Motivational Interventions That Work: Themes and Remaining Issues

We highlight major themes emerging from the articles in this special issue. These themes include (a) the importance of theoretical frameworks and clearly defined constructs for guiding the development of interventions, (b) a consideration of intervention effects on ethnic minority children, (c) the importance of positive social interactions and relationships among teachers and peers in school as a foundation for students' adjustment to and achievement in school, (d) the need for intervention programs to use strong research designs and measures to test their effectiveness, and (e) the importance of considering developmental issues when designing interventions. Issues with respect to each theme are discussed.     

Science Activities That Work: Perceptions of Primary School Teachers

Many primary school teachers in Australia tend to be reluctant to teach science, partly because they are not confident in science and have limited science background knowledge. However, quite a number of primary school teachers still manage to teach some science. When they plan to teach science, many of them use the term science activities that work. Such activities seem to be related to science pedagogical content knowledge for some primary teachers. In order to better understand what the term activities that work means, twenty teachers from several schools were interviewed and asked what they understood by this expression. Themes that emerged suggest that activities that work are hands on, are interesting and motivating for the children, have a clear outcome or result, are manageable in the classroom, use equipment that is readily available, and are preferably used in a context where science is integrated into themes. Implications for curriculum and for preservice teacher education are considered.     

Cooperative Learning: Listening to How Children Work at School

Abstract

Cooperative and collaborative learning are recognized as valuable components of classroom learning. However, many questions remain regarding how teachers might structure and guide children's group-learning experiences. An ethnographic case study of 29 Grade 6 and Grade 7 students who worked in groups over 5 weeks was examined to determine what was learned. Data included audiotape recordings of 6 groups of children working together across 11 work sessions, student interviews, children's self-evaluations and drawings, and research reports. Findings revealed that when working in groups, children require periods of unstructured time to organize themselves and to learn how to work together toward a mutual goal.     

Motivation to Approach Success (Ts) and Motivation to Avoid Failure (TF) at School 1

Gjesme, T. 1983. Motivation to Approach Success (Ts) and Motivation to Avoid Failure (Tf) at School. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 27, 145‐164. The interaction effects of personality characteristics such as the pupils' achievement motives, level of ability, future time orientation (FTO), sex of S, and one situational determinant—the pupils' perceived intrinsic instrumentality of school activity (Pil)—were considered in relation to approach (Ts) and avoidance (Tf) motivation at school. The analyses of results, based on 524 pupils in the sixth grade in elementary school, showed that: the achievement motives were positively related to Ts and negatively related to Tf; girls had higher Tf than boys; FTO was negatively related to Tf, but not related to Ts; Pil was positively related to Ts, but not related to Tf. However, an ability‐by‐motives‐by‐sex of S effect on Ts indicated that success‐oriented high‐ability girls and moderate‐ability boys had the highest Ts at school. A number of other explainable interactions were also revealed.

     

Motivation and Attribution at Secondary School: the role of gender

A total of 1068 secondary school pupils completed a questionnaire concerned with enjoyment of school, enjoyment of subjects and what they attributed academic success to. Gender differences were shown in the overall enjoyment of school (girls expressing greater enjoyment). Girls also reported liking friends, teachers, outings and lessons more than boys, while boys reported liking sports and school clubs more. Enjoyment of school subjects reflected traditional sex stereotyping: girls reported more liking than did boys for English, French, German, history, drama, music and home economics while boys reported more liking for science. craft and design technology, physical education and information technology. Some gender differences were shown in rating factors contributing to academic success (girls rating hard work and teachers’ liking for you as more important than boys, and boys rating cleverness, talent and luck as more important than girls) but attributions with respect to academic success varied more with age than with gender.     

在校未成年人人身伤害事故中学校民事责任初探

本通过一中学生在课间活动游戏玩耍时人身受到伤害事例，探讨在校未成人伤害事故中学应承担的民事责任，以期与司法界朋友共同研判在法律没有明规定，学校的责任难以界定的情况下，如何客观地、公正地处理此类案件。     

大学生意志品质与学业成就相关研究

大学生学业成就的高低与意志品质有重要关系。通过对大学生意志品质与其学业成就的相关分析发现:意志品质与学业成就存在极显著正相关;意志品质的坚韧性、自制力与学习的主动性计划性、学习态度、学习努力程度各维度之间均存在显著相关;女生的学业成就、学习态度显著好于男生。     

STEM Motivation Interventions for Adolescents: A Promising Start,but Further to Go

One way to increase students’ participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is to target their motivation. Researchers have conducted a growing number of interventions addressing students’ motivation in STEM; however, this body of work has not been adequately reviewed. We systematically reviewed experimental and quasi-experimental studies (n = 53) targeting adolescent students’ motivation for STEM subjects. While some interventions showed positive effects on a variety of motivational constructs and academic outcomes, others showed mixed or non-significant effects. We recommend that researchers more frequently examine moderating variables that might limit interventions’ results, including individual-level variables such as gender, contextual-level variables such as the subject in which an intervention was conducted, and design-level variables such as intervention length. Additionally, researchers might better align their interventions with motivation theory. Future research should address these limitations so that the results of successful interventions can better inform educational policy and practice.     

Strength and Motivation: What College Athletes Bring to Social Work

College athletes develop many strengths and skills during their athletic career, such as dedication, ability to work across cultures, leadership, and community building. Social workers need many of these same skills. This study explores the potential transfer of skills from athletics to social work among 15 former college athlete MSW students. Qualitative interviews asked about transferability of skills developed as college athletes to social work practice. Participants identified both interpersonal and intrapersonal skills gained in their athletic career that were of use in social work practice. Implications for both athletic career development and social work recruitment and education are discussed.     

A Review of Play Interventions for Children with Autism at School

Play is an important aspect of children’s development and its value to education has been widely explored. However, play in children with disabilities and especially children with autism may be restricted when compared to that of their non-disabled peers of similar age and abilities. Moreover, play has been neglected to a certain extent in school practice due to the focus many teachers place on academic attainments and the difficulty in engaging autistic children in play activities. Children spend most of their time in schools as opposed to attending interventions individually. School based research can improve the educational outcomes for autistic children and, therefore, there is a pressing need for more research to be conducted in school settings. The current literature review aims to: (i) identify empirical studies using interventions to develop play skills in autistic children at school, and (ii) explore the features of play skills targeted in these studies. A systematic search of two electronic databases: (i) PsycINFO, and (ii) Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) has been conducted between 2000 and 2014. Fourteen papers were collected and the findings suggest that a significant number of studies have been conducted in schools exploring a wide range of play skills. Strengths and limitations of the reviewed studies are given as well as implications for practice and future research. Conclusions are discussed in the light of the high ecological validity of real world studies and the need to bridge the gap between academic research and school practice.     

Motivation and Attribution at Secondary School: The role of ethnic group and gender

Some 985 secondary school students completed a questionnaire as part of an investigation into the experiences of Asian girls in a secondary school arising out of a larger project concerned with motivational factors in educational attainment. Results indicated that (1) Asian girls enjoyed all aspects of school life as much or more than their non-Asian counterparts; (2) across both ethnic groups girls enjoyed all aspects of school except sports and clubs more than boys; (3) enjoyment of subjects followed sex stereotypical lines, irrespective of ethnicity: girls rated English, French, German, drama, music and home economics as significantly more enjoyable, and boys rated science, craft, design and technology, physical education, information technology and mathematics as more enjoyable; (4) irrespective of gender, Asian students reported more enjoyment of religious education, and lower enjoyment of drama, physical education and home economics; (5) irrespective of ethnic group, girls reported that there was not enough choice of subjects; and (6) Asian students of both sexes rated parents and friends as more important in contributing to academic success. These results are critiqued in a context that questions the desirability of conducting investigations such as this which dichotomise students into groups on the grounds of ethnicity.     

教学中学生动机研究新进展简述

教学中学生的动机对学生的学习绩效和素质发展有着重大影响,教学中的学生动机是教育心理学研究中的一个新热点。最新的研究普遍认为,学习动机对学生学业和行为的效应必须通过作为中介的社会认知建构得以实现。关于动机的社会认知建构的研究很多,主要集中在自我效能感、归因和控制信念、兴趣和内隐动机、任务价值信念、个人目标等五个领域。采取有效的教学设计原则可以激发和维持学生动机。     

Motivation for School Achievement: Measurement and Validation

Abstract

An objective instrument for assessment of motivation for school learning is reported along with evidence of its validity. Rural ninth-grade students in Appalachian Kentucky constituted the sample for studying relation, ships among variables of school motivation, willingness to compete, and achievement in reading, mathematics, and language. Students in general mathematics and in algebra classes were asked to volunteer for an academic type of contest. Later the mean motivation score of volunteers exceeded the mean for non-volunteers significant at the .01 level of confidence. Algebra students’ mean motivation score was significantly higher than the mean for general mathematics students (P > .001). Three months after the motivation scores were obtained scores on the California Achievement Test were collected. Product-moment correlations between motivation scores and achievement scores ranged from .604 to .718.

Although other writers have reported correlations between objective measures of motivation and teachers’ marks, no previous correlations with achievement test results could be found for comparison. Correlations with GPA’s tend to be in the range .32 to .55 which is considerably below the range resulting from this study. Data collected in this project supported hypotheses that the objective measure of school motivation would predict levels of utility for competition and achievement. It is concluded that for the sample of students involved the test presented is reliable and has validity for the prediction of willingness to try and levels of achievement as measured by a standardized test.     

Teaching School Counselors and School Psychologists to Work Collaboratively

Counselor education programs have the responsibility to prepare school counseling graduates adequately for effective partnerships, consultation, and collaboration with other school professionals. Current practices as well as theory should inform preparation. This study was conducted to determine current collaborative efforts of practicing school counselors and school psychologists in 1 southeastern state. Implications for educators and 1 training model that distinctly accentuates collaboration are presented.     

中学理科教师在校一天工作时间分析

从中学理科教师"一天"的自述入手,通过质性和量化的方法,分析中学理科教师在校一天的工作安排.结果显示:中学理科教师(1)在校时间长,学科教学时间多,教学任务重,在校备课时间少;(2)班主任教学管理任务繁杂,高中和重点高中教学管理时间比初中和职高的多;(3)工作以模式化为主,缺乏经常和系统的教学反思,难以形成独特的教学理念和教学风格.     

School Organization and Persistent School Absenteeism: An Introduction to a Complex Problem

This article is concerned with the development of provision for pupils in a comprehensive school with special educational needs. Its main focus is on the organization and administration changes which were undertaken in connection with the recommendations of the Warnock Report, the 1981 Education Act and the development of knowledge and expertise within the school in helping such pupils.

It concentrates on five aspects: the communication of information about those pupils within the school, the curriculum available to them in the upper school, the deployment of staff, the name of the department to best fit its changing role in the school and the issues which need to be taken into account in monitoring those developments.