This paper reviews the corpus of research on feedback, with a particular focus on formative feedback--defined as information communicated to the learner that is intended to modify the learner's thinking or behavior for the purpose of improving learning. According to researchers in the area, formative feedback should be multidimensional,…

This study examines the motivational pattern in relation to the anxiety of Chinese learners of English. Based on a survey consisting of an anxiety questionnaire and a motivation questionnaire, the findings revealed an unbalanced pattern of two types of motivation clusters that resembled the integrative-instrumental duality, with the level of…

This paper explored the adult student opinions on four types of English classroom activities (language learning; language acquisition; information convey; role play) and the relationship between the fondness degrees and their personality, test performance and motivation. It turned out that the majority of students ranked all classroom activities a…

This study explores the centrality of information technology (IT) to Chinese students' experiences in music lessons. Students involved in this qualitative and quantitative study described the possibilities of using technology when learning music. From among the students of 15 Shanghai secondary schools, 1741 responded to a written questionnaire…

Much research has investigated maternal and child predictors of educational attainment. This longitudinal study builds on past research by examining how everyday mother-child conversations about decision-making in early adolescence predict adolescents' decisions to drop out of high school, terminate their education with a high school degree, or…

Previous research indicates that foreign language learners are much more focused on accuracy, particularly grammatical accuracy, than their teachers are. The purpose of the current study was to gain a more detailed understanding of American learners' views of the need for accuracy in the oral production of a foreign language (German) by (a)…

The emergence of numerous learning style models over the past 25 years has brought increasing attention to the idea that students learn in diverse ways and that one approach to teaching does not work for every student or even most students. We have reviewed five learning style instruments (the Kolb Learning Style Indicator, the Gregorc Style…

Using data from the 2003 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:93/03), this report profiles 1992-93 bachelor's degree recipients' experience with K-12 teaching in the subsequent 10 years, as well as their preparation for teaching. The analysis first compares current and former teachers in this cohort on several demographic and…

The issue of students' engagement in learning physics has generally been analysed in science education research using attitudes towards science, or motivation to learn science. However, the corresponding studies have their limitations. Therefore, the object of this paper is to present and to analyse an alternative to these theoretical approaches;…

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of students' perception of both teacher support and students' reaction to questioning on the instrumental help-seeking strategy used by students. The researchers also examined the relationships between these three variables and the motivational components of achievement goal theory. A…

This study examined the educational situation of prisoners enrolled in courses at the FernUniversitat (the German distance teaching university). A survey questionnaire, developed with the help of imprisoned students, was administered to approximately 200 student prisoners. Of the 99 returns, 95 were found usable to base the results of this study.…

Designed for teachers of kindergarten through grade 6, this book contains practical and innovative ideas on fostering literacy generated from discussions with teachers from the United States and Canada, visits to their classrooms, and observations of their interactions with students. The book addresses all levels of learner-centered literacy…

As the baby boomer generation moves into its late 30's and early 40's, the number of students returning to college older than 35 has increased, and is, in fact, one of the fastest growing student populations in higher education. Most adult students return to school for job-related reasons. Adult students participating in forensic programs do so…

The literature and prior research findings support the belief that motivation-related strategies must be developed to support at-risk learners in postsecondary vocational programs. Essentially, two fundamental approaches have been used to conceptualize motivation. Mechanistic approaches ignore the thinking processes of humans and stress the…

A classroom technique for helping elementary and secondary school students of English as a second language (ESL) integrate language skills into the language arts curriculum is described. The activity, shadow play, is used as a culminating experience in a unit on the solar system, and consists of the development of dramatic scripts based on folk…