Attributions can have a significant effect on academic achievement and students with learning difficulties are more likely to display negative attributions than their peers. In this article, the attributions of students identified as having learning difficulties are compared with those of other non-labelled low achievers, and non-labelled average…

According to the internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model (H. W. Marsh, 1986), students not only compare their own abilities in a domain with those of other students (social comparison), they also compare their own achievements in different domains (internal comparison). The main purpose of this study was to investigate internal comparison…

When elementary students' perceptions of the pupil control orientation of the school were compared with aspects of self-concept as a learner, all subtests of the Self-Concept as a Learner Scale were significantly correlated with the school's pupil control orientation. The sample comprised teachers and students in 35 midwestern elementary schools.…

A pilot study was conducted at two middle schools to investigate the relationship among student locus of control, field dependency, self-esteem, and achievement. A relationship between self-esteem and achievement has already been identified by research; another variable considered as a possible effect on a person's predisposition to achieve was…

This issue provides abstracts and analyses, prepared by science educators, of research reports in two areas of investigation. The first, student characteristics, includes three reports which deal with student interests, attitudes, and values. The second, teacher characteristics, also contains three reports. These studies deal with teachers'…

A beginning step in understanding intrinsic motivation in school can occur through examination of adolescents' subjective experience and the relationship between enjoyment and school learning. Subjects (85) filled out self-report forms, recording their level of concentration, moods, feelings and activities at random times during the waking hours…

This study was conducted to determine whether students would use a computer-presented organizational/memory tool as an aid in problem solving, and whether and how locus of control would affect tool use and problem-solving performance. Learners did use the tools, which were most effective in the learner control with feedback condition. (MBR)

Presents findings from an inquiry into teachers' conceptions of teaching, including their descriptions of their conceptions, meaning of teaching, and reasoning about acting according to their views. Three qualitatively different kinds of relations between students and teachers which may affect a teacher's style are described and interpreted (15…

Comments on Skinner, Zimmer-Gembeck and Connell's study (PS 528 522) which investigated the relationship between elementary school students' beliefs-performance cycles and their perceived control and classroom engagement. Notes methodological and theoretical issues and controversial issues raised by the study. Discusses the links to other…

Outlines a conceptual framework for investigating distance education students' attitudes toward education and describes the results of a study. Concepts discussed are socialization, including influences of the educational institution, work, family, and friends; professionalization; feelings of power and control over work and career; and reasons…

This study evaluated the degree to which college major (education or business) and student individual differences (sex, age, mathematics ability, and locus of control) are related to attitudes about computers. Results indicate education majors have less favorable attitudes about computers than business majors even with individual differences taken…

The relationships between use of specific tutorial skills and pupil outcomes is the domain of the present paper, the third of three studies of mathematics tutoring designed and conducted using three populations of tutors--teachers, paraprofessionals, and students. The other two studies individually address the effects of tutoring on the…