Intellectually stimulating students’ intrinsic motivation: the mediating influence of student engagement, self-efficacy, and student academic support

In the current study, we applied self-determination theory to explore a potential explanation for how instructors’ intellectually stimulating behaviors might influence student motivation. Undergraduate student participants (N = 418) responded to a questionnaire regarding their instructors’ teaching behaviors and perceptions of their own of engagement, frequency of student-to-student academic support, self-efficacy for learning, and intrinsic motivation to learn. Results from a structural regression model revealed that intellectual stimulation had a direct effect on students’ intrinsic motivation as well as an indirect effect through the mechanisms of volitional student engagement, self-efficacy for learning, and supportive peer relations. Results from our study indicate that intellectually stimulating instructional behaviors are associated with educational outcomes such as engagement, peer relations, and self-efficacy, and thus promote students’ optimal development by fostering intrinsic value and a sense of fulfillment associated with learning.