A central tenet of self-regulated learning theories is that students are motivated towards learning in order to self-regulate. It is thus important to identify student motivations in order to inform efforts to improve instructional strategies that encourage self-regulation. Here we describe a study aimed at characterizing the important motivation factors for students taking general organic chemistry, and how they connect to, and correlate with student performance. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 2648 undergraduate student participants at two institutions over five semesters and four instructors. Motivation was measured using the Organic Chemistry Motivation Survey (OCMS), a modified form of Glynn et al. (2011)'s Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ-II). The results suggest that the students were highly motivated towards earning a high grade, but that this grade motivation correlated only weakly with performance. Other intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors were found to be low, suggesting that the students perceived organic chemistry to have little relevance to their interests and careers. However, student performance was strongly correlated with self-efficacy, and, to a lesser extent, self-determination. This finding implies that high-performing students tended to be self-regulated learners who are not motivated primarily by the relevance of the course content. Alternate sources of motivation that can drive self-regulation are discussed.

中文翻译：

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普通有机化学中的动机和学生成绩之间的关系

自我调节学习理论的中心原则是，学生要主动学习以自我调节。因此，重要的是要确定学生的动机，以便为改进鼓励自我调节的教学策略提供信息。在这里，我们描述了一项旨在表征学生学习通用有机化学的重要动机因素，以及他们如何与学生表现联系并与之相关的研究。进行了一项横断面研究，涉及5个学期的两个机构的2648名本科生和四个教员。使用有机化学动机调查（OCMS）（Glynn等人的改进形式）测量动机。（2011）的《科学动机调查表II》（SMQ-II）。结果表明，学生对获得高分的动机很强，但是这种年级的动机与成绩之间的关系很弱。其他内在和外在的动机因素被发现很低，这表明学生认为有机化学与他们的兴趣和职业关系不大。但是，学生的表现与自我效能密切相关，在较小程度上与自我决定密切相关。这一发现表明，成绩优异的学生往往是自我调节的学习者，他们的主要动机不是课程内容的相关性。讨论了可以驱动自我调节的其他动机。