motivation

The present study was based on research findings designed to identify the characteristics of an independent learner in a distance education system and to develop a standardized test to measure the characteristics and skills of an independent learner in a distance education system with e- learning. Based on the theoretical foundations of the research and the background of previous studies, while identifying the characteristics of an independent learner, a tool was developed under the name of “Independent Learner’s Characteristics Test (ILCT) in the distance education system with e-learning”, and the reliability of the factors of each item in the tool was measured and standardized using the exploratory factor analysis method. The present study, also, discussed and scrutinized the development and standardization of ILCT. The present study is an applied research which uses both field and documentary methods. It was carried out with a mixed method with quantitative and qualitative strategies. In order to develop and standardize ILCT, the characteristics of motivation, intelligence, and emotional intelligence were selected and evaluated as necessary characteristics of a learner from among other characteristics using the Delphi method according to the views of experts and professionals of educational and cognitive psychology sciences. Data on each characteristic was collected using available standardized questionnaires2. The questionnaires were prepared electronically in the form of a “temporary website of the questionnaire” and the website URL was provided to the virtual students of the Payame Noor University. A total of 452 postgraduate e-students studying at Payame Noor University of Iran answered the questions. The results were analyzed using SPSS (21.0), STATISTICA (8.0) and LISREL (8.7) softwares using an appropriate statistical method. In the end, the final test based on extracted results and standardization of the items was introduced under the name of “Independent Learner’s Characteristics Test (ILCT) in the distance education system with e-learning” for use by learners, teachers, planning authorities, content producers, etc. in distance education systems

We used the affective profiles model to investigate individual differences in motivation, stress and energy. The aim was to replicate past findings, but we also focused on matched comparisons within individuals with affective profiles that are similar in one affective dimension and differ in the other in order to predict changes when individuals increase/decrease their experience of positive or negative affect. Methods: <span class="fontstyle2">A total of 567 participants answered the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule, which was used for affective profiling; the Situational Motivation Scale, which measures intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, external regulation, and amotivation; and the Stress-Energy questionnaire. Results: <span class="fontstyle2">Comparisons between the four different profiles, replicating the past findings, showed that individuals with high affective and self-fulfilling profile scored highest in intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, and energy, while they scored lowest in external motivation, amotivation, and the self-fulfilling profile, also lowest in stress. Additionally, the matched comparisons showed, for example, that levels of intrinsic motivation increase when negative affect levels decrease, and positive affect is kept high when positive affect decreases and negative affect is kept low. Conclusions: One important feature of the affective profiles model is the possibility to compare individuals that are similar in one affect dimension but differ in the other (Garcia, 2011, 2017). This way of discussing individual differences helps to predict what changes could be expected when individuals increase or decrease their experience of positive or negative affect. Importantly, the direction of these changes cannot be addressed from cross-sectional data

Objective: This study investigates the different motives and substance use risk profile in opium and methamphetamine use. Method: The statistical sample includes Seventy-eight individuals with substance use history referred to drop-in center (DIC) that completed research instruments including demographic information (researcher-made questionnaire), substance use motives (Hecimovic, Barrett, Darredeau, and Stewart, 2014), and substance use risk profile scale (Woicik et al., 2009). Multivariate analysis of variance utilized for data analysis based on SPSS-24. Results: The results of the MANOVA indicated that availability, relaxation, enjoying, and sexual motives are significantly higher in individuals using methamphetamine. Also, the results of the substance use risk profile represent that there are significant differences in anxiety sensitivity, sensation-seeking, and impulsivity in opium and methamphetamine use. Conclusions: Findings indicate the important role of motives and substance use risk profile in the tendency to the different types of substances. These various motives and personality risk factors should be considered in educational settings and psychological treatment for different types of substance use, especially opiate or stimulating substances.

Aim of this paper is to search and find ways and methods of constructivism teaching and learning ideas in teaching the architectural design studio. The objective is to extract all the positive things constructivism has to offer the architectural design studio for efficient teaching and effective learning. Although there are similarities in the curricula of training architects all over the world, but educators go about it in their own convenient and suitable ways and styles. And this is leading to inadequacy in the standards of teaching the arch-design studios in the contemporary world. The topic has become very relevant and timely as arch-educators and other stakeholders are of the opinion that something has to be done to improve the ways and methods of training architects, especially the teaching of the arch-design studio. Through exploration of critical analytical review of literatures and interviews, this paper finds ways and methods of constructivism in teaching the arch-design studio. These ways and methods are critically explored through the research themes of collaboration, integration, adaptability and motivation. By teaching and learning with constructivism ideas in the arch-design studio the students would be grounded in designing with creativity ideas and therefore we can have professionals that design and build creatively, functionally, satisfactorily and safely. It means we can have real buildings and places that satisfy our clients, the society and in harmony with the environment.

Language education, among most other aspects of life, has been affected by the ever-advancing technology. To be most efficient, educators need to know the affordances technology brings to the teaching and learning process. Augmented Reality is a recent technology that can be accessed through the Internet and mobile phones and brings several advantages to the language classroom. This mixed-methods study aims to examine the effect of Augmented Reality on adult language learners’ attitudes and motivation. To this end, data were obtained through a questionnaire administered to 40 adult EFL learners in Iran of different ages and educational levels who participated in a pre-test post-test design, followed by a semi-structured interview. Results confirmed that adult learners, disregarding their age and educational background, benefit from AR in the sense that it enhances their attitudes and motivation towards learning the language. The themes revealed in the interviews clarified that this enhancement is because AR is exciting to learners since it gets them engaged in the learning process and attracts them through gamification. Results of the current study have implications for language specialists and teachers to design and incorporate AR-infused materials in teaching to increase learners’ motivation, and consequently, their learning.

The present article aimed at recognizing the barriers of E-leaning in front of Tabriz Payame Noor university students and providing a model. The statistical society was Tabriz Payame Noor university students during 2018-2019; among them, 384 students were selected in the random classified way through the Cochran formula. The researcher`s self-made questionnaire was used as the instrument of the study with content validity and 0.84 reliability was gained through Cronbach’s alpha technique. The data were analyzed through SPSS software; through exploratory factor analysis six indexes of 1. Lack of skills and continuous communication, 2. Lack of motivation, 3. Inaccessibility to the technology, 4. The inability of learning through media, 5. Lack of online group conversation, and 6. Lack of aligned issues with success in E-Learning as the barriers of E-learning for students. The model of E-learning barriers was designed too. The obtained results of the Friedman ranking test revealed that due to the lack of skills and continuous communications between students and professors of the university; this factor was the most important barrier in the process of university students’ E-learning.

For decades, task-based language teaching has become a commodity in ELT profession and has been the subject of many studies. Yet, there seems to be a paucity of research on the impact of TBLT on enhancing learners’ motivation in learning writing. In this regard, this article presents the results of student’s perceptions of the intervention of TBLT in teaching writing in two English classes for one academic term at one institution in Phnom Penh. The study examined the students’ perceptions regarding the impact of TBLT on their writing behaviors and motivation in learning writing before and after the intervention, as well as the constraints that they encountered during the implementation of TBLT. The results indicate positive-but-varying views regarding this intervention. Some challenges are also detected and suggestions are offered for future research in this area accordingly. The study has implications for EFL writing classrooms.

This study investigated Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ remotivational strategies drawing on an integrative framework encompassing Ecological Systems Theory (EST) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT). In this framework, the four EST layers consisting of microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem and the three related aspects of SDT, including autonomy, relatedness, and competence, were integrated to unravel teachers’ remotivational strategies. The participants included 32 Iranian EFL teachers teaching at six language institutes in Isfahan and Hamedan provinces in Iran. The data were collected via conducting semi-structured interviews. The results of a thematic analysis indicated that Iranian EFL teachers’ remotivational strategies were embedded in the four EST layers consisting of the immediate classroom setting, situations beyond the immediate setting, the linkages and processes taking place between the settings, and the manifestation of a particular subculture. Moreover, the results revealed that teachers’ remotivational strategies were also situated within the three SDT aspects, including autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Overall, the results of thematic analysis led to the emergence of various themes positioned in the four layers of EST, while such themes conceptually fit the three aspects of SDT. The results provide EFL teachers and teacher educators with awareness concerning how remotivational strategies are nested across multiple systems while simultaneously being informed by a certain motivation-specific theory.

Distance learning has gained more significance in recent years. The present study intended to investigate whether there was any statistically significant correlation between motivation and learning English through Shad and WhatsApp as perceived by Iranian high school language learners. Furthermore, the study aimed to find out whether the participants’ gender moderated the relationship between motivation and learning English through Shad and WhatsApp. To fulfill these aims, a correlational study was set up and data were collected from 169 male and female learners, some of whom were exposed to WhatsApp and the rest received Shad as their English language class platforms. Data elicited from the motivation questionnaire and English language test of the learners were analyzed through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Pearson correlation, and Fisher's z transformation formula to come up with the results of the study. The findings revealed that there was a moderate, positive, and statistically significant relationship between motivation and English learning of the WhatsApp-group learners. Moreover, it was found that there was a weak, positive, and statistically significant relationship between motivation and English learning of the Shad-group learners, and gender did not have a moderating role in the relationship between motivation and English earning of the learners, neither in the WhatsApp nor in the Shad groups. The implications of the study are presented and discussed.

The study intended to investigate the impact of task involvement loads on Iranian EFL learnersˈ collocation knowledge and their level of motivation. To achieve these goals, a sample of 78 intermediate learners were selected based on Solutions Placement Test. The participants were divided into three experimental groups of 26 learners assigned to one of the experimental conditions, namely tasks with involvement load 3 (multiple-choice, MC), and involvement load 2 (Fill-in-the-blanks, FB), and 4 (sentence formation, SF). Before running pretest to the groups, their familiarity with the targeted collocations were tested. Over the treatment course, learners in MC were provided with the collocations requiring them to recognize the right collocations in the multiple-choice format tests. The learners in FB group were provided with the same collocations but were required to complete sentences with appropriate collocations given at the end of the text. Finally, the learners in SF group were asked to make their own sentences using the given collocations. At the end, a learning motivation questionnaire was administered to the learners to determine the possible association(s) of task involvement loads with the learners’ learning motivation. The results of a one-way ANOVA indicated the three groups showed different results on the posttests. However, the SF difference with MC and FB was the highest indicating the highest impact of SF on the learners’ L2 collocations. The results of a multiple regression analysis also indicated different associations between the involvement loads and learners’ motivation. The findings can have pedagogical and theoretical implications for EFL teachers, learners, and researchers.

In the framework of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, we have studied the possible impact of emphasis on multidimensional intelligence on developing learner autonomy and we asked ourselves if a syllabus designed based on the learners' multiple intelligences help develop learner autonomy more effectively. Autonomy is considered to be a key factor in the promotion of the process of learning a foreign language, through enhancing learner motivation and self-confidence. Nevertheless, it is not always the focus of teaching. We believed it possible to help develop learner autonomy more efficiently, by emphasizing on individual intelligence profiles. Thus, we aim to establish, if and how effectively, an Iranian learner’s autonomy is influenced, when reached out to, through his multiple intelligences. In this research, a descriptive and synthetic approach will be applied. After presenting the main theoretical guidelines on which our research is based, we will share results of a field study conducted in this respect, on 30 adult Iranian learners of French as a foreign language (FFL) of the lower intermediate level (B1 of the CEFRL) and analyze the data quantitatively and qualitatively.

The paper deals with the topic of visually based L2 acquisition in higher education and evaluates the impact of the use of visual images based on Kolb´s theory of experiential learning. It evaluates its impact on the students´ risk-taking, motivation and anxiety. The research was conducted at the English Department of the University of Diyala, Iraq. The total number of participants was forty (n = 40) and they all were first-year students at English Department. The research was conducted by using guided interviews through the Google Meet platform. The main idea of the research was to evaluate how much will experiential learning, via the reading pictures technique, influence college students’ risk-taking, motivation, and anxiety. The research results show that students’ motivation and risk-taking were affected positively by using pictures. It further shows that the classroom anxiety of the students was less affected than the other two variables

The present paper synthesizes the germane studies on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ motivation and foreign language anxiety (FLA) and their role in working memory. Earlier investigations have proved that learner motivation accelerates the learning process in working memory. Literature shows that learners prioritize some typical information based on their learning motivation. Nonetheless, specific strategies can be employed in order to augment learner motivation, which per se speeds up cognitive processing. Furthermore, earlier studies indicate a negative relationship between learners’ FLA and working memory. Learners’ FLA limits the attentional control system, which negatively affects learners’ working memory. Furthermore, the study offered some implications and future directions for the individuals like EFL teachers, teacher educators, and foreign language scholars. The postulations can improve their awareness of learner motivation and FLA and their role in working memory.

The present study was conducted with the aim of designing a model of barriers to the advancement of sports justice in  schools of deprived areas with a mixed method. The present study was a sequential exploratory research and a survey one. The research population in the qualitative section included sports teachers in deprived areas that were purposefully selected for qualitative interviews (interviews with 15 participants until reaching the theoretical saturation). The research population of the quantitative section consisted of 181 sports teachers . The data collection tool in the present study was a semi-structured interview and a researcher-developed questionnaire. In order to analyze the research data, coding in the qualitative part and structural equation method in the quantitative part were conducted. In the qualitative part, 25 concept codes and 5 main categories were extracted. In the quantitative part, all 5 main extracted categories (economic, manpower, management, infrastructure, motivation) had a proper fitness.

In recent years, some language teachers have made investments in approaches and models such as mobile assisted flipped language learning. Some studies in Iran have examined flipped learning impact on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ language skills as well as language systems. However, no researches have been conducted on the impact mobile assisted flipped learning might have on improvement of intermediate EFL learners’ cohesive devices and their motivation to learn cohesion which is the focus of the current study. To this end, 40 female intermediate EFL learners in an English language institute in Kerman, Iran were recruited. Employing a quasi-experimental design, subjects were assigned to two classes of experimental (EG- N = 20) and control (CG-N = 20). Oxford Placement Test, researcher-made writing achievement tests, and Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) were utilized to collect the required data. The findings indicate that participants in mobile assisted flipped language learning group outperformed those in the control group. Moreover, the results of a chi-square test showed a significant relationship between mobile assisted flipped language learning and intermediate EFL learners’ motivation to learn cohesive devices. The findings might help stakeholders design, introduce, and address mobile assisted flipped language learning to their context-specific needs, thereby facilitating the language learning process.

Justice as a basic necessity of social life, plays a critical role in administration of sport teams and sport organization. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between Perceived Organizational Justice in Collegiate Sport Teams and Sport Achievement Motivation. In this descriptive –correlative study, 102 student athletes (56 males, 46 females) who were selected as statistical sample from Northern Khorasan and Razavi Khorasan provinces responded to Organizational Justice Questionnaire developed by Niehoff & Moorman (1993) and sport achievement motivation Questionnaire developed by Gill et al. (1983). Conducting correlation coefficient for data analysis revealed that perceived organization justice and its subscales significantly correlated to sport achievement motivation in collegiate sport teams. Moreover, the results of the stepwise regression revealed that, among perceived organization justice subscales, interactional justice was the strongest predictor of sport achievement motivation.

In recent years, the enrollment of English as a foreign language (EFL) has increased significantly in higher education. The aim of this study is investigating the impact of a group learning program which is implemented as online on learning motivation of English among Iranian university students. Forty four undergraduate university students (25 males and 19 females) with the age range of 18 to 30 participated in this study. The Dornyei theoretical framework (2005; 2009) was used to measure the three aspects of motivation (ideal L2 self, ought-to L2self, and L2 learning experience). A pre- and posttest survey and a semi-instructured interview were used as the main instruments. For identifying the differences of the scores of three aspects of motivation, a paired sample T-test was used. The findings showed that there was a significant difference in L2 learning experience prior to and after the program administration and no significant difference were observed regarding the two other aspects. The findings also showed the most motivating feature was interesting learning recourses and tools and the most demotivating feature was technology barriers. Moreover, the findings of the interviews showed that most of the students had positive experience of this project. With the increasing role of English in Iran in all aspects of teaching and learning as an international language, it is crucial for teachers and program developers to care about the motivational drives of learners due to the positive feedback of some programs as the project under the study.

Drawing on qualitative research, this study explored, from a complex dynamic systems theory perspective, the motivation of Burundi junior high school students simultaneously learning L2 French, L3s English and Kiswahili. It aimed to fill the gap in research on (1) changes in motivational dynamics and factors responsible for any fluctuations in the levels of motivation over time and (2) complex interactions between different learner variables among multiple language learners. Twelve school pupils who were all Kirundi native speakers participated in this study. Retrospective interviews were used to collect data relating to the students’ multilingual learning experiences over the period of their formal education. The findings indicated that the intensity of learning each target language fluctuated over time, with English generally enjoying the highest increase and Kiswahili the lowest and that different factors were responsible for such dynamic changes. Besides, complex interactions between the students’ L1, L2, and L3s linguistic knowledge and their foreign language learning motivations were revealed. These results indeed highlight the complex and dynamic nature of motivation in learning multiple languages. In light of these findings, practical implications are discussed based on the Burundi educational context.

Although some factors affecting children’s participation in physical activity and sports are well known, the important social factors that influence children’s participation in physical activity and sports have not been properly identified. In this study, we aimed to design a model of social factors influencing children’s participation in physical activity and sports. The method used in the present research is descriptive-correlation based on the structural equation method. The statistical sample of the study consisted of 384 students who were selected through convenience sampling method. Social factors such as parental socioeconomic status, social support, social competence, and social acceptance were measured using standard questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze data. The results of the path analysis showed that parental socioeconomic status, social support, social competence and social acceptance had significant effects on motivation (all T>1.96). Moreover, motivation had significant effect on intention to physical activity (T=3.628). Finally, intention to physical activity had significant effect on physical activity (T=5.189). These results show that social factors can be considered in the process of children’s participation in physical activity and sports. In this regard, the role of parents, physical education teachers and friends is very important.

Purpose: The purpose of the present research is to present a brain-based curriculum model focusing on interaction and motivation in the secondary school. Methodology: In order to achieve this goal, qualitative approach, field method and semi-structured in-depth interview techniques were used. The study population included prominent curriculum planning experts, researchers and faculty members and 15 people were interviewed based on the data saturation. The data collection tools included texts and semi-structured interviews, and the method of data analysis also included inductive thematic analysis (Attride-Stirling thematic networks). Findings: The results of the research showed that the curriculum design components included four dimensions: goals, content, teaching methods, and assessment methods, which affect students' interaction and motivation. Goals included indices of changing mental images, real learning environment, flexibility of brain-based curriculum, information storage during learning. Content included indices of development of brain ability, mechanism of brain function, cognitive learning, content understanding, triggering body and brain activity, teaching methods including practical learning, learning in the environment, cooperation in class activity, different learning style, getting students to take responsibility for learning, effectiveness of education, purposeful and conscious teaching, continuous information processing. Assessment method included self- assessment, understand the content easily, flexible learning, encouraging activities. The interaction included indices of sharing new experiences in learning; improving the brain ability; and discussing different topics. Stimulation of learning and motivation included the indices cognitive function of the brain, challenging and enjoyable learning. Conclusion: The results showed that the brain-based curriculum emphasizes on goals, content, teaching and assessment methods, which is designed with an emphasis on interaction and motivation.