Validation of the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation Inventory: Evidence for Use With Veterinary Medicine Students

The MUSIC® Model of Motivation is used to help instructors select strategies that can increase students' motivation and engagement in courses. The MUSIC model is comprised of five categories of strategies titled: empowerment, usefulness, success, interest, and caring. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the MUSIC® Model of Academic Motivation Inventory (College Student version, short-form), demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties when used with students enrolled in a College of Veterinary Medicine. The inventory is comprised of five scales that correspond to the five MUSIC model components, and it measures the extent to which students perceive that: they have control in the course (empowerment); the activities in the course are useful to their future (usefulness); they can succeed in the course (success); the teaching activities and coursework are interesting (interest); and the instructor cares about students' learning and well-being (caring). The inventory has been validated for use with many different student populations, including students in different countries and of different ages (e.g., college students, middle and high school students, elementary school students). However, the inventory has not been validated for use with veterinary medicine students. We analyzed the data from 578 questionnaires that were obtained from students in six different courses at a College of Veterinary Medicine. We examined the psychometric properties of the MUSIC inventory by: (a) computing the internal consistency reliabilities for the scales; (b) calculating the fit indices and factor loadings obtained from confirmatory factor analyses; and (c) computing correlation coefficients between the inventory scales and students' self-reported effort in the course. The results provide evidence that the inventory demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties for use with veterinary medicine students. Consequently, the MUSIC Inventory can be used by researchers and instructors to assess students' motivation-related perceptions of courses.