Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T23:17:57.710Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Questioning New Directions in Understanding Student Motivation: An Investigation Into the Domain Specificity of Motivational Goals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2013

Natasha R. Magson ,
Gawaian H. Bodkin-Andrews ,
Rhonda G. Craven ,
Genevieve F. Nelson  and
Alexander Seeshing Yeung
Natasha R. Magson*
Affiliation:
University of Western Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Gawaian H. Bodkin-Andrews
Affiliation:
University of Western Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Rhonda G. Craven
Affiliation:
University of Western Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genevieve F. Nelson
Affiliation:
University of Western Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Alexander Seeshing Yeung
Affiliation:
University of Western Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Natasha Magson, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, South Penrith DC, 1797, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Most past models of student motivation have assumed that student motivation generalises across various achievement situations and curriculum domains; however, research has not fully explored the extent to which motivation may be domain-specific (Green, Martin, & Marsh, 2007; Martin, 2008). The purpose of the present investigation was to explore this issue by comparing and contrasting generalised models of motivation with domain-specific models and how they relate to achievement outcomes in mathematics and English. Secondary students (N = 476) completed both the domain-general (ISM, McInerney, 2003) and the researcher-derived domain-specific motivational measure (DSSM) followed by a standardised achievement test (WRAT-3, Wilkinson, 1993). Overall, the study resulted in mixed findings. There was some indication that there was enough independent variance between the domain-specific goal types to suggest they were tapping distinct constructs as found in previous research (Green et al., 2007). However, the small and often inconsistent correlations with achievement outcomes brings into question the usefulness for educators and the research practicality of pursuing such a division.

Keywords

student motivationgoal theorydomain specific motivationstudent achievement
Type
Articles
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , December 2013 , pp. 171 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society Ltd 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84 (3), 261–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ames, C., & Archer, J. (1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students' learning strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80 (3), 260–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2012). National assessment program: Literacy and numeracy. Retrieved June 14, 2012, from http://www.naplan.edu.au/Google Scholar
Barker, K.L., Dowson, M., & McInerney, D.M. (2006, July). Unifying the literature on students' academic motivation: A multidimensional and hierarchical representation of students' goals and academic self-concept. Paper presented at the The Fourth International Biennial SELF Research Conference, Michigan University, Ann Arbor, MI.Google Scholar
Barker, K.L., McInerney, D.M., & Dowson, M. (2002). Performance approach, performance avoidance and depth of information processing: A fresh look at relations between students' academic motivation and cognition. Educational Psychology, 22 (5), 571–589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bodkin-Andrews, G., O'Rourke, V., & Craven, R.G. (2010). The utility of general self-esteem and domain-specific self-concepts: Their influence on Indigenous and non-Indigenous students' educational outcomes. Australian Journal of Education, 54 (3), 277–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bollen, K.A. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables. New York: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bong, M. (1996). Problems in academic motivation research and advantages and disadvantages of their solutions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 21, 149–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bong, M. (2001). Between-and-within domain relations of Academic motivation among middle and high school students: Self-efficacy, task-value, and achievement goals. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93 (1), 23–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browne, M.W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In Bollen, K.A. & Long, J.S. (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Byrne, B.N. (2001). Structural equation modeling with AMOS. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Byrne, B.M., & Gavin, D.A.W. (1996). The Shavelson Model revisited: Testing for the structure of academic self-concept across pre-, early, and late adolescents. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88 (2), 215–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2000). The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11 (4), 227–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeVellis, R.F. (1991). Scale development. Newbury Park, NJ: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Dowson, M., & McInerney, D.M. (2003). What do students say about their motivational goals?: Towards a more complex and dynamic perspective on student motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28 (1), 91–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dowson, M., McInerney, D.M., & Nelson, G.F. (2006). An investigation of the effects of school context and sex differences on students' motivational goals. Educational Psychology, 26 (6), 781–811.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duda, J.L. (2001). Achievement goal research in sport: Pushing the boundaries and clarifying some misunderstandings. In Roberts, G.C. (Ed.), Advances in motivation in sport and exercise, (pp.129–182.Google Scholar
Duda, J.L., & Nicholls, J.G. (1992). Dimensions of achievement motivation in schoolwork and sport. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 290–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dweck, C.S., & Leggett, E.L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95, 256–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, H., & Dweck, C. (2003). Clarifying achievement goals and their impact. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85 (4), 541–553.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, J., Martin, A., & Marsh, H. (2007). Motivation and engagement in English, mathematics and science high school subjects: Towards an understanding of multidimensional domain specificity. Learning and Individual Differences, 17 (3), 269–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harackiewicz, J.M., Barron, K.E., Pintrich, P.R., Elliot, A.J., & Thrash, T.M. (2002). Revision of achievement goal theory: Necessary and illuminating. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 638–645.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hills, A. (2011). Foolproof guide to statistics using IBM and SPSS (2nd ed.). Sydney, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.Google Scholar
Hoyle, R.H., & Panter, A.T. (1995). Writing about structural equation models. In Hoyle, R.H. (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues and applications (pp. 158–176). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hu, L., & Bentler, P.M. (1995). Evaluating model fit. In Hoyle, R.H. (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues and applications (pp. 76–99). Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Hu, L., & Bentler, P.M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indices in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jöreskog, K.G., & Sörbom, D. (2006). LISREL 8.80 [Computer software]. Chicago, IL: Scientific Software International.Google Scholar
Kaplan, A., & Middleton, M.J. (2002). Should childhood be a journey or a race? A response to Harackiewicz et al. (2002). Journal of Educational psychology, 94, 646–648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linnenbrink, E.A. (2005). The dilemma of performance-approach goals: The use of multiple goal contexts to promote students' motivation and learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 197–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McInerney, D.M. (2003). Motivational goals, self-concept, and a self — What predicts academic achievement? Similarities and differences between Aboriginal and Anglo Australians in high school settings. In Marsh, H.W., Craven, R.G., & McInerney, D.M. (Eds.), International advances in SELF research: New frontiers for SELF research (pp. 31–346). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.Google Scholar
McInerney, D.M., & Ali, J. (2006). Multidimensional and hierarchical assessment of school motivation: Cross-cultural validation. Educational Psychology, 26, 717–734.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McInerney, D.M., Hinkley, J., Dowson, M., & Van Etten, S. (1998). Aboriginal, Anglo, and immigrant Australian students' motivational beliefs about personal academic success: Are there cultural differences? Journal of Educational Psychology, 90 (4), 621–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McInerney, D.M., Marsh, H.W., & Yeung, A.S. (2003). Toward a hierarchical goal theory model of school motivation. Journal of Applied Measurement, 4, 335–357.Google Scholar
McInerney, D.M., Roche, L.A., McInerney, V., & Marsh, H.W. (1997). Cultural perspectives on school motivation: The relevance and application of goal theory. American Educational Research Journal, 34 (1), 207–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McWilliams, M.A., Nier, J.A., & Singer, J.A. (2013). The implicit self and the specificity-matching principle: Implicit self-concept predicts domain-specific outcomes. Personality and Individual Differences, 54 (4), 474–478. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.09.014CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maehr, M.L. (1984). Meaning and motivation: Toward a theory of personal investment. In Ames, R. & Ames, C. (Eds.), Research on motivation in education: Student motivation (Vol. 1, pp. 115–144). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Marsh, H.W. (1986). Verbal and math self-concepts: An internal/external frame of reference model. American Educational Research Journal, 23 (1), 129–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maehr, M., & McInerney, D.M. (2004). Motivation as personal investment. In McInerney, D.M. & Etten, S. Van (Eds.), Sociocultural influences on motivation and learning, Big theories revisited (Vol. 4, pp. 61–90). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.Google Scholar
Marsh, H.W., Balla, J.R., & Hau, K.-T. (1996). An evaluation of incremental fit indices: A clarification of mathematical processes. In Marcoulides, G.A. & Schumaker, R.E. (Eds.), Advanced structural equation modeling techniques (pp. 315–353). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Marsh, H.W., Byrne, B.M., & Yeung, S.Y. (1999). Causal ordering of academic self-concept and achievement: Reanalysis of a pioneering study and revised recommendations. Educational Psychologist, 34 (3), 155–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, H.W., & Craven, R.G. (2006). Reciprocal effects of self-concept and performance from a multidimensional perspective. Beyond seductive pleasure and unidimensional perspectives. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1 (2), 133–163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marsh, H.W., Craven, R.G., Hinkley, J.W., & Debus, R.L. (2003). Evaluation of the Big-Two-Factor Theory of academic motivation orientations: An evaluation of jingle-jangle fallacies. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 38 (2), 189–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, H.W., & Hau, K.T. (2004). Explaining paradoxical relations between academic self-concepts and achievements: Cross-cultural generalisabilty of the Internal/External frame of reference predictions across 26 countries. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96 (1), 56–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, H.W., Roche, L.A., Pajares, F., & Miller, D. (1997). Item-specific efficacy judgments in mathematical problem solving: The downside of standing too close to trees in a forest. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 22, 363–377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, A.J. (2008). How domain specific is motivation and engagement across school, sport, and music? A substantive–methodological synergy assessing young sportspeople and musicians. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33 (4), 785–813. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2008.01.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meece, J.L., Anderman, E.M., & Anderman, L.H. (2006). Classroom goal structure, student motivation, and academic achievement. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 487–503.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Midgley, C., Kaplan, A., & Middleton, M. (2001). Performance-approach goals: Good for what, for whom, under what circumstances, and at what cost? Journal of Educational Psychology, 93 (1), 77–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, P.K., & Alexander, P.A. (2000). A motivated exploration of motivation terminology. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25 (1), 3–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nagy, G., Trautwein, U., Baumert, J., Koller, O., & Garrett, J. (2006). Gender and course selection in upper secondary education: Effects of academic self-concept and intrinsic value. Educational Research and Evaluation, 12 (4), 323–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, G.F. (2004). Similarities and differences in motivation and processes of learning between Papua New Guinea and Australian school students. Unpublished thesis, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Nelson, G.F. (2007). The socio-economic and psychological determinants of student academic outcomes in Papua New Guinea. Unpublished thesis, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Papoulis, A. (1990). Probability and statistics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Pintrich, P.R. (2000). An achievement goal theory perspective on issues in motivation terminology, theory and, research. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 92–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shavelson, R.J., Hubner, J.J., & Stanton, G.C. (1976). Self-concept: Validation of construct interpretations. Review of Educational Research, 46, 407–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tabachnick, B.G., & Fidell, L.S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). New York: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Trautwein, U., Ludtke, O., Schnyder, I., & Niggli, A. (2006). Predicting homework effort: Support for a domain-specific, multilevel homework model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98 (2), 438–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Urdan, T.C. (1997). Achievement goal theory: Past results, future directions (Vol. 10). Greenwich CT: JAI Press Inc.Google Scholar
Urdan, T.C., & Maehr, M.L. (1995). Beyond a two-goal theory of motivation and achievement: A case for social goals. Review of Educational Research, 65 (3), 213–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valle, A., Cabanach, R.G., Núnez, J.C., González-Pienda, J., Rodriguez, S., & Pineiro, I. (2003). Cognitive motivational and volitional dimensions of learning: An empirical test of a hypothetical model. Research in Higher Education, 44, 557–580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92 (4), 548–573.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiner, B. (1992). Human motivation: Metaphors, theories, and research. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
Wigfield, A. (1997). Reading motivation: A domain-specific approach to motivation. Educational Psychologist, 32, 59–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, G. (1993). WRAT-3: Wide Range Achievement Test administration manual. Wilmington, DE: Wide Range.Google Scholar
Wolters, C.A. (2004). Advancing achievement goal theory: Using goal structures and goal orientations to predict students' motivation cognition, and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 236–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar