Cover Image

Understanding Motivation Loss and Behavioral Disengagement of Tertiary Students in Flexible Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

Purpose – Flexible learning is a delivery modality associated with positive outcomes, but its use at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with dark student experiences, such as poor interest and dishonesty among students. To understand how and why many tertiary students lost their...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Española, Raymon Pomoy, Ouano, Jerome A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Utara Malaysia Press 2024
Subjects:
L Education (General)
Online Access:https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/30358/1/MJLI%2021%2001%202024%20217-247.pdf
https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2024.21.1.8
https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/30358/
https://e-journal.uum.edu.my/index.php/mjli/article/view/19130
https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2024.21.1.8
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my.uum.repo.30358
record_format eprints
spelling my.uum.repo.303582024-02-05T08:04:50Z https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/30358/ Understanding Motivation Loss and Behavioral Disengagement of Tertiary Students in Flexible Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective Española, Raymon Pomoy Ouano, Jerome A. L Education (General) Purpose – Flexible learning is a delivery modality associated with positive outcomes, but its use at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with dark student experiences, such as poor interest and dishonesty among students. To understand how and why many tertiary students lost their motivation and became disengaged in pandemic-era flexible learning, this qualitative research was designed. Methodology – A total of 27 tertiary students in five separate groups volunteered to be interviewed. A focus group discussion protocol was developed based on the propositions of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and this protocol produced about eight hours of narrative data in audio form. The researcher performed thematic analysis to make sense of the transcriptions of the data, and the initial codes and themes were subjected to an external audit for purposes of methodological integrity. Findings – Eight need-thwarting behaviors of key social agents emerged, such as instructors’ rigid and negligent behaviors, peers’ indifferent and selfish behaviors, and burdensome behaviors of people at home. These behaviors were tied to participants’ cognitive appraisals of psychological need frustration that emerged in eight themes, which comprised having problems balancing school and home obligations, believing that outputs were misevaluated, and feelings of disconnection from peers. These appraisals could be related to seven themes of motivation and engagement issues reported by participants, notably amotivation, poor concentration, low effort, and dishonesty. Significance – The findings highlight the importance of addressing these need frustrations in order to improve tertiary students’ motivation and engagement in academic tasks delivered through flexible learning in higher education. Universiti Utara Malaysia Press 2024 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc4_by https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/30358/1/MJLI%2021%2001%202024%20217-247.pdf Española, Raymon Pomoy and Ouano, Jerome A. (2024) Understanding Motivation Loss and Behavioral Disengagement of Tertiary Students in Flexible Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction (MJLI), 21 (1). pp. 217-247. ISSN 1675-8110 https://e-journal.uum.edu.my/index.php/mjli/article/view/19130 https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2024.21.1.8 https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2024.21.1.8
institution Universiti Utara Malaysia
building UUM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Utara Malaysia
content_source UUM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://repo.uum.edu.my/
language English
topic L Education (General)
spellingShingle L Education (General)
Española, Raymon Pomoy
Ouano, Jerome A.
Understanding Motivation Loss and Behavioral Disengagement of Tertiary Students in Flexible Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
description Purpose – Flexible learning is a delivery modality associated with positive outcomes, but its use at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with dark student experiences, such as poor interest and dishonesty among students. To understand how and why many tertiary students lost their motivation and became disengaged in pandemic-era flexible learning, this qualitative research was designed. Methodology – A total of 27 tertiary students in five separate groups volunteered to be interviewed. A focus group discussion protocol was developed based on the propositions of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and this protocol produced about eight hours of narrative data in audio form. The researcher performed thematic analysis to make sense of the transcriptions of the data, and the initial codes and themes were subjected to an external audit for purposes of methodological integrity. Findings – Eight need-thwarting behaviors of key social agents emerged, such as instructors’ rigid and negligent behaviors, peers’ indifferent and selfish behaviors, and burdensome behaviors of people at home. These behaviors were tied to participants’ cognitive appraisals of psychological need frustration that emerged in eight themes, which comprised having problems balancing school and home obligations, believing that outputs were misevaluated, and feelings of disconnection from peers. These appraisals could be related to seven themes of motivation and engagement issues reported by participants, notably amotivation, poor concentration, low effort, and dishonesty. Significance – The findings highlight the importance of addressing these need frustrations in order to improve tertiary students’ motivation and engagement in academic tasks delivered through flexible learning in higher education.
format Article
author Española, Raymon Pomoy
Ouano, Jerome A.
author_facet Española, Raymon Pomoy
Ouano, Jerome A.
author_sort Española, Raymon Pomoy
title Understanding Motivation Loss and Behavioral Disengagement of Tertiary Students in Flexible Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
title_short Understanding Motivation Loss and Behavioral Disengagement of Tertiary Students in Flexible Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
title_full Understanding Motivation Loss and Behavioral Disengagement of Tertiary Students in Flexible Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
title_fullStr Understanding Motivation Loss and Behavioral Disengagement of Tertiary Students in Flexible Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
title_full_unstemmed Understanding Motivation Loss and Behavioral Disengagement of Tertiary Students in Flexible Learning: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
title_sort understanding motivation loss and behavioral disengagement of tertiary students in flexible learning: a self-determination theory perspective
publisher Universiti Utara Malaysia Press
publishDate 2024
url https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/30358/1/MJLI%2021%2001%202024%20217-247.pdf
https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2024.21.1.8
https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/30358/
https://e-journal.uum.edu.my/index.php/mjli/article/view/19130
https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2024.21.1.8
_version_ 1792158584518213632
score 13.211869

Similar Items