Motivation and Its Effect on Student Learning

Teacher instruction can be either utterly useless or entirely effective depending on a student’s motivation to learn. A student “who is intrinsically motivated undertakes an activity for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the feelings of accomplishments it evokes.” On the other hand, an “extrinsically motivated student performs in order to obtain some reward or avoid punishment external to the activity itself” (Lumsden, 1994). It is both the teachers’ and students’ responsibilities to keep motivation levels high throughout instruction.

A teacher’s teaching method is probably the best way to keep a student motivated. Part of the reason why students will lose the will to learn comes from the class becoming too stale or boring. The ARCS Motivation Model is a strategy developed in order to prevent situations like these from occurring. According to this model, “there are four general requirements to be met in order for people to be motivated to learn, and there are practical strategies to use in achieving each of the four requirements” (Keller, 1987).

Figure 1: The ARCS Motivation Model and its four underlying principles to keeping students motivated to learn (Keller, 1987).

The student himself can do several things to stay motivated. One of these things is to set yourself a mastery goal rather than a performance goal. In other words, strive to be the best in the subject area, rather than pursuing for an A grade. According to a study conducted by Carole Ames, “when students perceived their class as emphasizing a mastery goal, they were more likely to report using effective learning strategies, prefer tasks that offer challenge, like their class more, and believe that effort and success covary” (Ames, 1988). This is further proved by another study conducted by Jason Colquitt, “learners with a trait pattern that was highly conscientious, highly learning oriented, and less performance oriented were 30% more likely to perform well on the first exam and 28% more likely to perform well on the second” (Colquitt, 1998). The best advice for student motivation would have to be this: “Whenever students are drawn to learning out of curiosity, for reasons of self-improvements, to understand the world in which they live, or for the sake of valued personal goals, they act in ways we admire and wish all students might emulate; They become absorbed, committed, and oblivious to the passage of time” (Covington, 1992).

References

Ames, C., & Archer, J. (1998). Achievement Goals in the Classroom: Students’ Learning Strategies and Motivation Processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(3), 260-267. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from http://200.17.213.49/lib/exe/fetch.php/projetos:educacao:ames_c._1988.pdf

Colquitt, J. A., & Simmering, M. J. (1998). Conscientiousness, Goal Orientation, and Motivation to Learn During the Learning Process” A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(4), 654-665. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from http://media.terry.uga.edu/socrates/publications/2013/06/ColquittSimmering1998.pdf

Covington, M. V. (1992). Making the Grade: A Self-Worth Perspective on Motivation and School Reform. Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.

Keller, J. M. (1987, October). Strategies for Stimulating the Motivation to Learn. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from http://iptde.boisestate.edu/FileDepository.nsf/0/693b43c6386707fc872578150059c1f3/$FILE/Keller_1987a.pdf

Lumsden, L. S. (1994, June). Student Motivation To Learn. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED370200.pdf