Browsing by Author "Pauloaho, Nina"

Goals. At the heart of this study are two significant phenomena, motivation and interest. The study focuses on verifying the relationship between these two phenomena as well as examining the relationship of the set background variables to perceived motivation. In terms of its theoretical background, the study draws on the theory of self-determination developed by Deci and Ryan (1985) and on the theory of interest of Schiefel and Krapp (1981). The theories were selected as part of the study partly because they have been used together in similar studies in the past (see, for example, Müller & Louw, 2004), but motivation theory especially because it is currently one of the most prevalent motivation theories in Finland. This study focuses on the study motivation of students at the University of Helsinki's Faculty of Education, especially class teacher students, as well as their interest in their studies. The aim is to find both explanatory factors for students' study motivation and differences in study motivation, and to find out whether the perceived interest in one's own studies correlates with the perceived study motivation. Methods. The research material of the study consists of the answers of 234 students of the Faculty of Education of the University of Helsinki to a three-part questionnaire, which included, in addition to background questions, questions related to study motivation and interest in one's own studies. The study used AMS (Academic Motivation Scale) and SIQ (Study Interest Questionnaire) scales based on the background theory of the study to measure motivation and interest, both of which are widely used, especially in the study of university students. The focus of the study was on class teacher students (N = 124) and the answers of other students of the Faculty of Education (N = 110) were used as a control group. The responses were also examined as coherent material. The analysis of the data was performed with IBM SPSS software and the analysis methods include exploratory factor analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis. Results and conclusions. The motivation and interest scales used could be found to be functional in structure, and factor analysis was used to generate factor models that support the theory. Examining the correlations between background variables and study motivation, a few statistically significant associations were found between, among other things, age and amotivation and intrinsic motivation. Regression analysis could be used to produce an explanatory model that showed interest in explaining learning motivation in quite a number of different areas of motivation. Background variables, in turn, did not produce a statistically significant explanatory model for study motivation. The most important result of this study turned out to be the verification of the connection between interest and study motivation.