An autonomy-supportive intervention program for STEM teachers to enhance engagement among students

Grounded in a self-determination theory framework, this study examined the effectiveness of an autonomy-supportive intervention offered to secondary school STEM teachers and their students in Singapore, with the focus on increasing students' perceived autonomy-supportive teaching, motivation regulations, and classroom engagement and decreasing students’ tension. A total of 20 teachers from three secondary schools were randomly assigned into either an experimental (n = 10) or control (n = 10) group. Teachers in the experimental group underwent an autonomy-supportive intervention program and were encouraged to implement their new teaching style for 20 weeks. Students in both groups (Experimental = 295, Control = 251) filled in pre- and post-intervention questionnaires to assess their perceptions of autonomy support, motivation regulation, engagement, and tension. Repeated-measures multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) with follow-up ANOVAs and pairwise comparisons showed that students in the experimental group, compared to students in the control group, reported longitudinal gains in perceived autonomy-supportive teaching (M = 3.58, SD = .86 to M = 3.74, SD = .83), in some motivational regulations (i.e., identified regulation, from M = 3.08, SD = .95 to M = 3.36, SD = .92), and in some types of engagement (i.e., behavioral engagement, from M = 3.58, SD = .65 to M = 3.68, SD = .66). These pilot study findings provide a good foundation to develop an effective and beneficial autonomy-supportive intervention program for STEM teachers. Limitations and future directions are discussed.