Spanish Adaptation of Motivational Climate in Education Scale with University Students

Antonio Granero-Gallegos,María Carrasco-Poyatos

doi:10.3390/educsci10060157

Abstract

The aim of this study was to provide evidence of the validity and reliability of the dimensionality of the Spanish adaptation of two correlated subscales to assess motivational climate in the university education context: Mastery motivational climate and performance motivational climate. Two different studies with cross-sectional design and different samples of university students were used to accomplish this research (Study 1: 181 students, mean age = 20.83, SD = 1.76; Study 2: 354 students, mean age = 21.84; SD = 1.98). In Study 1, Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and reliability analysis of the scale were conducted. In Study 2, CFA, reliability analysis, discriminant validity, temporal stability, factorial invariance across gender, and nomological validity were managed through a regression model measuring the relationships between democratic and autocratic behavior, mastery climate, and performance climate. The final version of the Motivational Climate in Education Scale showed acceptable goodness of fit and values of discriminant validity, reliability, temporal stability, and invariance across gender. According to its nomological validity, democratic behavior was shown to be a statistically significant predictor of mastery climate, and the teacher’s autocratic behavior was shown to be a statistically significant predictor of performance climate. This scale is a valid and reliable instrument to assess mastery climate and performance climate in the Spanish university educational context.

Highlights

In recent years, various studies have shown that teaching style could affect motivation during the students’ training process [1,2,3] and, in addition, as other authors state [4], decades of research confirm that one of the keys to determining the quality of the students’ experience is the motivational climate created by teachers in their classes
The two factors were made up of seven items—four items in factor 1 (F1) and three items in factor 2 (F2); they showed the following goodness of fit: χ2 /df = 1.00, p = 0.288; Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.99; Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.99; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.034, SRMR = 0.014 (Table 1)
For nomological validity, democratic behavior was shown as a predictor of the mastery motivational climate, whereas the teacher’s autocratic behavior was shown as a predictor of the performance motivational climate

Summary

Introduction

Various studies have shown that teaching style could affect motivation during the students’ training process [1,2,3] and, in addition, as other authors state [4], decades of research confirm that one of the keys to determining the quality of the students’ experience is the motivational climate created by teachers in their classes. The relationship between dispositional and environmental factors has been demonstrated, such as the motivational climate created by other people (e.g., the teacher) [5], with different academic variables: Motivation [6,7], the perception of competence and autonomy [8,9], school commitment [10], adolescent adjustment [11], academic achievement [12], or academic performance [13]. The Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) [14,16,17], framed within the cognitive–social theories from an interactional perspective, has developed research in the educational field This theory starts from the basic idea that people are intentional organisms directed by our objectives, and that we rationally act according to them. These achievement goals are related to motivational patterns of adaptation and maladjustment, and constitute the main mechanism for determining

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion