Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

The effects of a constructivist-oriented curriculum on the beliefs and motivations of students and parents toward being successful in mathematics were examined. Specifically, the question of the influence of constructivist activity on individual beliefs in and motivations toward task-orientation rather than ego- or work-avoidance-orientation was analyzed with respect to student attitudes and the attitudes of the students' parents. Results indicated that project students were significantly more likely to orient themselves toward the task and internal schemes of reward rather than external motivators. The parents of project students, on the other hand, demonstrated an orientation in beliefs toward ego orientation and work avoidance, even when these parents participated in activities to inform them of constructivist ideology and focus. These results are interpreted with regard to the literature on the larger social and cultural forces which shape efforts at curriculum reform, and to the potential effects of the indicated beliefs on reform efforts, specifically the propensity of parents to exert pressure to control the nature and direction of reform efforts in general. Contains 53 references. (Author/NB)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert