Interest Cannot Be Forced. The Role of Academic Motivation and Teaching Styles in the Development of Students’ Critical Thinking

Abstract

In a situation of a sharp increase in the volume of information, often including a large number of false facts of various nature (disinformation), critical thinking becomes one of the competencies, the formation of which is decided by the scientific and educational community. Scientists identify academic motivation and teaching styles as factors associated with the development of critical thinking. The relationship between these factors and critical thinking has previously been studied only in relation to the dichotomous scale of academic motivation, consisting of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The relationship of other types of motivation identified in the theory of self-determination E.L. Desi and R.M. Ryan has not been studied. This study, conducted on a sample of economics students at the Russian National Research University (4867 students), is intended to contribute to this discussion. Authors determine which teaching style leads to the activation of learning motivation, identified within the theory of self-determination. In addition, which types of learning motivation are predictors of the development of critical thinking. The analysis was carried out using the method of multivariate regression with the inclusion of variables of mediators. This will allow to identify teaching methods associated with the activation of the necessary types of motivation, and, as a result, an increase in the educational results associated with them. However, despite the authors’ attempts to identify additional types of academic motivation positively associated with CT within the subscale of extrinsic motivation, it was proved that only types of intrinsic motivation were positively associated with the construct under study. They are activated when the constructivist style of teaching is applied, which, among other things, explains its effectiveness in relation to the development of a given construct.