Agency, Achievement, and Self-Concept of Young Adolescent Art Students

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of students' sense of agency or self-determination as a motivational force in art learning. It was hypothesized that enhancing students' sense of agency through personal choice would result in higher achievement and more positive self-concepts and attitudes toward art. Two hundred and eight sixth graders participated in the study for a period of three months. Teacher-choice and student-choice approaches using the same program were compared. Allfour outcome measures, consisting of one art product and three written tests, revealed treatment differences favoring the student-choice condition. It appears that when students' sense of agency is enhanced through meaningful personal choice both their achievement and attitudes are positively influenced. In a recent review of theory and research on agency Thomas (1980) concluded that students' sense of agency or self-determination is a strong motivational force in learning. Thomas went on to suggest that students' sense of agency can be fostered by giving them control of their own learning. He reasoned that when students make choices about their learning experiences, they gain a feeling of personal empowerment, they feel they are the agents in control of their learning; and thus their sense of agency is enhanced. In their reviews on agency and control both Thomas (1980) and Steipek and Weisz (1981) concluded that research in the area of student control is still in its infancy and additional research is needed across varieties of student populations, learning tasks, and subject matters. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of agency as a motivational force for young adolescents in the subject of art. It was expected that enhancing students' sense of agency through personal choice would result in more positive art outcomes. Thus, for this study, agency was posulated as a mediating link between control of learning and outcomes of learning. effects r- effects J control of learning i ,- gency- s -j outcomes of learning