A Comparative Analysis of Student Motivation in ... - Anitacrawley.net

Student Motivation in Traditional Classroom and E-Learning Courses 427CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSE-learning students manifested significantly stronger intrinsic motivationthan traditional classroom students on all three intrinsic motivation measures:(a) to know, (b) to accomplish things, and (c) to experience stimulation.One possible explanation of these findings is that more intrinsicallymotivated students self-select online versus traditional classroom courseswhere self-selection can apply to both new and continuing students. Sinceless than 6 % of higher education students are enrolled in online courses,they are more likely to be innovators and early adopters in Rogers’ (1995)diffusion of innovations categories and thus have different characteristicsthan the mainstream. This possibility is consistent with reports that individualswho choose distance over traditional education are different from theironcampus counterparts (Feasley, 1983) and may be more internally motivatedby factors such as intellectual curiosity.Consistent with expectancy value theory (Atkinson, 1982; Vroom, 1964),which posits that people engage in specific activities due to the perceivedvalue of likely consequences, e-learning students may choose distance overtraditional education because of a stronger perceived correlation betweenanticipated educational experiences and personal and/or self-evaluative outcomes.In addition, because of the mediating role of self-efficacy in pathanalytic models of expectancy value theory, e-learning students may alsoperceive themselves to be more capable of performing to self-satisfying levelsin the online environment than those students in traditional classroomcourses. This latter conclusion, of course, should be supported with futureself-efficacy research in academic environments similar to the present investigation;however, the mediating role of self-efficacy has been supportedwith research in other domains of functioning (Bandura, 1997).Another possible explanation for the stronger intrinsic motivation of e-learningstudents is that online instruction facilitates increasing levels of intrinsicmotivation thereby explaining the differences between the two groups. Thisview is consistent with research (Zhang, 1998) that suggests the e-learningmedium provides a learning environment that “emphasizes intrinsic motivationand self-sponsored curiosity and creative situated learning” (p. 4). This rationaleis consistent with cognitive evaluation theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), whichposits that intrinsic motivation is maximized when individuals feel competentand self-determining in dealing with their environment. They pointed out that“interpersonal events and structures (e.g., rewards, communications, feedback)that conduce toward feelings of competence during action can enhance intrinsicmotivation for that action because they allow satisfaction of the basic psychologicalneed for competence” (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 58).The e-learning instructor plays a crucial role in maintaining and sustainingstudents’ motivational level by planning structures and facilitating inter-