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In this term paper we will discuss about:- 1. Definitions of Motivation 2. Aspects of Motivation 3. Various Opinions 4. Nature 5. Factors Accounting 6. Factor Affecting Motivation 7. Selection of Appropriate Strategies.
Term Paper Contents:
- Term Paper on the Definitions of Motivation
- Term Paper on the Aspects of Motivation
- Term Paper on Various Opinions Regarding Motivation
- Term Paper on the Nature of Motivation
- Term Paper on the Factors Accounting for Motivation
- Term Paper on the Factors Affecting Motivation
- Term Paper on the Selection of Appropriate Strategies of Motivation
Term Paper # 1. Definitions of Motivation:
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Although motivation is not the basis of learning, it imparts dynamism and activity to the process of learning. Experimental studies have confirmed the view that the relations between learning and motivation are not direct. Even today, psychologists are faced with one major obstacle, whether the relationship between learning and performance is due to motivation. They have not been able to solve this problem.
Morse W.C. and Wingo G.M. writes about motivation- ‘Motivation is what lies behind our behaviour the reason we do, what we do.’ Lindslay defines ‘motivation as a combination of force which initiates, direct and sustains behaviour towards a goal.’ Combs and Snyng see to preserve and enhance one’s concept of oneself. For Guthrie motivation is simply “the condition which increases the vigour of responses.”
Motivation pushes a student to try to learn. ‘To motivate’ means to get the student to apply himself to the learning at hand. Hence, scientists have provided many varied definitions of the concept of motivation.
These are as follows:
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1. Bernard H.W.:
“Motivation is to find those approaches that will make the child eager for the kind of learning the school endorses.” It refers to all those phenomena which are involved in the stimulation of action towards particular objectives where previously there was little or no movement towards those goals.
2. Johnson:
“Motivation is the influence of general pattern of activities indicating directing the behaviour of the organism.”
3. Mc Goach:
“Motive is that condition of the organism which points it towards the practice of a given task and defines the satisfactory completion of the task.”
4. Woodworth:
“A motive is a state of the knowledge which disposes him for certain behaviour and for seeking certain goals.”
5. Shaffer and Others:
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“A motive may now be defined as a tendency of activity initiated by drive and concluded by adjustment.”
6. McDougall:
“Motives are physiological and psychological conditions within the organism, that motivate it to act in certain ways.”
7. M.K. Thomson:
“Motivation covers and every factor of the springs of human action from the beginning to the end, i.e., attitudes, bias, urges, impulse, drive, craving, incentives, desires, wish, interest, will, intention, longing and aims.”
8. Guilford J.P.:
“A motive is any particular internal factor or condition that tends to initiate and to sustain activity.”
9. Atkinson:
The term motivation refers to the around of tendency to act to produce one or more effects.
10. Maslow:
Motivation is constant, never ending fluctuating and complex and that it is an almost universal characteristics of particularly every organism’s state of affairs.
11. D.C. Hebb:
The terms motivations refers- (i) to existence of an organised phase sequence, (ii) to its direction and content and (iii) to its persistence is given direction of stability content.
If we analyse the foregoing definitions, the following features of motivation will become apparent:
(i) Motivation is not the end but the means; it provides the way to the end or goal.
(ii) Motivation is not the main but the complementary part of learning.
(iii) Motivation makes clear the behaviour of the individual.
(iv) Motivation leads to the manifestation of activity.
(v) Motivation is affected by physical and mental as well as internal and external conditions or circumstances.
Motivation has a very long history as a determinant of human behaviour. Want, striving, desire, need, goal, aspiration, drive, wish, aim, ambition, hunger, thirst, love and revenge, etc., are the few words which refer to motives. For example— a girl want to be a doctor, a youth for political leader, a patient wants relief, a hungry person thinks about food only, these are few motives play part in human behaviour.
Term Paper # 2. Aspects
of Motivation:
Motivation is a state in a person or animal that drives behaviour towards some goal.
It has three aspects:
(i) A driving state with in the organism that is set in motion by bodily needs environmental stimuli or mental events such as thoughts and memories.
(ii) The behaviour aroused and directed by this state.
(iii) The goal towards which the behaviour is directed.
Motives are inferences drawn from behaviour. From a laborious student we might infer the motive to achieve, to master challenges. Motives are also the tools of explanation of behaviour. Clinical psychologists use this predictions about behaviour. Infact motive give us an idea about the behaviour.
Some psychologists need to add cognitive motivational cycle in basic motivational cycle. In this motivational cycle, the first step is stimulus inputs having environment, memory and internal states, second step is awareness of potential satisfaction, and then goal selection and goal directed behaviour. This behaviour gives reward to the individual satisfaction.
Motivation inspires the organism to indulge in activity in order to reach specific goal.
There are three aspects of motivation:
(i) Physical need, environmental stimuli, events, chain of thoughts and the inspiring condition existing in the organism are all responsible for motivation.
(ii) This condition gives rise to behaviour and the organism moves towards the desired goal.
(iii) The behaviour is initiated for the purpose of achieving the desired goal.
Motivation inspires the person for a particular activity which becomes the goal of him.
After analyzing these definitions, the following functions of motivation occur:
(i) Motives energize and sustain behaviour
(ii) Direct and regulate our behaviour
(iii) It is a selective behaviour.
Term Paper # 3. Various Opinions
Regarding Motivation:
Every human being indulges a particular activity because of his need and interest. In doing any activity, he is influenced by a multiplicity of thoughts. Every activity is inspired by some kind of motivation inherent in it. Many views and opinions have been prevalent in society with regard to motivation.
Some of these opinions are elucidated as follows:
1. Pawn of Fate:
It is opined by some that an individual does a particular act because he is fated to do it, a view based upon faith in divine forces. This view is best expressed by the statement- “Man is a puppet in the hand of Gods and motivation is outside the person.” Thus, this view lays the entire emphasis upon the fact of human destiny. This reflects- ‘Man is the puppet in the hands of God and motivation is inside the person.’
2. Man is Rational:
With the passing of time, and evolution in man’s experience, the thought arose that man is himself the architect of his destiny, that he can determine the rationality and propriety of any deed on the basis of reason. This view is based upon the faith in man’s mental powers. It argues that man’s behaviour is determined by his rational activity.
3. Man is a Machine:
Scientists have tended to view man as a machine, a highly ordered mechanism. It is there contention that this machine is activated by stimuli. According to behaviourists, man comes into action because of various stimuli provided to him by the environment.
4. Man is an Animal:
This view was propounded by Darwin, who argued that there was no essential difference between the activities of man and beats. In his view, man has evolved from animals. Darwin’s evolutionary theory was based upon the principle of “survival of the fittest”.
In the Darwinian Theory, there are three main elements:
(i) Biological drive which stimulate man to action (for instance, the motivation of hunger, thirst, fear, etc. fall into this category);
(ii) Acquired drives which are born of physical motives, and
(iii) Similarity of instincts between man and animals.
5. Man is a Social Animal:
Man is born in society, and it is in society, that the individual achieves his own growth and development. He adapts himself to society by accepting the rules of the society. In every sphere of life, man is stirred to activity by social influences.
6. The Theory of the Unconscious:
This view was propounded by Sigmund Freud, according to whom the sole factor responsible for man’s activity is his unconscious motivation. It is often seen that the individual indulges in activities the causes of which are not obvious even to himself. His behaviour is controlled by some unconscious forces. According to this view, man himself is the source of his own motivation.
All the forgoing views regarding motivation as being influenced by psychological and social factors. All these views indicate that motivation is a complex phenomenon. It is influenced by various variables operating with the organism and in the environment. Lashley said—the problem of motivation is far more complex than the Freudians would have us believe and its solution is to be sought in investigation of many related fields. The analyses of instinctive responses, the neural basis of emotions, the mental influence of habits and to total integration of all such systems of reaction.
Following factors influence the motivation:
(i) Physiological system of organism,
(ii) Motivating conditions or emotions,
(iii) Habit and
(iv) Mental sets values.
“Motivation is the sine-qua-non of learning.”
In means, without motivation there is no learning. It gives speed in the process of learning.
The term ‘motivation’ refers:
1. To existence of an organized phase sequence.
2. To its direction and content, and
3. To its persistence in given direction or stability of concept.
The word motivation had been derived from the Latin word Motum. It means to move, motor and motion.
“Motivation is an internal force which accelerates a response or behaviour. It includes all the internal conditions which initiate or sustain any activity. If internal conditions are not active, the external stimulus cannot evoke the response. The stimulus may be internal as well as external but psychological motivation includes only the internal stimuli.”
“Motivation in school learning involves, arousing, persisting, sustaining and directing desirable behaviour.” —B.F. Skinner
“Motivation is the process of arousing, sustaining and regulating activity.” —Good
“Motivation is a process in which the learner’s internal energies or needs are directed towards various goals or objects in his environment.” —Blair, Jones and Simpson
It may be concluded from the above definitions of Motivation that is an internal force or energy or need which initiates, sustains, directs and regulates the behaviour of the learner.
Term Paper # 4. Nature of Motivation
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The motivation is a psycho-physiological concept or internal process which initiates and directs the activity.
Lovell gives emphasis on internal factor for motivation:
“Motivation is defined more formally as psycho-physiological or internal process initiated by some need which leads to activity which will satisfy that need.”
1. It is psycho-physiological phenomenon.
2. It is an internal condition or process or factor of the learner.
3. It initiates or sustains the learner’s activity.
4. It orients and directs the responses of the learner towards the desired objectives.
5. It controls and regulates the learner’s responses.
6. It provides the energy and accelerates the behaviour of the learner.
7. It releases the tension and satisfies the needs of the learner.
Most of the psychologists—Boring, Murry, Maslow and others have emphasized the ‘need’ as an important factor for human learning.
Term Paper # 5. Factors Accounting for Motivations
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John P. Decceco has described four factors accounting for motivation:
Arousal, Expectancy, Incentive and Punishment. These four factors are closely related to one another.
In teaching-learning situation, they are considered as functions:
1. Arousal function
2. Expectancy function
3. Incentive function and
4. Punishment or disciplinary function.
The meaning and description of these functions have been given here.
1. Arousal Function:
Donald Hebb (1955) has defined ‘arousal is an energizer but not guides the activities, of an organism.’ The arousal initiates the activities, but it does not regulated and control. Human have both internal and external success of arousal. An external source is the stimulation provided by the environment and an internal source of arousal is down flow of thought simple and fantasy from the cortex. When classroom teaching fails to provide motivation, the students may have day dreams.
(a) Internal Sources of Arousal:
Generally, a person remains active to satisfy his physiological needs. Human are active by their nature. The sources of internal range from lower physiological needs to higher mental needs.
(b) External Sources of Arousal:
An individual receives stimulation from his environment. The factors of the environment functions as stimuli. The novelty of the environment provides the motivation to the learner. The curiosity and arousal both raise the level of feelings. The curiosity is highly loaded by feelings and emotions. The curiosity is positively related to student-achievement.
Take Role of a Teacher for Arousal Function:
The arousal means to make the learner active in teaching-learning situation. The students learn better when they are neither very active nor very inactive or lazy. The job of a teacher is to make the student active in his presentation.
The students should be encouraged by illustrating the abstract concepts with concrete examples. The analogy can be used for the comprehension of the unknown concepts. The discovery and brain storming strategies can be used by the teacher for this purpose. The entering behaviour should be considered as the appropriate arousal for students.
2. Expectancy Function:
Vroom (1964) defines, ‘expectancy is a momentary belief that a particular outcome will follow a particular act. The discrepancy between what do we perceive and what do we expected to perceive, is the main source of arousal. Discrepancies between perception and expectancies are the sources of arousal.
The objectives of instruction and teaching function as expectations. The teacher is highly concerned with this aspect. He should consider the student’s expectation and values in organizing his teaching. The student’s attempt to achieve the objectives with some psychological force that is the result of expectancy.
The student’s expectation and balancing forces can be identified by their motive which is to be achieved by them. The greater discrepancies between perception and expectation develop the feeling of dissatisfaction and small discrepancy provides happiness to the learner. The achievement motivation is the function of expectancy.
The Role of a Teacher for Expectancy Function:
Teaching-learning objectives can be achieved by changing the level of expectation of the students. The immediate expectation of learners should be related with their ultimate expectation. The student can be involved in teaching-learning activities.
Mc Clelland suggests that teachers may teach students. How should the motives be developed to achieve, especially those students who are notable deficient in the desire to meet challenges, to master and generally to succeed. The student must be made to desire instructional outcome which he has a good chance of reaching (expectancy). Teacher must also be concerned with expectancies and valences of the students.
3. Incentive Function:
The incentives are actual goal objects. Clark Hull and Kenneth Spence believe that some activities of an organism can be motivated by the goal object or incentive. An organism wants to receive something through its activities. The amount of motivation depends upon the size of incentive. The positive and negative reinforces can be viewed as incentives. The nature of incentive influences the working efficiency of an individual. B.F. Skinner considers that reinforces are the incentives. The incentives are those factors which increase the vigour of an individual’s behaviour.
Role of a Teacher in Incentive Function:
It is duty of a teacher that he should provide incentive to student’s activities, so that their behaviour may be reinforced for achieving the objectives of learning. This type of motivation can be provided by the techniques of praise, encouragement, examination result and competition, etc. The examination result provides that feedback to the learner. The teacher should assign grade or marks in evaluating the students-assignment. The level of achievement of the students can be raised by praised the students- activities. The student takes interest in learning activities.
4. Punishment of Discipline Functions:
Solman (1964) defines that punishment as a stimulus, an individual seeks to escape or avoid. The punishment is considered as a negative motivation which decreases the probability of undesirable behaviour. The punishment is extremely effective when an individual is offered a rewarded alternative to the punishment.
(a) An individual is punished for his undesirable behaviour so that he would not repeat the same behaviour in future.
(b) He is punished before others, so that they may also not repeat the undesirable behaviour.
Role of a Teacher in Punishment Function:
Under particular conditions, a punishment procedure may be very effective—particularly when an individual is permitted to make an alternative response which is desirable and incompatible with the punished response. The teacher should make use of punishment in such a situations.
The punishment should be used in the following situations:
(a) When the result of undesirable behaviour is harmful.
(b) The undesirable behaviour should be immediately punished so that he may realized and associated with it.
(c) Reward and punishment should be used simultaneously. The good behaviour should be rewarded and bad behaviour should be punished.
B.F. Skinner is not in favour of punishment. He believes that positive reinforces are more effective than punishment in controlling the behaviour. According to Skinner, wrong responses should be ignored and correct responses should be reinforced. The punishment develops fear and inferiority complex among students. Therefore, it should be rarely used in dealing with students-problems and classroom teaching-learning situations.
The four factors can be summarized in the following manner. Motivation result in increased vigour of performance. Arousal is the general state of alertness of an individual. Expectancy, as a motivational factor is that a particular outcome will occur. Incentives are goal objects which are associated with certain stimuli and responses. Punishment is a stimulus. An individual seeks to avoid or suppress undesirable responses. The following are the main criteria to select appropriate techniques of motivation.
Term Paper # 6. Factor Affecting Motivation
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The following are the factors which affect motivation:
1. Maturation and Motivation:
You do not send a boy to do man’s job. To demand more than can be delivered physically, mentally or emotionally is worse than useless. Maturation and motivation should be synchronized “By your age” is the popular version of recognized correlation between stages of maturation and concurrent behaviour.
2. Purposive Strivings Goals and Ideals:
Experimental data proves definitely that when the learner has dynamic purpose, clearly perceived goals. This learning is more effective. Every effort to make the goal more vital and vivid is a step in the direction of effective motivation.
3. Knowledge of Results in Motivation:
It enhances the incentive for great effort, stimulates an extra-zest and creates a more favourable atmosphere. Sears and others have pointed out that informing of progress is desirable as long as he making progress.
4. Law of Effect:
It is based only impart on psycho-hedonism. Almost every act is coloured with feeling of pleasantness or unpleasantness. The law tends to select or repeat these acts which have a pleasant accompaniment.
5. Punishment Negative:
The art of inflicting pain deliberately with the purpose of the future conduct of the one being punished. It is based on fear—the fear of physical pain embarrassment and loss of status, caste. But it destroys initiative and develops inferiority complex. The severity does not count as much as the certainty and consistency count.
6. Positive Rewards:
It calls forth initiative energy, competition, self-expression and some creative ability. It appeals to ego-maximation and the elation that comes with success. It suggests security and status. It may be material, social or spiritual. Hartshorne and May in their study of honesty, hold that reward leads to dishonesty, for shadow rather than for substance.
7. Praise and Blame:
Other forms of reward and punishment. Considerable studies prove that praise is superior to blame or reproof which is another indication that rewards are better than punishments.
8. Working for self (rivalry, competition) versus working for the groups (co-operation).
9. Participation through Participation:
In addition to the tremendous appeal for status, it calls for creativeness, originality and initiative and affords the ideal outlet for the gregarious impulse. This implies greater democracy in the home and in the school.
10. Interest:
Interest is halfway between motive end attitudes. It grows by what it feed upon.
11. Audio-Visual Aids are great:
Audio-visual aids are Great allies to motivation, helping to set the stage saving time and energy and makes the test more interesting and vivid.
12. Enlisting the Total Personality:
Calls for total mobilization and challenge to the whole self.
Term Paper # 7. Selection of Appropriate Strategies of Motivation
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A classroom teacher performs certain activities to provide learning experiences for the desirable change among learners. The teaching activities create the appropriate learning conditions and situations in which the student has to respond physically or mentally. These responses are imitated and sustained by using an appropriate technique of motivation. Without the use of motivation, students-behaviour cannot be energized and accelerated. The effective teaching and effective outcome can be possible only by employing suitable techniques of Motivation.
The teacher should select appropriate techniques of motivation on the basis of the following criteria:
(a) Need of the students,
(b) Learning objectives, and
(c) Learning structures.
(a) Need of Students and Techniques of Motivation:
Most of the human learning and behaviour are controlled and related by his needs. When an individual has a need of something, it creates tension and he wants to satisfy the need. He continues his effort till need is fully satisfied. Threnodies’ experiment supported this view that his cat was hungry and food could satisfy her need. The cat’s responses or trials were controlled by the food only because its need could be satisfied with it.
It is evident from his example that after identifying the needs, it is also essential to diagnose how these can needs be satisfied- The teacher should follow this procedure in selecting an appropriate technique of motivation.
Maslow has classified the motivation into three categories:
(i) External motivation
(ii) Internal motivation and
(iii) Internal-External motivation.
Therefore, techniques of motivation can also be classified accordingly.
(i) External Motivation:
An external motivation means to present a thing object or environment before students which can encourage or motivate their behaviour. According to Maslow, physiological and safety lower needs can be satisfied by the use of external motivation. The reward, praise, punishment and criticism techniques may be used for satisfying the lower needs. The reward and praise are most effective for poor and low intelligence students whereas reproof and challenges are effective for bright students. It is useful for lower classes and dealing with small children.
(ii) Internal Motivation:
An internal motivation means self-motivation which the students receive from content and their own activities. The learner’s responses and activities are controlled and regulated by an internal motivation which satisfies the higher needs. The esteem need and self-actualization need satisfy the higher internal motivation. The level of aspiration academic motivation, knowledge of result, novelty and attitude are the main techniques of internal motivation. This type of motivation concerns with the ego involvement learning. It is useful for higher classes and dealing with adults or grown up students.
(iii) External-Internal Motivation:
This type of motivation concerns with both external environment and content. This form of motivation is partially concrete and partially abstract. In view of Maslow, the needs of belongingness and esteem may be satisfied by external-internal motivation. The success and failure cooperation and competition techniques of motivation may be effectively used for this purpose. It is more useful for developing the social efficiency of the students.
(b) Learning Objectives and Techniques of Motivation:
The major function of motivation is to control and regulate the behaviour of the students. The teacher-learning activities are oriented towards learning objectives by the use of appropriate techniques of motivation. These techniques facilitate the learning conditions and help in achieving the learning objectives. The learning objectives—knowledge, understanding, appropriate techniques of motivation.
(i) Knowledge Objective:
This objective is achieved to develop the recall the recognition abilities. It is the lowest learning objective and concerns with the environment of objects. The reward, praise, punishment and reproof techniques of motivation may be employed to achieve knowledge objective. The concrete form of motivation is effective for this purpose.
(ii) Understanding Objective:
The understanding objective is realized by developing the abilities of seeing relationship, discrimination, cite example and generalization. The environment and content both are equally important for providing appropriate learning experience to the students. The praise, success, punishment and failure techniques of motivation can assist in achieving this objective.
(iii) Application Objective:
An application objective is achieved by developing the abilities of reasoning, hypothesizing, inferring and predication. The perception and expectancies of the students play the significant role. The success and failure, cooperation and competition, knowledge of result and attitude, cooperation and competition, knowledge of result and attitude, techniques of motivation can help in realizing the objective of application.
(iv) Creativity Objective:
The creativity is the highest objective of cognitive-domain. This can be achieved by satisfying the highest needs of a person and employing internal motivation. The analysis, synthesis and evaluation of judgement abilities are developed for achieving this objective. The content is most important and environment is least important. The ego environment and self-motivation is essential for creativity. The level of aspiration, novelty and attitude, techniques of motivation can be used for achieving creativity .objective.
The learning structures are basic for selecting the appropriate techniques of motivation.
(c) Learning Structures and Techniques of Motivation:
The teachings are used for creating the specific learning structures and conditions. The techniques of motivation accelerated the learning activities and energize the behaviour of the students. The techniques of motivation also initiate and sustain the learning activities. This appropriate technique of motivation can be selected on the basis of learning structures because they directly related to learning situations and learning activities.
(i) Signal Learning:
The signal learning concerns with stimulus and response association. The environment is more important in this type of learning and an external motivation is effectively used to facilitate signal structures. The reward and punishment techniques can be used successfully.
(ii) Chain Learning:
The stimuli and responses are placed in a sequence to form a chain. The chain of stimulus-response is developed by organizing the elements of content in a sequence. The environment and content both are important in this type of learning. The reward, praise, success, punishment and reproof techniques of motivation are used to facilitate the chain structures.
(iii) Multiple Discrimination:
The learner has to identify the similarities and differences in various type of learning. The type of learning structure may be facilitated by employing cooperation and competitive, knowledge of result and attitude as technique of motivation.
(iv) Concept Learning:
The earlier three types of learning are the pre-request of the concept learning. It is purely concerned with content. Therefore an internal motivation may be appropriate for concept learning. The learning situations help in developing the generalization ability. The knowledge of result, progress, attitude and level of aspiration, techniques of motivation may be employed in facilitating the concept learning.
(v) Principle Learning:
The chains of concepts are provided to identify the similarities and differences among them and draw some principles. The mastery over content is very essential and the environment is in signification. It requires purely internal motivation. The level of aspiration, self-motivation, ego involvement and attitude, techniques of motivation may facilitate principle learning structures.
The learning structures provide scientific basis for selecting and employing the psychological forces and achieving the learning and objectives. The learning objectives of B.S. Bloom are organized in a hierarchical order. This teaching-learning activity can be organized and appropriate techniques of motivation can be selected by integrating these concepts and approaches.
In addition to these criteria, the four factors which produce the motivation and vigour the student’s behaviour are grouped—arousal, expectancy, incentives and punishment. If it is taken one must be careful about monotony and boredom, he should always provide the students enough to think about and to do. The teaching methods can capitalize on the student’s needs for new stimulation and on their propensities to be curious and to explore.
The expectancy function requires that a teacher should maintain and modify the student’s expectation of success or failure in achieving the learning objective. The teacher should reward students’ performance in such a way as to encourage for further efforts and to control undesirable behaviour by the use of punishment but it should be rarely used. The teacher should use a combination of reward and punishment in controlling and regulating student’s behaviour.
The various criteria and techniques of motivation have been summarized in the following table:
The above table indicates that the appropriate techniques of motivation can be selected by considering the needs of students, learning structures and teaching objectives. The teacher should provide motivation in such a way as to encourage for further efforts on the part of the students. The main focus of providing motivation is to achieve the learning objectives by facilitating learning structures and to energise and to accelerate the behaviour of students.