Jill Maschio, PhD
August 11, 2023 [updated 1/8/2025]
Have you ever had a bad day? We all have. Some people can have a bad situation occur in life and they keep going and don’t let it slow them down for long. For other people, it isn’t that easy. What’s the difference between the two people? The first one has learned that life will have setbacks and barriers, but that the sooner you can get around those and keep pressing forward, the more they can stay energized and motivated.
Motivation is a need or desire that drives and directs behavior (Myers & DeWall, 2018). For example, when our bodies tell us that we are hungry, we feel driven to go eat something that will satisfy that need. There are several reasons for motivation, such as instincts and physiological needs. According to Yerkes-Dodson (1908, as cited in Myers & DeWall, 2018), people perform best when there is moderate arousal. When taking an exam, moderate arousal increases the chances of performing one’s best. If the arousal or task is too difficult or too easy, then performance decreases.
Motivation moves us to complete an action. If a student is eager and excited to be pursuing his/her education, then that student is going to feel like attending class, taking notes, listening to lectures, and doing homework. The opposite can be said for a student who doesn’t take his/her education to heart and doesn’t care much about learning.
At the end of a term, I sent a survey link to my General Psychology students. I wanted to learn why students were registering for psychology. The highest answer, at 30%, reported that they took the course because their academic advisor recommended it to them. Twenty percent reported that they thought the course would be interesting, and another twenty percent reported they wanted to know how the mind works. That left 60% of students not having a logical reason for taking the course. To do well at many things in life, a person should know the reason for doing it in the first place and have a goal. Thinking about something beforehand helps us to dissect the situation and have a plan of action. This study may indicate that many students don’t know why they register for specific courses while in college.
You as an educator know the benefits of the courses you teach. It’s important to communicate that to your students. Hopefully, students will have a better understanding by the end of the course of how the course can impact their lives – their career.
Having the Right Level of Motivation
Have you ever been in a situation where you decided that it was too hard? Most of us can recall such an experience. You also can probably recall a time when something was too easy, and you were bored. According to Yerkes-Dodson (1908, as cited in Myers & DeWall, 2018), it is natural for people to quit when things are too challenging and become bored when things are too easy. Can this relate to college? Absolutely. When students face homework that they find too hard to complete, they are vulnerable to a lack of motivation. They disengage from work. The same can be applied to when work is too easy; students want to look for something that increases stimulation.
As an educator, your efforts should be to make the content not too difficult or too easy. Try breaking down topics into smaller increments. Mix things up a bit to keep student interest and make the topics relevant and relatable.
Try using AI to help create fun activities in the classroom that can increase student interest and motivation.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Motivation
According to Abraham Maslow, people are motivated to behave by an unmet need. He proposed two types of needs: physiological, such as the need to breathe and survive, and psychological needs, such as the need for love and acceptance. Psychologically, we are motivated to feel a sense of belongingness, love, and acceptance and that we have reached our fullest potential in life. Understanding those needs and how they drive human behavior can help you understand your students. They need to feel a sense of belongingness in the classroom, that they are accepted and meeting a long-term goal.
Social Learning and Motivation
Socially, we are impacted and motivated to behave in ways because of the presence of others. We impact how other people think, feel, and behave, and they impact us. Consider the storyline of the Kite Runner. Amir is a boy who grew up in a wealthy family and has servants: a father named Hassan and his son named Ali. Amir and Ali are half-brothers but do not know it until later in life. The two grew up being bosom companions. Other boys pick on Ali and Amir for being friends. One day, Ali was walking alone when the bullies cornered him and abused him. Amir came upon the incident but didn’t step in to help Ali. Amir’s decision not to help his best friend out of the dire situation haunted him. He couldn’t face Ali, so he made a story about Ali stealing a watch from him and telling his father. When Ami’s father confronts Hassen and Ali about the watch being stolen, Hassen knows that he has disgraced the family, and they leave Amir’s home. This led to a chain reaction of events.
One decision in life can have a major impact on relationships. Educators are a significant influence on the lives of their students. Feeling a sense of belongingness and acceptance in the classroom will influence students’ decision to stay.
References
Myers, D. G., & DwWall, N C. (2018). Exploring psychology. New York: Macmillan.
