Patricia L. Hardré

Predicting the Academic Motivation of Rural High School Students

The authors investigated predictive relationships among student characteristics that influence motivation for learning and achievement. Participants were students (N = 900) from all 4 grade levels in 18 rural public high schools in the south-western United States. The authors used AMOS 4.0 (J. L. Arbuckle & W. Wothke, 1996) to test a hypothesized path model in development and validation subsamples. Variables included perceptions of classroom climate, perceived ability, perceived instrumentality of instruction, and achievement goals as predictors of engagement and effort in school. The model fit the data reasonably well, with relatively minor variations in the strength of the paths between subsamples. The authors discuss implications for research and classroom practice.

Testing Differential Effects of Computer-Based, Web-Based and Paper-Based Administration of Questionnaire Research Instruments.

Translation of questionnaire instruments to digital administration systems, both self-contained and web-based, is widespread and increasing daily. However, the literature is lean on controlled empirical studies investigating the potential for differential effects of administrative methods. In this study, two university student samples were administered 16 questionnaires across three separate administration conditions: paper-based, computer-based and web-based. Outcomes of interest included data quality and participant affect. Overall, few differences in data quality were observed between administration conditions despite some evidence in favour of paper-based administration (PBA) over the other two. Affective responses of participants favoured the PBA over web- and computer-based administrations. Implications for research use of digital systems for data collection are discussed.

Beyond Two Decades of Motivation: A Review of the Research and Practice in Instructional Design and Human Performance Technology

Existing models and methods of instructional design and performance improvement offer promise for enhancement in nearly every area of human resource development. However, they fall short of potential in addressing human motivation in ways that enable workplace performers and their organizations to thrive. This article reviews dominant models for instructional design and human performance technology currently in use, and compares their treatment of motivation in light of recent research in human motivation. The review illustrates an implementation gap between what research demonstrates about human motivation and what current instructional design models make available for use in workplace learning and development. It further underscores the need for a new, integrative, systemic model of motivation to aid in designing instruction by implementing recent research principles in workplace contexts. It calls for a new model of motivation for instructional design that is current, comprehensive, integrative, and flexible to meet the demands of new paradigm human resource development.

Factors Affecting High School Students' Academic Motivation in Taiwan

The purpose of this research is to investigate predictive relationships among student characteristics that influence motivation for learning and achievement. A non-Western sample was chosen to test the generalisability of findings outside the Western cultural and social models. The participants were 6,539 students from 14 public high schools distributed across the western half of Taiwan. They were from three grade levels, and were balanced in gender. Correlations, analysis of variance, and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Individual differences predicted classroom perceptions, and perceptions predicted motivation, as did goal structures and group differences. Findings can inform educational policy, as well as teacher professional development and practice.

Evaluating Faculty Work: Expectations and Standards of Faculty Performance in Research Universities.

Expectations and the way they are communicated can influence employees’ motivation and performance. Previous research has demonstrated individual effects of workplace climate and individual differences on faculty productivity. The present study focused on the characteristics of institutional performance standards, evaluation processes and performance‐responsive measures of academic departments in research universities, as articulated in institutional and departmental annual evaluation and promotion‐tenure specifications. The faculty performance evaluation standards and review processes of 62 academic departments in 23 research universities in 13 US states were examined for clarity, consistency and performance‐relevant elements. These characteristics were analysed through the lens of theories demonstrated as influential by previous workplace research. The similarities and differences of faculty performance standards, and the explicit and implicit messages they communicate, are discussed.

Motivating adolescents: high school teachers’ perceptions and classroom practices

This study investigated high school teachers’ perceptions of the motivational needs of their students and the strategies they used to address those needs. Participants were 96 teachers in 15 high schools in a Southwestern state in the USA. Data were collected via paper‐based questionnaires addressing teachers’ perceptions of: supportive classroom environment, students’ general motivation, causes of student lack of motivation, teachers’ self‐efficacy for motivating students, interpersonal style, and motivating strategies. Quantitative data were analyzed by correlation and multiple regressions. Teachers’ efficacy for diagnosing and intervening for students’ motivation, and their interpersonal motivating styles, predicted their strategy use. Both internal and external causal perceptions explained important parts of variance in teachers’ perceptions of students’ overall motivation. Strategies that teachers use, in turn, predicted the supportiveness of their classroom environments. Surprisingly, teachers’ perceptions of causes of motivation did not predict either environment or strategy selection. Implications for educational policy and classroom practice are discussed.

Differential Effects of Web-Based and Paper-Based Administration of Questionnaire Research Instruments in Authentic Contexts-of-Use.

Questionnaire instruments are routinely translated to digital administration systems; however, few studies have compared the differential effects of these administrative methods, and fewer yet in authentic contexts-of-use. In this study, 326 university students were randomly assigned to one of two administration conditions, paper-based (PBA) or web-based (WBA), and given a set of questionnaires. Instructions were to complete the instruments in an environment of their choice, and data included reporting context characteristics. Outcomes of interest included data quality and participant affect—WBA showing a slightly higher percent of data loss and lower overall time to complete; PBA producing higher overall mean scores across measures, greater variability in responses, and higher positive affect for responding. Administration methods showed no difference on internal consistency of subscales, positive-response bias, or strength of interscale correlations. Contexts-of-use included involvement in television viewing, conversation, and other activities, raising questions about the accuracy and independence of survey responses completed in independently-chosen, uncontrolled contexts. The qualitative data demonstrated longer responses in WBA than PBA, but little difference in type and clarity of responses.

Examining Contexts-of-Use for Web-Based and Paper-Based Questionnaires.

Questionnaire instruments are frequently administered in digital formats, largely web-based, without much systematic investigation of possible effects from these administration methods. Furthermore, little attention has been given to the contextual lack of control for extraneous factors that may influence user responses. In this study, 263 university students were randomly assigned to one of two administration formats, web-based (WBA) or paper-based (PBA), to complete a set of questionnaires in an environment of their choice. Data collection included reporting context characteristics along three parameters: location, companions, and concurrent activities (including help-seeking). Outcomes of interest included location and conditions of user-chosen contexts, instrument performance, generative data quantity and quality, independence of completion, administrative efficiency, and participant affect. Participants did choose and allow distracters in their contexts-of-use, completing the questionnaires while engaged in multiple social and asocial concurrent activities. There were generally small but significant differences in instrument performance and user response characteristics by administration method and contexts-of-use. Participant comfort and data returned were both higher in PBA than WBA. Quantity return of generative data was higher in WBA while overall quality (completeness, coherence, correctness) of generative data was not significantly different. These findings present implications of administrative methods and contextual influences that inform measurement professionals’ selection and design of administrative systems and conditions for research and evaluation data collection.

Teachers in an Interdisciplinary Learning Community: Engaging, Integrating, and Strengthening K-12 Education

This study examines the inputs (processes and strategies) and outputs (perceptions, skill development, classroom transfer, disciplinary integration, social networking, and community development) of a yearlong, interdisciplinary teacher learning and development experience. Eleven secondary math and science teachers partnered with an interdisciplinary team of university engineering mentors in a yearlong engineering education and project implementation program. It consisted of a 6-week on-site resident professional development and collaboration experience, with an ongoing support and follow-up including digital systems. Mixed-method, multisource data indicate that teachers engaged with motivations combining personal, intrinsic interest and classroom integration goals. They formed and sustained an active community of learning and practice that supported their success, on-site and through classroom integration, thereby promoting innovations. Teachers reported positive perceptions throughout the program and demonstrated significant, productive trajectories of change-over-time. Teachers learned and transferred task-specific engineering and scientific skills, as well as more general inquiry-based pedagogical strategies to their secondary classrooms.

Motivational Implications of Faculty Performance Standards.

Expectations and how they are communicated influence employees’ motivation, effort, goals, efficacy and performance. This study examined faculty performance evaluation standards and processes of 60 academic departments in research universities for motivationally relevant elements. Characteristics were systematically analysed to understand their content and motivational implications. They were examined for features influential on employee engagement, effort, persistence, innovation and organizational commitment, in an iterative, qualitative process. The researchers distilled eight key features of performance standards with influential, research-based motivational implications and analysed how they are demonstrated in the standards. These eight motivationally positive components were evident, but not consistent across these standards. Findings suggest that higher education institutions re-examine their faculty performance standards, consider their motivational messages and implications. Further research on faculty performance standards is also indicated.