Exploring the Impact of Personalized Motivation Strategies on Tertiary Student Academic Performance

<p>This study investigated the influence of personalized motivation strategies on tertiary students’ academic performance within Vietnamese higher education. Recognizing the growing shift toward learner-centered pedagogy, the research aimed to examine how personalization, self-efficacy, engagement, and motivation interact to shape academic outcomes. Positioned within self-determination and social-cognitive frameworks, the study reconceptualizes personalization as a pedagogical practice rather than a purely technological function. An exploratory sequential mixed-methods design based on Creswell and Creswell was employed. The quantitative phase involved 286 students from two universities who completed a researcher-made, 45-item Likert-scale questionnaire covering five thematic domains. Descriptive statistics and an independent samples <em>t</em>-test were performed using SPSS v.27. The qualitative phase included forty-five semi-structured telephone interviews, analyzed through Braun and Clarke’s six-step thematic framework using NVivo v.12. Findings revealed consistently high mean scores across all domains, indicating strong student agreement that personalized learning, adaptive feedback, and goal-oriented strategies enhance engagement and motivation. However, intrinsic motivation and sustained self-regulation remained comparatively moderate, suggesting structural and cultural constraints on learner autonomy. Participants emphasized that teacher recognition, technology integration, and flexible learning environments significantly supported their confidence and persistence. The integrated findings demonstrate that personalization is most effective when instructional responsiveness, technological support, and cultural relevance operate in alignment rather than isolation. The study provides context-sensitive empirical evidence from Vietnam and offers practical guidance for implementing adaptive, feedback-rich, and autonomy-supportive practices that respect collectivist learning values while fostering individual agency.</p>