On average, students were sufficiently motivated to learn at home during the closure of school buildings in the spring, but a substantial group of students (27%) scored lower because they did not have a good home learning space. The motivation of upper-level HAVO and VWO students also requires extra attention during times of distance education.
Once again, this study shows that asking students for their opinions and insights pays off. Students themselves are very capable of indicating what is and is not going well and what support needs they have when taking lessons remotely. The more than 70 schools that took part in the study gained insight into their students’ motivation during the lockdown that began in March, possible improvements, and a benchmark. At the request of the VO-raad, the researchers formulated recommendations applicable across schools. Now that schools once again have to switch to distance education for a large proportion of students, the experiences from the spring are particularly relevant.
A good (home) workspace
One of the groups that scores significantly lower in learning motivation is the remarkably large group of students (27%) who indicate that they did not have a good home workspace. During the lockdown, schools generally provided support to vulnerable students who, for various reasons, were unable to learn properly at home. Geijsel’s study shows that a broader group of students had to cope with inadequate learning conditions during the closure of school buildings, and that this affected their motivation to learn. In addition, these students indicate that they experienced less support from their parents, but also from teachers.
To keep this group of students ‘on board’, schools are advised to identify which students at the school are involved and to differentiate within the group of ‘vulnerable students’. This can be done by asking the students themselves: is your home learning space adequate and are you able to concentrate?
Concrete help
Students’ motivation to learn is affected by whether they feel seen for who they are and how they learn. The role of teachers, mentors and coaches has been particularly decisive when they paid attention to requests for help with learning at home and provided plans and concrete assistance with learning. Students expect attention to the learning-related questions they encounter. It helps when it is clear when they can contact their teachers. Perhaps an optional question-and-answer session is more useful than a traditional online lesson, the researchers suggest. The overall picture is that the teacher’s supportive role made more difference to learning motivation than the availability of mentoring.
Extra attention for upper-level students
Another striking conclusion of the study is that upper-level HAVO-VWO students were less motivated during the lockdown in March than lower-level students. This also applies to upper-level VMBO students, but to a lesser extent. For schools, this may prompt reflection on the extent to which teachers’ support was available specifically to upper-level students. It may have been assumed (by the school and parents) that these students could progress relatively independently with their schoolwork compared with lower-level students.
The group of upper-level HAVO/VWO students (and, to a slightly lesser extent, upper-level PRO/VMBO students) indicate that, even when schools are open, they have relatively less need to collaborate with classmates, but rather more need for help and feedback from teachers. They have a greater need for a simpler timetable and hope for fewer lessons at school and more time for homework. This may indicate that providing whole-class revision of the material is less suitable for these students, for example as a solution for catching up on learning gaps. Perhaps individual help from subject teachers with something that a student (individually) does not quite understand is more effective.
Read the full research report and the appendix. For more information about administering the questionnaire, see www.e-loo.nl.