Basic psychological needs satisfaction as a mediator of the effects of a formative assessment practice on behavioral engagement and autonomous motivation

Formative assessment has been suggested as a means of supporting student motivation. However, empirical studies have shown mixed effects of formative assessment interventions on students’ motivation, making it necessary to understand the mechanisms underlying these effects. We analyzed a formative classroom practice implemented by a 10th-grade first-language teacher during 7 months. Teacher logs, classroom observations and a teacher interview were used to collect data for characterizing the formative assessment practice. Changes in students’ satisfaction regarding the basic psychological needs of perceived autonomy, competence and relatedness, as well as changes in student motivation manifesting as engagement in learning activities and autonomous types of motivation, were measured by pre- and post-questionnaires in the intervention class and four comparison classes. Since the intraclass correlation values ICC(1) and ICC(2) were low, we treated the comparison classes as one group and t-tests were used in the significance testing of the differences in changes in psychological needs satisfaction and motivation between the intervention class and the comparison classes. Path analysis was conducted to investigate whether a possible influence of the intervention on autonomous motivation and behavioral engagement would be mediated by basic psychological needs satisfaction. The analysis of the classroom practice in the intervention class identifies that both teacher and students were proactive agents in formative assessment processes. The analysis of the quantitative data shows that students’ psychological needs satisfaction increased more in the intervention class than in the comparison classes, and that this needs satisfaction mediated an effect on students’ behavioral engagement and autonomous motivation.