Situational Motivation in Academic Learning: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Recent academic motivation research has shifted towards understanding the situation-specific and process-sensitive nature of motivation. This shift has initiated discussions on methodological advancements to capture dynamic changes in motivation as they occur in authentic learning contexts. However, these studies have not been systematically documented. This systematic review aims to 1) describe how much and with which methods motivational constructs derived from the motivation theories (attributional theory, expectancy-value theory, social cognitive theory, achievement goal theory, and self-determination theory) have been measured situationally and 2) summarize the empirical results to get information on the situational variation of motivational constructs and the variables explaining this variation. Peer-reviewed articles were sourced from Scopus, ProQuest, and EBSCO databases, identifying 80 empirical studies from the last decade that measured situational motivation in academic contexts. As a result, two research waves were identified: 1) motivation measured as a situation-specific construct without focusing on dynamic changes (n = 62), and 2) motivation measured repeatedly during the learning process to capture momentary changes (n = 18). The findings show that situational motivation is influenced by the learning context, varies between and within individuals moment-to-moment, and that the interconnections between different motivational constructs and learning are complex and temporal. Future research should explore the potential of multimodal data and the more extensive use of time-sensitive analyses to capture the complexity and developmental aspects of motivational processes. This information is crucial for theoretical and methodological development and for designing advanced learning technologies that support students' motivation as part of self-regulated learning.