Beyond Engagement: A Microanalytic Study of Motivation and Self-Regulation During Task Execution

Understanding the processes that sustain learning requires attention not only to students’ knowledge and skills but also to the motivational, emotional, engagement-related, and self-regulatory processes that unfold during task performance. Although these constructs are widely associated with academic achievement, less is known about how they change and co-occur within specific task episodes. This study examined these within-task dynamics in a six-year-old student completing a structured visual-spatial problem-solving task in primary education. Using a microanalytic single-case design, data were collected through a concurrent semi-structured interview and systematic observation. A process-oriented visual representation was used as an analytical support to organize and synthesize the motivational, emotional, and self-regulatory configurations identified across successive episodes. Results revealed a non-linear and partially asynchronous trajectory. Initial increases in perceived difficulty co-occurred with maintained self-efficacy and greater use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies, whereas persistent difficulty was followed by lower perceived self-efficacy, stronger negative affect, and progressive disengagement. Task completion was accompanied by emotional recovery and a more positive retrospective evaluation, but not by a comparable recovery in monitoring and reflection. These findings illustrate the value of process-oriented approaches for examining within-task fluctuations in motivation, emotion, engagement, and self-regulation.