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SAN IGNACIO DE LOYOLA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE Business administration career University Students’ motivation Course: General Psychology Professor: Diego Llontop Céspedes Choquez Millan, Maria Fresia (U1020565)

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Page 1: Paper - University Students' Motivation

SAN IGNACIO DE LOYOLA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE

Business administration career

University Students’ motivation

Course: General Psychology

Professor: Diego Llontop Céspedes

Choquez Millan, Maria Fresia (U1020565)

Lima – Perú

2010

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Abstract

The connection between university students’ behavior, their perception of their

academic learning-environment, students’ interest and succeed is studied. As a

theoretical support the self-determination theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2002),

the theory of interest (Renninger et al., 1998), and the Maslow’s Hierarchy, are

applied. It is planned that perceived support of basic psychological needs as well as

aspects of a constructivist learning environment (such as teachers’ interest,

relevance of contents and quality of instruction) are associated with intrinsic

motivation, self-determined forms of extrinsic motivation and with study interest.

In addition, Study interest, intrinsic motivation, and forms of extrinsic motivation

are connected with the relevance of the contents, the quality of instruction, and with

the perceived transparency of the requirements.

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Outline

University Students’ motivation

Abstract...……………………………………………………………….……. 01

Introduction …………………………………………………………………. 03

Chapter One

1. Motivation. ………………………………………………………….. 04

1.1. Motivation Concepts ………………………………………… 04

1.1.1. Intrinsic motivation ……………………………………… 04

1.1.2. Extrinsic motivation……………………………………… 05

1.2. Motivational theories ……………………………………….. 06

1.2.1. Drive-reduction theories ………………………………… 06

1.2.2. Self- Determination Theory (SDT)……………………… 08

1.2.3. Theory of Interest ……………………………………….. 09

1.2.4. Maslow's hierarchy of needs……………………………... 10

Chapter two

2. San Ignacio University students’ motivation……………………….. 11

2.1. Survey……………………………………………………….. 11

3. Effects of motivation in education………….……………………….. 14

4. How to motivate students……………………………………………. 15

Conclusions…………………………………………………………………... 19

Reference……………………………………………………………………… 20

Appendix……………………………………………………………………… 23

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Introduction

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matter compared to what lies within us”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

People are concerned with motivation - how to move others or themselves to act.

Everywhere, parents, teachers, coaches, and managers deal with how to motivate

those that they mentor, and individuals struggle to find energy, mobilize effort and

persist at the tasks of life and work. People are commonly stimulated by external

factors such as reward systems, grades, evaluations, or the opinions they fear others

might have of them. Moreover, people are motivated from within, by interests,

curiosity, care or permanent values. These intrinsic motivations are not necessarily

externally rewarded or supported; however they can sustain passions, creativity, and

sustained efforts. Taking into account some theories: The self-determination theory

(SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2002), the theory of interest (Renninger, 1998) and the

Maslow’s Hierarchy. The interaction between the extrinsic forces acting on persons

and the intrinsic motives and needs inherent in human nature is what generally

motivate students.

One of the main purposes of the paper is to find out the facts that motivate people to

study at university, in order to help them succeed in their studies.

This paper seeks to make both a theoretical and practical contribution.

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Chapter One

1. Motivation

Feldman (2005, p. 364) suggested that: “Motivation is the general term for all

process that direct and energize the behavior of humans and other organism.

Motivation has biological, cognitive, and social aspects, and the complexity of the

concept has led psychologist to develop a variety of approaches. All seek to explain

the energy that guides people´s behavior in particular directions”.

The word motivation comes from the Latin movere, which means “to move”.

Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans

but, theoretically, it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as

well. According to various theories, motivation minimize physical pain and

maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a

desired object, hobby, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-

apparent reasons such as philanthropy, selfishness, or morality.

1.1. Motivation Concepts

1.1.1. Intrinsic motivation.

It refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself,

and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure.

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Intrinsic motivation has been studied by social and educational psychologists

since the early 1970s. Research has found that it is usually associated with high

educational achievement and pleasure by students. Explanations of intrinsic

motivation have been given in the context of Fritz Heider's attribution theory,

Bandura (1997, p. 37) who worked on self-efficacy, and Deci and Ryan's

cognitive evaluation theory (SDT). Students are likely to be intrinsically

motivated if they:

-> Attribute their educational results to internal factors that they can control

(e.g. the amount of effort they put in),

-> Believe they can be successful agents in reaching desired goals (e.g.. the

results are not determined by luck),

-> Are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote-learning to

achieve good grades.

1.1.2. Extrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic

motivations are rewards like grades and money, oppression and threat of

punishment. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the

participant to win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the

activity. A crowd cheering on the individual and trophies are also extrinsic

incentives.

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Social psychological research has indicated that extrinsic rewards can lead to

reduce the intrinsic motivation. LEPPER, M.R., GREENE, D. & NISBETT,

R.E. (1973 , p. 115), In one study demonstrated this effect, children who

expected to be (and were) rewarded with a ribbon and a gold star for drawing

pictures spent less time playing with the drawing materials in subsequent

observations than children who were assigned to an unexpected reward

condition and to children who received no extrinsic reward.

Self-determination theory (STD), Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985, p. 125 -

132), proposed that extrinsic motivation can be internalized by the individual if

the task fits with their values and beliefs and consequently helps to fulfill their

basic psychological needs. Internalized extrinsic motivation has been shown to

lead to more positive outcomes, such as wellbeing, increased productivity and

task satisfaction.

1.2. Motivational theories

1.2.1. Drive-reduction theories

The Drive Reduction Theory (Atkinson, 1987, p. 103) grows out of the concept

that we have certain biological drives, such as hunger. As time passes the

strength of the drive increases if it is not satisfied (in this case by eating). Upon

satisfying a drive the drive's strength is reduced. The theory is based on diverse

ideas from the theories of Freud to the ideas of feedback control systems, such

as a thermostat.

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Drive theory has some intuitive or folk validity. For instance when preparing

food, the drive model appears to be compatible with sensations of rising hunger

as the food is prepared, and, after the food has been consumed, a decrease in

subjective hunger. There are several problems, however, that leave the validity

of drive reduction open for debate. The first problem is that it does not explain

how secondary reinforces reduce drive. For example, money satisfies no

biological or psychological needs, but a pay check appears to reduce drive

through second-order conditioning. Secondly, a drive, such as hunger, is viewed

as having a "desire" to eat, making the drive a homuncular being—a feature

criticized as simply moving the fundamental problem behind this "small man"

and his desires.

In addition, it is clear that drive reduction theory cannot be a complete theory of

behavior, or a hungry human could not prepare a meal without eating the food

before he finished cooking it. The ability of drive theory to cope with all kinds

of behavior, from not satisfying a drive (by adding on other traits such as

restraint), or adding additional drives for "tasty" food, which combine with

drives for "food" in order to explain cooking render it hard to test.

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1.2.2. Self- Determination Theory (SDT)

The SDT (Deci & Ryan, 2002, p. 27) is based on the assumption that people are

naturally inclined to integrate their ongoing experiences. If external prompts are

used by significant others or salient reference groups to encourage people to do

an uninteresting activity, the individuals will tend to internalize the activity’s

initially external regulation. That means, people will tend to take in the

regulation and integrate it with their sense of self. This process will be fostered,

if people are supported in their basic psychological needs for competence and

autonomy. Accordingly, SDT proposes taxonomy of types of regulation for

extrinsic motivation that differ in the degree to which they represent autonomy

(continuum of regulation from controlled to autonomous, from amotivated to

intrinsically motivated. The approach of the SDT allows a finer analysis or

motivational processes than traditional conceptions.

Motivational regulations (with item examples):

- Amotivated (AM): No intention behind the behavior; Item: "I really feel I

am wasting my time in university".

- External Regulation (ER): Motivated only by external contingencies

(rewards or the threat of punishment); Item: "Without pressure from outside

I would do less"

- Introjected Regulation (IJ): Introjection of demands that pressure students,

for example, to avoid feelings of guilt; Item: "I have to give myself an inner

push in order to continue learning in my studies"

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- Identified Regulation (ID): Identification with opportunities that are in

accordance with the learners’ own goals (but are not intrinsically motivated);

Item: "I am committed in my studies, because I want to realise the goals I set

myself"

- Intrinsic motivation (IM): No regulation by extrinsic rewards (curiosity,

flow, fun…); Item: "I really enjoy learning and working here"

1.2.3. Theory of Interest

The theory of interest is defined as an educationally relevant motivational

concept (e.g. Renninger et. al., 1998, p. 9-21). The theory proposes a person-

object approach to interest and differs from most other motivational concepts by

its content-specificity (Krapp, 2002: p. 405-427). The concept of interest can be

interpreted theoretically and investigated empirically either at the level of

current engagements (e.g. interest-triggered action) or at the level of

dispositional structures (e.g., students’ relatively stable subject-matter interest).

Components of interest:

1. Emotional characteristics: optimal level of activation and arousal (pleasant

tension); feeling of competence; empathic content-specific emotional

experiences.

2. Value-related characteristics: the individual assigns positive value-related

valences.

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1.2.4. Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Abraham Maslow's theory is one of the most widely discussed theories of

motivation.

The theory can be summarized as follows:

- Human beings have wants and desires which influence their behavior. Only

unsatisfied needs influence behavior, satisfied needs do not.

- Since needs are many, they are arranged in order of importance, from the

basic to the complex.

- The person advances to the next level of needs only after the lower level need

is at least minimally satisfied.

- The further the progress up the hierarchy, the more individuality, humanness

and psychological health a person will show.

The needs, listed from basic (lowest-earliest) to most complex (highest-latest)

are as follows:

- Physiology (hunger, thirst, sleep, etc.)

- Safety/Security/Shelter/Health

- Belongingness/Love/Friendship

- Self-esteem/Recognition/Achievement

- Self actualization

* See Figure 1 and 2 on the appendix.

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Chapter Two

2. San Ignacio de Loyola University students´ motivation

Motivation is of particular interest to educational psychologists because of the

crucial role it plays in student learning. To understand it better it is necessary to do a

fieldwork.

2.1. Survey

Sample:

The data of a cross-disciplinary sample of 35 undergraduate students (first, second

and third year of study) of San Ignacio de Loyola University, (USIL), were

analyzed.

The students have a mean age of 20 years, and 25% were male and 75% female

The students study in the following fields:

- Law: 7.6%

- Engineering: 5.8%

- Management: 36.4%

- Economics: 11.1

- Communications: 9.9%

- Art: 8.1%

- Psychology: 7.0%

- Marketing: 8.3%.

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There was two questions

Why do you study at university?

Because I enjoy it

Because I want to be a wealthy person.

Because it is a good way to learn things which could be useful to me in my life

Because I feel obligated to do it

Why do you continue studying?

Because I want to study

Because I would feel like a failure if I quit

Because if I don’t other people will not be pleased with me

Because people push me to study

And these were the answers:

Why do you study at university?

I enjoy it 6

I want to be a wealthy person. 9

It'll be useful to me in my life 13

I feel obligated to do it 7

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I enjoy it I want to be a wealthy person.

It'll be useful to me in my life

I feel obligated to do it0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Why do you study at university?

Some students at USIL (45%) are motivated by money, or pressure by others. They

can be described as students with high extrinsic learning motivation. While the

majority (55 %) has an intrinsic learning motivation.

Why do you continue studying?

I want to study 20

I would feel like a failure if I quit 3

Other people will not be pleased with me 2

People push me to study 10

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57%

9%

6%

29%

Why do you continue studying?

I want to study

I would feel like a failure if I quit

Other people will not be pleased with me

People push me to study

57% of the students really wanted to study at university. This is excellent because a

motivated student will make a big effort to learn better thus to get outstanding

grades.

Though 43% of the students feel as if “they have to study”. It could also be a way of

been motivated.

3. Effects of motivation in education.

Motivation in education can have several effects on how students learn and how

they behave towards subject matter. It can:

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a. - Direct behavior toward particular goals

b. - Lead to increased effort and energy

c. - Increase initiation of, and persistence in, activities

d. - Enhance cognitive processing

e. - Determine what consequences are reinforcing

f. - Lead to improved performance.

Because students are not always internally motivated, they sometimes need situated

motivation, which is found in environmental conditions that the teacher creates.

4. How to motivate students

Some students seem naturally enthusiastic about learning, but many need-or expect-

their instructors to inspire, challenge, and stimulate them: "Effective learning in the

classroom depends on the teacher's ability ... to maintain the interest that brought

students to the course in the first place" (Ericksen, 1978, p. 3). Whatever level of

motivation students bring to the classroom will be transformed, for better or worse,

by what happens in that classroom.

Unfortunately, there is no single magical formula for motivating students. Many

factors affect a given student's motivation to work and to learn (Bligh, 1971, p. 88):

interest in the subject matter, perception of its usefulness, general desire to achieve,

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self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as patience and persistence. And, of course,

not all students are motivated by the same values, needs, desires, or wants. Some

students will be motivated by the approval of others, some by overcoming

challenges.

Lucas (1990, p. 42) identified those aspects of the teaching situation that enhance

students' self-motivation. To encourage students to become self-motivated

independent learners, instructors can do the following:

Give frequent, early, positive feedback that supports students' beliefs that

they can do well.

Ensure opportunities for students' success by assigning tasks that are neither

too easy nor too difficult.

Help students find personal meaning and value in the material.

Create an atmosphere that is open and positive.

Help students feel that they are valued members of a learning community.

Research has also shown that good everyday teaching practices can do more

to counter student apathy than special efforts to attack motivation directly

(Ericksen, 1978, p. 75 ). Most students respond positively to a well-

organized course taught by an enthusiastic instructor who has a genuine

interest in students and what they learn. Thus activities you undertake to

promote learning will also enhance students' motivation.

Capitalize on students' existing needs. Students learn best when incentives for

learning in a classroom satisfy their own motives for enrolling in the course. Some

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of the needs your students may bring to the classroom are the need to learn

something in order to complete a particular task or activity, the need to seek new

experiences, the need to perfect skills, the need to overcome challenges, the need to

become competent, the need to succeed and do well, the need to feel involved and to

interact with other people. (McMillan and Forsyth, 1991, p. 95 )

Make students active participants in learning. Students learn by doing, making,

writing, designing, creating, solving. Passivity dampens students' motivation and

curiosity. Pose questions. Don't tell students something when you can ask them.

Encourage students to suggest approaches to a problem or to guess the results of an

experiment. Use small group work. See "Leading a Discussion," "Supplements and

Alternatives to Lecturing," and "Collaborative Learning" for methods that stress

active participation. ( Lucas, 1990, p. 60)

Ask students to analyze what makes their classes more or less "motivating."

Reeve (2010, p. 362) asks his classes to recall two recent class periods, one in which

they were highly motivated and one in which their motivation was low. Each

student makes a list of specific aspects of the two classes that influenced his or her

level of motivation, and students then meet in small groups to reach consensus on

characteristics that contribute to high and low motivation. In over twenty courses,

Sass reports, the same eight characteristics emerge as major contributors to student

motivation:

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Instructor's enthusiasm

Relevance of the material

Organization of the course

Appropriate difficulty level of the material

Active involvement of students

Variety

Rapport between teacher and students

Use of appropriate, concrete, and understandable examples

Avoid creating intense competition among students. Competition produces

anxiety, which can interfere with learning. Reduce students' tendencies to compare

themselves to one another. Bligh (1971; p. 89 ) reports that students are more

attentive, display better comprehension, produce more work, and are more favorable

to the teaching method when they work cooperatively in groups rather than compete

as individuals.

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Conclusions

Understand motivation is a very important and valuable task because of its

results.

Intrinsic and extrinsic factors have been considered that influence whether

learners will initiate and persist in learning task.

Most theories of motivation that attempt to account for and explain these

factor are classified as expenctasy – value theories.

If we learn to motivate students, we can improve their participation during

their learning activities.

Teachers have an important role in the learning process for enhancing

motivation.

Motivation appears to be enhanced when learners’ expectancies are satisfied

and when they attribute their success to their own efforts and effective

learning strategies

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Reference

Bibliography

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Brace Jovanovich.

- BANDURA, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control, New York:

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- BLIGH, D. A. (1971). What's the Use of Lecturing? Devon, England:

Teaching Services Centre, University of Exeter.

- DECI, E. L., & RYAN, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-

determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum Press.

- DECI, E. L. & RYAN, R. M. (2002) Handbook on self-determination

research. Rochester: University of Rochester Press.

- ERICKSEN, S. C. (1978) "The Lecture." Memo to the Faculty. Ann Arbor:

Center for Research on Teaching and Learning, University of Michigan.

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children's intrinsic interest with extrinsic rewards: A test of the

overjustification hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

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Interest and learning. Proceedings of the Seeon Conferance on interest and

learning . Kiel: IPN 164.

- REEVE, J. (2002). Self-determination theory applied to educational settings.

In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research.

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You Ever Thought Possible. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

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Electronic

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interest, visited on 09/25/2010,

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00003572.htm

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http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/motivation

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http://www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/

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Appendix

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Neeeds

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