An attribution-based motivation treatment for low control students who are bored in online learning environments

Perceived control (PC) and boredom are academic risk factors that undermine motivation and performance in competitive achievement settings (Pekrun, Goetz, Daniels, Stupnisky, & Perry, 2010; Perry, Hladkyj, Pekrun, & Pelletier, 2001). Attribution-based motivation treatments (attributional retraining: AR) can assist students who exhibit single-risk factors, but AR efficacy remains unexamined for students with multiple-occurring risk factors in online learning environments. In a prepost randomized treatment study, AR was administered to students who differed in PC (low, high) and boredom (low, high) in an online, 2-semester course. For students with co-occurring risk factors (low PC–high boredom), AR (vs. no-AR) recipients performed better on a posttreatment course test, had higher control-related beliefs, and were twice as likely to remain in the course. AR (vs. no-AR) treatment effects were absent for students not having co-occurring risk factors. These results advance research on attribution-based motivation treatments for students who exhibit co-occurring academic risk factors in online learning environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)