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Published on: June 10, 2021
Autonomy, competence, and social relatedness in task interest within project-based education
Alexander Minnaert1, Monique Boekaerts, Cornelis de Brabander
1Department of Educational Sciences, University of Groningen, Grote Rozenstraat 38, 9712 TJ Groningen, The Netherlands. a.e.m.g.minnaert@rug.nl
Abstract:
To prepare students for instructive collaboration, it is necessary to have insight into students' psychological needs and interest development. The framework of self-determination theory was used to conduct a field experiment involving 114 students in vocational education. These students followed a practical business course which required they work in small learning groups. During the course, students were asked to complete the Quality of Working in Groups Instrument, an online measure of how strong autonomy, competence, social relatedness, and task interest are fulfilled. SEM showed that students' psychological needs were jointly and uniquely related to task interest over time. The significance of this on-line test for the assessment of interest within project-based education is discussed.
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