Motivation for Choosing a Teacher Education Program and Personality Traits as Predictors for Study Satisfaction and Strategy Use

Based on a sample of N = 844 German teacher students it is examined to what extent the motivations for choosing a teacher education program, and personality traits are relevant for study satisfaction and the use of self-reported learning strategies. Within the longitudinal study STUVE (the course and the success of teacher students at the University of Kassel) we present first cross-sectional results by using predictive structural equation models. As a result we found intrinsic motivation for choosing a teacher education program and conscientiousness to be significant predictors for study satisfaction and self-reported strategy use, controlled for the grade of the university-entrance diploma and learning goal orientation. However, as we expected, extrinsic motivation and neuroticism weren't predictors at all or were negative predictors, respectively. Analyses of invariance reveal, for example, the pattern of the results for the most part as to be independent of gender and track of teacher education program.