action research study involving British adults interested in further education opportunities found that the vast majority learned about adult education courses by word of mouth rather than print; supports such as child care, subsidies, and accommodations for people with disabilities are crucial; and follow-up courses are desired. (SK)

University students, asked to judge criteria for their own quality, rated a commitment to learning most important of 25 criteria. They considered most criteria of student quality to be more important at graduation than at entry, supporting a talent development approach to assessment rather than a resource approach. (Author)

This article considers the profound impact that Paul R. Pintrich had on the field of achievement motivation, specifically achievement goal theory. The article highlights Pintrich's groundbreaking research and theorizing, beginning with his early work integrating research on motivation and cognition and ending with his development of a multiple…

All members of the higher education community share the important goal of fostering college students' motivation to learn. Which contemporary constructs best explain students' motivation, however, is an issue of debate in this community. This article discusses motivational theory and research and draws implications for general education programs.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of self-regulated learning strategies on learners' perception of motivation within web-based instruction. In this study, self-regulated learning strategies, which were intended to assist students to self-observe and self-evaluate their effectiveness, were incorporated into a one-semester…

Language learning motivation is a complex, composite construct, and although past research has identified a number of its key components, the interrelationship of these components has often been subject to debate. Similarly, the exact contribution of the various motivational components to learning behaviors and learning achievement has also been…

This article is for teachers looking for new ways to motivate students, increase science comprehension, and understanding without using the old standard expository science textbook. This author suggests reading a science fiction novel in the science classroom as a way to engage students in learning. Using science fiction literature and language…

A voluntary peer-coaching program is described along with the accompanying cultural change that occurred at a suburban high school. Veteran teachers participating in this research reported that peer coaching gave them meaningful feedback, motivation to direct their learning, increased levels of trust and morale among themselves, and justification…

One of the ultimate goals of policy makers is to enable citizens to take advantage of a globalised world economy. This is leading them to focus on the improvement of education policies, ensuring the quality of service provision, a more equitable distribution of learning opportunities and stronger incentives for greater efficiency in schooling.…

The objective of this study was to evaluate grade 9-12 students' motivation while engaged in two different engineering design projects: marble-sorter and bridge designs. The motivation components measured in this study were focused on students' intrinsic (IGO) and extrinsic (EGO) goal orientations, task value (TV), self-efficacy for learning and…