Why Motivation Is the Engine of Learning

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Why Motivation Is the Engine of Learning

Educational Psychology · Chapter 6: Motivation, Goals, and the Drive to LearnSection 6.1 · lesson 48 of 1009 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and the climate a teacher creates.

  • Define motivation and distinguish trait from state
  • Contrast intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on five dimensions
  • Compare mastery and performance motivational climates
  • Apply autonomy-supportive teaching practices

Transcript

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Motivation, Goals, and the Drive to Learn

Why Motivation Is the Engine of Learning

Every teacher has said the words, this class is unmotivated. The sentence sounds like a description of the students. Educational psychology treats it as a description of the room. We will define motivation as a trait and as a state. Then the core distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Then motivational climate, and how a teacher creates one without meaning to. We will look at autonomy support, which has strong evidence behind it. And at what happens when motivation is treated as a design problem. The claim to hold throughout is that motivation is not fixed.

Definition

What Motivation Actually Is

Motivation is an internal state that does three things. It energizes behavior. It directs behavior. And it sustains behavior. In educational settings, that determines several outcomes. Whether students engage with material at all. Whether they persist through difficulty. And whether they invest real cognitive effort in a task. Psychologists separate motivation as a trait from motivation as a state. A trait is a relatively stable disposition to approach learning. A state is a transient condition triggered by situational factors. An interesting lesson. An encouraging teacher. And it is the state that a teacher can actually work on.

The Evidence

Not a Supporting Factor

The study of motivation draws from several traditions. Behaviorist accounts focus on reinforcement schedules. Cognitive theories emphasize beliefs, values and goals. Contemporary educational psychology favors integrative frameworks. And the research finding is unusually blunt. Motivated students outperform less-motivated peers. On nearly every measure of academic success. Grades. Test scores. Persistence. Course completion. Long-term educational attainment. So motivation is not merely a supporting factor. It is a central driver of the entire learning process.

The Core Distinction

Intrinsic and Extrinsic

The most foundational distinction is intrinsic versus extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation means engaging because the activity is interesting. The activity is its own reward. Think of a student reading science fiction for pleasure. Solving puzzles for the challenge. Rewriting an essay without being asked to. Extrinsic motivation is different in structure. You engage to obtain an outcome separable from the activity. A grade. A prize. Praise from a parent. Avoidance of punishment. Both types can produce engagement, and that is worth conceding. They differ in their long-term effects on learning quality.

The Research

Deci, Ryan, and a Necessary Qualification

Research by Deci, Ryan and colleagues mapped those differences. Intrinsically motivated learners display deeper processing. Greater creativity. Higher conceptual understanding. And stronger emotional well-being. But the relationship is not simply intrinsic good, extrinsic bad. The quality of extrinsic motivation matters. Consider a student who values a course because of a career goal. That is an extrinsic reason. And it can be internalized over time, becoming part of their identity. That spectrum, from purely external to fully internalized, is central to Self-Determination Theory.

Compared

Five Dimensions of Difference

Compare the two on five dimensions. Source. Internal interest and curiosity, versus grades and rewards. Persistence. High and self-sustaining, versus lower once the reward is removed. Learning quality. Deep, conceptual and creative, versus surface, procedural and compliant. Effect on well-being. Positive, tied to autonomy and competence. Versus mixed, and capable of creating anxiety. For intrinsic motivation you facilitate, support, and ignite curiosity. For extrinsic motivation you provide contingent rewards and feedback. Notice that the second role is easier, and produces the weaker column.

Key Idea

Motivation Is Not Fixed

Here is the key idea of this chapter. Motivation is not a fixed trait. It is a dynamic state. Shaped by teaching practices, classroom climate, task design and beliefs. Even students who appear unmotivated can be re-engaged. When the right conditions are created. Suppose motivation were a trait, fixed in the student. Then an unmotivated student is a fact to be worked around. Not a condition to be changed. The two beliefs lead to completely different teaching. And only one of them is supported by the evidence.

Motivational Climate

Mastery Versus Performance

Motivational climate is the goal structure of a classroom. And its interpersonal atmosphere. Teachers create it through instructional choices and feedback patterns. Through assessment strategies, and relational behavior. A mastery-oriented climate emphasizes effort, improvement and understanding. A performance-oriented climate emphasizes grades, comparison and competition. And they produce different results. Mastery climates are associated with higher intrinsic motivation. With deeper learning strategies, and greater resilience after failure. Performance climates can produce short-term effort gains. And they tend to undermine curiosity, and create anxiety around evaluation.

Teacher Influence

Feedback Language Signals the Climate

Teachers shape that climate in ways they rarely intend. The language used in feedback is among the most powerful. Two features of it matter especially. Whether it attributes outcomes to effort, or to ability. And whether it is controlling, or informational. And what they communicate is larger than the individual comment. Feedback language signals what learning is about in this room. It also signals whether this student belongs in the academic community. Neither of those messages is ever stated explicitly. Both are received, accurately, by everyone listening. Including students the comment was not addressed to.

Autonomy Support

Three Moves With Strong Evidence

Autonomy-supportive teaching has strong evidence behind it. Provide rationales. Explain why a task is worth doing. Rather than asserting that it is required. Acknowledge student perspectives. Including their reluctance, which does not have to be agreed with. And minimize pressure. Reduce controlling language, and unnecessary surveillance. Those three have been repeatedly linked to higher intrinsic motivation. And to better academic outcomes. Teachers who also express genuine enthusiasm for the subject, and design tasks with appropriate challenge and choice, see the same effects.

In Practice

A Lab Nobody Wanted to Do

Watch the difference in one biology classroom. The teacher notices several students disengaging during labs. The obvious response would be extra credit, which is an extrinsic reward. She does something else instead. She restructures the lab as an open inquiry. Students choose their own research question, within the unit topic. Within two weeks, something appears that she did not ask for. Previously disengaged students are reading beyond the assigned text. Voluntarily, and nobody is grading it. That voluntary reading is the evidence that matters. It indicates autonomy and intrinsic interest have been activated. Extra credit would have produced more lab reports, and nothing else.

Why It Matters

From Blaming to Redesigning

Here is why all of this matters for how a teacher thinks. Understanding that motivation is teachable shifts a teacher's whole stance. It moves you from blaming unmotivated students to redesigning environments. That transforms classroom management from coercion into inspiration. Which sounds like a slogan until you notice what it really is. It is a division of responsibility. If motivation is a property of the environment, then a room full of disengaged students is a design problem. And design problems, unlike character problems, have solutions. The rest of this chapter is about what those solutions are.

About Educational Psychology at UPI Study

Educational Psychology (Psychology 120) is a self-paced online course of 100 video lessons in 11 chapters, from memory, conditioning and child development to motivation, individual differences, assessment, instruction and educational technology. It carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits.

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Why take it here

Why students take Educational Psychology with UPI Study

How people learn, and how to teach themEducational Psychology explains how students learn, develop and stay motivated, and how teachers assess and support them. It is a standard course in education and teaching degrees and a common psychology elective.
Credit at a fraction of the priceThe same 3 credits can cost $750 or more at a US college. Here it is one payment, self-paced, with lifetime access.
Finish your degree soonerTransfer credits reduce the courses you still owe, so you can graduate earlier or lighten a heavy semester.
Strengthen an applicationA completed college-level course on an official transcript shows admissions and scholarship committees you can do the work.
Study on your own scheduleNo start dates, no deadlines. Watch the lessons, practice, and take the final when you are ready.
130,000+students helped with college creditsACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Where the credit goes

Universities that work with NCCRS

Educational Psychology carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Thomas Edison State UniversityThomas Edison State UniversitySigned partnerUniversity of the PeopleUniversity of the PeopleSigned partnerCharter Oak State CollegeCharter Oak State CollegeSigned partnerStrayer UniversityStrayer UniversitySigned partnerColumbia Southern UniversityColumbia Southern UniversitySigned partnerIndiana TechIndiana TechSigned partnerPenn StatePenn StateWorks with NCCRSSouthern New Hampshire UniversitySouthern New Hampshire UniversityWorks with NCCRSSUNYSUNYWorks with NCCRS +many more cooperating universitiesFind my college →

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Why Motivation Is the Engine of Learning

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?
Intrinsic motivation means engaging in an activity because it is interesting or enjoyable in itself, while extrinsic motivation means engaging to obtain a separate outcome, such as a grade, a prize, praise or avoiding punishment. Both can produce engagement, but research by Deci, Ryan and colleagues links intrinsic motivation to deeper processing, greater creativity and better well-being. Extrinsic reasons can become internalized over time, a spectrum central to Self-Determination Theory.
Is motivation a trait or a state?
Motivation can be both. As a trait, it is a relatively stable disposition to approach learning; as a state, it is a temporary condition triggered by situational factors, such as an interesting lesson or an encouraging teacher. In either form it energizes, directs and sustains behavior. The state is what teachers can most directly influence, which is why educational psychology treats motivation as shaped by teaching practices, classroom climate and task design.
What is the difference between a mastery and a performance classroom climate?
A mastery-oriented climate emphasizes effort, improvement and understanding, while a performance-oriented climate emphasizes grades, comparison and competition. Mastery climates are associated with higher intrinsic motivation, deeper learning strategies and greater resilience after failure. Performance climates can produce short-term effort gains but tend to undermine curiosity and create anxiety around evaluation. Teachers signal the climate largely through feedback, such as whether it credits effort or ability.
What is autonomy-supportive teaching?
Autonomy-supportive teaching is an approach that builds students' sense of choice and ownership. Its core practices are explaining why a task is worth doing rather than simply requiring it, acknowledging student perspectives including reluctance, and minimizing pressure, controlling language and unnecessary surveillance. These practices have repeatedly been linked to higher intrinsic motivation and better outcomes. Letting students choose their own research question in a lab, for example, can re-engage students more effectively than extra credit.

About the Educational Psychology course

How many college credits is Educational Psychology?
Educational Psychology (Psychology 120) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Educational Psychology cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 100 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
How long does Educational Psychology take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 100 lessons total about 15 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
How do my credits reach my college?
When the course shows 100% complete, request the official transcript from your dashboard. It is sent to the college you name, and you can send it to more than one. Check your college first with "Find my college" on this page, or ask Athena.

Ready for the full course? Earn 3 credits in Educational Psychology.

100 video lessons, a quiz after each one, and the graded work that earns the credit. Recommended for credit by NCCRS.

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Educational Psychology
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