Student Motivation

Motivation is the drive, determination, and willingness to do something brought about by specific factors in life.  So when one talks about student motivation, it has something to do with the desire of the children or the students to participate in the teaching-learning process.  Why do students involve themselves in this activity and not in another? There are many reasons why students become motivated to do a task in school or to participate in class recitations.   These reasons may or may not be the same for all students.

There are students who are motivated from the inside or intrinsically.  They do things because they know that it is for their own good.  They either enjoyed, learned, or felt accomplished when they do the task.  These internal factors can include the student’s personality that they incorporate to the things they are learning like their interests, efforts, values, perceived abilities, and responsibilities.  For example, there are students who are confident.  There are also those who are fearful when faced with learning tasks.  Some might believe in luck while some might work hard to be successful.

There are also students who are motivated from the outside or by external things.  For example, they are able to get some reward or avoid punishment when they do the activity.  These extrinsic motivators could be in the form of grades, approval, or merits.  Other things in school can also affect their motivation would be their classrooms, their friends, the tasks given to them, and manner of teaching being conducted.  If the lessons are not discussed properly or creatively, students will only be bored and refuse to listen.  But if it is challenging and relevant to their lives, they would definitely believe in it. 

This motivation in students is affected by their experiences at home, in school, and the society as a whole.  Their motivation might be low if parents do not care about their grades, or if they think school is not that important.  Thus, parents have to track their children’s performance and teachers have to make their curriculum challenging.  They should set achievable expectations for their students as well. The strategies to be used in teaching have to be varied and the resources should be well-integrated into those strategies. Teachers have to be open to their students and facilitate a caring environment for them.  There should also be student support and activities that will enable them to practice being responsible.

Through various studies and researches it was found that if a student is highly motivated, there is a lesser chance that they will dropout from school and increase the probability of their success.  Students who are more willing to learn if they are involved, given choices, and provided some control over their learning. It would also be helpful if their curriculum is set specific to their interests and needs.  Furthermore, it was also found that students who are intrinsically motivated are able to absorb and retain the lessons and concepts at a longer period of time, thus they need less review and remedial courses. They are also the type who continues to learn outside the school setting, even after there are no more external motivators like grades or diplomas provided.

Motivation for Students

Motivators for Students

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