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This study investigated the temporal relationship between social self-efficacy and psychological distress during 3 years in middle to late adolescence. The sample comprised 1508 participants (60.7% female; baseline mean age = 16.33, SD = .62; 52.9% high perceived family wealth; 70.6% born in Norway). We used a random intercept cross-lagged panel model to investigate the concurrent and subsequent associations between the two constructs. The results indicated (1) small to moderate and negative associations between the trait-like components and within-person fluctuations of social self-efficacy and psychological distress, (2) positive and significant carry-over stability effects on both constructs across time, and (3) that psychological distress predicted subsequent social self-efficacy more consistently across four time points, than social self-efficacy predicted later psychological distress. publishedVersion

Perceived novelty in mobile applications is an inevitable aspect of today's technologies. Studies suggest that this perceived novelty effect increases motivation but wanes once the user becomes accustomed to the product. Using a Self-Determination Theory approach, the present study investigates how different tools relate to students' motivation, basic psychological needs, and achievement, over and above the effect of perceived novelty. The results from a randomized controlled experiment show that a mobile-learning tool and a digital version of a textbook are perceived as more novel than a traditional textbook. However, only the mobile-learning tool enhances the students' basic psychological needs. Additionally, using path-analysis, we find that the mobile-learning tool, need-satisfaction within the mobile-learning tool, and autonomous motivation account for achievement and internalization, over and above the effect of novelty. We argue that this finding is due to the inherent need-supportive elements within the mobile-learning tool that satisfy the basic psychological needs.

Inadequate academic functioning among students might be a main cause of the considerable dropout rates, and well-being and achievement problems in higher education. Few studies address the role of motivation for academic functioning. Thus, using Self-Determination Theory, the main goal of this study was to investigate motivational determinants of academic functioning among 406 biology students (mode age 21-25, 69.5% females) from nine higher education institutions in Norway. Data were collected using an online survey and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Results show that teacherś autonomy-support positively predicts autonomous motivation and perceived competence among the students. In turn, autonomous motivation and competence positively predicts vitality, and negatively predicts dropout intentions. Achievement was only predicted by perceived competence. We recommend that instructors adopt an autonomy-supportive teaching style, for example by providing a meaningful rationale when introducing teaching and learning activities, for students to feel more competent and autonomous in their motivation. publishedVersion

In this study we investigate the effect of manipulating intrinsic goals, relative to extrinsic goals, in a mobile learning tool and traditional textbook for biology students. Using Self- Determination Theory, we hypothesized that framing intrinsic goals in a need-supportive mobile learning app would enhance motivation, intentions, effort, and achievement, relative to extrinsic goals in a traditional tool (textbook). We randomized 128 undergraduate students learning to identify species in this 2 × 2 experiment. Using Bayesian analyses, results show a credible interaction effect between the mobile app and intrinsic goal-framing for intentions and identified regulation. For effort and achievement, the main effect of mobile learning is credible with substantial effect sizes. We argue that these findings are due to the need-supportive features within the mobile app and need-satisfying experience of pursuing intrinsic goals. For intrinsic motivation and amotivation, however, extrinsic goal-framing and intrinsic goal-framing, respectively, are credible and positive main effects, which is unexpected. More research is needed to investigate if this contradictory finding is replicated by others, or if students are pursuing extrinsic goals for autonomous motivation. Bayesian multigroup path analysis found across both groups that identified regulation predicted intentions, and intrinsic motivation predicted effort and achievement. For the extrinsic goal-framing group, amotivation predicted achievement, identified regulation predicted effort and achievement, and intrinsic motivation negatively predicted intentions. The results of our study provide theoretical implications for how goal-framing energizes different types of motivation within the mLearning context, and how manipulation within technology may have a differential effect on motivation than a physical agent. publishedVersion

We investigate a model based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to predict academic achievement and dropout intentions among biology students in higher education in Norway. Students (n = 754) from ...

From the lens of Self‐Determination Theory, this study investigated the effects of a mobile application tool for identifying species on biology students' achievement and well‐being. It was hypothesized that the mobile application, compared to a textbook, would enhance feelings of competence and autonomy and, in turn, intrinsic motivation, positive affect and achievement, because the mobile application's built‐in functions provide students with choice and volition, informational feedback, and optimal challenges. Fifty‐eight second‐year students were randomly assigned to use either the mobile application or a textbook for a learning task. Well‐being was assessed before and after the learning task, and intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, perceived autonomy and achievement were assessed after the task. Results indicated that the mobile application, relative to the textbook, produced higher levels of students' perceived competence, perceived autonomy and intrinsic motivation. Further, the mobile application had indirect effects on positive affect through autonomy, competence and intrinsic motivation, and on achievement through competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extended the research on autonomy-supportive teaching to universities and examined the relationships between autonomous motivation to teach and autonomy-supportive teaching. Autonomously motivated university instructors were more autonomy-supportive instructors. The freedom to make pedagogical decisions was negatively correlated with external motivation towards teaching. Participants indicated that large class sizes, high teaching loads, publication pressures, and a culture that undervalues effective undergraduate teaching undermined both student learning and their feelings of autonomy. Together these results presents a picture of a subset of university instructors who remained autonomously motivated to teach, irrespective of barriers they experienced from university administrators or policies. publishedVersion

A quasi-experimental study tested the effect of lecture-based courses and team-based courses on students’ motivation and learning. The results show that students in general were more autonomously motivated and competent in the team-based courses, relative to the lecture-based courses, but also less amotivated and more externally regulated., We investigate the effects of team-based learning (TBL) on motivation and learning in a quasi-experimental study. The study employs a self-determination theory perspective to investigate the motivational effects of implementing TBL in a physiotherapy course in higher education. We adopted a one-group pretest–posttest design. The results show that the students’ intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, perceived competence, and perceived autonomy support significantly increased going from lectures to TBL. The results further show that students’ engagement and perceived learning significantly increased. Finally, students’ amotivation decreased from pretest to posttest; however, students reported higher external regulation as a function of TBL. Path analysis shows that increases in intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, and external regulation positively predict increases in engagement, which in turn predict increases in perceived learning. We argue that the characteristics of TBL, as opposed to lectures, are likely to engage students and facilitate feelings of competence. TBL is an active-learning approach, as opposed to more passive learning in lectures, which might explain the increase in students’ perception of teachers as autonomy supportive. In contrast, the greater demands TBL puts on students might account for the increase in external regulation. Limitations and practical implications of the results are discussed.