Unveiling the path to student engagement and autonomous motivation in online learning: insights from need-supportive teaching

While online learning offers a comfortable, flexible environment that promotes self-directed learning, its success depends on effective teaching practices. Grounded in self-determination theory, this study investigated how need-supportive teaching (NST) practices are related to student engagement and autonomous motivation in online settings. A multi-level analysis of 1588 secondary students revealed that after controlling for student and classroom-level factors, structure-supportive and involvement-supportive practices were directly associated with higher engagement. Furthermore, all three NST dimensions (autonomy, structure and involvement support) are significantly and positively linked to autonomous motivation, which in turn is positively linked to engagement. The findings underscore that intentional pedagogical strategies are crucial for harnessing the benefits of online learning, highlighting the importance of instructor practices that support students’ psychological needs.