Date of Award

4-1-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

School of Education

First Advisor

Dane Joseph, PhD

Second Advisor

Jenelle Stone, PhD

Abstract

Students, especially those in general education development (GED) programs, are at a higher disadvantage when it comes to postsecondary success and readiness than traditional high school students. Despite being a small percentage of the population, GED students have the same motivation and optimism as other students and should be given the tools and skills necessary to be successful. Two surveys, the Adolescent Time Inventory (ATI; C. D. Mello et al., 2013) and the Global Motivation Scale-28 (GMS-28; Guay et al., 2003a) were used in this study to compare student motivation and time perception between traditional diploma seekers and GED seekers to determine whether there were any statistically significant differences. The results suggested that in a majority of the survey data, the two populations showed no statistically significant differences. However, in the GMS-28, students in the traditional diploma seeking program showed significantly higher levels of correlation to extrinsic motivation-introjected (motivation through ego) and external motivation-external regulation (reward driven motivation). The ATI showed statistically significant differences in past positive, present positive, past negative and present negative, with the GED students generally having more negative feelings toward those time periods. Time frequency also showed a statistically significant difference regarding how often young people think about time overall with traditional students thinking more about time than their GED counterparts. The implications for this study suggest that students, both traditional diploma seekers and GED seekers, need more time perception and motivational teaching to better understand their implications for student’s future pathways and produce more sustainable outcomes. Young people have a concept of time and motivation but are often unsure how to leverage these concepts into usable skills for their future.

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