This thesis investigated children's school achievement in terms of an integration of three theories of achievement motivation. The three theoretical outlooks were expectancy-value theory (EVT), implicit theories of intelligence (ITI), and flow theory (FT). The first of two studies was an exploratory investigation of the effectiveness of each theory independently and combined to predict children's achievement in four school subjects. The subject areas were maths, reading, instrumental music and sport. Participants were 84 children (40 females and 44 males) aged 9 to 10 years, one of each child's parents, and school teachers of each child in the four subject areas. All data were collected through questionnaires based on the three models. The results indicated that EVT and FT but not ITI accounted for a significant amount of the variance in children's achievement, including effects for subject area and gender. A second confirmatory study tested EVT, FT and an integrated model for the prediction of achievement in maths, reading and instrumental music. The participants were a further 141 children (74 females and 67 males) aged 10 to 11 years, and a parent and teachers of each child. Data collection using questionnaires occurred early in the school year (Timel) and approximately five months later (Time2). For EVT, children and parents’ competence beliefs were significant predictors of children's achievement in each subject area. Females tended to believe themselves more competent at reading and instrumental music and also valued these subjects more highly than boys. Modeling results for flow theory indicated that children's emotional responses to classes (happiness and confusion) were significant predictors of achievement, the type of emotion varying between subject areas and time periods. Females generally had a more positive emotional reaction to reading and instrumental music classes than males did. The integrated model results indicated significant relationships between EVT and flow theories for each subject area, with EVT explaining most achievement variance in the integrated model. Children's and parents’ competence beliefs were the main predictors of achievement at Timel and 2, Subject area and gender differences were found which provide direction for future research. Anecdotal reports of parents and teachers often attest to individual differences in children's involvement in various school domains. Even among children of apparently similar intelligence, it is not uncommon to find one who likes nothing better than to work on a mathematics problem while another much prefers to read a novel or play a musical instrument Some children appear to achieve good results for most of the activities in which they are engaged while others achieve in a less consistent manner, sometimes particularly excelling in one activity. Some children respond to failure experiences with a determination to improve their performance in the future while others react with resignation and acceptance of their low ability. Some children appear to become totally absorbed in the activity of playing sport while others cannot wait for the game to end. The primary research objective guiding the current thesis is how children's thoughts and feelings about school subjects differ and are related to their school achievement. A perusal of the achievement motivation literature indicates several possible models and concepts that can be applied to explain individual differences in children's school achievement. Concepts such as academic self-concept, multiple intelligences, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, self-beliefs, competence beliefs, subjective task values, mastery and performance goals, ‘Flow’ experiences and social motivation are just some of the constructs used to explain children's achievement motivation, both within and between various activity domains. These constructs are proposed by researchers from different theoretical perspectives to achievement motivation. Although there is much literature relevant to each perspective, there is little research indicating how the various perspectives may relate to each other. The current thesis will begin by reviewing three currently popular theoretical orientations cited in achievement motivation research: subjective beliefs and values; implicit theories of intelligence, and flow experience and family complexity. Following this review, a framework will be proposed for testing the determinants of children's school achievement, both within each of the three theoretical perspectives and also in combination.

Esta pesquisa trata da motivação na aprendizagem musical e teve por objetivo investigar as relações entre os níveis de interesse e os níveis de competência, dificuldade e esforço para aprender música na escola. Para tal, foi realizado um estudo quantitativo utilizando-se dados secundários da pesquisa internacional "Os significados da música para crianças e adolescentes em ambientes escolares e não-escolares" coordenada por Gary McPherson (EUA) e, no Brasil, conduzida no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Música da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, sob a coordenação da Profa Dra Liane Hentschke. Fizeram parte da amostra da presente pesquisa 631 alunos de séries finais do ensino fundamental e médio de 11 escolas (públicas e privadas) de Porto Alegre e interior do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. As idades variaram de 11 até 19 anos, sendo 300 meninos e 331 meninas. O referencial teórico fundamenta-se no modelo de expectativa e valor de Eccles et al. (1983), complementado por outras teorias da motivação que discutem as influências do interesse, autopercepção de competência, dificuldade e esforço na motivação para a aprendizagem. Para a análise de dados foram utilizados procedimentos da estatística descritiva e inferencial, tais como análise descritiva, o teste de correlação de Pearson, o teste qui-quadrado e o teste t. Através da análise descritiva foi identificado que 47,7% dos alunos atribuíram alto interesse em aprender música na escola, 16,2%, médio interesse e 35,8%, baixo interesse. A maioria dos alunos da amostra considerou-se com alta competência (80,3%) e baixa dificuldade (77%) para aprender música na escola. Os resultados também mostraram que houve correlações significativas moderadas e fracas entre os níveis dos fatores investigados. Quanto à questão de gênero, as meninas sentem-se mais competentes e acham menos difícil aprender música na escola do que os meninos. E, em relação ao tipo de escola, pública ou privada, há diferença quanto a sensação de esforço exigido. Os alunos da escola pública percebem uma exigência maior de esforço para aprender música do que os da escola privada. Comparando-se as faixas etárias, as diferenças significativas apresentaram-se relacionadas ao interesse, competência e esforço. O maior interesse, a maior competência e o menor esforço foram atribuídos pelos alunos de 14 a 16 anos. Os resultados referentes ao alto interesse neste trabalho são apoiados pela literatura e por pesquisas feitas sobre motivação na aprendizagem musical realizadas em âmbito internacional. Contudo, os resultados relativos ao baixo interesse são discutidos a partir de questões levantadas sobre o senso de competência, dificuldade e esforço percebidos na aprendizagem da música na escola pelos alunos brasileiros. / This research aimed to investigate the relation among the levels of interest and levels of competence, difficulty and in learning music in school. It consisted in a quantitative study based on secondary data of the international research named, "Meanings of Music for Children and Adolescents in Musical schools and Non-school Activities" under the international coordination of Professor Gary McPherson (USA/Australia). In Brazil the research was coordinated by Professor Hentschke in Brazil (Graduate Program In Music of UFRGS - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Out of the total Brazilian sample of 1848 students, this study used a sample of 631 students from the final series of Fundamental Education and Secondary Education, of 11 schools (public and private) from Porto Alegre other nearby cities. There were 300 boys and 331 girls between 11 and 19 years-old. Eccles et al. (1983) Expectancy-Value Model was used as a theoretical framework of this work, complemented by other theories of motivation that discussed the influences of interest, self perception of competence, difficulty and effort in motivation to learn. For data analysis some statistical tests were applied such as, descriptive analysis, Pearson test of correlation, Chi- Square test and T test. Through descriptive analysis it was identified that 47,7% of the students conferred high interest in learning music in school, 16,2%, medium interest and 35,8%, low interest. The majority of students from the sample was considerated with high competence (80,3%) and low difficulty (77%) in learning music in school. The results showed also that there were meaningful moderated and weak correlations among the levels of investigated factors. As far as gender is concerned, girls feel more competent than boys and think that it is less difficult to learn music in school. Regarding the kind of school, public and private, there is a difference as to the sensation of the effort demanded. Children from public school perceive more effort required to learn music than those from private school. In comparing age groups, the meaningful differences were related to interest, competence and effort. The greatest interest, the greatest competence and less effort were allocated by students between 14 and 16. The results concerning the high interest to learn music found among students are supported by research on motivation for music learning. However the results about low interest are discussed from the questions raised about the level of competency, difficulty and effort perceived by students in Brazil.

Esta pesquisa trata da motivação na aprendizagem musical e teve por objetivo investigar as relações entre os níveis de interesse e os níveis de competência, dificuldade e esforço para aprender música na escola. Para tal, foi realizado um estudo quantitativo utilizando-se dados secundários da pesquisa internacional "Os significados da música para crianças e adolescentes em ambientes escolares e não-escolares" coordenada por Gary McPherson (EUA) e, no Brasil, conduzida no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Música da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, sob a coordenação da Profa Dra Liane Hentschke. Fizeram parte da amostra da presente pesquisa 631 alunos de séries finais do ensino fundamental e médio de 11 escolas (públicas e privadas) de Porto Alegre e interior do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. As idades variaram de 11 até 19 anos, sendo 300 meninos e 331 meninas. O referencial teórico fundamenta-se no modelo de expectativa e valor de Eccles et al. (1983), complementado por outras teorias da motivação que discutem as influências do interesse, autopercepção de competência, dificuldade e esforço na motivação para a aprendizagem. Para a análise de dados foram utilizados procedimentos da estatística descritiva e inferencial, tais como análise descritiva, o teste de correlação de Pearson, o teste qui-quadrado e o teste t. Através da análise descritiva foi identificado que 47,7% dos alunos atribuíram alto interesse em aprender música na escola, 16,2%, médio interesse e 35,8%, baixo interesse. A maioria dos alunos da amostra considerou-se com alta competência (80,3%) e baixa dificuldade (77%) para aprender música na escola. Os resultados também mostraram que houve correlações significativas moderadas e fracas entre os níveis dos fatores investigados. Quanto à questão de gênero, as meninas sentem-se mais competentes e acham menos difícil aprender música na escola do que os meninos. E, em relação ao tipo de escola, pública ou privada, há diferença quanto a sensação de esforço exigido. Os alunos da escola pública percebem uma exigência maior de esforço para aprender música do que os da escola privada. Comparando-se as faixas etárias, as diferenças significativas apresentaram-se relacionadas ao interesse, competência e esforço. O maior interesse, a maior competência e o menor esforço foram atribuídos pelos alunos de 14 a 16 anos. Os resultados referentes ao alto interesse neste trabalho são apoiados pela literatura e por pesquisas feitas sobre motivação na aprendizagem musical realizadas em âmbito internacional. Contudo, os resultados relativos ao baixo interesse são discutidos a partir de questões levantadas sobre o senso de competência, dificuldade e esforço percebidos na aprendizagem da música na escola pelos alunos brasileiros. / This research aimed to investigate the relation among the levels of interest and levels of competence, difficulty and in learning music in school. It consisted in a quantitative study based on secondary data of the international research named, "Meanings of Music for Children and Adolescents in Musical schools and Non-school Activities" under the international coordination of Professor Gary McPherson (USA/Australia). In Brazil the research was coordinated by Professor Hentschke in Brazil (Graduate Program In Music of UFRGS - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Out of the total Brazilian sample of 1848 students, this study used a sample of 631 students from the final series of Fundamental Education and Secondary Education, of 11 schools (public and private) from Porto Alegre other nearby cities. There were 300 boys and 331 girls between 11 and 19 years-old. Eccles et al. (1983) Expectancy-Value Model was used as a theoretical framework of this work, complemented by other theories of motivation that discussed the influences of interest, self perception of competence, difficulty and effort in motivation to learn. For data analysis some statistical tests were applied such as, descriptive analysis, Pearson test of correlation, Chi- Square test and T test. Through descriptive analysis it was identified that 47,7% of the students conferred high interest in learning music in school, 16,2%, medium interest and 35,8%, low interest. The majority of students from the sample was considerated with high competence (80,3%) and low difficulty (77%) in learning music in school. The results showed also that there were meaningful moderated and weak correlations among the levels of investigated factors. As far as gender is concerned, girls feel more competent than boys and think that it is less difficult to learn music in school. Regarding the kind of school, public and private, there is a difference as to the sensation of the effort demanded. Children from public school perceive more effort required to learn music than those from private school. In comparing age groups, the meaningful differences were related to interest, competence and effort. The greatest interest, the greatest competence and less effort were allocated by students between 14 and 16. The results concerning the high interest to learn music found among students are supported by research on motivation for music learning. However the results about low interest are discussed from the questions raised about the level of competency, difficulty and effort perceived by students in Brazil.

abstract: Learners' attitudes and beliefs during the initial stages of learning have a profound impact on their future decisions, practice habits, and persistence. In music education, however, surprisingly little research has explored how physical equipment design might influence novices' attitudes and beliefs. The current study addresses this gap by examining how novices' motivation and perception differ based on the physical design of the musical instrument they interact with while learning. Fifty-two adult participants completed an online survey measuring their expectancies (e.g., confidence), value beliefs (e.g., enjoyment, interest, and social merit), and anticipated persistence while attempting to learn the electric guitar. Afterward, participants attempted to learn and perform several beginner-level tasks while using a conventionally designed or ergonomically designed guitar. The conventionally designed guitar was a commercially available model marketed toward beginner and intermediate-level guitarists. In contrast, the ergonomic guitar was a custom model based on expert design recommendations to improve ease of use, comfort, and user experience. Participant learning expectations and values were assessed before and after a one-hour practice session. Results revealed that novices who used the ergonomic guitar reported significant gains in anticipated learning enjoyment. Alternatively, novices who used the conventional guitar exhibited no such change. Beyond this relationship however, the ergonomic guitar was not found to meaningfully affect participants' confidence, interest, physical discomfort, and task difficulty perceptions. Additionally, the ergonomic guitar did not have a statistically significant influence on learning persistence ratings. One important implication extracted from this study is that a single practice session may not provide enough time or experience to affect a novices' attitudes and beliefs toward learning. Future studies may seek to remedy this study limitation by using a longitudinal design or longer practice task trials. Despite this limitation however, this exploratory study highlights the need for researchers, music educators, and instrument manufacturers to carefully consider how the physical design of a musical instrument may impact learning attitudes, choices, and persistence over time. Additionally, this study offers the first attempt at extending the equipment design literature to music education and Expectancy-Value Theory. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Applied Psychology 2016

Esta pesquisa trata da motivação na aprendizagem musical e teve por objetivo investigar as relações entre os níveis de interesse e os níveis de competência, dificuldade e esforço para aprender música na escola. Para tal, foi realizado um estudo quantitativo utilizando-se dados secundários da pesquisa internacional "Os significados da música para crianças e adolescentes em ambientes escolares e não-escolares" coordenada por Gary McPherson (EUA) e, no Brasil, conduzida no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Música da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, sob a coordenação da Profa Dra Liane Hentschke. Fizeram parte da amostra da presente pesquisa 631 alunos de séries finais do ensino fundamental e médio de 11 escolas (públicas e privadas) de Porto Alegre e interior do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. As idades variaram de 11 até 19 anos, sendo 300 meninos e 331 meninas. O referencial teórico fundamenta-se no modelo de expectativa e valor de Eccles et al. (1983), complementado por outras teorias da motivação que discutem as influências do interesse, autopercepção de competência, dificuldade e esforço na motivação para a aprendizagem. Para a análise de dados foram utilizados procedimentos da estatística descritiva e inferencial, tais como análise descritiva, o teste de correlação de Pearson, o teste qui-quadrado e o teste t. Através da análise descritiva foi identificado que 47,7% dos alunos atribuíram alto interesse em aprender música na escola, 16,2%, médio interesse e 35,8%, baixo interesse. A maioria dos alunos da amostra considerou-se com alta competência (80,3%) e baixa dificuldade (77%) para aprender música na escola. Os resultados também mostraram que houve correlações significativas moderadas e fracas entre os níveis dos fatores investigados. Quanto à questão de gênero, as meninas sentem-se mais competentes e acham menos difícil aprender música na escola do que os meninos. E, em relação ao tipo de escola, pública ou privada, há diferença quanto a sensação de esforço exigido. Os alunos da escola pública percebem uma exigência maior de esforço para aprender música do que os da escola privada. Comparando-se as faixas etárias, as diferenças significativas apresentaram-se relacionadas ao interesse, competência e esforço. O maior interesse, a maior competência e o menor esforço foram atribuídos pelos alunos de 14 a 16 anos. Os resultados referentes ao alto interesse neste trabalho são apoiados pela literatura e por pesquisas feitas sobre motivação na aprendizagem musical realizadas em âmbito internacional. Contudo, os resultados relativos ao baixo interesse são discutidos a partir de questões levantadas sobre o senso de competência, dificuldade e esforço percebidos na aprendizagem da música na escola pelos alunos brasileiros. / This research aimed to investigate the relation among the levels of interest and levels of competence, difficulty and in learning music in school. It consisted in a quantitative study based on secondary data of the international research named, "Meanings of Music for Children and Adolescents in Musical schools and Non-school Activities" under the international coordination of Professor Gary McPherson (USA/Australia). In Brazil the research was coordinated by Professor Hentschke in Brazil (Graduate Program In Music of UFRGS - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Out of the total Brazilian sample of 1848 students, this study used a sample of 631 students from the final series of Fundamental Education and Secondary Education, of 11 schools (public and private) from Porto Alegre other nearby cities. There were 300 boys and 331 girls between 11 and 19 years-old. Eccles et al. (1983) Expectancy-Value Model was used as a theoretical framework of this work, complemented by other theories of motivation that discussed the influences of interest, self perception of competence, difficulty and effort in motivation to learn. For data analysis some statistical tests were applied such as, descriptive analysis, Pearson test of correlation, Chi- Square test and T test. Through descriptive analysis it was identified that 47,7% of the students conferred high interest in learning music in school, 16,2%, medium interest and 35,8%, low interest. The majority of students from the sample was considerated with high competence (80,3%) and low difficulty (77%) in learning music in school. The results showed also that there were meaningful moderated and weak correlations among the levels of investigated factors. As far as gender is concerned, girls feel more competent than boys and think that it is less difficult to learn music in school. Regarding the kind of school, public and private, there is a difference as to the sensation of the effort demanded. Children from public school perceive more effort required to learn music than those from private school. In comparing age groups, the meaningful differences were related to interest, competence and effort. The greatest interest, the greatest competence and less effort were allocated by students between 14 and 16. The results concerning the high interest to learn music found among students are supported by research on motivation for music learning. However the results about low interest are discussed from the questions raised about the level of competency, difficulty and effort perceived by students in Brazil.

The aim of this essay has been to gain knowledge about how authentic experiences affect students' motivation for their learning of Spanish and to compare how their motivation is influenced by different kinds of authentic experiences. According to Bryman (2006) the most common methods when doing investigations about motivation are questionnaires combined with structured interviews, within a mixed method, with both quantitative and qualitative instruments. The research has therefore been carried out at a Swedish high school, applying questionnaires at 122 students and structured interviews with 8 students. The results were analyzed with the motivational theories; Eccles and Wigfield's expectancy-value theory och Deci och Ryan's self-determination theory. The results show a tendency of a positive attitude towards authentic experiences during lessons. These seem to be used by the teachers, especially in the form of authentic music and film, and students also consider those activities to positively influence motivation and most of them believe that different authentic experiences could increase motivation, increase the posibility to integrate to internal motivation towards Spanish as a subject, but most consider that real and virtual meetings with Spanishspeaking probably will not do so, since the ability to integrate them rather seem that it might inhibit the students' psychosocial needs.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the processes and influences that underlie the choice of retired elite athletes to further their education and assume the adult learner role. In the current study, focus was applied specifically to professional ice hockey players who were in a period of retirement from active play. Elite athletes often retire at a time when most other professions are just beginning or reaching a level of stability. Research suggests that many retired elite athletes experience a difficult transition to an early retirement from athletics that is fraught with depression and unemployment. A select number of these elite athletes choose to further their educations after their careers have expired. The literature suggests that some of these retired elite athletes find educational programming a valuable coping strategy in the often traumatic post-athletic career adjustment. Unfortunately, this choice is made by only few athletes. It would be desirable to encourage more retired athletes to consider and engage in educational activities; however, currently, there is only very little knowledge on the processes underlying athletes' choice to participate, or not to participate, in education in their retirement years. Using a theoretical framework that includes adult learning theory and adult development theory, in conjunction with expectancy-value theory of motivation, the impact of individual characteristics and environmental opportunities on post-athletic career choices made by professional athletes may be better understood. The primary instrument for data collection was a personal interview with ten retired professional hockey players, conducted over a consecutive six-month period resulting in significant data. Utilizing the constant-comparative method for data analysis, common themes were identified as indicators of educational engagement: Informal Mentorship, Head Injury Related Retirement, and Pre-Transition Planning. In addition to these themes, the findings reflected an alternative adult developmental model possibly unique to professional hockey players. The findings of this study are valuable to the larger conversation regarding adult learners, adult development, and elite athlete career transition. / Educational Administration

The main objective of this thesis was to explore issues related to student achievement motivation in the Swedish TIMSS 2003 (Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study) context. The thesis comprises of five empirical papers and a summary. The expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation was used as the general theoretical framework in all empirical papers, and all papers are concerned with construct validation in one form or another. Aspects of student achievement motivation were measured on a task-specific level (motivation to do well on the TIMSS test) and on a domain-specific level (self-concept in and valuing of mathematics and science) and regressed on test performance. The first paper reports the development and validation of scores from an instrument measuring aspects related to student test-taking motivation. It was shown that a number of items in the instrument could be interpreted as a measure of test-taking motivation, and that the test-taking motivation construct was distinct from other related constructs. The second paper related the Swedish students’ ratings of mathematics test-taking motivation to mathematics performance in TIMSS 2003. The students in the sample on average reported that they were well motivated to do their best on the TIMSS mathematics test and their ratings of test-taking motivation were positively but rather weakly related to achievement. In the third and the fourth papers, the internal structure and relation to performance of the mathematics and science self-concept and task value scales used in TIMSS internationally was investigated for the Swedish TIMSS 2003 sample. For mathematics, it was shown that the internationally derived scales were suitable also for the Swedish sample. It was further shown that ratings of self-concept were rather strongly related to mathematics achievement while ratings of mathematics value were basically unrelated to mathematics achievement. For the science subjects, the internal structure of the scales was less simple, and ratings of self-concept and valuing of science were not very strongly related to science achievement. The study presented in the fifth paper used interviews and an open-ended questionnaire item to further investigate student test-taking motivation and perceptions of the TIMSS test. The results mainly corroborated the results from study II. In the introductory part of the thesis, the empirical studies are summarized, contextualized, and discussed. The discussion relates obtained results to theoretical assumptions, applied implications, and to issues of validity in the TIMSS context.

Denna undersökning syftar till att belysa vad som motiverar gymnasieelever att använda GeoGebra i matematiken. Vidare undersöktes även eventuella skillnader i motivation, både typ och grad, hos gymnasieelever som använder GeoGebra ofta respektive sällan i matematiken. Undersökningen grundar sig i motivationsteori och specifikt förväntan-värde teorin och utfördes med kvantitativa- och kvalitativa metoder. Datainsamlingen skedde med en enkät vilken besvarades av 72 gymnasieelever från fyra skolor i Norrbottens län, Stockholms län och Västra Götalands län. Resultatet från undersökningen visar att gymnasieelever främst motiveras av nytto- och kostnadsvärdet som GeoGebra medför. Med andra ord, att GeoGebra ger dem fördelar i matematiken genom att göra det enklare och mer tidseffektiv att hantera matematikproblem med hjälp av GeoGebra. Vidare så visade även resultatet att gymnasieelever som använder GeoGebra ofta motiverades mer av nyttan som verktyget medförde, än gymnasieelever som använder GeoGebra sällan motiverades av det. / The focus of this research was to enlighten what motivates high school students to make use of GeoGebra in mathematics studies. The research also aimed at finding out if there were any differences in motivation, both type and degree, between high school students who used GeoGebra frequently or rarely in mathematics studies. The study was based on motivational theory and more specific expectancy-value theory and used quantitative- and qualitative methods. The data collection was through a survey in which 72 high school students from four schools in Norrbottens county, Stockholms county and Västra Götalands county participated. The result from this study showed that the main reason why high school students are motivated to use GeoGebra in their mathematics studies is because of the utility and cost value the instrument entails. In other means, high school students use the programme because it's easier and more time efficient to solve mathematical problems with it. The study also showed that high school students who use GeoGebra more frequently in mathematics studies are more motivated by the utility value that the instrument brings, than high school students who only use GeoGebra sometimes were.

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