Motivational

and Emotional
Influences on
Learning
By: Teresita L. Caballero
EDUC 1
Sunday 7am-10am
What a learner learns is influenced by his/her motivation

Motivation in turn is influenced by the individual’s emotional state, beliefs,

interest and goals and habits of thinking

The rich internal world of thoughts, beliefs, goals and expectations for
success or failure can enhance or interfere with the learner’s quality of
thinking and information processing

Students beliefs about themselves as learners and the nature of learning

have a marked influence on motivation, Motivational and emotional
factors also influence both the quality of thinking and information
processing as well as an individual’s motivation to learn
Positive emotions such as curiosity , generally
enhance motivation and facilitate learning and
performance

Mild anxiety can also enhance learning and

performance by focusing the learner’s attention on
a particular task

However, intense negative emotions (e.g. anxiety,

panic, rage, insecurity) and related thoughts (e.g.
worrying about competence, ruminating about the
future, fearing punishment, ridicule or stigmatizing
labels) generally detract from motivation, interfere
with learning and contribute to performance
Intrinsic Motivation to Learn
The learner’s creativity, higher order thinking and
natural curiosity all contribute to motivation to
learn.

Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of

optimal novelty and difficulty , relevant to personal
interests, and providing for personal choice and
control

Intrinsic motivation is facilitated on tasks that

learners perceive as interesting and personally
relevant and meaningful, appropriate in complexity
and difficulty to the learner’s abilities, and on which
they believe they can succeed
Intrinsic Motivation to Learn
Intrinsic Motivation is also facilitated on tasks that
are comparable to real-world situations

Educators should note on individual differences on

perception towards new difficult and of personal
choice and control
Effects of motivation on effort
Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills requires
extended learner effort and guided practice

Without learner’s motivation to learn, the willingness to

exert effort is unlikely without coercion

Persistence of time is also a factor to motivation to

learn

Effective teaching strategies include purposeful

learning activities guided by practices that positive
emotions and intrinsic motivation to learn, and
methods that increase learner’s perceptions that a task
is interesting and personally relevant
Intrinsic motivation is the act
of doing something without
any obvious external rewards.

An example of intrinsic motivation would be

reading a book because you enjoy reading and
have an interest in the story or subject, rather than
reading because you have to write a report on it to
pass a class.
Intrinsic motivation occurs
when students are
engaged because of
internal rewards, like a love
of learning or interest in a
subject.

These students learn to value

learning for its own merits,
regardless of any external factors.
Intriguing research shows
that when students have
intrinsic motives for learning —
when they engage not for
external reward but because
they find the activity itself
interesting and gratifying —
they become more likely to
attach meaning to their work,
explore new topics, and persist
in the face of learning
challenges.
Intrinsic motivation
involves teachers
providing choice,
enabling students to set
goals and investigate
their interests and
curiosities.
Through the implementation of Rich
Tasks, students are able to connect
to the content and engage in learning.
There have been a number of different proposed theories to explain
intrinsic motivation and how it works.

Some experts believe that all behavior is driven by external reward, such
as money, status, or food. In intrinsically motivated behaviors, the reward
is the activity itself.

The most recognized theory of intrinsic motivation was first based on

people’s needs and drives. Hunger, thirst, and sex are biological needs
that we’re driven to pursue in order to live and be healthy.

Just like these biological needs, people also have psychological needs
that must be satisfied in order to develop and thrive. These include the
need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.
 One of the key components of
engagement is students’ excitement
about what they learn. Yet most schools
extinguish that excitement.
Inspiring students’ intrinsic
motivation to learn is a more
effective strategy to get and keep
students interested. And it’s more
than that. Students actually learn
better when motivated this way.

They put forth more effort, tackle more

challenging tasks, and end up gaining a
more profound understanding of the
concepts they study.
Students who find
motivation within
themselves are likely to
be lifetime learners.
Reading for enjoyment, for example,
will serve students well throughout
their academic careers and beyond.
Students who don't find the excitement
of chemistry class to be acing the test,
but rather learning how the scientific
process works, are setting themselves
up for success later on.
Students are also more likely to be motivated if class material is relevant to their
lives and involves their interests.

The best way to make your curriculum relevant to your students is to get to know
them. Spend time understanding their needs and what makes them light up in a
classroom setting. And allow some flexibility in your assignments so students can
spend some time focusing on what they personally find interesting.

Research also suggests that online learning can encourage intrinsic motivation.

In part, this is because online learning often involves some level of independence—
and independent learning is also linked to motivated students.

Consider either making some of your curriculum online or including some

independent learning activities, like reading or personal project time.
 HERE’S A QUICK LIST OF 7 MOTIVATIONAL ACTIVITIES
AND STRATEGIES YOU CAN USE TO IMPROVE YOUR
STUDENTS’ INTRINSIC MOTIVATION TO LEARN.

Get to know your students and
their unique interests. When
possible, structure your
assignments in a way that can
include their interests. If you
have a student who loves
dinosaurs, for example, write a
math problem that involves
counting cartoon dinosaurs.
Choose rewards that When students have Include some
encourage intrinsic some autonomy over curriculum that is
motivation. If you’re their assignments, they’re relevant to your
holding a reading more likely to be students’ lives and
contest, for example, motivated. Consider current needs to boost
you could make the trying blended learning, a motivation.
prize a book of the strategy that involves a
child’s choice. mix of independent
learning and whole-class
lessons.
HERE’S A QUICK LIST OF 7 MOTIVATIONAL ACTIVITIES
AND STRATEGIES YOU CAN USE TO IMPROVE YOUR
STUDENTS’ INTRINSIC MOTIVATION TO LEARN.

Give your students positive Motivation is often Share your love of a

feedback on their assignments
to encourage them and to
reinforce that they can do well.
enhanced through subject or concept with
curiosity. Ask your your students. If you
students what they are show why you love
curious about and learning, your students
help them find are more likely to catch
something that your enthusiasm, too.
interests them about
an assignment.
Food for thought
It is said that life in itself is our best teacher
Everything in life is a learning process.
The things we do are done by us because we want
to progress our lives.
This is the best example of Intrinsic Motivation to
Learning , where we learn everyday by all the
things we do – hearing, seeing, tasting, feeling,
experiencing.
Everything that happens in our lives are building
blocks to what we want to BECOME in the future.
Thank you.