Een studie naar de motivatie-profielen van cursisten voor blended leren in het volwassenenonderwijs

Having the necessary skills to succeed in an educational program does not ensure that learners will achieve positive outcomes. Learners also need the motivation to learn in order to use their skills and engage in their learning process. This is especially true in online and blended learning (OBL) environments, which offers learners flexibility and autonomy to shape their own learning process. Since adult education in general and particularly OBL in adult education attracts a heterogeneous group of people, there exists a diversity among adult learners with regard to their motivation to learn and their reasons to choose for OBL. The purpose of the current study is to examine whether motivational profiles exist among learners in the specific context of OBL in adult education. To achieve this purpose, we conduct a survey with 200 learners in adult education. We administer the academic motivation scale questionnaire (AMS, Vallerand, et al., 1992), in 5-point Likert type response format, to learners enrolled in an OBL program in adult education. A second motivational scale regarding the reasons to learn in OBL environments was developed by the researcher and administered to the participants. Cluster analyses were performed with participant scores from the survey.
Our results indicate the presence of distinct motivational profiles among adult learners. The motivational profiles may be viewed as contributing to our understanding of the different reasons why adult learners choose the specific context of online or blended learning. They also inform us about how individuals in OBL in adult education are and are not motivated to learn. This information can be used by institutions and teachers to develop their educational curriculum to match the profiles of their learners and to take into consideration of their learners’ motivations. Researchers can use the results as a starting point for further research about the relationship between the motivational profiles and learning outcomes. In this way deeper understanding can be made regarding how motivation enhance intent-to-persist and success in OBL. This is relevant to complement the lacking coherent body of research in the context of OBL environments in adult education.