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Motivation in the process of learning
Motivation is an aspect that has attracted a number of researchers whose aim is to
research on the topic and offer their views regarding the same. The notion motivation applies in
all aspects of life. According to studies, motivation is a major factor that should be considered if
individuals are to perform their level best in all activities(Vallerand, 1993). For instance, in
organizations, motivation has been pointed out as one of the major factors that results to success
through productivity enhancements; in learning, students are able to perform better only when
they are motivated. Studies have revealed that motivation is an essential element of learning
(Corno and Randi, 1997).Motivation is defined as the aspiration to attain a specific objective,
combined with the energy to work towards achieving that goal (Boekaerts, 1998). Motivation is
something which directs, energizes, and maintains behaviour and in learning, it assists students
in moving forward, points them in a specific direction and furthermore keeps them going (Turner
and Meyer, 1998).Frequently, students’ motivation is mirrored in personal investment and in
emotional, cognitive and behavioural engagement in various school activities(Boekaerts, 1998;
Corno and Randi, 1997). This paper will seek to explain the role of motivation in the learning
process.
Essentially, students are motivated in various ways. For instance, some students may be
deeply interested in classroom activities and as a result, look for challenging course work, take
part in class discussions, which leads them to earning better grades on assigned projects. On the
other hand, other students may be interested in the social side of the school, attend
extracurricular activities, and interact frequently with students. Motivation is of specific interest
to various academicians including educational psychologists due to the essential role it plays in
the process of learning. Nevertheless, the particular type of motivation which is studied in the
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education setting is in terms of quantitative factors from the general forms of motivation that are
studied in other fields by psychologists (Corno and Randi, 1997).
It is apparent that learners who are motivated to learn employ complex cognitive learning
processes. Certainly, motivation to undertake a specific activity comes about in various ways.
For instance, it can be either a personality characteristic or a long lasting interest in a particular
activity. There are various theories of motivation some of which put forth that motivation is tied
to the perception that past behaviours which have been rewarded are more probable to be
repeated by students in future(Boekaerts, 1998). Thus past experiences are believed to motivate
learners to take part in future ones. Students’ motivation which is influenced by their teachers’
expectations also plays a vital role in enhancing the process of learning. Research has typically
found out that learners will live down or up to their tutors’ expectations, especially in younger
grades, a time when tutors know quite little regarding their learners’ levels of attainment (Corno
and Randi, 1997). In order to make certain that students prevail in their learning, teachers must
make certain that they communicate efficiently positive expectations. Some of these expectations
encompass: treating all the students the same in addition to spending equal time with them,
waiting for the learner to respond to a specific question before asking another student, and
ensuring that no distinction is made regarding achievement amongst students (Corno and Randi,
1997). This kind of motivation will definitely make students- both the fast and slow learners-
identify themselves with learning, putting their all effort with an aim of succeeding
academically.
In the education process, motivation plays various roles and affects student’s behaviour
towards learning and subject matter. One of the major roles played by motivation is improving
student performance. As stipulated by Turner and Meyer (1998)90% of the students who excel in
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their examinations are those who are enormously motivated. For instance, motivation helps
students, especially those pursing science courses to fully participate in research, which is a key
factor of improving academic excellence. Through other influences of motivation including
effort and energy, goal-directed behaviour, cognitive processing, initiation and persistence, and
the effects of results, motivation usually results to enhanced performance. This means that
learners who are highly motivated to learn and succeed in classroom activities usually tend to be
the highest achievers (Wentzel, 1996). Research has proven that motivation is directly linked
with performance and success implying that the higher the levels of motivation, the higher the
performance and the opposite also applyBased on these arguments, it is clear that the need to
motivate students is an urgent measure that should be enacted in all learning institutions globally.
Furthermore motivation directs student’s behaviour towards specific goals. As proposed
by social cognitive theorists, students set goals and objectives for themselves and also direct their
behaviour in view of that(Wentzel, 1996).According to Boekaerts(1998) motivation determines
student particular objectives towards which they strive to achieve. This implies that it impacts
the choices individuals make, for example, whether to study specific subjects such as chemistry
or physics, or whether to spend their leisure or part time completing certain class assignments.
This means that whatever students thrive to achieve or the goals they set is partly determined by
how motivated they are. Motivated students will always set goals and direct their behaviour
towards accomplishing the same. Achievement motivation, which is deemed as the most
significant type of motivation which explains the tendencies of individuals to choose goal
oriented activities and strive for achievement. The only difference in students’ success is
dissimilarity on how they are motivated. Research has confirmed that some students are
motivated to learn whereas others are motivated to perform well which results to the attainment
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of better grades (Vallerand, 1993).It is necessary for tutors to convince their learners on the
importance of efficient learning rather than just obtaining good grades as the former is the aim of
academic work. Through the emphasis of practical importance and interest value of the materials
being studied, teachers can be able to achieve this objective.
Motivation is also evidenced to contribute to amplified energy and effort. Research has
proven that motivation boosts energy and effort that students extend in various activities that are
directly linked to their goals and needs (Boekaerts, 1998). It determines if such students will be
able to wholeheartedly and enthusiastically pursue a task or they will undertake them
lackadaisically or apathetically. According to studies, motivated students are able to put all their
effort and energy in specific activities such preparing personal timetables, setting aside some
time to undertake their assignments and complete them in time in addition to taking time to study
on their own.Initiation and perseverance in various activities is also increased by motivation.
Studies have revealed that students are more probable to initiate a specific assignment they really
want to undertake and in addition, such students are more likely to carry on working until such
tasks are completed even though they are frustrated or interrupted in the process (Corno and
Randi, 1997). Generally, it is true that motivation boosts learners time on certain tasks and this is
deemed to be a significant factor which affects their learning and attainment.
Besides, studies have proven that motivation influences cognitive processes. According
to Corno and Randi (1997)motivation impacts what students pay attention to and how efficiently
they process it. For example, studies have revealed that motivated students usually make a
combined attempt to correctly understand what they are taught in the classroom and in addition,
learn it eloquently as well as considering how they can be able to use the knowledge obtained to
improve their lives. It is apparent that some subjects such as mathematics and physics are
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deemed by students to be very hard but through motivation, this can be overcome. Studies have
in fact revealed that the number of students enrolling in these subjects have increased in the
modern times with most students (over 60 percent) enrolling in the same enthusiastically and
energetically and recording better performance(Wentzel, 1996).
Motivation also determines which effects are punishing and reinforcing(Wentzel, 1996).
It is apparent that more students are motivated to attain academic success. For instance, most
students will be proud after attaining an A grade and will be upset after obtaining a low grade.
This means that learners will work towards attaining a better grade in order to be respected and
accepted by their peers and avoid distress which is brought about by ridicule from their fellow
classmates after obtaining low grades. For learners who are not interested in specific subjects,
passing or failing in such subjects is not a big deal but to a student who is interested in those
specific subjects but cannot get better grades may be an effect of monumental significance.
Through motivation from teachers and fellow students, the latter student can be able to formulate
short term goals which will assist him/her undertake his studies effectively resulting to success.
Research has revealed that students are highly motivated in performing activities they
perceive to have significance competence or that which they value (Boekaerts, 1998). For
instance, some students may like particular subjects such as economics as they deem them to be
simple, whilst other may like physics because they want to enroll in certain careers such as
engineering, while others do not like specific subjects but they do their best because they are
motivated by various factors and individuals. Generally, students who value novel skills always
establishfavourable motivational beliefs (Corno and Randi, 1997).Most students undertake and
complete assignments which they do not value just because they will receive some rewards from
itsuch as social approval, high marks or a pass (Vallerand,1993). Students who merely embarkon
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learning assignments with an aim of getting a reward can be termed to be extrinsically motivated.
For instance, students may claim to hate mathematics tests but they are always motivated in one
way or another by their teachers, parents or friends before undertaking the exercise. On the other
hand, some students may be said to be intrinsically motivated and these groups of students need
not to invest energy and effort and besides they feel gratified from performing an activity. An
intrinsically motivated activity is an activity that is not influenced by external factors and
students will always perform it from free will. For example, learners who are intrinsically
motivated may put forth that they lose track of time while performing certain activities. In case
of difficulties, such learners continue with the activity due to the fact that they experience a
feeling of self-determination (Boekaerts, 1998)
According to Wentzel (1996) students are usually excited and eager to learn novel things
at school during the early elementary grades. However, this intrinsic motivation to master subject
matter and learn new things declines with time and this is linked to a number of factors. For
instance, as put forth by Vallerand(1993)extrinsic motivators are employed to students as they
become older whereby there are frequently reminded of the significance of good grades for
college admission, graduation or for promotion which makes them to focus their energy and
efforts to obtaining high grades. Moreover, such students develop to be more cognitively capable
of setting and striving for long term objectives, and they start to assess school subjects based on
their significance to such objectives, rather than on the basis of any intrinsic appeal (Vallerand,
1993). Besides, learners may grow greatly impatient with the repetitive, overly structured, and
boring activities which they frequently encounter at school. As a result, extrinsic motivation in
the form of extrinsic reinforcers for productive behaviour or academic attainment may be termed
as one of the main factors which ascertainstudents’ success in the process of learning.
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Nevertheless, intrinsic motivation is eventually what maintains learners in the long run. This is
true because intrinsic motivation encourages students to make sense of and further put what they
are learning in application and this boosts the odds that they will keep on reading and learning
about various academic subjects even after leaving their formal education(Vallerand, 1993). In
general, it is true saying that motivation, both intrinsic and extrinsic are very beneficial in the
process of learning although intrinsic motivation is deemed to be more effective compared to
extrinsic motivation due to the fact that students feel contented while participating in a certain
activity.
Still, motivation assists in developing students’ self- efficacy. Contemporary ideas of
cognitive development emphasize that the construction of knowledge differs as a function of
students’ developmental level and experiences(Boekaerts, 1998).These ideas focus on
modifications in processing functions, for instance, encoding, attention, metacognition, retrieval
and use of strategies (Wentzel, 1996). Self-efficacy is delineated as the belief that a person has
the capacity of performing in a specific manner to achieve particular set objectives. Most
research reveals that self-efficacy highly sways learning, academic motivation, and achievement
(Boekaerts, 1998). Self-efficacy is influenced by various factors including psychological factors,
social persuasions, modeling and experience. Mastery experience is deemed to be the most
essential factor determining an individual’s self-efficacy. Success is linked with high self-
efficacy whereas failure reduces it. Besides individuals self-efficacy will amplify when they see
other individuals succeeding while it will lower when they see other individuals failing. This
implies that self-efficacy is directly linked to motivation; the more persons are motivated the
higher their self-efficacy which will assist in promotes learning while the opposite also applies.
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In conclusion, it is apparent from this assessment that motivation plays a major role in the
process of learning. In fact, studies have revealed that motivation is an essential element of
learning.Some of the major roles of motivation as discussed in the essay include improving
student performance, directs student’s behaviour towards specific goals, motivation also
determines which effects are punishing and reinforcing, motivation influences cognitive
processes, and it contributes to amplified effort and energy. Frequently, students’ motivation is
mirrored in personal investment and in emotional, cognitive and behavioural engagement in
various school activities(Boekaerts, 1998). For this reason, teachers are encouraged to motivate
their students and treat them equally in the classroom as this will assist in enhancing the learning
process.
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References
Boekaerts, M. (1998). Boosting students’ capacity to promote their own learning: a goal theory
perspective. Research dialogue in learning and instruction, 1, (1), 13–22
Corno, L. and Randi, J. (1997).Motivation, volition and collaborative innovation in classroom
literacy.Reading, engagement: motivating readers through integrated instruction, Newark,
DE, International Reading Association.
Turner, J.C and Meyer, D.K. (1998).Integrating classroom context into motivation theory and
research: rationales, methods, and implications.Advances in motivation and achievement:
a research annual, 11, 87–121. Greenwich, CT, JAI Press.
Vallerand, R. J. (1993). The Academic Motivation Scale: A Measure of Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and
motivation in Education. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52, (4), 1003-17
Wentzel, K.R. (1996). Social and academic motivation in middle school: concurrent and long-
term relations to academic effort. Journal of early adolescence, 16, (4), 390–406.
