Vocation, motivation and approaches to learning: a comparative study

Purpose – The individual characteristics of students can have a strong influence on the success of the adopted innovations in terms of their transferability and sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to compare the motivations and approaches to learning on degrees with differing vocational components. Design/methodology/approach – Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and approaches to learning framework were used as theoretical background. Questionnaires were used to generate data. The sample was composed by 270 students enroled on differing degrees in term of motivation (accounting and nursing). Findings – The results reveal differences in the approaches to learning and motivation between nursing and accounting students. Nursing degree seem to attract more internally motivated students, presenting significantly higher scores in terms of deep approach and lower scores on surface approach. Significant relationships where found between motivation and approaches. Research limitations/implications – Data are obtained from students studying at a specific university in two degrees. Practical implications – The result suggest that different degrees could attract students with different motivations and approaches to learning. Educators must be aware of which type of students are being attracted to their classrooms, because the inconsistencies between the students’ motives and approaches, the way the contents are presented, the pedagogy and the assessment system could result in poorer learning and failure to transfer or sustain innovations. Originality/value – This paper adds to the very scarce literature linking motivation and approaches. The implications for curriculum design and delivery and specifically for assessment design are of interest for educators.Junta de Andalucía – FEDER (Proyectos de Excelencia: SEJ-02670

Agents of Hope

This paper considers the Christian teacher’s “place” in today’s increasingly diverse public school classrooms. Specifically, the paper explores the complexities of working as a Christian within educational systems which promote tolerance of all cultures and religious views. Is it possible for a Christian teacher to remain committed to The Way while employed in a system which encourages pluralism, equity, and diversity? Using insights and responses of participants in a Christian university education course on teaching in multicultural classrooms, a framework is provided to consider what it means to teach as a Christian in multicultural school settings

The Lost Purpose of Learning

In the autumn of AD 386, a thirty-two-year-old academic superstar named Aurelius Augustinus made a radical move: He resigned his position as imperial professor of rhetoric in Milan and retired early. The position, as prestigious as an endowed chair of government at Harvard today, represented the pinnacle of intellectual achievement in its time. Yet Augustine was disillusioned, tired of teaching “résumé virtues” to “excellent sheep.” He complained that liberal education in the later Roman Empire had become purposeless and disoriented, preoccupied with the ephemeral aims of career, wealth, and fame. Intellectual and spiritual vitality had vanished from lecture rooms and pupils alike. The soul of education was dead

Purpose, Meaning, and Exploring Vocation in Honors Education

This paper examines the importance of cultivating a sense of vocation in honors education. Through examples of coursework, program initiatives, and advising strategies, authors from across five institutions align the scholarship of vocation with best practices and principles in contemporary honors discourse, defining vocation in the context of higher education and describing how this concept works within honors curricula to enrich student experience and cultivate individual understandings of purpose. By focusing on critical reflection processes, Ignatian pedagogy, and theories of moral development and reasoning, the authors offer different models to advance the thesis that honors educators can and should address personal fulfillment in addition to intellectual talent, and they posit vocational exploration and discernment as tools for extending and deepening their students’ personal sense of meaning in local and global communities

Receptions of Israelite nation-building: Modern Protestant natalism and Martin Luther

This is the author's PDF version of an article published in Dialog© 2010. The definitive version is available at www3.interscience.wiley.comThis article evaluates the claim that Martin Luther was the forerunner of natalism, looking at his references to reproduction in a historical and theological context

Are there any differences of learning orientation between level 1 and level 4 of nursing students?

Purpose: The aim of this research is to identify the differences of learning orientation between level 1 and level 4 nursing students. Method: Data were collected using ILS questioners which involved two students as respondents, level 1 and level 4 nursing students. The data were calculated based on scoring key in each sub component, and were compared with standard of psychology students. Result: The result showed that there were differences of learning orientation between level 1 and level 4 nursing students particularly in components personally interested, certificate directed, vocation directed, and ambivalent. One of reasons behind of this is level 1 nursing students get transition from senior high school into college while level 4 nursing students are settler, and can adapt with learning process in college. Conclusion: It will be better if every student has change to screen their learning orientation by completing ILS questioners, so it will help students to focus on their learning process on the other hand, students’ learning orientation will help teacher to facilitate students achieving the competencies. Keywords: learning orientation, nursing student