Motivational beliefs and perceptions of instructional quality: predicting satisfaction with online training*

Abstract

Abstract Many would agree that learning on the Web – a highly autonomous learning environment – may be difficult for individuals who lack motivation and self‐regulated learning skills. Using a social cognitive view of academic motivation and self‐regulation, the objective of the present study was to investigate the relations between students' motivational beliefs, their perceptions of the learning environment and their satisfaction with a self‐paced, online course. Service academy undergraduates (n = 646) completed a questionnaire following online training. Pearson correlations indicate that task value, self‐efficacy and perceived instructional quality were significantly positively related to each other and to students' overall satisfaction with the self‐paced, online course. Additionally, results from a three‐step hierarchical regression reveal that task value, self‐efficacy and instructional quality were significant positive predictors of students' satisfaction; the final regression model accounted for approximately 54% of the variance in the outcome measure. These findings support and extend prior research in traditional classrooms and online education in university settings, indicating that military students' motivational beliefs about a learning task and their perceptions of instructional quality are related, in important ways, to their overall satisfaction with online instruction. Educational implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.