This paper reports on a study designed to examine the comparative efficacy of collaborative self-regulated learning and direct teaching on the reduction of computer anxiety among students, as well as the comparative effects of these models of teaching on student achievement. Using a quasi-experimental design, two equivalent groups of university…

This research emerged from an effort to develop a theory of computer anxiety relevant to beginning adult learners in a range of university disciplines. To this end, the first step was to design and refine an instrument which was reliable and valid for this population. The development of the "a priori" model of computer anxiety used in this study…

This research seeks to find the most effective mode of instruction which can assist undergraduate students in gaining initial computing skills while alleviating anxiety by contrasting a traditional direct teaching approach with one that emphasizes self-regulation within a cooperative learning context. Specifically, the study compares the…

This study examined the effects of increased computing experience on the computer anxiety of 101 first year preservice teacher education students at a regional university in Australia. Three instruments measuring computer anxiety and attitudes--the Computer Anxiety Rating Scale (CARS), Attitudes Towards Computers Scale (ATCS), and Computer…

School motivation and achievement for an individual is the product of a complex set of interacting goals, goals which may be more or less significant to individuals from different cultural backgrounds. This paper describes a project which examines the nature of goals held by students from different cultural groups, the compatibility of these goals…

This paper presents a model of how multimethod approaches to research can be used to understand and measure individual diversity in learning, cognitions, and affect. The paper demonstrates the value of gathering qualitative data to supplement quantitative findings from quasi-experimental research in relation to achievement outcomes, acquiring a…

The goals and values students hold, how these are related to school motivation and achievement, and how these goals develop and change over a period of years in the context of cultural background, family, society, and school was studied with Native American and Anglo American students from a middle and high school in Phoenix, Arizona. Participants…

Finds the motivational profiles of five groups of students (three indigenous minority groups and two nonindigenous groups) rather than being significantly different, had much in common. Notes that important predictors of a range of school achievement criteria were goals relating to students' self-esteem at school, sense of purpose, striving for…

This paper discusses the process through which a powerful multidimensional measure of affect and cognition in relation to adult learning of computing skills was derived from its early theoretical stages to its validation using structural equation modeling. The discussion emphasizes the importance of ensuring a strong substantive base from which to…

This study employed a multi-cohort multi-occasion (MCMO) design to measure self-concept and academic achievement among 5- and 6-year-olds. Preliminary findings from the first two waves of data were used to examine: (1) the structure and development of a multidimensional self-concept; (2) the stability of self-concept responses over time; (3) the…

This research examined the multidimensionality of achievement goals and their hierarchical relations in a sample of 939 students from 6 high schools in New South Wales, Australia. The first year of the study these students completed a survey instrument on school motivation, the Inventory of School Motivation. There will be follow-up for 3 years.…

Developed a multidimensional measure of affect and cognition in relation to adult learning of computing skills, the Computer Anxiety and Learning Measure (CALM). Results from 794 Australian undergraduates support the validity and reliability of the CALM with this population, although whether the measure is invariant across different adult…

Two aptitude-treatment interaction studies involving 61 college students examined comparative effects of metacognitive strategy training in self-questioning within cooperative group learning and traditional direct instruction on the acquisition of computing competence, learning anxiety, and positive cognition. Results support including cooperative…

Validated the Motivation Orientation scales of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM) (M. Maher, 1984) across Navajo (n=760) and Anglo (n=1,012) students. Findings show that even though the ISM motivation orientation scales are applicable to students of different cultural backgrounds, meaningful cross-cultural comparisons should use the 30 items…

This paper describes research into the nature of the achievement goals and values held by students from Window Rock High School on the Navajo Reservation (Arizona). It examines the compatibility of these student-held goals and values with goals and values promoted by classrooms and schools, and the impact individual, family, peer, class, and…