This project used a nonexperimental design with a convenience sample and studied the relationship between academic motivation, grade expectation, and academic performance in 1,210 students enrolled in undergraduate human anatomy and physiology (HAP) classes over a 2-yr period. A 42-item survey that included 28 items of the adapted academic motivation scale for HAP based on self-determination theory was administered in class during the first 3 wk of each semester. Students with higher grade point averages, who studied for longer hours and reported to be more motivated to succeed, did better academically in these classes. There was a significant relationship between students' scores on the adapted academic motivation scale and performance. Students were more extrinsically motivated to succeed in HAP courses than intrinsically motivated to succeed, and the analyses revealed that the most significant predictor of final grade was within the extrinsic scale (introjected and external types). Students' motivations remained stable throughout the course sequence. The data showed a significant relationship between HAP students' expected grade and their final grade in class. Finally, 65.5% of students overestimated their final grade, with 29% of students overestimating by two to four letter grades.

Purpose: The Human Anatomy and Physiology (HAP) course is required of all allied health majors. Students need to earn a grade of “C” or better, and many students find this class academically challenging. This study investigated allied health students’ perceptions of what makes the undergraduate class difficult. Methods: A 28-question survey targeted 403 students enrolled in three HAP sections taught by the same instructor. Results: Students returned 279 surveys (68% return rate). Qualitative and quantitative data supported a three factor model in making this class difficult: discipline, student, and teaching related factors. Students consider that discipline factors are more important than student and teaching factors. Conclusions and Recommendations: Results suggest that instructors can help students by paying more attention to diagrams and graphs, engaging students by using active methods of learning, and identifying students who consider this class “extremely” difficult.

Visual analogies play an important role in the teaching and learning of many diverse topics in chemistry. Organic nomenclature is an essential skill needed for student success in organic chemistry; however, it is a topic most students have difficulty in mastering. Without a strong foundation of nomenclature, students will struggle to follow more advanced organic chemistry topics. The project described uses the analogy of a mailman, who is new to an area and trying to remember the destinations of his postal route, to teach alkane nomenclature. Once students master the topic of alkane nomenclature, they are ready to take on the task of naming other organic molecules. Application of the Teaching-With-Analogies (TWA) model defines a stepwise approach to generate an effective analogy and hence was used in the development of the mailman analogy. An easily understandable picture of a mailman, a route system, and housing along the route provides an analogy capable of developing students' understanding of alkane nomenclature in organic chemistry. The assessment of student learning gains was performed in two different settings (Analogy versus Nonanalogy Groups) and it reveals that students who learn nomenclature with the analogy retain their learning gains through the course, whereas students who learn nomenclature without the analogy lose some of their gains as the semester continues.

Recent research indicates that students are adopting a consumerist approach to education, while data shows that the best academic outcomes are associated with intrinsic motivation. The goal of the study was to explore student academic motivation in an undergraduate Principles of Chemistry I class. The study targeted 432 students enrolled in 9 sections of the class over two semesters at a mid-sized, public four year university. Student academic motivation was measured using the adapted Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). A total of 311 students returned the survey (response rate = 72 %). The results indicated that students enrolled in IntroductionA significant number of scholarly reports on student motivation comes from the college classroom environment and indicates that student motivation is vital for success at the university level (Astin, 1984;Howey, 1999;Pintrich, 1988aPintrich, , 1988bRyan et al., 1985). Student motivation has been shown to be a determinant of academic performance and achievement (Pintrich, 2004) with motivated students having better class attendance (Moore et al., 2008) and course grades (Wilson and Wilson, 2007), including a higher first-year academic performance (Allen et al. 2007). Historically, psychologists have viewed motivation as a unitary concept-one that differs in amount rather than type. In contrast, Self Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci and Ryan, 2008) considers motivation to be a differentiated concept that differs in type and exists along an underlying continuum of autonomy (Ryan & Deci, 2000): amotivation (AM), extrinsic motivation (EM) and intrinsic motivation (IM). The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS; Figure 1) (Vallerand et al., 1992), a well-tested metric for exploring academic motivation within the SDT perspective, further subdivides IM and EM into three subscales each.With amotivation, the person perceives (1) a lack of contingency between behavior and the attainment of desired outcomes and/or (2) a lack of ability to perform the behavior that is necessary to attain desired outcomes. As a result, the person experiences passivity and an absence of autonomy.With extrinsic motivation, the person does an activity, because it leads to a separable outcome or consequence, such as obtaining a reward or avoiding a punishment. SDT specifies three types of extrinsic motivation that vary in the degree to which they are internalized into the self and, therefore, autonomous. The least internalized type of extrinsic motivation is external regulation (EM-External Regulation; EM-ER), in which the person is motivated by the salience of external rewards or punishments. The next type of extrinsic motivation is introjected regulation (EM-Introjected Regulation; EM-IN), in which the person is motivated by the salience of internal rewards (e.g., pride) or punishments (e.g., guilt). Both external regulation and introjected regulation are experienced as relatively controlled forms of extrinsic motivation. As the process of internalization proceeds, the next type of extrinsic motivation is identif...

Purpose: Human Anatomy & Physiology [HAP] courses are considered “difficult” by both faculty and students, and many students fail to pass the courses. An attempt was made to understand how students’ academic motivations may contribute to their success or failure in these courses. Method: The project used a non-experimental design with a convenience sample. Students in five sections of HAP I and HAP II were invited to complete an anonymous 42-item questionnaire that included an adapted version of the Academic Motivation Scale [AMS], six demographic questions, and eight questions about their academic behaviors in and perceptions of their HAP course. A total of 461 students (69% response rate) completed the questionnaire. Analyses included 1) reliability for the seven AMS subscales, 2) correlations among the subscales, among the eight questions about their behaviors and perceptions, and between the subscales and the behavior and perception questions, and 3) a multivariate multiple regression with the AMS subscales as independent variables and the behavior and perception questions as dependent variables. Results: The AMS was successfully adapted to apply to HAP courses with reliabilities comparable to previously published data. Students’ levels of intrinsic motivation and amotivation, but not extrinsic motivation, were significantly related to their academic behaviors and perceptions of the courses. Conclusions and Recommendations: Despite high levels of extrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation did not appear related to students’ academic behaviors. HAP instructors may need to consider alternate routes to influencing students’ academic success behaviors, as it appears that attempts to influence their extrinsic motivations may not essentially translate to changes in academic behavior.