A qualitative investigation was conducted to determine, in part, the role of motivation in academic achievement by gifted secondary students. By examining the function of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, it was possible to identify the impact of each on the achievement of academically gifted students from Year 7 to Year 9 in a number of schools in regional New South Wales. These included two secondary departments of central schools', two large coeducational secondary schools and a relatively small single sex girls' school Across all sites there was a number of motivational characteristics that remained constant in contributing to academic achievement while some characteristics were specific to individual schools.
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