The Effects of Contrasting Learning Environments on Students’ Motivation for Learning and Their Achievement

• In Event: Motivating Learning Settings

Abstract

This study investigates students’ motivation for learning and their achievement in contrasting learning environments. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was set up, consisting of four learning environments comprising either lectures, or case-based learning or a combination of both. Participants were 1098 student teachers, who took a course on child development. Results showed that students’ autonomous motivation for learning and their achievement was significantly higher in the gradually implemented case-based setting, in which lectures gradually made way for case-based learning, compared to the total case-based setting, in which students only received case-based learning. No significant interaction effects were found between the learning environment and the interpersonal context (teacher autonomy support, teacher structure, teacher involvement) on students’ motivation for learning and their achievement.

Authors

• Marlies Baeten, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

• Filip J.R.C. Dochy, University of Leuven