Cultivating competence, self-efficacy, and intrinsic interest through proximal self-motivation.

Abstract: The present experiment tested the hypothesis that self-motivation through proximal goal setting serves as an effective mechanism for cultivating competencies, self-percepts of efficacy, and intrinsic interest. Children who exhibited gross deficits and disinterest in mathematical tasks pursued a program of self-directed learning under conditions involving either proximal subgoals, distal goals, or no goals. Results of the multifaceted assessment provide support for the superiority of proximal self-influence. Under proximal subgoals, children progressed rapidly in self-directed learning, achieved substantial mastery of mathematical operations, and developed a sense of personal efficacy and intrinsic interest in arithmetic activities that initially held little attraction for them. Distal goals had no demonstrable effects. In addition to its other benefits, goal proximity fostered veridical self-knowledge of capabilities as reflected in high congruence between judgments of mathematical self-efficacy and subsequent mathematical performance. Perceived self-efficacy was positively related to accuracy of mathematical performance and to intrinsic interest in arithmetic activities. Article: Much human behavior is directed and sustained over long periods, even though the external inducements for it may be few and far between. Under conditions in which external imperatives are minimal and discontinuous, people must partly serve as agents of their own motivation and action. In social learning theory (Bandura, 1977b, in press), self-directedness operates through a self system that comprises cognitive structures and subfunctions for perceiving, evaluating, motivating, and regulating behavior. An important, cognitively based source of self-motivation relies on the intervening processes of goal setting and self-evaluative re-actions to one's own behavior. This form of self-motivation, which operates largely through internal comparison processes, re-quires personal standards against which to evaluate ongoing performance. By making self-satisfaction conditional on a certain level of performance, individuals create self-inducements to persist in their efforts until their performances match internal standards. Both the anticipated satisfactions for matching attainments and the dissatisfactions with insufficient ones provide incentives for self-directed actions. Personal goals or standards do not automatically activate the evaluative processes that affect the level and course of one's behavior. Certain properties of goals, such as their specificity and level, help to provide clear standards of adequacy In the social learning view, adopting proximal subgoals for one's own behavior can have at least three major psychological effects. As already alluded to, such goals have motivational effects. One of the propositions tested in the present experiment is that self-motivation can be best created and sustained by attainable subgoals that lead to larger future ones. Proximal subgoals provide immediate incentives and guides for performance

The flow of plasma in the solar terrestrial environment

The overall goal of our NASA Theory Program was to study the coupling, time delays, and feedback mechanisms between the various regions of the solar-terrestrial system in a self-consistent, quantitative manner. To accomplish this goal, it will eventually be necessary to have time-dependent macroscopic models of the different regions of the solar-terrestrial system and we are continually working toward this goal. However, with the funding from this NASA program, we concentrated on the near-earth plasma environment, including the ionosphere, the plasmasphere, and the polar wind. In this area, we developed unique global models that allowed us to study the coupling between the different regions. These results are highlighted in the next section. Another important aspect of our NASA Theory Program concerned the effect that localized 'structure' had on the macroscopic flow in the ionosphere, plasmasphere, thermosphere, and polar wind. The localized structure can be created by structured magnetospheric inputs (i.e., structured plasma convection, particle precipitation or Birkland current patterns) or time variations in these input due to storms and substorms. Also, some of the plasma flows that we predicted with our macroscopic models could be unstable, and another one of our goals was to examine the stability of our predicted flows. Because time-dependent, three-dimensional numerical models of the solar-terrestrial environment generally require extensive computer resources, they are usually based on relatively simple mathematical formulations (i.e., simple MHD or hydrodynamic formulations). Therefore, another goal of our NASA Theory Program was to study the conditions under which various mathematical formulations can be applied to specific solar-terrestrial regions. This could involve a detailed comparison of kinetic, semi-kinetic, and hydrodynamic predictions for a given polar wind scenario or it could involve the comparison of a small-scale particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of a plasma expansion event with a similar macroscopic expansion event. The different mathematical formulations have different strengths and weaknesses and a careful comparison of model predictions for similar geophysical situations provides insight into when the various models can be used with confidence

Legislative History: An Act to Preserve Public Ownership of Historic Fort Gorges in Casco Bay (HP696)(LD 1000)

https://digitalmaine.com/legishist115/1999/thumbnail.jp

Developing graduate attributes through participation in undergraduate research conferences

© 2016 Taylor & Francis. Abstract: Graduate attributes are a framework of skills, attitudes, values and knowledge that graduates should develop by the end of their degree programmes. Adopting a largely qualitative approach and using semi-structured interviews, this paper outlines students’ experiences at a national undergraduate research conference over three years and evidences the graduate attributes developed. The students demonstrated intellectual autonomy, repurposing their work for presentation to a multidisciplinary audience through conversation with and benchmarking against peers. They gained confidence in expressing their identity as researchers and moved towards self-authorship, consciously balancing the contextual nature of their disciplinary knowledge with intra-personally grounded goals and values

In-Class Versus At-Home Quizzes: Which is Better? A Flipped Learning Study in a Two-Site Synchronously-Broadcast Organic Chemistry Course

We recently shared our design of a two-semester flipped organic chemistry course, in which we gave students in-class quizzes to incentivize attendance and watching the lecture videos in advance. With a second iteration, we planned to make the video-watching experience more engaging. We accordingly hypothesized that if students completed short at-home quizzes while watching the videos, then attentiveness, engagement, and learning would increase. We tested this with a later section of the course, dividing the material into 13 units. For units 1-6, we gave in-class quizzes; for 7-13, quizzes were at home. Although units 1-6 and 7-13 covered different material, we were nonetheless surprised when students’ average quiz scores decreased for the take-home quizzes, because they did not have a time limit and were open-book, unlike the in-class quizzes. Anonymous survey feedback showed a strong preference for quizzes in class and indications that take-home quizzes demotivated attendance and pre-class watching of the videos. Thus, for analogous flipped course designs in chemistry, we recommend an in-class quizzing strategy over take-home quizzes to positively affect engagement, learning, and attendance. Of note, this course was synchronously delivered to two groups of students at geographically-distinct satellite locations

Atomic‐Scale Observation of the Metal‐Promoter Interaction in Rh‐Based Syngas Upgrading Catalysts

The direct conversion of syngas to ethanol is a cornerstone reaction in evolving technologies of CO2 utilization and hydrogen storage, which is typically performed using promoted Rh catalysts. A rational catalyst development requires a detailed structural understanding of the activated catalyst and in particular, the specific roles that promoters play in driving the chemoselectivity of this process. Herein, we report for the first time a comprehensive and comparative atomic‐scale study of metal‐promoter interaction in silica‐supported Rh, Rh‐Mn and Rh‐Mn‐Fe catalysts by aberration‐corrected transmission electron microscopy (AC‐TEM). We uncover that while the catalytic reaction leads to the formation of a Rh carbide phase in the Rh‐Mn/SiO2 catalyst, the addition of Fe results in the formation of bimetallic Rh‐Fe alloys. The latter further improves the selectivity and prevents the carbide formation. In all promoted catalysts, the Mn is present as oxide decorating the metal particles. Based on the atomic insight presented in this work, structural and electronic modifications induced by promoters are revealed and a basis for refined theoretical models is provided

Self-Regulation in a Web-Based Course: A Case Study

Little is known about how successful students in Web-based courses self-regulate their learning. This descriptive case study used a social cognitive model of self-regulated learning (SRL) to investigate how six graduate students used and adapted traditional SRL strategies to complete tasks and cope with challenges in a Web-based technology course; it also explored motivational and environmental influences on strategy use. Primary data sources were three transcribed interviews with each of the students over the course of the semester, a transcribed interview with the course instructor, and the students’ reflective journals. Archived course documents, including transcripts of threaded discussions and student Web pages, were secondary data sources. Content analysis of the data indicated that these students used many traditional SRL strategies, but they also adapted planning, organization, environmental structuring, help seeking, monitoring, record keeping, and self-reflection strategies in ways that were unique to the Web-based learning environment. The data also suggested that important motivational influences on SRL strategy use—self-efficacy, goal orientation, interest, and attributions—were shaped largely by student successes in managing the technical and social environment of the course. Important environmental influences on SRL strategy use included instructor support, peer support, and course design. Implications for online course instructors and designers, and suggestions for future research are offered