Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ-16)

Description

The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) is a self-report instrument developed by Pintrich and colleagues and grounded in a social-cognitive approach to motivation and learning. Its development began in the early 1980s, and its use expanded beyond research and assessment to include the improvement of students’ learning processes.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the MSLQ is to measure students’ motivation and their use of learning strategies.

More specifically, the instrument was designed to assess students’ motivational orientations and the extent to which they use different learning strategies within the context of a particular college course.

Questionnaire Structure

According to the provided source, the MSLQ is organized into two main scales:

Motivational Strategies

and

Self-Regulated Learning Strategies.

The motivational strategies component includes three subscales:

Self-efficacy

Anxiety

Intrinsic motivation.

The self-regulated learning strategies component includes two subscales:

Use of cognitive learning strategies

Self-regulation.

Subscale Content

The cognitive learning strategies subscale contains 13 items concerning students’ use of different learning strategies.

The self-regulation subscale contains 9 items related to attention focusing and persistence during learning.

Scoring

Students rate the extent to which each statement applies to them using a 7-point Likert scale.

The response scale ranges from:

“Not at all true of me”

to

“Very true of me.”

Statistical Analysis

The item categories are structured so that the mean score of the variables composing each category or subscale can be calculated.

The source also notes that some items are reverse-worded. These variables are negatively phrased and must therefore be reverse-coded before statistical analyses are performed.

Correct reverse coding is essential to ensure that all item scores follow a consistent direction of interpretation.

Validity and Reliability

According to the provided material, the MSLQ is considered a reliable instrument and has been widely used in educational research.

The bibliography included in the source specifically refers to research examining the questionnaire’s reliability and predictive validity.

Applications

The MSLQ may be used in educational and research settings to investigate motivation, self-regulation, and learning strategies.

It can support the study of how students approach learning, how confident they feel about their abilities, the role of anxiety and intrinsic motivation, and the extent to which they use cognitive and self-regulated learning strategies.

The instrument may also be used to examine relationships among motivation, learning strategies, and academic performance.

References

Pintrich PR, Smith DAF, Garcia T, McKeachie WJ. Reliability and predictive validity of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Educational and Psychological Measurement. 1993;53:801–813.

Pintrich PR, de Groot EV. Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology. 1990;82(1):33–40.