The Relationship Between Self-Determination and Academic Achievement

This books is a culmination of a year long research I engaged in while trying to find out the motivational aspects of student's academic functioning and achievement. After years of my teaching career, I observed that students differed with regard to theirs motivational behaviors. Some students were more likely to work hard and persist in the face of many obstacles set before them, such as lack of resources pertinent to their learning. On the other hand, there were students who needed constant teacher encouragement and redirection. There were also students who would simply give up in the face of obstacles and refuse to try, which led to decreased performances. If they did succeed, they attributed their success to external factors such as the easiness of the performed tasks. Based on the findings of this research, I decided to offer practical strategies that teachers may use in the classroom to foster adaptive motivational tendencies to students.