Self-determination theory posits, through an organismic perspective of human development, that all humans are inherently curious to assimilate new information and all naturally behave for their psychological growth. Central to this natural tendency is the determinant role of the social environment in maintaining or hindering this inherent function of the self. Humans thus develop, through their life, motivational patterns that can be characterized as being either internalized or not. For SDT, this natural process of integrating one’s motives, values, and belief in the self can be observed through the internalization continuum of self-determination. The self-determination continuum describes the behavioral regulation of individuals and can be broke down in two large dimensions: autonomous vs controlled motivation. When applied to the educational context, the theory would say that students who invest themselves in their academic activities for more internalized and autonomous reasons will be more likely to experience positive educational outcomes (e.g., achievement, perseverance, deeper learning, well-being, and lower dropout intentions). However, recent meta-analyses revealed a small positive association between explicit self-evaluation of autonomous motivation (AM) and academic achievement (r ≈ .177; Cerasoli, Nicklin, & Ford, 2014; Richardson, Abraham, & Bond, 2012; Taylor et al., 2014). In those studies, the internalization dimensions have been mainly measured through self-report methodology, and even if those measures are valid and reliable they should only be interpreted as the accessible declared self-knowledge one individual has about his own motivational dispositions. As such, this thesis embarks on the premise that those explicit self-evaluations mainly tap into the reflective/conscious side on the human brain and that taking a dual-process perspective over the integration process could alleviate our understanding of human motivation. This thesis also acknowledges, as in most dual-process theories, the determinant role of working memory capacity (WMC) in the interplay between the explicit/reflective/controlled and implicit/impulsive/automatic processes. The ability to control and direct attention, as measured by WMC, is an important individual differences that can explain why some dual-process effect might be working for some individuals but not for the other (Barrett, Tugade, & Engle, 2004). In this dissertation, my hypotheses were anchored in SDT and inspired by the implicit social cognition approach. Accordingly, I aimed at exploring the internalization process of university students in the educational context. To that end, I proposed three original studies described in three different articles. In Article 1, I first developed a lexical decision task of implicit AM based on the preliminary work of Burton, Lydon, D'Alessandro, and Koestner (2006). I hypothesized that explicit and implicit AM should interact in a synergistic manner in the prediction of subsequent academic achievement. Moreover, this synergistic effect should depend on the WMC of the students, as the integrative process is likely to be cognitively challenging. A sample of 272 university students were recruited and participated in a lab study (INSPIRE lab). Results of moderated regression analysis revealed that explicit AM was a significant predictor of semester GPA, but only for students with high level of implicit AM, and average to high levels of WMC. This prediction was double the size of past meta-analyses estimate (β = .445), thus demonstrating that incorporating a dual-process perspective of AM enable a more precise account of internalization. In Article 2, I extended the lexical decision task with additional stimuli, replicated the effect of Article 1 with Bayesian estimation and tested a reciprocal hypothesis between academic AM and achievement. I hypothesized that the past academic achievements of students are likely to influence the development of AM for university studies. Again in the INSPIRE lab, 258 undergraduate students participated in this study. Results of a mediational model revealed a significant reciprocal effect of past academic achievement, explicit AM and subsequent academic achievement at university. Moreover, results from study 1 were included as informative prior in the Bayesian analysis of study 2. A moderated-moderation mediation model was tested and revealed a significant synergistic effect between explicit and implicit AM, thus replicating the effect found in study 1. This effect was also moderated by WMC, once again replicating the results of study 1, by demonstrating that sufficient WMC is needed for the synergistic effect of AM to be operant. Lastly, in Article 3 I developed an in-lab learning situation to evaluate if dispositions of AM could be activated outside of the students’ awareness and enable explicitly declared AM to be predictive of subsequent learning performance (math and verbal components). The beneficial effect of explicit AM on subsequent learning performance was only observed for the students who were subliminally primed with AM words. This experimental study thus stressed on the importance of the environment in shaping individuals’ behavior, even when that environment is unconsciously perceived. The findings of this experimental study were thus repositioned in a person x environment interpretation, as opposed to study 1 and 2 which were framed in a person x person interpretation. Of particular interest, contrary to studies 1 and 2, only students with low to average levels of WMC seemed to benefit from the situational priming of AM words. Students with lower levels of WMC can thus benefit from implicit situational cues of AM, as the results demonstrate that it can activate the synergistic effect of AM and ultimately help them perform better on the exam. Overall, this thesis has provided empirical evidence for adopting a dual-process perspective of AM combining motivation and cognitive research in the prediction of academic achievement.

L'étude porte sur les effets de l'enseignement stratégique sur l'apprentissage et la motivation des élèves syriens dans les cours d'éducation islamique. L'objectif de recherche était d'évaluer les progrès des élèves ayant appris de façon stratégique, comparativement aux progrès d'élèves ayant suivi un enseignement traditionnel. L'échantillon comprend 38 sujets, dont 20 d'un groupe expérimental et 18 d'un groupe témoin. Les 20 élèves du groupe expérimental ont reçu un enseignement stratégique alors que les 18 sujets du groupe témoin ont reçu un enseignement traditionnel. Les résultats de recherche montrent que l'enseignement stratégique est une méthode plus efficace que l'enseignement traditionnel dans l'enseignement religieux. / This research aims at knowing the effect of strategic teaching on students’ achievement of the ninth grade in Islamic education. The experiment includes two groups: experimental and control. The sample consisted of 38 students, 20 for the experimental group and 18 for the control group. The two groups were equalized in their age and Islamic education marks in the eighth class. Group1 representing the experimental group was taught by using strategic teaching whereas Group2 representing the control group was taught according to the traditional style of teaching. Statistical means have been applied to reach the results of the study.The study arrived at the following results: in the results of the post achievement test, a statistically significant difference of 0.05 was found between the two groups in favour of the experimental group, which was taught by using strategic teaching.

This thesis primarily includes a study on whether companies can develop a mathematical activity that supports students' motivation in mathematics. The work was done together with Midroc Electro, a company that pays attention to the difficulty of recruiting and therefore was interested in investigating how the business world would be able to contribute. The thesis can be divided into three stages. The first part comprised by a exploration into research on student motivation regarding mathematics as well as numerous interviews with engineers to see how the research findings did fit with Midroc Electros reality. In these studies it became clear that the student who aims for a profession whose education or work requires math belongs to the group of students who primarily manage their studies in mathematics, that is, those that have the greatest motivation to work hard and complete their studies. Research information and interviews were compared and resulted in the thesis second part, Midroc Challenge. An activity where students primarily came to learn about the engineering profession and secondly how mathematics can be used in the engineering profession. Student’s had to plan, build and program a robot to complete a two-dimensional path. At the end of the day, in form of a contest, the student’s calculations were tested and the winners were those that completed the whole path, they that had counted correctly when they programmed the robot. The third stage of the thesis investigated whether students who participated in Midroc Challenge showed some indications that they had been affected by the activity. Students gave the day the score nine out of ten, where ten was the top rating. A tendency that students had become motivated to study engineering could also be traced, with the consequence that some students may have been more motivated to study mathematics. / Detta examensarbete innefattar i huvudsak en studie på om och hur företag kan utveckla en matematisk aktivitet som stödjer elevers motivation för matematik. Arbetet skedde tillsammans med Midroc Electro, ett företag som uppmärksammat svårigheten med kompetensförsörjning och därför är intresserade av att undersöka vad företagsvärlden skulle kunna bidra med till skolan. Examensarbetet kan delas in i tre skeden. Först skedde en djupdykning i forskning angående elevers motivation beträffande matematik samt ett flertal intervjuer med ingenjörer för att lära sig mer i detalj om ingenjörsarbetet samt se hur forskningsresultat passade med Midroc Electros verklighet. Det som framförallt uppdagades var att den elev som siktar på ett yrke vars utbildning eller arbete kräver matematik tillhör den grupp elever som främst klarar sina matematikstudier, det vill säga de som har störst motivation för att kämpa och klara sina studier. Forskningsinformationen och intervjuerna jämfördes och resulterade i examensarbetets andra del, Midroc Challenge. En aktivitet där elever främst kom att lära sig om ingenjörsyrket och i andra hand om hur matematiken kan användas i ingenjörsyrket. Eleverna fick i liten skala testa på att arbeta som ingenjörer då de skulle planera, bygga och programmera en robot till att klara en tvådimensionell bana. I slutet av dagen, i form av en tävling, testades om eleverna räknat rätt då de programmerat hur roboten skulle röra sig. I det tredje skedet av examensarbetet undersöktes om eleverna som deltagit i Midroc Challenge visade några tendenser på att ha påverkats av aktiviteten. Eleverna gav dagen betyget nio av tio där tio var toppbetyget. En tendens att eleverna blivit motiverade att studera till ingenjörer kunde också spåras varvid några elever kan tänkas ha blivit mer motiverade att studera matematik.

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Em uma sociedade que apresenta ênfase no conhecimento, torna-se importante analisar uma quantidade significativa de informações contidas nos bancos de dados, objetivando transformá-las em conhecimentos utilizáveis, tanto para fins comerciais, quanto científicos. A Administração surge como uma área em que uma grande multiplicidade de aplicações estatísticas é possível, indo ao encontro das próprias competências e habilidades focadas no processo decisório do administrador. Neste sentido, a Estatística torna-se importante ferramenta na área financeira, de marketing, de produção e de recursos humanos. Porém, uma questão de grande relevância reside na formação Estatística dos profissionais da Administração, considerando as problemáticas envolvidas com o ensino de tal conteúdo nos cursos de graduação. Observando, portanto, a problemática envolvida no ensino de Estatística para o curso de graduação em Administração e levando em consideração a existência de alternativas para mensuração da atitude perante a Estatística, bem como da motivação acadêmica, surgiu como possibilidade de pesquisa a investigação do modo como se dá a interação da atitude perante a Estatística e da motivação acadêmica com o desempenho acadêmico do aluno nas disciplinas de Estatística. Para a consecução do objetivo do presente trabalho, foi realizado um estudo quantitativo, por meio da aplicação da Escala de Atitude dos alunos frente a Estatística - Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS) - e da Escala de Motivação Acadêmica - Échelle de Motivation en Éducation (EMA) -, com 278 alunos de duas faculdades públicas de Administração. Na criação dos modelos de relacionamento entre motivação acadêmica e atitude perante a Estatística (variáveis independentes) e desempenho (variável dependente), verificou-se que, em relação à nota da disciplina, o melhor modelo apresentou um baixo valor de explicação (R2 ajustado = 7,3%), surgindo como variáveis preditoras significantes apenas o Afeto, a Motivação Extrínseca - introjeção, a Motivação Extrínseca - controle externo e a Motivação Intrínseca - vivenciar estímulos. Entretanto, o modelo que apresentou a autopercepção de desempenho como variável dependente apresentou um considerável valor de explicação (R2 ajustado = 45,5%), surgindo como variáveis preditoras significantes apenas o Afeto, a Competência cognitiva e a Motivação Extrínseca - introjeção. Por meio da análise de cluster, verificou-se que um dos três grupos formados apresentou valores superiores e menos dispersos, tanto no que concerne à nota, quanto em relação à autopercepção de desempenho. Neste sentido, dada a análise dos resultados, foi possível concluir que, de modo geral, o grupo de alunos com maior interesse na área de Finanças apresentou as maiores pontuações tanto em relação à atitude perante a Estatística como em relação à motivação acadêmica. / In a society that has an emphasis on knowledge it becomes important to analyze a significant amount of information in databases in order to transform them into usable knowledge both for commercial purposes, as scientific. The Administration appears as an area where a large variety of statistical applications is possible, to suit their own skills and abilities in decision making focused administrator. In this sense, the statistic becomes important tool in finance, marketing, production and human resources. However, that issue becomes of great importance is the training of professionals Statistics Administration, considering the issues involved with teaching such content in undergraduate courses. Noting therefore the problems involved in teaching statistics to undergraduate degree in Business Administration and taking into account the existence of alternatives to measure attitude toward statistics and the academic motivation, emerged as potential research investigating the so how is the interaction of attitude Statistics and academic motivation with the academic performance of students in the disciplines of Statistics. To achieve the objective of this study was a quantitative study conducted by applying the Attitude Scale front of students to Statistics - Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS) - and the Academic Motivation Scale - Échelle of Motivation en Éducation (EMA) - with 278 students from two public colleges of Management. In the creation of models of relationship between academic motivation and attitude towards Statistics (independent variables) and performance (dependent variable) found that compared to note the best model of discipline exhibited a low value of explanation (adjusted R2 = 7.3 %), emerging as the only significant predictors of Affection, Extrinsic Motivation - introjection, Extrinsic Motivation - external control and Intrinsic Motivation - experiencing stimuli. However, the model showed that the perception of performance as the dependent variable showed a considerable amount of explanation (adjusted R2 = 45.5%), emerging as the only significant predictors Affect, Cognitive Competence and Extrinsic Motivation - introjection. By means of cluster analysis verified that one of the three groups obtained showed greater and less dispersed, both with regard to note, as compared to the perception of performance. In this sense, given the analysis of the results, it was concluded that, in general, the group of students with greater interest in Finance presented the highest scores both in terms of attitude towards Statistics as in relation to academic motivation.

This study examined academic motivation and basic psychological needs as predictors of suicidal risk (namely, depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviors) in a sample of 348 college students. Results from regression analyses indicated that academic motivation was a significant predictor of suicidal risk. The inclusion of basic psychological needs significantly augmented the prediction model. The authors discuss implications for considering academic motivation and basic psychological needs in college counseling on the basis of the results.

Vi har gjort en kvalitativ fallstudie på en skola och vårt syfte är att undersöka hur framtidstron och studiemotivationen ser ut hos elever i årskurs nio på en mångkulturell skola med lågt meritvärde. Våra frågeställningar är: vilka faktorer anser elever i årskurs nio på den valda skolan kan tänkas påverka deras framtidstro och studiemotivation? Hur ser sambandet ut mellan framtidstro och studiemotivation hos elever i årskurs nio på den valda skolan? Vad anser elever i årskurs nio på den valda skolan själva att man kan göra för att förbättra sin framtidstro och studiemotivation? Vi är inspirerade av fenomenologisk forskning och har en induktiv ansats. Empirin har vi samlat in genom kvalitativa halvstrukturerade intervjuer med åtta elever i årskurs nio. Vi bearbetade empirin genom att först transkribera intervjuerna, sedan sammanfattade vi varje intervju och letade efter teman utifrån våra frågeställningar. Därefter sammanförde vi de gemensamma nämnarna utifrån frågeställningarna och gjorde en sammanställning. Vi analyserade med hjälp av begreppet KASAM och dess komponenter hanterbarhet, begriplighet och meningsfullhet. Resultatet visade att alla informanterna var studiemotiverade och hade en god framtidstro. Det var mycket som kunde tänkas påverka deras motivation och framtidstro, bland annat familj, vänner, lärare och förebilder. Med hjälp av begreppet KASAM och dess komponenter kunde vi se ett samband mellan deras studiemotivation och framtidstro. Informanterna behöver förstå varför de studerar för att kunna känna studiemotivation (begriplighet). De behöver känna att de har de resurser som krävs för att nå de resultat de vill och de mål de har (hanterbarhet) och de behöver ett mål med studierna så att de känner att det är värt att investera i studierna (meningsfullhet). De kunskaper vi tycker är viktiga att ta med sig från vår fallstudie för att kunna arbeta här och nu med ungdomar i skolåldern är att förstå att skolresultaten hänger ihop med elevernas syn på framtiden. Även att tänka på att vardagen måste vara både begriplig, hanterbar och meningsfull för att ungdomen ska må bra och fungera. / We have performed a qualitative case study at a school of substandard merit. Our purpose was to examine to what ninth graders had a sense of confidence about their future success and academic motivation. The questions asked were: Which factors do the ninth graders deem influential for their own sense of confidence in future prospects, as well as what affects their academic motivation? What is the relationship between confidence in future success and academic motivation at the school? What do the students feel, can be done to improve their own beliefs about future prosperity as well as improve academic motivation? We have been inspired by phenomenological research and have used an inductive approach. We collected our data via semi structured qualitative interviews with eight ninth grade students. We processed the data by first transcribing the interviews, then we summarized each interview looking for key themes related to our original queries. Finally we consolidated the common denominators into a compilation. We did our analysis using the concept of KASAM, or ”sense of context”, as well as its' components, those being; manageability, comprehensibility, and relevance. The results revealed that all the informants were academically motivated and they each felt confident in their future outlook. There seemed to be a lot of factors that influenced both their motivation and their outlook, amongst these were family, friends, teachers, and roll models. Using the KASAM, or ”sense of context” concept, and its' components we could see a relationship between their academic motivation and their beliefs about their future. The informants first need to comprehend why they need to study, in order for them to feel a sense of educational motivation (comprehensibility). They need to feel that they have the resources needed to attain the desired results and goals that they have (manageability) and they need a goal with their studies so that they feel it is worth investing in the studies (relevance). The most important revelation that we have gleaned from our study and that we feel is of most value when working with school age youth in the here and now, is to understand how academic performance is directly related with the students  perception about their future. Even everyday life needs to be comprehensible, manageable, and have relevance, in order for youth to thrive and function.