UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION LOSS AND BEHAVIORAL DISENGAGEMENT OF TERTIARY STUDENTS IN FLEXIBLE LEARNING: A SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY PERSPECTIVE

Purpose – Flexible learning is a delivery modality associated with positive outcomes, but its use at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with dark student experiences, such as poor interest and dishonesty among students. To understand how and why many tertiary students lost their motivation and became disengaged in pandemic-era flexible learning, this qualitative research was designed. Methodology – A total of 27 tertiary students in five separate groups volunteered to be interviewed. A focus group discussion protocol was developed based on the propositions of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and this protocol produced about eight hours of narrative data in audio form. The researcher performed thematic analysis to make sense of the transcriptions of the data, and the initial codes and themes were subjected to an external audit for purposes of methodological integrity. Findings – Eight need-thwarting behaviors of key social agents emerged, such as instructors’ rigid and negligent behaviors, peers’ indifferent and selfish behaviors, and burdensome behaviors of people at home. These behaviors were tied to participants’ cognitive appraisals of psychological need frustration that emerged in eight themes, which comprised having problems balancing school and home obligations, believing that outputs were misevaluated, and feelings of disconnection from peers. These appraisals could be related to seven themes of motivation and engagement issues reported by participants, notably amotivation, poor concentration, low effort, and dishonesty. Significance – The findings highlight the importance of addressing these need frustrations in order to improve tertiary students’ motivation and engagement in academic tasks delivered through flexible learning in higher education

Motivational antecedents of academic emotions in Filipino college students

The control-value theory of academic emotions by Pekrun (2006) contends that students\u27 emotional experiences in achievement-related situations have sources from the appraisals students make about the importance and value of academic tasks they engage in. The present study looked into Filipino students\u27 structure of academic emotions, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as antecedents of academic emotions, upon the assumption that students\u27 motivations are shaped by their appraisals of importance and value of schooling. Results showed that intrinsic motivation had a positive predictive utility on positive emotions but negatively associated with any negative types of emotions. Extrinsic motivation positively predicted negative emotions. The predictive utility of the specific dimensions of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on academic emotions were also analyzed, and results supported most of the hypotheses. © 2011 De La Salle University, Philippines

Motivational profile: understanding academic performance as a criterion of cost, expectancy for success and task value

Using a descriptive study design, this research determined how task effort cost, emotion cost, loss of valued alternatives, outside effort cost, social cost, economic cost and sunk cost along with expectancy for success and task value formed a criterion related profile associated with higher academic performance. It used the survey method to gather data from a total of 226 college students enrolled in a high-stake math class. Findings revealed three significant criterion related factors, namely expectancy for success, task value and sunk cost. This motivation profile indicated a high score in expectancy for success, an even higher score in task value and a low score in sunk cost, Β = .43, t(224) = 7.22, p < .001. Relationships for the first two confirmed the hypothesized direction while the last one illustrated an inverse connection. Results are discussed in light of the expectancy-value-cost theory and existing studies. This research has implications on the nuances of the construct of cost, on pedagogic relevance, and on school and counseling psychology

Understanding Expectancy-Value Theory’s Cost Construct via Multidimensional Scaling

This study explored educational cost using a multidimensional scaling approach. Undergraduates rated how similar 11 items on task value and cost were with one another. Results show that cost has two dimensions, each consisting of two clusters. In one dimension, cost is separated from task value components; in the other, cost is clustered with task value components. Findings imply nuances of cost in the context of goal theory, motivation, and emotion