Abstract
The present study examined the relation between changes in academic motivation and students’ perception of test value. The participants, 2,730 students from 76 classes at 5 junior high schools, completed a questionnaire 1 week after mid-term exams in June, 2013, and again in September and December, 2013, and in February, 2014. Multilevel analyses were conducted in order to examine intra-individual relationships between academic motivation and the students’ perception of test value; structural equation modeling was done to examine how the students’ perceived test value affected any change in their academic motivation. The results suggested that the students who considered a test to be an effective way to assess their understanding and improve their learning were likely to increase their autonomous motivation (intrinsic and identified regulation). In contrast, the students who felt that they were being controlled by a test tended to have decreased intrinsic regulation and increased controlled motivation (introjected and extrinsic regulation). These findings suggest that modifying students’ perception of test value may maintain or enhance their autonomous motivation.
