ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Psychology in Education
Motivation and learning strategies among students in upper secondary education: grade level differences and academic outcomes
Provisionally accepted
- University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
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This study examined grade-level differences in motivation and learning strategies and their relations to academic achievement (GPA) from a self-regulated learning (SRL) perspective. Participants were 401 Norwegian upper secondary/senior high school students (mean age = 17.1) who completed a 27-item short-form MSLQ assessing intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy, and cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management strategies. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a nine-factor model. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance held across grades 1–3, enabling mean comparisons. ANOVAs indicated significant grade-level declines in intrinsic goals, organization, and effort management, with the largest differences between first- and third-year students. All motivation and strategy variables correlated positively with GPA, with self-efficacy showing the strongest association (r = .51). Hierarchical regression revealed that motivation explained 33% of GPA variance, with cognitive strategies adding 4% and metacognitive/resource strategies adding 5%, while self-efficacy remained as the strongest predictor (β = .38). Findings underscore the robustness of the abbreviated MSLQ, highlight declines in intrinsic motivation and effort management across grades, and emphasize self-efficacy, metacognitive regulation, and effort management as key targets for instructional support. Limitations include a single-school sample and cross-sectional design.
Keywords: self-regulated learning (SRL), Motivation, Learning Strategies, self-eƯicacy, academic achievement (GPA)
Received: 05 Aug 2025; Accepted: 23 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Diseth. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Åge Diseth, aage.diseth@uib.no
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