Appreciation of a constructivist curriculum for learning theoretical knowledge by social work students with different kinds and levels of learning motivation

• Motivational differences are informative for the instructional support students need.
• Students with high NFC (Need for Cognition) appreciate constructivist learning better.
• High-NFC students report more self-directed, active knowledge construction.
• Low-NFC students are more dependent on seeing knowledge applied in real-life practice.