Student Self-Report of Intrinsic Motivation
to Learn
Last updated: May, 2005
This scale assesses the extent to which a student engages in behavior and
endorses beliefs conducive to achievement, specifically in reference to interest
in learning for its own sake, in contrast with learning for the external consequences
or rewards it may yield. The scale was based on and adapted from related
work, including Hokoda and Fincham (1995), Roeser, Midgley and Urdan (1996),
and Stipek and Gralinski (1996). It was used during a three-year study of
the parental involvement process, as reported in
Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (2005).
The scale employed a four-point Likert-type response scale: 1 = not true,
2 = a little true, 3 = pretty true, 4 = very true.
Alpha reliability for the scale administered to a sample of 358 public school
students in grades 4-6 was .66, as reported in Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler
(2005).
Students were asked to respond to the following prompt:
“Dear Student, Students have many different ideas about school and homework.
Please tell us how true each of the following ideas are for you. There are
no right or wrong answers. The right answer is the answer that is most true
for you. Your parents and teachers will NOT see what you say. Thank you!”
1.
|
I want to understand how to solve problems.
|
2.
|
I like to look for more information
about school subjects.
|
3.
|
I want to learn new
things.
|
References:
Hokoda, A. & Fincham, F. D. (1995).
Origins of children’s helpless and mastery
achievement patterns in the family. Journal of Educational Psychology,
87(3), 375-385.
Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., & Sandler, H.M. (2005). Final Performance Report
for
OERI Grant # R305T010673: The Social Context of Parental Involvement: A
Path to Enhanced Achievement. Presented to Project Monitor, Institute
of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, March 22, 2005.
Roeser, R.W., Midgley, C., & Urdan, T. (1996). Perceptions of the school
psychological environment and early adolescents’ psychological and behavioral
functioning in school: The mediating role of goals and belonging. Journal
of Educational Psychology 88(3), 408-422.
Stipek, D., & Gralinski, J.H. (1996). Children’s beliefs about intelligence
and school performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(3), 397-407.
