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The Role of Instructional Relevance and Teacher Competence Support in Student Motivation and Achievement in High School Math Classrooms

Chang, Yujin

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Educational Studies.
In this dissertation, I explored high school students’ math class motivation profiles, how these profiles are predicted by students’ perceptions of their teachers’ instructional practices (i.e., instructional relevance and teacher competence support), and how students’ math class motivation profiles relate to their achievement, enrollment intentions, and effort regulation. Survey data were collected in the fall semester of the 2013-2014 academic year from 355 ninth- and tenth-graders in three high schools in a Midwestern city in the United States. Students’ achievement and demographic information were gleaned from school records. A person-centered approach was used to identify subgroups of students based on six indicators of math class motivation, including efficacy beliefs, attainment value, intrinsic value, endogenous instrumentality, cost, and math anxiety. Using Latent Profile Analysis, a four-profile model of high motivation, moderate motivation with high efficacy, moderate motivation with high cost and anxiety, and low motivation was chosen as a final model. Students’ perceptions of cost and anxiety were important indicators that differentiate the groups when students exhibit moderate levels of math class motivation. Multinomial logistic regressions were used in order to examine whether students’ perceptions of teacher practice (i.e., instructional relevance and teacher competence support) predict latent profile membership. Both students’ perceptions of instructional relevance and teacher competence support were significantly associated with students’ math class motivation profile membership, even after controlling for their prior math achievement and other demographic characteristics. When students had teachers whom they perceived as trying to make math content more relevant and supporting students’ competence, there was a higher probability that the students belonged to the more adaptive motivation profiles. When students had teachers who used instructional relevance strategies, but whom they did not perceive as adequately supporting their competence, they were more likely to belong to the less-desirable motivation profile, which is associated with high cost and anxiety. Students’ math class motivation profiles also significantly predicted their achievement, future enrollment intentions, and effort regulation. Using a person-centered approach, this study contributes to the current literature on motivation, by providing a unique perspective on group differences in math class motivation and showing how these differences can be predicted with different types of instructional practices.
Eric Anderman (Committee Chair)
Lynley Anderman (Committee Member)
Ann O'Connell (Committee Member)
125 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Chang, Y. (2016). The Role of Instructional Relevance and Teacher Competence Support in Student Motivation and Achievement in High School Math Classrooms [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471883007

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Chang, Yujin. The Role of Instructional Relevance and Teacher Competence Support in Student Motivation and Achievement in High School Math Classrooms. 2016. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471883007.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Chang, Yujin. "The Role of Instructional Relevance and Teacher Competence Support in Student Motivation and Achievement in High School Math Classrooms." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471883007

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)