Date of Award

Spring 2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

STEM Education & Professional Studies

Committee Director

Gary R. Morrison

Committee Member

Jill E. Stefaniak

Committee Member

Cherng-Jyh Yen

Abstract

Community college students enrolled in asynchronous online courses were examined for the correlational effects of motivation factors upon achievement and persistence in major and non-major courses. A modified version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991) was employed to obtain measurements on motivation and self-regulatory factors. Demographic factors and first generation student status were used to determine any interaction effects.

A series of binary logistic regressions demonstrated significant, positive correlations between self-efficacy and modified MSLQ task value on persistence for these students. A series of ordinal logistic regressions demonstrated significant, positive correlations between self-management behaviors, major course task value, and an interaction effect between the two on achievement. Two difference measures of task value showed differing results on persistence and achievement, implying that they may be measuring two different components of task value. There was no significant relationship noted in this sample for the motivation construct as a whole, and none of the demographic factors significantly moderated task value’s or motivation’s effects on persistence or achievement.

The results of this study suggest that previously researched effects of self-efficacy and task value on persistence and achievement can be generalized to the asynchronous online community college student. Additionally, there is evidence that the construct of task value could be further divided to articulate the differences in interest and perceived value. Instructional design and policy modifications are suggested to aid the asynchronous online learner based on the results of this study.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/gay8-5149

ISBN

9781321993004

Share

COinS