The role of motivation in online learning has been explored mostly as a predictor of course retention or satisfaction, rather than as an adaptive outcome in itself. We thus aimed to investigate how the features of motivation develop in online courses during the semester and how students' perceived teaching and social presences influence their…

This article reviews motivation research published in "Distance Education" since 1980, highlighting the major foci of investigation and reflecting on past findings. A major trend was that past research has focused predominantly on learners' motivational attributes using sociocognitive models of motivation. We therefore have developed a…

Can mastery and performance-approach goals predict distance learners' learning and achievement in different learning situations over an academic year? Using a prospective longitudinal design, the current study examined this research question using a cohort of distance learners in Hong Kong. Two hundred and seventy-two distance learners completed…