Addressing preservice teachers' conceptions of motivation

Preservice teachers' prior knowledge about teaching and learning may differ substantially from the theories and ideas presented in their education courses. In the present study, a refutational (conceptual change) text on motivation was used in an effort to address preservice teachers' conceptions of motivation. Results indicated that preservice teachers who read the refutational text performed significantly better on a posttest and demonstrated more of a change in their knowledge. Further results indicated that in the absence of this text, self-regulated learning strategies enabled preservice teachers to undergo a change in their knowledge from the pretest to the posttest. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.