Objective: This study examined two potential mechanisms linking violence exposure and health risk behavior among adolescents in psychiatric care: sensation seeking and coping with stress through escape behavior. Method: Male (59%) and female adolescents (N = 251), ages 12 to 19 years, from diverse ethnic backgrounds (61% African American, 19%…

The purposes of this study are: to apply the ARCS model in designing an acid and bases unit, and to assess a single class of 11th graders for motivation and achievement outcomes before and after ARCS instruction. Four essential strategies for designing motivation instruction in the ARCS model were: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and…

Academic officers at U.S. colleges and universities face a number of important decisions regarding how credits and grades earned overseas as part of a study abroad program should be incorporated into students' home academic records. The purpose of this article is to take a closer look at the way grades are handled at home institutions and the way…

Levels of analysis perform an important function in framing research and practice in human resource development (HRD). The purpose of this article is to examine the concept of HRD from the individual, organizational, and community-societal levels of analysis. The article highlights both the distinctiveness and usefulness of each level of analysis,…

This paper models the likelihood of individuals becoming teachers, to identify the key social and economic determinants of selecting teaching as a career in the UK. E-mail and focus group interviews were used to develop a questionnaire, for surveying a sample of 1845 students and professional trainees from four tertiary institutions in South-west…

The present study examined characteristics of students who took advantage of the opportunity to learn Algebra II from a highly skilled teacher. In particular, student information was gathered concerning: (a) the amount of mathematics students knew prior to the class, (b) their motivation for learning mathematics, (c) the number and types of…

In this large-scale Australian study, we profile the background characteristics and teaching motivations for individuals entering teacher education across three major established urban teacher provider universities in the Australian States of New South Wales and Victoria. Our recently developed and validated "FIT-Choice" (Factors…

In this study we examined the interrelationship among extrinsic rewards and achievement goals (including a work-avoidance goal), competence beliefs, and task values associated with health-enhancing running tasks over a school year. A group of elementary school students (n = 119) from a program that promoted running for running's sake and another…

A class of reluctant readers and writers responded positively when topics were discussed orally before writing. As writing improved, the author of this article introduced "Coffee House"--themed settings for oral performance of student writing. After modeling her own writing, the author invited students to perform, gratified when even the most…

Neurologist and middle school teacher Willis, frustrated by mandates handed down by "non-experts" who didn't know what she knew about how the brain works, developed strategies to rekindle the spark of learning and escape the rote nature of teaching to the test. By encouraging practice to create an accessible neural circuit, finding ways…

The purpose of this study was to explore whether, in naturalistic physical education classes, the relation between teachers' early expectations and students' later perceived competence was moderated by the extent to which the motivational climate created by the teachers was autonomy supportive. Using a 1-year longitudinal design, data were…

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that contribute to individual differences in the school performance of 2nd-grade children born to adolescent mothers. The sample of this study was 90 low-income adolescent mothers and their children. Data were collected from the adolescent mothers and their first-born children, now in 2nd grade,…

This study used cluster analysis to identify college orientation profiles of 115 Latino college freshmen from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds and examined the relationship of profiles to adjustment and academic outcomes. Participants were surveyed on personal and cultural types of motivation and college degree goals, degree confidence, and…

This paper reports on the first stage of a project to develop and test the use of massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) for promoting computer supported collaborative learning through instructional gaming in the high school classroom. Teachers and students of English and Science at Swan View Senior High School, Western…

While the debate over the optimal age for second language (L2) acquisition continues into the 21st century--that is, whether or not there is a clearly established critical period beyond which L2 learning cannot take place--most people believe (rightly or wrongly) that "earlier is better." In this article, the authors begin with the premise that…