The Influence of Teachers on Motivation and Academic Stress and Their Effect on the Learning Strategies of University Students

Rubén Trigueros, Ana Padilla, José M. Aguilar-Parra, María J. Lirola, Amelia V. García-Luengo, Patricia Rocamora-Pérez and Remedios López-Liria
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Rubén Trigueros: Department of Psychology, Hum-878 Research Team, Health Research Centre, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Ana Padilla: Research Center Háblame, 04005 Almería, Spain
José M. Aguilar-Parra: Department of Psychology, Hum-878 Research Team, Health Research Centre, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
María J. Lirola: Department of Education, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Amelia V. García-Luengo: Department of Mathematics, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Patricia Rocamora-Pérez: Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, Health Research Centre, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Remedios López-Liria: Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, Health Research Centre, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 23, 1-11

Abstract: Students often experience the university period as a very stressful time. The teacher is a key figure who can cushion this stressful experience for the student. This study therefore aims to analyse the influence of teachers from the Self-Determination Theory perspective on academic stress, motivation, critical thinking, metacognitive strategies and academic performance in university students. The study involved 2456 university students with an average age of 22.51 years. A structural equation model was created to analyse the causal relationships between the variables. The results showed that the psychological controlling of the teacher positively predicted academic stress while autonomy support negatively predicted academic stress. Academic stress negatively predicted motivation, metacognitive strategies, critical thinking and academic performance. Academic motivation positively predicted metacognitive strategies and critical thinking. Finally, metacognitive strategies and critical thinking positively predicted academic performance. These results highlight the importance of the role that the teacher adopts during classes and the protective factor of academic motivation in the presence of stress.

Keywords: academic motivation; stress; teacher; metacognitive strategies; critical thinking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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