Testing the MUSIC Model of Motivation Theory: Relationships Between Students’ Perceptions, Engagement, and Overall Ratings

The purposes of this study were to investigate the extent to which students’ course perceptions of the components of the MUSIC Model of Motivation (Jones, 2009, 2018) were related to their engagement in college courses and their instructor and course ratings. Participants included 285 college students who completed questionnaires once or twice during a course. The self-report scales demonstrated high internal reliability. The findings indicate that students’ MUSIC perceptions (i.e., perceptions of empowerment, usefulness, success, interest, and caring) were significantly related to their effort in the course, both when the variables were assessed at the same time point and when their effort was assessed at a later time point. These findings provide empirical evidence for relationships proposed in the MUSIC Model of Motivation theory. Students’ MUSIC perceptions were also related to their instructor and course ratings, both when the variables were assessed at the same time point and when their instructor and course ratings were assessed at a later time point. These findings are important for instructors because students’ MUSIC perceptions can be linked directly to categories of motivational strategies that can be used by instructors as they design instruction.