Methods

The current study examined how motivation developed in four Australian senior secondary colleges, using Martin's model of motivation and engagement. It explored changes in the nature of academic motivation through a longitudinal design with three measurement points by examining the factor structure of the SMES-HS, the concurrent associations among its constructs at each point in time, stability and mean differences between the constructs across time and gender. In this chapter, the methods used in the current study will be explained.

Mean Level Changes in College Students' Academic Motivation and Engagement

The complex associations and the stability of different motivational constructs lead to the next step of exploration of the stability of motivation at the group and gender levels. In other words, the stability of the means of motivation and engagement for the whole group, and for boys and girls separately in the final two years of college, are investigated in this chapter. Different students experienced different levels of motivational cognitions and behaviors. Although boys and girls were similar on many aspects, boys reported higher levels of disengagement, while girls reported higher levels of anxiety.

College Students' Academic Motivation and Engagement

While the previous chapter focused on examining the complex and dynamic associations among different motivational constructs, this chapter aims at exploring their longitudinal relationships, whether the associations are stable over time at the individual level and across gender. It also examines whether different motivational constructs impact on other motivational constructs over time. The results showed that all motivational constructs were moderately stable over the college years for the whole group.

Factor Structure and Concurrent Associations Among Motivational Constructs

As reviewed in Chapter 2, the different motivational theories explore student motivation from different perspectives. Together, these theories capture much of the complexity of motivation but each theory on its own is limited as it focuses on one or a few motivational processes. Further, the motivational constructs proposed by different theories overlap. The model proposed by Martin integrates into a single framework the core constructs of major theories to reflect the complexity of motivation.

Academic Motivation and Engagement

In this chapter, the author introduces the concepts of academic motivation and engagement. Past research has shown that there is a difference between motivation and engagement and how they play significant roles in an academic learning process. This chapter brings to light that a lot of research has taken place in the high school years identifying the significance of motivation and engagement of students. When students move into their college years, the roles of motivation and engagement become further crucial in the learning process because the success at the end of these years unlocks a plethora of opportunities to enhance their career prospects. An understanding of the dynamics of student academic motivation would have practical implications for teachers and school administrators in guiding students towards learning.

Academic Motivation and Engagement

This chapter introduces the central theories of academic motivation underlying most previous research into motivation and engagement. Their core constructs will be identified, as well as the behavioral outcomes that they aim to explain. The limitations of the theories are then summarised and Martin's (2003, 2007) Student Motivation and Engagement Wheel (the Wheel) is presented as a comprehensive model of academic motivation and engagement. Finally, age and gender trends in motivation and engagement are reviewed with a special attention given to longitudinal research in Australia.