Students’ Motivation in the Mathematics Classroom. Revealing Causes and Consequences

Students’ affective domain has been popular in the mathematics education community in an ongoing attempt to understand students’ learning behavior. Specifically, enhancing students’ motivation in the mathematics classroom is an important issue for teachers and researchers, due to its relation to students’ behavior and achievement. This paper utilized achievement goal theory—an important theoretical prospect on students’ motivation in school settings—to investigate the existence of a model presenting the relation between motivation and other affective constructs and students’ performance in mathematics. In this regard, two types of tests were administered to 321 sixth grade students measuring their motivation and other affective constructs and their performance in mathematics. Using structural equation modeling, we examined the associations among the affective constructs, motivation, and the extent to which these constructs influence students’ performance and interest in mathematics. The data revealed that students’ performance and their interest in mathematics were influenced by fear of failure, self-efficacy beliefs, and achievement goals. We discuss these findings in terms of teaching implications in the mathematics classroom.     

Playing surface and UK professional rugby union injury risk

Artificial rugby union playing surface installation is increasing. This prospective cohort study aimed to examine the effect of playing surface on match injury types within 157 players of two UK professional rugby union clubs playing 209 matches (96 on artificial surfaces and 113 on grass) over three seasons. There was no difference in overall injury risk between the two playing surfaces with injury incidence on artificial 80.2 (CI 69.9–91.7) and on grass 81.9 per 1000 match-hours (CI 72.2–92.5), with an incidence rate ratio (RR) of 0.98 (CI 0.82–1.17). There was a higher rate of concussion (RR 0.52, CI 0.34 – 0.78) and chest injuries on grass (RR 0.26 CI 0.07, 0.95), and a higher rate of thigh haematoma (RR 2.25, CI 1.05–4.82) foot injuries (RR 4.12, CI 1.10, 15.40) and injury to players being tackled (RR 1.46, CI 1.00, 2.15) on artificial. Whilst there was no higher injury risk for matches played on artificial versus natural grass surfaces, the higher incidence of concussion and chest injury on grass, and the higher rate of foot injuries on artificial surfaces may be related to tackle and footwear-to-surface interface factors.     

传世经典

……当春天从玫瑰红的云彩中露出她的碧眼,当阳光在我的书桌上闪烁时,我渴望的发疯般地闻一闻那百花绽放的大地的芳香,看一看那山坡上落叶松的葱郁,听一听高地上云雀的歌唱。曾几何时,似乎比童年还要遥远的那个时刻,我满腔热情地拿起了笔。如果那时我的手在颤抖,那也只是因为希     

The lived experiences of orphaned learners in South Africa: implications for the provision of quality education

Learners living in impoverished communities and subjected to the kind of disadvantage in operation in their home environment are at risk of receiving education of an inferior quality. The situation is worse for orphans, especially those residing in poor communities in that they bring to school peculiar attributes which poses challenges for the South African government in its endeavour to provide quality education for all. This paper presents constructed narratives of four primary-school learners living in a poor community in South Africa. The narratives are presented from the perspectives of the learners themselves, teachers and caregivers. These narratives reveal that following the death of parents, orphaned learners experience emotional changes, increased responsibilities, safety concerns as well as absence of learning support in the case of sibling-headed households. We argue that the challenges they experience in their home environment impact negatively on learning at school. We, therefore, propose that the extended family and the community serve as resources in providing needed support for promoting positive educational experiences to these learners.     

The Tech Trajectory: Examining the Role of College Environments in Shaping Students’ Interest in Computing Careers

Research in Higher Education - Computing career opportunities are increasing across all sectors of the U.S. economy, yet there remains a serious shortage of college graduates to fill these jobs....     

Broadcasting and Telecommunications

G.W.A. Dummer's Electronic Inventions: 1745-1976 (Oxford, England: Pergamon Press, 1976—£5.50 or $10.00)

Carl Dreher's Sarnoff: An American Success (New York: Quadrangle/ New York Times Book Co., 1977—$12.50)

George W. Bartlett, ed. NAB Engineering Handbook (Washington: National Association of Broadcasters, 1975—$45.00; $30.00 to NAB and BEA members)

Richard Veith's Talk-Back TV: Two-Way Cable Television (Blue Ridge Summit. Pa.: TAB Books, 1976—$9.95/5.95)

Dan Rather with Mickey Herskowitz' The Camera Never Blinks: Adventures of a TV Journalist (New York: Morros, 1977—$10.00)

F. Gifford's Tape: A Radio News Handbook (New York: Hastings House, 1977—$12.95/6.95)

F. Earle Barcus' Children's Television: An Analysis of Programming and Advertising (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1977—price not given, but likely around $18.00)

Douglas Davis and Allison Simmons' The New Television: A Public/Private Art (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1977—$14.95)

The Videophile's Newsletter (Jim Lowe, 2014 South Magnolia Drive, Tallahassee, Fla. 32301—$7.50 for five issues)

Separations Procedures in the Telephone Industry: The Historical Origins of a Public Policy, by James W. Sichter (January 1977, Publication P-77-2, 146 pp. $23.40, paper)

The Communications Act Policy Toward Competition: The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Hamilton Loeb (March 1977, Working Paper W-77-1, 68 pp., $ 10.90)

Broadcasting: The Next Ten Years (New York: National Broadcasting Co., Department of Corporate Planning, 1977—apparently free on request, paper)

NFLCP Newsletter (P.O. Box 119, Cambridge, Mass. 02142—$7.50 annually, bimonthly; $15.00 to organizations)

Gary Gerani and Paul H. Schulman's Fantastic Television (New York: Harmony Books/Crown Publishers, 1977—$12.95/5.95)     

Results of an assessment to identify potential barriers to sustainable agriculture on American Indian reservations in the Western United States

Purpose: This paper reports the results of survey research conducted with tribal producers between 2011 and 2012 on 19 of the largest American Indian reservations in Idaho, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington. The purpose of the research was to identify potential barriers to sustainable agriculture on reservation lands. This article reports the results of this research in an effort to promote Extension professionals' understanding of these barriers, which may help to improve outreach programs on American Indian reservations. Understanding the obstacles to sustaining agriculture that American Indian tribes face may inform international agricultural outreach efforts to increase food security targeting indigenous and tribal peoples worldwide.

Design/Methodology/Approach: American Indian agricultural producers comprised the study group. Study objectives included: (1) identify agricultural and natural resource issues of greatest concern to a self-selected sample of tribal agricultural producers on reservation lands; (2) evaluate access to Extension and other US Department of Agriculture outreach and assistance programs; and (3) evaluate the quality of these programs in terms of their relativity to tribal needs.

Findings: Study results indicate that tribal agricultural producers surveyed ranked 29 of 39 agricultural and natural resource issues as a concern. Similarly, they rated access to and quality of outreach programs as fair. Further, tribal producers operating on reservation trust land rated issues more severely than did tribal producers operating on fee simple lands.

Practical Implications: Results of this research will help Extension and other outreach professionals to understand the barriers indigenous and tribal peoples face in sustaining agricultural operations, particularly tribal groups living on federally reserved trust lands, such as American Indians. An increased understanding can inform agricultural policy-makers and outreach professionals in improving programs designed to increase agricultural sustainability, improve food security, enhance economic well-being and improve quality of life of indigenous and tribal peoples worldwide.

Originality/Value: This research provides important information to agricultural policy-makers and Extension professionals striving to sustain agricultural productivity and enhance food security with indigenous and tribal peoples.     

Evaluation of True Criterion Validity for Unidimensional Multicomponent Measuring Instruments in Longitudinal Studies

Longitudinal studies offer unique opportunities to identify the specificity variance in the components of a psychometric scale that is administered repeatedly. This article discusses a procedure for evaluation of the relationship between true scale scores and criterion variables uncorrelated with measurement errors in longitudinally presented measures comprising unidimensional multicomponent instruments. The approach provides point and interval estimates of the true scale criterion validity with respect to a criterion that is assessed once or repeatedly, as well as a means for testing temporal stability in this validity. The outlined method is based on an application of the latent variable modeling methodology, is readily applicable with popular software, and is illustrated using empirical data.     

Youth exercise intention and past exercise behavior: examining the moderating influences of sex and meeting exercise recommendations

The study purposes were to examine: (a) the determinants of exercise intention and past exercise behavior (PEB) using the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior, and (b) the moderating influences of sex and exercise group (meeting or not meeting exercise guidelines). Participants (n = 676 adolescents) completed self-reported measures of their exercise attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control (PBC), intention, and PEB. We found that attitude, subjective norm, and PBC explained 55% of the variance in intention, and intention and PBC explained 51% of the variance in PEB. While we found sex and exercise group differences across the study measures, we did not find evidence of significant moderation. Thus, the theory constructs predicted intention and PEB similarly across sex and exercise groups.