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Longitudinal Effects of Student-Perceived Classroom Support on Motivation – A Latent Change Model
(2017)
This two-wave longitudinal study examined how developmental changes in students’ mastery goal orientation, academic effort, and intrinsic motivation were predicted by student-perceived support of motivational support (support for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) in secondary classrooms. The study extends previous knowledge that showed that support for motivational support in class is related to students’ intrinsic motivation as it focused on the developmental changes of a set of different motivational variables and the relations of these changes to student-perceived motivational support in class. Thus, differential classroom effects on students’ motivational development were investigated. A sample of 1088 German students was assessed in the beginning of the school year when students were in grade 8 (Mean age = 13.70, SD = 0.53, 54% girls) and again at the end of the next school year when students were in grade 9. Results of latent change models showed a tendency toward decline in mastery goal orientation and a significant decrease in academic effort from grade 8 to 9. Intrinsic motivation did not decrease significantly across time. Student-perceived support of competence in class predicted the level and change in students’ academic effort. The findings emphasized that it is beneficial to create classroom learning environments that enhance students’ perceptions of competence in class when aiming to enhance students’ academic effort in secondary school classrooms.
This multi-methodological study applied functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate neural activation in a group of adolescent students (N = 88) during a probabilistic reinforcement learning task. We related patterns of emerging brain activity and individual learning rates to socio-motivational (in-)dependence manifested in four different motivation types (MTs): (1) peer-dependent MT, (2) teacher-dependent MT, (3) peer-and-teacher-dependent MT, (4) peer-and-teacher-independent MT. A multinomial regression analysis revealed that the individual learning rate predicts students’ membership to the independent MT, or the peer-and-teacher-dependent MT. Additionally, the striatum, a brain region associated with behavioral adaptation and flexibility, showed increased learning-related activation in students with motivational independence. Moreover, the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in behavioral control, was more active in students of the peer-and-teacher-dependent MT. Overall, this study offers new insights into the interplay of motivation and learning with (1) a focus on inter-individual differences in the role of peers and teachers as source of students’ individual motivation and (2) its potential neurobiological basis.
Abstract
Introduction
Using the situated expectancy–value theory, it becomes possible to explain motivational functioning across alternating learning conditions not only at a particular moment but also over time. The situated expectancy–value theory provides evidence for the critical role of context. The present research examines how adolescents' success expectancies, task values, and effort develop when the conditions of the academic environment change. It also evaluates whether adolescents adopt more adaptive expectancy–value profiles in response to the need‐based nature of self‐directed learning as an extension of regular instruction. Within the self‐directed learning approach under investigation, adolescents take responsibility for their own learning processes.
Methods
The present research offers insights into the expectancy–value profiles of 754 German adolescents (Mage = 13.56; SD = 1.2; 49.4% female). A four‐wave study was used to examine perceptions of self‐efficacy, intrinsic value, utility value, and effort. Latent profile analyses and latent transition analyses were employed.
Results
Notably, the results provide evidence that expanding instruction via self‐directed learning intervals that occur for 1 week per semester contributes to more favorable expectancy–value profiles within a student's favorite subject. A mixed profile (highly confident, hardly interested) disappeared. Instead, success expectations aligned more closely with adolescents' task values and effort. All profiles settled at a higher level.
Conclusions
The findings indicate that instruction that is expanded via self‐directed learning intervals has positive consequences for motivational profiles over time. An initial self‐directed learning episode led to a shift to more interested profile groups. The continuation of a positive trend even after a self‐directed learning interval indicates that adolescents are able to continually adapt their learning to their needs during teacher‐directed instruction. This study provides clues about how to design curricula in a way that counteracts the downward trend in students' motivation to learn.