Intrinsic Motivation in the Classroom

There is as much controversy about the effects of motivation in the classroom as there is diversity of today's students. However, there can be no doubt that intrinsic motivation can help determine the path of a student's future and has an extremely encouraging consequence on the achievement of that student.

The definition of intrinsic motivation here is the motivation in the classroom of an individual to take part in activities that actually increase that person's concept of themselves. Simply put, a person will do something just because it is enjoyable and interesting for them to do it, and for no other purpose. There are certain factors that encourage intrinsic motivation, and these include challenge, curiosity, control, fantasy, competition, cooperation and recognition.

Studying, for example, should be intrinsically rewarding. However, it is believed that is most often not the case with students, making it one of the most common malfunctions of the education process. Studying can be, and often is, extrinsically rewarding; meaning that studying results in getting a better grade, or in not being penalized for not studying. Students who take a personal interest in their own forward motion educationally speaking are able to retain information and show more interest in taking that information to the next step; showing a benefit to motivation in the classroom.

Intrinsic Motivation in the Classroom

In the simplest terms, intrinsic motivation in the classroom is what students will do to achieve without any type of external persuasion. For years, researchers and psychologists have been studying this type of motivation. A few theories by different researchers have determined that students are more likely to be intrinsically motivated if the following situations exist:

1) The student can directly associate the educational result to the work they have invested into it.
2) The student believes they are the reason they have achieved their result, and not just luck.
3) The student truly has an interest in learning and perfecting the task.

The long term benefits of instilling intrinsic motivation in the classroom carries far into a student's life. Employers, for example, are more impressed by a job applicant whose interest in the job at hand is to increase knowledge and opportunity to train (intrinsic) than those who are interested in the pay and benefits (extrinsic). Even personal relationships carry this trait; those interested in a relationship because they seek mutual happiness rather than only what they will receive from the association will likely have much more success in their relationship.

Encouraging the development of intrinsic motivation in the classroom can increase the feelings of self-worth and self-accomplishment in students. These are valuable assets for the students to carry with them throughout life, applicable in most any situation. They are also traits that describe a successful and high achieving individual.

Intrinsic Motivation in the Classroom
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