Situational motivation and participation in online learning: Does the level of students’ participation change in different course contexts?

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Session Description

Ryan and Deci (2000) argued that people can be either active or passive depending on social and contextual conditions. It means students’ motivation to participate in online learning can be situational based on course contexts such as course design, facilitation, and community. This qualitative study examines how course contexts relate to students’ situational motivation (e.g., intrinsic & extrinsic motivation, and amotivation) and change their level of participation in online learning. The interview data from 27 graduate students were analyzed to understand what and how online course design, instructor facilitation strategies, and community in various courses supported or hindered online students’ basic psychological needs (e.g., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and their situational motivation to participate in online learning actively or passively. The findings highlight social and contextual factors that supported or undermined online students’ basic psychological needs and situational motivation. Researchers found that teacher facilitation, feedback, and communication strategies seemed to be most effective to shape students’ situational motivation to actively participate in online learning. Namely, students’ basic psychological needs and situational motivations were well supported when instructors facilitated online discussions, made efforts to create an inclusive environment, and made themselves accessible through various communication channels.

Presenter(s)

Hajeen Choi
Florida State University

Hajeen Choi is a doctoral candidate in Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program at Florida State University. Her research interests include motivation and engagement in online learning, lurking, othering, networked learning, and social media in education. Currently, she is working on the projects such as the feeling of othering in online learning, lurking in online learning, Twitter Conference Backchannel for building PLN and online presence, and network analysis in education. In regards to teaching, she teaches an educational technology course to pre-service teachers and had been working as a teaching assistant for various online courses. She may be contacted at hc16b@my.fsu.edu.

Dan He
Florida State University

Dan He is a doctoral candidate in Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies program at Florida State University. Her current research interests include using social media for formal and informal learning, online course designs, and culturally responsive teaching. She is currently involved in research projects related to students’ feeling of othering in online environments, networked knowledge activities, and educators’ professional development. Dan is dedicated to creating and fostering inclusive and equitable digital learning environments. She may be contacted at dh16e@fsu.edu.

Ömer Arslan
Florida State University

Ömer Arslan is a doctoral candidate in Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program at Florida State University. He is interested in online course design and facilitation, particularly how instructors design and facilitate course activities in online classrooms. Currently, he engages in activities that contribute to his personal and professional development including but not limited with teaching and researching. He may be contacted at oa18h@my.fsu.edu.

Vanessa Dennen
Florida State University

Vanessa Dennen is a Professor of Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies at Florida State University. Her research is situated in both formal and informal learning environments and focuses on identity development, knowledge management, and knowledge brokering within online networks and communities of practice. Vanessa currently serves as Editor in Chief of The Internet and Higher Education. She may be contacted at vdennen@admin.fsu.edu.

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