<p>Academic Advising is shown to have the ability to greatly impact student success, however, motivation in the academic advising context is largely ignored in research and modern advising philosophies. This study examined the relationship and impact of transformational leadership behaviors on student motivation in the academic advising setting. Results show a statistically significant positive correlation between transformational leadership components (e.g., idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation) and motivation. Utilizing stepwise linear regression analysis, inspirational motivation was indicated as a significant predictor of student motivation. </p> The findings of this study add to the literature suggesting the beneficial impact of transformational leadership. By applying transformational leadership behaviors, primarily idealized influence, in academic advising sessions, academic advisors can better assist student success. Limitations of the current study, and implications for future studies are discussed.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / This study investigated the work-life balance phenomenon by closely focusing on the individual coping mechanisms that working students adopt during their academic journey. The research was motivated by the serious financial, student burnout, psychological well-being and other obstacles that working students face, which often result in poor academic performance among this group. Exploratory survey research design was adopted in the study, while the qualitative data collection approach was employed using a structured interview as an instrument to elicit information from five research participants (postgraduate students at the University of the Western Cape). Content analysis was run to identify key themes within the data which pointed strongly towards time management as a coping strategy. / 2023

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Introduction: This study assessed student perceptions, preparation, and result use strategies of the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment (PCOA). Secondarily, it studied the effect of schools/colleges of pharmacy (S/COP) PCOA management on student perceptions. Methods: A 52-item electronic questionnaire assessed PCOA preparation of final year students, review/use of results, remediation participation, self-reported motivation, and perceptions of the exam's ability to measure PCOA blueprint areas and North American Pharmacy Licensure Examination (NAPLEX)/advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) readiness. Programs were given a questionnaire to determine their PCOA practices. Results: The student survey was completed by 341 students (40% response rate). Students prepared very little for the PCOA and few reported participation in PCOA-based remediation (6%). Students perceived the PCOA to measure the four domains moderately well, although administrative sciences were significantly lower. Students reported less confidence in the exam's ability to measure APPE/NAPLEX-readiness. Although few used the PCOA to guide their NAPLEX preparation (18%), they were more likely to do so than for APPEs (4%). Students reported a higher perceived increase in motivation if PCOA results were connected to APPE placement, remediation, and progression as opposed to prizes, rewards, or other recognitions. Conclusion: This is the first multi-institutional study to review student perceptions about the PCOA. These data can be used along with other PCOA data to help schools develop incentive, remediation, and examination administration procedures depending on the programs desired use for the PCOA exam.

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Students' motivation generally declines during the middle school years, a period of time when important foundations for further studies are laid. There is a move in many countries to improve science education, especially science literacy that is inadequate according to international research (Halldorsson, Olafsson, and Bjornsson, 2007, 2013). The subject of this dissertation is the translation and validation of the MUSICSM Model of Academic Motivation Inventory (MMAMI; Jones, 2012) from English into Icelandic. The purpose for the translation is to provide Icelandic educators with a tool to assess students' motivation in the science classroom. Motivation in the classroom is a complex issue in which both cognitive and contextual factors are involved. The information gained from the inventory responses could be used to guide the development or modification of the classroom strategies employed. The inventory measures students' perceptions of the five components of the MUSICSM Model of Academic Motivation: eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest and Caring, components that have been found to be influential to student motivation (Jones, 2009). The model is based on a thorough analysis of motivation theories and research. The inventory was developed for middle school students in science classes, although it can easily be modified to fit any subject. Back-translation followed by expert meetings was used to gain semantic equivalence. Participants were 458 middle school students in science classes in five public schools in Iceland. To obtain translation invariance in the first version of the translation, I used an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on one data set, using Principal Axis Factoring with Promax Rotation, to examine the translated items. Subsequently, I implemented a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on a second data set to test for model fit. The results replicated the findings obtained with the original version and confirmed the five-factor structure of the MMAMI. All factor loadings were significant. The reliability analysis, using Cronbach's alpha, also replicated the good and acceptable alpha ratings of the original instrument. These findings provide validity evidence for the scores produced by using the Icelandic version of the MMAMI with middle school Icelandic students in science classes / Ph. D.

Game-based learning--using games to achieve learning objectives--represents a promising and increasingly popular means of progressing engineering education's decades-long goal of bringing more evidence-based, active learning pedagogy into the classroom. However, if game-based learning is to proliferate as a pedagogy, research on game-based teaching is critical to provide practical recommendations for implementation, making the pedagogy more accessible to instructors. However, reviews of game-based literature reveal that little work exists in the game-based teaching space, and what work exists models high-level teaching practices and archetypal roles, which often fail to pinpoint specific practices game-based instructors can use to be successful. Moreover, reviews of game-based learning literature more generally suggest that research on how to improve student motivation in game-based learning settings--an important variable for learning and a longstanding argument for the value of games in education--are lacking in both quantity and theoretical soundness. To redress these gaps, I conducted a primarily qualitative, multiple-case study of seven non-digital game-based learning activities in engineering with the goal of furthering game-based teaching research and providing practical recommendations to instructors when using games in their classrooms. Using the MUSIC Model of Motivation as a motivation framework and the Observation Protocol for Adaptive Learning as a framework for categorizing teaching practices, I interviewed instructors about how they expected their teaching practices to affect student motivation, and I interviewed these instructors' students about how they actually perceived their instructors' actions as affecting their motivation. By comparing instructor and student responses, I derived recommendations for game-based learning practice that are likely to have a high impact on student motivation, and condensed these recommendations into a four-phase framework of game-based teaching to bolster student motivation. I supplemented my interview data with observation data to construct detailed summaries of each case I studied. The recommendations I offer in my framework can serve as useful resources for instructors seeking to foray into game-based teaching practices or improve their existing game activities, especially in engineering. Moreover, my study provides a model for investigating game-based teaching practices and motivation in game-based learning using established theoretical frameworks in natural classroom settings. / Ph. D. / Game-based learning—the use of games to achieve learning objectives—is a promising and increasingly popular way to introduce active learning into engineering classrooms, which is something engineering education as a field has been trying to achieve for decades. However, if game-based learning is to reach a wider audience of engineering instructors, research on the teaching practices instructors use in game-based learning classrooms is important, so that researchers can provide practical recommendations to instructors and make game-based learning less intimidating. However, little work has been done to study these teaching practices, and the work that exists tends to look at high-level trends across teaching practices, rather than offering specific pieces of advice. Moreover, research on how to improve student motivation in game-based learning settings is lacking, which is a problem because student motivation is important for learning and is one of the biggest theoretical benefits of using games in education. To fill in some of these gaps, I conducted instructor and student interviews around seven non-digital game-based learning activities in engineering, with the goal of furthering game-based teaching research and providing practical recommendations to instructors considering or currently using games in their classrooms. Using an established framework of student motivation and an existing means of grouping teaching practices, I interviewed instructors about how they expected their teaching practices to affect student motivation, and I interviewed these instructors’ students about how they actually perceived their instructors’ actions as affecting their motivation. By comparing instructor and student responses, I came up with several recommendations for gamebased learning practice that are likely to have a high impact on student motivation, and I produced a framework to serve as a visual aid to help instructors implement teaching practices that can bolster student motivation at any phase of a game-based learning activity. I also supplemented my interview data with observation data to provide readers with detailed summaries of each case I studied. The recommendations I offer in my framework can serve as useful resources for instructors looking to implement game-based learning activities or improve their existing game-based learning activities, especially in engineering. Moreover, my study serves as a model for future researchers who want to qualitatively study game-based teaching practices or motivation in game-based learning using established frameworks.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Doris W. Carroll / This study examined factors relates to student ratings of instruction and student levels of motivation. Data came from archival data of 386,195 classes of faculty and students who completed the Faculty Information Form (FIF), completed by the instructor, and the Student Ratings Diagnostic Form (SRDF) completed by the student from the Individual Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA) Center Student Ratings system. Descriptive statistics, correlation studies, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and pairwise comparisons were used to test the research hypotheses. Despite significant differences among student ratings of instruction and student motivation by course type, discipline, and student type, the amount of unknown variability in student ratings of instruction and student motivation is still very large. The findings from the study provide higher education institutions with information about differences between student ratings of instruction by institution type, course level, discipline, and course type as well as the impact of student motivation on student ratings of instruction.

Secondary agricultural education programs provide students an opportunity to gain a wide variety of knowledge about agriculture, as well as, the career opportunities within agriculture. The National FFA Organization is available for all youth enrolled in a secondary agricultural education program with a mission to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success. In order to continue to have youth interested in agricultural colleges and the potential for pursuing agricultural careers, students must be educated about those program areas. Student perceptions of these program areas can greatly influence their motivation enroll in secondary agricultural education programs, join the National FFA Organization, and pursue agricultural career. This study used a survey method to determine the perceptions of students not enrolled in a high school agricultural program of secondary agricultural education programs, the National FFA Organization, and agricultural careers, as well as, determine the demographic characteristics of those students.

In many ways, higher educational systems in the United States are the most extraordinary in the world. Students come from all over to study in our institutes of higher learning. As our search for an explanation of how to facilitate student learning continues, the goal of this dissertation was to examine the heavily under-researched area of teacherstudent relationships as they relate to student understanding. Using the existing body of instructional communication research, the Student Understanding Model (SUM) is proposed and tested. Data collected from 302 undergraduate students was used to test the SUM. Results provide empirical support that relational messages account for approximately 26% of the variance in student understanding. Conclusions and implications from the current study were discussed.