Education Commons^™

Designing A Collaborative Cross-Campus Drop-In Workshop Series To Motivate Lifelong Learners, Tim Miller, Sarah Fay Philips

Tim Miller

An Instrument To Assess Subjective Task Value Beliefs Regarding The Decision To Pursue Postgraduate Training, Nicholas E. Hagemeier, Matthew M. Murawski

Nicholas E. Hagemeier

Objectives. To develop and validate an instrument to assess subjective ratings of the perceived value of various postgraduate training paths followed using expectancy-value as a theoretical framework; and to explore differences in value beliefs across type of postgraduate training pursued and type of pharmacy training completed prior to postgraduate training. Methods. A survey instrument was developed to sample 4 theoretical domains of subjective task value: intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, and perceived cost. Retrospective self-report methodology was employed to examine respondents’ (N=1,148) subjective task value beliefs specific to their highest level of postgraduate training completed. Exploratory and confirmatory factor …

Preserving Adolescent Readership Through Interest And Motivation, Gina M. Doepker, Evan Ortlieb

Gina Doepker

Adolescent literacy has remained a relatively hot topic for several years in the field of reading education (Cassidy, Ortlieb, & Shettel, 2010/2011) however, educators remain conflicted about how to maintain high levels of reading motivation. A historical analysis of adolescent interests and motivations was conducted to determine what instructional techniques have had positive effects so as to meet the imminent needs of adolescent readers. Findings include information pertaining to: choice of a multitude of reading materials, substantial time to experience aesthetic and engaging reading experiences, and a relevant, challenging curriculum that addresses student needs, personal interests, and motivations.

Keeping The Wind In The Sails Of A Workshop Program - Learning And Motivating, Tim Miller, Sarah Fay Philips, Victoria Bruner

Tim Miller

What Matters Most When Students And Teachers Use Interactive Whiteboards In Mathematics Classrooms?, Kimberley Mcquillan, Maria T. Northcote, Peter Beamish

Maria Northcote

As teachers, we are encouraged to immerse our students in rich and engaging learning environments (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2003). One teaching tool that can facilitate the creation of rich learning environments is the interactive whiteboard (IWB) (Baker, 2009). IWBs are quickly being introduced into schools across the nation and worldwide, and educators are exploring the implications of having them in the classroom. Of particular interest are student attitudes to the use of IWBs: what students think and feel about IWBs, and what factors matter most to students when IWBs are used in their classroom. Attitudes play an …

Gender And Sex Differences In Student Participation, Achievement And Engagement In Mathematics, Sarah Buckley

Dr Sarah Buckley

Research in neuroscience, psychology and education explores gender differences in achievement and learning in many different ways with different implications for educators and policymakers. This paper presents some of the literature from these three research fields. Rather than being an exhaustive review, This paper provides a brief synthesis of relevant issues when considering gender in education. The paper has three main sections. The first section presents data on gender differences in mathematics participation, achievement and engagement in Australia. Note that for the purposes of this paper, the term ‘engagement’ will be used to describe students’ motivated involvement with mathematics, particularly …

Context-Perception Model Of Third Language Learning Motivation, Masanori Matsumoto

Masanori Matsumoto

Through Matsumoto’s recent studies (2009, 2011) on foreign language learners’ motivation in Australian context, a third cultural factor has been detected. Both studies have revealed that besides the conventional account of the cultural distance between learners’ own culture and that of target language, the distance between learners’ own culture and the Australian educational culture in which their language learning occurs also influences the learners’ motivational state. That is, when learners learn a second foreign language in the second language educational context, this additional third culture plays an additional role which affects learner motivation. The study of cultural distance as a …

Snapshots Issue 1: How Engaged Are Australian Year 4 Students In Their Reading Lessons?, Nicole Wernert

Nicole Wernert

In order to learn, students need to have some level of engagement in their classroom activities. The Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2011) investigated student engagement in reading lessons via a series of questions about students’ experiences in their reading lessons. According to PIRLS, a third of Australian Year 4 students were engaged with reading lessons, whereas more than half were only somewhat engaged and more than a tenth were not engaged.

Exploring The Factors That Influence And Motivate Female Students To Enroll And Persist In Collegiate Stem Degree Programs: A Mixed Methods Study, Rosemary L. Edzie

Rosemary L Edzie

Nationally, the need for an increase in interest, enrollment, and degrees awarded from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degree programs continues to suffer. While students are enrolling in collegiate STEM degree programs, it is not occurring at a rate that meets the workforce demand. In addition to the concern that there is not a sufficient amount of collegiate STEM majors, there is a concern over too few females enrolling and persisting in collegiate STEM degree programs. This mixed methods sequential exploratory research study considered the factors that influence and motivate undergraduate female students to enroll and persist in collegiate …

Australia’S Performance In Pisa And Piaac – Key Messages For Education And Training, Sue Thomson, Dave Tout

David (Dave) Tout

No abstract provided.

Australia’S Performance In Pisa And Piaac – Key Messages For Education And Training, Sue Thomson, Dave Tout

Dr Sue Thomson

No abstract provided.

Australia’S Performance In Pisa And Piaac – Key Messages For Education And Training, Sue Thomson, Dave Tout

Dr Sue Thomson

No abstract provided.

The Power Of Setting Smartr Goals, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC

Welcome to the Extension Update! My name is Connie Reimers-Hild, and I am an Extension Educator focused in leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship at the Kimmel Education and Research Center in Nebraska City. In today’s Extension Update, I will present the power of setting SMARTR Goals! We all hear about how important it is to set goals, but very few of us to actually do it. What if we made the process of goal setting more personally fulfilling and more fun? As a Certified Professional Coach, I have used SMARTR goal setting with my clients. Establishing SMARTR goals can be powerful …

Learning Or Performance: Predicting Drivers Of Student Motivation, Shane P. Dawson, Leah Macfadyen, Lori Lockyer

Professor Lori Lockyer

There is substantial research demonstrating that a student’s motivation for learning can be largely explained in terms of their preferred achievement orientation. This paper explores a case study investigating ICT derived lead indicators of student achievement orientation, and therefore underlying motivations. The study incorporated Tan’s (2009) research on learning dispositions to quantify student achievement orientations. These findings were then correlated with student LMS data to identify if patterns of online behaviour are indicative of the observed achievement orientation scores. The results suggest that there is a significant correlation between student achievement orientation and participation in discussion forums. Students reporting a …

The L2 Motivational Self System Of Korean Efl Students: Cross-Grade Survey Analysis, Tae-Young Kim

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

Due to the increase in international trade, mass transportation, and information technology, the role of English as a global language has changed, and conventional EFL/ESL motivation needs paradigmatic reconstruction. This study compares Dörnyei’s (2009) recent proposal of a second language (L2) motivational self-system with Gardner’s (1985) socio-educational model by investigating 2,783 Korean students’ English learning motivation from Grades 3 through 12 in 14 different schools. The cross-grade survey results indicated that Korean EFL learners’ motivational intensity showed a curvilinear pattern, which means their motivation consistently decreased until Grade 9 but increased from Grades 10 to 12. A series of regression …

Turning The Switch On! The Teachers’ Ability To Influence Student Motivation In Physical Education, Dana Perlman, Philip J. Pearson, Kim Mckeen, Gregory J. Forrest

Greg J Forrest

Student motivation is an area of importance in physical education due to the association with enhanced levels of effort, participation and aspects of learning (Tjeerdsma-Blankenship, 2008; Chen, 2001). Physical education specialists are routinely challenged by students who demonstrate behaviours indicative of low levels of motivation, such as high rates of absenteeism and severely low levels of active participation within the class setting (Ntoumanis, Peensgaard, Martin & Pipe, 2004). Bryan and Solmon (2007) indicate that the teacher is a primary driver for the development and implementation of experiences that support and/or thwart student motivation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was …

Digital Technology In- And Out-Of-School : A Comparative Study Of The Nature And Levels Of Student Use And Engagement, Anne-Marie Chase

Dr Anne-Marie Chase

Second Language Learners' Motivation And Their Perceptions Of Teachers' Motivation, Masanori Matsumoto

Masanori Matsumoto

International students learning English as a second language in Australia were studied to find how their perception of teachers’ level of commitment to teach them English affects their own motivation to study English. A questionnaire survey was administered on the learners at three different levels of proficiency to also identify the relationship between the levels of study and the learners’ perception of teacher as a factor affecting the learners’ motivation. The results showed that there is a positive correlation between the learners’ motivation and their perception of teachers’ commitment to teach, and the intermediate level is the most problematic stage …