Motivation

As introduced in the Science of Learning chapter, learning takes place most efficiently when individuals understand the information they deem relevant and apply it to new situations. Meaning and sense greatly depend on our view of the world, of ourselves and our motivation. (Prensky (2003), p. 1) goes as far as to say “A motivated learner can’t be stopped”. This motivation is greatly affected by an individual’s mindset and emotions, thus affecting how likely information is to be repeated or applied in the future (Robson et al. (2015).

For students to even reach a point where this learning can occur, they first need to participate. Sousa (2022) explains this becomes much more likely when the activity has proven successful for the individual in the past; they will be more motivated to repeat it when they are optimistic about succeeding a second time. Implementing (small) successes throughout the learning process can thus boost students’ motivation to sit down and start studying again.

Different Types of Motivation

Motivation can be categorised as extrinsic or intrinsic. Both types of motivation rely on the promise of a reward to influence people’s behaviour. Extrinsic motivation involves seeking external rewards, like prizes or recognition from others, while intrinsic motivation is driven by internal rewards such as personal satisfaction or comfort. This intrinsic motivation is greatly affected by the mindset people have. Sousa (2022) categorises mindset into ‘fixed’ and ‘growth’ to distinguish between individuals who are keen to step outside their comfort zone and those who are not. Fixed mindsets refer to individuals who have made up their minds on a certain topic, such as their maths skills, and refrain from taking on challenges due to their apprehension of experiencing failure. Those with a growth mindset, however, believe success stems more from effort and hard work than ability, and welcome opportunities to practice and better themselves. This increases their intrinsic motivation, which, as an emotional component, has a significant influence on the meaning of information and makes them more likely to participate in a learning activity in the first place and store the information (Sousa (2022)).

Our extrinsic motivation may be heightened through negative (social) influences. Seeing your friends succeed at a difficult task may motivate you to try again, the same goes for receiving a bad grade. Both scenarios exert stress on you which may initially increase your learning performance, especially in the short-term (Joëls et al. (2006)). At a certain point, however, your optimum is reached, and even more stress will make you demotivated and see your performance plummet.