THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

According to Merriam-Webster (as cited in Williams & Williams 2011) motivation is

defined as the act or process of motivating; the condition of being motivating; a motivating force,

stimulus, or influence; incentive; drive; something (such as a need or desire) that causes a person

or student to act; and the expenditure of effort to accomplish results (DuBrin, 2008). Student

motivation is an essential element that is necessary for quality education. How do we know when

students are motivated? They pay attention, they begin working on tasks immediately, they ask

questions and volunteer answers, and they appear to be happy and eager (Palmer, 2007). To be

motivated means to be move to do something. A person who feels no impetus or inspiration to

act is thus characterized as unmotivated, whereas someone who is energized or activated toward

an end is considered motivated (Ryan & Deci, 2000). (Bomia et al., 1997) has suggested student

motivation as student willingness, need, desire and obligation to participate and be booming in

the learning process. Understanding student motivation is much like a group of blind men

discovering for the first time what an elephant is like. One man holds the tail and says that an

elephant is like a broom. Another holds a leg and says that an elephant is like a tree trunk. Others

say an elephant is like a big pillow, a big hose, or a spear. Each blind man has an accurate

portrayal from his specific vantage point but not the whole picture. This also seems to be the case

regarding student motivation (Williams & Williams, 2011).

Theories of academic motivation tend to focus on the self; however, self-processes are

affected not only by individual achievements but also by observation of models and by collective

achievements (Schunk & Zimmerman, 1997). Motivation has also been explained in terms of

behavioural associations involving reward contingencies (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). Interest and

goals have been identified as two important motivational variables that impact individuals’

academic performances, yet little is known about how best to utilize these variables to enhance

children’s learning (Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000). High-stakes testing assumes that rewards and

consequences attached to rigorous tests will “motivate the unmotivated” to learn (Orfield &

Kornhaber, 2001). (Ames, 1990) stated that motivation to learning is dependent on long-term,

quality attachment in learning and pledge to the process of learning. (Afzal et al., 2010) stated
that students who are more motivated perform better and student who perform better become

more motivated.

Student motivation is often separated into two types: Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic

motivation (Afzal et al., 2010). Extrinsic motivation is a construct that pertains whenever an

activity is done in order to attain some separable outcome. Extrinsic motivation thus contrasts

with intrinsic motivation, which refers to doing an activity simply for the enjoyment of the

activity itself, rather than its instrumental value (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Extrinsically motivated

behaviours—those that are executed because they are instrumental to some separable

consequence—can vary in the extent to which they represent self-determination (Ryan & Deci,

2000). Dev (1997) (as cited in Afzal et al., 2010), viewed that extrinsically motivated student

engages in learning purely for attaining a reward or for avoiding some punishment. Students who

are motivated externally are at a greater risk of performing lower academically than intrinsically

motivated students (Lei, 2010). Internalization and integration are the processes through which

extrinsically motivated behaviours become more self-determined (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

Intrinsic motivation is defined as the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfactions

rather than for some separable consequence. When intrinsically motivated a person is moved to

act for the fun or challenge entailed rather than because of external prods, pressures, or rewards

(Ryan & Deci, 2000). Students who are high in intrinsic motivation and identified regulation also

tend to have higher achievement (Niemiec & Ryan, 2009). Intrinsically motivated behaviours,

which are performed out of interest and satisfy the innate psychological needs for competence

and autonomy are the prototype of self-determined behaviour (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Intrinsic

motivation energizes and sustains activities through the spontaneous satisfactions inherent in

effective volitional action. It is manifest in behaviours such as play, exploration, and challenge

seeking that people often do for no external rewards. It is thus a prototypic instance of human

freedom or autonomy in that people engage in such activity with a full sense of willingness and

volition (Deci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999). According to Dev (1997) (as cited in Afzal et al., 2010),

student who is intrinsically motivated will not need any type of reward or incentive to instigate

or complete a task. This type of student is more likely to complete the chosen task and eager by

the challenging nature of an activity. Also, students with intrinsic motivation are more
enthusiastic, self-driven, challenging and feel pleasure in their studies and students with extrinsic

motivation try to drag themselves with academic assignments, feel compelled to learn, and

always put minimal efforts to achieve maximum appreciations (Afzal et al., 2010).

(Williams & Williams, 2011) claim that intrinsic motivational factors found to be at work

with most students include involvement (the desire to be involved), curiosity (find out more

about their interests), challenge (figuring out the complexity of a topic), and social interaction

(creating social bonds). Extrinsic motivational factors include compliance (to meet another’s

expectation, to do what one is told); recognition (to be publicly acknowledged); competition; and

work avoidance (avoid more work than necessary). Individuals who are motivated intrinsically

tend to develop high regard for learning course information without the use of external rewards

or reinforcement. According to (Lin & McKeachie, 1999) students with a medium level of

extrinsic motivation are more likely to perform well (in terms of their course grades) than

students with either lower or higher levels of extrinsic motivation. (Deci & Ryan 2010) added

that the extrinsic motives often serve to control people’s behaviour and get them to perform an

activity, but in the long run, people tend to lose interest and quit. On the other hand, factors such

as acknowledging feelings, providing choices and giving positive performance feedback

contribute to enhance students’ intrinsic motivation, resulting in better academic achievement

and greater persistence. (Katz, Eilot & Nevo, 2013) suggest that an emphasis on helping students

to develop a more adaptive type of motivation towards an academic task could reduce negative

consequences and support positive consequences.

Types of academic motivation do not mediate the relation between theories of intelligence

and school persistence intentions. Rather, we observed that incremental intelligence beliefs and

intrinsic academic motivation are independently associated with school persistence intentions

(Renaud-Dubé et al., 2015). According to (Reeve & Lee, 2014) motivation and engagement are

reciprocally related. Students’ initial course engagement and students’ in-course changes in

engagement both longitudinally predicted corresponding downstream changes in their classroom

motivation. Just as it is widely embraced that high-quality student motivation is important

because it facilitates student engagement, high-quality student engagement is likewise important

because it facilitates student motivation.

 Self-determination theory (SDT) is a comprehensive framework of motivation that can

enhance understanding of high ability students’ learning motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000). High

ability students reported diverse learning motivation experiences that ranged along the self-

determination continuum. From a theoretical standpoint, the findings of this study support the

continued use of SDT in high ability research (Garn & Jolly, 2014).

REFERENCES:

Pintrich P, Schunk D. 2002. Motivation in Education.Theory, Research, and Applications.Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/PrenticeHall. 2nd ed.

Palmer, D. (2007). What Is the Best Way to Motivate Students in Science? Teaching Science:

The Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association, 53(1), 38-42

Lei, S. A. (2010). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Evaluating Benefits and Drawbacks from

College Instructors’ Perspectives. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 37(2), 153-160.

DuBrin, A. (2008). Essentials of Management, 8/E, South-Western.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). Self-Determination. Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, 1–

2.