Enhancing Students’ Learning Motivation through Student-Centered Learning Approaches

Abstract

Learning motivation is a central determinant of students’ engagement, persistence, and academic success across educational levels. In recent decades, student-centered learning has been widely promoted as an instructional paradigm capable of addressing motivational shortcomings commonly associated with traditional teacher-centered approaches. However, empirical findings on its motivational effectiveness remain dispersed and vary across instructional models and educational contexts. This study aims to synthesize quantitative evidence on the impact of student-centered learning on students’ learning motivation through a comprehensive meta-analysis. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a systematic search was conducted across Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar to identify peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 2005 and 2024. Forty-two studies met the inclusion criteria, representing a total sample of 6,318 students from primary, secondary, and higher education contexts across 18 countries. Effect sizes were calculated using Hedges’ g and analyzed under a random-effects model to account for between-study heterogeneity. The results reveal that student-centered learning has a statistically significant and positive effect on students’ learning motivation, with a pooled effect size of g = 0.67, indicating a moderate to strong impact. Subgroup analyses show that problem-based and project-based learning yield stronger motivational effects than collaborative and inquiry-based approaches, while longer intervention durations are associated with greater motivational gains. The findings provide robust empirical support for student-centered learning as an effective pedagogical strategy for enhancing student motivation and offer important theoretical and practical implications for instructional design, teacher professional development, and education policy.