Abstract
High school students (N = 278) in 30 classrooms with ten teachers (grades 9 through 12) reported on teacher practices in a single course, autonomy need satisfaction, and value for that course. Using hierarchical linear modeling, results indicated that student perceptions of teachers providing choices and engaging in perspective-taking to a greater extent uniquely related to greater autonomy need satisfaction. Subsequent analyses suggested that students’ autonomy need satisfaction was greatest when they perceived that teachers also identified the importance and usefulness of coursework and considered students’ interests and opinions in course activities. Provision of choice and perspective-taking related to greater course value through autonomy need satisfaction, while identifying the importance and usefulness of course activities had only direct positive effects on course value. The pattern of total, direct, and indirect effects was slightly different depending on the component of course value. Results underscore the importance of including provision of choice in conceptualizations of teacher autonomy support.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Several aspects of this analysis are worth noting. First, we had expected to be able to distinguish between two different types of choices: (1) those for which teachers simply provide options for or during activities and assignments or (2) more complex choices where teachers allow students to work in their own way and give students the decision-making freedom to guide their own study process. However, our EFA suggested that these two forms of choice were not easily distinguished, at least in the minds of students. We likewise found that a number of teacher practices seem to cluster together, aside from the factor that exclusively represented teachers’ rationale provision for course activities. There was intuitive appeal in the finding that teachers’ listening, perspective-taking, encouraging student questions, and providing opportunities to express negative feelings about the class formed one cluster of practices, while teachers’ consideration for students’ interests and opinions formed a separate cluster of practices. Although we had intended to examine a broader set of practices hypothesized to support autonomy than prior measures included (e.g. Assor et al. 2002; Belmont et al. 1992), we found it somewhat reassuring that our data-reduction strategy instead led to a similar grouping of practices as those assessed by measures used in earlier investigations (e.g. Assor et al. 2002). It should be noted that results from EFAs examining our measure of autonomy supportive practices conflict with those found by Katz et al. (2009), where teacher’s support for autonomy, competence, and relatedness loaded on a single factor. However, results from EFAs of our measure are more in line with other previous research (e.g. Reeve 2006; Su and Reeve 2011) and suggested that students can indeed differentiate between several broad categories of teacher behavior intended to be autonomy supportive.
Although we examined the total effects of teacher practices on course value, we did not require that total effects be significant to establish mediation (MacKinnon et al. 2002). Instead, we required that the teacher practice predictor demonstrate a significant relation with autonomy need satisfaction, that autonomy need satisfaction demonstrate a significant relation with the course value outcome, and that a test of this indirect effect be significant.
Interactions between the demographic characteristics and teacher practices were examined in a series of subsequent random intercept-only models to explore whether the relation between teacher practices and autonomy need satisfaction might vary as a function of students’ ethnicity, honors class status, sex, or grade level. Interactions between all demographic characteristics and teacher practices were added to separate models for each characteristic. No significant interaction effects were found.
To explore the possibility that the indirect path between teacher practices and intrinsic course value through autonomy need satisfaction might vary as a function of students’ ethnicity, honors class status, sex, or grade level, moderated mediation and mediated moderation were explored following recommendations of Muller et al. (2005) and Preacher et al. (2007) in a series of subsequent random intercept-only models. First, to examine the moderated relations between predictors and the course value outcome, interactions between demographic characteristics and teacher practices were added in separate models for each characteristic. However, no significant interaction effects were found. Therefore these interaction terms were removed from the models. As previously explained, there were also no significant interactions between demographic characteristics and teacher practices on autonomy need satisfaction. Finally, we added the interaction terms between autonomy need satisfaction and each demographic characteristic in a series of four separate models for each characteristic. A significant interaction effect between grade level and autonomy need satisfaction was found for intrinsic course value (γ100 = .32, p < .03). Examination of the simple slopes suggested that the coefficient between autonomy need satisfaction and intrinsic value was larger for older students (γ90 = .74, p < .001) than younger students (γ90 = .42,p < .001). The effect of choice provision on intrinsic course value was significantly partially mediated by autonomy need satisfaction for both younger (Sobel test: z = 3.07, p < .002, PME = .39) and older students (Sobel test: z = 4.09, p < .001, PME = .69), as was the effect of perspective-taking (Sobel test for younger students: z = 2.01, p = .04, PME = .33 and for older students: z = 2.23, p = .03, PME = .46) In contrast, the effect of rationale provision on intrinsic course value was not significantly mediated by autonomy need satisfaction for either younger (Sobel test: z = .14, p = .89, PME = .01) or older students (Sobel test: z = .14, p < .89, PME = .02). The effect of autonomy need satisfaction on intrinsic course value was not significantly moderated by any other demographic characteristics.
As with the other components of course value, we fully investigated whether the indirect path between teacher practices and attainment value through autonomy need satisfaction might vary as a function of students’ ethnicity, honors class status, sex, or grade level in a series of random intercept-only models. As in previous analyses, interactions between all demographic characteristics and teacher practices were first added to separate models for each characteristic predicting attainment value without the presence of the hypothesized mediator. However, no significant interaction effects between demographic characteristics and teacher practices on attainment value were found. Therefore, these interactions terms were removed from the models. As previously explained, there were also no significant interactions between demographic characteristics and teacher practices on autonomy need satisfaction. Finally, we added interactions between autonomy need satisfaction and each demographic characteristic in a series of separate models for each characteristic. The only significant interaction to emerge was between students' autonomy need satisfaction and their honors class status.
As with the other components of course value, we fully investigated whether the indirect path between teacher practices and utility value through autonomy need satisfaction might vary as a function of students’ ethnicity, honors class status, sex, or grade level in a series of random intercept-only models. As in the previous analyses, interactions between all demographic characteristics and teacher practices were first added to four separate models for each characteristic to predict utility value without the presence of the hypothesized mediator. No significant interaction effects between demographic characteristics and teacher practices on utility course value were found. Therefore, these interaction terms were removed from the models. As previously explained, there were also no significant interactions between demographic characteristics and teacher practices on autonomy need satisfaction. In a third and final step, we added interactions between autonomy need satisfaction and each demographic characteristic in four separate models. However, the relation between autonomy need satisfaction and course utility value was not found to vary as a function of students’ ethnicity, honors class status, sex, or grade level.
References
Assor, A., Kaplan, H., Kanat-Maymon, Y., & Roth, G. (2005). Directly controlling teachers’ behaviors as predictors of poor motivation and engagement in girls and boys: The role of anger and anxiety. Learning and Instruction, 15, 397–413.
Assor, A., Kaplan, H., & Roth, G. (2002). Choice is good, but relevance is excellent: Autonomy-enhancing and suppressing teacher behaviors predicting students’ engagement in school work. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 261–278.
Baron, R., & Kenny, D. (1986). The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.
Bauer, D. J., Preacher, K. J., & Gil, K. M. (2006). Conceptualizing and testing random indirect effects and moderated mediation in multilevel models: new procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 11, 142–163.
Belmont, M., Skinner, E., Wellborn, J., & Connell, J. (1992). Teacher as social context (TASC). Two measures of teacher provision of involvement, structure, and autonomy support. Technical Report, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.
Black, A. E., & Deci, E. L. (2000). The effects of instructors’ autonomy support and students’ autonomous motivation on learning organic chemistry: A self-determination theory perspective. Science Education, 84, 740–756.
Boggiano, A. K., Flink, C., Shields, A., Seelbach, A., & Barrett, M. (1993). Use of techniques promoting students’ self-determination: Effects of students’ analytic problem-solving skills. Motivation and Emotion, 17, 319–336.
Cole, D. A., & Maxwell, S. E. (2003). Testing mediational models with longitudinal data: Questions and tips in the use of structural equation modeling. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 558–577.
Connell, J. P. (1990). Context, self, and action: A motivational analysis of self-system processes across the life span. In D. Cicchetti & M. Beeghly (Eds.), The self in transition: Infancy to childhood (pp. 61–97). Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press.
Cordova, D., & Lepper, M. (1996). Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning: Beneficial effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 715–730.
deCharms, R. (1968). Personal causation. New York: Academic Press.
Deci, E. L. (1971). Effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 18, 105–115.
Deci, E. L. (1980). The psychology of self-determination. Lexington, MA: Heath.
Deci, E. L., Connell, J. P., & Ryan, R. M. (1989). Self-determination in a work organization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 580–590.
Deci, E. L., Eghrari, H., Patrick, B. C., & Leone, D. R. (1994). Facilitating internalization: The self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Personality, 62, 119–142.
Deci, E. L., Hodges, R., Pierson, L., & Tomassone, J. (1992). Autonomy and competence as motivational factors in students with learning disabilities and emotional handicaps. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 457–471.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1987). The support of autonomy and the control of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1024–1037.
Deci, E. L., Schwartz, A. J., Sheinman, L., & Ryan, R. M. (1981). An instrument to assess adults’ orientations toward control versus autonomy with children: Reflections on intrinsic motivation and perceived competence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 642–650.
Eccles (Parsons), J., Adler, T. F., Futterman, R., Goff, S. B., Kaczala, C. M., Meece, J. L., et al. (1983). Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors. In J. T. Spence (Ed.), Achievement and achievement motivation (pp. 75–146). San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.
Eccles, J. S., Adler, T. F., & Meece, J. L. (1984). Sex differences in achievement: A test of alternative theories. Journals of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 26–43.
Eccles, J. S., & Harold, R. D. (1991). Gender differences in sport involvement: Applying the Eccles’ expectancy-value model. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 3, 7–35.
Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (1995). In the mind of the achiever: The structure of adolescents’ academic achievement related-beliefs and self-perceptions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 215–225.
Feather, N. T. (1982). Expectancy-value approaches: Present status and future directions. In N. T. Feather (Ed.), Expectations and actions: Expectancy-value models in psychology (pp. 395–420). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Flowerday, T., & Schraw, G. (2003). Effect of choice on cognitive and affective engagement. Journal of Educational Research, 96, 207–215.
Flowerday, T., Schraw, G., & Stevens, J. (2004). The role of choice and interest in reader engagement. The Journal of Experimental Education, 72, 93–114.
Gagne, M. (2003). The role of autonomy support and autonomy orientation in prosocial behavior engagement. Motivation and Emotion, 27, 199–223.
Garcia, T., & Pintrich, P. R. (1996). Effects of autonomy on motivation and performance in the college classroom. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 21, 477–486.
Grolnick, W. S., & Ryan, R. M. (1987). Autonomy in children’s learning: An experimental and individual difference investigation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 977–1077.
Grolnick, W. S., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (1991). The inner resources for school achievement: Motivational mediators of children’s perceptions of their parents. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 508–517.
Grubbs, F. E. (1950). Sample criteria for testing outlying observations. Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 21, 27–58.
Guay, F., Boggiano, A. K., & Vallerand, R. J. (2001). Autonomy support, intrinsic motivation, and perceived competence: Conceptual and empirical linkages. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 643–650.
Harackiewicz, J. M., & Manderlink, G. (1984). A process analysis of the effects of performance-contingent rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 20, 531–551.
Henry, R. A. (1994). The effects of choice and incentives on the overestimation of future performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 57, 210–225.
Iyengar, S. S., & Lepper, M. R. (1999). Rethinking the value of choice: A cultural perspective on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 349–366.
Jacobs, J. E., & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Parents, task values, and real-life achievement choices. In C. Sansone & J. Harackiewicz (Eds.), Intrinsic motivation (pp. 408–433). San Diego, CA: Academic.
Jang, H. (2008). Supporting students’ motivation, engagement, and learning during an uninteresting activity. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 798–811.
Jang, H., Reeve, J., & Deci, E. L. (2010). Engaging students in learning activities: It is not autonomy support or structure but autonomy support and structure. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 588–600.
Katz, I., & Assor, A. (2007). When choice motivates and when it does not. Educational Psychology Review, 19, 429–442.
Katz, I., Kaplan, A., & Gueta, G. (2009). Students’ needs, teachers’ support, and motivation for doing homework: A cross-sectional study. The Journal of Experimental Education, 78, 246–267.
Kenny, D. A. (1979). Correlation and causality. New York: Wiley-Interscience.
Koestner, R., Ryan, R. M., Bernieri, F., & Holt, K. (1984). Setting limits on children’s behavior: The differential effects of controlling versus informational styles on intrinsic motivation and creativity. Journal of Personality, 52, 233–248.
Langer, E. J., & Rodin, J. (1976). The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 191–198.
MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., Hoffman, J. M., West, S. G., & Sheets, V. (2002). A comparison of methods to test the significance of the mediated effect. Psychological Methods, 7, 83–104.
Midgley, C., & Feldlaufer, H. (1987). Students’ and teachers’ decision-making fit before and after the transition to junior high school. Journal of Early Adolescence, 7, 225–241.
Moller, A. C., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2006). Choice and ego-depletion: The moderating role of autonomy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1024–1036.
Mouratidis, T., Vansteenkiste, M., Sideridis, G., & Lens, W. (2011). Vitality and interest-enjoyment as a function of class-to-class variation in need-supportive teaching and pupils’ autonomy motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103, 353–366.
Muller, D., Judd, C. M., & Yzerbyt, V. Y. (2005). When moderation is mediated and mediation is moderated. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 852–863.
Overskeid, G., & Svartdal, F. (1996). Effects of reward on subjective autonomy and interest when initial interest is low. The Psychological Record, 46, 319–331.
Parker, L. E., & Lepper, M. R. (1992). Effects of fantasy contexts on children’s learning and motivation: Making learning more fun. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 625–633.
Patall, E. A. (2012). The motivational complexity of choosing: A review of theory and research. In R. Ryan (Ed.), Oxford handbook of human motivation (pp. 249–279). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Robinson, J. C. (2008). The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes: A meta-analysis of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 270–300.
Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Wynn, S. R. (2010). The effectiveness and relative importance of providing choices in the classroom. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 896–915.
Pintrich, P. R., & De Groot, E. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 33–50.
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007). Assessing moderated mediation hypotheses: Strategies, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 42, 185–227.
Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Reeve, J. (2002). Self-determination theory applied to educational settings. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 183–203). Rochester, NY: The University of Rochester Press.
Reeve, J. (2006). Teachers as facilitators: What autonomy-supportive teachers do and why their students benefit. The Elementary School Journal, 106, 225–236.
Reeve, J., & Jang, H. (2006). What teachers say and do to support students’ autonomy during a learning activity. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 209–218.
Reeve, J., Jang, H., Carrell, D., Jeon, C., & Barch, J. (2004). Enhancing students’ engagement by increasing teachers’ autonomy support. Motivation and Emotion, 28, 147–169.
Reeve, J., Jang, H., Hardre, P., & Omura, M. (2002). Providing a rationale in an autonomy-supportive way as a strategy to motivate others during an uninteresting activity. Motivation and Emotion, 26, 183–207.
Reeve, J., Nix, G., & Hamm, D. (2003). Testing models of the experience of self-determination in intrinsic motivation and the conundrum of choice. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 375–392.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78.
Ryan, R. M., & Grolnick, W. S. (1986). Origins and pawns in the classroom: Self-report and projective assessments of individual differences in children’s perceptions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 550–558.
Stefanou, C. R., Perencevich, K. C., DiCintio, M., & Turner, J. C. (2004). Supporting autonomy in the classroom: Ways teachers encourage student decision making and ownership. Educational Psychology, 39, 97–110.
Su, Y., & Reeve, J. (2011). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of intervention programs designed to support autonomy. Educational Psychology Review, 23, 159–188.
Swann, W., & Pittman, T. (1977). Initiating play activity of children: The moderating influence of verbal cues on intrinsic motivation. Child Development, 48, 1128–1132.
Tsai, Y., Kunter, M., Ludtke, O., Trautwein, U., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). What makes lessons interesting? The role of situational and individual factors in three school subjects. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 460–472.
Vallerand, R. J., Fortier, M. S., & Guay, F. (1997). Self-determination and persistence in a real-life setting: Toward a motivational model of high school dropout. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1161–1176.
Vansteenkiste, M., Simons, J., Lens, W., Sheldon, K. M., & Deci, E. L. (2004). Motivating learning, performance, and persistence: The synergistic role of intrinsic goals and autonomy support. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 246–260.
Wellborn, J. G., & Connell, J. P. (1987). Manual for Rochester assessment package for schools. Unpublished manuscript, University of Rochester, New York.
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. (2000). Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 68–81.
Wigfield, A., Eccles, J. S., Yoon, K. S., Harold, R. D., Arbreton, A. J. A., Freedman-Doan, C., et al. (1997). Change in children’s competence beliefs and subjective task values across the elementary school years: A 3-year study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 451–469.
Zhang, Z., Zyphur, M. J., & Preacher, K. (2009). Testing multilevel mediation using hierarchical linear models: Problems and solutions. Organizational Research Methods, 12, 695–719.
Zuckerman, M., Porac, J., Lathin, D., Smith, R., & Deci, E. (1978). On the importance of self-determination for intrinsically-motivated behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 4, 443–446.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Patall, E.A., Dent, A.L., Oyer, M. et al. Student autonomy and course value: The unique and cumulative roles of various teacher practices. Motiv Emot 37, 14–32 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-012-9305-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-012-9305-6