Autonomy-Supportive Teaching in Higher Education

A practical, comprehensive teaching guide for college faculty, no matter what the discipline or course, on using evidence-based, validated strategies and assessments for increasing student motivation to learn online and in-person—the pressing problem instructors face in these challenging times.

This book is for college faculty who are tired of student apathy, disinterest, and confrontation, and who are interested in helping their students cultivate inner motivational resources. Autonomous learners are interested in more than getting a good grade or doing as they’re told—they benefit from the motivations that increase need satisfaction, lead to lifelong learning, and support a wide variety of independent learning objectives.

Using everyday language, Autonomy-Supportive Teaching in Higher Education: A Practical Guide for College Professors synthesizes the mountain of research conducted using autonomy-supportive teaching (AST) in the classroom. This book summaries the state-of-the-art motivation psychology for the classroom, provides eight workshops demonstrating evidence-based and classroom tested strategies for applying AST, and explores faculty and student reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of AST. With this text, readers can begin applying the principles of self-determination theory to their classrooms today.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Not a Vignette

A Revolution in My Teaching Spirit

AST Will Work for You and Your Students

Three Potential Hurdles: Mistaken Beliefs that Interfere with Professional Development

Mistaken Belief 1: It’s the Students’ Fault

Mistaken Belief 2: Teachers Cannot Change

Mistaken Belief 3: Controlling Teachers Are the Best Teachers

Relation to Other Psychologies of Student Motivation

Grit: Passion and Determination with Angela Duckworth and Cal Newport

Fixed and Growth Mindsets with Carol Dweck

Why We Learn the Ways that We Learn with Josh Eyler

Structure of This Book

PART I: THEORY

1 Self-Determination Theory and Higher Education

A Brief History of the Psychology of Student Motivation

Self-Determination Theory and the Three Basic Psychological Needs

Autonomy

Competence

Relatedness

Supporting Basic Psychological Needs

Why the Students Wouldn’t Read Macbeth

The Many Forms of Extrinsic Motivation

Continuum of Extrinsic Motivation

Internalization and the Regulation of Beliefs, Values, and Behaviors

No Regulation of Beliefs, Values, and Behaviors

External Regulation of Beliefs, Values, and Behaviors

Externalized Regulation

Introjected Regulation

Internalized Regulation of Beliefs, Values, and Behaviors

Identified Regulation

Integrated Regulation

Intrinsic Regulation of Beliefs, Values, and Behaviors

2 Autonomy-Supportive Teaching

Vignette 1, Where Online Students Missed the First Deadline

Vignette 2, The One with Lethargic Graduate Students

Autonomy-Supportive Teaching

Seven Strategies for Supporting Student Autonomy

Strategy 1: Autonomy-Supportive Teachers Adopt Their Students’ Perspective

• My Experience Taking Students’ Perspective

Strategy 2: Autonomy-Supportive Teachers Invite Students to Pursue Their Interests

• My Experience Inviting Students to Pursue Their Interests

Strategy 3: Autonomy-Supportive Teachers Present Learning Activities in Need-Satisfying Ways

• Autonomy
• Competence
• Relatedness
• My Experience Presenting Learning Activities in Need-Satisfying Ways

Strategy 4: Autonomy-Supportive Teachers Provide Explanatory Rationale

• My Experience Providing Explanatory Rationale

Strategy 5: Autonomy-Supportive Teachers Acknowledge Negative Feelings

• My Experience Acknowledging Negative Feelings

Strategy 6: Autonomy-Supportive Teachers Use Invitational Language

• My Experience Using Invitational Language

Strategy 7: Autonomy-Supportive Teachers Practice Patience

• My Experience Practicing Patience

The Gestalt of Autonomy-Supportive Teaching

3 Evidence Supporting Autonomy-Supportive Teaching in Higher Education

Evidence that AST Works in Higher Education

Physical Education and Other General Education Courses

Remedial Writing Courses

Music and Performing Arts

Psychology and Social Sciences

Sciences and Liberal Arts in South America

Arts and Humanities, Health Sciences, Engineering, and Exercise Sciences in Europe

Online and Asynchronous Courses

Graduate School

Gender Differences in Highly Specific Cases

Intercultural and International Applicability

Conclusion

PART II: APPLICATION

4 Self-Determination Theory Workshop

Basic Psychological Needs

Regulation of Beliefs, Values, and Behaviors

5 Diagnosing Teaching Styles with AST Inventories

A Preliminary Note on the Difference Between Assessment and Evaluation

Situations in School Inventory

Assessing Structure

Assessing Chaos

Assessing Autonomy Support

Assessing Control

Completing the Inventory and Analyzing the Results

Situations in School Inventory

Advanced Scoring

Learning Climate Questionnaire

Classroom Observation Checksheet

6 Taking Students’ Perspective

Methods for Getting Student Feedback

Distribute Slips of Paper Asking for Anonymous Suggestions

Hold an Open Town Hall–Type Forum

Create a Virtual Survey or Poll

When to Avoid Taking Students’ Perspective

Put It into Practice

Homework Activity #1: Distribute Comment Cards

Homework Activity #2: Seek Candid Reviews about Course Content

Homework Activity #3: Invite Students to Comment on the Lesson Plan for the Day

Problems to Expect, and How to Deal with Them

Students Have No Feedback to Share

Students Don’t Seem to Be Interested in Their Own Suggestions

Students Have Only Positive Feedback to Share

7 Intrinsic Motivation

AST Strategy Two: Invite Students to Pursue Their Interests

Homework: Identify an Aspect of the Course with Which You Are Comfortable Allowing Students to Participate in Choosing

AST Strategy Three: Present Learning Activities in Need-Satisfying Ways

Competence

Relatedness

Put It into Practice

• Homework Activity #1: Stop and Assess Where Your Students Are
• Homework Activity #2: Emphasize Relatedness by Encouraging Students to Work Together

Problems to Expect and How to Deal with Them

• Students Have a Range of Skill Levels
• Students Are Not Interested in Working Together

8 Supporting Students’ Internalization

AST Strategy Four: Provide Explanatory Rationale

Put It into Practice

• Homework Activity #1: Explain Why You’re Doing the Next Thing You Will Be Doing
• Homework Activity #2: Integrate Rationale into Assignment Instructions
• Homework Activity #3: Explore the TiLT Model of Teaching

AST Strategy Five: Acknowledge Negative Feelings

Homework Activity #1: Acknowledge and Accept the Negative Affect of One Student

Homework Activity #2: Use Collective Negative Affect as a Diagnostic Tool

Homework Activity #3: Reflect on the Ideal Emotional Profile of Students

AST Strategy Six: Rely on Invitational Language

Homework Activity #1: Rewrite Activity Instructions Using Invitational Language

Homework Activity #2: Design an Alternative Assignment

AST Strategy Seven: Practice Patience

Homework Activity #1: Adjust the Amount of Time Needed for Completing an Activity

Homework Activity #2: Patient Listening

PART III: FINISHING TOUCHES

9 Sample Assessment of Using Autonomy Support in an Online Course

AST in Online Courses: An Understudied Relationship

Design

Control Condition

AST Condition

Results

Learning Climate Inventory

Discussion

Additional Results

Student Comments about the AST Condition

Discussion of Assessment Results

Mistake Number 1: Expectations Were Unclear

Mistake Number 2: My Understanding of AST Was Limited

Mistake Number 3: I Integrated Too Few AST Strategies

Conclusion

10 A Case Study of Teacher Transformation

My 2016 Letter to Students

Course “Deliverables”

Desire2Learn

Be Yourself

My 2022 Analysis of the 2016 Letter to Students

The Letter Is Long

The Letter Is Formatted Using Headings

There Is a Block Quote

The Letter Is Not Written from the Students’ Perspective

Students Are Expected to Be Guided by Intrinsic Motivation

There Is Little Explanatory Rationale

There Is No Room for Affect

It’s My Way or the Highway

Selective Patience

It Isn’t All Bad

A Digital Letter Written to an Online Health Psychology Course in 2022

General Observations

Conclusion: Troubleshooting Problems and Looking Forward

Some Instructors Will Do This Naturally

Anticipating Problems

The Need for Structure

Logistical Problems with Adopting Autonomy-Supportive Teaching

Confusion about What the Strategies Entail

Disagreement about the Teachability of Certain Strategies

External Pressures to Be Controlling

A Call for More Research on AST in Higher Education

AST in Large Lecture Halls

Asynchronous Online Courses

Professional and Organizational Development

References

Index

About the Author