Research quality moderates the relationship between student motivation and academic performance in online and blended courses: A meta-analysis

Prior meta-analytic work suggests the relationship between student motivation and academic performance among in-person learners is strong; however, evidence is weaker for college students learning in online, digital, and distance education (ODDE). This could be due to a variety of factors, including the rigor and quality of existing research, which has not been systematically accounted for in (ODDE) motivation reviews since 2008. The primary objective of this expanded meta-analytic review was to examine measurement quality and methodological quality first as moderators and then as adjustments in exploring the relationships between motivational constructs or synchronicity and academic performance in ODDE courses. Informed by DISCAR and adapted from PRISMA, we searched nine databases of studies published between 1990 and 2025 and conducted a secondary search of references, ultimately analyzing 64 studies and 117 outcomes that met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Both measurement quality and methodological quality were moderators of the relationship between student motivation and academic performance in online and blended courses. Adjusting for significant quality differences, overall, modest correlation values (r = 0.14) overestimated adjusted relationships (radj = 0.10). Despite challenges with some instances of missing data and low interrater reliability, these results indicate that motivational factors related to student success may be overstated when research quality is taken into account. Variations were found in both motivational constructs as well as synchronicity, suggesting that what is measured and how learners interact make a difference. These results have implications for future ODDE research, pedagogical designers, and policymakers.