Exploring the underlying mechanism of PDCA cycle to improve teaching quality: A motivation theory perspective

Considering the importance of teaching quality in the field of education, the purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss the underlying mechanism of plan-do-check-action (PDCA) cycle in the education context through the motivation theory. Firstly, the PDCA cycle is applied to design integral implementation steps in the management for colleague students´ study to improve the teaching quality. Moreover, the goal setting theory in motivation theory is used to discuss the underlying mechanism of PDCA cycle to improve teaching quality. To understand this, the goal commitment and task complexity are served as moderators of the relationship between the students´ plans and performance. Additionally, we demonstrate that the self-efficacy plays as a mediator between the teacher´s action and the students´ performance. Hypotheses are given and further tested with a sample of third year colleague students in a Chinese University.