Avi Kaplan

While most contemporary motivation research has approached sociocultural and individual processes separately, any person’s experience, motivation, and action are simultaneously sociocultural and individual. In this article, we propose the Complex Dynamic Systems (CDS) paradigm as a framework for integrating sociocultural and individual processes into a coherent account of motivated action, and we elaborate one CDS model—the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI; Kaplan & Garner, 2017). Our central argument is that the DSMRI explains motivated action as an emergent phenomenon grounded in the person’s role identity—a complex dynamic system that itself emerges within a culturally mediated activity system. This yields an integrated, two-level explanation of the foundational motivational question, why does this person act this way in this situation? At the first, sociocultural level, a person acts according to the sociocultural role they occupy in a particular cultural activity system; at the second, individual level, different people occupying the same role construct idiosyncratic role identities that are framed by the role, yet emerge uniquely because they manifest as non-deterministic dynamic systems. In the article, we develop the conception of culture in the DSMRI as a complex, dynamic, symbolically mediated cultural activity system, and the role identity system that emerges within it. We conclude by considering the implications of this conception for motivation theory, research, and the design of educational environments.

Introduction: This paper describes an initial phase of research to inform the design of Change YOUR Game—an exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH) that aims to promote visitors’ inventiveness in STEM and in other life domains. The exhibition’s content focused on the history of inventions and innovations in sports. The research was framed by the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI) and by a set of design principles for promoting visitors’ agentic identity exploration: The PRESS Principles.Methods: Five data collection sessions engaged participants in a virtual, simulated visit to an early rendition of the exhibition. Diverse groups of participants were prompted to consider the self-relevance of the exhibition content to their identities and how they have been and can be inventive in their lives.Results: Four themes captured participants’ museum visitor role identities, varied readiness to engage in identity exploration of their inventiveness, and how these provided affordances and hindrances to participants’ engagement in identity exploration in the context of the simulated visit. The themes served as bases for design recommendations.Discussion: The study highlights the potential of the DSMRI and PRESS design principles to address conceptual and methodological challenges of research that aims to inform environmental design of a context that is not yet in existence and that will be relatively fixed. The findings suggest recommendations for design as well as theoretical insights about museum visitor role identities and the contexts that may promote visitors’ active and agentic engagement in exploring their identities.

This tribute celebrates the distinguished scholarship and extraordinary life of Dennis Michael McInerney, who passed away in Hong Kong on May 20th, 2022. It is a testimony of his impact on our professional and personal lives while highlighting the multitude and depth of his scholarly contributions. McInerney was one of those thinkers who invited us to reconsider how we conceptualize, assess, and apply scientific investigations in our teaching and learning practices. He authored and co-authored numerous widely used books and published numerous research articles in peer-refereed journals. During his remarkable career, McInerney dedicated a significant part to researching the problems associated with studying culture and uncovering how culture is a missing link in most motivation research. He believed there was a noteworthy need to conduct Indigenous educational research to understand the extent to which mainstream motivation theories apply to culturally diverse groups and stand up to cross-cultural testing scrutiny. McInerney’s influence and impact will transcend future generations of research, given the gravity of his scholarly contributions.

Question generation is theorized to support comprehension, self-regulation, and achievement, yet the empirical base for whether and how student-generated questions are associated with comprehension monitoring and whether they predict performance remain open questions. To address these, we investigated the questions undergraduate students in an introductory chemistry course recorded in question logs across an 8-lecture unit and their relations with post-lecture self-appraisals of comprehension and exam performance. Results indicated that students who generated more questions during lectures, who were able to resolve fewer of their questions, and who generated questions indicating large exam-relevant knowledge gaps reported lower levels of comprehension after lectures. Questions that sought verification or disambiguation were positively associated with exam performance. Findings suggest that student-generated questions can be meaningful indicators of comprehension monitoring processes and academic performance.