1. Kortschak Center for Learning and Creativity
What is Motivation?
Madison Frisch
Kortschak Center for Learning and Creativity
Spring 2018
Hello, and welcome to the motivation workshop brought to you by the Kortschak Center for Learning and Creativity at the University of Southern California.

2. Learning Outcomes Interpret the components of motivation
Analyze your own levels of motivation
Understand why motivation is important for students in higher education
The learning outcomes for today’s workshop include learning a working definition of motivation, the three components of motivation, and factors that influence motivation. You will also be able to analyze your own levels of motivation and understand why motivation is so important for college students.

3. What is motivation? “Movere” → “Motivation” → gets us going
→ keeps us working
→ helps us complete tasks
Motivation (n): the process whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained
So, what exactly is motivation? The term “motivation” is derived from the Latin verb “to move”. The idea of movement is reflected in common ideas about motivation as something that gets us going, keeps us working, and helps us complete tasks. For this workshop, we will define motivation as the process whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained.
Schunk 2008

4. Breaking it Down: Three Components of Motivation
Choice
Persistence
Mental Effort
Motivation can be broken down into three separate components: choice, persistence and mental effort.
Schunk 2008

5. Choice
We make conscious and unconscious choices that influence our motivations for certain tasks every day.
While goals may not always be well formulated, and may change with experience, goals are important because they solidify the idea that individuals are conscious of something they are trying to attain or avoid.
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The first component we are going to discuss is choice. We are all motivated by the choices we make and things we choose to pursue, and we know that motivation involves goals that provides the force for and direction action.
All cognitive views of motivation are united in their emphasis on the importance of goals, and although goals may not always be well formulated, and may change with experience, goals are important because they solidify the idea that individuals are conscious of something they are trying to attain or avoid. (Schunk 2008).
Schunk (2008)

6. Persistence
It is the motivational processes such as expectations, attributions, and emotions that help people surmount these difficulties and sustain their motivation.
All motivated activity must be instigated and sustained in order for us to achieve our goals.
The next aspect of motivation we are going to discuss is persistence. Persistence is important because all motivated activity must be instigated and sustained in order to reach a goal. Starting towards a goal is often difficult because it involves taking the first step and making a commitment. Many major goals are long term, such as earning a college degree, or obtaining a good job. Much of what we know about motivation comes from determining how people respond to the challenges, problems, and setbacks they encounter as they pursue long-term goals. It is the motivational processes such as expectations, attributions, and emotions that help people surmount these difficulties and sustain their motivation (Schunk 2008)
Schunk (2008)

7. Mental Effort
Motivation requires mental or physical activity--often both
Physical effort: overt actions
Mental effort: cognitive actions
The more mental effort you put forth, the more likely it is that you will achieve your goal!
The third component of motivation is mental effort. We know that motivation requires either physical or mental activity. Physical activity can mean effort, persistence, and other overt actions, while mental activity includes such cognitive actions as planning, rehearsing, organizing, monitoring, making decisions, solving problems, and assessing progress. Most activities that students engage in are geared toward attaining their goals, and the more mental effort a student puts in to achieving their goal, the more likely they will achieve it. (Schunk 2008)
Schunk (2008)

8. Factors that Influence Motivation
Goals
Interests and Values
Self-Efficacy
Now that we know the three basic components of motivation, let’s discuss the factors that influence motivation. These factors are goals, interests and values, and self-efficacy.
Dembo and Seli (2016)

9. Mastery Goal Orientation
Goals
Mastery Goal Orientation
Performance Goal Orientation
Learn as much as possible for the purpose of self-improvement, irrespective of the performance of others
Students more likely to have a positive attitude towards the task, monitor their own comprehension, use complex learning strategies
Focus on social comparison and competition, main purpose is to outperform peers
Students more likely to have stress and anxiety about task, focus on memorization and other rote learning strategies, do not often engage in problem solving and critical thinking
One of the most influential factors on motivation is your goals and goal orientation. Your goal orientation in a particular course can greatly impact your motivation, even before you ever open a textbook or take your first lecture notes. There are two different types of goal orientation: mastery and performance. A mastery goal is oriented towards learning as much as possible for the purpose of self-improvement, irrespective of the performance of others. A performance goal focuses on social comparison and competition, with the main purpose of outperforming others on the task. Research shows that when students adopt a mastery goal orientation, they are more likely to have a positive attitude toward the task, monitor their own comprehension, use more complex learning strategies, and relate newly learned material with previously learned material. In contrast, students who adopt a performance goal orientation tend to focus on memorization and other rote learning strategies, so they do not often engage in problem solving and critical thinking.
Dembo and Seli (2016)

10. Interests and Values
Interests and values hugely affect students’ choices of activities, as well as the level of effort and persistence they put forth on a task or assignment.
If students value a task and believe they can master it, they are more likely to use different learning strategies, try hard, and persist until completion of the task.
The second factor that influences motivation is your own interests and values. Values and interests play an important role in academic behavior. They affect students’ choices of activities, as well as the level of effort and persistence they put forth on a task or assignment. If students value a task and believe they can master it, they are more likely to use different learning strategies, try hard, and persist until completion of the task. For example, a student who really wants to earn a college degree will do their best to utilize the resources available to them in order to make sure they persist to graduation and succeed in attaining that degree.
Dembo and Seli (2016)

11. Self-Efficacy Dembo and Seli (2016)
The belief that one can successfully complete a specific task
Students with high self-efficacy are more likely to:
Choose more difficult tasks
Expend more mental effort
Persist longer
Use more complex learning strategies
Experience less fear and anxiety regarding academic tasks
Have higher motivation and succeed in achieving their goals!
The third factor that influences motivation is self efficacy. Self efficacy is the belief that one can successfully complete a specific task. Students with high efficacy are more likely than their low-efficacy counterparts to choose difficult tasks, expend greater effort, persist longer, use more complex learning strategies, and experience less fear and anxiety regarding academic tasks. Students with high self efficacy are therefore much more likely to have higher motivation, and succeed in achieving their goals.
Dembo and Seli (2016)

12. Conclusion What are my goals?
Motivated behaviors are determined by choice of behavior, persistence and management of effort, and level of activity and involvement. Motivation is influenced by your goals, interests and values, and self-efficacy.
What are my goals?
What are my hopes, expectations, and fears about the future?
How interested am I in my courses?
Do I believe I can do well on different academic tasks?
What are the causes of my successes and failures?
Motivation is important because it is what causes us to actively look for resources to guarantee our success.
In conclusion, we know that motivated behaviors are determined by choice, persistence, and effort. We also know that the level of motivation can be influenced by one’s own goals, interests and values, and self-efficacy. In order to assess your own levels of motivation, you can ask yourself questions like: What are my goals? What are my hopes, expectations, and fears about the future? How interested am I in my courses? Do I believe I can do well on different academic tasks? What are the causes of my successes and failures? The answers to these questions can provide insight into what interests and drives you, as well as what motivates you to reach your goals. Overall, motivation is important because it is what causes us to actively look for resources to guarantee our success. Thank you for watching this presentation.
Dembo and Seli (2016)

13. References
Dembo, M., & Seli, H. (2016). Motivation and learning strategies for college success: A focus on self-regulated learning. 5th edition. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Schunk, D. H., Pintrich, P.R., Meece, J. (2008).Motivation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications. p