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4 - Self-Regulation of Motivation

A Renewable Resource for Learning

from Part I - The Self and Its Impact

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2019

K. Ann Renninger  and
Suzanne E. Hidi
By
Carol Sansone ,
Danielle M. Geerling ,
Dustin B. Thoman  and
Jessi L. Smith
K. Ann Renninger
Affiliation:
Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania
Suzanne E. Hidi
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
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Summary

In this chapter, we review our Self-Regulation of Motivation (SRM) model, which identifies the important role that interest plays in students’ motivational experiences. When learning requires persistence and re-engagement over time, activities, and contexts, the ability to maintain motivation becomes a critical self-regulatory task. The SRM model proposes that while motivation to attain goals can be sufficient to start a learning activity, experiencing interest becomes important once engaged. Aspects of the goal striving process (such as goal congruence and the expectancy-value of goals) affect the interest experience, over and above objective activity characteristics. Moreover, when interest is low but reaching a goal is important, students purposely engage in actions that make the experience more interesting (e.g., by making it more congruent with their goals or by exploratory engagement with the activity and context). Further, the ways in which students try to make the experience interesting can influence performance in both positive and negative ways (e.g., potential trade-offs between short-term output and longer-term persistence, re-engagement, and learning). We discuss evidence for this model across a variety of contexts (including online learning and science classrooms) and discuss the implications for understanding group-level differences (e.g., in gender or ethnicity) in students’ interest and motivation.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Motivation and Learning , pp. 87 - 110
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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