Do online teaching and social presences contribute to motivational growth?

Abstract

The role of motivation in online learning has been explored mostly as a predictor of course retention or satisfaction, rather than as an adaptive outcome in itself. We thus aimed to investigate how the features of motivation develop in online courses during the semester and how students’ perceived teaching and social presences influence their motivational growth in online learning. A total of 152 college students responded to a questionnaire about motivational beliefs, expectancies, and task values, in an online course three times during a semester, as well as perceived teaching and social presences assessed once. Latent growth models reported all motivation variables significantly and positively developed over time, and the motivational growths were predicted by teaching and social presences. More precisely, teaching presence predicted baseline expectancies at the beginning of the course, while social presence predicted both baseline and growth of expectancies and intrinsic value over the course duration.

Keywords:

• teaching presence
• social presence
• expectancy-value theory
• online learning
• longitudinal study

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Jennifer C. Richardson for her comments, which improved this manuscript. We also would like to thank all the reviewers who contributed their time and insightful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Minhye Lee

Minhye Lee is an assistant professor of educational psychology in the Department of Education at Daegu National University of Education. Her research interests include development and enhancement of students’ academic motivation and self-regulation in learning contexts.

Jieun Lim

Jieun Lim is an assistant professor of educational technology and human resource development in the Department of Education at Daegu National University of Education. Her research interests include best practices in design for online learning, the community of inquiry, and technology integration for educational purposes.