Notwithstanding the negative influence of demotivation on student learning outcomes, prior research in EFL demotivation suffers from the lack of generally agreed-upon conceptual understanding, which hampers scale development. The present series of studies sought to explore the ideas of demotivation and describe the development of the Learner Perception of Demotivators Scale (LPDS) both conceptually and psychometrically. In Study 1 (N = 295), an exploratory factor analysis offered preliminary support for a factor structure comprising three dimensions: negative teacher behavior, loss of task value, and low expectancy for success. In Study 2 (N = 320), the proposed factor structure was further corroborated through confirmatory factor analysis, and its validity was documented by means of correlating with academic performance, self-efficacy, and mindset. A second-order factor model was tested to investigate whether a set of demotivating factors load on an overall construct that may be termed “Demotivator”. Whereas the model fit confirmed a wellitting second-order model with post hoc model adjustment, one low first-order loading (negative teacher behavior) does not seem to support “Demotivator” as a higher order construct comprising three subdimensions. Furthermore, the LPDS demonstrated evidence of configural, metric, scalar, and residual invariance across gender, suggesting the same underlying construct is measured across gender groups. Contrary to the findings in motivation research, loss of task value was a stronger predictor of performance than low expectancy for success. Further, in Study 3 (N =320), loss of task value distinguished extremely motivated EFL learners from ordinary ones, offering tentative evidence for the reason behind demotivation in EFL learning. The unique role of task value found in Study 2 and Study 3 gave insights into the hypothetical construct of “demotivation”. It was also examined in the context of East Asian culture. By establishing a nomological network (academic performance, self-efficacy, and mindset), the current study provided a lawful pattern of interrelationships that exists between the hypothetical construct (demotivation) and observable attributes (e.g., academic performance) and that guides researcher for future L2 studies. More implications and limitations for future studies are discussed.

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Minimal research has examined the interrelationship between motivation, place attachment, and the need to belong in a residential camping environment. The purpose of this study was to better understand the role of place attachment and the need to belong in facilitating 4-H Camp Graham campers and counselors interest in returning to residential 4-H summer camp year after year. All participants included in this study were at least 18 years of age, graduated from high school, former 4-H members, and attended 4-H camp for at least two consecutive years. Three camping clusters participated in focus group interviews for a total of 21 participants. A fourth camping cluster and participants unable to attend their designated focus group, were invited complete an online survey. Overall, campers and counselors were primarily motivated to return to camp each year due to the relationships, memories, and sense of belonging formed at camp. While nature and location played a role in the camp experience by providing a secluded environment free from outside influence, these attachments were secondary. Attachment to camp grew over time and participants valued the camp experience highly and tended to choose camp friendships and the camp experience over other opportunities. Longevity at camp influenced the strength of attachment. This research suggests that intentionality in these areas of staff training and program planning are critical to camper and counselor connection to camp. Additionally, this research provides tangible evidence that points to the value of sharing the residential camping experience with potential funders and parents. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

This study examined the motivations pre-service teachers possess as they progress though a teacher education program. Using Watt and Richardson’s (2007) Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) model as the theoretical underpinnings, the following research questions set the foundation for this study: 1) Do pre-service teachers’ motivation to pursue a teaching career change over the course of a teacher education program, and 2) Is there a relationship between pre-service teachers’ values and their satisfaction with their choice to pursue a teaching career? Quantitative results indicate significant drops in motivation from students’ Freshman/Sophomore year to students’ Graduate year. Qualitative results demonstrated a greater frequency of responses for social utility values, intrinsic motivation, positive prior teaching and learning experiences, career development aspirations, and epistemic values. / Educational Psychology

Fundamental engineering courses are important to the undergraduate engineering student experience but have been associated with challenging educational environments. Several factors influence the educational environment, although learning experiences are primarily the outcome of interactions between instructors and students. To initiate change, it is important to understand teaching and learning experiences in fundamental engineering courses from the perspectives of the key players in these environments: instructors and students. To accomplish the goal of understanding teaching and learning experiences, I conducted studies that examined instructors' and students' perspectives on their experiences and the educational environments, using qualitative research methodology. Through these studies, this dissertation: 1) examined instructors' beliefs and self-described behaviors, guided by motivation theory and focusing on the role of instructors as socializers in the learning process; 2) considered interacting fundamental engineering courses as a foundational curriculum within engineering curricula to describe the educational environment in these courses from instructors' perspectives; and 3) examined student perceptions of their learning experiences and the educational environments in fundamental engineering courses using responses to open-ended items in end-of-semester student evaluations of teaching surveys. Data indicate that participants strive to integrate strategies that promote effective learning despite challenges posed by course environments, although expected gains from these behaviors may not always be maximized. Students and instructors may benefit from a student-focused, collaborative and holistic course planning process that considers interacting fundamental courses as a foundational curriculum within engineering curricula, and that engages instructors as equal partners in the planning process. Student feedback may be infused into the course planning process by productively and meaningfully utilizing students' responses to end-of-semester student evaluations of teaching surveys. Overall, the results of this dissertation highlight the importance of institutional support, collaboration, and integrating student feedback in the quest for facilitating effective educational environments and positive learning experiences in engineering. / Doctor of Philosophy / Introductory engineering courses are important to engineering students’ college experience but have been associated challenging learning environments. Several factors influence the learning environment, although learning experiences are primarily the outcome of interactions between instructors and students. To initiate change, it is important to understand teaching and learning experiences in introductory engineering courses from the points of view of the key players in these environments: instructors and students. To accomplish the goal of understanding teaching and learning experiences, I conducted qualitative studies that examined instructors’ and students’ points of view on their experiences and the learning environments. Through these studies, this dissertation: 1) examined instructors’ beliefs and self-described behaviors, guided by motivation theory and focusing on the role of instructors as socializers in the learning process; 2) considered interacting introductory engineering courses as a foundational curriculum within engineering curricula to describe the learning environment in these courses from instructors’ points of view; and 3) examined student perceptions of their learning experiences and environments in introductory engineering courses using responses to open-ended items in end-of-semester student evaluations of teaching surveys. Results show that participants strive to integrate strategies that promote effective learning despite challenges posed by learning environments, although the expected benefits from these strategies may not always be realized. Students and instructors may benefit from a student-focused, collaborative and holistic course planning process that considers interacting introductory engineering courses as a foundational curriculum within engineering curricula, and that involves v instructors as equal partners in the planning process. Student feedback may be included in the course planning process by productively and meaningfully using students’ responses to end-of-semester student evaluations of teaching surveys. Overall, the results of this dissertation highlight the importance of institutional support, collaboration, and integrating student feedback in the quest for facilitating effective learning environments and positive learning experiences in engineering.

According to a report from McAfee, the global cost of cybercrime for 2020 was over one trillion dollars (Smith, Z. et al., 2020). Cybersecurity breaches and attacks have not only cost businesses and organizations millions of dollars but have also threatened national security and critical infrastructure. Examples include the Ransomware attack in May of 2021 on the largest fuel pipeline in the United States and the February 2021 remote access system breach of a Florida water treatment facility which raised sodium hydroxide to a lethal level. Improving cybersecurity requires a skilled workforce with relevant knowledge and skills. Academic degree programs, boot camps, and various certification programs provide education and training to assist this need. Cyber ranges are a more recent development to provide hands-on skill training. These ranges, often virtual, provide a safe and accessible environment to improve practical skills and experience through hands-on application. They provide a training environment to identify threats, apply countermeasures, and secure data from risks separately from the organization's actual network. More and more academic programs utilize cyber ranges due to the perceived benefit of integrating them into their cybersecurity-related programs. Academic cyber ranges offer virtualized environments that support cybersecurity educators' needs to provide students with a safe, separated, and engaging environment. The purpose of my research has two components: 1) to understand who the educators are using academic-facing cyber ranges and how they are using them to support their cybersecurity education efforts, and 2) to understand how cybersecurity educators and students are motivated by using them. Specifically, my research is comprised of three manuscripts: (1) a mixed-method exploratory study of who are the educators using cyber ranges for cybersecurity education and how they are using them to create significant cybersecurity learning experiences, (2) a mixed-method study exploring the motivation of educators using a cyber range for cybersecurity education, and (3) a mixed-method study exploring student motivation participating in cybersecurity CTF competitions. The three manuscripts contribute to understanding cyber ranges in cybersecurity education. The results from my research provided insight from the users of these cyber ranges, cybersecurity educators and students. Results from my first manuscript suggested that high school cybersecurity educators are the primary users. These educators have less formal cybersecurity education and experience compared to cybersecurity educators in higher education. The data also showed that cybersecurity educators primarily used cyber ranges for teaching and learning to meet learning goals and objectives. Results from my second manuscript suggested that educators were motivated mainly by the importance of using a cyber range for cybersecurity education and for the interest-enjoyment their students experience from cyber range usage. Educators found using the cyber range made their class more engaging and relevant to their students.These educators were also confident they could use a cyber range and learn how to use it. However, those without prior experience in cybersecurity or previous experience using a cyber range shared they needed instructor-facing resources, professional development opportunities, and time to learn. Results from my third manuscript suggested that students were motivated by the importance of participating in a cybersecurity CTF competition. Many reported that participating was useful for developing professional skills and readiness. Although CTF competitions were considered difficult and stressful, students did not consider the difficulty pejorative. Many shared that challenging CTFs contributed towards the enjoyment of participating, making them a rewarding and worthwhile experience. However, students also shared that academic and team support contributed towards their confidence in competing. In contrast, those who did not report confidence, stated they lacked a team strategy or support from their academic institution. Additionally, they did not know what to expect to prepare before the competition event. Overall, the results of this dissertation highlight the importance of prior preparation for educators and student CTF participants. For educators, this prior preparation includes curriculum supporting resources such as content mapping to learning objectives and professional development opportunities that do not assume any prior knowledge or experience. For students, prior preparation includes understanding what to expect and recommendations for academic and team support. / Doctor of Philosophy / The technology era has enabled a global connectedness to attend conferences and meetings via our laptop computers while working from home. The proliferation of smart devices has also provided a means to view and communicate with visitors who ring our smart doorbells while we are not home. This interconnected network, i.e., the Internet, has altered how we pay our bills, buy our groceries, and attend classes virtually. It has also enabled cyber attacks and breaches that have contributed to identity thefts, increasing financial costs, business collapses, job losses, and even threatened national security. A cybersecurity workforce has become increasingly vital to address the need for improving cybersecurity. Thus, there is a need for academic cybersecurity programs to prepare future professionals to fill this national workforce shortfall. Consequently, more and more organizations have integrated cyber ranges as the means to provide a simulated environment for applying and developing cybersecurity-related knowledge and skills. Similar to a driving range for a golfer to practice their golf swing or a shooting range for those in law enforcement to earn their firearms qualifications, a cyber range supports efforts to provide cybersecurity training with hands-on exercises and labs to practice skills in a safe, virtual environment. My research contributes to understanding who uses cyber ranges and how they are motivated to use them for cybersecurity education. The first purpose of my research was to understand the educators who were using cyber ranges and how they were using them for cybersecurity education. More specifically, I examined their usage for alignment with a learning taxonomy to verify the usage contributed to successful and significant student learning. This understanding contributed to my research's second purpose, which explored how educators were motivated using cyber ranges. The third purpose of my study explored student motivation using a cyber range. Due to varying cyber range resources and activities, my research focused on the cybersecurity competition activity, Capture the Flag (CTF). This study provided an understanding of how students who participated in a cybersecurity CTF competition were motivated. My research demonstrates that educators and students are interested in using cyber ranges and believe using them for cybersecurity education and professional readiness is important. However, both educators and students who lack prior knowledge or experience using a cyber range or participating in a CTF shared the concern of not knowing what they do not know. PD time and instructor-facing resources that do not assume any prior cybersecurity knowledge were recommended to support educators who did not have a background or experience in cybersecurity. Students shared that although not knowing was stressful and made participating difficult, the difficulty and stress were good attributes because if the CTF were easy, it wouldn't be worth their time and would be less rewarding. Students also reported that team strategies and academic support were motivational aspects of CTF participation. Overall, educators and students were motivated using cyber ranges for cybersecurity education, but professional development and preparation resources would contribute positively to their usage.

Research reviews have shown that the use of formative assessment in classroom practice can substantially improve student achievement. However, a strong research base about how to support teachers’ implementation of such formative classroom practice is lacking. In this thesis, I investigate the effects of a comprehensive professional development programme (PDP) in formative assessment on teachers’ classroom practice and students’ achievement in mathematics. In addition, I identify reasons for the changes made in the teachers’ formative classroom practice. Fourteen randomly selected year - 7 mathematics teachers participated in the PDP. The teachers’ formative classroom practice before and after attending the programme was analysed and described, and reasons for their change in practice were explored. The effect of the changes in formative classroom practice on students’ mathematics achievement was examined using pre- and post-tests administered to both the intervention group and a control group. A mixed methods approach with classroom observations, teacher interviews, questionnaires and student achievement tests in mathematics was used in the studies included in the thesis. The results show that the teachers used aspects of formative assessment in their classroom practice before the PDP, but that there was plenty of room for development towards a more effective formative assessment practice. Several possibilities for developing the practice were identified. After the PDP the teachers believed in the idea of formative assessment and were motivated to make changes towards a more formative classroom practice. The teachers included new formative assessment activities in their classroom practice, but in different ways and to different degrees. The characteristics of these changes were identified, and also the characteristics of the PDP that the teachers found to be influential for their development of the formative classroom practice. Results also show that the teachers’ motivational beliefs held after the PDP was an explanatory factor for their changes in practice. However, the formative assessment practice the teachers implemented did not have a significant effect on their students’ achievement compared to the control group. In addition, there was no correlation between the number of formative assessment activities implemented by the teachers and their students’ achievement gains. Reasons for these non-effects on student achievement, and for the teachers’ degree and type of implementation of formative assessment in the classroom practice, are discussed in the thesis.

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.

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

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.