The role of pre-service teachers’ perceived instrumentality,goal commitment,and motivation in their self-regulation strategies for learning in teacher education courses

This study investigated the influence of pre-service teachers’ (n = 142) perceived endogenous/exogenous instrumentality, goal commitment, and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation on their use of self-regulation strategies (effort regulation, management of time and study environment) for their teacher-education courses. Data were drawn from a customised survey and were statistically analysed using hierarchical multiple regressions. Results demonstrated that pre-service teachers’ endogenous instrumentality was a significant contributor for explaining their use of self-regulation strategies. To facilitate pre-service teachers’ use of self-regulation strategies for learning, our findings suggest that, in addition to having intrinsic motivation for learning in their teacher-education courses, they need to have appropriate understandings of how their current course content connects to their future goals to be teachers in order to promote their use of strategies for self-regulation and learning.     

Effects of a Value-Reappraisal Intervention on Statistics Students’ Motivation and Performance

The authors investigated the effects of an exploratory value-reappraisal intervention on students’ motivation and performance in an undergraduate introductory statistics course. They sampled 82 students from 2 instructors’ sections during both the fall and spring semesters. Students were randomly assigned within each section to either the Value-Reappraisal (VR) or Control condition (C). VR presented messages about the importance of statistics and guided students in exploring potential values of learning statistics. Results showed positive effects of VR on task value, endogenous instrumentality, and a choice-behavior measure of interest. The authors found VR to affect exam performance, but only for students who had a particular instructor. This research helps broaden literature on self-regulation and expectancy-value models of motivation by focusing on the regulation of value perceptions.     

Perceiving school performance as instrumental to future goal attainment: Effects on graded performance

Three studies examined the perception among college students that school performance is instrumental to future goal attainment. Study 1, an exploratory study involving free report goal assessments, indicated that perceived instrumentality (PI) is a subjectively salient aspect of college students’ achievement motivation. Study 2 provided evidence for the structural distinctiveness of PI from self-efficacy, task value, and the achievement goals, and also demonstrated that PI prospectively predicts unique variance in graded performance beyond that accounted for by these motivational variables. Study 3 demonstrated that PI prospectively predicts unique variance in graded performance independently of future time orientation. We argue that a comprehensive understanding of the purposes underlying classroom achievement behavior requires consideration of how school performance may be perceived as instrumental to the attainment of valued life goals.     

Examining Hong Kong students’ achievement goals and their relations with students’ perceived classroom environment and strategy use

This study examined Hong Kong students’ achievement goals and their relations with students’ perceived classroom environment and strategy use based on the multiple goal perspective of goal orientation theory. A total of 925 Grade 8 students from six secondary schools in Hong Kong voluntarily responded to a questionnaire that measured these three sets of variables. Consistent with previous studies using goal orientation theory, the findings of this study indicated that students’ perceived classroom environment was significantly related to their personal achievement goals and strategy use. While mastery goals were found to be the strongest predictor of strategy use, performance‐approach goals and perceived instrumentality also had positive relations with mastery goals and strategy use. Our findings suggest that mastery goals and performance goals were not contrasting goals as conceptualised in normative goal orientation theory. Students with high motivation for both types of goal were more adaptive in learning than were students who pursued a single type of goal. Moreover, the value of adding perceived instrumentality when studying students’ motivation should be emphasised. The implications of these findings for understanding Hong Kong students’ motivation, and for planning effective teaching instruction to enhance their motivation, are discussed.     

Motivational beliefs as mediators in the association between perceived scholastic competence,self-esteem and learning strategies among Greek secondary school students

The present study investigated the links between self-motivational beliefs, perceived scholastic competence, self-esteem and learning strategies among 134 Greek junior high school students in the subject of Greek language, through self-report. A model was tested with motivational constructs as mediators between perceived scholastic competence and self-esteem on the one side and participants’ learning strategies in language on the other. Mediation analyses results showed that perceived scholastic competence predicted all learning strategies both directly and indirectly through intrinsic goal orientation and task value. Self-esteem was not found to predict learning strategies directly, but only indirectly through intrinsic goal motivation. The findings are discussed in terms of their educational implications.     

Relations among Epistemological Beliefs,Academic Achievement,and Task Performance in Secondary School Students

Students with differing profiles of epistemological beliefs—their beliefs about personal epistemology, intelligence, and learning—vary in thinking, reasoning, motivation, and use of strategies while working on academic tasks, each of which affect learning. This study examined students’ epistemological beliefs according to gender, school orientation, overall academic achievement, and performance on two differently structured academic tasks. Epistemological beliefs in fixed and quick ability to learn, simple knowledge, and certain knowledge differed significantly as a function of gender, school orientation, and levels of academic achievement. These beliefs, particularly the belief in simple knowledge, significantly predicted overall performance and reflective judgment scores on the ill‐structured task but not on the well‐structured task. Implications concerning the relations among epistemological beliefs, reflective judgment, gender, school orientation, task structure, and achievement are discussed.     

初中生座位安排与学习动机、课堂师生互动的关系

为探讨初中生座位安排与学习动机、课堂师生互动的关系,采用学习动机量表、课堂师生互动问卷和教室座位一般问卷,对300名初中生进行调查。结果表明：处于优势区的初中生在学习动机、内部目标对象和任务价值得分上显著高于弱势区的初中生;座位调换周期大于一个月对初中生内部目标定向、任务价值和课堂师生互动有显著影响;座位调换周期大于一个月,座位区域与内部目标定向、任务价值和课堂师生互动存在显著相关,课堂师生互动与学习动机、能力把握信心和学习控制信念存在显著相关;课堂师生互动对学习动机回归效应显著,座位安排对学习动机与课堂师生互动的关系产生中介影响。     

Perceived autonomy support,intrinsic motivation,and student ratings of instruction

Motivation theory suggests that autonomy supportiveness in instruction often leads to many positive outcomes in the classroom, such as higher levels of intrinsic motivation and engagement. The purpose of this study was to determine whether perceived autonomy support and course-related intrinsic motivation in college classrooms positively predict student ratings of instruction. Data were collected from 47 undergraduate education courses and 914 students. Consistent with expectations, the results indicated that both intrinsic motivation and autonomy support were positively associated with multiple dimensions of student ratings of instruction. Results also showed that intrinsic motivation moderated the association between autonomy support and instructional ratings—the higher intrinsic motivation, the less predictive autonomy support, and the lower intrinsic motivation, the more predictive autonomy support. These results suggest that incorporating classroom activities that engender autonomy support may lead to improved student perceptions of classroom instruction and may also enhance both student motivation and learning.     

Volitional strategies and future time perspective: embracing the complexity of dynamic interactions

This study investigated the dynamic interaction, over time, between volitional strategy use and perceptions of endogenous instrumentality, two constructs associated with choice and executive motivation. The Academic Volitional Strategy Inventory and the Perceptions of Endogenous Instrumentality scale were administered at multiple points throughout the semester to 103 undergraduates in a human development course. Results showed the relationship between volitional strategy use and perception of endogenous instrumentality to grow over time, thereby supporting a dynamic interpretation.     

Motivation to Approach Success (Ts) and Motivation to Avoid Failure (TF) at School 1

Gjesme, T. 1983. Motivation to Approach Success (Ts) and Motivation to Avoid Failure (Tf) at School. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 27, 145‐164. The interaction effects of personality characteristics such as the pupils' achievement motives, level of ability, future time orientation (FTO), sex of S, and one situational determinant—the pupils' perceived intrinsic instrumentality of school activity (Pil)—were considered in relation to approach (Ts) and avoidance (Tf) motivation at school. The analyses of results, based on 524 pupils in the sixth grade in elementary school, showed that: the achievement motives were positively related to Ts and negatively related to Tf; girls had higher Tf than boys; FTO was negatively related to Tf, but not related to Ts; Pil was positively related to Ts, but not related to Tf. However, an ability‐by‐motives‐by‐sex of S effect on Ts indicated that success‐oriented high‐ability girls and moderate‐ability boys had the highest Ts at school. A number of other explainable interactions were also revealed.

     

Motivational Orientation, Error Monitoring, and Academic Performance in Middle Childhood: A Behavioral and Electrophysiological Investigation

ABSTRACT— Previous research suggests that academic motivation orientation relates to students' causal interpretations about academic outcomes and their emotional reactions to those outcomes. The current study examines how student motivation may relate to certain neurophysiological systems that are thought to underlie the processing of successes and failures. In the cognitive neuroscience literature, the error-related negativity (ERN) in the event-related potential has been associated with error processing and the degree of an individual's emotional investment in his or her performance. The current study examined the relation between academic motivational characteristics and ERN amplitude during a speeded reaction time task in 3rd- to 5th-grade students ( n = 17). Intrinsically oriented students displayed larger amplitude ERN responses and made more internally directed attributions about their task performance. The findings suggest that students with high intrinsic orientation attribute performance to personal control and that their error-monitoring system is more strongly engaged by performance errors.     

The effects of m-learning on motivation,achievement and well-being: A Self-Determination Theory approach

From the lens of Self-Determination Theory, this study investigated the effects of a mobile application tool for identifying species on biology students’ achievement and well-being. It was hypothesized that the mobile application, compared to a textbook, would enhance feelings of competence and autonomy and, in turn, intrinsic motivation, positive affect and achievement, because the mobile application’s built-in functions provide students with choice and volition, informational feedback, and optimal challenges. Fifty-eight second-year students were randomly assigned to use either the mobile application or a textbook for a learning task. Well-being was assessed before and after the learning task, and intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, perceived autonomy and achievement were assessed after the task. Results indicated that the mobile application, relative to the textbook, produced higher levels of students’ perceived competence, perceived autonomy and intrinsic motivation. Further, the mobile application had indirect effects on positive affect through autonomy, competence and intrinsic motivation, and on achievement through competence.     

Processes Involving Perceived Instructional Support,Task Value,and Engagement in Graduate Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations among perceived instructional support (provision of relevance and involvement), subjective task value beliefs (utility, attainment, and intrinsic value), and engagement (behavioral and emotional) over the course of a semester for graduate students enrolled in an introductory research methods course in a college of education (N = 217). Structural equation modeling (SEM) results suggested that each source of perceived support exerted unique influence on students' beliefs about utility value, intrinsic value, and attainment value of their research methods coursework. In turn, midsemester value beliefs predicted semester-end student reports of behavioral and cognitive engagement. Direct and indirect effects between perceived provisions of support and engagement were inconsistent. This study supports the notion that different patterns of predictors and outcomes may occur for different aspects of value beliefs and that multiple sources of instructional support are important for supporting student motivation for adult learners.     

Ethnic stigma, academic anxiety, and intrinsic motivation in middle childhood

Previous research addressing the dynamics of stigma and academics has focused on African American adolescents and adults. The present study examined stigma awareness, academic anxiety, and intrinsic motivation among 451 young (ages 6-11) and diverse (African American, Chinese, Dominican, Russian, and European American) students. Results indicated that ethnic-minority children reported higher stigma awareness than European American children. For all children, stigma awareness was associated with higher academic anxiety and lower intrinsic motivation. Despite these associations, ethnic-minority children reported higher levels of intrinsic motivation than their European American peers. A significant portion of the higher intrinsic motivation among Dominican students was associated with their higher levels of school belonging, suggesting that supportive school environments may be important sources of intrinsic motivation among some ethnic-minority children.     

Cognition in Context: Students’ Perceptions of Classroom Goal Structures and Reported Cognitive Strategy Use in the College Classroom

This study examined contextual and personal factors related to the use of cognitive strategies by undergraduates. Specifically, students’ goal orientations (intrinsic or extrinsic) and perceptions of the classroom environment (i.e., task or performance structured) were evaluated as predictors of student use of deep or surface level cognitive strategies. Results confirmed earlier work, which indicated intrinsic goal orientation was related to use of deep cognitive strategies and extrinsic goal orientation was related to use of rehearsal. There was no interaction between intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientations on use of either cognitive strategy. In addition, students’ perceptions of classroom environment were significantly correlated with students’ goal orientations. In particular, task structure of classrooms was significantly positively correlated with use of both types of cognitive strategies. Thus, student goal orientation, perception of classroom structure, and use of cognitive strategies appear interdependent, with intrinsic goal orientation moderating the effect of perceived classroom structure on the use of deep cognitive strategies. Results of this study suggest the need for university instructors to be more aware of the roles of both personal and contextual factors affecting student motivation and learning.     

Enhancing language learning through creation: the effect of digital storytelling on student learning motivation and performance in a school English course

This study explored how a free-space digital storytelling approach that advocates autonomy and creativity can be implemented in a formal elementary classroom and how it impacts students’ language learning motivation and performances. Participants of the study were 64 sixth grade students in Taiwan. Following an experimental design, the data collected from three data sources, including motivation surveys, achievement test scores, and digital stories, were analyzed and triangulated. Two performance indicators of the digital storytelling, levels of language usage and levels of creativity, were found to have significant but different impacts on language learning. While the students’ language usage performance in digital storytelling was significantly related to their achievement test scores, their creativity performance were significantly related to multiple motivation components, including extrinsic motivation, task value and elaboration. It was also found that the proposed digital storytelling approach had a positive impact on students’ language performance and contributed to an increase to students’ motivation in two dimensions: extrinsic goal orientation and elaboration, rather than intrinsic goal orientation. The results suggest that the positive impact of the proposed storytelling pedagogy resides in allowing students to stretch their creativity while demonstrating their language productivity, with the leverage of a holistic assessment scheme.     

Motivation and transfer in professional training: A meta-analysis of the moderating effects of knowledge type, instruction, and assessment conditions

This meta-analysis (148 studies, k = 197, N = 31,718) examined the relationship between motivation and transfer in professional training. For this purpose, motivation was conceptualized in the following nine dimensions: motivation to learn, motivation to transfer, pre- and post-training self-efficacy, mastery orientation, performance orientation, avoidance orientation, expectancy, and instrumentality. Population correlation estimates ranged between −0.11 and 0.52. Three moderator effects were estimated. First, correlations were higher when the training focused on declarative and self-regulatory, rather than on procedural, knowledge. Second, learner-centered environments tended to show greater numbers of positive correlations than did knowledge-centered environments. Third, when compared with external, supervisory, or peer assessment, self-assessment of transfer produced upwardly biased population estimates irrespective of the transfer criterion. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theories of training effectiveness and their significance for the practice of training evaluation.     

Homework self-regulation: Grade,gender, and achievement-level differences

The study examined differences in students' reported homework value, motivation, and metacognitive strategy use during homework completion among two grades, gender, and three achievement levels. Differences among six homework self-regulation constructs (utility value, intrinsic value, effort, persistence, planning, and self-checking) were also examined. Participants were 330 seventh and 407 eleventh graders from a metropolitan city in China. Chinese students' reported self-regulated learning during homework declined from middle to high school. Whereas students rated utility value and effort high, intrinsic value and self-checking were rated low. Male and female students did not differ in homework self-regulation. Achievement-level differences in homework self-regulation were found in seventh graders, but not in eleventh graders. The pattern of Chinese students' reported homework value, motivation, and metacognitive strategy use were discussed, and instructional implications were offered.     

Classroom motivation strategies for prospective teachers

Abstract

National surveys indicate that student motivation is a principal concern of teachers, yet few publications within the teacher education literature directly address how teachers can best apply established motivational principles. Pivotal to mobilizing student motivation is understanding the role of rewards in sustaining productive task engagement. This article examines the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for academic learning, the relative value of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation, the potential compatibility of cognitive and behavioral perspectives of student motivation, and research‐based recommendations for promoting classroom motivation.