Dataset Information

Motivation to learn: an overview of contemporary theories.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To succinctly summarise five contemporary theories about motivation to learn, articulate key intersections and distinctions among these theories, and identify important considerations for future research.

Results

Motivation has been defined as the process whereby goal-directed activities are initiated and sustained. In expectancy-value theory, motivation is a function of the expectation of success and perceived value. Attribution theory focuses on the causal attributions learners create to explain the results of an activity, and classifies these in terms of their locus, stability and controllability. Social- cognitive theory emphasises self-efficacy as the primary driver of motivated action, and also identifies cues that influence future self-efficacy and support self-regulated learning. Goal orientation theory suggests that learners tend to engage in tasks with concerns about mastering the content (mastery goal, arising from a 'growth' mindset regarding intelligence and learning) or about doing better than others or avoiding failure (performance goals, arising from a 'fixed' mindset). Finally, self-determination theory proposes that optimal performance results from actions motivated by intrinsic interests or by extrinsic values that have become integrated and internalised. Satisfying basic psychosocial needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness promotes such motivation. Looking across all five theories, we note recurrent themes of competence, value, attributions, and interactions between individuals and the learning context.

Conclusions

To avoid conceptual confusion, and perhaps more importantly to maximise the theory-building potential of their work, researchers must be careful (and precise) in how they define, operationalise and measure different motivational constructs. We suggest that motivation research continue to build theory and extend it to health professions domains, identify key outcomes and outcome measures, and test practical educational applications of the principles thus derived.

SUBMITTER: Cook DA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5113774 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Motivation to learn: an overview of contemporary theories.

Cook David A DA Artino Anthony R AR

Medical education 20161001 10

<h4>Objective</h4>To succinctly summarise five contemporary theories about motivation to learn, articulate key intersections and distinctions among these theories, and identify important considerations for future research.<h4>Results</h4>Motivation has been defined as the process whereby goal-directed activities are initiated and sustained. In expectancy-value theory, motivation is a function of the expectation of success and perceived value. Attribution theory focuses on the causal attributions ...[more]

PMID: 27628718

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Project description:BackgroundIn recent years, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become an essential field of medical education. Bedside ultrasound has become a necessary skill for clinical physicians. Previous studies have already discussed the importance of advancements in ultrasound education. However, learning motivations for ultrasound education have seldom been analyzed in the literature. For medical students, learning ultrasound could have a relevance for their future career. The Existence, Relatedness and Growth (ERG) theory extended Maslow's hierarchy of needs through these three concepts. This theory has been widely used in the workplace to analyze employee job performance but has not yet been applied in medical education. In this study ERG theory was applied to analyze pre-clinical medical students' learning motivation toward ultrasound education.MethodThis mixed method study used online questionnaires consisting of open-ended questions as a data collection tool, and based on these results, both qualitative and quantitative analysis were conducted. Participants answered a series of neutral and open-ended questions regarding their motivations to learn ultrasonography. After data collection, a three-step analysis was conducted based on the grounded theory approach. Finally, the results of the thematic coding were used to complete additional quantitative analysis.ResultsThe study involved 140 pre-clinical medical students, and their responses fell into 13 specific categories. The analysis demonstrated that students' motivations toward ultrasound education were unbalanced across the three ERG domains (F = 41.257, p < .001). Pairwise comparisons showed that students mentioned existence motivation (MD = 39.3%; p < .001) and growth motivation (MD = 40.7%; p < .001) more frequently than relatedness motivation. However, there was no significant difference between existence motivation and growth motivation (MD = - 1.4%; p = .830).ConclusionThe results revealed that students placed a high value on existence and growth needs rather than relatedness based on the survey. In addition, the findings suggest that ERG theory can be a useful tool to conduct medical education motivation analysis.

Project description:The analysis of disciplined behaviors and academic performance in a school context has become one of the main concerns within the educational community. Physical Education is highlighted as a key subject to analyze students' behavior. Researchers and Physical Education teachers are interested on the motivational processes that predict positive student outcomes in order to support them. Thus, the main purpose was to determine a predictive model of disciplined behaviors and academic performance in Physical Education students. The Achievement Goal Theory and Self-Determination Theory acted as the theoretical framework. A total of 919 Spanish secondary school students participated in the study. The studied variables were task-oriented motivational climate, basic psychological needs, autonomous motivation, disciplined behavior, and academic performance. Data collection included Spanish validated questionnaires. The Mplus statistical program was used to perform a structural equation model of prediction. It included antecedents (task-oriented climate), motivational processes (basic psychological needs and autonomous motivation), and consequences (disciplined behavior, Physical Education and overall students' performance). The results revealed that positive outcomes (discipline and academic performance in Physical Education) were positively predicted by autonomous motivation; autonomous motivation was positively predicted by basic psychological needs and these, in addition, by the task-oriented climate. The results highlighted the importance of the task-oriented motivational climate and the mediating role of the basic psychological needs and autonomous motivation in order to generate these positive student outcomes in Physical Education. This study could be a useful resource for teachers, since it offers the motivational variables that lead students to achieve disciplined behaviors and academic performance in Physical Education. Intervention programs based on the results of the present study could be applied in Physical Education classes in order to obtain better behavioral as well as cognitive positive student outcomes.

Dataset Information

Motivation to learn: an overview of contemporary theories.

Objective

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Motivation to learn: an overview of contemporary theories.

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