Relationships between the perceived value of instructional techniques and academic motivation / Meera Komarraju, Steven J. Karau

Despite a large volume of research examining instructional strategies and student learning, very little research has examined relationships between students' percep-tions of the value of specific instructional techniques and academic motivation. In the current research, college students (172 undergraduates) completed scales assessing the perceived value of course websites, active learning, and traditional lectures, as well as the Academic Motivations Inventory (AMI; Moen & Doyle, 1977). Results showed a complex pattern of significant correlations that was simplified when exam-ining the three key factors of academic motivation. Specifically, stepwise regression analysis showed that engagement was positively related with the perceived value of all three instructional techniques, whereas avoidance was not significantly related with any. Achievement motivation was positively related with the perceived value of traditional lectures. These results suggest that students with different types of academic motivation respond differently to specific instructional techniques and that a variety of strategies may need to be activated to reach all students. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Psychology.