Regulação da motivação : avaliação e promoção da dimensão motivacional de aprendizagem autorregulada - contributos de alunos e professores -

Tese de doutoramento, Psicologia (Psicologia da Educação), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Psicologia, 2015Motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning are critical for understanding how students learn and adapt to their school environment. When designing intervention programs is important to understand which motivational beliefs are related to students’ efforts for regulating their learning as well as to explore possible variables of the school context that might influence the learning process. There is strong evidence that motivation improves school engagement, persistence, and performance across different contexts, learners and learning tasks. Although less often emphasized, the process of regulation of motivation has been identified and described in many theoretical models. Self-regulation of motivation refers to students’ competence to regulate their motivation in order to initiate, maintain or finish school tasks successfully. Such process proved to be essential within the context of self-regulated learning. Few studies have examined, however, regulation of motivation, which is the focus of the present work. Current research discusses the importance of school contexts in self-regulation of motivation by students, and its importance/role for learning. Literature describes hat teachers' beliefs and educational practices influence students' motivational beliefs and their school achievement. Following a socio cognitive framework for studying motivation and self-regulated learning, and based on previous research, the present study aims to explore motivational beliefs and strategies of two important elements of learning: students and teachers. The following research questions were formulated: 1) What is the relationship between students’ motivational beliefs (self-efficacy expectations, achievement goals, and task value) and the strategies they use for regulation of motivation?; 2) Is strategy use determined by those personal beliefs ?; 3) What do teachers believe regarding motivational variables associated with student motivation ?; and 4) Which strategies do teachers find possible to intervene in the promotion of students' motivation? In order to answer these questions, two studies were conducted through quantitative and qualitative methodologies with students and teachers of 3rth Cicle of Education. The first study consisted of the construction, development and validation of an assessment tool composed by two self-report scales named Self-Regulation of Motivation for Learning Scales (SRMLS). More specifically, this study included: a) the construction of two scales and the analysis of the psychometric properties of the instrument in a sample of 316 students of the 3rd cycle of education in the metropolitan region of Lisbon; b) analyses of gender and grade differences; and c) conducting a confirmatory study with 550 students from the same school years and educational area, extending the instrument development. Results indicated good reliability and validity properties of the scale distinguishing four types of beliefs - performance approach and avoidance goals, self-efficacy expectations and task value -, and four types of regulation of motivation strategies - regulation of value and learning goals, self-consequating, regulation of situational interest, and regulation of performance-avoidance goals. Self-efficacy expectations, task value and achievement goals proved to be good predictors of the use of the reported strategies. Gender and grade differences were found on motivational beliefs and motivational strategies. The second study consisted on the development and analysis of two focus group interviews with 11 teachers of 3rth Cycle of Education. The focus groups aimed to explore and to discuss teachers' beliefs about students’ motivation and strategies they consider useful to promote it. The results were examined through thematic analysis. Themes and sub-themes were identified, namely: a) facilitating motivation (e.g., centered on the student, the teacher, the family, and the school context) and not facilitating motivation (e.g., lack of intrinsic motivation, role of the cultural, and social context); and facilitating (e.g., show the usefulness of the contents and propose innovative tasks) and not facilitating strategies (e.g., public reinforcement and free themes activities) for student motivation. Globally, it can be assumed that results add information on the regulation of motivation for learning process. First, a specific instrument for the study of this process, which has been mostly investigated as part of self-regulation of learning, was developed. Such tool allows a better exploration of the relationship between beliefs and motivational strategies. Due to its innovative character, the development of the SRMLS may provide an important contribution to understand and intervene on students' motivation to learn (e.g., for the design and evaluation of interventions in school contexts). Second, by exploring teachers' beliefs about students’ motivations, this investigation helped to raise awareness of some contexts features in which regulation of motivation process happens (influencing and being influenced). On the other hand, one may consider that these studies’ findings promote the reflection on teachers' educational practices and how they can promote and interact with students' beliefs and strategies. Limitations and other implications for research and intervention are discussed.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), SFRH/BD/68945/201