Dynamics of Motivation, Self-Regulation, and Feedback in Greek Adolescents' Academic Achievement: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

Academic achievement is considered important for attaining a greater socio-economic position and societal prosperity. Yet, the academic achievement of Greek adolescents is declining in the last decades according to international student assessment surveys. Hence, the present dissertation is a mixed-method non-sequential multi-study examining the interplay between motivational, self-regulatory, and contextual factors that underpin the academic achievement in Greek adolescents. Drawing upon the social-cognitive theory, the cyclical and the metacognitive and affective models of self-regulated learning, a conceptual model of factors and processes underpinning the academic achievement of Greek adolescent students was built and tested. Three empirical studies were designed and conducted to address the overarching research question: What student-level and contextual factors are critical for academic achievement among adolescent students in Greece, and in what ways do these factors contribute to their success? Study 1 involved a secondary data analysis of the large nationally representative data (n=5,532 students, n=211 schools) from the PISA survey. The aims were to explore how students’ motivational beliefs (i.e., self-efficacy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and performance goal orientation) were associated amongst themselves, with teachers’ feedback and achievement. Multilevel structural equation modelling (students nested in schools) was deployed. The results indicated that that the association between feedback and achievement was partially mediated by the complex network of associations between students’ motivational beliefs. The quantity of teachers’ feedback positively predicted students’ self-efficacy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, but did not predict performance goals. The effect of feedback was further propagated through self-efficacy. Students’ intrinsic motivation (enjoyment and interest), self-efficacy, and performance goals positively predicted academic achievement, whereas extrinsic motivation had a small negative effect. This revealed that extrinsic motivation had an undermining effect despite the positive bivariate correlation. Peculiarly, students who received more frequent feedback had worse academic achievement, suggesting that either the quantity of feedback was not helpful or that students were not able to accurately process the feedback message. In Study 2, a person-centred approach was adopted to explore the higher-order interactions between students’ academic motivational beliefs and metacognitive self-regulation through a survey in secondary schools. The motivation for Study 2 was to examine potential negative interactions, whereby some students might score high in motivation but low on metacognitive self-regulation, or the reverse. Latent profile analyses of 1,046 Greek adolescent students (n=19 schools) revealed three well-defined profiles of motivated metacognitive self-regulation ranging from minimally motivated and metacognitively self-regulated to exceptionally motivated and metacognitively self-regulated. No negative interactions were identified, suggesting that motivation and metacognitive self-regulation act synergistically across the spectrum of individual differences. Positive correlations were identified across profiles between motivational factors and metacognitive self-regulation, suggesting that teachers could identify students who are struggling to be capable metacognitive self-regulators by their dropping levels of motivation. Substantial achievement differences were found between profiles. Greater socio-economic status and speaking Greek as the main language at home were significant protective factors against being minimally motivated and metacognitively self-regulated. Surprisingly, older students had greater chances of being less motivated and metacognitively self-regulated. Finally, Study 3 was a qualitative study consisting of 16 semi-structured face-to-face interviews (n=7 schools) with adolescent students. Computer-assisted abductive thematic analysis confirmed the emergence of three global factors that underpin students’ academic achievement, namely internal factors (motivation and metacognitive self-regulatory strategies), relational factors (teachers, parents, peers), and structural factors (the educational system through its assessment practices). Abductive thematic network analysis was deployed to theorise about the links between these factors suggesting that students had acquired a good level of self-regulated learning strategies and displayed a mix of motivational beliefs. From the students’ responses, it was hard to distinguish between different motivational beliefs; that is, students appeared to be both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated and hold high levels of self-efficacy. Teachers’ feedback and exam stress appeared problematic for students’ academic achievement, though the students recognised the importance of exams. The students raised awareness to a phenomenon called ‘grade inflation’, whereby teachers did not grade students objectively. Short-term parental educational expectations did not appear to be linked with students’ perceived motivation to perform better. The role of peers was rather complicated, with the students using their classmates as achievement comparison standards, whereas their friends could serve as distractors. In brief, the current multi-method multi-study thesis examined the individual motivational, self-regulatory, and the contextual factors underpinning academic achievement in Greek adolescent students, as well as the intricacies of Greek assessment practices. Through quantitative and qualitative approaches, the thesis contributes to the literature in several ways. First, the thesis clarifies the structural relations between motivational beliefs and teachers’ feedback. Second, the thesis shows that the quantity of feedback provision is not the key to improving academic achievement and probably more formative feedback might be preferable. Third, the findings challenge the assumption of negative interactions between motivational beliefs and metacognitive self-regulation. Four, the findings illustrate that different motivational variables probably do not comprise discreet entities. Fifth, the Greek assessment practices are associated with students’ perceived cognitive test anxiety. Finally, a ‘grade inflation’ phenomenon is observed in Greek secondary schools, whereby students’ grades do not accurately reflect their levels of attainment. Overall, the thesis can contribute to theories of self-regulated learning and student assessment, as well as to the development of targeted educational policies and changes in schools to improve students’ achievement and prevent further declines in the future.