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Prior research has consistently shown that motivation is a catalyst for students' writing performance, with important implications for writing instruction. However, this body of research has mainly relied on a variable-centered approach that does not acknowledge the similarities and differences between and within groups of students. In the current study, we sought to address this research gap by examining the association between different motivational profiles and writing performance using a person-centered approach. Accordingly, we aimed to: (1) identify different motivational profiles in writing, based on students' implicit theories and achievement goals; and (2) examine whether students in different profiles varied in writing performance. To this end, we sampled 212 Portuguese sixth-grade students (M = 11.11 years, SD = 0.56) and collected motivational and writing performance measures at a single time point. Cluster analyses revealed two distinct writing motivation profiles: one profile reflected students with a growth mindset who were less oriented toward performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals, and another profile represented students with a fixed mindset who were more oriented toward performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. Subsequent analyses indicated that one profile could be considered as more adaptive than the other. Specifically, students in the growth mindset and less performance-oriented profile wrote opinion texts with better quality and earned higher writing grades than students in the fixed mindset and more performance-oriented profile. Overall, these findings suggest that teachers should add motivation-enhancing practices to writing instruction and tailor their teaching practices according to students' unique motivational profiles.

Background: Writing is a particularly demanding activity, which poses unique motivational challenges for students. Despite the wealth of research on the relation between writing motivation and writing performance, little is known about the role of students' writing frequency in writing motivation and writing performance. Aims: We aimed to: (1) examine structural relations among two motivational variables (i.e., self-efficacy and attitudes), a behavioural variable (i.e., writing frequency), and writing performance; and (2) inspect whether these relations varied across two text genres (i.e., narrative and opinion texts) and across two educational levels (i.e., students in grades 5-6 and grades 7-8). Sample: Six hundred and five students from grades 5-8 participated in this study. Methods: Students completed self-report scales and wrote narrative and opinion texts. We conducted multiple-group structural equation modeling to analyse the data. Results: Regarding narrative texts, digital writing frequency was significantly associated with text quality for students in grades 7-8, but this relation was not significant in students from grades 5-6. Both attitudes and self-efficacy for self-regulation made a direct contribution to narrative text quality across educational levels. In addition, attitudes were associated with both literary and digital writing frequency across educational levels. Concerning opinion texts, no significant differences emerged in terms of educational level. Attitudes contributed to both literary and digital writing frequency as well as to opinion text quality across educational levels. Conclusions: This study underlines the fundamental contribution of motivational variables to students' writing performance. Accordingly, teachers need to adopt motivation-enhancing practices in writing instruction across grade levels.

Motivation is a catalyst of writing performance in school. In this article, we report a systematic review of empirical studies on writing motivation conducted in school settings, published between 2000 and 2018 in peer-reviewed journals. We aimed to (1) examine how motivational constructs have been defined in writing research; (2) analyze group differences in writing motivation; (3) unveil effects of motivation on writing performance; (4) gather evidence on teaching practices supporting writing motivation; and (5) examine the impact of digital tools on writing motivation. Through database and hand searches, we located 82 articles that met eligibility criteria. Articles were written in English, focused on students in grades 1-12, and included at least one quantitative or qualitative measure of writing motivation. Across the 82 studies, 24 motivation-related constructs were identified. In 46% of the cases, these constructs were unclearly defined or not defined. Studies showed that overall girls were more motivated to write than boys. Most studies indicated moderate positive associations between motivation and writing performance measures. Authors also examined how students' writing motivation was influenced by teaching practices, such as handwriting instruction, self-regulated strategy development instruction, and collaborative writing. Digital tools were found to have a positive effect on motivation. Based on this review, we suggest that to move the field forward, researchers need to accurately define motivational constructs; give further attention to understudied motivational constructs; examine both individual and contextual factors; conduct longitudinal studies; identify evidence-based practices that could inform professional development programs for teachers; and test long-term effects of digital tools.

Heavy crude oil processing presents significant challenges owing to its complex composition and requirement for processing conditions, which increase the process safety risk in crude processing units, such as fixed equipment, for instance pressure vessels and pipes. The aim of this work is to evaluate the influence of heavy crude oils named A and B and the effect of sulfur-rich compounds and organic acids on the performance at high temperatures of three metallic alloys (5Cr-1/2Mo/ASTM A335GP5, X6CrNiMoTi17122/AISI-SAE 316Ti and Ni66.5Cu31.5/Monel 400) and propose an alternative to be used in pressure vessels and piping in refineries. This work was based on the need to understand the corrosivity of two heavy crude oils (A and B) from eastern Colombia in three materials, evaluated at three temperatures (200 °C, 250 °C and 300 °C) under the same conditions of pressure (200 psi) and rotation velocity (600 rpm) in a dynamic autoclave to simulate atmospheric conditions and conditions in vacuum refinery towers. An understanding of how these factors interact with the fundamental principles of corrosion kinetics is essential for developing an effective corrosion mitigation strategy. The results were interesting for applications requiring high corrosion resistance. X6CrNiMoTi17122/AISI-SAE 316Ti is a solid candidate for this application, with corrosion rates of 0.2 to 0.87 mpy. Ni66.5Cu31.5/Monel 400 exhibited significant corrosion rates up to 74.89 mpy, especially at higher temperatures (300 °C). 5Cr-1/2Mo/ASTM A335GP5 showed a generally moderate corrosion rate (2.04–5.57 mpy) in the evaluated temperature range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pilbara bioregion (Western Australia) has become a hotspot for subterranean fauna as a consequence of many surveys conducted to comply with Western Australian environmental regulation requirements. In this bioregion, mining developments can have major implications for subterranean fauna and their conservation. However the diversity and species distributions of most taxa are still poorly known, including the crustacean family Parabathynellidae. Recent studies on a widespread genus of this family (Atopobathynella) from the Pilbara highlighted several undescribed taxa with interesting patterns of distribution. In the Gudai Darri locality, the northern flank of the Hamersley Range occurs as a stepped escarpment intersected by dykes and gullies, with groundwater occurring within fractured rocks abutting the Fortescue River valley, where a separate regional aquifer occurs. This investigation aimed to observe whether stygofauna species distributions (1) reflected the separation between the two major aquifers within the Hamersley Range and the Fortescue Valley; and (2) were influenced by the presence of dykes. We examined the Atopobathynella species occurring in the study area using morphological and molecular data. The results reflected the hydrogeological complexity of the study area with six new lineages of Atopobathynella , recorded mainly in different gullies, that do not share a most recent common ancestor. Two species are described here A. pagetae sp. nov. and A. lythei sp. nov., and four additional species are delineated through preliminary morphological analyses and molecular data. This study will improve future environmental impact assessments and the understanding of Parabathynellidae taxa distribution in hydrogeological complex areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]