Abstrakt I dagens skola finns ett stort fokus på hög måluppfyllelse, bedömning och betyg. Enligt forskning är det av stor vikt att eleven själv har en inre motivation och känner tillit till sitt lärande. Detta går emot dagens mål- och betygshets och påverkar elevens motivation negativt. En stor andel av eleverna i studien indikerar lågt självförtroende, omotivation och känsla av inkompetens på matematiklektionerna. Vi vet att motivation har stor betydelse för lärande men hur skapas en sådan undervisning? Vi tror att motiverade elever med ett gott självförtroende når en högre måluppfyllelse, därför är syftet med studien att ta reda på hur undervisning kan bedrivas så att elevers matematiska självförtroende och motivation gynnas. Fokus är de elever som befaras utveckla matematiksvårigheter.  Studien är kvalitativ och data har samlats in via elevenkäter, lärarintervjuer och observationer i årskurs 4 och 5 på två skolor i två kommuner. Det teoretiska ramverket i studien är Self Determination Theory (SDT) samt sociokulturell teori. Teorierna har använts vid utformande av datainsamlingsmetoderna och i analys.  I resultatet ser vi exempel på elevers önskan att erbjudas undervisning som bygger på samarbete med en eller flera och få stöd från föräldrar och kamrater för att lära sig matematik. Det framkom även att lärare såg formativ återkoppling och att erbjuda uppgifter som kan lösas på olika nivåer som viktigt. Lärare har viss kunskap om hur stor betydelse motivation och självförtroende i matematik har, men de behöver bättre förutsättningar och mer kunskap. Vi hoppas att studien kan bidra till mer kunskap och därmed högre måluppfyllelse.

Despite the vast research on the productive aspect of rewards, little is known on how the changes in employees’ behaviour, made to enhance their chances of achieving a reward, influence employee well-being. Previous work has failed to address the process of reward-seeking behaviour from an employee’s point of view as the focus was on the motivational aspect of rewards. This thesis uses the case of Malta’s financial institutions to examine the relationship between reward-seeking behaviour from bonuses and promotions and employee well-being by drawing on expectancy theory and self-determination theory. To achieve its aims, this study adopts a qualitative approach, wherein 42 semi-structured interviews with employees and four interviews with human resources managers are conducted at financial institutions in Malta – two of which are small and medium-sized enterprises and one is a large-sized institution. Memos and diary notes are also used to complement the data collected from the semi-structured interviews. Overall, the results strongly support the idea that while almost everyone values rewards, employees differ in their willingness to engage in reward-seeking behaviour and its influence on well-being. This thesis contributes to knowledge through the development of a theoretical model – the four quadrant reward-seeking behaviour – well-being model. This typology based model classifies employees into four main categories, namely, highly motivated, apathetic, work-life balanced and work-life imbalanced. This two by two matrix also led to another model that depicts reward-seeking behaviour and well-being as a non-sequential process. The findings have practical implications for human resources practitioners as they now have the capacity to visualise the actual employee mix according to the categories of the model and act on any significant gaps.

DSM-5 har valt att klassificera spelmissbruk som ett substansrelaterat missbruk då forskningen på området har funnit många likheter med substansmissbruk vad gäller förhöjd tolerans, sämre beslutsförmåga och lägre impulsförmåga. Dock har det väckts kritiska röster beträffande generaliseringen av gruppen spelmissbrukare, och forskare menar att beroende på om personer vänder sig till så kallade skicklighetsspel eller chansspel, finns det olika bakomliggande orsaker till varför människor börjar spela om pengar.  Syftet med denna studie har därför varit att analysera likheter och skillnader i hur svenska skicklighetsspelare och chansspelare beskriver sina upplevelser och erfarenheter av att vara spelmissbrukare. Studien har baserats på totalt åtta kvalitativa intervjuer med respondenter inom respektive grupp. Intervjuerna utgick från semistrukturerade frågor som berörde respondenternas tidigare relation till spel, vad som fick dem att börja samt hur det utvecklades till ett spelmissbruk. Respondenternas utsagor bearbetades genom tematisk analys. Resultatet visade skillnader mellan grupperna vad gäller motivationen till att börja spela då skicklighetsspelarna upplevde ett större nöje och underhållning till spelet medan chansspelarna såg spelet som en konsekvens eller nödvändighet på grund av den rådande livssituationen. Likheterna mellan grupperna blev tydliga i takt med mer frekvent spelande, då framförallt verklighetensflykten och jakten på ekonomiska kompensation var centrala faktorer. Studien har bidragit till en djupare förståelse kring spelmissbrukares upplevelser och kan vara till hjälp för framtida forskning som vill titta närmare på skillnader inom gruppen spelmissbrukare. Studien kan även vara till hjälp för professionella som möter spelmissbrukare och som strävar efter att anpassa behandlingen beroende på vilken speltyp som konsumeras.

Detta arbete är en systematisk litteraturstudie med syftet att ta reda på om och i så fall hur undervisningen kan påverka elevers motivation och attityd till ämnet matematik och hur undervisningen kan utformas för att eleverna ska utveckla motivation och positiv attityd till matematik. Studiens resultat baseras på 15 stycken kvalitetsgranskade artiklar som tagits fram via systematiska databassökningar. Dessa artiklar har sedan mynnat ut i olika kategorier som resultatet presenteras i med hjälp av innehållsanalys. Resultatet visar bland annat att motivation och attityd går att påverka med hjälp av lärarens förväntningar på eleven. Resultatet visar även att elevernas motivation hänger samman med vad de har för prestationsmål, achievement goal och att lärandemål är att föredra framför resultatmål.

There is a need to explore ways to better motivate students in instruction, as student motivation is an issue confronting teachers at all levels of education. Instructor-student rapport (ISR), a multidimensional concept comprised of students’ enjoyable interaction and personal connection with instructors, has potential to offer educators a tool for increasing these important student outcomes. Further, self-determination theory (SDT) may have utility for illustrating the psychological mechanisms through which instructors influence students by building rapport. First, this study explored what behaviors instructors should employ to build ISR with students. Specifically, prosocial humor (related and unrelated) and confirmation (responding to questions, demonstrating interest, ad teaching style) were investigated as instructor rapport-building behaviors. Results showed that instructors’ use of related humor, demonstration of interest, and teaching style were significant predictors of both dimensions of ISR; mixed results were found for both responding to questions and unrelated humor. Second, this study considered whether ISR was a significant predictor of student outcomes: intrinsic motivation, perceived cognitive learning, and academic performance. While enjoyable interaction was a significant, positive predictor of all three outcomes, personal connection was not a significant, positive predictor of any student outcomes. In fact, personal connection was a significant, negative predictor of perceived cognitive learning. Third, this study explored whether ISR served as a mediator between these rapport-building behaviors and student outcomes as posited by SDT. Enjoyable interaction was a significant mediator in a majority of the models. However, personal connection was not a positive mediator in any models and served as a negative mediator when predicting perceived cognitive learning. Theoretical implications for this study’s findings, along with practical tips for instructors hoping to build ISR with students, are forwarded. In addition, future directions and limitations are discussed.

In the present study, I examined how the quality of relatedness (operationalized as Mutually Responsive Orientation) in the mother-child relationship in kindergarten students affects the association between the mother's values about school and the child's emotional engagement in school. Relatedness, as described by Self-Determination Theory, posits when a child feels a sense of relatedness—supported, respected, and connected with another individual—the child will be more likely to integrate that person's values into their own belief system. Sixty-six mother-child dyads were observed and videotaped doing four everyday activities (mother worked while child played independently, mother and child had a snack, mother and child played a game, mother and child cleaned up). In addition, the mothers filled out a questionnaire reporting their own valuing of school, and children participated in the Berkeley Puppet Interview, a semi-structured interview between researcher and child in which children reported their levels of emotional engagement in school to two dog puppets. Data were coded and then analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Relatedness between mother and child was found to have a moderating effect on the relation between mothers' values about school and children's school engagement. The strongest relation between mothers' values and children's school engagement was found when mother-child relatedness was low. When mother-child relatedness was high, the engagement of the child was not affected by the mother's valuing of school. The study findings offer implications for how children experiencing high levels of relatedness with their mothers will be able to be more successful in the school setting, regardless of the mothers' valuing of their own school experiences.

At least one third of college students enrolled in a given year take at least one course that is 80%+ online delivery (Allen & Seaman, 2015). This number has increased from 10% of students just within the last decade. Given this increase, the need for instructional communication research in this context has also grown. One construct that has had little attention in online settings is that of perceived instructor caring. Caring instructors are perceived as concerned, sensitive, not self-centered, and having students’ best interests at heart (McCroskey & Teven, 1999). Caring has the potential to impact various aspects of student success, but has seen limited application in online learning research. Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) uses the term relatedness, and assess the impact on motivation; however, this has also been applied very little in online settings. Guided by self-determination theory, the purpose of this dissertation is to explore perceptions of instructor caring in online education environments, to compare student and faculty views of instructor caring, explore the measurement of mediated instructor caring, and to test a mediation model proposing that perceived instructor caring, autonomy, and competence impacts perceived cognitive learning with motivation and affect as mediators. To do this, the author conducted two mixed-methods studies to compare instructor and student perceptions of caring, validate the measurement of caring, and test the model. Findings seek to improve understanding of how these constructs operate in online learning contexts and to assess self-determination theory for use in online settings, as well as to guide future research in various contexts of instructional communication.

<p>This dissertation aimed to study the effects of rationale generation on college students’ autonomous motivation. Specific research questions were: (1) to investigate the relations among rationale generation, motivation, and learning through the lens of SDT; (2) to examine the causal effects of rationale generation on autonomous motivation and learning performance; and (3) to understand students’ perceptions of successful motivation strategies during uninteresting but required academic activity. An explanatory sequential mixed method design was used to answer these questions. </p>

The Pilot Work Requirement (PWR) for the Housing Authority of San Bernardino is a mandated welfare to work program that was implemented with the goal of promoting self-sufficiency of its residents. Self-sufficiency is both economic and psychological. Participants in welfare-to-work programs view self-sufficiency as a process which includes empowerment, autonomy and confidence and not attainable without motivation. This study measured participant motivation in relation to the PWR program and how it correlates psychological self-sufficiency. The findings of this study suggest that PWR participants have accepted the mandate and have integrated the values of work, education and volunteerism, as their own. And that the PWR participants have psychological self-sufficiency. This study provides more insight about the psychological process of self-sufficiency as residents work towards achieving the goal of economic self-sufficiency.

Cette recherche vise à évaluer l’influence de la rémunération fixe et de la rémunération variable sur la motivation autonome au travail. La recherche mobilise la théorie de l’autodétermination. Elle se compose de deux études distinctes basées sur deux échantillons de 147 puis de 137 salariés de la même coopérative viti-vinicole. La première étude a pour objectif de tester un modèle de recherche qui tente d’expliquer les effets du niveau de rémunération fixe sur la motivation autonome et la satisfaction au travail ainsi que sur un ensemble de comportements reliés. Les résultats supportent l’hypothèse que le support organisationnel perçu médiatise totalement la relation entre la rémunération fixe et la motivation autonome. Cette étude supporte également les hypothèses que la motivation autonome médiatise totalement la relation entre le soutien organisationnel perçu et l’engagement, puis que l’engagement médiatise totalement la relation entre la motivation autonome et la satisfaction au travail.La deuxième étude a pour objectif de tester un modèle de recherche qui tente d’expliquer les effets modérateurs des rémunérations variables sur la relation entre la motivation autonome et la performance au travail. Les effets modérateurs des rémunérations variables individuelles et collectives sont étudiés de façon différenciée sur différentes facettes de la performance : dans la tâche, contextuelle et adaptative. Les résultats de l’étude supportent l’hypothèse que la motivation autonome est positivement reliée à la performance dans la tâche, contextuelle et adaptative. Cette étude supporte également l’hypothèse que les primes individuelles modèrent positivement la relation entre la motivation autonome et les différentes facettes de la performance. / This research aims to evaluate the influence of fixed and variable compensation on autonomous motivation at work. The research mobilizes the self-determination theory. It consists of two separate studies based on two samples of 147 and 137 employees of the same wine cooperative. The aim of the first study is to test a research model that attempts to explain the effects of the fixed compensation level on autonomous motivation and job satisfaction, as well as on a set of related behaviors. The results support the hypothesis that perceived organizational support fully mediates the relationship between fixed compensation and autonomous motivation. This study also supports the hypothesis that autonomous motivation fully mediates the relationship between perceived organizational support and engagement, and that engagement fully mediates the relationship between autonomous motivation and job satisfaction. The aim of the second study is to test a research model that attempts to explain the moderating effects of variable compensation on the relationship between autonomous motivation and performance at work. The moderating effects of individual and collective compensation are studied in a differentiated way. Similarly, task, contextual and adaptive performance is examined in a differentiated way. The results of the study support the hypothesis that autonomous motivation is positively related to, task, contextual and adaptive performance. This study also supports the hypothesis that individual compensation positively moderates the relationship between autonomous motivation and the different facets of performance.