Comparing Relations among Autonomy Support, Motivation, and Outcomes Across Online and Face-to-Face STEM Learning Environments

• In Event: Motivation and Cognition in STEM

Abstract

Students’ motivational beliefs are shaped by their learning environments, which COVID-19 altered significantly. The critical role of students’ motivational beliefs in online learning environments has been documented, but gaps exist in understanding how perceptions of support shape these beliefs and subsequently learning outcomes. Thus, we compared levels and relations among students’ motivational beliefs and perceptions of support across online and face-to-face contexts. Multigroup structural equational analyses using short-term longitudinal data collected from 2,057 undergraduate STEM students across two cohorts (Fall 2019 and Fall 2020) showed similar relationships between focus variables across two cohorts, and mean level difference only in students’ career intentions. Results extend theoretical understanding of the roles of learning environments and the pandemic in shaping students’ motivational beliefs.

Authors

• Sanheeta Shankar, McGill University
  Presenting Author

• Kristy A. Robinson, McGill University
  Presenting Author