Making sense out of motivation: A systematic model to consolidate motivational constructs across theories

Theories of motivation frequently conflict with one another, not only in their basic assumptions, but also in their interpretation of similar phenomena. Consequently, the teacher of educational psychology faces the arduous task of reasonably clarifying for students some means of transferring this contrasting information into a usable format \ of guidelines and principles. The Time Continuum Model of Motivation directly assists this process by systematically consolidating motivational constructs across theories. This model organizes six major factors — attitude, need, stimulation, affect, competence and reinforcement — along a time sequence. The instructor of educational psychology can use the model to demonstrate the applicability of different motivational theories to a variety of learning situations. In addition, the key questions of how and when to use the basic elements from different motivational theories can be systematically approached for optimal student learning and transfer to applied settings.     

Generic tendencies in majority and non‐majority supreme court opinions: The case of justice Douglas

Using a sample of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas' Supreme Court opinons as the data base, this study investigated the question of whether majority or non‐majority status constitutes a variable sufficiently strong to predict the rhetorical quality of the opinion. The three traditional schools of legal philosophy, Natural Law, Legal Positivism, and Legal Realism, provided the basis of three hypothetical rhetorical genres which were found to be present in statistically similar frequencies in all opinion types. These findings (1) call into question the conventional wisdom that majority and dissenting opinions represent different rhetorical sub‐species, and (2) suggest that a more fruitful avenue of analysis looks to the generic architechtonics of Supreme Court opinions rather than to the relatively more superficial dimension of stylistics.     

Functionalizing human relations in business

This commentary argues that Indvik and Fitzpatrick's article, “Perceptions of Inclusion, Affiliation, and Control in Five Interpersonal Relationships,” presents an inappropriate conceptual and methodological approach to the study of relationship defining communication. Problems are most evident in: (1) the domain isolated to represent the themes of inclusion, control, and affection; and (2) the inattention to the interdependence established with communication between relationship partners.     

Primary and secondary school teachers in France: changes in identities and professionalization

Teacher professionalization is a recent field of study in France that has developed in connection with the creation of the Instituts Universitaires de Formation des Maîtres (IUFMs) and other changes that have brought primary and secondary teachers into closer relation. In order to help the reader understand the traditional divisions between these two groups and recent trends towards unification, we first present historical differences in their development as separate corps, their training and their modes of unionization. We then proceed to analyse the political turning point of 1989, date of the creation of the IUFMs which introduced a similar curriculum for teachers of each degree on the basis of officially specified fundamental skills, as well as leading to the reconstitution of teachers' unions. Finally, we examine the effects of recent moves toward professionalization on the rationalization of teachers' knowledge and skills, the relationship between training and professional activity and teachers' socialization.     

Professor Pinsker responds:

Letter

Professor Pinsker responds:     

Assessing Employer Satisfaction: a test of several survey techniques

Assessing employer satisfaction with the preparation their employees receive in institutions of higher education is a matter of growing importance world‐wide as students, governments and the public seek tangible evidence of educational quality through workforce competitiveness. Three techniques for surveying college and university graduates and employers were conducted over the space of three academic years for the purpose of comparing the effectiveness of these methodologies. Response rates obtained indicate that gaining permission for employer contact directly on a questionnaire mailed to graduates can be as effective as more costly phone contacts, and is more effective than two successive mailings to graduates. The results also suggest that in general employers give relatively undifferentiated positive ratings of employee characteristics unless forced by the method of questioning to differentiate among items. The study provides evidence that a mailed survey methodology for graduates and their employers can be effective if the graduate's permission is obtained on the initial questionnaire and if employers are forced by the survey instrument's format to differentiate among listed job characteristics and performance ratings.     

Structure du raisonnement deductif et apprentissage de la demonstration

Resume Le raisonnement déductif ne fonctionne pas comme une argumentation. Cependant ces deux formes de raisonnement emploient souvent les mêmes connecteurs et se traduisent par des démarches linguistiques très voisines. C'est une des raisons pour lesquelles la plupart des élèves ne parviennent pas à percevoir les exigences propres d'une démonstration en mathématique. Cet article présente une analyse cognitive de l'organisation déductive du raisonnement par opposition à son organisation argumentative. La distinction entre contenu et statut opératoire des propositions y apparaît fondamentale. Pour illustrer cette analyse nous présentons des textes de démonstration rédigés par des élèves de quatrième, sur des problèmes de géométrie, au cours d'une expérience d'enseignement organisée pour faire mettre en oeuvre cette distinction. L'analyse de ces textes et l'interprétation de l'évolution observée au cours de cette expérience conduisent à prendre en compte une seconde distinction: celle entre la valeur de vérité et la valeur épistémique des propositions. Car la découverte du fonctionnement du raisonnement déductif s'accompagne, pour les élèves, d'une prise de conscience: il change la valeur épistémique de la proposition démontrée.

---

Deductive thinking does not work like argumentation. However these two kinds of reasoning use very similar linguistic forms and propositional connectives. This is one of the main reasons why most of the students do not understand the requirements of mathematical proofs. In this article we present a cognitive analysis of deductive organisation versus argumentative organisation of reasoning, and the didactical applications of this analysis. We present also proofs written by young students for geometrical problems, in the frame of an experience, the goal of which was to realize dissociation between content and operative status of propositions. The analysis of proofs written by the students requires a second distinction between truth value and epistemic value of propositions: by splitting content and operative status, students discover how deductive reasoning works and, at the same time, become aware that deductive reasoning change also the epistemic value of the proved proposition.