Association of Student s Intrinsic Motivation and Autonomous Support of Teachers on Academic Performance of Dental Undergraduates of Karachi

Abstract

Objective: To assess the impact of teacher s autonomous support on student s academic performance among dental undergraduates of Bahria University Medical and Dental College (BUMDC), and to find out the influence of intrinsic motivation (self- determination theory) on academic performance of dental undergraduates of BUMDC. Methodology: It was a cross sectional study conducted among dental undergraduates of BUMDC. Total sampling technique was used in this study. Out of total 200 dental students in all four years of BDS, 185 questionnaires were completely filled in all aspects and therefore included for data analysis. Results: The final calculated scores of two sub-scales of the Learning Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-L, autonomous motivation and controlled motivation) had an average mean of 5.1 and 3.95. The average of the Learning Climate Questionnaire (LCQ) for tutor autonomy support was 4.51. The average academic performance score was 74.1%. More than half of the respondents (60%) were autonomously motivated. Students autonomous support and perception towards tutors autonomy support was (5.1 and 4.51 out of 7 scoring) respectively. Conclusion: It was concluded from this study that the intrinsic motivation of dental undergraduate has direct association on strong academic performance of learners. On the other hand, teachers autonomous support has an inverse relationship over academic performance of dental undergraduates.