Students’ Achievement Motivation and factors Determining the Quality of Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ achievement motivation according to factors determining the quality of higher education. A descriptive and correlation design was used for the research with data collected using questionnaire. The statistical population included students in Colleges of agriculture at Universities of Tehran, BouAli Sina, Ilam, Shahid Bahonar Kerman, and Shiraz (N=6958). According to Cochran Formula, a sample of 273 students selected, using proportional random sampling method. To assess achievement motivation, Pintrich et al. scale of motivated strategies was used and to assess quality determinants, researcher-made a scale was used. Reliability and validity of instrument were determined through opinions of faculty members and application of Cronbach's Alpha (achievement motivation= .86 and factors determining the quality= .91). The findings showed that there were positive and significant correlation between achievement motivation and determinants of quality (including: quality of process, interaction, educational atmosphere, object, and infrastructure). Also, discriminate analysis indicated that about 51% of variation of discriminate score could be explained by the three variables including satisfaction toward quality of process, educational environment, and interactions. Accordingly, it is impotant to pay attention to the aforementioned factors.