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Introduction to Intrinsic Motivation in learners?

Introduction to Intrinsic Motivation in learners.

There are two types of motivations: one is extrinsic motivation and the other one is intrinsic motivation.

Here in this blog, I will talk about the second type, which is intrinsic motivation specifically on the students. What is it, its effects, and what significant role does it play for the student to perform better in life?

What is Intrinsic Motivation?

Intrinsic Motivation is the motivation that comes from inside you, or when you are willingly motivated from inside because it is internally rewarding to you. On a simpler note, a motivation that gives you a positive feel and a sense of satisfaction.

You do something that is for enjoyment and inner peace. It also gives you a sense of progress when you voluntarily take part and get to learn new skills. 

Extrinsic motivation is the motivation that is due to achieve external rewards. External rewards can be money or power of a certain thing, getting good grades, or getting higher status socially or in the profession. External motivation has nothing to do with the emotional return. 

Intrinsic outcomes give positive results. If we talk about it specifically for students, then why do you think motivation is necessary for them? Well, I think it is simple, every child goes to school because education is the basic necessity of one’s life. Intrinsic motivation works best here when the engagement in the class is to be increased. 

The ideal class in a school is the one where each student is productively engaged in certain activities because then only the outcomes are fruitful. You might have noticed some students who are that active in the class because they think or they consider that school is just to be done. For example, a question was raised in a classroom full of young students: why do you come to school or what is the importance of school? Many students gave an obvious answer that everyone goes to school, so they also have to. 

I wonder how these young children consider school as analogous to a job that has to be pursued because everyone is doing it. The importance of gaining new skills and a sense of curiosity somewhere lacks in many of the students. 

Question was raised in front of the senior students: Why did you attend the school? They also had some surprising answers. Their opinion was that they have to bring good grades in school to get the best university for graduation. 

I think it is a genuine case of lack of motivation in the students because their families somewhere pressured them. They have to perform best in their academics for a better career. 

But I really feel that is it fine and inspirational to do well in any field just to reach the next level? Is it that satisfying? Have you got that inner peace or reward when you have actually reached the next level? Well, many of you have different opinions on this. But I just wanted to touch that inner chord of yours that intrinsically motivates you to get the results. 

Their engagement in class is less because they are somewhere extrinsically motivated just to score well in class. Not much importance is given to learning skills or productive activities.

Whereas extrinsic motivation is not much concerned with the engagement of the students. It is like making the school analogous to a job, something that just needs to be done willingly or unwillingly. Each student must have an intrinsic motivation for valuable learning. 

How intrinsic motivation increases engagement?

Researches show that intrinsic motivation has some remarkable effects on the engagement of the students in class. When students are intrinsically motivated, they prefer to engage more in several activities with more enthusiasm. 

But we see that most of the schools are indulging in extrinsic motivation. The most prevalent example of this is the grades given on several assignments. The schools are giving more importance to grades rather than providing feedback to the students. As long as the educational institutions are extrinsically motivating the students for good grades, they can’t get the real outcomes. 

Grades are the external rewards for which the student may not be having the quality of education, which is valuable. The student who has the best of the grades or the highest marks will be preferred for rewards and further opportunities, so in this entire process the actual goal of the education is lost somewhere. 

I would say the school should avoid or eliminate this system of grading and take the help of some alternatives. Providing regular feedback to the students makes them feel important and engaged in different activities being intrinsically motivated.

Conclusion

Only those students who are intrinsically motivated can do better in class because they can truly accept the fresh challenges and are more energetic to get outcomes in life. 

Photo by olia danilevich from Pexels.

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Mayuresh S. Shilotri writes on Product, EdTech, UX, Customer Development & Early Stage Growth. 2,000-Word posts only. You can discover more about me here

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