Designing and Implementing a Situated Learning Program and Determining Its Impact on the Students' Motivation and Learning

Inability to use knowledge is one of the major problems that university graduates face. Some instructional designers recommend situated learning for the solution. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of situated learning on students' school motivation and achievement. The two main hypotheses are: 1- Situated learning increases learning. 2- Situated learning increases school motivation. Thirty four psychology junior students at Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran participated in the study. Classes were randomly selected for situated learning curriculum and lecture-based curriculum. Lecture-based curriculum was performed in face to face classroom. Situated learning was carried out in blended learning approach. Data was collected by school achievement test and the short form of Mc Inerney and Sinclaier standard motivation questionnaire, before and after interventions. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS software version 15. It was shown that situated learning increased academic achievement (p less than 0.001) and motivation (p less than 0.001) in comparison to lecture-based learning and can serve as a good method in instructional programs. (Contains 3 tables.)