Reading between the lines: The effect of contextual factors on student motivation throughout an open inquiry process

Inquiry provides opportunities to engage students in authentic science. Although inquiry's underlying principles can motivate students to learn, the challenges that students encounter may hamper their motivation. Thus, the teacher's role in providing motivational support is crucial. This r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science education (Salem, Mass.) Mass.), 2018-07, Vol.102 (4), p.820-855
Main Authors: Adler, Idit, Schwartz, Liron, Madjar, Nir, Zion, Michal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Context Effect
Correlation
Educational psychology
Electronic Learning
Inquiry
Learner Engagement
Motivation
online learning
Science Education
Self Determination
self‐determination theory
Student Motivation
Students
Teacher Motivation
Teacher Role
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Summary:Inquiry provides opportunities to engage students in authentic science. Although inquiry's underlying principles can motivate students to learn, the challenges that students encounter may hamper their motivation. Thus, the teacher's role in providing motivational support is crucial. This research examines how the interplay among the inquiry's characteristics, the challenges encountered by students, and the motivational support provided by the teacher affects students' expression of motivation throughout an online inquiry process. The messages of both the teacher and the students were examined using self‐determination theory (SDT). The results indicate that the students did not automatically embrace the autonomous characteristic of open inquiry. Their expressions of motivation were dynamic, affected by the challenges that they encountered. In contrast, the teacher maintained high levels of autonomy and competence and intertwined these components in a strategy that we term guided autonomy. The teacher and students expressed high‐order expressions of affect. In addition, we found a positive correlation between the teacher's motivational support and the students' expressions of motivation. The results indicate that SDT can provide a powerful framework for understanding students’ unfolding motivation throughout a challenging educational process and for guiding teachers’ efforts in supporting the motivation of their students in an online environment.
ISSN:0036-8326
1098-237X
DOI:10.1002/sce.21445