A high school student who won $74,000 in scholarships offers her peers five guidelines for finding, competing for, and winning college scholarships, including taking challenging courses; being involved in school and community activities; and having application essays proofread and critiqued. Thirteen scholarship programs in the areas of social…

This booklet synthesizes principles of motivation that have emerged from research examining the effect of motivational practices on school learning. It addresses achievement motivation, intrinsic motivation, goal orientation, and the effect of teacher practices on the promotion of motivational beliefs, motivation strategies, and willpower. It also…

The I CAN (Independence, Completion, Accuracy, and Neatness) program is a motivational tool for elementary grade students with learning disabilities. Each student contracts for specific achievements in the four program areas, and parents and teachers contract for specific rewards. Daily review of goals as well as daily documentation of progress…

This article discusses the role that "willingness to work" must play in any definition of giftedness. Strategies are provided for promoting the work ethic in gifted students: provide students with models of excellence, provide examples of people who have worked hard and enjoyed their labors, and support meaningful hard work. (CR)

Recent psychological research in motivation has resulted in several goal orientation theories that have important implications for improving learning and instruction, especially for musical performance groups. Goal theory proposes that there are two general goal orientations students can adopt: a task-focused orientation with an intrinsic focus on…

The concept of student motivation is discussed, with applications for facilitating competence development in special and remedial education. Consideration is given to 4 prerequisites to competence development, historical obstacles to motivational interventions, motivational systems theory (MST), and 17 MST principles for motivating students. (SW)

Learning-oriented physical education students tend to focus on improving skills or mastering the task at hand. Certain teaching behaviors and classroom structures create motivational environments where the importance of goals is conveyed and their adoption facilitated. The article presents guidelines for creating a learning goal orientation in…

This article discusses what happens when students are asked to tell some of what they know about something on which they are experts-- themselves. Students' views of their own learning are shared, and reasons for engaging students in self assessment and goal setting through the use of portfolios are discussed. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/CR)

This article explains how teachers can strengthen the self-efficacy of students who are struggling academically and increase their motivation for schoolwork. Instructional principles include linking new work to recent successes, teaching needed learning strategies, reinforcing effort and persistence, stressing peer modeling, and helping students…

Part of a collection of papers commissioned by Foundations (a project designed to determine the career development needs of deaf postsecondary students), the paper reviews research on student motivation. The first section addresses research on normally hearing students in classrooms with different motivational orientations. Advantages and…

Not all children can or should be straight-A students, as everyone differs in their abilities and interests, but all children have the potential to learn and to personally succeed in school. This guide describes a step-by-step program for intervening with students who are underachievers and for promoting student success. The guide provides…

This handbook for those involved in assisting and encouraging college students to persist and graduate covers the following topics: benefits of college; persistence factors; successful students; a mission that motivates; results in real time; self-management through self-mastery (time management, assertiveness, study skills, learning styles, and…