Background: How teachers manage class learning and interact with students affects students’ motivation and engagement. However, it could be that the effect of students’ representation of teaching quality on the students’ motivation varies between classes.
Method: Students from 90 classes participated in the study. We used multilevel random structural equation modeling to analyze whether the relationship of the students’ perception of teaching quality (as an indicator of the students’ mental representation) and students’ motivation varies between classes, and if this variability depends on the class assessment of teaching quality (as an indicator of teaching quality).
Results: The effect of teachers’ structure on the regression slope of student perception of student competence was .127. The effect of teachers’ autonomy support on the regression slope of student perception of student autonomy was .066.
Conclusions: With this study we contribute a more detailed description of the relationship between teaching quality, competence and autonomy.