Background: A good deal of evidence indicates that students' motivational beliefs and attitudes play a critical role in their academic success. Research studies on how motivational factors may help determine whether students remain in high school or drop out, however, are relatively few. More specifically, there is a lack of research…

Demographic and labor force trends point to a critical need for professionals trained to work with older adults. The current study investigated factors associated with interest in aging-related topics and careers and knowledge of the opportunities that exist in the field of gerontology. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and…

Community colleges have responded to the increased use of technology for instruction by providing support and professional development opportunities for faculty. However, differences in perceptions, expectations, and opportunities exist between full-time faculty at community colleges and their adjunct colleagues when it comes to adopting…

The present paper, based on an ethnographic study of a government school and a low-cost private school in Andhra Pradesh, India, argues that the students of a government school and a private school have two different worlds and are socialised differently. As children progress from childhood to adolescence, the transition is accompanied by…

Purpose: Given the ageing farming population in the Caribbean and the importance of agriculture to economy, there is cause for concern about the future of farming. This study seeks to explore the extent to which students pursuing agriculture in secondary schools in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) were likely to engage in farming as well as…

The focus on grades and what they represent happens in every middle grades classroom--some students completely understand the concepts when reviewed, but perform poorly on the quiz; some gifted students score high on tests but appear bored in class. With the current emphasis on school accountability by standardized test scores, middle level…

This study investigates attributional beliefs of Singapore secondary students in their English study and how they can be predicted by self-construal, competence and achievement goals. A total of 1,496 students were administered surveys on seven attributions, independent and interdependent self-construals, previous achievement, self-efficacy,…

The twofold purpose of this study is to identify engineering students' perceptions of a problem-based learning environment and to analyse the influence of their personal "situation," general "interest" in engineering and "ability" to succeed on their perception, after they were exposed to PBL for the first time.…

In a bid to identify and gain analytic insight into the make-up and dynamics of kindergarten literacy curricula in an era of early childhood education and care reform, this study was designed to trace how classroom literacy curricula were produced in a kindergarten in a childcare centre in Ontario, Canada. Drawing on actor-network theory's…

Although previous literature has discussed ways of promoting the study of Portuguese, to our knowledge no study has ever directly surveyed students to ascertain why they chose to learn the language. This study reports on a survey of the motivations of first- and second-year Portuguese students to study the language, and contrasts their motivations…

The relationship that exists between students and science and technology (S&T) is a complex and important one. If it is positive, then social, economic and environmental consequences are to be expected. Yet, many problems of interest/motivation/attitude (I/M/A) towards S&T have been recorded. A lot of research has been conducted on this…

The academic difficulties experienced by many Aboriginal (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) students in Canada have been well-documented. Indicators such as school persistence and post-secondary enrollment are typically far lower for Aboriginal students as a group compared to non-Aboriginal students. Identifying facilitators of success is key to…

Telling students to study simply because they must or making narrow pitches to a subject's future utility typically fail to generate student interest. Six common mistakes that undermine student motivation can be easily avoided--among them are telling students they need to learn the content now because they will need it when they grow up or…

As the demand for international education increases, middle-income non-English speaking countries, such as South Korea, play an increasing role in hosting the world's students. This mixed-methods study compares the different motivations and experiences of international students within and outside the East Asian region. Based on findings, this…

That nature and the universe are ordered, uniform, and comprehensible is a starting point in science. However, such worldview presuppositions are often taken for granted, rather than explicitly mentioned, in science and in science class. This article takes a worldview perspective and reports from interviews (N = 26) with upper secondary students…