Influences that undermine learners’ perceptions of autonomy, competence and relatedness in an online context

Abstract

<p>Online learning has grown considerably in recent years. However attrition rates from online courses indicate that not all learners are successful in such settings, and various factors have been identified as crucial to learner persistence. Research evidence suggests that motivation is one such factor. This study builds on previous studies by using self-determination theory (SDT) as an analytical framework to explore, in-depth, the motivation of pre-service teachers situated within an online learning context. In particular, the underlying concepts of autonomy, competence and relatedness from SDT were adopted as critical lenses to identify social and contextual influences which undermined the psychological needs of these learners. Most prominent among these in the current study were: high workload, assessment pressure, perceptions that the learning activity lacked relevance (autonomy-undermining), unclear and complicated guidelines, insufficient guidance and feedback from the instructor (competence-undermining), and communication issues with peers (relatedness-undermining). By not exclusively focusing on learners’ autonomy needs as others have done, the paper offers a more extensive picture of undermining influences on motivation than has been previously identified in online studies.</p>

Learner Intrinsic Motivation in Online Social Learning Platforms: A Case Study of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in Thailand

“…For example, when the participants received insufficient feedback, they were unsure that their assignments submitted were right or wrong. This hurdle was also found in a prior research when 110 Chapter 5: Discussion learners received insufficient guidance and feedback from the course facilitators (Hartnett, 2015). This state of uncertainty decreased a feeling of being capable.…”

“…Being with good group members could predict a better feeling of being independent when participating in learning activities. However, having no further discussion on group tasks submitted from peers as mentioned in previous research could limit learners' perceived autonomy (Hartnett, 2015).…”

“…With regard to perceived competence, people considered as social conditions could make learners feel a sense of being more or less capable when participating in online courses and learning activities (Hartnett, 2015;Hartnett, et al, 2011;Hartnett, et al, 2014). The influence of these social conditions on learner intrinsic motivation adds to the knowledge of online learning from previous online social learning platforms research.…”

“…As mentioned by Hartnett (2015), insufficient or irrelevant feedback could affect participants' feeling of being capable in online learning environment.…”

“…Although they did not have a face-to-face communication, they could work together. However, prior research indicated that learners who possessed low self-efficacy to demonstrate technological skills including how to effectively use learning system when taking online courses experienced a perception of less competence (Hartnett, 2015), and it could also diminish learner intrinsic motivation (Hartnett, 2016).…”