Discusses a project undertaken in the Malagasy Republic which sought to uncover the true motivation for literacy education among the peasants. (AN)

Teaching students to learn in an unstructured environment proved to be rewarding both to the learners and the instructors. (CK)

Persons in a vocational training center for the unemployed were the subjects of a study of alienation and social learning. The study related measures of meaningless, normlessness, social isolation, and powerlessness to control-relevant information about both the immediate training center and also future employment opportunities. Results showed…

Interviews with nine Hong Kong managers involved in joint ventures with other organizations focused on the organizational learning aspects of collaboration: attitudes toward interorganizational learning, acquisition of knowledge assets, and learning motivation. An important motivation for developing alliances was to learn from each other, fill…

Three popular theories of adult learning have not been fully exploited: (1) Cross' Chain-of-Response Model; (2) Knox's proficiency theory; and (3) McCluskey's Theory of Margin. (SK)

The front handspring is an important gymnastics skill that serves as a transition from beginner-level rolling and static balances to more advanced tumbling. It is, therefore, a skill highly desired by beginners. Early learning requires a great deal of effort during which students experience many failed attempts. Unless they are highly motivated,…

This study explores opportunity costs of postsecondary education in the U.S. in the past three decades. Based on human capital theory, data from the U.S. Census, along with parameters for high education achievement (involving bachelors and advanced degrees), were fed into a forecasting model developed for this purpose. Beyond descriptive…

Since the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the time spent talking about, preparing for, and taking tests has increased exponentially in schools. The authors contend that all this testing has done little to increase achievement or close achievement gaps, but has had unintended negative consequences. "The tests," they write,…

Background/Context: Student motivation typically has been studied as it relates to extrinsic (e.g., reinforcement) and intrinsic (e.g., choice) sources of influence. Our observation of Grades 3-5 classrooms engaged in Comprehensive School Reform (CSR), however, unexpectedly indicated that opportunities for both rewards and choice were scarce. This…

Although studies on self-efficacy and attribution have independently contributed to the motivation literature, these two constructs have rarely been considered together in the domain of foreign language learning. Here, 500 undergraduates in Spanish, German, and French courses were asked to report whether test scores represented a successful or…

In order to adapt current subjects to the ECTS credits system, it is necessary to estimate how much time a student has to invest in learning a subject. The Polytechnic Engineering School of the University of the Basque Country has made an initial study to investigate this matter in several subjects. A weekly questionnaire design was used for all…

Background: Many studies have revealed that there is a significant decrease over time in high-school students' attitudes towards mathematics learning. Some authors conclude that motivation in mathematics stabilizes or improves around grade 9; others propose that the decline is continuous. It is unclear if girls or boys are more affected by this…

Does the use of rewards to motivate children to learn or to follow classroom rules run counter to fostering a true desire for mastery? This column, which consists of two separate articles, provides the opposing opinions of the authors regarding the appropriateness of giving rewards in an early childhood classroom. In "Using Rewards in the Early…

This article reports that educators are still searching for the right blend of academic and developmental strategies for middle school students. More than a decade after a prominent group of middle-grades reformers set out to infuse higher academic standards into what critics deemed the touchy-feely world of middle schools, many teachers are still…