Educators’ role towards student motivation
Mazirah Binti Yusoff
Faculty of Business and Accountancy (FOBA)
INTI International University College
Persiaran Perdana BBN, Putra Nilai
71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan
Malaysia.
mazirah@intimal.edu.my
Background of Study
Motivating students to study and achieve in schools, colleges, and universities is a topic of
interest to teachers, parents, as well as the researchers. Motivation is an internal state or
condition that serves to activate or energize behavior and give it direction. (Kleinginna and
Kleinginna, 1981a; cited by Huitt, 2001) Student motivation involves students’ desire to
participate in the learning process. It also relates to the reasons and goals that underlie their
involvement or noninvolvement in academic activities. Students may be equally motivated to
perform a task, but the sources of their motivation might not be the same. Some students are
intrinsically motivated to undertake an activity and they are doing it for their own sake, for the
enjoyment it provides, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes. Intrinsic motivation comes
from within the students themselves. Some students, however, are extrinsically motivated and
they perform in order to obtain some rewards or to avoid some punishment which is external to
the activity itself. (Mark Lepper, 1988) Grades can be the most positive example of extrinsic
motivation.
Educators have to understand the factors that influence motivation in order to develop the right
tools towards student motivation. Hence, this paper intends to look at the following:
i)
ii)
iii)
the factors that influence student motivation the most and the least;
the factors that influence student motivation the most and the least by levels of
programme and gender;
the suggestions given by the students to enhance learning in general.
Literature Review
What factors influence student motivation? There are several factors influencing student
motivation. Children’s home environment shapes the earlier stages of attitudes they develop
toward learning. Parents play important role in nurturing their children’s natural curiosity about
the world. Parents also are able to convey to their children the message that it is worthwhile, fun
and satisfying to learn. Once the children start going to school, they start to form beliefs about
school-related successes and failures. The sources to which children attribute these affect how
they cope with various learning situations. This is when educators play important role. Other
factors that influence student motivation include schools and college wide goals, policies,
classroom climate and practices, age, culture, socioeconomic background, and special
educational needs.
Parental involvement in school and home is important in motivating students. Not only is
parental involvement important because it produces good role models, but it also gives the
student another source to learn (Deutscher, 2003; cited by Taetle and Ryan, 2003). Another
important factor on student motivation is the teachers who teach them. What teachers do and say
promote intrinsic motivation in their classrooms (Perry, 2002; cited by Taetle and Ryan, 2003).
The educators have to be familiar with the students and get to know their individual learning
needs. The environment of the classroom is important as well. “Room temperature, comfort of
seating, background noise, and visual distractions are factors of the environment that can affect
concentration and motivation” (Hutchinson, 2003; cited by Taetle and Ryan, 2003) Students
must be comfortable for effective learning to occur. To keep students engaged, teachers must
also consider the set up of the classroom (Taetle and Ryan, 2003). Along with parents and
teachers, another group that a student interacts with everyday is their peers. Peers have a large
role in motivating students. Peers may affect the classroom process-aiding learning through
questions and answers, contributing to the pace of instruction, or hindering learning through
disruptive behavior (Lazear, 2001).
Gender is one of the personal variables that have been related to differences found in
motivational functioning and in self-regulated learning. Girls tend to give more emphasis to
effort when explaining their performance (Lightbody et al., 1996: cited by Maria and Pedro,
2004), boys appeal more to ability and luck as causes of their academic achievement (Burgner
and Hewstone, 1993; cited by Maria and Pedro, 2004). As for the type of academic goals
pursued by boys and girls, several studies have shown that boys show a greater degree of
extrinsic motivational orientation (Anderman and Anderman, 1999; Midgley and Urdan, 1995;
Urdan et al., 1998; cited by Maria and Pedro, 2004). As for the levels of programme, Garavalia
et. al (2002) indicates that first year students were more externally motivated and reported a
greater reliance on recall ability than their senior counterparts.
Methodology
A quantitative study on a sample of 76 students from three different levels of programme of a
private higher learning institution was obtained. It can be tabulated as follows:
Number of respondents by gender
Number of respondents by lev els
13 (17% )
32 (42% )
Level 1
37 (49% )
Level 2
Level 3
31 (41% )
39 (51% )
Female
Male
The questionnaire was divided into three sections. Students were required to fill up the
demographic information such as gender, levels of programme and year of study in section 1.
They were required to indicate the factors that influence student motivation the most and the
least followed by 7 responses in section 2. The last section requires the students to provide their
comments and suggestions on how to improve learning in general.
Findings
The findings are as follows:
Factors that influence m otivation the m ost
1 (1%)
interesting lectures and lecturers
2 (2%)
getting know ledge
4 (4%)
environment
1 (1%)
peers' influence
20.4 (23%)
parents' expectations
25 (28%)
passing examinations
others
36 (41%)
41 percent of the students indicate that getting knowledge is the factor that influences the most.
This is followed by environment as well as interesting lectures and lecturers. On the other hand,
23 percent of the students indicate that peers’ influence is the factor that influence them the least.
Factors that influence motivation the least
4 (5%)
7 (9%)
interesting lectures and lecturers
1 (1%)
getting knowledge
12 (16%)
18 (24%)
environment
peers' influence
parents' expectations
11 (14%)
23 (31%)
passing examinations
others
Factors that influence motivation the most by levels
Factors that influence motivation the least by levels
Factors
Factors
Interesting
lectures and
lecturers
Getting
knowledge
Environment
Peers’
influence
Parents’
expectations
Passing
examinations
Others
Total
1
1
Level and Percentage
Total %
% 2 % 3 %
7.7 16 51.6 19 59.4 36 47.4
1
4 30.8 12 38.7 9 28.1 25 32.9
3 23.0 2
0 0.0 0
6.5
0.0
2
1
6.3
3.1
7
1
9.2
1.3
4 30.8 0
0.0
0
0.0
4
5.3
1
3.2
0
0.0
2
2.6
7.7
1
Level and Percentage
0 0.0 0 0.0 1 3.1 1 1.3
13 100 31 100 32 100 76 100
%
Total %
2
%
3
%
Interesting
1 7.7 2
lectures
and
lecturers
Getting
0 0.0 1
knowledge
Environment
4 30.8 8
6.5
1
3.1
4
5.3
3.2
0
0.0
1
1.3
25.8
6 18.8
18
23.7
Peers’ influence 4 30.8 10 32.3
Parents’
expectations
Passing
examinations
Others
1
Total
9 28.1
23
30.3
2
6.5
8 25.0
11
14.5
3 23.0 4
12.9
5 15.6
12
15.8
0
12.9
3
9.4
7
9.2
13 100 31 100 32 100
76
100
7.7
0.0
4
Getting knowledge is the factor that influences motivation the most for level 1. This also applies
to parents’ expectations. Students in level 2 and 3 indicate that interesting lectures and lecturers
motivate them the most. Peers’ influence seems to be the factor that influence student
motivation the least for all levels. Environment also is another factor that influences students the
least in Level 1.
Factors that influence motivation the most by gender
Factors
Interesting
lectures
and
lecturers
Getting
knowledge
Environment
Peers’ influence
Parents’
expectations
Passing
examinations
Others
Total
Gender and Percentage
Male % Female
%
Factors that influence motivation the least by gender
Total
%
3
7.7
1
2.7
4
5.3
1
2.6
0
0.0
1
1.3
7
11
7
17.9
28.2
17.9
11
12
4
29.7
32.4
10.8
18
23
11
23.7
30.3
14.5
6
15.4
6
16.2
12
15.8
4
39
10.3
100
3
37
8.1
100
7
76
9.2
100
Factors
Gender and Percentage
Male
Total
%
%
Female
%
Interesting
18
lectures and
lecturers
Getting
12
knowledge
Environment
4
46.2
18
48.6
36
47.3
30.7
13
35.1
25
32.9
10.3
3
8.1
7
9.2
Peers’
influence
Parents’
expectations
Passing
examinations
Others
1
2.6
0
0.0
1
1.3
1
2.6
3
8.1
4
5.3
2
5.1
0
0.0
2
2.6
1
2.6
0
0.0
1
1.3
Total
39
100
37
100
76
100
Interesting lectures and lecturers seems to
influence motivation the most for both male and
female and peers’ influence is the factor that
influences student motivation the least for both
male and female.
Among the suggestions given by the students
toward learning in general are that educators are
encouraged to do the following:
a)
To provide immediate feedback to the students on their assignments and coursework.
b)
To give more examples in the class.
c)
Explanation should not be restricted to textbooks only.
d)
To organize more field trips.
e)
To enhance the facilities.
f)
To have guest speakers coming to classes.
g)
To provide more creative lectures.
h)
To organize more group discussions.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The conclusion is as follows:
a)
Getting knowledge is the factor that influences student motivation the most and peers’
influence being the factor that influence students the least.
b)
Getting knowledge and parents’ expectations seem to be the factors that influence
student motivation the most for level 1. Level 2 and 3 indicate that interesting lectures
and lecturers play important role towards motivation. All the three levels indicate that
peers’ influence is not critical in student motivation.
c)
Both male and female are of the opinion that interesting lectures and lecturers are
important in motivating the students and peers’ influence again is not critical in
student motivation.
d)
In general, students want educators to give immediate feedback to them about their
assignment and they also want educators to be more creative in their teaching
approaches and not to limit to textbook materials only.
In view of the above and the importance of student motivation, my recommendations are as
follows:
a)
Educators should provide continuous feedback to the students on their assignments as
this will help to improve their learning in general.
b)
Educators can also use technology to motivate students to learn through making
learning visual and so on.
c)
Educators should also show excitement in their teaching as they are the role models to
the students.
d)
Encouraging more group activities, group problem-solving and making the students
physically involved in the lessons can be adopted too.
e)
Organize field trips but with full preparation before the visit to ensure that students
are excited about the trip and as such will lead to students’ motivation.
References
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Products Elective Course”, Journal of Food Science Education, Vol: 1, 2005, pages 15-17.
Garavalia, L.S., Scheuer, D.A. and Carroll, C.A. (2002) “Comparative Analysis of First-and
Third-Year Pharmacy Students’ Perceptions of Student-Regulated Learning Strategies of
Motivation”, American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, Vol:66, Fall 2002, pages 1-7.
Harris, R. (1991), “Some Ideas for Motivating Students”, date accessed 23rd March, 2007,
available from http://www.virtualsalt.com/motivate.htm
Huitt, W. (2001), “Motivation to Learn: An Overview”, Educational Psychology Interactive
Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University, date accessed 10th April, 2007, available from
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/motivation/motivate.html
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(August), pages 777-803.
Lepper, Mark R. (1988), “Motivational Considerations in the Study of Instruction”, Cognition
and Instruction 5, 4, 1988: 289-309
Maria, T.C.R. and Pedro, F.C.A. (2004), “Gender differences in academic motivation of
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pages 97-112.
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