Students' Motivation to Learn, Academic Achievement and Academic Advising: An Exploratory Investigation

This book details an exploratory investigation into the area of academic advising and used the motivation and self-regulation literature as a theoretical backdrop. More specifically, the research presented in this book incorporated self-theory and Hirsch's (2001) multiple intervention model in its interpretation. The interview narratives suggested that students experiencing academic difficulty tend to voice more problems, to be less ready for study and to be more avoidance oriented than students not experiencing academic difficulty. The research also showed that motivation is an unstable but useful variable when considering academic achievement. Moreover, group-based study skill programmes appeared to have some impact on academic attainment, and level of choice with regard to study course options appeared to be related to intent to access individualised academic advising systems. The discussion in the book, therefore, considered the ideas of motivation, achievement and academic advising, and showed that the effectiveness of academic advising is somewhat reliant on the initial motivation of students towards their study.