Explore the vast range of titles available.

Background Academic Motivation forces students to work harder to achieve their educational goals and increases their academic achievement. Teaching methodologies are one of the ways to cater learning needs of students and improve academic motivation. However, there is a paucity of literature comparing the two small group discussion methods for their effect on academic motivation and the academic achievement. This study aims to analyze which small group discussion teaching method (between jigsaw and tutorial) is more effective in improving the academic motivation and achievement of undergraduate dental students. . Methods This experimental study was conducted at Shifa College of Dentistry, randomly sampling the BDS 1 st year students into two teaching groups (Jigsaw and Tutorial). Three teaching sessions were conducted within the module to teach the same topics to both groups. Multiple Choice Questions and a shorter version of the Academic Motivation Scale were administered to both groups before and after the intervention, to compare differences in scores. Data was analyzed using SPSS-26. Results The data of 46 students was included in the study (22 students in the Tutorial Group and 24 in the Jigsaw group). The mean pre-test scores of the academic achievement test for the control (tutorial) group was 16.86 ± 2.997 and for the experimental (jigsaw) group was 16.58 ± 3.296 ( p -value=0.765). The mean post-test scores were 17.32 ± 3.859 and 19.50 ± 3.162 for the control and experimental group respectively ( p -value=0.041). The control group and the experimental group had mean academic motivation scores of 56.05 ± 15.32 and 59.83 ± 10.09 respectively, before the intervention ( p -value=0.324). Post intervention, the two groups had mean academic motivation scores of 57.66 ± 11.87(control group) and 72.17 ± 12.42 (experimental group). There was a statistically significant difference in the mean scores on the academic motivation scale ( p value=0.000) between the two groups after intervention. Conclusion The jigsaw method is more effective in improving academic motivation and achievement of undergraduate dental students.

This research examined how motivation (perceived control, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation), cognitive learning strategies (deep and surface strategies), and intelligence jointly predict long-term growth in students' mathematics achievement over 5 years. Using longitudinal data from six annual waves (Grades 5 through 10; M age = 11.7 years at baseline; N = 3,530), latent growth curve modeling was employed to analyze growth in achievement. Results showed that the initial level of achievement was strongly related to intelligence, with motivation and cognitive strategies explaining additional variance. In contrast, intelligence had no relation with the growth of achievement over years, whereas motivation and learning strategies were predictors of growth. These findings highlight the importance of motivation and learning strategies in facilitating adolescents' development of mathematical competencies.

Background Teaching aims to improve the learning and all-round abilities of college students. However, the prevalent phenomenon of psychological truancy among college students is a major impediment to achieving the outcomes of teaching. Academic self-concept is a positive psychological feature that affects the academic activities of students. In this study, we explored the effect of academic motivation and school climate on the relationship between academic self-concept and psychological truancy. Methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 628 students from 8 Chinese medical colleges were enrolled. Four questionnaires of Academic Self-Concept Scale (44-item; α = 0.84), the Psychological Truancy Scale (28-item; α = 0.84), the Delaware School Climate Survey-Student (Chinese adaptation, 31-item; α = 0.89) and the academic motivation questionnaire (34-item; α = 0.93) were used to collect data. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS Statistics (version 25.0) and AMOS (version 24.0) software, with a significance level set at 0.05. Results The findings of the study indicated that academic self-concept not only directly affect psychological truancy (β = -0.110, 95% CI = -0.150 to -0.092, p <0.05 ), but it also could indirectly affect psychological truancy through the mediation of school climate (β = -0.029, 95% CI = -0.014 to -0.049, p <0.05) and academic motivation (β = -0.075, 95% CI = -0.117 to -0.051, p <0.05), respectively. Furthermore, academic self-concept can decrease psychological truancy through the chain mediation of school climate and academic motivation (β = -0.019, 95% CI = -0.026 to -0.011, p <0.05). This indicates that school climate and academic motivation significantly mediate the path from the academic self-concept to psychological truancy. Conclusion The study provides valuable insights for developing measures to mitigate psychological truancy behavior among medical students and improve their academic performance. These measures should also promote their academic self-concept, school climate, and academic motivation.

We tested whether classroom activities that encourage students to connect course materials to their lives will increase student motivation and learning. We hypothesized that this effect will be stronger for students who have low expectations of success. In a randomized field experiment with high school students, we found that a relevance intervention, which encouraged students to make connections between their lives and what they were learning in their science courses, increased interest in science and course grades for students with low success expectations. The results have implications for the development of science curricula and theories of motivation.

Introduction Academic performance is one of the indicators of the success of educational systems in achieving their goals, influenced by various factors. The aim of this study was to examine the status of academic performance and predict it based on the variables academic identity, academic excitement, and academic enthusiasm among students of Jiroft University of Medical Sciences in southern Iran in 2024. Methods This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 290 students. Data were collected using standardized questionnaires on academic identity, academic excitements, academic enthusiasm, and academic performance. The data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression at a significance level of 0.05. SPSS version 23.0 was utilized for data analysis. Results The mean scores for academic identity, positive academic excitement, negative academic excitement, academic enthusiasm, and academic performance of the studied students 112.45 ± 9.38 out of 195, 56.66 ± 8.34 out of 110, 199.38 ± 9.34 out of 265, 40.41 ± 6.32 out of 75, and 136.35 ± 6.85 out of 240, respectively. A statistically significant correlation was observed between academic performance and academic identity ( r  = 0.576, P  < 0.001), positive academic excitements ( r  = 0.627, P  < 0.001), negative academic excitements ( r = -0.635, P  < 0.001), and academic enthusiasm ( r  = 0.656, P  < 0.001). The correlation between academic performance with academic identity, positive academic excitements, and academic enthusiasm was in a direct direction and inversely correlated with negative academic excitements. According to the results of multiple linear regression, the components of academic identity (academic commitment; β = 0.648, future orientation; β = 0.643, personal agency; β = 0.638, belonging academic; β = 0.631, self-concept; β = 0.629), positive (hope; β = 0.669, enjoyment; β = 0.665, pride; β = 0.647) and negative (hopelessness; β= − 0.657, fatigue; β= − 0.653, anxiety; β= − 0.641, shame; β= − 0.632, anger; β= − 0.531) academic excitements, and academic enthusiasm (cognitive enthusiasm; β = 0.662, behavioral enthusiasm; β = 0.659, emotional enthusiasm; β = 0.652) were identified as predictors of students’ academic performance ( P  < 0.05). Conclusion Academic Identity, positive and negative academic excitements, and academic enthusiasm were identified as predictors of students’ academic performance. Therefore, it is recommended that senior educational managers of the university facilitate the improvement of academic identity, positive excitements, and academic enthusiasm, while controlling negative excitements among students by organizing relevant courses and workshops, to witness the growth and enhancement of their academic performance. In addition, faculty members’ capacity and role can be leveraged to shape and strengthen students’ academic identity. Moreover, fostering vibrant cultural, social, and academic environments within universities is recommended to boost positive academic excitement, reduce negative academic excitement, and cultivate academic enthusiasm. Clinical trial number Not applicable.

The pipeline toward careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) begins to leak in high school, when some students choose not to take advanced mathematics and science courses. We conducted a field experiment testing whether a theory-based intervention that was designed to help parents convey the importance of mathematics and science courses to their high school—aged children would lead them to take more mathematics and science courses in high school. The three-part intervention consisted of two brochures mailed to parents and a Web site, all highlighting the usefulness of STEM courses. This relatively simple intervention led students whose parents were in the experimental group to take, on average, nearly one semester more of science and mathematics in the last 2 years of high school, compared with the control group. Parents are an untapped resource for increasing STEM motivation in adolescents, and the results demonstrate that motivational theory can be applied to this important pipeline problem.

Background Medical students experience high levels of stress and related mental health problems. Students’ autonomous and controlled motivation and their mental well-being are interconnected. This study aimed to investigate whether an innovative teaching concept based on self-determination theory (SDT) could improve students’ motivation and thereby reduce their stress levels, ultimately providing a healthier framework for learning. Methods In a week-long practical psychiatry course for medical students, a new didactic concept was implemented in half the groups ( n  = 73) and compared with the preexisting concept ( n  = 75) as a randomized controlled trial (RCT). To promote the SDT-target factors of perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness, the methods used included team building, exclusively positive feedback, group discussions, and choice in task distribution. Significant group differences in motivation, stress, performance, and their relationships were analyzed through t -tests, multiple linear regression analyses, mediation analyses, and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) using questionnaires collected before (t 0 ) and after (t 1 ) the course, and students’ exam results (t 2 ). Results In the innovation group ( n  = 53), intrinsic motivation/interest ( d  = 0.41; p  = .019) and perceived choice/autonomy ( d  = 0.33; p  = .048) were greater than in the control group ( n  = 52). While autonomous regulation remained stable, the innovation group showed reduced controlled regulation ( d = -0.36; p  = .033) and reported significantly lower stress ( d = -0.55; p  = .003). The observed changes in motivation collectively mediated the stress reduction. However, students in the innovation group achieved lower exam scores, which seemed to result from the absence of critical feedback, but not from the observed differences in motivation or stress. Conclusions This study demonstrated that enhancing intrinsic motivation through SDT-based teaching can effectively reduce stress in medical students. Exclusively strengths-based positive feedback may have hindered exam performance, but optimizing educational concepts to promote motivation and reduce stress will be a valuable step toward improving medical students’ mental well-being.

Background The study aimed to examine the impact of using the MOODLE e-learning platform in ideological and political education on Chinese students’ motivation and academic performance. Methods The study involved 447 students from China-based universities (the experimental group − 232 students who studied using electronic educational platforms, and the control group − 215 students who used no digital technologies in their learning). The following methods were used: Measuring the need to achieve success among students; T. I. Ilyina’s method for studying motivation to study at university; Method for studying student success motivation; Method for studying the motives of students’ educational activities; Method for determining the main motives for choosing a profession (E. M. Pavlyutenkov); Motivation of learning activities: Levels and types (I. S. Dombrovskaya). Students’ academic performance was assessed by testing in the studied disciplines at the beginning and end of the study. Results As a result, the significance of the motivational component in achieving the success of ideological and political education and the impact on students’ motivation to use e-learning platforms is theoretically substantiated. Conclusions It has been confirmed that using e-learning platforms in ideological and political education helps increase student motivation and academic performance.

Recognition of the factors affecting the medical students’ academic success is one of the most important challenges and concerns in medical schools. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the mediating effects of metacognitive learning strategies and learning-related emotions in the relationship between academic self-efficacy with academic performance in medical students. Methods The present study was carried out on 279 students of medicine studying at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The students filled out three questionnaires: academic emotions (AEQ), metacognitive learning strategies, and academic self-efficacy questionnaires. The data were analyzed using SPSS and Smart PLS3. Results The results of structural equation modeling revealed that the students’ self-efficacy has an impact on their learning-related emotions and metacognitive learning strategies, and these, in turn, affect the students’ academic performance. Moreover, learning-related emotions influence the metacognitive learning strategies, which in turn mediate the effect of emotions on academic performance. Discussion The results of this study revealed that metacognitive strategies and learning-related emotions could play a mediating role in the relationship between students’ self-efficacy and academic performance.

Background The strength of motivation for medical school reflects a student’s perseverance in continuing medical training, regardless of personal sacrifices and academic or situational setbacks. Recognizing the patterns of changes in the strength of motivation may be beneficial in pinpointing the time(s) when students struggle to adapt to the rigors of the training, allowing educators to provide appropriate support. We examined the strength of motivation longitudinally and its association with examination performance during the basic science and core clerkship periods. Methods A prospective longitudinal cohort study was conducted at the Burnett School of Medicine from November 2020 through November 2023. First-year medical students were enrolled in the study ( n  = 51). The Strength of Motivation for Medical School-Revised version (SMMS-R) questionnaire, which consists of three subscales (Willingness to Sacrifice, Readiness to Start, and Persistence ) , was used at four distinct points during the preclinical and core clinical training. We compared the SMMS-R scores across four measurement points. Average scores from sets of summative assessments corresponding to the SMMS-R data collection time points were used to study correlation with SMMS-R scores. Results A repeated-measures ANOVA with Wilks’ lambda determined a significant effect of time on the mean composite SMMS-R scores ( p  < 0.001), with a medium effect size ( = 0.11). Subscale scores of Willingness to Sacrifice and Persistence showed significant variation in the strength of motivation across time with a medium effect size, p  = 0.015, = 0.07 and p = 0.007, = 0.08, respectively. Examination performance varied significantly over time ( p < 0.001), with a large effect size ( = 0.16). However, no significant correlation was found between the SMMS-R and examination scores. Conclusion Students often enter medical school with high levels of motivation, yet their strength of motivation may fluctuate as they encounter the realities and rigor of the curriculum. Results from our study revealed a significant decline in the strength of motivation and examination performance as medical students advanced in basic science and core clinical training. Our findings can inform the implementation of student-supporting mechanisms that could help sustain original (or higher) levels of strength of motivation as medical students advance in their training.