Profiling individual differences in student motivation: A longitudinal cluster-analytic study in different academic contexts

This research examined whether distinct student profiles emerged from measures of interest, mastery goals, task value, and self-efficacy in samples of Norwegian student nurses and business administration students. Additionally, profile differences in self-reported strategy use and epistemological beliefs were examined, as well as changes in student profiles over one academic year. Distinct groups of participants were identified in both samples, with considerable consistency in student profiles across the two academic contexts. In both contexts, more positively motivated participants consistently reported more use of deeper-level strategies and expressed more sophisticated beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowledge acquisition. The longitudinal analysis showed that despite overall decreases in adaptive motivation in both contexts, many participants were able to maintain relatively high levels of motivation across the academic year, and, especially among the business administration students, quite a few developed more adaptive motivation over time. Yet, a great many participants in both samples lost some of their enthusiasm and engagement.