Testing interest and self-efficacy as predictors of academic self-regulation and achievement

Abstract We examined whether individual interest, as an affective motivational variable, could predict academic self-regulation and achievement, above and beyond what academic self-efficacy predicted. We tested the relationships between academic self-efficacy, individual interest, grade goals, self-regulation, and achievement of Korean middle school students ( N  = 500) in four different subject areas. Consistent with previous findings, self-efficacy predicted achievement both directly and indirectly via grade goals. Self-efficacy also predicted self-regulation, but only when grade goals mediated the relationship. Supporting our hypothesis, individual interest functioned as a correlated yet independent and direct predictor of self-regulation. It also predicted achievement, but only when self-regulation mediated the relationship. We thus suggest that academic self-regulation could be encouraged through the promotion of two distinct motivational sources, academic self-efficacy and individual interest. We further suggest that the pathways linking individual interest to academic self-regulation and achievement may differ from those linking academic self-efficacy to the same variables.

[1]  Ulrich Schiefele,et al.  Interest, Learning, and Motivation , 1991 .

[2]  Mimi Bong,et al.  Role of Self-Efficacy and Task-Value in Predicting College Students' Course Performance and Future Enrollment Intentions. , 2001, Contemporary educational psychology.

[3]  A. Bandura.  Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control , 1997, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[4]  Frank M. Pajares,et al.  Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Academic Settings , 1996 .

[5]  T. Goetz,et al.  Academic Emotions in Students' Self-Regulated Learning and Achievement: A Program of Qualitative and Quantitative Research , 2002 .

[6]  Carol Sansone,et al.  Interest as the Missing Motivator in Self-Regulation , 2005 .

[7]  K. E. Barron,et al.  The Role of Achievement Goals in the Development of Interest: Reciprocal Relations Between Achievement Goals, Interest, and Performance , 2008 .

[8]  B. Zimmerman,et al.  Motivation An Essential Dimension of Self-Regulated Learning , 2012 .

[9]  B. Zimmerman,et al.  Self-regulated learning and academic achievement : theoretical perspectives , 2001 .

[10]  Frank Pajares,et al.  Gender and Perceived Self-Efficacy in Self-Regulated Learning , 2002 .

[11]  Steven D. Brown,et al.  Relation of self-efficacy beliefs to academic outcomes: A meta-analytic investigation. , 1991 .

[12]  Comparative Analysis of Conceptual and Algorithmic Problem Solving Ability on Boyle's Law and Charles's Law in Middle School 1st Grade Students , 2011 .

[13]  J. Eccles,et al.  Age and gender differences in children's self- and task perceptions during elementary school. , 1993, Child development.

[14]  Paul R. Pintrich,et al.  Contextual differences in student motivation and self-regulated learning in mathematics, English, and social studies classrooms , 1998 .

[15]  D. Schunk,et al.  Risk Taking: Theoretical, Empirical, and Educational Considerations , 1991 .

[16]  P. Pintrich.  A Manual for the Use of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). , 1991 .

[17]  Shelly L. Gable,et al.  Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis. , 1999 .

[18]  Suzanne Hidi,et al.  Interest: A unique motivational variable , 2006 .

[19]  M. Linn,et al.  Gender, Mathematics, and Science , 1989 .

[20]  E. Fennema,et al.  Gender differences in mathematics performance: a meta-analysis. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[21]  A. Bandura.  Social cognitive theory of self-regulation☆ , 1991 .

[22]  Seoung-Hey Paik,et al.  The Teachers` and Students` Perceptions on Lectures and Experiments of Law of Definite Proportion in Middle School Science Classes , 2012 .

[23]  E. A. Locke,et al.  Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. A 35-year odyssey. , 2002, The American psychologist.

[24]  P. Pintrich,et al.  Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. , 1990 .

[25]  B. Zimmerman,et al.  Impact of Self-Regulatory Influences on Writing Course Attainment , 1994 .

[26]  R. Azevedo,et al.  A Theoretical Review of Winne and Hadwin’s Model of Self-Regulated Learning: New Perspectives and Directions , 2007 .

[27]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .

[28]  E. A. Locke,et al.  The Relation of Self-Efficacy and Grade Goals to Academic Performance , 1987 .

[29]  Wondimu Ahmed,et al.  Emotions, Self-Regulated Learning, and Achievement in Mathematics: A Growth Curve Analysis , 2013 .

[30]  P. Hsieh,et al.  Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Beliefs, Coping Strategies, and Academic Performance: An Evaluation of Theoretical Models , 2012 .

[31]  Mimi Bong,et al.  Age-Related Differences in Achievement Goal Differentiation. , 2009 .

[32]  S. Hidi.  Interest, Reading, and Learning: Theoretical and Practical Considerations , 2001 .

[33]  Stephanie T. Lanza,et al.  Changes in children's self-competence and values: gender and domain differences across grades one through twelve. , 2002, Child development.

[34]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models , 2004, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[35]  P. Pintrich.  The role of motivation in promoting and sustaining self-regulated learning , 1999 .

[36]  Suzanne Hidi,et al.  Interest and self-regulation: Relationships between two variables that influence learning. , 2008 .

[37]  Philip H. Winne,et al.  Self-regulated learning viewed from models of information processing. , 2001 .

[38]  P. Pintrich,et al.  Handbook of self-regulation , 2000 .

[39]  K. E. Ablard,et al.  Self-regulated learning in high-achieving students: Relations to advanced reasoning, achievement goals, and gender. , 1998 .

[40]  Frank Pajares,et al.  SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS, MOTIVATION, AND ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE , 2003 .

[41]  Suzanne Hidi,et al.  Interest and Its Contribution as a Mental Resource for Learning , 1990 .

[42]  B. Zimmerman,et al.  Student Differences in Self-Regulated Learning: Relating Grade, Sex, and Giftedness to Self-Efficacy and Strategy Use. , 1990 .

[43]  B. Zimmerman,et al.  Motivation and Self-Regulated Learning: Theory, Research, and Applications , 2009 .

[44]  J. Meece,et al.  Gender, Self-Regulation, and Motivation , 2012 .

[45]  B. Zimmerman.  Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement: An Overview , 1990 .

[46]  Ulrich Trautwein,et al.  Academic self-concept, interest, grades, and standardized test scores: reciprocal effects models of causal ordering. , 2005, Child development.

[47]  S. Karabenick,et al.  Motivation and students’ use of learning strategies: Evidence of unidirectional effects in mathematics classrooms , 2011 .

[48]  J. Eccles,et al.  Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. , 2002, Annual review of psychology.

[49]  B. Zimmerman.  Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview , 2002 .

[50]  B. Byrne.  Testing for Multigroup Invariance Using AMOS Graphics: A Road Less Traveled , 2004 .

[51]  S. Hidi,et al.  The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development , 2006 .

[52]  Ellen L. Usher,et al.  Sources of self-efficacy in mathematics: A validation study , 2009 .

[53]  Ulrich Schiefele,et al.  Interest as a predictor of academic achievement: A meta-analysis of research. , 1992 .

[54]  Eunjeong Yun,et al.  Investigation of Scientific Terms in Physics Units of Middle School Science Textbooks , 2011 .

[55]  M. Boekaerts,et al.  Self-Regulation in the Classroom: A Perspective on Assessment and Intervention , 2005 .

[56]  M. Linn,et al.  Gender differences in verbal ability: A meta-analysis. , 1988 .

[57]  Tapabrata Maiti,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling (2nd ed.) , 2006 .

[58]  J. Harackiewicz,et al.  Motivating the Academically Unmotivated: A Critical Issue for the 21st Century , 2000 .

[59]  B. Zimmerman,et al.  Self-Motivation for Academic Attainment: The Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Personal Goal Setting , 1992, American Educational Research Journal.

[60]  P. Pintrich.  The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. , 2000 .