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Research shows that preschool teachers’ limited science knowledge may hinder high-quality science teaching in preschools. More science in preschool teacher education has been proposed as a solution, but it is unclear how science learning opportunities impact future science teaching practices. This study examines the effects of a three-year trial where a science-oriented preschool teacher program ran parallel to a regular preschool teacher program. 9–11 years after graduation questionnaires were sent to the former teacher students to assess their views on, and use of, science in preschool. Besides evaluating this trial, the questionnaires aimed to explore other factors associated with the number of science topics the teachers discussed with the children and the number of science activities they engaged in. The results show that teachers from the science-oriented program were more confident in talking about science and enjoyed science more than the other teachers, but the overall differences between the groups were small and not significant. The number of science topics primarily depended on personal factors (e.g. confidence and enjoyment of science). In contrast, the number of science activities depended on both personal factors (e.g. confidence in science) and contextual factors (e.g. inspiration from colleagues, parents, and children).

Although there is a discourse among politicians, school leaders, and teachers that students in vocational education and training (VET) programmes in upper secondary school are less motivated than students in higher education preparatory (HEP) programmes there are few large-scale studies comparing differences and similarities within and between these two groups of students. The aim of this study was to investigate and problematize differences in goal orientation and subject specific interest between students entering VET and HEP programmes. The study is based on questionnaire responses from 4262 students in last year of lower secondary school and administrative data on which upper secondary school program these students graduated from. Initial analysis showed that, as a group, students later entering VET programmes embrace motivational goals to a lesser extent and found most subjects less interesting than students later entering HEP programmes. However more nuanced analysis gave reasons to problematize the colloquial meaning of motivation and to the question the dichotomic division of programmes into VET and HEP.

Social responsibility goals have shown positive relationships with performance and well-being. However, being too diligent has also been raised as a possible contributing factor to students’ reports of feeling stress and pressure in school, as well as experiencing psychosomatic problems. This study investigates the long-term associations between students’ social responsibility goals, academic achievements, and psychosomatic problems from Grade 9 (n = 4,573) to Grade 12 (n = 3,552), and gender differences in these associations. Descriptive statistics showed that girls reported more psychosomatic problems, higher social responsibility goals, and higher GPAs. Structural equation models showed that psychosomatic problems and achievement were stable over time. Social responsibility goals were associated with less psychosomatic problems and higher achievement in Grade 9. For girls, higher achievement was also associated with psychosomatic problems. Social responsibility goals did not predict later achievement, yet they predicted future psychosomatic problems, although the prediction was significant only for boys.

Previous research has laid a strong theoretical foundation for creating instructional designs that enhance motivation. However, the practical application of these designs in educational settings has been less frequently examined. The studies that have been conducted often had limited scope—both in duration and in the motivational dimensions they explored—and rarely involved teachers in the design, delivery, and evaluation of these interventions. Consequently, there is a gap in our understanding of how to implement effective, sustainable, and practical strategies to support students' motivation in schools. This project seeks to address this gap by having researchers and teachers collaborate in designing and evaluating a year-long and comprehensive intervention to develop motivation-supporting teaching. We evaluate the intervention through classroom observations, discussions between researchers and teachers, and student questionnaires. Although the project is still underway, an initial finding suggests that strategies that are theoretically effective in fostering adaptive motivation do not appear to work for the least motivated students. Instead, a more controlling environment has shown to be more effective in transitioning these students from a state of amotivation to engagement with their schoolwork. In our presentation, we aim to not only share insights from this study but also to spark a broader conversation about practice-based research on student motivation, including its potential, challenges, and development. 

Background. There is ample evidence that motivational variables such as self-beliefs and mastery goals are important non-cognitive aspects for student learning and performance in school (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020; Linnenbrink-Garcia, Tyson & Patall, 2008). Likewise, research has consistently shown positive relationships between cognitive ability and achievement in school (Kriegbaum, Becker, & Spinath, 2018). Studies using both sets of variables have indicated that self-beliefs and motivation does have a significant effect on performance, but that this effect is often weak compared to the effect of cognitive ability and other aptitude measures (Kriegbaum, Becker, & Spinath, 2018). However, most previous research has been cross-sectional, and longitudinal studies on “what causes what and which variables are more important in the long run?” are not entirely conclusive and mostly based on small sampled assessed over a short time period. Thus, how relationships between early performance, motivational aspects and later performance look like is still less well known.

Purpose. The current study aimed to investigate whether students’ self-beliefs and mastery goals have an impact on later achievement over and above that of previous achievement and cognitive ability, and also whether previous achievement may have an impact of later self-beliefs and mastery goals. In essence, what role do these motivational beliefs seem to play during the course of schooling; how do they affect and how are they affected by cognitive outcomes in school?

Data and methodology. A longitudinal data set with 2,256 students assessed at three time points over six years was used. Data contained performance measures as well as motivational measures: information about cognitive ability (inductive reasoning and vocabulary) in grade 6 and national test scores in mathematics and the Swedish language in grade 9 and 12; measures of self-beliefs in these school subjects in grades 6, 9, and 12; and measures of mastery goals in grades 6 and 9. Methodologically, longitudinal structural equation modelling (an autoregressive cross-lagged panel path model with control variables) was used to investigate relationships between the different variables over time. Models were set up for both mathematics and Swedish language.

Findings. Autoregressive paths showed that earlier mastery goals and self-beliefs were strong predictors of later mastery goals and self-beliefs. Cognitive ability (inductive reasoning in the math model and vocabulary in the Swedish model) in grade 6 was predictive of national test scores in the respective subject in grade 9, while national test scores in grade 9 were moderate predictors of national test scores in grade 12. Findings further indicate that self-beliefs in grade 6 were significantly related to national test scores in grade 9, which in turn were significantly related to self-beliefs in grade 12. This was true for both math and Swedish. Within each time point, there were positive and significant correlations between all measured variables. For math, neither earlier self-beliefs nor mastery goals was significantly related to math score in grade 12. For Swedish, mastery goal orientation in grade 9 had a significant but weak effect on test score in grade 12.

Discussion and conclusion. As expected, findings suggest that earlier performance is a stonger predictor of later performance than motivational variables are. However, a more interesting finding is that motivational variables can be significant predictors over and above that of previous performance even over the long time spans that we have studied. For example, our models show that subject-specific self-beliefs in grade 6 seem to have an effect on subject-specific performance three years later, also when the effect of cognitive ability and current self-beliefs have been accounted for. This suggests that the skills and knowledge the students bring to school need not be decisive of later performance, but that other variables can contribute to academic improvement over time. Also, performance in Grade 9 had a positive effect on self-beliefs in Grade 12, indicating a reciprocal relationship. Overall, findings indicate that motivational aspects may be important for scholastic achievement ‘in the long run’. Motivational components feed into both learning and assessment in school, a changing assessment system and assessment practices may also consider incorporating assessment of student motivations and attitudes, and teachers may need encouragement in fostering sound self-beliefs in students.

Behavioral engagement is a key determinant of students’ learning. Hence, knowledge about mechanisms affecting engagement is crucial for educators and stakeholders. Self-determination theory (SDT) offers a framework to understand one of these mechanisms. However, extant studies mostly consider only parts of SDT’s theoretical paths from basic psychological need satisfaction via regulations to student engagement. Studies that investigate the full model are rare, especially in mathematics, and results are inconclusive. Moreover, constructs are often merged in ways that may preclude detailed understanding. In this study, we used structural equation modeling to test several hypothesized paths between the individual variables that make up higher-order constructs of need satisfaction, regulations, and behavioral engagement. Satisfaction of the need for competence had a dominating effect on engagement, both directly and via identified regulation. Similarly, satisfaction of the need for relatedness predicted identified regulation, that in turn predicted engagement. Satisfaction of the need for autonomy predicted intrinsic regulation as expected but, in contrast to theory, was also positively associated with controlled motivation (external and introjected regulation). Neither intrinsic nor controlled regulation predicted engagement. Theoretical and method-related reasons for this unexpected pattern are discussed, as well as implications for research and teaching.

Each time new PISA results are presented, they gain a lot of attention. However, there are many factors that lie behind the results, and they get less attention. In this study, we take a person-centered approach and focus on students’ motivation and beliefs, and how these predict students’ effort and performance on the PISA 2015 assessment of scientific literacy. Moreover, we use both subjective (self-report) and objective (time-based) measures of effort, which allows us to compare these different types of measures. Latent profile analysis was used to group students in profiles based on their instrumental motivation, enjoyment, interest, self-efficacy, and epistemic beliefs (all with regard to science). A solution with four profiles proved to be best. When comparing the effort and performance of these four profiles, we saw several significant differences, but many of these differences disappeared when we added gender and the PISA index of economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS) as control variables. The main difference between the profiles, after adding control variables, was that the students in the profile with most positive motivation and sophisticated epistemic beliefs performed best and put in the most effort. Students in the profile with unsophisticated epistemic beliefs and low intrinsic values (enjoyment and interest) were most likely to be classified as low-effort responders. We conclude that strong motivation and sophisticated epistemic beliefs are important for both the effort students put into the PISA assessment and their performance, but also that ESCS had an unexpectedly large impact on the results.

It is often assumed that students’ personal achievement goals are most beneficial when they match the goal structures of the classroom, but interaction between achievement goals and goal structures is not well researched. In this study, we aim at providing a nuanced picture of the direct, interaction, and nonlinear effects of achievement goals and goal structures on test performance and autonomous motivation. We used multiple linear regressions, including interaction and quadratic terms, in combination with response surface methodology to analyze questionnaire data from students in Grades 6-10. We found no evidence for a general match effect, and only weak indications of interactions between achievement goals and goal structures. Thus, the match between classroom goal structures and students’ personal goals may be less important for students’ motivation and achievement than previously assumed. Still, based on our results we recommend a focus on mastery structures in the classroom.

Achievement goal theory is one of the most widespread motivation models within education research. Strong empirical support exists for the trichotomous model, comprising mastery-approach, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. However, research also indicate problems with model transferability between contexts. In this study, based on questionnaire data from 4201 students, we use confirmatory factor analysis to compare the factor structures of students’ achievement goals in two culturally distinct countries. Factor structures for Grades 5–11 within the two countries were also compared. Results show that the separation between performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals differs between the two countries, and that this difference is consistent over the grades. Hence, results indicate that the model is not freely transferable between countries. The results are discussed in relation to differences in national culture and other proposed explanations such as age, perceived competence, and questionnaire characteristics.