Poster #24 - The effects of art-based programs on academic motivation: Preliminary results

• In Event: Poster Session 12

Abstract

The aim of the present poster presentation is to share preliminary results regarding the effects on motivation of art-based programs.

Such programs have been implemented in several public schools in the province of Quebec (Canada) in an attempt to compete with the private school network which is reputed to offer more stimulating and better fitted learning experiences. These particular art programs would have the merit to provide students with a personalized learning experience as they mobilize skills and nurture interests that are usually less solicited in the school context. However, there are scarce evidence regarding their effects.

We wanted to generate and eventually share such evidence since they may serve to school administrators and professionals that are considering the option of implementing and offering such programs. To do so, at the beginning and the end of the school year 2021-2022, we surveyed a total of 1598 students (870 girls) from grades 5 to 11 in two different school districts located in Montreal suburbs regarding their general academic motivation. More precisely, we documented their expectancies of success (i.e. competence beliefs) and the value they place on learning (i.e. interest in learning, utility value of learning, mastery performance and work avoidance goals). Changes in these perceptions were examined with repeated-measures multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) taking into account grade level and program effects. Our preliminary results indicate, in general, that competence beliefs, interest, utility value and mastery and performance goals all deteriorated while avoidance goals increased over the school year. A grade level comparison allows to note that the more students were advanced in their schooling, the less favorable were their perceptions. When comparing students experiencing and not experiencing an art program, it appears that the students experiencing such a program expressed themselves more negatively regarding the interest and utility value of learning, they were less oriented toward mastery goals and more oriented toward avoidance goals. It is important to mention that these students reported also lower results in maths and Language (French) in their last report card before the data collection.

These results coincide with the seminal work in the field of academic motivation that indicate that motivation tend to diminish as students progress in grades. We expected the students experiencing an art-based program to share more positive perceptions, but it was not the case. In fact, when we considered their results, we were allowed to note that they compared themselves disadvantageously prior to their enrolment in an art program which may explain why they seem to be less motivated. Of course, these are only preliminary results and further analyses are needed to accurately estimate the effects of such programs.

Authors

• Jonathan Smith, University of Sherbrooke
  Presenting Author

• Fanny-Alexandra Guimond, University of Ottawa

• Jérôme St-Amand, University of Quebec at Outaouais