Motivation: A Key Component for Academic Success
Julio Garay, Bronx Community College (United States)
Abstract
Lack of motivation, is one of the leading reasons for academic failure. It would not be helpful to create the best conditions and academic tools and resources designed for students to succeed, if the lack of enthusiasm and motivation permeates the learning process. Nevertheless, motivation is a multidimensional concept, it could be intrinsic, extrinsic, or amotivational and it is certainly associated with a variety of possible causes. For the purpose of this study, we have used Vallerand’s motivational scale to better understand the reasons why our students have chosen to go to college, so we can potentially help them to persist in their academic careers and to earn their professional degrees provided an accurate understanding of the subjacent reasons they have to persevere in their quest. Preliminary results shows that 45% of the participant students have an internal motivation to know, another 54% of them have an extrinsic motivation to identify and 54% of the students show an extrinsic external regulation. 58% of them totally disagreed with amotivation, which is promising as they perceive college education as a valuable assess for their future.
Keywords: motivation ,students
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