ACADEMIC INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AND
METACOGNITION: A STUDY OF THE
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
MATRICULATION STUDENTS’ FEELING
TOWARDS THEIR LEARNING PROCESS
BY
MIKAIL IBRAHIM
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
MALAYSIA
2006
ii
ACADEMIC INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AND
METACOGNITION: A STUDY OF THE
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
MATRICULATION STUDENTS’ FEELING
TOWARDS THEIR LEARNING PROCESS
BY
MIKAIL IBRAHIM
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF
PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION
INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
MALAYSIA
JANUARY 2006
iii
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between a set of
predictors of Academic Intrinsic Motivation (including Self Determination, Goal
Orientation and Perceived Value) and their consequences on students’ involvement in
Fundamental Knowledge for Matriculation courses (FKM). It also aimed to
investigate the relationships between Intrinsic Motivation and students’ performance
and metacognition strategy used.
A total of 471 2nd year students (233 males and 238 females) were selected
following stratified random sampling. Hypothesized relationships of Academic
Intrinsic Motivation and its predictors were then tested by using Structural Equation
Modeling. Results of the analysis revealed that Self Determination construct (Self
Efficacy, Autonomy and Relatedness), Goal Orientation construct (Mastery,
Performance and Avoidance) and Perceived Value construct (Utility, Instrumentality
and Religiosity) were significant determinants of student’s Intrinsic Motivation in
FKM courses. The results also showed that Goal Orientation was the major predictor
of intrinsic motivation, followed by Self Determination and then Perceived Value. It
was also found that intrinsic motivation positively related to students’ performance
and reciprocal relationship existed between intrinsic motivation and metacognition.
Furthermore, the results also provided evidence of good model-data fit. There
were no any offending estimates, such as negative variance. The relevant goodness of
fit indices exceeded the recommended critical value. Specifically, GFI was estimated
at .95, AGFI .92, IFI .96, TLI .96, NFI .93, CFI .96 and RMSEA .06.
A Multivariate Analysis of variance (MANOVA) was also conducted to
examine the differences of Academic Intrinsic Motivation across gender. The results
of the MANOVA supported the notion that female students were more oriented
towards Intrinsic Motivation than male students, and that males slightly outperformed
females in religiosity factor, while there is no gender difference in metacognition
factor. This means that while males were more instigated due to religion element,
females were more motivated due to utility, instrumentality, mastery and performance
goals factors.
iv
‫ﻣﻠﺨﺺ ﺍﻟﺒﺤﺚ‬
‫ﺍﺳﺘﻬﺪﻓﺖ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﺪﺭﺍﺳﺔ ﺍﺳﺘﻘﺼﺎﺀ ﻭﺟﻬﺎﺕ ﻧﻈﺮ ﻃﻼﺏ ﺍﳌﺮﻛﺰ ﺍﻹﻋﺪﺍﺩﻱ ﺑﺎﳉﺎﻣﻌﺔ ﺍﻹﺳﻼﻣﻴﺔ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻌﺎﳌﻴﺔ ﰲ ﻣﺎﻟﻴﺰﻳﺎ ﳓﻮ ﻭﺟﻮﺩ ﻋﻼﻗﺔ ﺑﲔ ﳎﻤﻮﻋﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺘﻨﺒﺌﺎﺕ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﻓﻌﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺧﻠﻴﺔ ﺍﻷﻛﺎﺩﳝﻴﺔ‬
‫)ﻭﺗﺸﻤﻞ‪ :‬ﺍﻹﺭﺍﺩﺓ ﺍﻟﺬﺍﺗﻴﺔ‪ ،‬ﺍﻟﺘ ‪‬ﻮ ‪‬ﺟﻪ ﳓﻮ ﺍﳍﺪﻑ‪ ،‬ﻭﺇﺩﺭﺍﻙ ﺍﻟﻘﻴﻤﺔ ﺍﻷﻛﺎﺩﳝﻴﺔ(‪ ،‬ﻭﺇﻗﺒﺎﳍﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺩﺭﺍﺳﺔ‬
‫ﺍﳌﻮﺍﺩ ﺍﻷﺳﺎﺳﻴﺔ ﰲ ﺍﳌﺮﻛﺰ‪ .‬ﻛﻤﺎ ﺍﺳﺘﻬﺪﻓﺖ ﺩﺭﺍﺳﺔ ﺍﻟﻌﻼﻗﺎﺕ ﺑﲔ ﺩﺍﻓﻌﻴﺘﻬﻢ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺧﻠﻴﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻧﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬
‫ﻭﳒﺎﺣﻬﻢ ﺍﻷﻛﺎﺩﳝﻲ ﻭﺍﻻﺳﺘﺮﺍﺗﻴﺠﻴﺔ ﺍﳌﺴﺘﺨﺪﻣﺔ ﳌﺎﻭﺭﺍﺀ ﺍﻹﺩﺭﺍﻙ ﻣﻦ ﻧﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﺃﺧﺮﻯ‪.‬‬
‫ﻭﰲ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﺪﺭﺍﺳﺔ ﺃﺟﺮﻯ ﺍﻟﺒﺎﺣﺚ ﺍﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎﻧﺎ ﴰﻞ ﻋﻴﻨﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺍﳌﺒﺤﻮﺛﲔ ﻋﺪﺩﻋﻢ ‪ 471‬ﻃﺎﻟﺒﹰﺎ ﻣﻦ ﻃﻼﺏ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺴﻨﺔ ﺍﻟﺜﺎﻧﻴﺔ ﰲ ﺍﳌﺮﻛﺰ )‪ 233‬ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺬﻛﻮﺭ ﻭ‪ 238‬ﻣﻦ ﺍﻹﻧﺎﺙ(‪ .‬ﺍﺳﺘﺨﺪﻡ ﺍﻟﺒﺎﺣﺚ ﺍﻟﻌﻴﻨﺔ ﺍﻟﻌﺸﻮﺍﺋﻴﺔ‬
‫ﺍﳌﻄﺎﺑﻘﺔ ﻟﻴﻌﺎﺩﻝ ﻋﺪﺩ ﺍﻟﺬﻛﻮﺭ ﻭﻋﺪﺩ ﺍﻹﻧﺎﺙ‪ .‬ﺍﺧﺘﱪ ﺍﻟﺒﺎﺣﺚ ﺍﻟﻌﻼﻗﺎﺕ ﺍﳌﻔﺘﺮﺿﺔ ﺑﲔ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﻓﻌﻴﺔ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺧﻠﻴﺔ ﻭﻣﺘﻨﺒﺌﺎ‪‬ﺎ ﺑﺎﺳﺘﺨﺪﺍﻡ ﻃﺮﻳﻘﺔ ﲢﻠﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﺘﻮﺍﺯﻥ ﺍﻟﺒﻨﺎﺋﻲ ﺍﻟﻨﻤﻮﺫﺟﻲ‪ ،‬ﺣﻴﺚ ﺃﺷﺎﺭ ﺍﻟﺘﺤﻠﻴﻞ ﺇﱃ ﺃﻥ‬
‫ﺍﻹﺭﺍﺩﺓ ﺍﻟﺬﺍﺗﻴﺔ ﻭﻣﺎ ﲢﺘﻮﻱ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻜ ‪‬ﻮﻧﺎﺕ ﺃﺳﺎﺳﻴﺔ )ﺍﻻﻋﺘﺪﺍﺩ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﻔﺲ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻻﺳﺘﻘﻼﻝ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻻﻧﺘﻤﺎﺀ(‬
‫ﻭﺍﻟﺘ ‪‬ﻮﺟ‪‬ﻪ ﳓﻮ ﺍﳍﺪﻑ ﻭﻣﺎ ﻳﺘﻀﻤﻦ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻜ ‪‬ﻮﻧﺎﺕ ﺃﺳﺎﺳﻴﺔ )ﺍﻟﺘﻤﻜﻦ ﻣﻦ ﺍﳍﺪﻑ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﳍﺪﻑ ﺍﻷﺩﺍﺋﻲ‪،‬‬
‫ﻭﻫﺪﻑ ﲡﻨﺐ ﺍﻟﻌﻤﻞ( ﻭﺇﺩﺭﺍﻙ ﺍﻟﻘﻴﻤﺔ ﺍﻷﻛﺎﺩﳝﻴﺔ ﻭﻣﺎ ﳛﺘﻮﻱ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻜﻮ‪‬ﻧﺎﺕ ﺭﺋﻴﺴﻴﺔ ) ﺍﳌﻨﻔﻌﺔ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻌﺎﺟﻠﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﳌﻨﻔﻌﺔ ﺍﻵﺟﻠﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺪﻳﻦ( ﻫﻲ ﻣﺘﻨﺒﺌﺎﺕ ﺫﺍﺕ ﻣﻐﺰﻯ ﻟﻠﺪﺍﻓﻌﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺧﻠﻴﺔ ﻟﻄﻠﺒﺔ ﺍﳌﺮﻛﺰ‬
‫ﺍﻹﻋﺪﺍﺩﻱ ﻟﺪﺭﺍﺳﺔ ﺍﳌﻮﺍﺩ ﺍﻷﺳﺎﺳﻴﺔ‪ .‬ﻛﻤﺎ ﺃﺛﺒﺖ ﺍﻟﺒﺤﺚ ﺑﺎﻟﺘﺤﻠﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﻌﻠﻤﻲ ﺃﻳﻀﹰﺎ ﺃﻥ ﺍﻟﺘ ‪‬ﻮ ‪‬ﺟﻪ ﳓﻮ‬
‫ﺍﳍﺪﻑ ﻫﻮ ﺍﳌﺘﻨﺒﺊ ﺍﻟﺮﺋﻴﺲ ﻟﻠﺪﺍﻓﻌﻴﺔ ﺗﻠﻴﻪ ﺍﻹﺭﺍﺩﺓ ﺍﻟﺬﺗﻴﺔ‪ ،‬ﰒ ﺃﺧﲑﹰﺍ ﺇﺩﺭﺍﻙ ﺍﻟﻘﻴﻤﺔ ﺍﻷﻛﺎﺩﳝﻴﺔ‪.‬‬
‫ﻣﻦ ﺃﻫﻢ ﺍﻟﻨﺘﺎﺋﺞ ﺍﻟﱵ ﺗﻮﺻﻞ ﺇﻟﻴﻬﺎ ﺍﻟﺒﺤﺚ ﺇﻗﺎﻣﺔ ﺍﻟﺪﻟﻴﻞ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﻼﺀﻣﺔ ﺍﻟﺒﻴﺎﻧﺎﺕ ﻟﻄﺮﻳﻘﺔ ﲢﻠﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﺘﻮﺍﺯﻥ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺒﻨﺎﺋﻲ ﺍﻟﻨﻤﻮﺫﺟﻲ‪ ،‬ﻧﻈﺮﹰﺍ ﻟﻌﺪﻡ ﻭﺟﻮﺩ ﺗﻘﻴﻴﻢ ﻳﻨﺎﻗﺾ ﺫﻟﻚ‪ .‬ﻛﻤﺎ ﺃﻥ ﻣﺆﺷﺮﺍﺕ ﺍﳌﻼﺀﻣﺔ ﺍﻟﱵ ﺗﺪﻝ ﻋﻠﻰ‬
‫ﻣﺪﻯ ﻣﻨﺎﺳﺒﺔ ﺍﻟﺒﻴﺎﻧﺎﺕ ﻟﺘﺤﻠﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﺘﻮﺍﺯﻥ ﺍﻟﺒﻨﺎﺋﻲ ﺍﻟﻨﻤﻮﺫﺟﻲ‪ ،‬ﻗﺪ ﺟﺎﻭﺯﺕ ﺍﳊﺪ ﺍﳌﻘﺘﺮﺡ ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ‬
‫‪v‬‬
‫ﺍﻹﺣﺼﺎﺋﻴﲔ‪ ،‬ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺍﻟﺪﻗﺔ‪ ،‬ﻓﺈﻥ ‪ GFI‬ﻭﺻﻠﺖ ﺇﱃ‬
‫‪ ،.96 CFI ،.93‬ﻭ ‪.06 RMSEA‬‬
‫ﺃﺧﲑﹰﺍ ﺍﺳﺘﺨﺪﻡ ﺍﻟﺒﺎﺣﺚ ﲢﻠﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﺘﺒﺎﻳﻦ ﻣﺘﻌﺪﺩ ﺍﳌﺘﻐﲑﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﺘﺎﺑﻌﺔ ﻟﺘﺤﻠﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﻔﺮﻭﻕ ﺍﳉﻨﺴﻴﺔ ﰲ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﻓﻌﻴﺔ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺧﻠﻴﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﺃﻇﻬﺮﺕ ﻧﺘﻴﺠﺔ ﺍﻟﺘﺤﻠﻴﻞ ﺃﻥ ﺍﻹﻧﺎﺙ ﺃﻛﺜﺮ ﺩﺭﺟﺔ ﰲ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﻓﻌﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺧﻠﻴﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺬﻛﻮﺭ‪ ،‬ﻟﻜﻦ‬
‫ﻼ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻹﻧﺎﺕ ﰲ ﻣﻜﻮﻥ ﺍﻟﺘﺪﻳﻦ‪ .‬ﻭﺗﺆﻣﺊ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﻨﺘﻴﺠﺔ ﺇﱃ ﺃﻥ ﺍﻟﺘﺪﻳﻦ ﻫﻮ‬
‫ﺍﻟﺬﻛﻮﺭ ﻳﺘﻔﻮﻗﻮﻥ ﻗﻠﻴ ﹰ‬
‫ﺍﳊﺎﻓﺰ ﺍﻷﺳﺎﺱ ﻹﻗﺒﺎﻝ ﺍﻟﺬﻛﻮﺭ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺘﻌﻠﻢ‪ ،‬ﺇﻣﺎ ﺍﳌﻜﻮ‪‬ﻧﺎﺕ ﺍﻷﺧﺮﻯ ﻣﺜﻞ‪ :‬ﺍﳌﻨﻔﻌﺔ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﺟﻠﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﳌﻨﻔﻌﺔ‬
‫ﺍﻵﺟﻠﺔ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﻟﺘﻤﻜﻦ ﻣﻦ ﺍﳍﺪﻑ‪ ،‬ﻭﺍﳍﺪﻑ ﺍﻷﺩﺍﺋﻲ ﻓﻬﻲ ﺍﻟﺒﻮﺍﻋﺚ ﺍﳊﻘﻴﻘﻴﺔ ﻟﺪﺍﻓﻌﻴﺔ ﺍﻹﻧﺎﺙ‪.‬‬
‫‪NFI ،.96 TLI ،.96 IFI ،.92 AGFI ،.98‬‬
‫‪vi‬‬
APPROVAL PAGE
This thesis of Mikail Ibrahim has been examined and approved by the
following:
_______________________
Noor Azian Bt Mohd Noor
Supervisor
_________________________
Ismail Sheikh Ahmad
Supervisor
_________________________
Mohd Sahari Nordin
Internal Examiner
_________________________
Joharry Othman
Internal Examiner
__________________________
Rosna Awang Hashim
External Examiner
____________________________
vii
Ab. Rahim Hj. Ismail (Chairman)
viii
Declaration Page
I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations,
except where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or
currently submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other
institutions.
Mikail Ibrahim
Signature……………………………
ix
Date……………………….........
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION OF
FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH
Copyright © 2005 by Mikail Ibrahim. All rights reserved.
ACADEMIC INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AND METACOGNITION: A
STUDY OF THE INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
MATRICULATION STUDENTS’ FEELING TOWARDS THEIR LEARNING
PROCESS.
No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise without the prior written permission of the copyright holder except as provided
below.
1.
Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may only be
used by others in their writing with due acknowledgment.
2.
IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print or
electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.
3.
The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in retrieval system and supply
copies of this unpublished research if requested by other universities and
research libraries.
Affirmed by Mikail Ibrahim
……………………………………
Signature
……………
Date
x
This Dissertation is dedicated to my beloved parents; Ibrahim Soliu and Maryam
Soliu (Al-Batul) for their love, courage, support and sacrifice for me.
xi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am very happy and thankful for the completion of this dissertation. This
dissertation would have been impossible without the support of many special people.
Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to
those concerned.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my major supervisor,
Assistant Professor Dr. Nor Azian bt. Mohd Noor, for her excellent guidance, supervision and
patience, before and during process of writing this dissertation. My special thanks also go to
my supervisory committee, Professor Dr. Mohd Sahari Nordin and Assistant Professor Dr.
Ismail Sheikh Ahmad, for their invaluable comments and insights.
I would also like to extend my appreciation to my lecturers for their help, support and
encouragement, particularly, Dr. Ahmad Mohammad Hassoubah, Dr. Zaleha Izhab, Ahmad
Marzuki Zainuddin (Director of Institute of Education), Dr. Mohyani Razikin, Dr. Joharry
Othman and Professor Dr. Mommoh Jimoh Salami.
My special thanks and sincere appreciation are also due to my Ph.D.
colleagues and staff of Institute of Education for their help, advice and constructive
comments on my dissertation, without whom, the completion of my studies may not
have become a reality.
Lastly, my sincere appreciation and thanks must go to Professor Dr. Kamal
Hassan, the Hon Rector of the International Islamic University for giving me the
opportunity to pursue my doctorate degree at this University. My gratitude also goes
to the Center for postgraduate studies (CPS) for partially sponsored me to attend a
four day Rasch Model workshop, IIUM library, and the Matriculation Center for
giving me the authorization chance to collect the data from their students. May
Almighty Allah bless them all.
xii
CONTENTS
Abstract ..................................................................................................................... iv
Approval Page........................................................................................................... vi
Declaration Page .....................................................................................................viii
Approval Page........................................................................................................... vi
Dedication Page .......................................................................................................vii
Acknowledgements..................................................................................................xii
List of Tables .......................................................................................................... xvi
List of Figures .......................................................................................................xviii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1
Background of the Study ........................................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem......................................................................................... 10
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................ 15
Research Questions .................................................................................................. 17
Significance of the Study ......................................................................................... 19
Limitation of the Study ............................................................................................ 21
Definition of the Terms............................................................................................ 22
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ......................................... 23
Introduction.............................................................................................................. 23
Structure of the Review of Literature of Academic Intrinsic Motivation and Related
Constructs ................................................................................................................ 24
Critical Assessment of Reviewed Literature............................................................ 25
General Overview .................................................................................................... 25
Intrinsic Motivation ............................................................................................. 26
Types of Intrinsic Motivation .............................................................................. 36
Goals Orientation (Mastery, Performance and Work-Avoidance) ...................... 38
Self-Determination (Autonomy, Relatedness and Self-Efficacy)........................ 44
Perceived Value ................................................................................................... 50
Religious Motives ................................................................................................ 54
Gender and Intrinsic Motivation .......................................................................... 57
Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 59
Methodological Analysis of Empirical Studies on Intrinsic Motivation and its
Predictors ................................................................................................................. 60
Description of the Subjects and Setting ............................................................... 61
Sampling Procedures of the Reviewed Studies.................................................... 63
Sample Size.......................................................................................................... 64
Statistical Techniques, Statistical Assumptions, Effect Size, Analysis of Statistical
Power of the Reviewed Studies ............................................................................... 83
Validity and Reliability of Reviewed Studies’ Instruments..................................... 85
Implication of Intrinsic Motivation and its Predictors for Educational Theory and
Practice..................................................................................................................... 86
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY......................................... 88
Introduction.............................................................................................................. 88
Methods for the Study.............................................................................................. 88
xiii
Setting .................................................................................................................. 90
Sample.................................................................................................................. 90
Instrumentation .................................................................................................... 92
Adopted Scales......................................................................................................... 93
Intrinsic Motivation Scale.................................................................................... 93
Goal Orientation Scale ......................................................................................... 95
Autonomy-Affecting Teacher Behaviours Scale ................................................. 96
Relatedness Scale................................................................................................. 97
Self-Efficacy Scale............................................................................................... 97
Metacognition Scale............................................................................................. 98
Self-Developed Scale............................................................................................... 99
Utility and Instrumentality Scale ......................................................................... 99
Religiosity Scale ................................................................................................ 101
Validity and Reliability of the Scales .................................................................... 101
Pilot Study.............................................................................................................. 103
Participants......................................................................................................... 103
Intrinsic Motivation Principal Component Analysis ......................................... 104
Metacognition Principal Component Analysis .................................................. 106
Self-Determination Principal Component Analysis........................................... 107
Goal Orientation Principal Component Analysis .............................................. 109
Perceived Value Principal Component Analysis ............................................... 111
Assessment of Scale Dimensionality and Construct Validity................................ 113
Academic Intrinsic Motivation .......................................................................... 117
Goal Orientation................................................................................................. 118
Self-Determination............................................................................................. 119
Metacognition .................................................................................................... 121
Perceived Value ................................................................................................. 122
Benchmark Analysis .......................................................................................... 123
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 125
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
.................................................................................................................................... 127
Introduction............................................................................................................ 127
Descriptive Analysis .............................................................................................. 128
Test of Assumptions .............................................................................................. 130
Result of the Measurement Model for each Construct .......................................... 133
Assessment of Reliability ...................................................................................... 144
Correlations among the Factors ............................................................................. 145
Structural Equation Modeling................................................................................ 149
Model Fit............................................................................................................ 152
Chi-Square (χ2) .................................................................................................. 153
Goodness-Fit-Index (GFI) ................................................................................. 154
Adjusted Goodness-of-Fit Index (AGFI)........................................................... 154
Root-Mean-Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) .................................... 155
Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) ................................................................................. 155
Normed Fit Index (NFI)..................................................................................... 156
Comparative Fit Index (CFI) ............................................................................. 156
Incremental Fit Index (IFI) ................................................................................ 157
Results of the Structural Equation Model .............................................................. 158
xiv
MANOVA.............................................................................................................. 162
Chapter Summary .................................................................................................. 179
CHAPTER FIVE: FINDING DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................................................... 181
Discussion of Findings........................................................................................... 182
Dimensionality of the Constructs........................................................................... 182
Construct Variables................................................................................................ 185
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 208
Limitations and Recommendations........................................................................ 211
Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 214
Appendix 1 ................................................................................................................ 233
Appendix ii................................................................................................................ 244
xv
List of Tables
Table no
Page no
Table 2. 1 Methodological Analysis of Previous Studies on intrinsic motivation, its
predictors and metacognition ............................................................................... 66
Table 3. 1 Pilot study: Intrinsic motivation scale; factors loading, Anti image, Means
and Standard Deviation...................................................................................... 105
Table 3. 2 Factor loading for metacognition items, Anti image, Means and Standard
Deviations .......................................................................................................... 106
Table 3. 3 Factor loading for self-determination items, Anti image, Means and
Standard Deviations ........................................................................................... 108
Table 3. 4 Factors loading for goals orientation, Anti image, Means and Standard
Deviation............................................................................................................ 110
Table 3. 5 Factor loading for self-determination items, Anti image, Means and
Standard Deviations ........................................................................................... 112
Table 3. 6 Academic Intrinsic Motivation Items Estimates....................................... 118
Table 3. 7 Goal Orientation Item Estimates............................................................... 119
Table 3. 8 Self-Determination Items Estimates ......................................................... 120
Table 3. 9 Metacognition Items Estimates................................................................. 121
Table 3. 10 Perceived Value Items Estimates............................................................ 122
Table 3. 11 Summary of Scales’ Reliability .............................................................. 125
Table4. 1 Distribution of Respondents according to their Background Characteristics
.................................................................................................................................... 130
Table 4. 2 summary of model-fit statistics for measurement models ........................ 145
Table 4. 3 Reliability, Item-total Correlation and Squared Multiple Correlation...... 145
Table 4. 4 Correlation Coefficient, Mean and Standard Deviation of the summated
variables in the study ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 4. 5 Summary of Fit indices Recommendation and Actual Values ................. 157
xvi
Table 4.6 Means and Standard Deviations of intrinsic motivation subscales according
to gender............................................................................................................. 162
Table 4. 7 Levene’s test of equality of error variances.............................................. 163
Table 4. 8 Summary of factorial MANOVA of Academic intrinsic motivation
subscales according to gender and specialization .............................................. 164
Table 4. 9 Results of the ANOVA of academic intrinsic motivation subscales
according to gender and specialization .............................................................. 166
Table 4. 10 Levene’s test of equality of error variances............................................ 167
Table 4. 11 Summary of factorial MANOVA of Goal Orientation according to the
gender and specialization ................................................................................... 167
Table 4. 12 Means and Standard Deviations of Goal Orientation subscales according
to gender............................................................................................................. 168
Table 4. 13 Results of the ANOVA of Goal Orientation subscales according to gender
and specialization............................................................................................... 170
Table 4. 14 Levene’s test of equality of error variances............................................ 171
Table 4. 15 Summary of factorial MANOVA of Perceived Value according to the
gender and specialization ................................................................................... 172
Table 4. 16 Means and Standard Deviations of Perceived Value subscales according to
gender................................................................................................................. 173
Table 4. 17 Results of the ANOVA of Perceived Value subscales according to gender
and specialization............................................................................................... 174
Table 4. 18 Summary of factorial MANOVA of self determination according to the
gender and specialization ................................................................................... 175
Table 4. 19 Means and Standard Deviations of CGPA according to specialization.. 176
Table4. 20 Levene’s test of equality of error variances............................................. 177
Table 4. 21 Summary of factorial MANOVA of Metacognition and CGPA according
to the gender and specialization ......................................................................... 177
Table4. 22 Results of the ANOVA Metacognition and CGPA according to gender and
specialization...................................................................................................... 178
xvii
List of Figures
Figure no
Page no
Figure 1. 1: The proposed Conceptual Framework for Academic Intrinsic Motivation
Model ................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 4. 1: Intrinsic Motivation Measurement Model.............................................. 135
Figure 4. 2: Self-determination Measurement Model................................................ 137
Figure 4. 3: Goal Orientation Measurement Model................................................... 139
Figure 4. 4: Perceived Value Measurement Model ................................................... 141
Figure 4. 5: Metacognition Measurement Model ...................................................... 143
Figure 4. 6: Structural Model of Academic Intrinsic Motivation .............................. 150
xviii
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Motivation, as viewed from an educational perspective, has been debated and
studied theoretically and empirically since the 1950s (White, 1959; Hurt, 1963). It is
defined as a tendency, incentive and desire to engage in a task for a certain reason.
Moreover, it is a process which is concerned with arousing, directing and sustaining
behaviour (Ames & Ames, 1984). Motivation has been a central discussion among
psychologists due to its strong relations with the biological, cognitive, and social
regulation factors and its consequences on human behaviours (Ryan & Deci, 2000a).
It is considered as a multidimensional phenomenon because people have various
explanations for the engagement in an activity, the different levels of inclination and
the type of motivational orientation. In the concept of self-determination theory, two
distinctive types of motivational orientations; intrinsic and extrinsic have been
emphasized. Intrinsic motivation is a genuine motivation which emerges from a
personal inclination or incentive towards a specific task for the natural enjoyment
aroused from involvement in the activity per se, while extrinsic motivation refers to an
engagement in an activity to attain a specific goal or as an instrumental means to an
end (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier & Ryan, 1991; Pintrich & Schunk,
2002; Rust, 1977; Ryan & Deci, 2000a; 2000b).
Gagne and St Pere (2002) quoted Edison’s famous saying, “Genius is 1%
inspiration and 99% perspiration” (p.21).
There is a common English proverb,
“whenever there is a will there must be a way”. These two phrases connote human
1
philosophical belief that intrinsic motivation plays a significant role in a human’s life
activities especially in the learning process. Many educators and developmentalists
advocated that the learning process should be an active process in which learners
would be the active participants before learning could take place. They also believed
that learning would occur optimally when learners were intentionally willing to be
involved and assimilate information (Grolnick & Ryan, 1987) or when they are
volitionally interested in learning activities.
Volitional interest or inner arousal in a task is what psychologists have referred
to as intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation has been defined in various ways,
however, all definitions implied that intrinsic motivation is the willing engagement in
an activity without being compelled or instigated by external prod, encouragement or
rewards. Rather, the reward is derived from the pleasure and involvement in the
activity itself (Koestner, Zuckerman & Koestner, 1987; Ryan & Deci, 1987; Deci &
Ryan, 1985; Vallerand, Fortier & Guay, 1997; Vallerand, Bissonnette, 1992; Wu,
2003; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). Self-determination theory claims that when a person
is involved in an activity or a task without any reward or being compelled to do so that
person was acting of his/her own volition or intrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci,
2000a).
On the other hand, psychologists contrast intrinsic motivation with another
type of motivation that is referred to as extrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000a;
2000b). Extrinsic motivation refers to an engagement in an activity because of an
interpersonal or intrapersonal force. To be more specific, the motive in this situation
is instrumental or a means to achieve a targeted goal (Deci, 1998). If an individual
acts based on an extrinsic motive, he/she is not naturally interested (wholly willing) to
engage in the task but rather compelled to do so by his/her inner or outside forces.
2
Thus, there are psychological conflicts and pressures between what a person is doing
and what he wants to do (Deci, 1998).
This conflict and pressure leads to
discontinuity of the task after the origin and the cause of pressure have been
eliminated.
Therefore, it is not unreasonable speculation to argue that after the
reinforcer is removed from the task, the involvement will either stop or the quality of
the engagement will become shallow and trivial due to lack of unification between the
“want to” (personal interest) and “have to” (force to do) (Deci, 1998).
Although both types of motivation have been considered as contraries, they are
not according to Printrich and Schunk’s (2002) independent phenomena in nature, in
which when one phenomenon is higher the other is lower. Rather, both can be high in
a person or low according to the situation and the nature of the object. They are also
liable to change from time to time depending on the personal, psychological or
environmental conditions (Printrich & Schunk, 2002).
The conceptualization of intrinsic motivation shows three types of intrinsic
motivation; (a) intrinsic motivation to know (b) intrinsic motivation to accomplish (c)
intrinsic motivation to stimulate (Vallerand, Pelletier, Blais, Briere, Senecal &
Vallieres, 1992). The first type refers to the inner arousal to be involved in learning
task(s) for the satisfaction one feels or earns in learning, exploring new ideas, and
understanding new things. Intrinsic motivation to accomplish means an intention to
engage in a learning task for the pleasure the learner experienced when trying to
achieve particular goal(s).
The third type is labeled as intrinsic motivation to
stimulate. It is a type of intrinsic motivation that an individual experiences when
he/she tries to “experience stimulating sensation” such as sensory pleasure, aesthetic
experiences and excitement which emerged from his/her involvement in the tasks
(Vallerand et al., 1992, p.601). Convincing empirical studies have supported the
3
strong relationship between the conceptualization of intrinsic motivation and
performance, creativity, information processing, and the quality and quantity of
learning acquisition (Gottfried, 1985; 1990; Lloyd & Barenblatt, 1984; Vallerand &
Bissonnete, 1992; Moneta & Siu, 2002).
Furthermore, intrinsic motivation also has a strong relationship with
metacognitive strategies use (Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990).
Intrinsically motivated
learners are found to be engaged in more metacognitive activities than nonintrinsically motivated ones. According to Pintrich and DeGroot (1990), knowledge
of cognition and metacognition is not a sufficient determinant of students’
performance, but rather intrinsic motivation is the fundamental requirement of
achievement and metacognitive strategies used. He also contended that intrinsically
motivated learners were those who engage in metacognitive strategies by monitoring,
planning and continually evaluating their progress and performance. He found that
intrinsic motivation was correlated with self-regulation and that metacognition had
been considered to be one of its major components.
In cognitive models of motivation, effort and persistence for academic tasks
partially resulted from the various beliefs, attitudes and perceptions of the students
such as self-efficacy, goals, and task value belief. There is much convincing evidence
to support the speculation based on the self-efficacy theory which states that
reciprocal relationships exist among goals, competence (self-efficacy), personal
control, task value belief and intrinsic motivation (Leach, 2003; Wu, 2003). As an
example, prior studies which explored motivational beliefs found that students who
exhibit greater task value, enjoy freedom, and adopt a learning goal tended to display
higher intrinsic motivation and greater use of strategies that were designed to regulate
4
students’ cognitive and metacognitive engagement in academic tasks (Wu, 2003;
Wolters & Rosenthal, 2000).
Moreover, metacognition is defined as “the ability to reflect upon, understand,
and control one’s learning” (Schraw & Dennison, 1994, p.460). It functions as a
controller of cognitive strategies to handle learning tasks effectively by deliberately
and consciously managing, monitoring, assessing, initiating, directing and executing
cognitive processes (Zimmerman, 1989). The ability to use metacognitive strategies
efficiently will help students to plan, regulate and execute the plan on their own for
the betterment of the learning activities rather than relying on teachers or parents or
other agents of instruction (Zimmerman, 1989). According to Nik Suriana Nik Yusuf
(2001), students who use metacognitive strategies in their academic struggle are likely
to become flexible, effective and independent learners. Metacognitive strategies were
found to be strongly and positively related to students’ academic performance,
persistence and intrinsic motivation (Pintrich, 1990).
According to the theory,
learners tend to improve their learning strategy by comparing and experimenting with
different strategies and developing an appropriate metacognitive knowledge about
how, when and why these strategies could be used to improve performance (Carr &
Jessup, 1995). The intrinsic motivation and metacognition thus, reciprocally influence
each other and lead to the employment of appropriate metacognitive strategies to solve
the targeted academic tasks and generate continued intrinsic motivation for similar
learning activities (McCombs, 1988).
Nevertheless, it was suggested that there are some psychological needs that
must be satisfied before intrinsic motivation could be elicited (Ryan & Deci, 2000a;
2000b; Skinner & Belmont, 1993; Deci & Ryan, 1985). Self determination, goal
orientation and perceived value are the determinants of intrinsic motivation (Deci &
5
Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000a; Pintrich, Marx, Boyle, 1993; Eccles & Wigfield,
1995; Ferrer-Caja & Wiess, 2000).
The degree to which learners’ fundamental
psychological desires and environmental factors are fulfilled or ignored in the school
content is echoed in their self-system processes (attitudes and belief about the self)
(Skinner & Belmont, 1993) and consequently reflects on their engagement in their
learning activities. They (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000a) asserted that the
environment would be conducive for intrinsic motivation to emerge if learners were
given a choice to decide on and participate in classroom policy, and if they felt related
to their instructors and peers. Skinner and Belmont (1998) in their study contended
that the decline of motivation in the academic content was associated with
psychological and environmental factors because motivation is not merely biological.
This assumption had been empirically studied and findings indicated that if
these antecedent variables (self-determination, goal orientation and perceived value)
were satisfied, learners tended to be more intrinsically motivated and voluntarily
willing to engage in learning activities for the sake of knowledge itself. Recently,
Ferrer-Caja and Wiess (2000) broadened the scope of the predeterminants (predictors)
of intrinsic motivation. They (Ferrer-Caja & Wiess, 2000) tested a wide range of
variables that they hypothesized could predict learners’ intrinsic motivation which
were not included in Deci and Ryan’s assumption. These variables were perceived
competence (self-efficacy), goal orientations, autonomy, motivational climate, and
teaching style. Consistent with their hypothesis, the study found that almost all these
predictors strongly or moderately predicted intrinsic motivation.
Therefore, they
concluded that, intrinsic motivation led to the devotion of effort and persistence
especially in physical education, which was the focus of their study.
6
In relation to perceived value, studies (Pintrich, Marx, & Boyle, 1993; Eccles
& Wigfield, 1995; Husman & Lens, 1999; Human, Derryberry, Crowson, & Lomax,
2004; Husman, McCann & Crowson, 2000) found a strong relationship between
perceived value and intrinsic motivation. Although these studies demonstrated that
perceived value, which consisted of utility and instrumentality or endogenous
instrumentality and exogenous instrumentality, could be viewed as extrinsic
motivation because tasks are done basically due to their utility, it was found that both
types of perceived value correlated with intrinsic motivation.
Instrumentality or endogenous instrumentality, a dimension of perceived
value, refers to a learner’s perception that the completion of an academic task will
increase the probability of achieving a specific goal in the long term such as taking
mathematics to become an expert engineer or a psychology course to become a
pioneer psychologist (Human, Derryberry, Crowson, & Lomax, 2004; Eccles &
Wigfield, 1995; Eccles & Wigfield, 2000; Human & Lens, 1999). On the other hand,
utility or exogenous instrumentality means the significance of a task in hand for nearer
future goals such as taking a maths class to fulfill a requirement for a science degree
(Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). The learner in this situation is not fascinated with or
interested in mathematics but it is a means of achieving a specific goal in the nearest
future or for immediate benefits.
Research suggested that students with greater perceived value (instrumentality
or utility), self-determination, and learning goal orientations tended to display greater
use of strategies which were designed to regulate their metacognitive and cognitive
engagement in academic tasks (Wolter & Rosenthal, 2000; Pintrich, Marx, & Boyle,
1993; Eccles & Wigfield, 1995; Pintrich, 1999). Furthermore, Sansone, Weibe and
Morgan (1999) found that students who thought that working on boring academic
7