The prevalence of flipped blended learning, where part of the lecture and face-to-face class time is moved from the classroom to online instruction prior to class, has increased in prevalence on college campuses throughout the United States. One concern with flipped blended learning is the reduced student-instructor contact time, which could decrease communication and learning motivation. This study evaluated, from a Self-Determination Theory (SDT) perspective, the impact of an online Minute Paper with and without online instructor response on students' learning motivation in a flipped blended course. The Minute Paper is a very short writing activity that has been used in face-to-face classrooms as a formative assessment strategy. The study took place in nine sections of an introductory nutrition course taught in a flipped blended learning format. The flipped blended instruction was designed using the ADDIE model of instructional design and formatted to adhere to the standards in the Quality Matters Rubric. Of the 410 students enrolled in the course, 137 met the inclusion criteria and participated in the study. The beginning student perception of instructor autonomy support (measured by the Learning Climate Survey) and student motivation to attend a university (measured by the Academic Motivation Survey) was determined at the beginning of the study. Students were then randomly assigned into the control and two treatment groups. The control group did not complete an online Minute Paper at the end of their online instruction. The first treatment group completed an online Minute Paper. The second treatment group completed an online Minute Paper and received and online instructor response that used autonomous support language. The ending student perception of instructor autonomy support and student motivation to complete the online instruction (measured by the Situational Motivation Survey) was determined at the conclusion of the study. After controlling for student motivation to attend college, gender, year in school, teacher, previous online learning, whether the course was required for major, and beginning perceived instructor autonomy support, the results indicated there was not a significant difference in either student perceived instructor autonomy support or motivation to complete online instruction between the control and treatment groups. Gender, year in school, teacher, previous online learning, and whether the course was required for major did not significantly explain the variance in either ending perceived instructor autonomy support or motivation to complete online instruction. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]