Improving Academic Achievement

What motivates us to direct our behaviors toward certain goals? To what extent can rewards and/or punishments induce us toward and away from specific actions? This title provides a summary overview of research in this area as well as a forward look into the future of research.

Contributors. A.J. Elliott, Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgements. Part One: Introductory Chapter: F. Pajares and D.H. Schunk, Self and Self-Belief in Psychology and Education: A Historical Perspective. Part Two: Revisiting and Extending Classic Lessons: R. Rosenthal, The Pygmalion Effect and its Mediating Mechanisms. C.S. Dweck, Messages That Motivate: How Praise Molds Students' Beliefs, Motivation, and Perfrmance (In Surprising Ways). E.L. Deci and R.M. Ryan, The Paradox of Achievement: The Harder you Push, the Worse it Gets. T.D. Wilson, M. Damiani, and N. Shelton, Improving the Academic Performance of College Students with Brief Attributional Interventions. F. Rhodewalt and M.W. Tragakis, Self-Handicapping and School: On Academic Self-Concept and Self-Protective Behavior. M.R. Lepper and M. Woolverton, The Wisdom of Practice: Lessons Learned from the Study of Highly Effective Tutors. A. Wigfield and J.S. Eccles, Students' Motivation During the Middle School years. P.J. Gaskill and A.W. Hoy, Self-Efficacy and Self-Regulated Learning: The Dynamic Duo in School Performance. E. Aronson, Building Empathy, Compassion and Achievement in the Jigsaw Classroom. R.J. Sternberg, Intelligence is not Just Inside the Head: The Theory of Successful Intelligence. Part Three: Current Lessons: D.A. Pizarro and P. Salovey, Being and Becoming a Good Person: The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Moral Development and Behavior. F.H. Rauscher, Mozart and the Mind: Factual and Fictional Effects of Musical Enrichment. J. Aronson, Stereotype Threat: Contending and Coping with Unnerving Expectations. G.L. Cohen and C.M. Steele, A Barrier of Mistrust: How Negative Stereotypes Affect Cross-Race Mentoring. A.R. Pratkanis, M.E. Turner, and S.B. Malos, Towards a Resolution of an American Tension: Some Applications of the Helping Model of Affirmative Action in Schooling. A.W. Harrist and K.D. Bradley, Social Exclusion in the Classroom: Teachers and Students as Agents of Change. Index.