title: Measuring motivation and volition of nursing students in nontraditional learning environments.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify the best fitting model to represent interrelationships between motivation, volition, and academic success for adult nursing students learning in nontraditional environments. Participants (N=297) completed a survey that incorporated two measures: the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the academic volitional strategies inventory (AVSI) as well as demographic information. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used for data analysis. In phase 1, EFA resulted in factors that generally aligned with previous theoretical factors as defined by the psychometrics used. In Phase 2 of the analysis, CFA validated the use of predefined factor structures. In Phase 3, SEM analysis revealed that motivation has a larger effect on grade point average (GPA; beta = .28, p < .01) than volition (beta = .15, p < .05). The covariance between motivation and volition (r = .42, p < .01) was also found to be significant. These results suggest that there is a significant relationship among motivation, volition, and academic success for adult learners studying in nontraditional learning environments. These findings are consistent with and elaborate the relationship between motivation and volition with a population and setting underrepresented in the research.
authors.affiliation: Excelsior College, Albany, New York, USA. lnagel@excelsior.edu
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nagelsmith
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bryer
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D020375:Education, Distance; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016294:Models, Nursing; D009042:Motivation; D009518:New York; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D011594:Psychometrics; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014836:Volition