Metrics
28 File views/ downloads
144 Record Views
Dissertation
Alternate Pathways To High School Graduation: Motivation And Needs Satisfaction
University of West Florida Libraries
Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida
2023
Abstract
Dual enrollment and career pathways are increasingly expanding as viable options for students to complete high school while simultaneously receiving college credits, technical training, or industry certifications. In this research study, dual enrollment and career pathway programs are collectively called alternate pathways. Evaluators can gauge the academic success of these programs via standardized test scores and graduation rates; however, understanding humanistic success is equally important. Guided by self-determination theory, I sought to understand the motivation type and need satisfaction attainment of high school students enrolled in these alternate pathways. By operationalizing the self-determination theory constructs, I administered the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Need Frustration Scale, the Learning Self-Regulated Questionnaire, and a demographic survey to collect student perceptions. For data collection, I distributed surveys at a suburban public school district’s college and career academy. Participation in the study was voluntary. Descriptive, significance, inferential, and correlation analyses were conducted on the collected data to produce a multi-faceted understanding of motivation type and need satisfaction. Results indicated a statistically significant level of autonomy for high school students who participated in an alternate pathway. Additionally, results showed a statistically significant high need satisfaction level for the same respondents. Correlational analyses yielded positive relationships between relative autonomy and need satisfaction across both pathways and the three basic psychological needs. The quantitative research study results indicated that increased intrinsic motivation correlated with increased need satisfaction. Because this study was limited to students attending a specific college and career academy, future research studies should expand this population and add a control group of traditional high school students for comparison.
Details
- Title
- Alternate Pathways To High School Graduation
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Contributors
- Giang-Nguyen T Nguyen (Committee Chair)Hongwei P Yang (Committee Member)Laura Dees (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 212
- Copyright
- Unpublished work © Donna Burch McMichen
- Identifiers
- 99380461696906600
- Academic Unit
- School of Education
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Doctor of Education (EDD)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida