Student-centred and teacher-centred learning environment in pre-vocational secondary education: Psychological needs, and motivation

In this study the perception of psychological needs and motivation in a student-centred and a teacher-centred learning environment are compared, using Self Determination Theory as a framework. The self-report Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was completed by 230 students (mean age 16.1 years) in pre-vocational secondary education. School records on absenteeism and achievement were also analysed. As predicted, multi-level analyses showed that students in the student-centred learning environment reported higher levels of perceived autonomy, competence, relatedness and motivation, measured by pleasure and effort. Furthermore, boys were less absent. Achievement shows no differences. These results suggest that a student-centred form of learning can be more beneficial for students' motivation if granted autonomy is embedded in a supportive environment.

[1]  Alberto R. Gonzales,et al.  Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention , 1998 .

[2]  E. Deci,et al.  Engaging students in learning activities: It is not autonomy support or structure but autonomy support and structure. , 2010 .

[3]  D. Schunk,et al.  Self-Efficacy and Academic Motivation , 2002 .

[4]  P. Sleegers,et al.  New Learning and the Classification of Learning Environments in Secondary Education , 2004 .

[5]  E. Deci,et al.  Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. , 2000, Contemporary educational psychology.

[6]  M. Boekaerts,et al.  The relationship between the quality of cooperative learning, students' goal preferences, and perceptions of contextual factors in the classroom. , 2006, Scandinavian journal of psychology.

[7]  Jacquelynne S. Eccles,et al.  Schools, Academic Motivation, and Stage‐Environment Fit , 2009 .

[8]  Terry E. Duncan,et al.  Psychometric properties of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory in a competitive sport setting: a confirmatory factor analysis. , 1989, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[9]  Paul A. Kirschner,et al.  New Learning Design in Distance Education: The impact on student perception and motivation , 2007 .

[10]  Philip C. Kendall,et al.  Handbook of research methods in clinical psychology , 1982 .

[11]  Myriam L. Baker,et al.  Truancy Reduction: Keeping Students in School. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. , 2001 .

[12]  M. Boekaerts,et al.  Bringing about Change in the Classroom: Strengths and Weaknesses of the Self-Regulated Learning Approach. EARLI Presidential Address, 2001. , 2002 .

[13]  G. A. Marcoulides,et al.  Multilevel Analysis Techniques and Applications , 2002 .

[14]  Richard E. Clark,et al.  Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching , 2006 .

[15]  Tim Urdan,et al.  Competence motivation in the classroom , 2005 .

[16]  E. Bru,et al.  Classroom Social Structure and Motivational Climates: On the influence of teachers' involvement, teachers' autonomy support and regulation in relation to motivational climates in school classrooms , 2008 .

[17]  R. Mayer.  Should there be a three-strikes rule against pure discovery learning? The case for guided methods of instruction. , 2004, The American psychologist.

[18]  C. Hmelo‐Silver,et al.  Scaffolding and Achievement in Problem-Based and Inquiry Learning: A Response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006) , 2007 .

[19]  Erik De Corte.  Designing learning environments that foster the productive use of acquired knowledge and skills , 2003 .

[20]  P. Black,et al.  Developing the theory of formative assessment , 2009 .

[21]  Bernadette Sánchez,et al.  The Role of Sense of School Belonging and Gender in the Academic Adjustment of Latino Adolescents , 2005 .

[22]  J. Neter,et al.  Applied Linear Regression Models , 1983 .

[23]  Timothy J. Robinson,et al.  Multilevel Analysis: Techniques and Applications , 2002 .

[24]  Roel Bosker,et al.  Multilevel analysis : an introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling , 1999 .

[25]  Åse Hansson.  Instructional responsibility in mathematics education: modelling classroom teaching using Swedish data , 2010 .

[26]  A. Collins,et al.  Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning , 1989 .

[27]  Jane Nady Sigmon,et al.  Truancy Reduction: Keeping Students in School , 2001 .

[28]  Erno Lehtinen,et al.  Students’ perspectives on learning environments , 2004 .

[29]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[30]  R. Martens,et al.  Inducing mind sets in self‐regulated learning with motivational information , 2010 .

[31]  T. McMahon.  STUDENT-CENTRED LEARNING: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR STUDENTS AND LECTURERS? , 2005 .

[32]  L. Leemis.  Applied Linear Regression Models , 1991 .

[33]  Andrew J. Martin.  Boys and motivation , 2003 .

[34]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Motivating Learning, Performance, and Persistence: The Synergistic Effects of Intrinsic Goal Contents and Autonomy-Supportive Contexts , 2004 .

[35]  I. Veen,et al.  Relations between adolescents’ self-evaluations, time perspectives, motivation for school and their achievement in different countries and at different ages , 2005 .

[36]  Dianne Jamieson-Noel,et al.  Implications of task structure on self‐regulated learning and achievement , 2009 .

[37]  Guy Roth,et al.  Directly controlling teacher behaviors as predictors of poor motivation and engagement in girls and boys: The role of anger and anxiety , 2005 .

[38]  D. Hebb.  Drives and the C.N.S. (conceptual nervous system). , 1955, Psychological review.

[39]  M. Ford.  Motivating Humans: Goals, Emotions, and Personal Agency Beliefs , 1992 .

[40]  A. Bandura.  Self-efficacy. I: V. S. Ramachandran (red.), Encyclopedia of human behavior (vol. s. ). New York: Academic Press. , 1994 .

[41]  M. Teasley.  Absenteeism and Truancy: Risk, Protection, and Best Practice Implications for School Social Workers. , 2004 .

[42]  Cathy Hammond,et al.  Dropout Risk Factors and Exemplary Programs: A Technical Report. , 2007 .

[43]  P. Zimbardo,et al.  Transformational Teaching: Theoretical Underpinnings, Basic Principles, and Core Methods , 2012, Educational Psychology Review.

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

[45]  R. Ryan,et al.  PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Origins and Pawns in the Classroom: Self-Report and Projective Assessments of Individual Differences in Children's Perceptions , 1986 .

[46]  Edward L. Deci,et al.  Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior , 1975, Perspectives in Social Psychology.

[47]  Robert Cannon,et al.  A Handbook for Teachers in Universities & Colleges: A Guide To Improving Teaching Methods. Third Edition. , 1992 .

[48]  Andrew J. Martin.  School motivation of boys and girls: Differences of degree, differences of kind, or both? , 2004 .

[49]  Richard M. Ryan,et al.  Autonomy and Competence in German and American University Students: A Comparative Study Based on Self-Determination Theory. , 2004 .

[50]  A. Assor,et al.  Choice is good, but relevance is excellent: autonomy-enhancing and suppressing teacher behaviours predicting students' engagement in schoolwork. , 2002, The British journal of educational psychology.

[51]  M. Segers,et al.  Effects of problem-based learning: a meta- analysis , 2003 .

[52]  S. Volet,et al.  Active Learning: Self-directed Learning and Independent Work , 2000 .

[53]  E. Skinner,et al.  Sense of Relatedness as a Factor in Children's Academic Engagement and Performance. , 2003 .

[54]  Erno Lehtinen,et al.  Long-term development of learning activity: Motivational, cognitive, and social interaction , 1995 .

[55]  N. Sandberg,et al.  Reaching for the Unreachable: Identifying Factors Predicting Early School Leaving and Non-Completion in Norwegian Upper Secondary Education , 2011 .

[56]  Wondimu Ahmed,et al.  Perceived Social Support and Early Adolescents’ Achievement: The Mediational Roles of Motivational Beliefs and Emotions , 2008, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[57]  C. Wolters.  Advancing Achievement Goal Theory: Using Goal Structures and Goal Orientations to Predict Students' Motivation, Cognition, and Achievement. , 2004 .

[58]  Rob Martens,et al.  Investigating efficacy expectancy as criterion for comparison of teacher- versus student-regulated learning in higher education , 2009 .

[59]  L. S. Vygotskiĭ,et al.  Mind in society : the development of higher psychological processes , 1978 .

[60]  Thomas M. Duffy,et al.  Problem Based Learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework , 1995 .

[61]  E. Alerby,et al.  Learning Within and Beyond the Classroom: Compulsory School Students Voicing Their Positive Experiences of School , 2012 .

[62]  A. Bandura.  Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory , 1985 .