Motivation In The University Educational Process

Abstract

The educational process is a conscious transformation through knowledge. Each individual should be well aware of his/her qualities and skills and leverage on his/her potential. Motivation is the extent to which a persistent effort is directed to achieving a well-defined goal. A person works, perseveres in work and directs his/her behaviour toward the right results. The main research objectives of this paper are: - assessment of a group of students in order to determine the motivational factors in education; analysis of students’ opinions; - how do I motivate a student to achieve his/her goals; - how do I determine ambition-motivation-passion; - Human role models who achieved success in their carrier. A group of 100 students of UTCB [Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest] , last year of studies, and 50 Master’s students, was studied in order to analyse the building of motivation to succeed in life and career, and the motivation to learn over a two-year period. The questionnaires they answered show that the motivational attitudes towards work (study) are: the work itself (faculty, study), salary (or other financial or material rewards, scholarship), promotions, recognition, benefits, work conditions (the atmosphere in class), supervision (professors, manager), co-workers (school colleagues), organisational culture.

Keywords: Educationmotivationhuman modelsobjectivesobstaclessuccess in career

Introduction

Education is complex. It means that you have to maximise the potential that you possess in this life, to be able to use all your skills, knowledge and virtues, to bring them to light, to be a true human being.

Motivation is the extent to which a persistent effort is directed to achieving a well-defined goal (Johns, 1998). A person works, perseveres in work and directs his/her behaviour toward the right results.

Human beings possess a built-in “Intrinsic Motivation” which enables them to design projects, nurture their ideals and believe in their future. By its nature, the human being is very sensitive to the content of his/her work and to everything that allows him/her to evolve. The information we receive shapes our personality and determines our behaviour. Extrinsic motivation is that which comes from the work environment outside the task; it is usually applied by others (Cucoș, 2005).

Some of the doctrines that studied motivation and human behaviour are (Johns, 1998):

-Douglas McGregor’s “Theory X and Theory Y”;

-Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” Theory;

-Herzberg’s “Two Factor Theory”.

Problem Statement

The main research objectives of this paper are:

- Assessment of a group of students in order to determine the motivational factors in education; analysis of students’ opinions;

- How do I motivate a student to achieve his/her goals;

- How do I determine ambition-motivation-passion;

- Human role models who achieved success in their carrier.

Research Questions

A group of 100 students of the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, last year of studies, and 50 Master’s students was studied over a two-year period in order to analyse the building of motivation to succeed in life and career, and the motivation to learn. A 40-question questionnaire was designed and filled in gradually by each student throughout the semester, adapted from (Study on “Motivation in learning”, 2011; Burnett & Jarvis, 2012). This paper presents the answers to those questions, depending on the results obtained. The main motivational factors in the student’s opinion, which were analysed in the questionnaire, are:

A. Success in life means:

1. a successful career;

2. good relations with the colleagues, family, friends;

3. the financial situation;

4. starting a family;

5. fame.

B. What contributes to building a successful career?

1. level of training and obtained results;

2. intelligence, smartness;

3. motivation (will, perseverance) at work;

4. positive attitude toward work (seriousness, passion, involvement, optimism, responsibility, confidence, commitment, interest, patience, creativity);

5. work effort;

6. family support;

7. overcoming obstacles;

8. self-confidence.

C. Students consider that they learn:

1. to have a successful career;

2. to obtain recognition and be respected by the others, to obtain fame;

3. useful subjects in the future;

4. interesting and attractive subjects;

5. to be the best professional;

6. to take good grades, a scholarship;

7. the professor is a role model for me;

8. role model in the family in terms of learning, attitude of the family;

9. parents insist on graduating faculty;

10. the professor inspires fear.

D. The way you learn:

1. when I learn my aim is to understand what the professor teaches us in class;

2. when I study I associate new knowledge with what I already know;

3. in order to learn better, I try to assimilate taught information logically (diagrams, tables, formulas etc.);

4. when I learn, I try to find the usefulness of the information in the everyday professional life;

5. learning taught information as a computer game;

6. I resort to other information sources;

7. I usually learn by heart.

E. What would determine you more to learn?

1. to know that the information taught will be useful to me;

2. the atmosphere in class;

3. to apply what I have learnt in practice;

4. rewarding by praises, positive appreciation, encouragement;

5. courses should be exciting;

6. my opinion be considered by the professors;

7. rewarding in gifts, money, scholarship, other material benefits;

8. having role models;

9. introduction of the “another type of school” week (trips, creative activities, professional visits, socialising activities).

Note: Distribution of answer by order of occurrence frequency (1 - high frequency of answer)

Purpose of the Study

This paper proposes several methods to boost student motivation in the educational process.

Research Methods

Students want a successful career and good relations with the others, thus obtaining financial security with a view to starting a family, all of these leading in time to social prestige, fame and respect from the others. The level of training and the satisfactory results obtained, along with intelligence and smartness, are the most important factor in building a successful career. Motivation, hand in hand with a positive attitude toward work, determines a sustained work effort and overcoming of obstacles. The thinking process of optimists is more realistic, and they have greater chances to be motivated and to have positive attitudes towards work and effort. They have bigger chances to have a successful career.

A very high percentage of students are motivated to learn in the perspective of a successful career. Students need to feel the benefits of a subject matter and of the quality of the information delivered for their future career, to understand the concrete usefulness of what s/he learns on his/her professional path. In students’ opinion, the usefulness of subject matters dealing with personal and professional development, a successful career and respect from the others are a strong source of motivation.

In most cases, students associate new knowledge with already known knowledge and, in order to manage time efficiently, they try to understand in class what the professor teaches and to assimilate information logically. Students try to explain in practice what they learn and to find the usefulness of the information in their day-to-day professional life, having the ability to correlate theoretical and practical aspects. Information is assimilated logically, rather than “mechanically”.

The questionnaire shows the importance of appreciating the students as an encouraging factor to boost self-esteem and one’s potential to perform a task. Teaching in college in the form of a computer game is a highly used practice nowadays, when young people are fascinated by IT, which keeps them motivated.

Students believe that the introduction of the “another type of school” week in a semester could be useful, the same as in pre-university studies. Trips, creative activities and professional visits can result in pleasant and balanced social relations, friendships, relaxation and good mood. All these have a positive impact on learning, motivation, ambition, perseverance, emotional balance. The importance of good relations between individuals, getting to know your colleagues in different environment than the professional one, is also acknowledged by large companies through team building activities (for instance, a weekend in the mountains with the colleagues offered by the company together with a coordinator of group activities: entertaining and creative activities, visits to sites of interest for the company, etc.

Findings

The answered questionnaires show that the motivational attitudes towards work (study) are: the work itself (faculty, study), salary (or other financial or material rewards, scholarship), promotions, recognition, benefits, work conditions (the atmosphere in class), supervision (professors, manager), co-workers (school colleagues), organisational culture.

To educate means to focus on the evolution of each and every individual.

The conclusions of the research in this paper on building motivation in the educational process are:

- The importance of being aware of individual needs, path in life and learning objectives;

- Existence of role models to determine a boost in the motivation to learn;

- Importance of family attitude toward learning;

- Involving students in extracurricular activities (trips, visits) with themes adapted to the major subject matters, which can be useful and pleasant at the same time, with concrete application of theoretic information in the practical professional activity;

- Positive influence of the teaching approach on the motivation to learn (applying theoretical aspects, presenting essential and concise information, participative and active teaching, teaching process that is upgraded and permanently improved in terms of quality);

- Influence of the organisational culture of the school on the motivation to learn;

- Offering rewards (praise, prizes, trips, scholarships);

- Importance of introducing the “another type of school” week in a semester, the same as in pre-university studies.

The educational process is a conscious transformation by knowing and encouraging the student to be his/her best self. Each person should know him/herself well, appreciate his/her potential as accurately as possible and make the best use of his/her will to exploit his/her self-control, creativity and communication skills.

All these lead to building motivation in education and, consequently, to obtaining professional performance.

Conclusion

The methods of increasing motivation in the educational process presented in this paper result in positive feedback through implementation. Learning is determined by motivation. Keeping motivation alive is like a game, one should find methods to maintain interest. Motivational perseverance (ambition) can be cultivated by exercising the elements presented in the paper, leading to reaching the goal and the objectives of the task chosen. To educate means to focus on the evolution of each and every individual. “Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought” (Bergson, 1928).

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