scholarly journals INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY IN TEACHING SCIENCE FOR GRADE EIGHT STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY IN SRI LANKA

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 126-131
Author(s):  
Avanthi Jayarathne ◽  
W. D. Chandrasena

Science is highly important as it focusses on enhancing the quality of human life. Though, science is perceived to be an interesting discipline, students’ performance in the field of school science is not very satisfactory. Self-determination theory (SDT) assumes that inherent in human nature is the propensity to be curious about one’s environment and interested in learning and developing one’s knowledge. Thus, SDT can be used to teach science effectively in classrooms to enhance students’ performance. As described in SDT, people have three innate psychological needs; competence, autonomy and relatedness. If these needs are fulfilled, the optimal functioning of human beings can be obtained. Hence, this study focused in investigating the effectiveness of using SDT in teaching “Main Biological Processes in Plants” for Grade 8 students. The study was conducted using two groups of students as the experimental and the control.  The experimental group was instructed using SDT while the control group was taught using traditional method. The students’ performance, psychological relatedness, competence, and the autonomy showed higher in the experimental group compared to the control group. Thus, the results indicate that the instructional approach based on SDT is very effective compared to traditional approach of instruction in teaching science as SDT approach develops intrinsic motivation of students.

Author(s):  
H.P.R. Menike ◽  
W.D. Chandrasena

Biology is a very important discipline as it focusses on structure and functions of living organisms in this world. Hence, it has become a significant area of study in school curriculum and it is also a main subject discipline in the Grade 10 science syllabus in Sri Lanka. The time allocated for the biology section in Grade 10 syllabus is one third of the total time. Although, biology is perceived as an easy discipline to study compared to other disciplines in science, students’ achievement in biology is not very satisfactory. Thus, there may be different reasons for students’ poor achievement in biology such as content in the syllabus, teaching style, students’ learning and studying habits, students’ negative feeling and attitudes towards the topics, and lack of enough resources (Cimer, 2011).  The practices based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) could be used in biology classrooms to enhance students’ enthusiasm towards learning. SDT is an important psychological theory of motivation and it addresses issues of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. According to SDT people have three innate psychological needs: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. If these universal needs are met, the theory argues that people will function and grow optimally. Thus, to actualize their inherent potential, the social environment needs to nurture these needs (Deci & Ryan, 2014). However, there is a dearth of research and practices in Sri Lankan school classrooms using SDT to facilitate students’ learning. Hence, the unit of “Classification of Organisms” in Grade 10 syllabus was selected to study the effectiveness of SDT in teaching biology for Grade 10 students.   “Classification of Organisms” is an important unit since it is the foundation of learning about different types of living beings. This is an experimental study and two groups of students were used as control and experimental. Experimental group is taught using the SDT and the control group is taught according to the traditional method. During the lessons observations were made while maintain the records of field notes. The collected data were analysed using thematic analysis. Students’ motivation, engagement, enthusiasm, and performance in both groups were compared. The results of the study showed that the above characteristics are higher in the experimental group compared to the control group. Thus, the classroom practices based on the SDT can be used as a good technique in teaching biology in order to enhance the students’ intrinsic motivation.


Author(s):  
Julie Boiché ◽  
Mathieu Gourlan ◽  
Léna Rubin

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the increased benefits of a Self Determination Theory (SDT)-based motivational component on psychological needs’ fulfillment, self-determined motivation and Physical Activity (PA) of obese patients taking part in a rehabilitation program. Methods: Fourty-nine obese adults (mean age = 52 years, mean BMI = 38.25 kg/m2) attended a 3-week residential intervention. Patients in the Motivation group (n = 24) received a standard care plus SDT-based intervention (i.e., improved supervised PA sessions + a 1-hour motivational session). Patients in the Control group (n = 25) only benefited from standard care. Psychological needs and motivation were measured at baseline, at the end of the program and one month after. PA was measured at baseline and one month after the end of the program. Repeated measures ANOVAs were performed to compare the evolution of the variables between groups. Results: The results indicated that participants from both groups displayed significant changes in their perceived autonomy, relatedness, intrinsic motivation and integrated regulation between the beginning and the end of the program. Next, participants from both groups showed a decrease in perceived relatedness between the end of the program and one month after. Last, the participants from the Motivation group reported greater increase of their PA scores between the beginning of the program and one month after as compared to those in the Control group. Conclusions: Obesity interventions should integrate motivational components in order to promote behavior maintenance after programs have ended.


Author(s):  
Edward L. Deci ◽  
Richard M. Ryan

Self-determination theory maintains and has provided empirical support for the proposition that all human beings have fundamental psychological needs to be competent, autonomous, and related to others. Satisfaction of these basic needs facilitates people's autonomous motivation (i.e., acting with a sense of full endorsement and volition), whereas thwarting the needs promotes controlled motivation (i.e., feeling pressured to behave in particular ways) or being amotivated (i.e., lacking intentionality). Satisfying these basic needs and acting autonomously have been consistently shown to be associated with psychological health and effective performance. Social contexts within which people operate, however proximal (e.g., a family or workgroup) or distal (e.g., a cultural value or economic system), affect their need satisfaction and type of motivation, thus affecting their wellness and effectiveness. Social contexts also affect whether people's life goals or aspirations tend to be more intrinsic or more extrinsic, and that in turn affects important life outcomes.


Author(s):  
Lars van Tuin ◽  
Wilmar B. Schaufeli ◽  
Willem van Rhenen ◽  
Rebecca M. Kuiper

The present quasi-experimental study tested the business impact of a leadership development program focusing on psychological well-being through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs. Based on the concept of engaging leadership and self-determination theory, the 8-month program targeted midlevel team leaders of the customer fulfilment center of a health systems multinational organization. The program was designed in co-creation between senior leadership and the team leaders that participated in the program. Outcomes showed positive business results through significant increases in a preselected key performance indicator and decreased employee absenteeism. Through changes in autonomy satisfaction and intrinsic motivation, the team leaders (N = 14) benefitted in a moderate to very large extent relative to a similar control group (N = 52). In contrast, team members (N = 148) displayed no such benefits. Specifically, higher levels of autonomy satisfaction are said to lead to higher levels of psychological well-being and motivation. Still, the link with business performance is absent in most organizational studies within self-determination theory, making the present study one of the first to fill this gap. The study discloses the program design, compares the effects to a relevant control group, evaluates the lessons learned, and provides practical suggestions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Amado ◽  
Pablo Molero ◽  
Fernando Del Villar ◽  
Miguel Ángel Tapia-Serrano ◽  
Pedro Antonio Sánchez-Miguel

A teacher-focused intervention that supports the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness was designed and implemented, to help experienced teachers develop a motivational style during dance teaching sessions at school. Four schools in Mexico, with 12 physical education teachers and 921 pupils, participated in the research. A program was developed at the beginning with the teachers in the experimental group to support the psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Both groups were assessed at the beginning and at the end of the program and the results showed that participants from the experimental group had an increase in their perception of autonomy, relatedness and self-determination levels towards dance teaching sessions at school compared with participants from the control group. In conclusion, teachers’ training is important to increase pupils’ motivation towards dance. Schools should focus on encouraging teachers’ “training in motivational strategies to create pupils’” adaptive behaviors.


Author(s):  
Richard M. Ryan ◽  
William S. Ryan ◽  
Stefano I. Di Domenico ◽  
Edward L. Deci

Human beings have fundamental psychological propensities toward growth, integrity, and wellness. Yet, historically, many approaches to motivation have ignored these inner propensities, focusing instead on how external contingencies shape expectancies and behaviors. This chapter reviews recent work in self-determination theory, an organismic approach in which people’s intrinsic, growth-oriented propensities are a central focus. Self-determination theory argues that people have basic psychological needs to experience competence, autonomy, and relatedness to others. Satisfaction of these basic needs facilitates autonomous motivation and wellness, whereas the frustration of these needs contributes to ill-being and is associated with lower quality, and often highly controlled, forms of motivation. Autonomous and controlled forms of motivation differ in their antecedents, neurological underpinnings, and outcomes. Although most of the experimentation and evidence base of self-determination theory has focused on proximal relationships (e.g., families, dyads, classrooms, teams, or workgroups), recent research is extending self-determination theory to address pervasive contexts (e.g., cultural or economic systems) and how they both directly and indirectly affect need satisfaction and motivation, thereby impacting people’s development and wellness. Pervasive contexts also influence people’s aspirational horizons and the life goals they pursue, further influencing both individual and community wellness. More need-supportive contexts conduce to more authentic living and intrinsic aspirations, which in turn promote more prosocial attitudes and actions and greater personal and societal wellness.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederiki C. Moustaka ◽  
Symeon P. Vlachopoulos ◽  
Chris Kabitsis ◽  
Yannis Theodorakis

Background:The present study evaluated the effectiveness of an autonomy-supportive intervention based on self-determination theory in influencing perceptions of autonomy support, basic psychological needs, behavioral regulations, subjective vitality, and exercise behavior.Methods:35 female exercise participants age 30 to 58 years who enrolled to an 8-week exercise program attended 24 exercise classes that were taught using either an autonomy-supportive (n = 19) or a lack of autonomy support (n = 16) instructing style.Results:The experimental group reported an increase in perceived autonomy support, the fulfillment of the needs for autonomy and competence, identified regulation, intrinsic motivation, and subjective vitality. They also reported higher attendance rates during the program and greater participation to moderate and/or mild nonstructured exercise during 5 weeks after the end of the program. The control group reported a decrease in perceived autonomy support, the needs for autonomy and competence, intrinsic motivation, and subjective vitality.Conclusion:The results supported tenets of self-determination theory and highlighted the motivational and psychological benefits of an autonomy-supportive exercise instructing style among middle-age women.


Motricidade ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 95-106
Author(s):  
Ricardo Zazo Sánchez-Mateos ◽  
Juan Antonio Moreno Murcia

This study aimed to test an aquatic motivation healthy program based on the self determination theory (SDT), using a quasi-experimental study. The research data come from different physical, psycho-social and behavioral measures made on 49 women. The sample was divided into two groups, an experimental group consisting of 28 women (M= 43.64; SD= 12.06), with an average experience of 3.05 years, and a control group composed of 21 women (M= 47.14; SD= 10.01), with an average experience of 2.29 years doing physical exercise in an aquatic environment in a large Spanish city. After the intervention with a program based on the SDT and instructor’s autonomy support, both groups perceived physical benefits for health, but the experimental group perceived a better instructor’s autonomy support, a better relationship with others and a greater psychological well-being among the practitioners. The information offered in this study may be of interest to promote for instructor part, these type the aquatic physical exercise programs in favor of the population’s health.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Petr Květon ◽  
Martin Jelínek

Abstract. This study tests two competing hypotheses, one based on the general aggression model (GAM), the other on the self-determination theory (SDT). GAM suggests that the crucial factor in video games leading to increased aggressiveness is their violent content; SDT contends that gaming is associated with aggression because of the frustration of basic psychological needs. We used a 2×2 between-subject experimental design with a sample of 128 undergraduates. We assigned each participant randomly to one experimental condition defined by a particular video game, using four mobile video games differing in the degree of violence and in the level of their frustration-invoking gameplay. Aggressiveness was measured using the implicit association test (IAT), administered before and after the playing of a video game. We found no evidence of an association between implicit aggressiveness and violent content or frustrating gameplay.


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