DFG Research Project: Motivate! Teachers' Use of Motivational Messages in the Classroom

This DFG-funded project explores how teachers’ motivational beliefs influence students’ motivational outcomes via the use of motivational messages. The main goal is to improve the understanding of the importance of teachers' motivational messages for student motivation.

The links between teacher and students’ motivations through teachers’ motivational message use in class are examined by a mix of different methods. To assess the type and frequency of motivational messages used, we will use audio-recordings of teachers’ verbal messages during their regular classroom practice, and self-report questionnaires to assess students’ perceptions of these messages. We will use innovative AI-based methods, namely large language models (LLMs), to reliably and accurately identify and code the motivational messages used by teachers. This will allow us to make use of large quantities of naturalistic data to gain deeper insight into the process of motivational transmission in authentic classrooms settings.

The study is conducted in mathematics classes in year 7 and 8 in Berlin and Brandenburg.

Funding: This project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)under grant number LA 3522/15-1.

Duration: May 2025 – April 2028

Project management: Prof. Dr. Rebecca Lazaridesand Dr. Wendy Symes

Project coordination: Dr. Insa Reichow

Further information on the project can be found on the project homepage.