Recent scholarly discussions about massive open online courses (MOOCs) highlight pedagogical and practical issues that separate MOOCs from other learning settings, especially how theories of learning translate to MOOC students' motivation, participation, and performance. What is missing from these discussions is the purpose of the MOOC. We report…

This study examines the academic performance and "engagement" of ethnic minority students at a leading university in southwest China. Results indicate that ethnic minority students have significantly lower grades, lower class ranking, and have failed more courses than majority Han students. Results also show that the level of…

Articulation agreements between colleges and universities, whereby students with two-year college diplomas can receive advancement toward a four-year university degree, are provincially mandated in some Canadian provinces and highly encouraged in others. In this study, we compared learning in college transfer and direct-entry from high school…

The present study explores the relationship between students' perception of their institution's mission identity, personal goal orientation tendencies, and the extent to which they engage in mission-driven activities. Goal orientation research categorizes student motivations in three ways: mastery orientation (MO), performance-approach (PAp)…

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore the entrepreneurship profile of Turkish university students and to make an evaluation for their entrepreneurship orientation by comparing them with non-entrepreneurially inclined students. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, six traits, namely need for achievement, locus of control, risk…

Attempts to establish the corresponding dimensions of needs measured by the Work Motivation Inventory and the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule. Three significant relationships were found between the two components. (Author/DEP)

A study of the relationship between goal orientation and academic performance in 262 undergraduates, classified as traditional or nontraditional, found both groups rated themselves higher on learning goals than achievement goals, but nontraditional students endorsed learning goals more strongly. Goal orientations were a better predictor of…

Examines four individual causal attributions (ability, effort, context, and luck) for success and failure in social affilation. Both an internal-external dimension and a stable-unstable dimension were used. Subjects were 684 university students from India, Japan, South Africa, United States, and Yugoslavia. (Author/MP)

The attribution patterns of 132 Japanese-American and 63 Anglo-American students at the University of Hawaii were studied in 1984. Students were administered the Mathematics Attribution Scale as well as measures of achievement motivation, anxiety, and self-esteem. Japanese-American students were found to have lower achievement motivation and…

There is little literature comparing personality differences between traditional (under age 25) and reentry women students (aged 25 and older). The purpose of the present study is to examine these differences. A background questionnaire and five additional scales: (1) the Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire (WOFO-3); (2) the…

Results of an evaluation of a college honors program are presented. Honors students at the State University of New York at Oswego were compared to four other student samples attending the same college: (1) nonhonors students matched on sex, major, and grade point average; (2) students who had dropped out of the honors program; (3) students invited…

This paper explores the relationship of personal and family factors to three types of achievement in a sample of 172 African-American and 105 Euro-American women. Results are presented based on questionnaires that assessed gender role attitudes, daydream achievement (Ach), daydream affiliation (Aff), n Ach and n Aff, and demographic profiles. (GLR)

Examines the initial reactions of type A and type B boys and men to uncontrollable events. Type A individuals are characterized by extremes of competitive achievement striving, impatience, and aggression, a pattern of behavior implicated by recent research in the etiology of coronary heart disease. Type B individuals exhibit the relative absence…

Freshmen women (N=530) completed a 78-item inventory examining differences between women who choose traditional and nontraditional careers. Results indicated that women who make nontraditional career choices have higher achievement orientation, have better study skills, are more encouraged to explore nontraditional interests, and have more…

The influence of culture on learning and motivation has been the topic of much research in recent years. Educational and psychological researchers are now aware that the findings of their studies may not apply to other cultures, and that in this age of globalization and multiculturalism it is very important to examine the applicability of…