Three empirical studies concerning reflective and rote learning in Finnish schools are described. In the first, a questionnaire given to school beginners reveals that during their first 12 weeks of school the children's estimates of the excitement and pleasure of learning and their conception of the role of understanding in learning decrease. The…

A Texas study examined what individual learning and/or other needs were identified by adult basic education (ABE) students. It also assessed ABE teachers' propensity to identify the same student needs and determined if these needs were met within the ABE program. A literature review focused on learner types, past experience, program development,…

A survey of 211 adult Chinese immigrants in a community school in Los Angeles, California reports on the adults' need and desire for survival English instruction. The study investigated: the situations and contexts for which English instruction was needed; individuals' desire to increase the range of transactions in which they can function in…

Key concepts from theory and research on student learning are discussed, and a conceptual framework to promote the design of local instructional improvement efforts is presented. The objective is to advocate that institutional researchers focus more directly on the basic issues of teaching and learning and to suggest that improving instructional…

Japanese children's performance in school is a product of a social consensus favoring attention to children's learning, a set of cultural values focusing on the commitment of effort, and a psychological milieu in the family which encourages achievement in a safe and nurturant atmosphere. This paper treats especially this latter environment, that…

Student academic motivation and student evaluation of overall faculty effectiveness and instructional techniques at Barber-Scotia College were studied to identify the academically underprepared and unmotivated students. Students provided assessments concerning the impact of the college's course offerings, the effectiveness of their instructors,…

A summary is presented of the literature on motivation relating to achievement in the classroom. Special attention is given to how values, ideology, and various cultural patterns may serve to enhance motivation to achieve in the classroom. In considering what determines motivation and personal investment in educational pursuits, the following…

A sample of 1,536 persons in Ohio who are eligible for Adult Basic Education (no longer in school, sixteen years of age or over, and with less than twelve years of school) were interviewed by telephone to determine the awareness of Adult Basic Education (ABE) among eligible Ohioans, the characteristics of eligible Ohioans, and requirements and…

The prerequisites of language acquisition are cognitive and pragmatic. The child's conceptual development and social needs direct his attention to particular linguistic forms. These provide an efficient selection device enabling the child to match his language learning task with his abilities. The second language learner who is cognitively and…

Viewing the myth of Sisyphus as a metaphor for the vast numbers of high school students and teachers who go through daily school rituals unable to discover personal meaning in their work, this report applies the existential philosophy of Albert Camus and other existentialists to the methodology of Teaching and learning English in high schools. The…

OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO PERFORM IN ORDER TO MEASURE UP TO STANDARDS SET BY OTHERS RATHER THAN TO LEARN PERSONALLY, TO CHANGE THEMSELVES AND THEIR BEHAVIOR AS THEY EXPAND THEIR OWN CONCEPT OF REALITY. SUCH AFFECTIVE LEARNING, FAR MORE DIFFICULT TO PERCEIVE AND EVALUATE THAN COGNITIVE LEARNING, SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A MAJOR…

For more than twenty years controversy has existed in the Armed Forces over the kind of knowledge and training electronic maintenance technicians should have. The Navy and Air Force have conducted research projects in this area, and for the Army the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) has developed several methods to improve the…

This study examined five student characteristics with the expectation that if interactive characteristics could be established, attitudes could be improved by assigning students to classrooms with the appropriate degree of openness. It was hypothesized that some pupils might be happier in a traditional, or structured, environment. Five variables…

This literature-centered curriculum approach to English, grades 9-12, is proposed as a design to involve students in the learning experience. After an introductory explanation of the program's rationale and general procedures, each unit in the curriculum is outlined briefly; its content, objectives, suggested ability level, and procedures for…

This research undertook to determine the nature and extent of academic and motivational change in low-achieving junior high school students with some talent in music who participated in a special music training program. About 100 students in each of five schools were selected by a screening instrument and assigned randomly to experimental or…