Education researchers use surveys widely. Yet, critics question respondents' ability to provide high-quality responses. As schools increasingly use student surveys to drive local policy making, respondents' (lack of) motivation to provide quality responses may threaten the wisdom of using questionnaires for data-based decision making. To better…

Background: Chronotype refers to individuals' preference for morning or evening activities. Its two dimensions (morningness and eveningness) are related to a number of academic outcomes. Aims: The main goal of the study was to investigate the incremental validity of chronotype as a predictor of academic achievement after controlling for a number…

This article reports on homework practices of 88 teachers of learning-disabled students. While the findings indicated that respondents were using several quality practices, some problems were noted, especially as regards motivational difficulties. Suggestions for confronting these problems and improving homework procedures are presented.…

Raising academic performance to optimal levels involves providing appropriate learning experiences, using relevant external resources, encouraging positive student-teacher relations, exhibiting high expectations for academic performance, developing positive student self-concepts, and demonstrating the future utility of schooling. This article…

This study examines the predictive utility of students' motivation (self-efficacy and task values) to their physical activity levels and health-related physical fitness (cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength/endurance) in middle school fitness activity classes. Participants (N = 305) responded to questionnaires assessing their self-efficacy…

This manual is a guide to the "Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire" (MSLQ) for assessing college students' motivational orientations and their use of different learning strategies for a college course. The MSLQ, based on a general cognitive view of motivation and learning strategies, contains two sections. The motivation…

Extracurricular campus activities mirror the effects of associational life on political participation (Kuh 1995; Pascarella, Ethington, and Smart 1988; Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995). As encouraging student participation in such activities can be difficult (Kuh, Schuh, Whitt, Andreas, Lyons, Strange, Krehbiel, and MacKay 1991), this project…

Reports on a study of student motivation and its relationship to performance. The findings were not definitive but do point to a relationship between motivation and achievement.(MD)

A study in Finland investigated the relationship of two general aspects of student motivation for second language learning (preference for challenge and curiosity) and motivation specific to the learning situation. Subjects were 292 sixth-graders and 301 eighth-graders, who performed two open and two closed English vocabulary tasks in two…

A four-part survey of top administrators, their deputies, and board chairmen of selected large U.S. and Canadian public libraries was conducted to determine whether administrators and deputies have acquired the skills necessary for effective management. Analysis of the responses indicates that managers have adequate skills, but there is room for…

This book discusses the motivations that cause adults to go to the public library. It is grouped into eight sections concerning: (1) the research methodology and results used to determine four motivators that were good predictors of library use; (2) the development of library research; (3) several characteristics of library users in terms of…

This combination workshop guide and course description is intended to equip persons belonging to nonprofit volunteer organizations with the skills required to develop an action plan for identifying community resources and mastering effective methods of obtaining support for volunteer programs. The training emphasizes that 80 percent of…

This manual describes the theory behind the Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ) used in Australia and defines what the subscale and scale scores mean. The LPQ is a 36-item self-report questionnaire that yields scores on three basic motives for learning and three learning strategies, and on the approaches to learning that are formed by these…

Current newspaper articles are used in the form of a weekly short quiz in advanced English reading classes at Nara University of Education. The quiz focuses on the articles' immediacy as a motivating factor for Japanese students who have lost some motivation after passing the university entrance examinations. (Contains seven references.) (LB)

This guide is an ideabook for teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) to adult students. The first three sections list, respectively, specific instructional techniques and class activities, suggested materials, and questions submitted by adult basic education instructors and answers to the questions. Appended materials, which constitute the…