Making Learning Real: Design Principles and Evidence for Applied Learning in Schools
Category: Student Learning
Instrument Overview
Expert Notes AvailableView expert commentary on strengths and cautions for this instrument
Strengths
Can be linked to college experiences and student outcomes, making it useful for research on factors associated with academic motivation.
Cautions
Limited validation with K–12 students or students outside U.S. higher education. Not validated as a screener or measure of program effectiveness.
The WNSLAE Academic Motivation Scale is a brief self-report survey developed for the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNSLAE). It measures students’ academic motivation through items about their willingness to work hard to learn, interest in learning beyond course requirements, the importance of earning good grades, and enjoyment of challenging material. The scale is intended to capture students’ intrinsic interest and investment in academic learning, rather than subject-matter knowledge or achievement.
The scale can be used in higher-education research to examine students’ academic motivation and its relationship to college experiences and outcomes. WNSLAE research has used it to study changes in motivation during college and relationships with experiences such as interactions with student affairs professionals. It has also been examined in relation to academic progress, skill development, and students’ ability to navigate college.
Organization
Topic
Collection Category(ies)
Content
Grades
Post secondary
Languages
English
Respondent
Student
Administration Information
Length
8 items
Access and Use
Open Access
Yes
Use in Research
Roksa, J., & Whitley, S. E. (2017). Fostering academic success of first-year students: Exploring the roles of motivation, race, and faculty. Journal of College Student Development, 58(3), 333-348.
