One of the most fundamental aspects of life and the world of academia is motivation. Motivation is the disposition of reasons that help individuals (e.g. students) engage in a particular activity or behavior. The presence of motivation in our lives helps us accomplish tasks and achieve goals that we have set through determination. Likewise, the presences of motivation in education help students enhance their knowledge and level of competence through determination and work. Motivation can help determine students' learning abilities and performances in school. The lack of motivation can contribute to behavioral problems and poor learning. Conversely, the presence of motivation can increase self-efficacy, the belief in one's own ability to solve a problem or accomplish a task and self-competence, knowing what one can and can not do. (Stipek, 2002). Thus, the presences of self-efficacy and self-competence help students gain more confidence in what they do and help them establish a positive and blissful attitude towards learning.
The amount of motivation students have in their education plays a profound role in the way they learn, how they learn, and the reasons to why they learn.
It is essential for educators to recognize factors that may affect students' level of motivation. " [R]esearchers hypothesized that a range of external factors contributed to the lack of student motivation, including state and national assessments, society and culture, socioeconomic status, and community environment" (Anderman & Kaplan, 2008, p#). External factors such as the ones just listed can draw students' energy and concentration away from school. They can make students lose interest in learning intrinsically and decrease their performance level. Therefore, every aspect of students' lives can be affected in one way or another via the role of emotions, external factors, or stressors. The dynamic system around students can greatly help or hinder their learning.
Definition of Motivation
According to Hiba-tul-Jamil, (2003), "Motivation is the key to performance improvements." These strategies include: "positive reinforcement/high expectations, effective discipline and punishments, treating people fairly, satisfying student needs, setting goals, restructuring academics, and basing rewards on academic performance." (Accel-Team.com, 2003, p. 2)
Source: Hiba-tul-Jamil, 2003, Motivation of Students, University of Halmstad, Sweden, Educational Journal, p-2.
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