Motivation, support, and interest: A mixedmethods comparison of camp program types

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Motivation, support, and interest A
mixed-methods comparison of camp program types

• Presenter Ann Gillard
• Clifton E. Watts Peter A. Witt
• Texas AM University

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Theoretical Foundation

• Intentions of study
• Motivation (Ryan Deci, 2000)
• Perceptions of support for basic needs of (Ryan
  Deci, 2000)
• Autonomy
• Relatedness
• Competence
• Interest (Deci, 1992 Hidi Renninger, 2006
  Krapp, 2002)

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Study Site

• Camp Hidden Falls, PA
• 1-2 week sessions

• General Programs
• n 95 5
• Experienced-based
• First-timers

Horseback Riding Programs n 48
8 Skill-based Progressive
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Research Questions

• What differences did participants of horseback
  riding and general programs report on measures of
  motivation to attend camp, camp climate supports,
  and interest in camp?
• How did measures of camp climate supports relate
  to interest in camp?
• How did motivation to attend camp account for
  interest in camp?
• Did these climate supports moderate the effect of
  motivation to attend camp on interest in camp?

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Methods

• Mixed methods approach (Creswell, 2005)
• Measurement instrument development (Baldwin
  Caldwell, 2003 Williams Deci, 1996)
• Interest
• I did not think about other things during the
  activities
• I felt good about myself during the activities
• The activities were interesting

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Methods

• Autonomy Control
• I was pressured during camp
• I was pressured by my counselors to do things I
  didnt want to do
• Relatedness
• Camp gave me the chance to get to know my
  counselors
• The activities gave me the chance to make
  friends
• Peer Support of Competence
• Other girls accepted me
• If I struggled with something, other girls would
  try to help me

• Amotivation
• I have never really thought about why I came to
  camp
• I didnt come to camp for any particular reason
• External motivation
• My parents/guardians expected me to go to camp
• Going to camp is the rule in my house
• Internal motivation
• I wanted to have fun
• I could develop skills at camp that I could use
  later in life

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Methods Qualitative

• In-depth phenomological interviews
• Questions based on SDT and interest, but open to
  emerging narratives
• Purposive sampling

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Descriptive Findings Demographics

• Ages 9-15 (M11.9)
• Qual 12-15
• Previous camp experience 0-9 weeks (M3.3)
• Qual 0-4 weeks
• 69 White, 24 Black/ African American, with the
  rest Latina/Hispanic, Asian, or Other
• Qual 8 White, 4 Black, 1 Latina

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Descriptive Findings Quantitative Measures

• Acceptable reliability (.61-.85)
• Correlations
• Interest positively correlated with autonomy
  control, relatedness, peer support of competence,
  and internal motivation
• Interest negatively correlated with amotivation
• External motivation not correlated

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Regression Analyses
Motivation to Attend Camp (amotivation,
external, internal)
Interest in Camp
Camp Climate (autonomy control, relatedness,
and peer support of competence)
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Quantitative Measures

• Were there differences between programs?
• Horseback riders had higher scores than general
  campers on
• Interest (HB M5.37, SD1.06 Gen M4.49, SD
  1.46)
• Internal motivation (HB M5.47, SD0.96 Gen
  M5.10, SD1.38)
• General campers were higher on amotivation
• (HB M2.03, SD1.00 Gen M2.83, SD1.40)

All scales were 1 Strongly Disagree to 7
Strong Agree
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Control Variables

• Adjusted R2 .17
• Race (ß -.26, p lt.01)
• Age (ß -.30, p lt.001)
• Past camp experience (n.s.)
• Length of program (ß.27, p lt.01)

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Quantitative Findings

• What was the relation of camp climate supports to
  interest in camp? (R2 Change .22, plt.001)
• Relatedness (ß.31, p lt.001)
• Peer support of competence (ß.24, p lt.001)
• Autonomy control (n.s.)

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Internal Motivation

• (R2 Change .11, plt.001)
• The most important predictor of interest
• Positively predicted interest (ß.43, p lt.001)
• Other factors diminished
• Relatedness (ß.17, p lt.05)
• Competence (n.s.)

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External Motivation

• (R2 Change .01 n.s.)
• The following still contributed to the model
• Competence (ß .24, p lt.01)
• Relatedness (ß .31, p lt.001)

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Amotivation

• (R2 Change .08, plt.001)
• Negatively related to interest (ß -.32, p lt.001)
• Competence (ß.22, p lt.001) and relatedness
  (ß.31, p lt.001) countered amotivation

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Qualitative FindingsHorseback Riding

• Motivation
• Primarily self-determined
• I really wanted to do something with horses
  because I love horses.
• Clear expectations and goals
• I was hoping that basically I would just learn
  to ride better. Just understand more about
  horses.
• Continuation of past riding experiences
• Cause I go riding at home and I thought that it
  would be cool if I came riding here because I
  just like riding and I think its really cool
  when I get to try out different ponies that Ive
  never ridden before.

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Qualitative FindingsGeneral Programs

• Motivation
• Highly influenced by family and friends
• My mom told me I got to choose which ones I
  wanted to do and those were the ones I thought
  were most interesting.
• Appeal of unique activities at camp
• Ive never done sailing before. Like Ive done
  canoeing and kayaking before so I wanted to try
  something new.

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Qualitative Findings Autonomy

• Horseback Riding
• Involvement in riding
• Within Activities
• Because while trail riding you werent like,
  closed in and you didnt have like any
  restrictions on like how far you could go.

• General
• Between activities
• We did get to choose like if we would kayak or
  canoe or if we would just go swimming in it or if
  it was like the pool if you wanted to swim or
  not. And there was like what you wanted for
  cookout and stuff.

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Qualitative Findings Relatedness

• Horseback Riding
• Differences between counselors and riding
  instructors
• Feedback in riding
• I felt like they werent really yelling at us
  cause they werent. They were just helping us
  and giving us tips on how to rideIt made me feel
  better about myself cause I know that I learned
  to be a better rider here.

• General
• An activity in itself
• Support for coping from counselors and peers
• Like if I had a problem and went to the
  counselors that I knew the best, I could tell
  them how I feel knowing that they know how I like
  react to things They just helped me when I
  needed some help by just calming me down,
  telling me that things would be ok.

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Qualitative Findings Competence

• Horseback Riding
• Meeting goals
• Skill progression
• I felt good because were all learning better
  how to be on the horse.
• Self-efficacy
• I learned to be brave even if you fall off a
  horse cause that was my first time to fall off a
  horse, and I got back on.

• General
• Relational support for overcoming homesickness
  and negative peer interactions
• Confidence in doing camp
• I feel like Ive gotten stronger and more
  confident about myself, and that I can be away
  from home for like a long time.

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Qualitative Findings Interest

• Horseback Riding
• Progress in skills
• Probably Ill get better skills in riding,
  cause I kinda didnt want to trot as much
  because I didnt feel as safe or comfortable,
  since it was my first time. And when I do come
  back, Ill be better at it and Ill be more
  comfortable.
• Identity
• Im a horse lover, cant help it.

• General
• Familiarity with camp
• You just dont want to leave cause its like a
  second home for the summer.
• Future reengagement with unique activities
• I think I would get out pretty much the same
  thing cause I dont think anything would
  change.
• Future relationships
• It just seems like a nice bunch of counselors
  and C.I.T.s and all the people seem really nice.

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Conclusions

• Interest in camp is optimized when youth are
  internally motivated to participate in the
  activity or program
• Amotivation persists, even in the presence of a
  supportive camp climate
• Relationships can help in countering effects of
  amotivation and external motivation
• Use of mixed methods adds strength to findings

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Limitations

• Self-reports
• Social desirability response bias
• Generalizability
• Retrospective pretest design
• Possible reciprocal relationships

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Implications

• Before Camp
• Build internal motivation before camp
• Program for progressive skill development
• Build interest in and clarify expectations about
  camp through open houses, camper communication
• Solicit information from families about campers
  interests and levels of motivation to attend camp
• At Camp
• Find out why campers came to camp
• Connect existing interests to opportunities found
  at camp
• Focus on warm, caring relationships with campers
• Promote interest in camp through informational
  feedback, supportive relationships, and choices

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Questions?

• Contact
• Ann Gillard
• Texas AM University, Dept. of Recreation, Park,
  and Tourism Sciences, TAMU 2261, College Station,
  TX 77843
• agillard_at_tamu.edu
• www.rpts.tamu.edu/grads/amgillard