Profiles of personal and ecological assets: Adolescents’ motivation and engagement in self-driven learning

Abstract

While opportunities for adolescents to drive their own learning are increasing, differences in motivations for and engagement in these opportunities are rarely investigated. The current study employed a sample of adolescents ( N = 580, M age = 16.53) enrolled in GripTape , a 10-week self-driven learning program in which youth pursue topics of their choosing. Cluster analysis classified adolescents based on their personal (e.g., resilience, competence) and ecological (e.g., adult support, safe environments) assets, resulting in two distinguishable groups. A High Asset group scored more favorably on these indicators than a Lower Asset group. Between-cluster comparisons revealed that compared to the Lower Asset group, the High Asset group reported greater levels of motivation for self-driven learning (i.e., intrinsic, extrinsic, and competence demonstration), but not engagement (i.e., positive learning experience, commitment to learning topics and activities). Subsequent tests showed that extrinsic motivation and competence demonstration negatively correlates with youth commitment to learning topics and activities. These findings enrich the literature concerning adolescents’ motivations for and engagement in self-driven learning, and how to support youth self-driven learning. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-021-02412-0.

Chinese College Students' Perceived Teacher Autonomy Support and Engagement: A Moderated Mediation Model

“…Many studies have reported that LM significantly impacts SE (Black & Deci, 2000;Fredricks et al, 2017;Wang & Eccles, 2013). Also, some researchers have found a mediating role of LM between PAS and SE (Benita et al, 2021;Yoo, 2015;Zhu & Burrow, 2022). Thus, the current study suggests that college students might have higher learning motivation when they perceive more teacher autonomy support, which would increase their engagement.…”

Adolescents’ Change in Motivation as a Result of Buddhist Education: How Does It Make a Difference in Their Learning Outcomes?

“…As Zhu and Burrow (2022) found, personal traits had a significant impact on young learners’ motivation. A relevant question posed here is how demographics influence teenagers’ learning motivation.…”

Współczesne przestrzenie aktywności młodzieży

“…Często osiągnięcie wytyczonego celu łączy się z jakąś nagrodą lub wiąże z chęcią uniknięcia kary. W literaturze przedmiotu odnotowujemy liczne próby wytłumaczenia osobistych i społecznych uwarunkowań motywacji, różni autorzy akcentują jej wielorakie aspekty (Gollwitzer 2020;Hansell 1989;Zhu, Burrow 2023). Główne pytanie niniejszych rozważań dotyczy związku pomiędzy aktywnością młodzieży a psychologicznymi i pedagogicznymi aspektami motywacji, rozumianej jako istotna siła inicjująca i podtrzymująca podjęte działania.…”