Many of the reasons offered for the difference between boys and girls in certain kinds of cognitive tasks have been attributed to biology. However, other factors need to be considered, and so the role that motivation and learning play in gender differences is addressed in this paper. The focus rests on gender differences, both in the individual…

This study investigated variables associated with students' attitudes about second language use and second language learning. Subjects were 173 university students in foreign language classes. The questionnaire consisted of 27 Likert-type statements addressing such issues in language learning as performance anxiety, self-confidence, interest in…

Studies of self-directed learning (SDL) have generally concentrated on who self-directed learners are and what/how they learn. In 1980, Gibbons et al. used biographies of 20 "expert" self-directed learners to explore the principles and determinants of SDL. Tough (1967), Guglielmino (1977), and Spear and Mocker (1984) have respectively…

This paper describes a framework for research in Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) instruction that is grounded in existing theory and research from education literature. A recently developed model that integrates instructional design and learning motivation theories provides a theoretical basis for future efforts of researchers…

A Livingston, Montana, study on lifelong learning was conducted in two parts. The first part gathered data about the following: (1) what respondents had learned in the previous 12 months; (2) their sources of information and how they rated them; (3) why they initiated learning activities; (4) economic costs and benefits; (5) what they might like…

A study examined the sources of motivation of adults participating in the adult literacy program at the Bob Steele Reading Center (BSRC) in Hartford, Connecticut. The "life cycle" approach used to explore motivation throughout the stages of the literacy learning process included brief case studies focusing on the importance of socioemotional…

Designed to provide community college instructors with an understanding of how to improve the motivational level of their students, this four-part guidebook reviews theoretical concepts and offers practical advice concerning student motivation and frustration. Section I provides an overview of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and of…

Theoretical insights into teaching English as a second language developed in recent years are brought together in a broad methodological approach called the balanced activities approach. The book aims at providing a theoretical background to the approach as well as detailing practical instructional techniques. The first of the three parts of the…

The University of Manitoba's Continuing Education Division (CED) and Creative Retirement Manitoba (CRM) formed a partnership to promote applied research on lifelong learning and older adults, to develop new and to complement existing educational activities, and to explore new program models and instructional methods to meet the educational needs…

Large numbers of people are personally disenfranchised from learning, often because of poor and uninspired experiences in educational institutions. And yet, as the first learning principle of the Rover Learning Company says, "Learning is the most natural human instinct." This paper discusses the need to learn and some of the tools and…

The relationship between goal orientation and the use of learning strategies and their effects on learning outcomes were investigated. The three goal orientations considered were: (1) task orientation, which involves learning for its own sake; (2) ego orientation, which involves a desire to perform better than others; and (3) work avoidance, which…

Intended for teachers of gifted students in grades 4-12, the curriculum uses six of Shakespeare's comedies ("The Taming of the Shrew,""The Tempest,""Twelfth Night,""The Comedy of Errors,""As You Like It," and "A Midsummer Night's Dream") as materials for nurturing intellectual and…

While much has been done in the application of communicative principles to second language instruction, their application to language testing has been less fruitful. Experience with language testing projects in England and other countries suggests that communicative language test design should be based on the following issues and considerations:…

Using Japanese with Japanese students of English as a second language is not only unnecessary, but could hinder the learning of English. Students must be motivated to use a language in order to learn it well, and the classroom in which the native language is spoken will not foster English language learning any more than Japanese spoken in daily…

Research suggests that assimilative motivation is largely responsible for the development of native-like speech in both first and second languages. Analysis of anecdotal evidence of early bilingual development, studies of dialect acquisition, bilingual immersion programs, and studies of language pidginization illustrating the development of…