Intrinsic Motivation Among Regular, Special, And Alternative Education High School Students - Statistical Data Included

Adolescence, Spring, 2001 by Dudley J. Wiest, Eugene H. Wong, Joseph M. Cervantes, LuAnn Craik, Dennis A. Kreil

In summary, regular education students' academic success is associated with intrinsic variables, such as academic competence and coping skills, as well as parental involvement. Clearly, global competence is not affected by academic failure, learning disability, or behavior problems. Nor do students who experience academic difficulties have deficits in comprehending how to succeed in school.

In future studies, educational and institutional factors should be examined in order to clarify the group differences found here. For example, what is the impact of large high schools (those in the present study had over 2,000 students) upon the development of intrinsic motivation? What is the effect of teachers instructing up to 200 students per day? How do teachers who emphasize curriculum over relationships--a typical secondary school mentality--influence students' intrinsic motivation? While social context is important in respect to the competence and autonomy factors related to intrinsic motivation, the exact mechanism for such influence continues to require investigation.

Eugene H. Wang, Department of Psychology, California State University, San Bernardino.

Joseph M. Cervantes, Department of Counseling, California State University, Fullerton.

LuAnn Craik, Program Specialist, Placentia/Yorba Linda Unified School District.

Dennis A. Kreil, Director of Pupil Services, Placentia/Yorba Linda Unified School District.

Reprint requests to Dudley J. Wiest, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, California 92407. Electronic mail may be sent to dwiest@csusb.edu.

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