Interest as a motivational resource: Feedback and gender matter, but interest makes the difference

Abstract. This study tested the hypothesis that interest in a certain topic enables children to sustain their intrinsic motivation in topic-related tasks when positive feedback is absent. Ninety-one Israeli children in the seventh grade completed a questionnaire assessing their interest in the topic of logic questions. Later, in individual sessions, children worked on logic questions, and either received positive feedback or no feedback on their performance. Then, they completed a questionnaire assessing their intrinsic motivation to participate in a similar task. As expected, children with a high level of interest reported more intrinsic motivation than did children not high on interest. Among children with moderate interest, absence of positive feedback was associated with decreased intrinsic motivation for boys, and increased motivation for girls. This gender-related pattern was interpreted as suggesting that girls with moderate interest perceived the positive feedback as an attempt to control them. The findings support the view that interest may serve as a personal resource that helps children to cope with non-optimal learning conditions

Safety and efficacy of VB-111, an anticancer gene therapy, in patients with recurrent glioblastoma: results of a phase I/II study.

BackgroundVB-111 is a non-replicating adenovirus carrying a Fas-chimera transgene, leading to targeted apoptosis of tumor vascular endothelium and induction of a tumor-specific immune response. This phase I/II study evaluated the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of VB-111 with and without bevacizumab in recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM).MethodsPatients with rGBM (n = 72) received VB-111 in 4 treatment groups: subtherapeutic (VB-111 dose escalation), limited exposure (LE; VB-111 monotherapy until progression), primed combination (VB-111 monotherapy continued upon progression with combination of bevacizumab), and unprimed combination (upfront combination of VB-111 and bevacizumab). The primary endpoint was median overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints were safety, overall response rate, and progression-free survival (PFS).ResultsVB-111 was well tolerated. The most common adverse event was transient mild-moderate fever. Median OS time was significantly longer in the primed combination group compared with both LE (414 vs 223 days; hazard ratio [HR], 0.48; P = 0.043) and unprimed combination (414 vs 141.5 days; HR, 0.24; P = 0.0056). Patients in the combination phase of the primed combination group had a median PFS time of 90 days compared with 60 in the LE group (HR, 0.36; P = 0.032), and 63 in the unprimed combination group (P = 0.72). Radiographic responders to VB-111 exhibited characteristic, expansive areas of necrosis in the areas of initial enhancing disease.ConclusionsPatients with rGBM who were primed with VB-111 monotherapy that continued after progression with the addition of bevacizumab showed significant survival and PFS advantage, as well as specific imaging characteristics related to VB-111 mechanism of action. These results warrant further assessment in a randomized controlled study

Brief research report: Parents' homework emotions favor students' homework emotions through self-efficacy

While homework is a frequent source of distress, positive attitudes of parents can help students develop positive emotions and self-efficacy regarding homework. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that parents\u2019 emotions, favored by autonomous motivation, directly and indirectly relate with students\u2019 emotions through their self-efficacy with regard to homework. Questionnaires were administered to 205 fourth- to eighthgrade students and their parents to assess both groups\u2019 positive and negative emotions, students\u2019 self-efficacy with regard to homework, and parents\u2019 autonomous motivation. The results supported the hypothesized model: parents\u2019 autonomous motivation is associated with parents\u2019 positive emotions, which is then associated with students\u2019 positive and negative emotions, both directly and through the mediation of students\u2019 self-efficacy for doing homework. The discussion focuses on theoretical and educational implications

Parents\u2019 autonomous motivation favours students\u2019 motivation toward homework

Two studies demonstrate the critical role played by parents' affect and autonomous motivation in being helpfull with homewor

Parents\u2019 scaffolding for autonomous motivation favor child homework motivation

Vengono presentati due studi, uno correlazionale, l'altro \ue8 un intervento volti a dimostrare l'importanza e l'efficacia di un supporto nei compiti che favorisca lo sviluppo della motivazione autodeterminata

Exploring the circumplex model of motivating and demotivating teaching styles:The role of teacher need satisfaction and need frustration

This study explored the relationships between teacher satisfaction/frustration of the three basic psychological needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness, and adoption of motivating and demotivating teaching styles. Nine hundred and forty-nine Italian teachers filled in self-report questionnaires. The results showed that competence and relatedness satisfaction were associated with the participative, attuning, guiding, and clarifying motivating subareas. Although competence frustration was associated with all the demotivating subareas, relatedness frustration was only associated with the domineering and abandoning subareas. Autonomy frustration was associated with the demanding, domineering, and awaiting subareas. The theoretical and practical implications for fostering teachers' motivating style are discussed

Understanding shifts in students' academic motivation across a school year: the role of teachers' motivating styles and need-based experiences

Students' adaptive motivation to study tends to decrease over time. However, the reasons for this decline are not fully understood. Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), we investigated whether changes in teachers' motivating style and students' associated need-based experiences could explain the motivational decline documented in the literature. A total of 472 Israeli seventh and eighth graders (in their first and second years of middle school) completed questionnaires at the beginning and end of the school year. Students reported their perceptions of their teachers' (de)motivating styles (i.e., autonomy support, structure, control, and chaos), the extent to which their psychological needs were satisfied or frustrated, and their motivation to study. There was a significant decrease from the beginning to the end of the school year in 7(th)- and 8th-grade students' perceptions of autonomy support and structure provided by their teachers, students' autonomous motivation, and their experienced need satisfaction. There was a significant increase from the beginning to the end of the school year in 7th and 8th graders' perception of their teacher as chaotic and the students' experience of need frustration, controlled motivation, and amotivation. A growth curve multilevel model (GCMLM) indicated that the perceived changes in teachers' motivating and demotivating styles, together with the changes in the students' reported need-based experiences from the beginning to the end of the year, could account for these changes in students' motivation. Teachers should develop and maintain a need-nurturing environment to prevent a drop in student motivation