To increase the number or results on your topic you can use:
Use the asterisk * as a suffix to find all the variations of a word.
The search self-regulat* finds:
self-regulation, self-regulated, self-regulatory, self-regulated, etc.
Use the word OR to search for various synonyms for your topic.
You can combine both the asterisk and OR to increase your results even more.
The search above looks for all the forms of the word math (mathematics, mathematical), as well as algebra and algebraic, and also geometry and geometric.
The EBSCO databases such as ERIC, Education Full Text, and PsycINFO, can be searched in combination to increase your number of results. To do this first open a single database such as ERIC and then click on the "Choose Databases" option at the top of the search page.
Then check the box in front of every database you want to search simultaneously ... and then click on OK.
Alternatively you might try searching larger databases such as Google Scholar or OneSearch.
Warning - though these databases are both huge - they are much harder to focus.
Three options for focusing your search include:
Once you discover a subject heading - either by inspecting your initial search results or by using the ERIC Thesaurus - you may also wish to limit by Subject (SU Subject).
Subject headings are listed under each search result.
Consider returning to your search, setting the search to SU Subject, and using the subject heading you've found.
Alternatively, you can hunt for subject headings by clicking on the Thesaurus option at the top of the page.
Then typing in a topic in the Browsing: ERIC -- Thesaurus search box (and perhaps setting the search to Term Contains).
You can then use one of the options as an SU Subject search or click on one of the options, such as Student Motivation, to discover yet more possible subject headings.
If you need to find empirical research - articles that report an actual experiment or study - try the following technique in the ERIC (EBSCO) database:
