College Students' Academic Motivation and Engagement: An Investigation of Longitudinal Associations

Stability Of Motivation And Engagement

Major theories of academic motivation argue that attitudes towards learning and learning behaviors have consequences for academic achievement. Much research discusses the importance of tracking academic motivation across time. However, models of academic motivation are built around concurrent, rather than longitudinal associations and few researchers have actually addressed the stability of motivation (Ma & Xu, 2004; Plenty & Heubeck, 2013; Schunk, 2000). Research has shown that the levels of motivation change over time and that grade (year in school) is significantly associated with both motivation and engagement. The transition from junior high to middle high school, for example, can be difficult resulting in declines in motivation (Jacobs et al., 2002). Earlier research has also shown that motivation, measured at group level, tends to decrease in junior and middle high school years (Eccles et al., 1984; Harter, 1981, 1992; Ryan & Deci, 2000a), especially intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in students from 8^th- through 10^th grade (Otis et al., 2005).