Effects of Perceived Recognition Gaps in Assessment on Learning Motivation in Inquiry-Based Learning: ―An Integrated Theoretical Framework Based on General Causality Orientations and the Expectancy–Value–Cost Model―

AbstractInquiry-based learning has been increasingly emphasized in contemporary education as a means to foster learners’ autonomy, self-regulation, and other non-cognitive competencies. However, assessment in inquiry-based learning often relies on observable performances, whereas the actual targets of learning include internal cognitive and motivational processes. This structural mismatch inevitably produces recognition gaps between students’ self-evaluations and their perceived teacher evaluations. Previous studies have suggested that such gaps may undermine self-efficacy and promote avoidance behaviors, yet the psychological mechanisms through which recognition gaps affect learning motivation remain insufficiently theorized.This paper proposes an integrated theoretical framework that explains how recognition gaps in assessment influence learning motivation by combining General Causality Orientations (GCOS; Deci & Ryan, 1985) with the Expectancy–Value–Cost (EVC) model of motivation (Barron & Hulleman, 2015). GCOS is conceptualized as an interpretive filter through which learners assign meaning to evaluative information, differentiating autonomous, controlled, and impersonal orientations. We further argue that recognition gaps generate emotional cost—such as anxiety, unfairness, and helplessness—within the EVC framework, and that the magnitude and direction of this cost depend on learners’ causality orientations.To examine these non-linear and asymmetric effects, this paper highlights the methodological necessity of Response Surface Analysis (RSA), which overcomes the limitations of traditional difference scores by simultaneously modeling congruence, discrepancy direction, and evaluation levels. Based on this framework, we derive a set of theoretically grounded hypotheses regarding orientation-specific and level-specific motivational consequences of recognition gaps.By reconceptualizing assessment misalignment as a motivational process mediated by personality-based meaning-making, this study provides a novel theoretical contribution to motivation research in inquiry-based learning and offers implications for designing orientation-sensitive assessment feedback.KeywordsInquiry-based learning; assessment recognition gap; General Causality Orientations; Expectancy–Value–Cost model; Response Surface Analysis