Developing beliefs about classroom motivation: Journeys of preservice teachers

This paper examines the developing beliefs about classroom motivation of eight preservice teachers during teacher education. The framework conceptualises the contexts in which preservice teachers participate and the filtering effect of prior beliefs. Qualitative analyses of multiple data sources reveal two distinct trajectories in the development of beliefs about classroom motivation. The findings highlight the importance of filtering prior beliefs, alignment and conflict of ideas, significance of self-motivating factors and power of emotions in developing beliefs about classroom motivation. Implications emphasize the importance of enabling preservice teachers examining existing beliefs and integrating these with learning during teacher education

Group work at university: significance of personal goals in the regulation strategies of students with positive and negative appraisals

This paper examines the mediating role of students' goals in group work at university. Research on cooperative and collaborative learning has provided empirical support for the cognitive, motivational and social benefits of group work but the antecedents of motivation and ongoing management of emerging motivational and socio-emotional issues have received less attention. A theory of self-regulation that incorporates students' personal goals and perceptions of context, combined with a sociocultural perspective on co-regulation of individuals and contexts, can help understand why and how some groups resolve their social challenges while others are less successful. An empirical study highlighted the mediating role of students' goals in their appraisals of group assignments, perceptions of various aspects of the contexts, and in turn regulation strategies to achieve their goals. Qualitative differences were found in the regulation strategies of students with positive and negative appraisals

"I'd say it's kind of unique in a way": The development of an intercultural student relationship

This article tracks the emergence, maintenance, and evolution of a positive intercultural relationship between a multilingual international student from Vietnam and a monolingual local Australian student in their first year at university. The literature overwhelmingly suggests that in institutions where English is the language of instruction, monolingual local students rarely mix with international students who are not fully proficient in English. This dyad thus provided fertile ground for exploring the development of an unusual intercultural student relationship. Narrative analysis explores the extent to which individual agency and the institutional environment coshaped this relationship over time and in various contexts. In the context of the internationalization of the tertiary education sphere, this study offers a prototypical case highlighting affordances and constraints that may influence the development of productive and amicable intercultural relationships on diverse university campuses

Impact of structured group activities on pre-service teachers’ beliefs about classroom motivation: An exploratory study

Pre-service teachers’ beliefs about classroom motivation, and how these beliefs may be developed during initial teacher preparation, is a relatively new aspect of enquiry in the fields of motivation and teacher education. An empirical study, grounded in a social constructivist perspective, was designed to examine the impact of providing pre-service teachers with opportunities to develop their existing beliefs about classroom motivation in interaction with peers. Participants were 53 teacher education students who participated in three semi-structured small group seminars, involving guided reflection and collaborative activities. Data were collected through matched pre- and post-questionnaires, and a final individual interview. The findings show that pre-service teachers’ initial beliefs about classroom motivation can be consolidated and expanded through engagement in semi-structured collaborative learning activities that induce in-depth reflection and examination of beliefs, and in authentic problem-solving situations that connect with theory. Implications for further research and teacher education are discussed

Teacher–student relationship at university: an important yet under-researched field

This article reviews the extant research on the relationship between students and teachers in higher education across three main areas: the quality of this relationship, its consequences and its antecedents. The weaknesses and gaps in prior research are highlighted and the importance of addressing the multi-dimensional and context-bound nature of teacher-student relationships is proposed. A possible agenda for future research is outlined

International students in Technical and Further Education (TAFE) colleges in Western Australia: Students' reflections on their experience and perceptions of the future of associations between their country and Australia

This report contains the results of an Australian Research Council (ARC) funded collaborative project between Murdoch University and the International Division of TAFE WA. It provides a unique insight into international students' reflective accounts of their experience of studying at TAFE and living in Western Australia, and their attitudes towards educational exchange between their countries and Australia. The study was based on a model with two major assumptions - that for future educational association between Australia and their home countries students must return home satisfied with their TAFE experience; and that prospective students received their first source of information about TAFE from past students. The main aim of the study was to examine these assumptions and to obtain suggestions from past students for improving the conditions for TAFE international students. The results strongly supported both assumptions, and student responses were then used as the basis for a set of recommendations. As the survey was conducted in 1993, it is possible that some of the issues raised in the recommendations have subsequently been addressed by some of the colleges. Appendices include the preliminary results of the 1994 cohort

A conceptual framework for analysing students' knowledge of programming

This article proposes a conceptual framework for analyzing students’ knowledge of programming. The framework integrates three distinct types of programming knowledge identified in the educational computing literature (syntactic, conceptual, and strategic) with three distinct forms of knowledge proposed in the cognitive psychology literature (declarative, procedural and conditional). Analysis of empirical data from a previous experimental study (Volet, 1991) provided support for the usefulness of the model and its educational potential for diagnosing deficiencies in the programming knowledge of novice programmers during a course of instruction and for designing appropriate instruction in introductory programming

Cognitive and affective variables in academic learning: The significance of direction and effort in students' goals

This paper examines the conceptual usefulness of distinguishing between two aspects of learning goals, namely direction and effort. This research builds upon and integrates three bodies of research related to self-regulation of learning, Boekaerts' work on the significance of cognitive, affective and motivational appraisals of study, Kuhl's notion of action control, and our previous work on qualitative differences in students' learning goals. An independent effect for direction and effort in predicting academic performance provided support for the assumption that these two aspects of goals are complementary dimensions of self-regulation of learning. The investigation of relationships between action control, motivation control, perceptions of course directions and students' goals revealed different patterns for direction and effort, as well as changing patterns from task on-set to task off-set. Overall higher levels of effort and performance appeared to require both positive appraisals of the task and volitional efficiency, but action control had a different impact on students' high or low on motivation control, and on their performance of different academic tasks

The significance of cognitive and affective processes in adult literacy learning

No abstract availabl

Modelling and coaching of relevant metacognitive strategies for enhancing university students' learning

Recent developments in strategy instruction research suggest that learning in a particular discipline is enhanced by guiding students through the development of content-relevant metacognitive strategies. The potential of such an instructional approach for university settings is discussed in this paper, and is supported with evidence from an experimental field study. The study, conducted with 28 experimental and 28 matched control students over 13 weeks of an introductory computer science course, involved (a) students' development of a metacognitive strategy relevant for computer programming, (b) modelling and coaching procedures with complete explanations about strategy use, and (c) a socially supportive learning context. The instructional method had significant short-term and long-term effects on students' cognitive and affective learning outcomes