Chapter VI

Motivation in Learning

The Place of Motivation

in Learning

What is Motivation?

An internal state of arousal that often precedes

behavior-Epstein & Rogers,2001

Motivation is caused by a variety of factors:

-Exercise -Good Nutrition -Sleep -Rewards-Challenges -Friendship-Kindness -Security-Authority -Independence-Pleasant environment -Meaning-Creative expression

Aspects of Motivation

Motivation takes place within the individual

It is possible to treat the students in ways that will encourage them to develop the desire for learning

It is impossible to present materials to be learned in ways that will make learning

easier

The potential learners motivation will automatically be directed toward his/her

most pressing need at the moment

Motivation and Behavior

Arthur Schopenhauer-believe that to be motivated is to be into action.

-believe to Freud’s idea that “all actions are motivated and nothing happens by chance”

Factors Affecting Motivation

Knowledge in a particular content area

Beliefs about what the teacher expects

Adolescents’ self concept or perceived personal abilityAnxiety and concern over grades

Level of support in the classroom environment

Difficulty and challenges of the task

Social interaction

Belief that learning is useful, meaningful and of consequence of others

Various Abilities to Develop to enhance our Motivational Level

Manage the environmentManage our own thoughtsSet goalsMaintain a healthy lifestyleMake commitmentMonitor our behaviorManage stressManage rewards

Sequence in Motivation

Choice-our power to select

Instrumental Behavior-deals with all the activities that we

engage in order to satisfy our motive

Satisfaction or dissatisfaction of motive

Physical properties of

the goal

Consummatory behavior

Subjective feelings of individual

Goals may be characterized by quality,quantity,o

r value.

Relating to something used to achieve, fulfill

or complete.

Deals with how we feel

about satisfying a

motive.

Motives and DrivesPredominant theories of human

motivations

>increase pleasure and decrease painful experiences

>get innate physiological needs>compensate for innate drive

Motivation is an innate and integral part of our biological predisposition .

Drives

-for motivation that is assumed to have a strong biological component

-play an important role in survival and reproduction

Motives-for argues that are mainly

learned such as the need for achievements

Types of Motivation(emerge from biological component and learning)

Intrinsic Motivation

-comes from within individual

-comes from the pleasure provided by the work itself

Extrinsic Motivation

-comes from the pleasure of a reward-based on the external reward: it is comes from outside us-is concerned with the performance of an activity because of some external rewards

Other types of Motivation

Conscious motivation-deals with our awareness

of such motivation.

Unconscious Motivation-not aware of such

motivation

The Elements of a Motivational System

Motivation is a construct that describe the factors within us.

Motivation is a goal-directed behavior that

is affected by personality, persona, and self-regulation.

-the totality of what we are and who we are in relation to other people

-refers to the way we feel,act,or behave.

-is the self; the perceived personality of a person

-the identity or role that we assume or the image of character we project

Personality

Persona

Three Interrelated Concepts of “SELF”

1.Self-concept

-accounts for our perceptions formed through experience

-both evaluative and descriptive, referring to both what we think ourselves in certain dimension and how we feel about that

-knowledge of ourselves that is organized in a schema or framework

-develop from self-acceptance

*Self-enhancement-desire to learn positive things

about ourselves

*Consistency-our desire for information that

confirms our current knowledge

*Appraisal-motive concerned with our

desire to learn about ourselves based on different feedbacks given by other people

Types of motivation regarding to self-knowledge

Our self-concept is both multidimensional and hierarchical.

Self-awareness -a greater

understanding of ourselves, how it behave, and how we perform in relation to school activities.

-one way of looking ourselves and how our behaviors affect our performance in school.

2.Self-esteem-dwells at the affective

domain-foundation of human

personality; a fundamental essence that support everything about us

-teaches us to choose and to develop the orientation towards ourselves

3.Self-regulation-a system by which we

control our actions and decisions-behavioral component

in study of self-bring us to awareness of

our own beliefs, preference and learning strategies

-directs our own attitudes and behavior in order to achieve our goals

Self-regulation Processes

• Setting difficult but attainable goals

• Identifying task strategies• Making use of imagery• Carefully managing time• Structuring the environment• Seeking help when needed• Learning to self-monitor• Learning to self-evaluate• Learning to create positive

outcomes

Self-observati

on

Self-evaluatio

n

Self-reaction

Basic Elements of Self-regulation

•Awareness is an important element of self-observation.

•Know how to evaluate our performance.

•Capable of producing various reaction.

“I will take the task as a challenge”

“Difficult task will give me

opportunity to learn new skills”

“We cannot do it”

“It is too difficult”

Inner Speech

-internal conversation within us

“Knowledge of inner speech helps us monitor our behavior”.

Four Characteristics of Inner Speech

Egocentric-does not mean selfish or self-centered. The attention that is

directed inward.

Silent-we do not allow others to hear the words we say.

Compressed syntax -inner speech is not constructed the way it is in spoken

language nor does it use the same grammar.Semantic embeddeness -can signify

more than it does in interpersonal communication.

Problem Negative Message

Positive Message

Rejection What if they say “no?”

What if they say “yes?”

Comparison I am not as good as…

What can I learn from it?

Obstacles It is a problem There is a way around this.

Perfectionism I did ok but… I am satisfied that I did my best.

Others What will others think of me if I do that?

In my own person…

Results What if I make a mistake?

I wonder what the experience will be like…

Age I am too old to do that…

I may be in later years, but I’d love to try.

Power words that enhance self-talk

Self-efficacy

-our ability to deal effectively with a particular tasks.

-it deals with our judgments about certain courses of actions-about our ability to do specific things

- affects the choice of goals, outcome expectations, and attributions for success and failure

Outcome Expectations-occur when we confidently

believe that something will happen to produce desirable results

Low self-efficacy-our belief that we can be

successful in doing things

High self-efficacy-help us make more

realistic judgments about what we can do

Self-fulfilling prophecy-a condition in which we

end up acting in certain ways because that is what others expect of us