The effect of a mobile-application tool on biology students' motivation and achievement in species identification: A Self-Determination Theory perspective

Abstract

I love what I do! Writing this PhD dissertation has been an intrinsically motivating journey. However, this journey could not have gone so well without the support of many. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors. My main supervisor Arild Raaheim has given me informational feedback, space to pursue many research ideas, grant proposals, and research collaborations. He always looks out for me and my wellbeing, and his educational philosophy has inspired me as a learner and also how I would aspire to be as a supervisor. My co-supervisor Anne Grete Danielsen has been a motivator, statistical aid, and a collaborator who has helped me along the way. Her quick feedback during the day and evening, sometimes night, has provided me with the support needed to finish this dissertation. My last co-supervisor Vigdis Vandvik has truly been a source of inspiration. She always encourages me to apply for grants, collaborate with others, and always have time to answer my questions. I have learnt more from you than I can consciously remember. I have other researcher to thank that has not served as supervisors, but might as well have been; John-Arvid Grytnes, thank you for all the help, all the feedback, and teaching me how to apply to FINNUT. I look forward to future collaborations; Paul Adachi, you are a talented researcher who has helped me with statistical issues, and SDT discussions. Importantly, you are a good friend and I appreciate you welcoming me at the University of Rochester; Edward Deci, thank you for accepting me at the University of Rochester and always taking time to discuss theoretical and philosophical issues. You are a very special man, and I will always remember you and your advices; Sehoya Cotner, you have been a special collaborator and helped me along the way to pursue new and important research areas. You always look after me, and I hope we can continue our collaboration. I have many non-academic people to thank; Oddfrid Førland, I would never have made it without your help. I do not think I can express all the help you have provided me with, and you always have time to help; Cathy Jenks has been an important research assistant. Your excellent revisions have helped me publish, I am certain of it. I would like to thank the entire bioCEED family, both in Bergen and Svalbard. I have never met so many dedicated people in my life, and it saddens me that I one day would not be working along with you. Thanks to all my research assistants, you have made an important contribution. I would also like to thank EECRG, what a kind, welcoming, and ambitious group of researchers! To all the members of UPP, thank you for the fruitful comments and discussions, it has been important for me. Thanks to the MRG at the University of Rochester for helpful inputs at an early stage of my career. I would like to thank all the people who attend the 10 o´clock coffee at BIO. I have learnt many biological things from you, and it has given me a breather from the analyses and writing. Torstein, I have enjoyed collaborating, discus...

The effects of m‐learning on motivation, achievement and well‐being: A Self‐Determination Theory approach

“…Importantly, mobile‐learning (m‐learning), which is defined as “learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices” (eg, smartphone, PDA, tablet; Crompton, , p. 4), affords learning opportunities beyond the traditional methods used in classrooms, such as the ability to extend the learning space from a formal context (classroom) to an informal context (social network, augmented reality, location awareness). Furthermore, m‐learning may have additional benefits such as increasing students’ mastery with learning tasks, providing prompt feedback, facilitating faster learning by offering efficient ways to access information, affording opportunities to interact with the course content (Hashemi, Azizinezhad, Najafi, & Nesari, ) and enhancing intrinsic motivation (ie, engaging in activities because of the inherent interest and enjoyment of the activity; Jeno, Grytnes, & Vandvik, ).…”

“…The goals of the current study were threefold. First, we aimed to replicate Jeno et al .’s () findings on mobile application in a SDT perspective. Thus, our first hypothesis was that the mobile application (versus textbook) would produce higher levels of perceived competence, intrinsic motivation and achievement.…”

“…Second, we extend Jeno et al .’s () work by examining the effects of the mobile application tool versus textbook on perceived autonomy and well‐being, representing an important contribution to our understanding of mobile applications. In particular, we hypothesized that the mobile application versus the textbook would lead to higher levels of perceived autonomy, because the mobile application may provide students with more opportunities to make self‐directed choices about the learning strategies they used, the order in which they learned the different sections of information and how they checked errors (hypothesis 2a).…”

A Proposed Framework to Understand the Intrinsic Motivation Factors on University Students’ Behavioral Intention to Use a Mobile Application for Learning

“…An explanation might be that when students perceive the app as enhancing their capability (i.e., their proficiency and skillfulness) in learning, they may be more apt to continue using it in the future. Perceived competence represents the extent to which an individual believes that he or she has performed or is able to perform well at an activity (Baek & Touati, 2017;Froiland & Oros, 2014;Jeno, Grytnes, & Vandvik, 2017). This implies that individuals have an innate need to evaluate their own mastery and effectiveness and attain desired outcomes, when dealing with his or her environment.…”

The Peculiarity of E-Learning XHTML Editor (EXE) Based on Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction (ARCS) to Improve the Students' Learning Motivation of Vocational High School

“…The use of technology in the education filed especially EXE software that has good criteria can bring new effect for the students [59] and have positive impact in improving the students' learning motivation [60] [65]. The students' high motivation will affect the students' achievement [66].…”