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Student Perceptions of Teacher Motivational Support: A Latent Profile Analysis

Fri, April 12, 7:45 to 9:15am, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Floor: Level 100, Room 115C

Abstract

Purpose & Background
Decades of motivation research highlight the critical role of motivation in supporting academic success (Howard et al., 2021), with varying educational contexts differentially supporting students’ motivation (Robinson, 2023). Instructional recommendations for supporting motivation overlap across theories such that one can derive a set of integrative motivational design principles (MDPs; Linnenbrink-Garcia et al., 2016). To date, however, little research employs this integrative theoretical framework to investigate how MDPs are enacted and support students’ motivation. We used a person-oriented approach to investigate patterns of students’ perceptions of teachers’ instructional supports for motivation, how these patterns relate to students’ motivation and whether profile membership varies by classroom.

Method
Participants were 280 7th grade students from 16 science classrooms whose teachers were implementing five MDPs (Belonging, Confidence, Learning Orientation, Autonomy, and Relevance) during a science unit. Students completed pre-unit surveys that assessed multiple forms of student motivation (expectancies, task values, achievement goals, need satisfaction) and post-unit surveys that assessed student motivation and perceptions of teachers’ instructional support/thwarts for the five MDPs. We used latent profile analysis to identify profiles of perceived motivational support/thwarts and the manual BCH procedure to examine differences in motivation across profiles (Asparouhov & Muthén, 2021).

Findings
A four-profile solution fit the data best (Figure 1). Profile 1 (n = 37) was characterized by low-moderate multiple positive teacher motivational supports. Profile 2 (n = 12), the smallest, was characterized by moderate multiple positive teacher motivational supports alongside high belonging thwarts and performance-approach goals supports. Profile 3 (n = 120), the largest, was characterized by moderate belonging, learning, and confidence supports with low belonging thwarts and performance-approach goal supports. Lastly, Profile 4 (n = 111) was characterized by high multiple positive teacher motivational supports and low thwarts. Controlling for pre-motivation, Profile 4 showed the most positive patterns of student motivation (Table 1). In contrast, students most likely to be in Profile 3 or Profile 1, had more moderate and low motivation, respectively. Interestingly, students most likely to be in Profile 2 had the highest performance-approach goals and among the lowest levels of positive student motivation. Results suggest variation in perceived teacher instructional supports across classes (Table 2). For instance, about one-third of the students in classrooms 4, 8, 10, and 16 were most likely to belong to Profile 1 even though only 13% of the sample belonged to this profile. Several other classrooms (2, 3, 13) had a majority of students most likely in Profile 4 with no students likely to be in Profile 1. Interestingly, most likely membership for Profile 2 was distributed across classrooms.

Significance
The results provide evidence that distinct profiles of perceived teacher motivational support exist, which shows somewhat consistent distribution within classrooms. Profile membership, in turn, differentially related to students’ end-of-unit motivation. Particularly, students who perceived higher positive teacher support showed higher positive motivation whereas students with negative perceived support had lower positive motivation but higher performance goals. Results highlight the importance of considering multiple motivational theories when creating motivationally supportive classroom environments.

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