Abstract
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.
Highlights
Longitudinal research has demonstrated that adolescents’ motivation declines consistently across the secondary school years, reaching its nadir in grade 9, with a slight subsequent recovery (Fredricks and Eccles, 2002; Watt, 2004)
The model fit of the unconditional latent change model (LCM) (Table 1, step 1) was acceptable: χ2 (155, N = 1087) = 434.27, p < 0.001, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.93, TLI = 0.92; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.04, 90% CI [0.04, 0.05], standardized root mean residual (SRMR) = 0.04
The model fit of the LCM, which included strong factorial invariance across time (Table 1, step 3), was acceptable: χ2 (169, N = 1087) = 444.62, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.92; RMSEA = 0.04, 90% CI [0.03, 0.04], SRMR = 0.04
Summary
Longitudinal research has demonstrated that adolescents’ motivation declines consistently across the secondary school years, reaching its nadir in grade 9, with a slight subsequent recovery (Fredricks and Eccles, 2002; Watt, 2004). Only few longitudinal studies investigated how student-perceived classroom characteristics are related simultaneously to the development of motivational variables that reflect the behavioral, cognitive and affective dimensions of students’ motivation in secondary school (for exceptions, see Ntoumanis et al, 2009; Wang and Holcombe, 2010; Dietrich et al, 2015) This longitudinal study addressed this gap and examines how student-perceived support for autonomy, competence, and relatedness predicted the developmental changes in students’ mastery goal orientation, academic effort, and intrinsic motivation. The study investigates how the level and change in students’ mastery goal orientation, academic effort, and intrinsic motivation is predicted by student-perceived classroom support of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Because studies have demonstrated that student-perceived autonomy support in class was not significantly associated with their effort (Liukkonen et al, 2010), we expect student-perceived autonomy support in class to have weak effects on students’ academic effort
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