Five Factors of Motivational and Cognitive Processes - Literature review Example

Five factors of Motivational and Cognitive Processes As noted by Martin (2007), achievement and motivation are inherently connected. Understanding the motivational components that are important in achieving specific settings will therefore inform the educators and researchers to understand promoting effective learning process. Motivation is the motives e.g. drive, wish or intention in engaging in a specific manner to fulfil an obligation and conceptualise as a behavioural antecedent, experience during process and has a specified outcome. From the literature, it is evident motivation is an important factor in school achievement and learning process. The aim of this section is to analyse the five factors of motivational and cognitive process that are self-efficacy, task value, effort expenditure, academic buoyancy, academic engagement and disengagement in ensuring learners achieves their stated goals. Numerous researches have been carried out commissioning enormous studies that have explored the relations among motivational and cognitive processes. The current study brings together motivational and cognitive processes and their contribution in the learning context. One of the major motivational factors is self-efficacy and self-efficacy is one’s ability to accomplish specified course of action, through manipulation of aspirations and behaviours and maintaining this effort towards fulfilling the task. Integration of self-efficacy with motivational and cognitive factors has been studied extensively. Self-efficacy according to Martin (2005) is important to successful students because the learners are able to generate and test alternative course of directive when the learners are not able to achieve initial success. High self-efficacy tends to allow a learner to function better in the classroom through persistence, elevated levels of effort and address problematic situations through influencing emotional and cognitive processes. This means self-belief is crucial in championing students’ motivations. Midgley et al.’s (1997) explores the relationship between self-efficacy and other psychlogical factors (e.g. effort expenditure) to students' learning success (Martin, 2007). Midgley et al found out that self-efficacy is an important factor that determines the effort students apply on a task. Effort is the effort expended in learning process. Those students with higher self-efficacy are better positioned to succeed because they belief their effort has been utilised well. Conversely, students with lower self-efficacy do not succeed or are accorded lower marks because they are discouraged and do not have internal urge to fulfil their obligations. Fenollar, Roman & Cuestas (2007) carried out a research in which 553 students of different faculties from a university in Spain were interviewed. The results of the research highlighted the importance of self-efficacy in university. The components associated to self-efficacy include learners’ development and utilisation of academic competencies. The analysis associated self-efficacy on deep processing while negatively to surface processing. Deep processing incorporates strategies that include integration of concepts, critical thinking and elaboration of ideas while surface learning is associated with reproduction and memorisation of the learning materials. Deep processing has the strongest indirect positive impact on learning process. Generally, it means self-confidence in their own capability assists in determining the way the learners employ their skills and knowledge. The effort expended is associated with the learning process that learners employ. For example, deep processing learners’ belief their effort determines success or failure of their learning process. Another research carried out by Phan (2010) conceptualised a framework integrating self-efficacy, achievement goals, and study processing strategies, self-esteems and self-efficacy beliefs. Two hundred and ninety students were administered a tutorial class scale questionnaire. Phan (2010) found out self-efficacy played an important role in influencing effort expenditure. The results indicate highly perceived competence is crucial ion mobilising of effort in achieving and learning outcomes. This means those learners employing self-efficacy beliefs are better positioned to persist in the face of difficulties. Another crucial and essential component in motivational and cognitive process is task value. Numerous studies have related and integrated task value with other frameworks.The expectancy value theory analyses self-efficacy and task value are the most important components that determines the outcome of the learning process (Liem, Lau & Nie, 2008). Sell-efficacy is the confidence of accomplishing learning task while the believing that fulfilling a given task is worth pursuing is premised on task value. Therefore, the academic outcomes and the learners’ achievement behaviours dictates the approaches in which a learner employs to achieved specified goals. Learner’s self-efficacy has been shown to play an important role in performance outcomes in numerous academic tasks that include reading, mathematics and science. On the other hand, task value has been shown to reliably predict both actual decision and intention in furthering learning requirements (Liem, Lau & Nie 2008). According to Hulleman, Durik, Schweigert & Harackiewicz (2008), the academic task and importance of the task predicted self-efficacy on the task, which in turn predicted the exam outcome. This means, the relationship between the future goals of the learning process predicts the classroom performance of that task. Therefore, the task itself acts as a motivation factor towards fulfilling the requirements of learning. Hence, perceiving utility in a task determines the subsequent performance. Liem, Lau and Nie (2008) carried out a research, which sampled 1475 year 9 students that employed a framework containing a combination of achievement goal theories and expectancy value theory. The study examined the task value, the role of self-efficacy and achievement goals in learners’ approaches to learning, peer relations and disengagement and achievement outcome. According to the study, task value and self-efficacy are crucial components in determining how learners approach the learning process and the outcome of the learning process. Therefore, task value and self-efficacy contributed positively towards the learning process. According to Martin (2007), the task value is also associated to learners’ motivation and engagement. In addition, the expectations interaction and task value determines the learners’ engagement and motivation on it. For example, learners who value their task and have high expectations are most engaged and motivated towards fulfilling their obligations. Generally, the principle of the appropriate motivation model is incorporation of valuing of school and self-efficacy. Academic engagement is another factor predicting students' successful achievement. Fredricks, Blumenfeld & Paris (2004) analyses the facets of engagement as reflected in research literature and defines engagement in three ways. Behavioural engagement is premised on the idea of participation and brings into consideration extracurricular and social activities as important factors in achieving desired academic outcomes. Emotional engagement brings into consideration positive and negative reactions to school, academics, classmates and teachers, which influence the urge of fulfilling work obligations. Finally, cognitive engagement brings the idea of investment in that it incorporates willingness and thoughtfulness to exert the effort, which is necessary in mastering difficult skills and comprehending complex ideas. Students’ values and interest are related with emotional engagement. As an example, those learners who value their school and study have certain characteristics that include been interested, happy and are not anxious. Similarly, those learners who are engaged cognitively utilise different learning strategies that includes elaboration, summarisation and rehearsal to ensure they understand better the learning content. They also concentrate and prevent distractions into ensuring they sustain the cognitive engagement. According to Martin & Marsh (2009) and Martin & Marsh (2008), academic buoyancy is defined as the ability of the learner to successfully deal with learning challenges and sets that are common in school life such as competing deadlines, poor grades, difficult schoolwork and exam pressure. In the research that was carried out by Martin & Marsh (2009) utilised that was collected from 598 students in Years 8 and 10 at Australian High schools. The authors concluded stating the underpinning academic buoyancy principles are encompassed on development of strengths and championing proactive approaches rather than reactive approaches to challenge and setback. Other important factors that act as catalysts in enhancing educational outcomes include adaptive intrapersonal factors, healthy school environments, constructive attitudes and interests, positive engagement and motivation (Martin & Marsh, 2008). Positive psychology is a concept of buoyancy whereby health learning is encouraged rather than resilience that is usually defined at the problematic spectrum. This means that buoyancy can be viewed as positive psychology of resilience. The study carried out by Martin and Marsh (2006) showed academic buoyancy is an integral component of a variety of academic engagement and other non-academic outcomes. The authors found out academic buoyancy significantly determined the perception of school especially enjoyment of class participation, school enjoyment and self-esteem. Academic buoyancy also motivates a learner to accomplish learning requirements and view learning process positively. Generally, the five important motivational factors, self-efficacy, task value, effort expenditure, academic buoyancy, academic engagement and disengagement, plays an important role in ensuring a learner achieves academic and learning excellence. The five factors supports and complements each other towards fulfilling the learning process. These components can be utilised and conceptualised into a framework that champions motivational and cognitive processes. Each of the factors plays different roles in the learning process and integration into a single model will be important in addressing motivational and cognitive requirements. References Chouinard, R., Karsenti, T., & Roy, N. (2007). Relations among competence beliefs, utility value, achievement goals, and effort in mathematics. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 501-517 Fenollar, P., Roman, S., & Cuestas, P. (2007). University students’ academic performance: An integrative conceptual framework and empirical analysis. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 873-891 Fredricks, J., Blumenfeld, P., & Paris, A. (2004). School Engagement: Potential of the Concept, State of the Evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59-109 Hulleman, C., Durik, A., Schweigert, S., & Harackiewicz, J. (2008). Task Values, Achievement Goals, and Interest: An Integrative Analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 398-416 Liem, A., Lau, S., & Nie, Y. (2008). The role of self-efficacy, task value, and achievement goals in predicting learning strategies, task disengagement, peer relationship, and achievement outcome. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33, 486-512 Martin, A. (2005). Exploring the effects of a youth enrichment program on academic motivation and engagement. Social Psychology of Education, 8, 179-206 Martin, A. (2007). Examining a multidimensional model of student motivation and engagement using a construct validation approach. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 413-440 Martin, A., & Marsh, H. (2008). Academic buoyancy: Towards an understanding of students' everyday academic resilience. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 53-83 Martin, A., & Marsh, H. (2009). Academic resilience and academic buoyancy: multidimensional and hierarchical conceptual framing of causes, correlates and cognate constructs. Oxford Review of Education, 35(3), 353-370 Martin, A., Colmar, S., Davey, L., and Marsh, H. (2010). Longitudinal modelling of academic buoyancy and motivation: Do the ‘5Cs’ hold up over time? British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 473-496 Phan, H. (2010). Students' academic performance and various cognitive processes of learning: an integrative framework and empirical analysis. Educational Psychology, 30(3), 297 — 322, Phan, H. (2011). Cognitive processes in university learning: A developmental framework using structural equation modeling. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 509-530 Read More