Academic Motivation and Academic Achievement of Karen Refugee Students

Abstract

Because there is so little research on individual factors in refugee education, the current study investigated the relationship between academic motivation and academic achievement of Karen refugee students from Burma studying at two post-secondary schools on the Thailand-Burma border. This study used the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) to assess refugee students' motivation in relation to their grade point average (GPA), which was obtained from the schools' registrars. The sample size for this study was 192 participants (57.8% female). Pearson product-moment correlations and regression analysis were used to assess the relationship between extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, amotivation and academic performance. The findings from this study indicated that: 1) in the current sample, there was no significant correlation between intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation as measured by the AMS and academic achievement as represented by GPA; and 2) there was a statistically significant negative correlation between academic amotivation and academic achievement. The results are discussed in light of previous findings. In particular, the current finding builds on the possibility that models emphasizing the role of autonomy in motivation may have less validity in marginalized populations. Further research on factors influencing academic achievement in refugee education is urgently required.