Date

5-20-2026

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education in Curriculum & Instruction (EdD)

Chair

Nathan Street

Keywords

academic motivation, adolescent, care, caring, effort, middle school, student effort, teacher caring, teacher-student relationship

Disciplines

Curriculum and Instruction | Education

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational research was to study the potential correlation between the middle school students' perspectives of teacher caring and student effort. The study was important because it investigated an understudied population in a new geographic location. The sample included 352 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students within five middle schools in eastern North Carolina. Two instruments were used to collect survey data from the students. The first instrument administered included the MUSIC Model of Motivation Inventory, which was derived from the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation®. The second instrument was the Course Effort Scale, derived from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory. The instruments were given to the students via GoogleForms, an online survey platform. A Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to analyze the data. Results indicated a statistically significant relationship between teacher caring and student effort for all three grade levels. The null hypothesis one for sixth-grade data was rejected (r = .479). The null hypothesis two for seventh-grade data was rejected (r = .575). The null hypothesis three for eighth-grade data was rejected (r = .341). The findings concluded that a positive correlation existed between teacher caring and student effort among this data sample for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students in eastern North Carolina. Additional research is recommended to examine this relationship across diverse student populations and varied geographic locations to extend the research to determine the generalizability of these findings.

Download

Share

COinS