This paper provides a critical analysis of New Zealand's Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF). The first section sketches the development and implementation of the PBRF. The second section evaluates the scheme, concentrating on three themes: the relationship between privatization, competition and research performance; the standardization of…

This paper begins as an initial rejoinder to the ideas expressed by Ross (2000) in The Promise and Perils of E-Learning: A critical look at the new technology. In his article, Ross supports the traditional practices of pedagogy at the primary school level--face-to-face pedagogy--and then critiques what he describes as a "fetishisation"…

The objective of this article is to investigate the computer animation and virtual reality technologies for developing a virtual marine museum. The museum consists of three exhibition areas. The first area displays fishes in freshwater, including creeks, rivers, and dams in Taiwan. The second area exhibits marine ecology and creatures of different…

This paper reviews the corpus of research on feedback, with a particular focus on formative feedback--defined as information communicated to the learner that is intended to modify the learner's thinking or behavior for the purpose of improving learning. According to researchers in the area, formative feedback should be multidimensional,…

This study examines the motivational pattern in relation to the anxiety of Chinese learners of English. Based on a survey consisting of an anxiety questionnaire and a motivation questionnaire, the findings revealed an unbalanced pattern of two types of motivation clusters that resembled the integrative-instrumental duality, with the level of…

This paper explored the adult student opinions on four types of English classroom activities (language learning; language acquisition; information convey; role play) and the relationship between the fondness degrees and their personality, test performance and motivation. It turned out that the majority of students ranked all classroom activities a…

This study explores the centrality of information technology (IT) to Chinese students' experiences in music lessons. Students involved in this qualitative and quantitative study described the possibilities of using technology when learning music. From among the students of 15 Shanghai secondary schools, 1741 responded to a written questionnaire…

Much research has investigated maternal and child predictors of educational attainment. This longitudinal study builds on past research by examining how everyday mother-child conversations about decision-making in early adolescence predict adolescents' decisions to drop out of high school, terminate their education with a high school degree, or…

Previous research indicates that foreign language learners are much more focused on accuracy, particularly grammatical accuracy, than their teachers are. The purpose of the current study was to gain a more detailed understanding of American learners' views of the need for accuracy in the oral production of a foreign language (German) by (a)…

Research identified and described the motivational orientations of the participants in the horticultural certificate programs at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Questionnaires were distributed to paying participants attending the certificate programs in fall 1994. The first part of the questionnaire included the Education Participation Scale…

The educational system of the future must embrace a learner-centered perspective to maximize high standards of learning, motivation, and achievement for all learners--for both students and their teachers. The learner-centered perspective begins with a focus on knowing and understanding each learner in the context of a deep understanding of the…

Nine teaching methods are described (conditioning, habit formation, lecture, audio-visual aids, seminar, case study, simulation games, conscientization, and affective learning) and each discussed with reference to the types of material, learners, and teachers to which it is best suited. (JT)

Analysis of data collected in six elementary schools reveals that the amount and quality of choices in school are strongly linked to positive attitudes about teachers and school and thus to learner interest. (Author)

The overwhelming majority of research on environmental influences has concentrated on the social environment, to the relative neglect of the physical environment. This neglect is justified by an unvalidated hypothesis, namely that the physical environment must be mediated by social parameters in order to influence development. Two studies were…

This collection of hands-on ideas for learning materials contains 26 different classroom learning aids for young children which can be used for a variety of language activities. The focus in the collection is on puppetry. The theory behind this collection is that students must be involved in the learning process and that by being an integral part…