University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
Doi
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to characterize types of motivation and motivation co-construction during collaborative learning, as well as explore differences in motivation between two extreme cases of student project groups. In an entrepreneurship course, six groups of four to five pharmacy students worked on a collaborative project to solve a variety of authentic ill-defined health care problems. I selected two student project groups; a group in which all members rated their motivation high throughout the group project and a group in which most members rated their motivation average to start and low at the end of the semester. The data analysis included semester-long video observations paired with weekly surveys of students’ perceptions. I conducted a directed content analysis of transcribed student statements for the occurrence of several types of motivational states, beliefs, values, goals, and behavioral expressions. I coded each instance that students expressed a motivation construct for co-construction mechanisms. The specific co-construction mechanisms determined the level of the motivation construct (e.g., group-level). Also, the students’ co-construction of motivation constructs could follow either a negotiation or motivation regulation pathway. The key assertion of the study was that differences in students’ motivation during collaborative learning can be explained by achievement motivation theories but with the added complexity of socio-motivational dynamics. These socio-motivational dynamics included: 1) the co-construction of motivational beliefs, values, and goals, 2) students’ beliefs and values about themselves, their peers, and the group, 3) similarities and differences between group member’s motives, achievement goal orientations, social goal orientations, and standards, 4) negotiation and regulation of motivational beliefs, values, goals, states, and behavioral expressions, 5) students’ impression management and psychological safety. The resulting codebook, organizing framework, and the inventory of the types of motivational beliefs, values, and goals will enable future researchers to further disentangle the complexity of motivation in collaborative learning groups. This study contributes to research about the fundamental knowledge and theory of collaborative learning groups’ motivational and social processes.Doctor of Educatio
