Motivation

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Definition

  • Motivation is that which gets a behavior started and keeps it going. ([1])


  • A need or desire to reinforce a behavior or to orient it towards a goal (Myers)

Often, on makes a distinction between intrinsic motivation (desire to do something for personal, internal reasons) and extrinsic motivation (seek recompensation and avoid punishment), but the two are very much linked and difficult to separate.

Why motivation ? It is related to
  • attention level
  • activity level
  • perseverance
  • maximal [cognitive load | mental load] level

A short (chaotic) overview of specialized theories

This is just an outline, mostly based on Motivation by Marilla Svinicki)
Drive

Drive theories are behaviorist and/or cognitivist in nature and explain behavior as as response to psychological and social needs. The relation between need and motivation can be described as a feedback system. The bigger the need the bigger motivation and the lesser the need, the lesser the motivation. E.g. We are more motivated to eat when we hungry and less motivated after we have eaten. Regarding instruction, learners in these models are rather passive and the environment (materials, teachers, etc.) in control.

Needs, goals and social interaction.

Needs are cognitively elaborated into concrete motivational goals and means-end structures. Being motivated means striving for goals which are by definition not yet realized at the moment that they are formulated or expresses (Nuttin, 1980). The individuals hopes and expects to reach them at a certain moment in time as a consequence of his actions. There are three degrees of activation: (1) passive action to respond to stimulus, (2) respond actively to selected stimuli and (3) change the environment. At levels two and three, goals and the anticipated outcome are the source of motivation. Good goals are: clear, personally relevant, proximal, progress can be seen, interim successes are possible.

One can distinguish between learning goals (desire to be able to master a task) and performance goals (desire to appear competent or at least better than the others).

Emergent motivation
  • Motivation comes from engaging in the task itself
  • Motivation comes from new goals that arise as a consequence of interaction with the environment
  • flow (complete involvement)
Self and satisfaction

For Greenwald (1982), the 'self' becomes involved in an activity in three conditions:

  1. Social evaluation (I want to please the crowd)
  2. Self-evaluation (intrinsic motivation)
  3. Personal values/interests/goals.

F. Herzberg's 5 factors motivation/demotivation model is based on the idea that motivation is related to internal satisfaction dependent on external factors:

  • achievment,
  • recognition for achievment,
  • work itself,
  • responsability,
  • social progression.

Motivation is a therefore a result of the job content (or the learning activity).

Human information processing and the task environment

Warr (????) describes motivation as a cognitive process that concerns future planned actions and that can be based on a set of reasons:

  • Intrinsic desirability of immediate results
  • Intrinsic desirability of further outcome
  • Social comparison
  • Social pressure
  • Career and development aims
  • Expected subjective probability of a "project"
  • Habits
  • Other current desires and potential actions
  • The structure of the action

A similar model concerns the characteristics of the task and the job environment (Hackman and Oldman, 1976): Factors influencing motivation are:

  • Variety of tasks (and accordingly of skills, abilities, talents used)
  • Does the job require completion of tasks ? (task identity)
  • Meaning of tasks, i.e. its impact on the immediate or external environment (significance)
  • Autonomy, i.e. how can the person organize tasks and select appropriate procedures.
  • Feedback on activities, i.e. to what degree does the worker receive useful comments but also to what degree can he observe results of his work.

These theories had important impact on how work should be designed. In simple terms, work is more motivating if tasks are varied and meaningful, if the worker can exercise control. On the other hand task also should lead to results that are acknowledged by the environment. According to many studies, these models don't work for everyone but best for people who do have "growth needs".

Attribution

How does the actor/learner explain what happens to him ? How does he explain the outcome (e.g. success and failure). Dimensions of causes that learners attribute can be:

  • internal / external cause:
    • e.g. talent, effort, intellectual power, learning strategy vs. difficulty of the task, competence of the teacher, etc.
  • stable / transitory (unstable, variable)
    • permanent vs. random or changing because of various external factors
  • controllable / not controllable
    • students believes that can do something about it.
  • local / global
  • intentional / non-intentional

Of course the pedagogical design and the teacher can influence these perceptions. In empirical studies these factors also show up in combinations related to given issues and affect. Philipp Dessus (2001) summarizes Crahay, 1999, p. 284 and Archambault & Chouinard, 1996, p. 110):

Location Stability Control Issues Affects
Internal stable Controllable Learning strategy Gratitude/anger
Internal stable not controllable intellectual Aptitudes Proudness/Shame, despair
Internal unstable Controllable Effort Proudness Culpability
Internal unstable not controllable Sickness
External stable Controllable Support courses (?)
External stable not controllable Level of difficulty, program Disinterest, Anger
External unstable Controllable Perceptions of the teacher
External instable not controllable Chance, Affective state of the teacher Gratefulness, surprise, resignation
Expectancy/value theory
  • Motivation increases as expectation to succeed and value of task increase.
  • Ways to influence expectancy for success
  • Ways to influence value of task
Self-determination theory
  • Motivation equals the degree of perceived control. Influencing factors are: choices, impositions by others through threats or controlling statements or being watched, getting feedback, getting extrinsic rewards

Complex constructs

Konrad (2005) argues that in an educational context we should complete sociological, psychological and interactional models with a decision making approach where “learners are seen as decision makers, who more or less consciously analyse their past experiences, current life and work situation, and future expectations, and base their decisions to participate or not on these complex elements which form the motivation structure.” (Konrad, 2005:7).

Manninen (2004:4) also points out that different stages of the learning process may engage different motivations. “{{{1}}}” (Konrad, 2005:22). The author also makes a connection to constructivism, i.e. knowledge as direct and social experience, and citing Resnik (1991) social processes as cognition.


"Broad exposure to ongoing practice ... is in effect a demonstration of the goals to which 'newcomers' expect and are expected to move. ... This more inclusive process of generating identities is both a result of, and a motivation for participation." (Lave 1991:71)

Thus, when an individual joins an existing group of competent practitioners, they are motivated by membership of that group both to strengthen their identity as learners and, at least as importantly, to promote the success of the group. This process of mastering the virtuous circle of learning to learn is a central part of the process of successful adult learning. In a structured workplace, the role of the competent members is crucial, whether those with formal status (such as supervisors) or as informal leaders.

This analysis leads to the conclusion that where a group has sufficient autonomy to manage their own learning in order to contribute to the achievement of shared goals, motivation is likely to be enhanced. In particular, valuing such situated learning is an important process in promoting engagement in lifelong learning. To put it simply, success at learning is a self-fulfilling prophecy in that it encourages individuals to shape their identity as successful learners, irrespective of any previous lack of success, such as within formal learning processes at school or college.

(Konrad, 2005: 23)

In practical terms this means that situated motivation will be enhanced by the motivating potential of the instructional design. Adler (2001) suggests:

  • The amount of autonomy provided.
  • The degree to which students can identify with and find interesting a given learning task or set of tasks.
  • Type and timing of the feedback provided.

Instructional design models

Motivation and Emotion

Motivation is linked to emotions, but emotions an related emotional design of instruction are yet another category of interest: Here is a citation from Astleitner (2000:169): "It is well known in the field of basic and applied research on education and psychology that cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes are related to the world in different ways. Cognitive processes concern the acquisition and representation of knowledge and have a representative relation to the world of objects and facts. Motivational processes refer to goal states of the organism and have an actional relation to the world. Emotional processes are based on the acceptance or rejection of objects and facts and have an evaluational relation to the world (Kuhl, 1986)"

  • FEASP: "According to the F(ear)E(nvy)A(nger)S(ympathy)P(leasure)-approach for designing positive feeling instruction, the instructional designer has to analyze emotional problems before and during instruction (Astleitner, 2000: 175).

Links

References

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