Multidimensional Goals Matter: How Teachers’ Educational Goals Shape Motivational Task Design and Student Motivation

• In Event: Beyond Mere Performance: Educational Equity and Effectiveness in International Large-Scale Assessment Research

Abstract

Objectives. This study examines how mathematics teachers’ educational goals relate to the motivational potential of tasks and how this, in turn, is associated with students’ self-determined motivation.
Current research perspectives. In the sense of multidimensional educational goals, teaching aims to foster students’ competencies and socio-emotional aspects as motivation (Schiepe-Tiska et al., 2016). Recent work highlights the importance of treating motivation as an outcome of mathematics instruction. Despite its relevance, little is known about how mathematics instruction can deliberately support students’ engagement (Schukajlow et al., 2023). While motivation research mainly focuses on students’ subjective perceptions of instruction, studies emphasize the importance of objective classroom characteristics (Reeve, 2002). One such observable classroom characteristic is tasks used in the lessons, especially in mathematics (Neubrand et al., 2011). Regarding educational effectiveness, the present study emphasizes broader goals (student motivation), adopting a multilevel perspective that includes the student and the classroom level.
Methods. Data was collected within Germany’s PISA 2022 additional study, PISA-Ceco, involving N = 41 observed mathematics lessons, N = 418 tasks, and N = 531 ninth-grade students. A pre-lesson questionnaire assessed teachers’ educational goals. Their open responses were coded dichotomously as cognitive or non-cognitive. One variable was created to distinguish between cognitive-only and multidimensional goals (cognitive and non-cognitive), as non-cognitive goals alone were too rare. Task characteristics from tasks used during the lesson were coded using the scheme by Heinle et al. (2022). A unidimensional IRT model was applied to compute a continuous score of motivational task potential. To assess students’ motivation, a post-lesson questionnaire was used to measure their self-determined motivation (identified and intrinsic motivation). Given the nested data structure, multilevel path models were estimated in Mplus.
Results. We estimated two multilevel path models to examine the effects on students’ self-determined motivation: one predicting identified motivation and one intrinsic (see Figure 1). Looking at the model predicting identified motivation, the results indicate that teachers who report pursuing multidimensional educational goals tend to assign tasks with higher motivational potential (ß = 0.292, SE = 0.154, p = 0.058). Moreover, tasks with higher motivational potential positively correlate with identified motivation (β = 360, SE = 0.168, p = 0.032). At the same time, however, a multidimensional goal orientation shows a negative direct association with identified motivation (β = –0.481, SE = 0.182, p = 0.008), suggesting that multidimensional goals may not consistently be implemented student-centered. In the model predicting intrinsic motivation, only the previously observed positive link between multidimensional goal setting and the motivational potential of tasks remained significant (ß = 0.301, SE = 0.154, p = 0.051).
Discussion. Overall, the findings underscore the relevance of multidimensional goal setting by teachers for their task design, an aspect that has received limited attention in educational research and practice. Moreover, the study reveals a previously underexplored link between the motivational potential of tasks and students’ identified motivation. This is particularly relevant given that motivation research has focused mainly on students’ perceptions, while overlooking objective instructional features such as tasks.

Authors

• Pia Todtenhöfer, Technical University of Munich

• Anja Schiepe-Tiska, Koblenz University