Vol. 30 No. 1 (2015)
Research Articles

Classroom Motivational Climate in Online and Face-to-Face Undergraduate Courses: The Interplay of Gender and Course Format

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  • Yan Yang,
  • YoonJung Cho,
  • Angela Watson
Yan Yang
University of West Georgia
Bio
YoonJung Cho
Bio
Angela Watson
Oral Roberts University
Bio

Published 2015-02-13

Keywords

  • Gender,
  • course format,
  • classroom motivational climate,
  • classroom goal structure,
  • sense of classroom community

How to Cite

Yang, Y., Cho, Y., & Watson, A. (2015). Classroom Motivational Climate in Online and Face-to-Face Undergraduate Courses: The Interplay of Gender and Course Format. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education Revue Internationale Du E-Learning Et La Formation à Distance, 30(1). Retrieved from https://ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/890
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Abstract

In this study, the role of gender and course format in college students’ perceptions of classroom motivational climate (i.e., sense of classroom community and perceived classroom goal structure) was examined. Participants were 722 college students from a variety of majors at a comprehensive Midwest American university. Female students felt a stronger sense of community and perceived lower levels of performance-approach goal structure in online classes than their male counterparts experienced. Male students perceived the face-to-face classes as being more communal and less performance-approach oriented than the females did. Further, both male and female students perceived a stronger mastery-approach classroom goal structure in face-to-face than in online classes. These findings suggest that instructors should consider the roles of gender and course format in designing instruction and creating motivational learning environments.
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