Students typically overestimate how well they will perform on future academic events, then lower those expectations as the event and performance feedback approach. According to control theories, individuals also shift from primary control strategies to secondary control strategies when the opportunity to exert direct influence over a performance…

Student motivation, confidence, and perceived control are of key interest to sociology instructors seeking to develop pedagogical techniques that increase student engagement. However, attribution research suggests that strengthening these aspects of student learning can be challenging if students attribute academic outcomes to factors over which…

As part of the research on motivation, causal attribution studies have an important role in predicting and improving academic performance since controllable and uncontrollable attributions have an effect on learners' future actions. Following this path, the present qualitative study investigates the attributions of students in an English Language…

There is a growing concern among educators and university administrators that the high cost of tuition fees has encouraged tertiary level students to adopt a "consumerist view" of tertiary education, where education is seen as a service-for-payment. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this belief may cause lecturers to compromise the…

A meta-analytic review of self-directed learning (SDL) research over 30 years, five countries, and across multiple academic disciplines is used to explore its relationships with five key nomologically related constructs for effective workplace learning. The meta-analysis revealed positive relationships between SDL and internal locus of control,…

There has been growing research interest in achievement emotions in university teaching-learning processes in recent years. While their importance has been firmly established, there continues to be a need for assessment and intervention models. The objective of this report is to present the "Competency Model for Studying, Learning and…

This research examined how motivation (perceived control, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation), cognitive learning strategies (deep and surface strategies), and intelligence jointly predict long-term growth in students' mathematics achievement over 5 years. Using longitudinal data from six annual waves (Grades 5 through 10;…

The influences of locus of control, awareness of control and metacognition on the use and transfer of a trained strategy were examined. Specifically, it was hypothesized that internal locus of control would be associated with more strategic performance, and that those children who were able to both accurately assess their performance with and…

This article discusses the importance of attribution and strategy training for understanding motivation in students with learning disabilities, contributions of attributions to the larger motivational schema, and problems associated with measuring this affective variable. (DB)

Students can be proactive and engaged or, alternatively, lack initiative and responsibility for their learning. Self-regulated learning involves learning strategies and mental processes that learners deliberately engage to help themselves learn and perform better academically. The results of this study provide empirical support for the theoretical…

A simulation is described in terms of its three major aspects: the scenario, the underlying model, and the instructional overlay. The major focus of this paper is the instructional overlay as the component that serves to optimize learning and motivation. Functions of simulations are identified as the acquisition of content, the application of the…

This study analyzed the factors that affect student success in an online computer programming course. The study had two with two main objectives. The first was to examine relationships among selected variables (gender, age, educational level, locus of control, and learning style), motivational beliefs (intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal…

This study compared the motivational orientations and metacognitive abilities of 143 Grade 7 intellectually gifted students in an Australian selective school with 133 average-achieving age peers attending comprehensive schools. Gifted students had greater confidence in their own control over successes or failures in school tasks, demonstrated more…

This curriculum guide is a systematic instructional strategy designed to enhance the intrinsic motivation of learning disabled adolescents. The complete strategy encompasses three major phases. Phase P (Preparing for Challenges) describes steps in preparing the classroom environment and presenting program goals to students. Phase A (Attacking…

This study investigated students' attitudes and motivations toward online learning. Students in the online course, Introduction to the Visual Arts, were asked to complete questionnaires administered during the first and last week of the online course. A group of questions on Attitude was asked on both surveys. Questions on Interest,…