Longitudinal Research on the Relationships between NCEA and Student Motivation and Achievement was funded as a series of studies by a Ministry of Education research contract awarded to researchers at Victoria University in the Jessie Hetherington Centre for Educational Research and the School of Psychology. This multi-method project is the second phase of longitudinal research planned across multiple years to investigate the relationship between New Zealand’s National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) and student motivation to learn.
Survey, interview and achievement data are reported for a large sample of students from 20 demographically representative secondary schools across the country. Students attending Years 10, 11 and 12 who participated in the previous study in 2005 were followed in Years 11, 12 and 13 in 2006 in order to examine relationships between 2005 motivation orientations, 2005 achievement results and 2006 achievement data. A follow-up of school leavers who had completed Year 13 in 2005 explores attitudes towards the NCEA in relationship to tertiary study in 2006-2007. A new student screening tool based on previous survey results was administered in 2006 to students in Years 10 and 11 at 18 schools; results for students in Year 11 were compared with previous Year 10 survey results and Year 11 achievement data in 2006. The influences of part-time work were examined in relationship to reported motivation orientations and achievement. Finally, parents, teachers, and students were interviewed from a range of schools located across the country, including wharekura and Auckland region schools.
Data from interviews, survey results, achievement records, and relationships between motivation orientations and achievement were analysed separately using the appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods. These were then reviewed collectively so that triangulated data sources informed one another prior to final interpretation. Of particular interest to this research is the longitudinal development of motivation orientations as a predictor of subsequent achievement and the extent to which knowledge of these student motivation orientations could be used to inform educational practice to enhance achievement.
This report extends our earlier findings regarding the relationship of key aspects of NCEA with student motivation orientations and achievement (Meyer, McClure, Walkey, McKenzie & Weir, 2006). Issues specific to NCEA that are of relevance to school efforts to maximise student motivation and academic performance are summarised, and strengths and concerns associated with design features of NCEA highlighted. Findings are generally consistent with motivation theory and research and add significant new evidence regarding the potential impact of school practice and student outcomes. Our longitudinal data also reveal areas for further investigation of motivation towards learning including continued development of a motivation screening tool reflective of New Zealand’s cultural context.