The effect of academic motivation on students’ English learning achievement in the eSchoolbag-based learning environment

Abstract The electronic schoolbag (eSchoolbag) provides instructors and students a smart learning environment as the log file data could be used to support learner modelling and learning analysis, making adaptive and personalized learning possible. Abundant of studies have documented the design and implementation of the eSchoolbag. However, the relationship between students’ learning achievement and their motivational factors is still unclear when using eSchoolbag to learn English. Thus, this study examined the effect of students’ academic motivation on their English learning achievement in the eSchoolbag-based learning environment. A total of 78 participants were involved in the study, and their English learning achievement were assessed six times during 1 year. Moreover, 63 students finished the academic motivation questionnaire, and they were clustered into two groups using K-means clustering algorithm. The two groups were labelled as the high and low motivation group respectively. The research found that the eSchoolbag-based learning environment had a significantly positive effect on students’ learning achievement. Besides, students’ academic motivation also had the ability to differentiate their learning achievement when using eSchoolbag to learn English. Furthermore, this research found that students’ prior levels of learning achievement had no significant association with their academic motivation. There was also no significant association between student’s gender and his/her academic motivation. In terms of components of academic motivation, students’ attainment value of using eSchoolbag to learn English was correlated positively with their learning achievement