Table 3 Motivational constructs from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI), sample items and psychometric properties (N = 93). (Figures above refer to the virtual microscopy condition and figures below to ordinary instruction.)
| Construct | Example item | Number of items |
Cronbach Alpha |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interest/enjoyment | “I would describe this instructional intervention (W) /the microscopic demonstrations (N) as very interesting.” | 7/7 (all original IMI items) |
0.85 0.90 |
| Perceived competence | “I think I was pretty good at W/N.” | 6/6 plus one additional item |
0.84 0.90 |
| Perceived effort | “I put a lot of effort into W/N.” | 5/5 (all original items) |
0.82 0.86 |
| Pressure/tension | “I felt very tense while doing W/N.” | 5/5 (all original IMI items) |
0.74 0.83 |
| Perceived choice | “I did W/N because I had to.” (reversed) | 5/7 IMI items |
0.76 0.90 |
| Value/usefulness | “I think doing W/N was useful for my learning.” | 7/7 IMI items plus one additional item |
0.86 0.90 |
