Understanding Motivation

What is Motivation?

 Motivation is the reason for people's actions,

willingness and goals.

 It is derived from the word motive which is

defined as a need that requires satisfaction.

 These needs could also be wants or desires

that are acquired through influence of culture,
society, lifestyle, etc. or generally innate
Student Motivation in the College
Classroom

What factors influence it?

 Sociocultural Context
 Classroom Environmental Factors
 Internal Factors (Beliefs/Perceptions)
 Motivated Behavior
Understanding Your Own
Motivation

 Evaluate your behaviors in three areas:

– Choice of behavior
– Level of activity and involvement
– Persistence and management of effort
Sociocultural Context

 Cultural Factors can influence your motivation

Attitudes, beliefs, and experiences you bring to

college based on your sociocultural experiences that
influence motivation and behaviors.
Internal Factors

 Goals you set:

– Serve to Motivate Behavior
– Affect Mastery and Performance

 Ask yourself, what are my goals?

Are they defined goals in Long and Short Terms?
Are they clear and well defined?
Are they set goals different life areas?
5 Major Ways Goals Enhance Your
Performance

 Effort
 Duration and Persistence
 Direction of Attention
 Strategic Planning
 Reference Point
Effects on Effort

 Goals setting influences what you do and how

hard you maximize your performance

 The more difficult the goal—the harder you

work towards attaining it.
Effects on Duration or Persistence

 Without goals, it easy to be

– Distracted
– Attention drifts
– More easily interrupted
– Stop work without task completion
 With goals, you have defined point of
performance
– Know when to quit the task
Effects on Attention

 Goals direct your attention toward the task

 Goals direct you attention away from

distractions
Strategic Planning

 To accomplish a goal, you need

– An action plan or strategic planning
– Goal setting encourages strategic planning and
helps determine how you proceed
Reference Point

 Identifies where you are headed

 Allows you to receive feedback from that point
 Determines any further actions that need taken
Two Types of Goals

 Mastery Goals  Performance Goals

Oriented toward learning Focuses on comparison
as much as possible and competition
 Mastery Performance
Success Improvement, High grades, high
defined as… progress, creativity performance
compared to others
Value placed Effort, academic Demonstrates high
on… ventures performance relative
to effort
Basis for Progress, Doing better that
satisfaction… challenge,mastery others
Error viewed Part of the learning Failure, evidence of
as… process, lack of ability
informational
Ability viewed Developing through Fixed
as… effort
What are some factors that can
negatively affect your
performance?
Boredom

Anxiety

Worry

Self-Doubt
Negative Impacts on Performance

 Boredom

– It is not a reason—it is an excuse!!!

– Often implies that the learner does not understand
the material
Negative Impacts on Performance

 Anxiety
– Can negatively impact performance 4 ways:

 Disruption in mental activity

 Psychological distress
 Misdirected attention
 Inappropriate behaviors
Negative Impacts on Performance

 Worrying can be a major factor

– Has a strong negative impact academic
performance
– Negative beliefs
– Troubling thoughts
– Poor decisions
Negative Impacts on Performance

 Psychological distress
– Emotionality
– This seems to diminish after a test begins; whereas,
worry continues
Inappropriate Behaviors

 Procrastination
 Test anxiety
 Lack of persistence until task completion
“Keep Motivating Yourself by
Keeping Spirits High.”
Thank You!!