<div>
<p>According to self-determination theory (SDT), the
extent to which students’ motivation is self-determined is critical for their
academic performance. When self-determined, students learn because of personal
interest or identification, out of a sense of volition, as opposed to pressure
or indifference. SDT also proposes that self-determined academic motivation is
facilitated when the learning environment supports the basic psychological
needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. This model of social support à
needs satisfaction à motivation à learning outcomes is
termed the general self-determination theory model (hereafter the General
Model), and numerous studies have provided support for it. </p>
<p>However, the current evidence regarding the
General Model is limited, in that no study to date has examined it in its full
using within-individual methods. Between-individual analytical methods answer
the question of whether a person with higher response on variable A is also
more likely to report higher levels of B, whereas within-individual analytical
methods answer the question of whether the same person is more likely to
experience variable B when reporting experiences of A. Despite the popularity
of between-individual methods in educational psychology, they may not be able
to reveal the within-person relationships between variables, which are critical
for understanding inner psychological processes and mechanisms. </p>
<p>Therefore, the current study aims to apply a
within-individual analytical approach to the General Model, using a large
dataset collected at Purdue over several years. Specifically, in the current
dataset, not only may a student provide multiple responses, but also the same
classroom contain various students’ responses. Therefore, a cross-classified
path model is used, such that the General Model is analyzed under the framework
of “responses cross-classified under students and classrooms”. This model
enables me to explain the variance-covariance matrix of the variables using the
General Model on three levels: the situational (within-student and
within-classroom) level, the student level, and the classroom level.</p>
<p>Results generally supported the predictions of the
General Model on the within-individual, within-classroom level. That is, for
the same student, in the same classroom, when she or he experiences higher
levels of autonomy support, they would also be more likely to have their
psychological needs satisfied, and to study for self-determined reasons, which
is then associated with higher perceived learning performance. Unexpected
findings include the dominant effect of competence, the direct effects of
learning climate and competence, and the lack of relationship between grades
and other variables. The General Model is also largely replicated on the
student- and classroom-levels.</p>
<p>In addition, supplemental analyses showed that (1)
although the general trend of motivation and perceived learning climate across
one’s college life is null, the trend is moderated by major, such that students
in business-related majors decrease in self-determined motivation and
perceptions of autonomy support, whereas students in social sciences increase
in self-determined motivation and perceptions of autonomy support; (2) there is
limited and inconsistent support for a buffer effect, such that the higher
autonomy and competence needs satisfaction students generally get, the lower
their needs satisfaction in a specific classroom depends on the learning
climate. Overall, the current research provides a comprehensive and multilevel
understanding of the role of self-determination in the classroom.</p></div>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/7653032 |
| Date | 15 May 2019 |
| Creators | Shi Yu (5930456) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/A_Cross-Classified_Path_Analysis_of_the_General_Self-Determination_Theory_Model_on_Situational_Individual_and_Classroom_Levels/7653032 |
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