Understanding College Student Motivation
Introduction
As teachers, we all try different strategies, methods, activities in our classroom with the hope that we are teaching the students something. However, one important question we as teachers often forget to ask ourselves is: Do the students WANT to learn? If no, what makes them want to? What keeps them wanting to come back?
This week, JOCTL will specifically address the topic of motivation. We will start our motivation exploration with our own UTB college students with the purpose of developing a deeper understanding of the drive/desire behind their learning. In the future, a series of other topics related to motivation will also be discussed such as elementary school student motivation, middle/high school student motivation, college student motivation, and different types of motivation.
How important is motivation in students’ learning? Can students still learn if they do not have it? Student Shirley from the EDCI 4322-01 class, after watched a video of Frank McCourt: Teacher man, which was about a high school teacher who had difficulties with his students on his first day of teaching, concluded that student motivation is very important because “even though you (teachers) are committed to your career, it can be devastating if your students' don't want to learn.”
Further, during a class exploration of the definition of learning, the EDCI 6304 Learning and Cognition class as a group all agreed that to ensure true learning happen, motivation is one of the key learning conditions. In order to learn, the students must have the curiosity, the desire, or the drive to learn, they must want to rather than have to or even hate to learn.
From my experienced peers I learned that, it does not matter what grade you are teaching; motivation, persistence, and dedication are some of the most important factors a teacher should have to help fulfill their students goals.-- Kelly, Jan 23, 2008, EDCI 4322-01
While the old adage says that curiosity kills the cat, I believed that another very important ingredient for learning to take place is curiosity. Appealing to the sense of unknown creates a sense of adventure and risk taking and while the possibilities of failure are very real, I would say that more learning take place in this scenario than not.-- Wai King Hung, Jan 17, 2008, EDCI 6304
Although motivation has been studied by many educational psychologists and scholars, most motivation theories tend to be one-dimensional, trying to explain motivation by looking at only one or two factors (e.g., behavioral view of motivation, social cognitive view of motivation, or humanistic view of motivation). However, through class discussion and student self-reflection in their journals, we found that college student motivation is very complex and can not be simply attributed to one or two favors. In fact, motivation can be attributed to at least six different factors as well as the interplay among them: the teacher, the class, the individual, the peers, the class environment, and their family.
Note: This issued included contributions from the EDCI 4322 students of Fall, 2007.
To learn more about college student motivation:
Want to, Have to, or Hate to Learn—Motivation
Motivation Factor 1: The Teacher
Motivation Factor 2: The Class
Motivation Factor 3: The Individual Goals
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