The intrinsic motivation of students to learn is related to their epistemological beliefs (531.25)

Abstract

Understanding the factors that promote intrinsic motivation has the potential to improve student performance. We hypothesized that the epistemological beliefs of students‐their beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning‐affect their level of intrinsic motivation. To test this hypothesis, we administered the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI), developed by Deci and Ryan (1991), to assess our exercise physiology students' intrinsic motivation. We also administered the Learning Context Questionnaire (LCQ), developed by Kelton and Griffith (1982), to measure epistemological beliefs and intellectual development. Finally, we assessed the relationship between intrinsic motivation and epistemological beliefs with class attendance and academic performance. Results document a significant, although inverse relationship, between the epistemological levels of students and their intrinsic motivation to learn exercise physiology. Based on the literature, we expected students with more sophisticated beliefs that knowledge is personally constructed, complex, and evolving, to have higher levels of intrinsic motivation. Our findings suggest that students’ intrinsic motivation in a particular learning context may depend on the alignment of classroom practices with levels of epistemological development which could have powerful implications for classroom teaching practices.