Does student motivation predict academic achievement and/or does academic achievement predict motivation? Unraveling the relationship between motivation and achievement has been a concern among researchers for a long time. Researchers at University of las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Université Grenoble Alpes conducted a study with 1,042 high school students from 16 different high schools in urban and rural areas. The research is published in British Journal of Educational Psychology.
In the study, researchers examined the reciprocal relationship between two different types of motivation: “autonomous” where students considered the activity to be important and meaningful on their own and “controlled” where students are working to obtain a reward or avoid punishment. They found that enjoying and valuing learning improved academic achievement, but not the other way around. In addition, working for rewards or avoiding punishment had no clear impact on academic achievement, highlighting the importance of fostering genuine interest in the classroom.
StepUp Note
In NeuroNet Learning, the research on goal-oriented behaviors shows us that “self-evaluation is the key to motivation.” This new research again shows that self-motivated learning results in higher grades, and that external motivation gives mixed results. StepUp to Learn focuses on self-evaluation, as children have to “watch and learn, then think and do.” Students grow in skills and confidence as they turn fluent skills into tools for new learning.
Note by Nancy W. Rowe, MS, CCC/A
Full research in British Journal of Educational Psychology