Abstracts - Earli

four research-based principles of motivation and developed strategies to implement them inclassroom instruction. They included fostering students’ competence, autonomy, belongingnessand interest in mathematics. A sociocultural perspective, which assumes that individuals developand change through participation with others in social and cultural activities, informed dataanalysis. Data included transcripts from 9 teacher meetings and at least 2 interviews with eachteacher conducted while viewing videotapes of their classroom instruction. Transcripts andinterviews were coded inductively to describe changes in teacher beliefs and practices related tomotivation and learning. Three patterns emerged. One group of teachers changed both beliefs andpractices. They could articulate theoretically consistent views of how motivation principles relatedto student learning and motivation. A second group of teachers made successful changes inpractice, and noted changes in student behaviors (e.g., more participation), but did not articulatehow and why principles and practices supported such behaviors. A third group of teachers did notchange beliefs or practices. Several strongly held beliefs may have prevented change. Teachersvoiced strong convictions that students needed a structured and predictable environment,interpreted as teacher-centered transmission-style instruction. They did not take the "student view"as teachers in other patterns did. In addition, these teachers saw motivation and achievement asstable, thus negating the impact that changing practices might have on student motivation andlearning. These findings will be discussed in relation to research on teacher views of motivation,on teacher conceptual change, and on how motivation theory and research can understand andinterpret the dynamic nature of development and change.J 1530 August 2007 17:00 - 18:20Room: 7.59Paper SessionAcademic learningChair:Sari Lindblom-Ylänne, University of Helsinki, FinlandDeveloping potentials for learning in higher education: Working as a graduate research assistantMichelle K. McGinn, Brock University, CanadaMary Lovering-White, Brock University, CanadaEwelina Niemczyk, Brock University, CanadaJulie Dixon, Brock University, CanadaPostgraduate students who work as research assistants are expected to learn about research andabout academic life. However, very little is known about the day-to-day workings of researchassistantships because few scholars have investigated the learning opportunities available forresearch assistants. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interactions between a professorand a postgraduate student during a research assistantship. The postgraduate student was activelyinvolved in all data collection, analysis, and presentation activities related to an interview-basedstudy of research education in social science disciplines. This paper draws from audiotapes ofweekly research meetings, fieldnotes and research journals written by the professor and researchassistant, and draft documents created throughout the research assistantship. Consistent with theconference theme, this paper focuses upon learning potentials within the research assistantship.– 562 –