Research on Sociocultural Influences on Motivation and Learning - 1st Volume


Book Description

The aim of this book series is to provide a much needed outlet for the wealth of cross-cultural research that has not impacted upon mainstream education. This particular volume is divided into four parts: the motivation context; the learning context; the family context; and the curriculum context.




Sociocultural Theories of Learning and Motivation


Book Description

It is now nearly thirty years since sociocultural theories of learning created great excitement and debate amongst those concerned with learning in diverse contexts. Since that time significant advances have been made in sociocultural theory and research. Various sociocultural approaches to the understanding of learning (for example, sociocultural psychology, sociocultural discourse, cultural historical activity theory) have been developed and consolidated and new challenges are currently being addressed. In the motivational arena sociocultural approaches deriving from Vygotsky have only begun to emerge relatively recently. In this Volume we examine and evaluate the achievements of past sociocultural theory and research, and consider the future directions of sociocultural theory and research in the domains of learning and motivation.




Big Theories Revisited


Book Description

This text seeks to revisit major theories of motivation and learning in order to evaluate the relevance of each theory to our complex educational environments. The chapters are written by the renowned authors of theories, or authors who have critiqued theories.




Teaching and Learning


Book Description

Our highly interconnected global education environment provides unprecedented opportunities for teaching professionals and educational researchers to share best practice in teaching and learning across international borders and sociocultural frontiers. This volume presents a diverse range of innovative educational best practices from around the world – particularly those practices that directly strengthen and enhance student motivation and achievement in a broad range of sociocultural contexts. These practices include: enhancing teaching and learning environments, particularly in relation to provision of high quality infrastructure for 21st Century (digital) learning; designing and managing after-school homework support; recruiting, developing and retaining high-quality teaching staff; promoting international and multicultural awareness through deliberate exposure to varied cultural experiences and perspectives; optimizing the benefit of project work for student academic and social outcomes; designing educational interventions based on self-concept research; and developing an international service learning course for tertiary students. The editors of the present volume have gathered over thirty renowned educators and researchers from Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States, to share their experiences in developing best practices in teaching and learning in socioculturally and educationally diverse contexts. These practices, guided and underpinned by cutting edge educational/psychological theories and research, are believed to be adaptable to many diverse educational and sociocultural contexts. The editors invite researchers, professionals, educators, teachers, lecturers, policy-makers, and curriculum developers to think, reflect, and take action on how to utilize the underlying principles of the best practices in the present Volume to their own settings.




Student Motivation


Book Description

This book presents the latest developments in the major theories of student motivation as well as up-to-date research on the contextual and cultural variables that influence learning motivation in educational settings. An international roster of experts provides ample illustration of the complexities that are revealed when the study of cultural and contextual interactions is combined with motivational and cognitive variables.




How People Learn II


Book Description

There are many reasons to be curious about the way people learn, and the past several decades have seen an explosion of research that has important implications for individual learning, schooling, workforce training, and policy. In 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition was published and its influence has been wide and deep. The report summarized insights on the nature of learning in school-aged children; described principles for the design of effective learning environments; and provided examples of how that could be implemented in the classroom. Since then, researchers have continued to investigate the nature of learning and have generated new findings related to the neurological processes involved in learning, individual and cultural variability related to learning, and educational technologies. In addition to expanding scientific understanding of the mechanisms of learning and how the brain adapts throughout the lifespan, there have been important discoveries about influences on learning, particularly sociocultural factors and the structure of learning environments. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures provides a much-needed update incorporating insights gained from this research over the past decade. The book expands on the foundation laid out in the 2000 report and takes an in-depth look at the constellation of influences that affect individual learning. How People Learn II will become an indispensable resource to understand learning throughout the lifespan for educators of students and adults.




Research on Sociocultural Influences on Motivation and Learning - 2nd Volume


Book Description

This volume covers topics including: translation issues in cross-cultural research; African American teachers for African American students; the social mediation of metacognition; and cross-cultural similarities and differences in affective meaning of achievement.




Promoting Motivation and Learning in Contexts


Book Description

The body of literature has pointed to the benefits of educational interventions in facilitating improvement in school motivation and, by implication, learning and achievement. However, it is now recognized that most extant motivation and learning enhancing intervention programs are grounded in Western motivational and learning perspectives, such as attribution, expectancy-value, implicit theories of intelligence, self-determination, and self-regulated learning theories. Further, empirical evidence for the positive impacts of these interventions seems to have primarily emerged from North American settings. The cross-cultural transferability and translatability of such educational interventions, however, are often assumed rather than critically assessed and adapted before their implementation in other cultures. In this volume, the editors invited scholars to re-assess their intervention work from a sociocultural lens. Regardless of the different theoretical perspectives and strategies they adopt in their interventions, these scholars are in unison on the importance of taking into account sociodemographic backgrounds of the students and sociocultural contexts of the interventions to optimize the benefits of such interventions. Indeed, placing culture at the heart of designing, implementing, and evaluating educational interventions could be a key not only to strengthen the effectiveness and efficacy of educational interventions, but also to ensure that students of a wider and more diverse range of educational and cultural backgrounds reap the benefits from such interventions. This volume constitutes the foundation towards a deeper and more systematic understanding of culturally relevant and responsive educational interventions.




Handbook of Social Influences in School Contexts


Book Description

The Handbook of Social Influences in School Contexts draws from a growing body of research on how and why various aspects of social relationships and contexts contribute to children’s social and academic functioning within school settings. Comprised of the latest studies in developmental and educational psychology, this comprehensive volume is perfect for researchers and students of Educational Psychology. Beginning with the theoretical perspectives that guide research on social influences, this book presents foundational research before moving on to chapters on peer influence and teacher influence. Next, the book addresses ways in which the school context can influence school-related outcomes (including peer and teacher-student relationships) with specific attention to research in motivation and cognition. Within the chapters authors not only present current research but also explore best-practices, drawing in examples from the classroom. With chapters from leading experts in the field, The Handbook of Social Influences in School Contexts provides the first complete resource on this topic.




Behavioral Neuroscience of Motivation


Book Description

This volume covers the current status of research in the neurobiology of motivated behaviors in humans and other animals in healthy condition. This includes consideration of the psychological processes that drive motivated behavior and the anatomical, electrophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms which drive these processes and regulate behavioural output. The volume also includes chapters on pathological disturbances in motivation including apathy, or motivational deficit as well as addictions, the pathological misdirection of motivated behavior. As with the chapters on healthy motivational processes, the chapters on disease provide a comprehensive up to date review of the neurobiological abnormalities that underlie motivation, as determined by studies of patient populations as well as animal models of disease. The book closes with a section on recent developments in treatments for motivational disorders.