Anne Grete Danielsen

A path analysis of basic need support, self-efficacy, achievement goals, life satisfaction and academic achievement level among secondary school students

Teachers’ support of basic psychological needs, self-efficacy, achievement goals, life satisfaction and academic achievement level was measured in a sample of 240 secondary school students (8th and 10th grades). Correlation analysis showed significant positive relations between all of the variables, except for the relation between need support of competence and performance goals. A subsequent path analysis showed that these variables could be accounted for by a structural model that described basic need support as predictors of self-efficacy and achievement goals, which in turn predicted academic achievement level and perceived life satisfaction. Analysis of intra-class correlation and design effect showed that need support of relatedness also was accounted for by class level responses. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed in terms of the importance of basic need support as a predictor of personal motives in educational settings as well as the students adjustment to school and life.

What They Want and What They Get: Self-Reported Motives, Perceived Competence, and Relatedness in Adolescent Leisure Activities

This study explored the extent to which adolescents’ motives for leisure activity participation are related to their perceptions of competence and relatedness in different kinds of activities and aimed to provide new insight into boys’ and girls’ leisure experiences and their motivational orientations for activity participation. These proposed associations were based on previous empirical work and the theoretical frameworks of motive disposition approach and were tested in a nationally representative sample of Norwegian adolescents () aged 15 and 16 years (51.8% boys) from the World Health Organization’s cross-sectional survey, Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children 2005/06. The findings in the current study supported the hypothesis regarding matched correlations between specific motives and specific outcomes in that the adolescents seem to get (perceived competence and relatedness) what they want (competence and social motives) within leisure activities. Furthermore, the analysis using structural equation modeling indicated different motivational orientations in types of leisure activity participation between girls and boys, although the mediating effects of leisure activity participation in different types of activities were not significant.

Does Mentor-Education make a Difference?

The aim of this chapter is to focus on differences between formally educated and not educated mentors. However, as an introduction we have chosen a quote that illustrates the similarities we found rather than the differences. The core value of mentorship according to our informants in the current study seems to be twofold.

A prospective investigation of students’ academic achievement and dropout in higher education: a Self-Determination Theory approach

Abstract We investigate a model based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to predict academic achievement and dropout intentions among biology students in higher education in Norway. Students (n = 754) from a representative national sample participated in this cross-sectional study. The results align with our hypotheses and SDT assumptions. The model explains a substantial amount of the variance in academic achievement and dropout intentions. Specifically, autonomous motivation and perceived competence positively predict academic achievement and negatively predict dropout intentions. Controlled motivation is unrelated to academic achievement and is a positive predictor of dropout intentions. Furthermore, significant indirect effects show that need-supportive teachers and students’ intrinsic aspirations positively predict academic achievement and negatively predict dropout intentions, via autonomous motivation and perceived competence. We recommend teachers to support students’ need for autonomy, competence and relatedness, by providing choice and volition to facilitate autonomous motivation, and give students effectance-relevant feedback and optimal challenges to increase perceived competence.

Norwegian Children’s Rights in Sport and Coaches’ Understanding of Talent

Little research has focused on and tried to understand the link between children’s participation in sports and their human rights. In Norway, children’s leisure athletics and sports participation are regulated through rules of sport ( CRS ), voted in the Executive Board of the Norwegian Olympic and Paraolympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (“Idrettstinget”). The CRS represent formal legislation rooted in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, binding for all Norwegian sport coaches in their work with children until the age of 13. This qualitative study investigates coaches’ views of talent and talent development, and examines their views in the children’s rights perspective. The study is based on interviews with eight professional coaches in football (soccer), gymnastics, swimming and skiing. In important areas the coaches’ views are consistent with children’s rights; however, there are also coaches who speak out in violation of the rights.