The effects of evaluation structure on children's intrinsic motivation and learning

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of evaluation structure on children's intrinsic motivation and learning. The following three experimental conditions were set up in terms of the mode of feedback given to the pupils: norm-referenced evaluation, criterion-referenced evaluation, and self-evaluation. Each of the three classes of sixth graders was randomly assigned to one of the experimental conditions. The learning material was composed of several pages of programmed sheets. The pupils were given feedback based on the result of tests corresponding to the three experimental conditions. The dependent variables consisted of several measures of intrinsic motivation obtained from behavioral indicators and questionnaires. Results indicated that higher intrinsic motivation was revealed in the criterion-referenced evaluation group than in the norm-referenced evaluation group. And the results of a questionnaire showed that increasing pressure was experienced in the norm-referenced evaluation group relative to the criterion-referenced evaluation group. Furthermore, ATI effect was observed between intelligence and the three conditions when perceived competence was used as a dependent variable.