Initiatives in education reform emphasize inquiry-based active learning and real-world relevance to increase science literacy nationwide. Active teaching and learning approaches yield rapid intellectual development and may increase interest and motivation to learn science. Incorporating the topic of drug use with neuroscience, biology, psychology,…

This paper describes an exploratory, qualitative study of the motivational issues associated with project work--a method intended to help encourage independent learning skills. The population studied were United Kingdom secondary school students who attended a state-funded comprehensive school in Derbyshire. The study chose to explore why…

This study explored the impact of performance assessment versus traditional paper-and-pencil assessment on graduate students' achievement and motivation to learn while enrolled in a 16-lesson course on program evaluation methods. Students in two sections of the course were exposed to the same content and instructional methods, with one exception:…

The research reported in this paper investigates what types of inter-cultural contact Hungarian schoolchildren have, what kind of language-related attitudes they can give account of and how they see the role of contact situations in affecting their attitudinal and motivational dispositions towards the L2, the L2 speaking communities and the…

The study reported in this paper explores issues of motivation and learners' identity in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classroom in Vietnam from the perspectives of the learners. It was conducted with thirty English-major students at a university in central Vietnam. While relevant literature appears to place much emphasis on…

Given that student retention is now one of the leading challenges faced by colleges and universities, research seeking to understand students' reasons for attrition is of critical importance. Two factors influence students' underachievement and subsequent dropping-out of college: self-efficacy and goal orientation. Self-efficacy refers to peoples'…

One of the ultimate goals of policy makers is to enable citizens to take advantage of a globalised world economy. This is leading them to focus on the improvement of education policies, ensuring the quality of service provision, a more equitable distribution of learning opportunities and stronger incentives for greater efficiency in schooling.…

A project known as SHAID, the Single Homeless Action Initiative, was founded in response to youth homelessness, a problem that had been growing since the 1980s, in a deprived area of County Durham. SHAID provides young people with advice, support, information, and life skills training on subjects such as home safety, budgeting, personal and food…

The objective of this study was to evaluate grade 9-12 students' motivation while engaged in two different engineering design projects: marble-sorter and bridge designs. The motivation components measured in this study were focused on students' intrinsic (IGO) and extrinsic (EGO) goal orientations, task value (TV), self-efficacy for learning and…

In this article, the author presents a quiz to identify whether or not a person is a nerd. He also offers a new definition for nerd: "A person who is excited about learning and who thinks that sharing knowledge is cool." A nerdy teacher loves when students bring in articles from the newspaper about the upcoming meteor shower or the new movie about…

Views of mathematical modeling in empirical, expository, and curricular references typically capture a relationship between real-world phenomena and mathematical ideas from the perspective that competence in mathematical modeling is a clear goal of the mathematics curriculum. However, we work within a curricular context in which mathematical…

There is a wide variety of factors such as: age, attitude, motivation, aptitude, amount of exposure, gender and anxiety etc in second language learning. These are also responsible for individual differences in learning a second (L2) / Foreign Language (FL). In social Psychology, it is a widely accepted fact that learner's individual differences…

This publication features a series of reports on how selected colleges and universities foster and assess student learning in twelve liberal education outcome areas, including writing, quantitative literacy, critical thinking, ethics, intercultural knowledge, and information literacy. Moving from goals to experiences, assessments, and improvements…

The concepts of learner autonomy and independence have assumed an increasingly important role in language learning. An attempt has been made in this article to show first, what is meant by learner autonomy in the context of language learning, and, then, how we can move towards its development among language learners. It will be argued that…

Using a social cognitive framework, the present study investigated the relations between two motivational constructs, prior experience, and several adaptive outcomes. Participants (n = 204) completed a survey that assessed their perceived task value, self-efficacy, prior experience, and a collection of outcomes that included their satisfaction,…