The concept of language learner autonomy has influenced Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) to the extent that Schwienhorst (2012) informs us of a paradigm change in CALL design in the light of learner autonomy. CALL is not considered a tool anymore, but a learner environment available to language learners anywhere in the world. Based on a…

This qualitative research explored first generation college students (FGCS) from a holistic perspective. The study investigated students' personal assets and provided the field of higher education an alternative to the pervasive deficit-orientation of this under resourced population. Psychological capital (Luthans, et al., 2006), framed within…

This study reports findings regarding the application of a survey of achievement goal orientations to a sample of mathematics 777 students enrolled in remedial and college mathematics courses at a community college. The survey was based on the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales [PALS] and it included questions from the Views About Mathematics…

This study interviewed five philosophically precocious individuals (PPIs), four Chinese and one American, to examine their development. Theoretical frameworks used to evaluate data were the Transcendence Evolution Model and the taxonomy of developmental strategies. The Transcendence Evolution Model posits that children's different developmental…

Students' goals (motives) for their schooling have been the focus of much recent research and have been shown to significantly influence important aspects of their cognitive engagement and academic achievement. This paper presents the results of a qualitative investigation into the nature and characteristics of students' social and academic goals,…

The usefulness of achievement goal theory in explaining motivation in writing classrooms was studied with 14 students interviewed in fifth, sixth, and tenth grades. In the tenth-grade interview, students were asked about their writing experiences and processes. Interview statements were analyzed by three judges regarding mastery and performance…

Vision and vision building play a central role in the construction of a professional culture. Vision concerns the goals that an organization wants to achieve, and indicates a shared consensus about the value of daily activities and decisions in relation to some goals and the future of an organization. In this paper, the degree of goal consensus is…

This paper reports on a study of the involvement of high school students with instructional activities. It was hypothesized that student involvement depends on expectations for success, importance of the action to the achievement of success, and confidence that the action is appropriate for the achievement of success. Eighty-eight students…

The influences of a student's prior knowledge and desired goal on the difficulties and benefits associated with using hypertext were examined in this study. Participants, 12 students from an undergraduate course in educational psychology, were assigned to either the low or high prior knowledge category. Within these two groups, subjects were…

This is the second in a series of reports that examines the role of coaches in facilitating school change. The report explains that as coaching, or external facilitation of school change, becomes a more widespread strategy for helping schools undergo comprehensive restructuring to create more professional collaborative cultures and to increase…

Japanese universities have been characterized by critics as "leisurelands" where students concentrate too much on amusements and too little on learning. While university experience for Japanese students does not always result in acquiring testable academic knowledge as efficiently as in high school, the university does provide a setting…

The goal theory of achievement motivation maintains that the goals stressed by schools influence children's self-efficacy and willingness to try hard. This paper examines the applicability of goal theory to a Navajo school and community and widens the focus to encompass a range of potential culturally relevant goals. Interviews were conducted at…

The findings of an ethnographic study of schooling and work in a small rural community in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York are reported. More than half the school children in the community live in poverty. Research explores the relationships between patterns of adult work and the schooling of children, and between schooled and…

Two naturalistic research studies observed 45 eleventh grade students carrying out research paper assignments, and a third such study focused on 26 third grade students. The studies took place in Alberta (Canada) in 1993, Texas in 1996, and Washington state in 1999. From data analyzed in the interviews and written documents, the initial findings…