Effect of Autonomous Learning on University Students’ Academic Motivation

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to investigate the effect of autonomous learning on university students’ academic motivation at University of the Punjab. This quasi-experimental study was based on two groups of students; the experimental and the control group. In this study, the experimental group of the students were taught through autonomous learning approach. The control group of the study was taught through the traditional teacher directed learning method. Pretest and post-test from both the control and experimental group were conducted to check the level of students’ academic motivation. Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) was used to collect data for the study. Two intact groups/classes (comprising 60 students in total) of undergraduate students, were purposively selected for this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze quantitative data. This research showed that there was no significant effect of autonomous learning on students’ academic motivation in Pakistani context. The longitudinal research may need to be conducted from elementary grades so that students may develop habits of autonomous learning and may have better academic motivation in result of autonomous learning.