Motivational Aspects of Development in School Achievement – The Case of Specific Learning Situations and Mathematical Development

Cognitive, social, emotional, and motivational aspects of development play their part in the assessment, prediction, and design of interventions with regard to school achievement, although intelligence, one major cognitive precondition, is generally ascribed the strongest relationship. However, current literature has revealed that motivational aspects such as self-efficacy, self-concept, and flow experiences contribute uniquely and substantially to school achievement across developmental stages, making the need for an integrative view evident. Findings based on skill development and self-enhancing perspectives of motivational aspects suggest that potential virtuous cycles become relevant at different levels of specificity, for instance, regarding separable learning situations or skill domains during the secondary school years. Thus, the overarching goal of this thesis was to determine how motivational aspects contribute to school achievement irrespective of cognitive preconditions in the context of (a) specific learning situations and (b) mathematical development. In three studies, predictive patterns were empirically investigated, using longitudinal data from secondary school students and by taking intelligence measures as well as skill tests, teacher assessments of achievement, and self-assessed motivational aspects into account. Results indicate that (a) flow experiences are linked to school achievement in specific learning situations, (b) self-efficacy mediates effects of prior achievement on later mathematical modeling, and (c) the effects of motivational aspects on mathematical development transfer to overall skill development. Taken together, potentiating effects of motivational aspects on school achievement irrespective of cognitive preconditions can be deduced, indicating a strong starting point to enter a potential virtuous cycle, which practitioners, that is, teachers, diagnosticians, and counselors, should be especially aware of.