What motivates students to study in upper secondary school? A study on students? perspective on study motivation in four different study programs in Sweden

Every fourth student in Sweden cancels their upper secondary school education, although the intention behind the new school reform 2011 (GY-11) was to increase the throughput. One important reason for this is a lack of study motivation, which, in turn, has different causes. The authors of this study have chosen to focus on students' perceptions of what is happening in the classroom (i.e., learning and teaching in four different study programs). The purpose of the article is to describe and analyze students' perceptions of what motivates or demotivates them. The research questions are: a) what is important to study motivation?, and b) are there any differences regarding study motivation between programs? The study is based on a web survey of 126 students and four group interviews of 12 students. The interviews were analyzed using thematic content analysis. This is a cross-sectional study that also was analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests with correction. The results show the importance of learning and teaching strategies, teachers, and learning enviroments. Some similarities were found between the four upper secondary programs, such as a preference for more practically-oriented pedagogy, short-term goals and quick feedback, varied teaching methods, and good textbooks. However, there are also statistically significant differences between the programs regarding the need for structure, learning methods, and preferred perceptual preferences. The results have implications for teacher education, practicing teachers, and the students themselves. Conducting studies at the group- and program-level to better understand students is a way to develop the didactics for specific study programs and find ways to strengthen students' study motivation.