The Beneficial Effects of Non-received Choice: A Study on Intrinsic Motivation in Biology Education

Year 2013, , 185 - 190, 15.10.2013

Annika Meyer İnga Meyer-ahrens Matthias Wilde

https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.2.4.185

Abstract

Previous research has found conflicting evidence in studies where students participate in the selection of their course topics in educational settings. Katz and Assor, for example, have argued that the increase in student motivation is probably not due to the mere act of choosing, but to the value of the options with respect to personal interest. The aim of our study was to investigate the impact of choice on aspects of motivation during biology lessons. Our sample consisted of five classes with 118 children of whom 63% were female. Their average age was 10.4 years (SD=0.6). One group of students was asked to select one topic out of four in a majority vote during a biology class, while a control group was simply assigned the same topic. Results: Students who chose their topic reported a higher level of intrinsic motivation than students who were not given the option. A surprising result was that the students in the voting group who did not receive their preferred choice reported the same level of motivation as those who did.

Keywords

choice, student vote, autonomy, intrinsic motivation

References

• Assor, A., Kaplan, H., & Roth, G. (2002). Choice is good, but relevance is excellent: Autonomy-enhancing and suppressing teacher behaviours predicting students´ engagement in schoolwork. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(2), 261-278.
• Baldwin, T., Magjuka, R., & Loher, B. (1991). The perils of participation: effects of choice of training on trainee motivation and learning. Personnel Psychology, 44(1), 51-65.
• Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227-268.
• Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (2002). Self-determination research: Reflections and future directions. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 431-441). Rochester: University of Rochester Press.
• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). Retrieved December 21, 2010, from Web site:http://www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/ measures/IMI_scales.php
• Folger, R., Rosenfield, D., Grove, J., & Corkran, L. (1979). Effects of ‘voice’ and peer opinions on responses to inequity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 2253- 2261.
• Iyengar, S. S. & Lepper, M. R. (2000). When choice is demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79 (6), 995-1006.
• Katz, I., & Assor, A. (2007). When Choice Motivates and When It Does Not. Educational Psychology Review, 19(4), 429-442.
• Krapp, A. & Ryan, R. (2002). Selbstwirksamkeit und Lernmotivation. Eine kritische Betrachtung der Theorie von Bandura aus Sicht der Selbstbestimmungstheorie und der pädagogisch-psychologischen Interessentheorie. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik. Selbstwirksamkeit und Motivationsprozesse in Bildungsinstitutionen. 44,. 54-82.
• Löwe, B. (1992). Biologieunterricht und Schülerinteresse an Biologie. Weinheim: Deutscher Studien Verlag.
• Meyer-Ahrens, I., & Wilde, M. (2013). Der Einfluss von Schülerwahl und der Interessantheit des Unterrichtsgegenstandes auf die Lernmotivation im Biologieunterricht. Unterrichtswissenschaft, 41(1), 57–71.
• Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Robinson, J.C. (2008). The Effects of Choice on Intrinsic Motivation and Related Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis of Research Findings. Psychological Bulletin, 134 (2), 270–300.
• Reeve, J. (2002). Self-determination theory applied to educational settings. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 184-203). Rochester: University of Rochester Press.
• Reeve, J., Nix, G., & Hamm, D. (2003). The experience of self-determination in intrinsic motivation and the conundrum of choice. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 375-392.
• Reynolds, P. L., & Symons, S. (2001). Motivational variables and children’s text search. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 14–22.
• Ryan, R.M. & Deci, E.L. (2006). Self-Regulation and the Problem of Human Autonomy: Does Psychology Need Choice, Self-Determination, and Will? Journal of Personality 74(6), 1557-1586.
• Wilde, M., Bätz, K., Kovaleva, A., & Urhahne, D. (2009). Überprüfung einer Kurzskala intrinsischer Motivation (KIM). Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Naturwissenschaften, 15, 31-45.