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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Deep motivation and approach

Overview

  • Influence: Deep motivation and approach
  • Domain: Student
  • Sub-Domain: Motivational approach/orientation
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to accelerate
  • Influence Definition: Deep motivation and approach functions occur when students want a mastery, deeper understanding, or high degree of investment to have a fuller understanding overall of the topic.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 4
  • Number of studies: 174
  • Number of students: 1,830
  • Number of effects: 180
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.58
  • Robustness index: 3

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Australian Journal of Education Purdie & Hattie The Relationship between Study Skills and Learning Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis 1999 Deep approach 38 NA 38 0.63
Australian Journal of Education Purdie & Hattie The Relationship between Study Skills and Learning Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis 1999 Deep motivation 72 NA 72 0.75
Perspectives on Thinking, Learning and Cognitive Styles Watkins Correlates of Approaches to Learning: A Cross-Cultural Meta-Analysis 2001 Deep motivation 55 NA 60 0.32
Journal of Professional Nursing Takase & Yoshida The Relationships between the Types of Learning Approaches Used by Undergraduate Nursing Students and their Academic Achievement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. 2021 Deep versus surface learning 9 1,830 10 0.54
TOTAL/AVERAGE 174 1,830 180 0.56
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