Motivating Force - Term Paper Example

It is an undeniable reality that motivation plays a phenomenal role in improving the academic spirit of a classroom. A classroom without the essential elements of motivation is a mere dungeon where no learning takes place. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation needs to be polished by a teacher if proper grooming of the students is desired. These days students feel reluctant to participate in myriad learning activities and tend to deviate or drop out because they are not sufficiently motivated, instead, they are punished or critically revoked when any bad behavior is noticed. While many drop out because of academic difficulties, research has it “many others are good students who leave because of dissatisfaction with their instruction” (Felder &

Brent, 2005, p. 57). Therefore, the purpose and objective of this paper are to highlight and contemplate the importance of motivation in the field of education as highly motivated students make up the future of a nation. Regardless of extrinsic or intrinsic origin, motivation literally becomes the force that decides what course a person would take. “Student motivation is an essential element that is necessary for quality education” (Williams & Williams, 2011, p. 2). Though the process of learning involves both teachers and students and both are held responsible in the context of motivation but there are multiple things that teachers can do to enhance motivation in those students who tend to slack off in a classroom. “Responsibility for learning is shared by students and teachers” (Brembeck, cited in Hardré, Sullivan, & Roberts, 2008, p. 19), which means that both students and teachers are responsible for improving or tarnishing the nature of the learning process.

Now some students better adapt to one learning style and others to some other learning styles so making sure that almost all the learning styles are introduced in the classroom is another way by which a teacher can increase the motivation level in a classroom. Understanding student differences is cited as a highly important strategy for teachers by Felder and Brent (2005) also who claim that regardless of students’ individual preferences, “a goal of instruction should be to equip students with the skills associated with every learning style category” (Felder & Brent, 2005, p. 58). Extrinsically motivated students tend to work hard to achieve some objectives or goals only because they are attracted to the prize or any other monetary benefit which comes along with the achievement which is why it is more important for the students to be intrinsically motivated. When a teacher makes the students intrinsically driven, they feel the thirst for knowledge from inside regardless of any benefit offered and work harder consequently to achieve that goal and extinguish their thirst for knowledge and curiosity. I selected this topic to introduce to the rest because I deem it very important that teachers understand that one learning style could not be considered perfect or inferior to another because sticking to a particular learning style can decrease the motivation in those students who cannot adapt to that style. The importance of motivation along with what can be done to keep the intellectual level from plummeting down due to diminishing motivation is what I intend the readers to learn from this paper.