Abstract
The purposes of this study were to investigate (a) the effects of volition support (VoS) on students’ motivation, effort regulation, and performance as well as (b) the perceptions of students about VoS in an online mathematics course offered at a community college. VoS was developed based on the theories of and research on volition (e.g., Corno in, Educ Res 22(2): 14–22, 1993; Gollwitzer in, Am Psychol 54: 493–503, 1999; Keller in, Technol Instr Cognit Learn 6(2): 79–104, 2008). VoS consists of the four stages: (1) goal initiation (“Want it”), (2) goal formation (“Plan for it”), (3) action control (“Do it”), and (4) emotion control (“Finish it”). A virtual change agent was designed into VoS to provide the support to students. Results indicated that the experimental group provided with VoS showed higher effort regulation and performance than a comparison group without VoS although there was no difference in motivation. Findings and implications for design of and research on VoS interventions are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aarts, H., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Hassin, R. R. (2004). Goal contagion: Perceiving is for pursuing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 23–37. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.1.23.
Artino, A. R, Jr, & Jones, K. D, II (2012). Exploring the complex relations between achievement emotions and self-regulated learning behaviors in online learning. The Internet and Higher Education, 15(3), 170–175. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2012.01.006.
Bailey, T., Calcagno, J. C., Jenkins, D., Leinbach, T., & Kienzl, G. (2006). Is student-right-to-know all you should know? An analysis of community college graduate rates. Research in Higher Education, 47(5), 491–519.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
Baylor, A. L. (2004). Permutations of control: Cognitive considerations for agent-based learning environments. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 15(4), 403–425.
Baylor, A. L., & Kim, Y. (2005). Simulating instructional roles through pedagogical agents. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 15(2), 95–115.
Blaney, P. H. (1986). Affect and memory: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 99(2), 229–246.
Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory. American Psychologist, 36(2), 129–148.
Byman, R., & Kansanen, P. (2008). Pedagogical thinking in a student’s mind: A conceptual clarification on the basis of self-determination and volition theories. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 52(6), 603–621. doi:10.1080/00313830802497224.
Chase, C., Chin, D., Oppezzo, M., & Schwartz, D. (2009). Teachable agents and the protégé effect: Increasing the effort towards learning. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18(4), 334–352. doi:10.1007/s10956-009-9180-4.
Chen, G. (2009) The minority report: How minority students are really faring at community colleges. Community College Review. Retrieved from http://www.communitycollegereview.com/articles/202.
Cho, M.-H., & Summers, J. (2012). Factor validity of the motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ) in asynchronous online learning environments (AOLE). Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 23(1), 5–28.
Corno, L. (1993). The best-laid plans: Modern conceptions of volition and educational research. Educational Researcher, 22(2), 14–22. doi:10.3102/0013189X022002014.
Corno, L. (2004). Introduction to the special issue work habits and work styles: Volition in education. Teachers College Record, 106(9), 1669–1694.
Corno, L., & Kanfer, R. (1993). The role of volition in learning and performance. Review of Research in Education, 19, 301–341. doi:10.3102/0091732X019001301.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
Crews, D. M., & Aragon, S. R. (2007). Developmental education writing: Persistence and goal attainment among community college students. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 31(8), 637–652.
Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 349–354.
Dede, Y. (2013). The effect of German and Turkish mathematics teachers’ teaching experience on mathematics education values: A cross-comparative study. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 44(2), 232–252. doi:10.1080/0020739X.2012.714489.
Deimann, M., & Bastiaens, T. (2010). The role of volition in distance education: An exploration of its capacities. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 11(1), 1–16.
Eccles, J. (1983). Expectancies, values and academic behaviors. In J. T. Spence (Ed.), Achievement and achievement motives (pp. 75–146). San Francisco: Freeman.
Eccles-Parsons, J., Adler, T. F., Futterman, R., Goff, S. B., Kaczala, C. M., Meece, J. L., & Midgley, C. (1983). Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors. In J. T. Spence (Ed.), Achievement and achievement motivation (pp. 75–146). San Francisco: Freeman.
Gallo, I. S., Keil, A., McCulloch, K. C., Rockstroh, B., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2009). Strategic automation of emotion regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(1), 11–31. doi:10.1037/a0013460.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54, 493–503. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.54.7.493.
Gollwitzer, P. M., & Brandstätter, V. (1997). Implementation intentions and effective goal pursuit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(1), 186–199. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.73.1.186.
Gross, J. J. (2008). Emotion regulation. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. F. Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (3rd ed., pp. 497–512). New York, NY: Guilford.
Heckhausen, J. (2007). The motivation-volition divide and its resolution in action-phase models of developmental regulation. Research in Human Development, 4(3–4), 163–180. doi:10.1080/15427600701662983.
Heckhausen, H., & Strang, H. (1988). Efficiency under record performance demands: Exertion control—an individual difference variable? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55(3), 489–498. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.55.3.489.
Husman, J., & Corno, L. (2011). Volitional control of learning. In S. Järvelä (Ed.), Social and emotional aspects of learning (3rd ed., pp. 210–217). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
Jesnek, L. M. (2012). Empowering the non-traditional college student and bridging the “digital divide”. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 5(1), 1–8.
Karr-Wisniewski, P., & Prietula, M. (2010). CASA, WASA, and the dimensions of us. Computers in Human Behavior, 26, 1761–1771. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.003.
Kehr, H. M. (2004). Integrating implicit motives, explicit motives, and perceived abilities: The compensatory model of work motivation and volition. Academy of Management Review, 29(3), 479–499. doi:10.5465/AMR.2004.13670963.
Keller, J. M. (2008). An integrative theory of motivation, volition, and performance. Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning, 6(2), 79–104.
Keller, J. M. (2010). Motivational design for learning and performance: The ARCS model approach. New York, NY: Springer.
Kim, C. (2012). The role of affective and motivational factors in designing personalized learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 60(4), 563–584. doi:10.1007/s11423-012-9253-6.
Kim, C. (2015). Motivation, emotion control, and volition. In J. M. Spector (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Kim, C., & Baylor, A. L. (2008). A virtual change agent: Motivating pre-service teachers to integrate technology in their future classrooms. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 11(2), 309–321.
Kim, C., & Bennekin, K. N. (2013). Design and implementation of volitional control support in mathematics courses. Educational Technology Research and Development, 61(5), 793–817. doi:10.1007/s11423-013-9309-2.
Kim, C., & Hodges, C. B. (2012). Effects of an emotion control treatment on academic emotions, motivation and achievement in an online mathematics course. Instructional Science, 40(1), 173–192. doi:10.1007/s11251-011-9165-6.
Kim, C., Keller, J. M., & Baylor, A. L. (2007). Effects of motivational and volitional messages on attitudes toward engineering: Comparing text messages with animated messages delivered by a pedagogical agent. Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference on Cognition & Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (pp. 317–320).
Kim, C., Park, S. W., & Cozart, J. (2014). Affective and motivational factors of online math learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 45(1), 171–185.
Kim, C., & Pekrun, R. (2014). Emotions and motivation in learning and performance. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. Elen & M. J. Bishop (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (4th ed., pp. 65–75). New York: Springer.
Kotamraju, P., & Blackman, O. (2011). Meeting the 2020 american graduation initiative (AGI) goal of increasing postsecondary graduation rates and completions: A macro perspective of community college student educational attainment. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 35(3), 202–219. doi:10.1080/10668926.2010.526045.
Kuhl, J. (1987). Action control: the maintenance of motivational states. In F. Halisch & J. Kuhl (Eds.), Motivation, intention and volition (pp. 279–291). Berlin, Germany: Springer.
Kuhl, J., & Fuhrmann, A. (1998). Decomposing self-regulation and self-control: The Volitional Components Inventory. In J. Heckhausen & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Motivation and self-regulation across the life span (pp. 15–49). Cambridge University Press.
Levine, L. J., & Pizarro, D. A. (2004). Emotion and memory research: A grumpy overview. Social Cognition, 22(5), 530–554. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1521/soco.22.5.530.50767.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.705.
Meyer, D. K., & Turner, J. C. (2002). Discovering emotion in classroom motivation research. Educational Psychologist, 37(2), 107–114. doi:10.1207/S15326985EP3702_5.
Oettingen, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2001). Goal setting and goal striving. In A. Tesser & N. Schwarz (Eds.), The Blackwell handbook of social psychology (pp. 329–347). Oxford, England: Blackwell.
Parrott, W. G., & Spackman, M. P. (2000). Emotion and memory. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 476–490). New York: Guilford Press.
Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., & Frenzel, A. C. (2007). Achievement emotions questionnaire-mathematics (AEQ-M): user’s manual. Munich, Germany: Department of Psychology, University of Munich.
Pintrich, P. R. (1999). Taking control of research on volitional control: challenges for future theory and research. Learning and Individual Differences, 11(3), 335–354. doi:10.1016/S1041-6080(99)80007-7.
Pintrich, P. R. (2000). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 451–502). San Diego, CA: Academic.
Pintrich, P. R., & de Groot, E. V. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1), 33–40. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.82.1.33.
Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (2002). Motivation in education: Theory, research, and applications (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Pintrich, P. R., Smith, D., Garcia, T., & McKeachie, W. (1991). A manual for the use of the motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ). Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan.
President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2012). Report to the president: Engage to excel: Producing one million additional college graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Retrieved on February, 21, 2012 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-engage-to-excel-final_feb.pdf.
Reeves, B., & Nass, C. (1996). The media equation. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed., p. 2003). New York: Free Press.
Schunk, D. H. (2005). Self-regulated learning: The educational legacy of Paul R. Pintrich. Educational Psychologist, 40(2), 85–94. doi:10.1207/s15326985ep4002_3.
Wolters, C. A., & Pintrich, P. R. (1998). Contextual differences in student motivation and self-regulated learning in mathematics, English, and social studies classrooms. Instructional Science, 26(1–2), 27–47. doi:10.1023/A:1003035929216.
Zhang, Y., & Cooke, R. (2012). Using a combined motivational and volitional intervention to promote exercise and healthy dietary behaviour among undergraduates. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 95(2), 215–223. doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2011.10.006.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, C., Bennekin, K.N. The effectiveness of volition support (VoS) in promoting students’ effort regulation and performance in an online mathematics course. Instr Sci 44, 359–377 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-015-9366-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-015-9366-5