INTRODUCTION
Achievement Motivation (also termed need for achievement, N-Ach) refers to an individual's desire for significant accomplishment, mastering of skills to meet high standards of excellence. It includes the intense, prolonged and repeated efforts to accomplish something difficult, to work with singleness of purpose towards a high and distant goal and to have the determination to win.
In this report we have measured the degree of achievement motivation among students of BITS, Pilani to find its effect on their academic performance. The academic performance of students is measured in terms of their CGPA.
To measure achievement motivation we have developed a questionnaire using the achievement motivation inventory with relevant changes. The questions have been divided in four different categories.
We have measured correlation between the achievement motivation score in the respective categories and the CGPA. Further we have studied the relation between aggregate achievement motivation score and the CGPA. We have also taken into consideration the role of gender in our study.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Many researches have been conducted to investigate what motivates students for better academic performance and whether it has a correlation with achievement motivation.
In the words of Atkinson and Feather (1966) , “The strength of motivation to perform some act is assumed to be a multiplicative function of the strength of the motive, the expectancy (subjective probability) that the act will have as a consequence the attainment of an incentive, and the value of the incentive: Motivation = f(Motive X Expectancy X Incentive)”.
According to them, a person’s achievement oriented behavior is a product of three factors:
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...10 21 22 62 6.7
37 male 2nd year 16 7 20 19 62 7.4
38 male 2nd year 16 9 18 19 62 6
39 male 2nd year 11 12 15 23 61 7.15
40 female 2nd year 15 11 20 15 61 8.25
41 male 3rd year 13 9 17 22 61 8
42 male 2nd year 14 9 15 23 61 7.4
43 male 2nd year 12 9 19 21 61 8.22
44 female 2nd year 11 8 17 23 59 5.89
45 male 2nd year 17 13 14 15 59 6.85
46 male 2nd year 14 9 14 21 58 6.09
47 male 2nd year 13 10 14 20 57 7.56
48 female 2nd year 7 8 18 23 56 5.56
49 male 1st year 13 11 15 16 55 6.9
50 female 2nd year 15 13 10 17 55 6.7
51 male 2nd year 13 10 14 17 54 5.5
52 male 2nd year 11 7 18 17 53 5
53 male 2nd year 13 13 15 12 53 7.14
54 male 2nd year 11 10 15 13 49 6.3
55 female 2nd year 10 5 14 17 46 8.12
56 male 4th year 9 7 17 11 44 7
57 male 3rd year 11 4 17 12 44 5
Correlation Coefficient 0.582791546 0.45217043 0.2721251 0.4521634 0.63478
“Motivation is the process whereby goal-orientated activity is instigated and sustained” (Schunk, Pintrich & Meece, 2008. As cited in Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, p.284). Motivation comes in many forms and can be divided into two broad categories - extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivators are external factors which can motivate a student; rewards are an example of this. An issue with extrinsic motivators is that the desire for the learner to participate often lessens, once the rewards are withdrawn (McCullers, 1987). On the other hand intrinsic motivation comes from within - learning for the joy of it - where the desire to learn leads to a higher level of knowledge, and is a reward in itself. Kohn (1996, p.285) states that research suggests, “Rewards actually decrease interest in intrinsically motivating tasks, therefore sending the wrong message about learning” (as cited in Eggen & Kauchak, 2010a)
This goal to achieve is evident in young children, manifesting itself early and continuing at some level throughout the school years and on into adulthood. Of particular interest and importance to me as a teacher are contributing factors to students’ motivation to achieve, and motivational strategies that can increase the likelihood of student achievement.
Achievement motive theory (McClelland, 1999) focuses on achievement motive rather than any other factors because he thought that it is the most important key for students to succeed in their study. Any student who has high achievement motive will have
Motivation is “the intensity (how hard a person tries), direction (where effort is channeled), and persistence (how long effort is maintained) of effort a person shows in reaching a goal” (book).
Motivation is important because it allows you to work towards and complete your goals. GPA allows you to see, on average, how well a student has performed in all classes they have taken. It is likely there is a relationship between motivation and GPA. If a student is highly motivated, will their GPA rise? Based upon previous research, it is hypothesized that students who are highly motivated will have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Seventeen university students, 9 male and 8 female participated in the survey. The survey included 9 questions that measured motivation, measured on a Likert scale from 1-5. [Results].
Deci, E. L., Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). Motivation and education: The self-determination perspective. Educational psychologist,26(3-4), 325-346.
“Motivation is a complex part of human psychology and behavior that influences how individuals choose to invest their time, how much energy they exert in any given task, how they think and feel about the task, and how long they persist at the task” (Urdan & Schoenfelder, 2006). The biggest question educators face in today’s classroom is what motivates a student to do something and why? Virtually all students are motivated in one way or another. Research of student motivation suggests a theory that emphasizes a social-cognitive perspective. The cognition of students regarding academic work are influenced by social factors, such as messages from the teacher about the difficulty of the task, the perceived abilities of classmates, and the information about the importance of learning the material (Urdan & Schoenfelder, 2006). In this paper the focus will primarily be on those elements within the classroom that influence student motivation and engagement.
Keller, John M. (2006). What Are the Elements of Learner Motivation? Retrieved July 4, 2011
Multiple theories have been developed to offer insight on a student’s motivation and its impact on their performance. The effectiveness of these theories in various student life scenarios vary as seen from differing applications. Therefore, it is difficult to pinpoint one particular theory as being the most effective. Motivation theories can be divided into three distinct categories that include: needs, process and reward systems theories. The needs category of motivation theory is frequently employed more than the others although this is arguable. There are different theories contained in the needs category which may differ in application although they all share a distinct similarity. The Herzberg’s two factor theory is the
One contributing factor towards student success is student motivation. Motivation is reading unassigned books out of class that relate to the class subject matter, just to expand his or her knowledge. The need or want type of actions a persons’ mentality is, to reach a personal goal or objective of some sort. People’s motivational purpose in school can range from, higher earning potential, more job stability, greater benefits, and even just to gain more knowledge. In a YouTube video entitled “The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us” by Dan Pink, he suggests that three elements: purpose, mastery, and autonomy play a part towards true motivation. Autonomy is ones self-drive, while
Pintrich, P. R. (2004). A conceptual framework for assessing motivation and self-regulated learning in college students. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 385-407.
Linnenbrink, E. A. & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Motivation as an enabler for success. School Psychology Review, 31 (3), 313-327
It is first important to understand how motivation works in the classroom. There are infinite procedures teachers use to achieve desired effects from their students, but there are general patterns these motivational tools follow. In order for teachers to communicate with their students, they must identify with their needs on an individual basis (Gawel, 1997). This proposal is much akin to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which states five basic needs that must be met in order to achieve full motivation. These needs, in ascending order, are as follows: physiological, security, love and belongingness, esteem and self-respect, and self-actualization (Gawel, 1997). Each of these needs details a very important issue in motivation inside the classroom and out.
Hence to conclude, it can be said that motivation in all its facets is an important agent that influences human behavior positively on the achievement based tasks. And the lack of it is one of the major hindrances that affect the achievements. Psycholinguists have been studying it since long, but a major boom in the field has been observed from the mid of twentieth century when Dr. Robert Gardner started conducting deeper research in the field. It has been called a complex phenomenon affecting human behavior in intricate ways. The importance of motivation has led syllabus designers to design learner centered teaching materials replete with interesting activities planned after conducting interest and need based analyses. The educational policy makers have started proposing methods that cater the learners' beliefs and interests more than ever before.
Motivation is really important tool in a learning environment. Also motivation effects student learning and their behavior as well. It directs behavior towards particular targets. Also it effect the decision which students takes. In motivation mainly we have two types which is intrinsically and extrinsically being motivated. For example: when a student is intrinsically motivated they just do it for themselves not because of the reward that they will get back. It’s just because they have their own interest and they enjoy doing that. On the other side, when a student is extrinsically motivated they just do it for the reward that they will get. That’s why in learning process it’s important that each student should