In an educational setting, evaluation of college students' motivational orientations and use of different learning tactics in an online college course is crucial. Students’ ability to develop ways in sustaining motivation in learning is greatly affected not just by the type of environment that they have virtually, but also with the relationship that they perceive with their instructors.
In this study, the impact of two independent variables faculty-student relationship (FSR) and online learning environment (OLE) towards the dependent variable motivated strategies (MS) among students were being investigated and the data were gathered using 3 different standardized questionnaires. A total of 5,312 respondents answered the survey and was reduced to target 250 respondents using stratified sampling needed for the Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
PLS Regression results revealed that there is a significant impact from FSR and OLE towards MS. Descriptive analysis showed overall responses indicating that intrinsic goal has the highest mean under MS, while instructor anxiety and student autonomy were the highest for FSR and OLE, respectively. PLS-SEM results also implied that the instructor connectedness was proven to affect the motivated strategies sub factors such as extrinsic goal, control of learning beliefs, self-efficacy, and social engagement. While the instructor anxiety significantly affects extrinsic goal and control of learning beliefs.
The study recommends that whenever there are activities that employ the use of prizes and rewards, it must be a type of reward that provides satisfaction on their psychological needs that would enhance their confidence and esteem rather than the use of money or grades.