Efforts to boost motivation helped students, but results varied

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   Researchers pooled 74 papers. They covered 38,377 students, from young pupils to university students.

2. 02

   What they did

   Teachers or researchers ran a motivation approach with one group of students. The other groups did not get the approach. Studies recorded what students said about themselves, their test scores and grades, and what they did.

3. 03

   What happened

   Overall the approach helped students, though the studies disagreed a lot about how much. Students rated their motivation higher, and test results rose, but the paper's test numbers don't add up, so sizes are unclear. Unpublished studies showed much smaller effects than published ones, and the review did not check how well each study was run.

What the review found

1. HelpedOther outcomes

   Across 74 papers and 38,377 students, these approaches did better on school results than the other groups.

   Pooled analysis of 92 studies with 38,377 people · vs students who did not get the approach · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished; the studies disagreed a lot; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. HelpedMotivation

   In 75 results where students rated themselves, these approaches raised motivation more than other groups did.

   Pooled analysis of 75 studies · vs students who did not get the approach · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

3. HelpedGoals

   Across 61 results on test scores and grades, these approaches helped students do better than the other groups.

   Pooled analysis of 61 studies · vs students who did not get the approach · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

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