The Achievement Motivation Enhancement Curriculum: Evaluating an Affective Intervention For Gifted Students

The present qualitative pilot study aimed to evaluate students’ perceptions of procedures and outcomes from an affective intervention to increase achievement motivation among gifted students. The intervention was implemented at a summer program with 20 students. Using inductive analysis, participants’ perceptions of the intervention and its effects were evaluated. This study’s findings show most students enjoyed the Achievement Motivation Enhancement sessions and felt they benefited from talking about their experiences with peers in small groups. Students discussed improved self-perceptions and said they benefitted from learning goal valuation, goal-setting, and self-regulation strategies. Implications are discussed.

AME+Cyber: Evaluating the online delivery of a holistic cyber-related talent development program

The present study used an explanatory mixed-method design to examine the effects of the Achievement Motivation Enhancement (AME)+Cyber enrichment program and teachers’ perception of procedures and outcomes in the context of emergency remote teaching, including online and hybrid formats, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three teachers implemented the program with 57 students in grades 9 through 12. To evaluate the program, we combined change score analysis of pretest and posttest data on academic self-perception, self-regulation, goal valuation, cyber-related interest, as well as descriptive interpretative analysis of interview data. We found the online learning format was more effective than the hybrid format for the affective and cognitive outcomes. Qualitative findings suggested pedagogical concerns and struggle with online learning due to emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, centered around a lack of student engagement and interaction that appropriate levels of training and practice could remedy. Implications and future research suggestions are discussed.

A study of EFL teachers’ classroom grading practices in secondary schools and private institutes: a mixed methods approach

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study aimed at exploring the grading decision-making of Iranian English language teachers in terms of the factors used when assigning grades and the rationales behind using those factors. In the preliminary quantitative phase, a questionnaire was issued to 300 secondary school and private institute EFL teachers. Quantitative data analyses showed that teachers attached the most weight to nonachievement factors such as effort, improvement, ability, and participation when determining grades. Next, follow-up interviews were conducted with 30 teachers from the initial sample. The analyses of interview data revealed that teachers assigned hodgepodge grades on five major grounds of learning encouragement, motivation enhancement, lack of specific grading criteria, pressure from stakeholders, and flexibility in grading. Data integration indicated that teacher grading decision-making was influenced by both internal and external factors, with adverse consequences for grading validity. Eliciting explanations for the use of specific grading criteria from the same teachers who utilized those criteria in their grading in a single study added to the novelty of this research. Implications for grade interpretation and use, accountability in classroom assessment, and teachers’ professional development are discussed.

FORMATION OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCIES OF FUTURE IT SPECIALISTS

The purpose of the study is aimed at performing a verification of the teaching conditions for effective communicative competence formation of the future IT professionals. Creating conditions of success, motivation enhancement, use of engaging group work, encouraging students’ participation in project work are the key factors and conditions for effective communicative competence formation. Scientific literature analysis, "communicative competence" concept clarification; analysis of pedagogical conditions of IT students’ communicative competence formation is discussed in details. Research methodology used is questionnaire, interview, quantitative and qualitative data analysis and processing of the results as well as analysis of class observation in AITU done within the IT students’ communicative competencies research. The national technological development strategy focuses both on the development of science-intensive technologies and technological cooperation and partnership. The need of society in IT specialists with a high personal and professional culture is determined by the need of a sufficient level of communicative competence to build professional relationships in workplace.

Gamification Design Elements to Enhance Adolescent Motivation in Diagnosing Depression

Depression is a critical public health problem, mainly when it affects young people (adolescents). This condition is most challenging to detect in this group because they tend to think about other people's negative assumptions. Adolescents with depressive symptoms refuse to seek professional help due to their stigma and their future if they were labeled as depressed teenagers. Depression is a severe mental issue that should be detected from an early stage so that the problem can be curbed and resolved immediately. Diagnosis should be carried out to assess mental health, followed by referral to professional help. This study aims to motivate adolescents to diagnose depression levels through gamification techniques. Fifty-three secondary students participated in a survey designed in this study to measure motivation enhancement factors. The result of this study was used to develop a depression diagnosis model. The proposed model applied a gamification design technique consisting of three main ideas: gamification elements, user types, and motivational elements. This model will serve as the foundation to develop a mobile application system that can benefit users, especially adolescents, in self-diagnosing depression.

Game-based language learning in the context of distance education

The abrupt transition of the educational institutions to distance learning because of objective reasons related to the Covid-19 pandemic and the social isolation required the teachers to review the existing approaches to the classes organization and make appropriate changes. Rethinking traditional methods with game-based technologies expect not to “lose” contact with the audience and maintain its learning motivation. This study aims to generalize the experience of game-based technologies incorporation in university French classes at different levels to preserve and enhance the students learning motivation in the context of distance education. The scientific problem considered in the article fits into the problems of research aimed at studying the effective teaching methods and technologies that contribute to forming the students’ motivation. To achieve the research goal, the inductive-deductive method is used, as well as the methods of situational analysis. The analysis of existing approaches to the motivation phenomenon allowed the authors to define its importance in teaching foreign languages and to determine the role of the game-based methods in learning motivation enhancement. The result of the study is a demonstration of applied game-based technologies and their positive impact on learning motivation during distance education.

Effects of Criminogenic Risk–Needs Assessment Feedback During Prerelease Correctional Rehabilitation

This pre–post follow-up randomized trial investigated the receptiveness and responsiveness of 82 incarcerated men undergoing reentry to feedback (discussion-based, form-based, or none–minimal) regarding their criminogenic risk–needs assessment results. Both short-term outcomes (self-perceived risk–needs, motivation for change, treatment readiness, and feedback satisfaction) and longer-term outcomes (intuitional conduct, rearrest, or halfway house return) were examined. As hypothesized, among study completers ( n = 67), motivation for change was significantly higher following discussion feedback, and both feedback formats were rated favorably by participants. Contrary to hypotheses, feedback recipients, including those who showed gains at post, did not appear reliably distinct from others on longer-term outcomes; nor were most outcomes significantly associated with baseline risk scores. Feedback about risk and needs may be useful in correctional treatment for motivation enhancement and treatment orienting, but special attention to measurement, contextual, and intensity factors is warranted.