In the educational context, different studies have showed empirically that the articulation between motivation and learning strategy use contributes significantly to students´ academic achievement (Pintrich, Smith, García & Mckeachie 1993). Since the 1970´s, it has been stated that students with higher levels of motivation are prompt to use different learning strategies. Indeed, in general, motivated students get involved and implicate in a more decisive way to the development of learning tasks and more carefully decide which strategy to use in a specific learning situation.

In contrast, it has also been stated that the efficient use of learning strategies acts as a positive reinforcement to students’ motivation. In this sense, the success in the use of a specific strategy, for example, conceptual elaboration, could lead to a change on student’s perception of self-efficacy and, in consequence, on motivation to participate in a more active way in their own learning process. Thus, students’ motivation nurtures the wish to find adequate learning strategies that, according to ones’ own belief, will lead to the learning of a certain knowledge domain and will fit one’s own interests and needs to reach a desired achievement standards (Berger & Karabenick, 2011; Duncan & McKeachie, 2005; Pintrich 2003; Pintrich, 2000; Rinaudo, Chiecher & Donolo, 2003; Zimmerman, 2008).

Motivation and learning strategy use have been traditionally treated separately and have been topics of separate research in relation to students´ academic achievement. It was only since Pintrich’s work that these two topics have begun to be integrated and have gained importance. This is why they have become fundamental topics of research in the educational world. Thus, both processes should be taken into account as essential components of learners´ academic achievement (Cotru, Varga & Zete, 2014; García & Pintrich, 1994).

In this field of work, researches are interested in establishing how and why some students apparently learn and reach academic success, and some others seem to have difficulties to achieve the desired learning outcomes. In this sense, no all students have the same levels of motivation; neither they use the same learning strategies to face their learning processes.

Hypothetically, it is probable that students´ previous learning experiences, and their passing through the different levels of the educational system, have allowed them to know themselves as learners, and become aware of their motivations and those learning strategies that either have been useful for general learning situations, or have been effective for more specific situations. Thus, students´ educative experience could play an important role in the training of autonomous learners.

This study seeks to determine differences in the motivational and strategic aspects of the learning process that could exist in relation to gender and educational level among Colombian students that are enrolled in high school, college and graduate studies. This goal will be achieved by means of the administration of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire –MSLQ–. In this respect, the study will additionally allow to perform a psychometric evaluation of the instrument (MSLQ) in terms of its factorial validity and reliability in the Colombian context.

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