Student teachers’ motivation matters!

Abstract

This study is based on the approach that not only the quality of a course is significant for the learning output but also individual aspects of dealing with the requirements and mastering them. It examines a situated and problem-based learning arrangement of a course. Students have to acquire knowledge, analyze authentic situations at school, create a learning situation themselves, and evaluate these lessons as their own case study, focused on the learning of the students and the fit of the support of the teachers to their learning. Based on a goal-focused self-assessment, we investigate the effect of student teachers’ evaluation of the quality of the course (1), their use of different learning settings and different learning strategies (2), their work motivation, and their volition to reach the goals (3) on their learning output of the course. Results of regression analyses show that each of these approaches contributes to the explained variance of the learning output; the quality of the course explains 16% (1), the use of the learning opportunities 33% (2), and motivational factors 31% (3). A conclusion for teacher education is that well-qualified courses are essential, but student teachers’ motivation to deal with the requirements of a demanding learning arrangement is significant for their professionalization.