The purpose of this project grant was to develop an innovative system which will recruit, motivate, and retain the undereducated adult in the Western Maryland region of Appalachia. The evaluation of staff changes in attitude toward the device was made with positive results. The evaluation of class interaction between the experimental and the…

Ways in which schools can develop the lively arts of language--listening, speaking, reading, and writing--through furnishing a learning ecology, is the focus of this paper. The establishment of a learning ecology is described as being based on the primacy of talk. In this context, teachers must personify the ways in which talk joins people. The…

This report includes a description of the early history of the project, a description of the two components involved in the project, and pertinent questions about the project which are answered. (MS)

Discusses the difficulties of meeting the needs of nontraditional junior college students who are lacking in both basic skills and an understanding of educational responsibility or discipline. (MKM)

Reports the findings of a comparative study of elementary students in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and mainland China. Contrasts student attitude and behavior, intelligence, and achievement levels, and teacher and parent attitudes. Focuses on the factors behind the relative slowness of American children to acquire mathematics skills. (KH)

Parent involvement in the education of their children can help students become more successful in school. A three-step approach, involving parent motivation of students, parent participation in school functions, and parent-teacher communication, can generate positive relationships and foster interaction among all segments of the educational…

Describes a study of the role of face-to-face teaching and learning in two distance education courses at Athabasca University. Concerned with effects of a seminar on adult learner success, the study addressed the questions of whether students will attend optional seminars, how distance learners perceive seminars, whether attendees perform better,…

Effects of alternative modules designed to compensate for precourse memory and motivation differences were investigated for differences in content and task requirement. Interaction analyses on lesson times-to-criterion and criterion test scores indicated compensating treatments were partially effective in improving performance of low-memory,…

It has been commonly assumed that language learning strategy training would improve language learning and should be included in foreign language instruction. However, few empirical studies have explored that effectiveness of strategy training in improving learners' target language learning. The effectiveness of strategy training on language…

Adolescence involves multiple academic changes and increased challenges with potential dramatic effects on student motivation and learning. This chapter focuses on the influence of one motivational process, perceived self-efficacy. The chapter provides background information on self-efficacy related to the larger theoretical framework of human…

A survey of informal learning among 318 teachers and HRD professionals was conducted. Analysis of the data found that teachers rely to a greater extent on interactive informal learning activities while HRD professionals rely to a greater extent on independent learning activities. Data analysis also found that six environmental factors inhibit…

This paper asserts that any intellectually responsible program to instruct young children in math, science, and technology must overcome at least three seemingly insurmountable obstacles: (1) adults' inability to discover, either by reflection or analysis, the means by which children acquire science and technology concepts; (2) the fact that young…

This paper considers the importance of student housing to the goal of student learning, and suggests ways in which campus residential programs can become strategic partners in student learning. It proposes partnerships between campus housing professionals and faculty colleagues and presents a number of models for consideration: residential…

Many teachers hesitate to integrate film into English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classrooms because of the uncertainty of the educational efficacy of viewing an entire film in class and the motivational value of the repeated use of short film clips. However, both short film clips and longer films can be used in class to motivate ESL students and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between motivation and academic success for community college freshmen orientation students. Moreover, the study compared the relationship among specific motivational factors of students classified as either academically prepared or underprepared, as determined by ACT/ASSET scores.…