Motivational Constructs Research Articles

Exploring Students’ motivation and academic performance in learning ohm’s law using PhET simulations

Science teachers face several challenges in creating and implementing inquiry-based learning in Physics education. Part of this problem can be attributed to the fact that Physics is an imaginative science, which limits the students’ readiness to grasp the concepts and demotivates them to pursue further studies related to Physics. This only suggests the need to introduce strategies that promote easy visualization and cultivate students’ interest in the subject. This study examined the effect of PhET simulation on the academic performance and motivation of Grade 10 students to learn Ohm’s Law. Specifically, it aimed to a) compare the students’ pretest and posttest scores; b) determine their level of motivation in the five motivational areas (i.e., intrinsic, self-efficacy, self-determination, grade, and career); and c) determine the relationship between students’ motivation and post-test score. Using the Physics Motivation Questionnaire II (PMQ-II), 61 students were surveyed after a 2-week lecture in Ohms’ law. A paired t-test revealed that the PhET simulation is valid for improving the performance of the students on Ohm’s Law. Among the five constructs of motivation, grade motivation and intrinsic motivation were the highest after the intervention. Lastly, it was found that the posttest scores of the students correlate positively with their motivation to learn Ohm’s Law. Based on these findings, it is recommended that teachers continue to utilize PhET simulation to its full potential by letting students manipulate and interact with the program.

Factorial, Construct, and Predictive Validity of the Motivation for Treatment Scale in Alcohol-Use Disorder Withdrawal Treatment

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to examine for the first time the factorial, construct, and predictive validity of the motivation for treatment (MfT) scale in a cohort of patients undergoing inpatient-qualified alcohol withdrawal treatment with the goal of referring patients to further treatment. The MfT scale has previously been evaluated in different settings of substance abuse treatment, revealing factorial ambiguity. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first study that conducted comprehensive factor analyses versus separate analyses of the factors conducted in prior studies in order to clarify the aforementioned factorial ambiguity. Methods: A total of 249 patients (mean age 45.2 years (SD = 10.3); 34.4% females) with alcohol dependence were assessed. Data were obtained from four inpatient clinics specialized in qualified alcohol withdrawal treatment in Germany. First, confirmatory factor analyses were carried out to examine the fit of the four models discussed in the literature. Second, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Correlations of the new factors with other motivational constructs and referral to a subsequent treatment were investigated as measures of construct and predictive validity. Results: None of the four models showed an acceptable fit to the data in confirmatory analyses. The exploratory analysis suggested to eliminate seven items because of inappropriate factor loadings and resulted in a shortened MfT scale, which consists of three factors based on 17 items. For the latent variables “problem recognition,” “desire for help,” and “treatment readiness,” satisfactory composite reliability was found with 0.82, 0.80, and 0.78, respectively. Evidence for predictive validity was found in the correlation between “treatment readiness” and referral to a subsequent treatment. Discussion/Conclusion: The new shortened MfT scale exhibited remarkable parsimony, which is desirable in settings such as withdrawal treatment, where patients frequently are cognitively or physically impaired. Despite its briefness, construct and predictive validity were better than in the original version of the MfT scale. The factorial validity of the suggested scale needs to be corroborated in further research.

Sustainability performance of multinational companies in Malaysia

This study investigated the influence of market environment, cultural distance, government policy, and absorptive capacity on international intra-firm technology transfer and organizational sustainability performance among subsidiaries of foreign-based multinational corporations (MNCs) in Malaysia. Quantitative data was collected from randomly selected 252 MNC-Subsidiaries in Malaysia. Data analysis revealed that market environment, determined by market dynamism and competitors' intensity; cultural distance determined by national and organizational cultural distance; along with absorptive capacity, captured by the constructs of ability and motivation have a significant positive effect on intra-firm technology transfer. The study also revealed a significant positive influence of intra-firm technology transfer on organizational sustainability performance across the sample. Furthermore, the results showed a significant indirect effect of market environment, cultural distance, and absorptive capacity on sustainability performance through (mediation) intra-firm technology transfer. The results of this study could serve as a specific reference for policymakers of rapidly emerging economies in order to strengthen policies for a more dynamic, competitive, market and support their citizens to acquire relevant education, skills, and cultural awareness that would enhance technological inflows leading towards improved organizational sustainability.

Adolescents’ Reading Motivation: Which Dimensions?

What lies behind reading behaviors? What dimensions form the construct of adolescent reading motivation, and how can these dimensions be measured? What is the role of the school library in recognizing, describing, and acting on these drives? A recent survey of 1,500 Italian students led to the emergence of interesting perspectives from which to approach the topic, including the availability of a new psychometric scale for measuring reading motivation.

Black Girls’ Reading Motivations: Centering Their Perspectives and Experiences to Redefine a Hegemonic Construct

This article addresses tensions between how researchers have conceptualized and operationalized adolescent reading motivation and how a group of Black girl readers perceive and enact reading motivation. Through a grounded theory approach, this qualitative study offers an initial exploration into mapping a race-reimaged reading motivation construct by centering the views, through artifact-elicited interviews, and experiences, through classroom observations, of a group of adolescent Black girl readers. Findings point to a need to reconceptualize reading motivation so that researchers and practitioners are equipped to recognize Black girls’ reading motivations.

What counts as STEM, and does it matter?

To accurately measure students' science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career interest, researchers must get inside the 'black box' to understand students' conceptualizations of STEM careers. The aim of Study 1 was to explore whether students' conceptualizations of STEM included medical careers. The aim of Study 2 was to explore whether predictors of STEM career interest (e.g., gender and motivation) varied by STEM definition (inclusion/exclusion of medical careers). In Study 1, the sample was US college students (N = 125) who were mostly White (80%). In Study 2, the sample was US 10th-grade high school students (N = 455) who were mostly Black (79%). In Study 1, students completed an online questionnaire. In Study 2, students completed various measures of math achievement, motivation (science and math expectancies of success, interest and importance value) and career interest with an importance. In Study 1, medical careers were less often classified as STEM careers than traditional STEM careers, but more often classified as STEM than non-STEM careers. In Study 2, science importance value was the only motivational predictor of students' STEM+Medicine career interest, and no motivation constructs predicted traditional STEM career interest. Boys expressed greater interest in traditional STEM careers, while girls expressed greater interest in STEM+Medicine careers. Students' conceptualizations of STEM are not binary. Thus, we recommend researchers are explicit about their definition of STEM with study participants, in their coding and in their publications.

THE EFFECT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT ON ORGANIZATIONAL CYNICISM: A RESEARCH ON UNIVERSITY STAFF

Cynicism is a concept used to describe people who are dissatisfied, constantly critical, and full of negative thoughts. Organizational cynicism, on the other hand, is defined as harsh criticism and negative beliefs/feelings about the organization, either openly or secretly. The developing technology and competitive environment, economic crisis, mass layoffs, insufficient remuneration policy and long working hours cause employees to develop negative attitudes towards their organizations. Since it causes individuals to develop a series of unconstructive feelings towards the organizations, it can be said to be associated with low productivity and loss of income directly. Organizational cynicism is conceptualized in three dimensions as “cognitive, affective, and behavioral”. Psychological empowerment in organizations can be defined as “increased intrinsic task motivation”, which is the perception of helping employees decide on their job-related roles, the meaningfulness of work, and influencing important decisions. Empowerment, as a motivational construct, consists of four dimensions: “meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact”. The hypotheses of the research were formed with the proposal that the dimensions of psychological empowerment affect negatively the dimensions of organizational cynicism. The sample of the research consists of administrative staff working at a university in Istanbul. According to the results obtained in this study, 8 out of 12 hypotheses were accepted and 4 were rejected. The "competence" and "impact" subdimensions of empowerment did not have a significant relationship with the "behavioral" dimension of cynicism, while the "competence" dimension of empowerment had a positive, not negative, relationship with “cognitive and affective dimensions” of organizational cynicism.

Student teachers’ future time perspective and teacher identity: A longitudinal study about students who will become primary school teachers

This three-wave study examined associations between a motivational construct future time perspective (FTP) and teachers’ identity (TI) in a sample of Dutch student teachers (N = 368). Additionally, gender and educational level were included as factors affecting FTP and TI. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models indicated that FTP and TI were moderately and positively correlated at the between-person level. At the within-person level, positive cross-lagged effects from wave 2 FTP on wave 3 TI were uncovered. Male student teachers and those that are academically educated reported weaker FTP and TI relations compared to their counterparts. Implications for practice are discussed.

Social annotation: what are students’ perceptions and how does social annotation relate to grades?

Social annotation is a teaching and learning technique in which students post comments on electronic course materials in a shared space. The purpose of this study is to examine students’ perceptions of social annotation in the context of motivation and social justice. In addition, the connections between social annotation and course grades were examined. Students in a face-to-face course engaged in social annotation on their course textbook and completed a questionnaire on their perceptions (N = 41). Based on the findings, students had higher overall motivation for social annotation compared with quizzes. In contrast, comparisons of motivation between social annotation and individual notetaking were mixed depending on the motivational construct. Students reported average higher-than-average opportunities for representational justice with social annotation (i.e. opportunities to share experiences and speak from their identities). Regarding grades, multiple social annotation constructs were positively associated with course grades. However, only active reading time appeared to be uniquely predictive of course grades. These findings suggest that social annotations promote active reading, which may encourage better understanding of the course content. Importantly, these findings indicate that students are motivated to engage in social annotation.

The structure of human motivation

BackgroundA unified model of human motivation has been recently introduced that integrates all prior “mini-theories” of motivation into a single, symmetrical model based on first principles: four life domains crossed by three levels of attainment, resulting in 12 discrete motivations. Evidence from a series of studies using a novel image-based method is used to test structural hypotheses derived from a unified model of human motivation.MethodThe studies employ large samples (810n to 986n) of working adults who conducted a time-constrained image-based exercise to measure the relative presence or absence of different emotional needs.ResultsThese studies provide support for the theoretical model, suggesting that there is substantial heuristic and practical value in a structured framework of motivating needs.ConclusionsFindings suggest that our theoretical model reflects deep interrelationships between discrete types of human motivation, and by linking specific measures to a comprehensive model of human motivation, researchers can have confidence that they have adequately measured the motivation construct.

Socio-cultural Implications of Self-Determination and Achievement Goal Theory Constructs of Motivation among Fijians athletes with Disabilities

Socio-cultural Implications of Self-Determination and Achievement Goal Theory Constructs of Motivation among Fijians athletes with Disabilities

Factors Influencing Substance Use Relapse in People Referring to Addiction Recovery Centers in Jiroft, Kerman

Background: Relapse is prevalent following substance abuse treatment. This study aimed to estimate and identify the factors that contribute to substance use relapse among addicts in the southern region of Kerman. Methods: A total of 390 individuals seeking treatment for addiction in 2021 were selected using a multi-stage sampling method. Data were collected through a researcher-developed questionnaire, which included demographic information and the health action process approach (HAPA) constructs regarding relapse prevention. Descriptive statistics, including frequency distribution tables, means, and standard deviations, were used to summarize the data. The correlation between HAPA constructs was assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The Kruskal-Wallis test and structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS 24 software were utilized to analyze the data. Results: The participants had a mean age of 33.39 years. The results (SEM) showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between action self-efficacy, behavioral intention, action planning, and the frequency of substance use relapse. The constructs of coping self-efficacy, recovery self-efficacy, action planning, and coping planning accounted for 18% of the variance in substance use relapse frequency. Conclusion: Motivational and voluntary phase constructs have a significant role in substance use relapse. Additionally, HAPA helps identify the factors contributing to relapse.

Behavioral Intentions to Use Energy Efficiency Smart Solutions under the Impact of Social Influence: An Extended TAM Approach

The role of social influence (SI) as a determining factor in accepting new technologies has been addressed in several studies using the initial or extended technology acceptance model (TAM). This research uses an adaptation of the extended technology acceptance model (TAM) to analyze the behavioral intention of Romanian consumers regarding the use of energy efficiency smart solutions (EESS) under the effect of social influence. Data were processed with the structural equation modeling technique (PLS-SEM). The sample consisted of 302 domestic electricity consumers in Romania. The study’s findings show that the respondents’ perceptions of the two social influence dimensions—network of friends, colleagues, or family (SI_FF); and public space (SI_PS)—and their effects on other conceptual model variables are significantly different. The main implications highlight that the proposed model addresses social influence on two levels (SI_FF and SI_PS), to highlight not only the differences in users’ perceptions, but also the main directions in which efforts to promote these technologies should be focused more intensively, in the context of implementing European policies regarding the reduction of energy consumption at the level of household consumers. An important component of the proposed model is the analysis of the role of hedonic motivation constructs, expected performance, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use in mediating the relationship between social influence and behavioral intention to use.

O.3.3-4 Development and validation of the obesity-specific decisional balance for Physical Activity questionnaire

Abstract Purpose Despite the crucial role of physical activity in obesity management, many patients remain insufficiently physically active. The decisional balance, from the transtheoretical model, represents the facilitators and the barriers associated with behavior change (e.g., engaging in regular physical activity). Studies have identified barriers to and facilitators of physical activity specific to the context of obesity. However, to date, there is no scale to measure them. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a preliminary version of the Obesity-specific Decisional Balance for Physical Activity (O-DBPA). Methods A series of studies was conducted with a total sample of 350 adults with obesity (Mage=44.3, SD = 14.7 years; MIMC=44.4, SD = 14.7 kg.m2). First, the clarity of the 50 items developed by the expert committee was examined. Second, the dimensionality of the scale was examined through confirmatory factor analyses. Third, reliability tests were performed (i.e., Cronbach's alphas, test-retest reliability). Fourth, theoretical validity of the O-DBPA was examined through its correlations with other theoretically related constructs (i.e., motivation, self-esteem). Results Clarity assessment revealed acceptable scores for all items (M = 6.2/7, SD = 1.1). Dimensionality testing led to reduce the scale to 21 items divided into two factors: facilitators of and barriers to physical activity. Each of these factors was composed of three subscales: physical, psychological, and environmental. The confirmatory two-factor model had the best fit indices: χ2(166)=323.67, CFI=0.95, TLI=0.93, RMSEA=0.052. Cronbach's alphas were acceptable or marginally acceptable (i.e., [0.61-0.88]). Temporal reliability, measured with a 4-week interval, was satisfactory. The O-DBPA subscales were significantly related to the motivation and self-esteem constructs in the expected directions, attesting to the theoretical validity of the scale. Conclusion The O-DBPA, composed of 21 items, presented good psychometric qualities. This new instrument allowed to examine the obesity-specific barriers to and facilitators of physical activity in French-speaking samples. This new scale offers promising clinical and research perspectives for the promotion of physical activity in adults with obesity.

Impact of Ethical Leadership on Job Satisfaction and Work-Related Burnout among Turkish Street-Level Bureaucrats: The Roles of Public Service Motivation, Perceived Organizational Support, and Red Tape

The present study examines the impact of ethical leadership on job satisfaction and work-related burnout (WRB) among street-level bureaucrats through the mediating roles of public service motivation (PSM), perceived organizational support (POS), and red tape by employing social exchange, conservation of resources, social learning, self-determination, and job demands-resources theories. Data from 712 street-level bureaucrats were collected in three waves in Turkey. The findings of structural equation modeling revealed that ethical leadership not only directly but also indirectly affects job satisfaction and WRB. Moreover, ethical leadership was effective in influencing employees’ perceptions of job demands and resources in public sector organizations. The results are consistent with theoretical predictions that PSM is a motivational construct influenced by leadership and job resources, which in turn affects employee outcomes. The results also indicated that job resources (i.e., perceived organizational support) played a more significant role than job demands (i.e., red tape) in determining the effects of ethical leadership on employee outcomes.

Chromatic Function in Schoenberg’s Little Piano Piece, op. 19, no. 1

The revival of Formenlehre studies has initiated a renewed interest in formal functions in atonal music. Schoenberg, who pioneered the study of formal functions, did not extensively analyze his atonal music from a formal point of view. Recent scholars, however, have drawn parallels between the formal construction of his atonal music and common-practice tonal music. One impediment to such analysis is the lack of a theory of counterpoint and harmony upon which formal-functional analysis rests. I propose a normative contrapuntal-harmonic structure for Schoenberg’s atonal music I call the “chromatic cadence.” I trace its origins to voice-leading techniques used by Schoenberg in his earlier tonal music and develop fundamental principles that guide the analysis and identification of the cadence in his atonal music. I conclude with a detailed analysis of Schoenberg’s piano piece, op. 19, no. 1, in which I examine the interrelationship of its motivic construction, contrapuntal-harmonic structure, and its formal functions.

ANALYZING THE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS IN THE ONLINE-GAME DEVELOPMENT: A FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL USING THE DELPHI-TOPSIS METHOD

The online-game industry has increased exponentially in the last years, boosted by the global pandemic crisis, and it´s expected to continue growing. Moreover, specialized software (game engines) is used to develop online-games. This fast growth of both, online-game industry and game engines, shows the convenience for a better understanding of online-games´ development. Thus, this paper aims to define a critical success factors (CSF) framework in developing online-games, and it combines the Delphi and TOPSIS methodology. Concretely, its application follows. First, CSF were recognized from the literature. Second, they were verified by contacting software developers of the game engine Unity using Delphi methodology. Then, a numerical example of the TOPSIS methodology is shown. This method allowed to generate a framework of 21 critical factors, grouped in 3 dimensions: (1) Game content design, (2) Value added and (3) Game motivation. The results revealed that competition is the most important factor in the Social motivation construct. Also, Mission and tasks, and User interface are the most important factors in the Game content design dimension. Definitely, this framework provides a tool for decision making in the online-game development process. Keywords: TOPSIS, Delphi, online-games, video-games, game engine, critical factors, web software

Možnosti uplatnenia teórie regulačného súladu pri predikcii dosahovania cieľov

The main aim of the article is to point out the possibilities of researching the process of achieving goals from the perspective of regulatory fit theory. As part of the justification of this approach, the article presents the historically main theories of achieving goals – learning and performance goals (Elliot & Dweck, 1988), ego-involved and task-involved goals (Nicholls,1984), mastery and performance goals (Ames & Archer, 1988), which both may be in the dimension of approach or avoidance (Elliot & McGregor, 2001). Then attention is also focus to the motivational construct of regulatory focus (Higgins, 1997), which we connect with achieving goals. In the introduction, the achieved goals and types of regulatory focuses are presented in relation to their consequences. Mastery goals are focused on the development of one‘s own competence, and performance goals are characterized by the effort to overcome others, so they use social comparison. The approach dimension represents an effort to outperform others (performance goals) or one‘s previous performance (mastery goals), while the avoidance dimension represents an effort not to be worse than others (performance goals) or not to be worse compared to one‘s previous performance (mastery goals). For persons using the regulatory focus promotion, the occurrence of positive consequences is motivating, and for persons using the regulatory focus prevention, the fact that negative consequences do not occur is motivating. The article discusses the results of research dealing with which types of achievement goal (mastery and performance approach and avoidance goals) or regulatory focus (promotion and prevention regulatory focus) can be associated with more positive consequences in terms of achieving goals, while pointing out the inconsistency of these results. From this point of view, the hypothesis of regulatory fit appears to be a more unambiguous predictor of the success of achieving goals. Its principle is that the achieved performance goal is in accordance with an appropriate regulatory focus. For approach goals it is promotion regulatory strategy and for avoidance goals it is prevention regulatory strategy. In this case, regulatory fit is a better predictor of the success of achieving goals than the type of goal or regulatory focus itself. Even though the regulatory focus and achieved goals certainly have common features such as their definition through gains (promotion focus and approach goals) or losses (prevention focus and avoidance goals), they are different psychological constructs, because the goal rather represents the reasons for which behavior is realized and the regulatory focus is a concrete strategy for achieving goals. Thus, the fit between the focus and the type of goal may not always occur. At the end of the article we propose arrangements from the perspective of the regulatory fit hypothesis, which could improve the prediction of the success of the achieved goal. For example, studies conducted so far investigating regulatory fit did not take into account the possibility of changing the type of goal and the type of regulatory focus over time. Also, all studies are focused either on situational (which is relevant for the situation and is variable) or dispositional regulatory focus (a stable personality trait that refers to how a person typically strives to achieve a goal) independently and did not take into account that the fit between situational and dispositional regulatory focus equally positively predicts success in achieving the appropriate type of goal.

Investigating the predictive relations between self-efficacy and achievement goals on procedural and conceptual science learning

Self-efficacy and achievement goals represent two extensively researched motivational factors in education and have been related to numerous academic outcomes. However, little is known about how they relate to different types of problem-solving. Furthermore, while prior work has found these motivational factors are related, less work has examined them over time, during learning, and controlling for prior knowledge. The current study investigated the relations between these motivational constructs and procedural and conceptual problem-solving in middle school science. Sixth-grade science students’ self-efficacy and achievement goals were surveyed along with procedural and conceptual problem-solving before and after instruction. Results revealed students’ self-efficacy was positively correlated with both procedural and conceptual posttest performance. However, controlling for prior knowledge, self-efficacy only predicted conceptual performance. No relations were found between achievement goals and procedural or conceptual problem-solving. Additionally, results found that changes in mastery-approach goals were positively related to changes in self-efficacy beliefs.

Influence of Work Motivation, Interpersonal Skills, and Knowledge Construction on the Work Readiness of Vocational Students

Vocational high schools play an important role in connecting graduates to industry to provide professional workforce input. However, modern times demand an increase in the quality of complex human resources to effectively prepare them to work in the industry. This study examined the relationship between the effects of interpersonal skills and constructive knowledge on work readiness through work motivation. A quantitatively inferential method with a population of vocational high school students was employed. Data were obtained using the structural equation model with the analysis of moment structure 2.4 version application. The research findings showed that interpersonal skills and constructive knowledge have a significant positive effect on work readiness and work motivation interferes with the influence of interpersonal skills and constructive knowledge on work readiness. The results suggest that vocational schools that focus on work readiness need to pay attention to interpersonal skills, constructive knowledge, and work motivation, since they are essential for students. Moreover, this study implies that if we want to improve students’ work readiness, we must enhance their interpersonal skills and constructive knowledge of teaching and learning in vocational schools. Further research should empirically examine this issue to explore other factors that affect students’ work readiness.