Science diaries: a brief writing intervention to improve motivation to learn science

This study investigated the hypothesis that prompting students to self-assess their interest and understanding of science concepts and activities would increase their motivation in science classes. Students were randomly assigned to an experimental condition that wrote self-assessments of their competence and interest in science lessons or a control condition that wrote summaries of those same lessons. Writing activities were 10?min long and were given approximately once a week for eighteen weeks. Student motivation was assessed via self-report surveys for achievement goals and interest in science before and after the intervention. Students in the experimental condition showed higher endorsement of mastery goals and reported greater situational interest in science topics after the intervention compared to students who summarised the lessons. Increases in situational interest predicted higher individual interest in the domain. Results indicate an instructional practice requiring just 3?hours out of a semester of instruction was sufficient to achieve these effects on motivation in science classes.     

Enhancing visuospatial skills in second graders: An exploratory follow‐up study

This study was intended to assess the effect of a psychoeducational computer‐assisted and paper‐and‐pencil training designed to empower visuospatial skills in students attending the second grade of the primary school. At pretest, posttest and at the subsequent 3‐months follow‐up, 44 Italian second graders were presented with a battery of tests assessing nonverbal problem solving, imagery, speed of processing, visuomotor coordination, and verbal working memory. After pretest, 22 pupils were trained by the psychoeducational intervention for 15 weekly sessions (Fastame & Antonini (2011). RECUPERO IN… abilità visuo‐spaziali [Recovery in… visuo‐spatial abilities]. Trento, Italy: Edizioni Erickson). Posttest scores and a follow‐up assessment conducted after 3 months by the end of the training documented the positive effect of the psychoeducational intervention in enhancing visuospatial functions of the experimental group. These outcomes were also replicated when a questionnaire assessing visuospatial efficacy was proposed to the teachers of the participants.     

Gender,complexity, and science for all: Systemizing and its impact on motivation to learn science for different science subjects

The present study is based on a large cross‐cultural study, which showed that a systemizing cognition type has a high impact on motivation to learn science, while the impact of gender is only indirect thorough systemizing. The present study uses the same structural equation model as in the cross‐cultural study and separately tests it for physics, chemistry, and biology. The model was confirmed for physics and chemistry, but not for biology. This is interpreted as empirical evidence for a cognitive difference between the learning of hard sciences (like physics and chemistry) and life sciences (like biology) that reflects an epistemological difference between ordered (linear) and complex (non‐linear) systems. It is concluded that a more prominent inclusion of complex issues into science teaching could motivate low and average systemizers, independent of their gender, for science learning, that is, could be a key to science for all. Thus, there is a mutual benefit between important 21st century's issues of science teaching and the need to foster students’ motivation to learn science. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 55: 147–171, 2018     

Adolescents' Declining Motivation to Learn Science: Inevitable or Not?

There is a growing awareness that science education should center not just on knowledge acquisition but developing the foundation for lifelong learning. However, for intentional learning of science to occur in school, out of school, and after school, there needs to be a motivation to learn science. Prior research had shown that students' motivation to learn science tends to decrease during adolescence [Anderman and Young [1994] Journal of Research in Science Teaching 31: 811–831; Lee and Anderson [1993] American Educational Research Journal 30: 585–610; Simpson and Oliver [1990] Science Education 74: 1–18]. This study compared 5th through 8th grade students' self‐reported goal orientations, engagement in science class, continuing motivation for science learning, and perceptions of their schools' and parents' goals emphases, in Israeli traditional and democratic schools. The results show that the aforementioned decline in adolescents' motivation for science learning in school and out of school is not an inevitable developmental trend, since it is apparent only in traditional schools but not in democratic ones. The results suggest that the non‐declining motivation of adolescents in democratic schools is not a result of home influence but rather is related to the school culture. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., J Res Sci Teach 48: 199–216, 2011     

Developing and acting upon one's conception of the nature of science: A follow‐up study

This study aimed to delineate the factors mediating the translation of preservice teachers' conceptions of the nature of science into instructional planning and classroom practice. Additionally, the study assessed the influence of temporally separating teaching preservice teachers about the nature of science and teaching them how to address it instructionally. This latter intervention was based on the results of a previous investigation. Prior to student teaching, the 13 participants responded to an open‐ended questionnaire designed to assess conceptions of the nature of science. Throughout student teaching, daily lesson plans, classroom videotapes, portfolios, and supervisors' weekly clinical observation notes were collected and searched for explicit instances of nature of science planning and/or instruction. Following student teaching, participants were interviewed to validate their responses to the open‐ended questionnaire, identify factors that mediate the translation of their conceptions of the nature of science into classroom teaching, and explicate their pedagogical preferences for teaching the nature of science. Participants possessed adequate understanding of several aspects of the nature of science and, contrary to the results of the earlier investigation, most did not conflate the nature of science with science processes. Furthermore, several participants explicitly addressed some aspects of the nature of science during classroom instruction. Participants, however, failed to include the nature of science among their instructional objectives and did not make a concerted effort to assess student understandings. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 563–581, 2000     

如何激发中职学生英语学习动力

本文在分析中职学生英语学习现状的基础上,探讨中职教师如何激发学生英语学习动力的问题。提出要从以下几方面来着手:建立良好的师生关系,创造和谐的课堂氛围;改变以往教学方法,调动学生英语学习兴趣;分析当前就业形势,激发学生英语学习动机;运用"赏识教育",增强学生英语学习自信;鼓励克服困难,培养学生英语学习意志。     

School motivation: A comparison between Kenya and Italy

The authors compare school motivation in Kenya and Italy, two countries that differ in terms of socioeconomic conditions, structure of the school system, and access to education. Free primary education is indeed a recent attainment for Kenyan students. The participants, 449 Kenyan and 480 Italian students, 9–14 years old and attending Grades 4–8, were asked to complete a questionnaire about learning motivation. A factor analysis revealed that school motivation can be described by five dimensions in both contexts: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, academic self-concept, causal attribution, and amotivation. Differences between countries and lower (Grades 4–5) and higher (Grades 6–8) grades emerged: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and academic self-concept were found to be higher in Kenyan than in Italian students, whereas amotivation was lower. Moreover, only Italian students showed less intrinsic motivation and more amotivation in higher grades than in the lower ones.     

Our future as performance improvement practitioners: A follow‐up wake‐up call

In a recent article (Vieregge & Moseley, 2012), we reported the findings of an informal pilot survey we conducted at a meeting of the Michigan International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) chapter. The survey was intended to secure responses to a brief set of future‐focused questions from both the emerging and the seasoned talent who attended the meeting. Recently, we made the survey available for others in the human performance improvement (HPI) field to participate and offer their responses. In this article, we report the results in hopes that they will encourage continuing discussion about our future as HPI practitioners.     

Adolescents' motivation to select an academic science-related career: the role of school factors,individual interest,and science self-concept

Many researchers consider a lacking interest in science and the students' belief that science is too demanding as major reasons why young people do not strive for science-related careers. In this article, we first delineated a theoretical framework to investigate the importance of interest, self-concept, and school factors regarding students' career preferences. Then, we tested the expected effects on a sample of German 9th-grade students (N = 7,813). We focused on two school factors: the amount of (additional) science activities and the real-life applications in science classes. The multi-level analysis showed that school factors were highly relevant for the students' interest in science and science self-concept. In turn, interest in science and science self-concept affect the students' interest in science-related careers. We conclude that focusing on the link between individual and school characteristics is important for the understanding of students' interest in science-related careers.     

Literacy in the early years: a follow‐up study

In one Australian state, a concerted effort has been made to impact the literacy achievement of students during the early years of schooling, especially those students attending primary schools in identified least‐advantaged areas. While these initiatives have been successful, their impact has been enhanced by the development of print‐enriched play environments during the pre‐school years. Data are reported here from the Preschool Literacy Project (PLP) that followed approximately 1000 students, in treatment and control groups, through into their first two years in school. The analysis of residual gain scores identifies the reciprocal relationship between spoken and written language, also the increasing Text Level achievement for students who entered school with enhanced conceptual development in relation to literacy.     

Implicit theories of ability of Grade 6 science students: Relation to epistemological beliefs and academic motivation and achievement in science

We investigated: (a) the associations of implicit theories and epistemological beliefs and their effects on the academic motivation and achievement of students in Grade 6 science and (b) the mean differences of implicit theories, epistemological beliefs, and academic motivation and achievement as a function of gender and race/ethnicity (N = 508). Path analysis revealed that an incremental view of ability had direct and indirect effects on adaptive motivational factors, whereas fixed entity views had direct and indirect effects on maladaptive factors. Epistemological beliefs mediated the influence of implicit theories of ability on achievement goal orientations, self-efficacy, and science achievement. Results are discussed in relation to Dweck and Leggett’s (1988) social-cognitive theory with a focus on middle school science.     

根据学习者的需求激发其外语学习动机

学习动机与外语教学效果有密切的联系,在讨论Williams M.和R.L.Burdan及Dornyei的学习动机理论的基础上发现:学习动机的激发与学习者需求关系紧密。本文结合教学实例,阐述了在教学活动中如何利用学习者的需求激发其学习动机。     

The relationship between cellphone use and achievement goals in junior high school students: A cross‐lagged analysis

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between cellphone use and achievement goals in junior high school students. The participants were 282 students randomly selected from a secondary school in Xi'an, China. The Frequency of Cellphone Use Questionnaire and the Achievement Goal Questionnaire were used as measurement tools. The results showed that cellphone use at Time 1 (T1) was significantly associated with performance goals orientation and with mastery goals orientation at both times; cellphone use at Time 2 (T2) was not correlated with performance goals orientation or mastery goals orientation at T1. The cross‐lagged analysis showed a negative causal relationship between the frequency of cellphone use and mastery goals but no causal relationship between the frequency of cellphone use and performance goals. These results may be helpful for guiding adolescents to reduce cellphone use, pay attention to the mastery of knowledge, and establish mastery goals.     

初中生理科课程学习动机与学习策略的调查研究

采用问卷调查形式,研究了初中生学习理科课程的学习动机与学习策略的发展情况.经过标准比数据处理,结果发现初中生在理科课程学习中内、外动机是相互促进的,二者对学习策略的影响都很显著.学习理科课程时监控策略运用最多,而精加工策略运用水平不高,这可能与传统的教学方式有关.