A Multiple Mediation Analysis of the Effect of Prior Performance on Academic Achievement Through Student Teachers’ Motivational Orientations

Abstract

The study investigated the mediational effect of student teachers’ motivational orientations on the relationship between prior performance and academic achievement. This cross-sectional correlation study employed a survey approach in the collection of quantitative data. Stratified and Systematic sampling approaches were used in selecting 500 student teachers for the study. The results indicated that students ranked extrinsic motivation, value for task or course materials, and selfefficacy for learning as high motivators for learning. The independent samples t-tests for differences in means of first- and second-year students’ reported motivational orientations showed a statistically significant difference in their use of extrinsic motivation, control of learning beliefs, and task value as learning strategies. First-year students’ reported means were higher than that of the second-year students. The results from the study, taken as a set, indicated that student teachers’ motivational orientations significantly mediated the relationship between prior performance (entry aggregates) and academic achievement (GPA). Approximately 16.7% of the change in the effect of prior performance on academic achievement was due to the presence of the motivation variables. Overall, prior performance plus student teachers motivational orientations explained about 42% of the variations in their academic achievement.