Relationships Between Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction, Regulations, and Behavioral Engagement in Mathematics

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Learning Sciences
• Motivation Theory

Background:

• Student engagement is crucial for academic success.
• Self-determination theory (SDT) provides a framework for understanding motivation and engagement.
• Previous research often examines partial paths of SDT, with limited studies on the full model, especially in mathematics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the full structural equation model of SDT, examining paths from basic psychological need satisfaction to student engagement.
• To investigate the specific roles of need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, relatedness) and different types of regulation (intrinsic, identified, introjected, external) in predicting behavioral engagement.
• To address inconsistencies in prior research and provide a more nuanced understanding of SDT's application to student engagement in mathematics.

Main Methods:

• Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the hypothesized relationships.
• The study utilized individual variables to represent higher-order constructs of need satisfaction, regulations, and behavioral engagement, avoiding construct merging.
• Data was collected and analyzed to test direct and indirect effects within the SDT framework.

Main Results:

• Satisfaction of the need for competence strongly predicted engagement, both directly and through identified regulation.
• Relatedness satisfaction positively influenced identified regulation, which in turn enhanced engagement.
• Autonomy satisfaction unexpectedly correlated positively with controlled motivation (external and introjected regulation), and neither intrinsic nor controlled regulation predicted engagement.

Conclusions:

• The need for competence and relatedness satisfaction are key drivers of student engagement, particularly through identified regulation.
• The unexpected positive association between autonomy satisfaction and controlled motivation warrants further investigation.
• Findings suggest a need to refine SDT models and pedagogical strategies to better foster genuine student engagement in educational settings, especially in mathematics.