How Motivation Affects Learning and Behavior (continued)
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: Middle Years (5-9), Preteen Years (9-13), Teen Years (13-19), Motivation and Achievement
Extrinsic motivation is not necessarily a bad thing, however; often learners are simultaneously motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors (Cameron & Pierce, 1994; Covington, 2000; Lepper et al., 2005). For example, although Shannon enjoys her writing course, she also knows that a good grade will help her get a scholarship at State U. Furthermore, good grades and other external rewards for high achievement may confirm for Shannon that she is mastering school subject matter (Hynd, 2003). And over the course of time, extrinsic motivation may gradually move inward, as we’ll discover in Chapter 12 in our discussion of internalized motivation.
In some instances, extrinsic motivation—perhaps in the form of extrinsic reinforcers for academic achievement or productive behavior—may be the only thing that can get students on the road to successful classroom learning and productive behavior. Yet intrinsic motivation is ultimately what will sustain students over the long run. It will encourage them to make sense of and apply what they are studying and will increase the odds that they will continue to read and learn about writing, science, history, and other academic subject matter long after they have left their formal education behind.
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