CPT CPT Educational Psychology & Student Motivation 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to self-determination theory, which type of motivation leads to the most sustained academic engagement in students?
- Extrinsic motivation driven by rewards and punishments
- Intrinsic motivation driven by autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Correct answer)
- Social motivation driven by peer pressure
- Fear-based motivation driven by consequences
Correct answer: Intrinsic motivation driven by autonomy, competence, and relatedness
Self-determination theory identifies intrinsic motivation — rooted in autonomy, competence, and connection — as the most durable driver of academic engagement.
Question 2: What is 'growth mindset' as defined by researcher Carol Dweck, and why is it relevant to tutoring?
- The belief that intelligence is fixed and cannot change
- The belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort, good strategies, and feedback (Correct answer)
- The idea that students should focus only on their strongest subjects
- A theory about the physical growth of the brain
Correct answer: The belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort, good strategies, and feedback
Growth mindset holds that abilities develop through effort and learning, which tutors can foster to help students persist through academic challenges.
Question 3: A student consistently avoids attempting difficult math problems. This behavior is most likely an example of:
- Strategic laziness
- Learned helplessness or fear of failure undermining academic engagement (Correct answer)
- A preference for easier content
- Advanced metacognitive awareness
Correct answer: Learned helplessness or fear of failure undermining academic engagement
Avoidance of challenging tasks often signals learned helplessness or fear of failure, conditions tutors can address through incremental success and positive reinforcement.
Question 4: Which psychological concept describes a student's belief in their own ability to succeed at a specific academic task?
- Self-esteem
- Self-efficacy (Correct answer)
- Metacognition
- Attribution theory
Correct answer: Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy, as defined by Albert Bandura, is a student's confidence in their ability to complete a specific task, directly influencing effort and persistence.
Question 5: How can a tutor most effectively build a student's self-efficacy?
- By assigning only the easiest tasks to guarantee success
- By providing mastery experiences through progressively challenging tasks, honest feedback, and celebrating effort (Correct answer)
- By telling the student they are the smartest in their class
- By reducing all academic expectations
Correct answer: By providing mastery experiences through progressively challenging tasks, honest feedback, and celebrating effort
Mastery experiences — successfully completing progressively harder tasks — are the most powerful source of self-efficacy according to Bandura's research.
Question 6: What does 'attribution theory' explain in the context of student motivation?
- How students categorize their learning styles
- How students explain the causes of their academic successes and failures, which affects future motivation (Correct answer)
- The way students attribute their grades to teacher quality
- How tutors assign credit for student achievements
Correct answer: How students explain the causes of their academic successes and failures, which affects future motivation
Attribution theory examines whether students attribute outcomes to internal controllable factors (effort) or external uncontrollable ones (luck), shaping future motivation.
CPT CPT Educational Psychology & Student Motivation 1
According to self-determination theory, which type of motivation leads to the most sustained academic engagement in students?