Curricular fit perspective on motivation in higher education

In this article, we present a curricular perspective that can be used to understand students’ focus on assessment in higher education. We propose that the degree of alignment between the objectives and assessment of the curriculum plays a crucial role in students’ motivation. In case of perfect alig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Higher education 2022-04, Vol.83 (4), p.729-745
Main Authors: Kickert, R., Meeuwisse, M., Stegers-Jager, K. M., Prinzie, P., Arends, L. R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alignment
Alignment (Education)
Behavior
Cognitive aspects
College Curriculum
College Students
Curricula
Education
Education, Higher
Educational Objectives
Evaluation
Higher Education
Learning
Learning Motivation
Motivation
Motivation in education
Probability
Psychological aspects
Student Evaluation
Student Motivation
Students
Universities and colleges
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Summary:In this article, we present a curricular perspective that can be used to understand students’ focus on assessment in higher education. We propose that the degree of alignment between the objectives and assessment of the curriculum plays a crucial role in students’ motivation. In case of perfect alignment, all objectives have an equitable probability of being assessed. Thus, all learning contributes to performance equitably. Consequently, the motivation to perform and the motivation to learn should result in the same learning behaviour and performance. However, in reality, a certain degree of cognitive and operant misalignment of the assessment with the objectives is present. Hence, some objectives will not need to be mastered in order to pass certain assessments. Consequently, a distinction arises between assessed and unassessed learning, and only the assessed learning contributes to performance. Thus, the probability of performing well on assessments is higher when students focus their effort on the assessed learning only, instead of dividing their effort between the assessed and unassessed learning. Therefore, students who are motivated to perform have a motivation that fits in a misaligned curriculum. The article concludes with implications of this curricular fit perspective for assessment practices, as well as for motivational research.
ISSN:0018-1560
1573-174X
DOI:10.1007/s10734-021-00699-3