Ng, Betsy Ling Ling

The 21st century is characterised by an explosion of knowledge as well as time of ambiguity and uncertainty. So, there is an increasing need for workers to be able to learn independently and take charge of their own learning to do well in this knowledge-based economy. Rather than merely focus on student academic achievement; schools must focus on nurturing students so that they are motivated and self-regulated towards learning. This can be achieved to a large extent by promoting an autonomy-supportive learning climate.

In this thesis, the influence of teacher autonomy support on students’ motivation and learning was examined in the academic contexts of Singapore. The subjects were secondary 2 and 3 students (a mean age of 14.7) taking mathematics and science in the local secondary schools. The research was conducted in four studies, primarily with the use of self-reported measures. The measures included the motivated strategies for learning (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990), learning climate (Williams & Deci, 1996), self-regulation (Ryan & Connell, 1989) and needs satisfaction (Deci & Ryan, 2000) questionnaires, as well as enjoyment and effort (McAuley, Duncan, & Tammen, 1989) subscales. Additionally, interview transcripts and academic achievement comprising of students’ grades were included.

The first study was to establish the construct validity of the motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ) in the local academic domains (i.e. mathematics and science). Preliminary to the subsequent three studies, the results revealed the parsimony confirmatory factor structure of the revised MSLQ via a congeneric strategy.

The second study was a cross-sectional research, examining the associations of teacher autonomy support, needs satisfaction, relative autonomy and academic achievement with the MSLQ constructs. The findings showed that teacher autonomy support influenced students’ intrinsic value, self-efficacy, test anxiety and learning strategies. Moreover, students seemed to perceive competence as the prevalent need in their learning of mathematics and science. Subsequently, the cluster-analytic results revealed four distinct MSLQ learner profiles in association with psychological needs and motivational regulation, suggesting that motivational-cognitive constructs were significantly associated with psychological variables important for self-determined behaviour and successful learning.

The third study investigated the effects of autonomy-supportive classroom intervention on students’ motivation and learning towards mathematics and science. The findings showed that the intervention had significant effects on students’ perceived autonomy support, self-efficacy, introjected regulation and academic achievement. The importance of teacher autonomy support was further evaluated using person-centred analyses and cluster movement over time. The cluster movement demonstrated the intraindividual changes in motivational beliefs and cognitive strategies across two time points, providing a snapshot of the dynamics in student learning. The cluster-analytic results revealed that students with the most adaptive MSLQ profile displayed the most self-determined behaviours and performed academically well.

Finally, the fourth study was a follow-up to the intervention whereby semi-structured interviews were conducted on students and teachers. Emerging themes including relatedness and expectations from students and teachers corroborated the main findings in Study 3. The qualitative data also provided relevant and practical insights into the classroom intervention, suggesting that teachers should be aware of their instructional behaviours in class as such acts might have ramification on students’ perception, motivation and learning. To sum, the present study demonstrated the importance of teacher autonomy support in fostering students’ intrinsic motivation and nurturing their learning in academic contexts.

The present study focuses on the perspectives of teachers and students in Singapore schools after an autonomy-supportive classroom intervention. Nurturing of students to become motivated and self-regulated learners can be achieved by promoting an autonomy-supportive learning climate. This study examines the perspectives of teachers and students in an in-depth and meaningful manner after the classroom intervention. Through students' viewpoints, teachers can understand their structure of teaching style and students' expectations. Findings of semi-structured interviews with students and teachers were analyzed, with emerging themes discussed in the context of literature. Based on qualitative data, this preliminary study explores a rich and meaningful insight to students' expectations of their teachers and teachers' expectations towards their students. The qualitative data provided relevant and practical insights into the classroom intervention, suggesting that teachers should be aware of their instructional behaviors in class as such acts might have ramification on students' perception, motivation and learning. Limitations and implications are also discussed.

The motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ) is widely used as a self-report instrument to assess students' motivation and self-regulation. This study utilized the MSLQ Junior High to examine the motivational beliefs and self-regulation of secondary school students (Grades 8 and 9) from Singapore. The instrument was slightly modified and administered to students (N = 610) in mathematics and science classes. In the first sample, 314 students completed the MSLQ Junior High while a second sample of 296 students completed the revised MSLQ Junior High. Using a congeneric approach of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the five-factor measurement model was determined with the first sample. This measurement model was further supported using a second sample and its goodness-of-fit indices were compared with other CFA models. Statistical findings showed that the five-factor structure of the revised MSLQ Junior High had a good model fit. The present study contributes a novel methodological approach by investigating the parsimony confirmatory factor structure of the revised MSLQ Junior High in local academic contexts.