What role does Motivation play upon learning?

From the very beginning of the civilization and advance of his understanding of the natural world as it was, man has tried to come on a certain level of understanding that can explain all the behaviours as well as the explanation to the natural processes. In the conquest, he has moved on from one level to the other with undying appetite of manipulating and changing his surroundings to suit his then present needs and desires.

Motivation can come from many sources such as ones aims and goals in life, parents’ life story, but the most important of it all is the “attitude towards life”. Attitude is very important for deciding the course of life that people choose. Sometimes due to lack of proper attitude, the person`s abilities are not explored potentially and hence go wasted. However, according to Rodney`s article on teaching students the love of learning, the attitudinal vacancy can be fulfilled (for example: by adopting a role model theory of learning).

The objective in encouraging a love of learning and a wish to acquire new skills should not be seen as one with an immediate pay-off, but rather as an “investment” in the future. This is especially the case in view of the following paradox: it is not possible to prepare for the future by preparing for tomorrow (page 4, Rodney 2004). The overarching theoretical principle is that inasmuch as children’s social behavior is influenced by their cognitive development, the latter is very much influenced by their social interactions.

This realization of a mutual relationship between cognition and social behavior led researchers to inquire about the ways in which children’s beliefs about learning might influence their achievement behavior in the classroom (page 2, Julian 2002). To summarize it all, Motivation – the set of internal and external factors that energize our behavior and direct it toward our goals- is very necessary and plays a vital role in learning curve of a student`s education. It gives a sense of purpose in overall.

Cognitive views stress that human behavior is influenced by the way people think about themselves and their environment. The direction that behavior takes can be explained by four influences: the inherent need to construct an organized and logically consistent knowledge base, one’s expectations for successfully completing a task, the factors that one believes account for success and failure, and one’s beliefs about the nature of cognitive ability (reference 3, website)

References Rodney Nillsen, Can the Love of Learning be Taught? , Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice – Vol 1/1, 1-9, 2004 , PERSPECTIVES, Faculty of Informatics, University of Wollongong Julian G. Elliott, Janine Bempechat, The Culture and Contexts of Achievement Motivation, NEW DIRECTIONS FOR CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT, no. 96, Summer 2002 © Wiley Periodicals, Inc http://college. cengage. com/education/pbl/tc/motivate. html, accessed on 26 Jan, 20

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