Motivation and Concept Mastery in Online Graduate Education

Online graduate higher education has provided students the opportunity to learn independently, but also introduced new learning platforms that may highlight a focus on earning a grade rather than mastering a concept. Fostering engaged learning in online contexts requires knowledge of student motivations and content mastery in these environments. This study explores the relation between external and internal motivation and students’ mastery of concepts in online graduate education. One-hundred-one post-secondary students shall be invited to complete a survey soliciting their motivational orientation and their mastery of content within an online context. We expect to find a positive correlation with intrinsic motivation and content mastery. We also expect to find a negative correlation with extrinsic motivation and content mastery. These findings may help educators provide learning environments that foster motivation associated with content mastery