Theories of Motivation in Learning

Motivation is the internal and external state or conditions (need, desire, want) that activate or organize the behavior and direct people to achieve their goal (Kleinna, 1981). There are two kinds of motivation; they are external and internal motivation. External motivation deals with the factors and things come from outside that can make people desire to do something. Where internal motivation is the reverse, and deals with the factors and things come from within themselves. If extrinsic and intrinsic motivation can be attained in the learning process, the student might perform better in the classroom. Thus, teacher has the important role to make the situation and condition where extrinsic and intrinsic motivation can grow. There are several theories that influence motivation, such as :

• Behavioral    :

Behavioral theory deals with the reinforcement that given by the people around in order to build a behavior in learning. Reinforcement such as praise, comment and good grade can increase the motivation from students to learn (Schunk, 2008). Thus the teachers need to shape behavior of students to be able to cooperate well in the classroom.

• Cognitive     :

Humans’ cognitive develops step by step start from the early ages. This theory explained by Piaget (1997) in his equilibrium theory. People need the scheme to understand the new concept that they obtain, when they have the new information with the scheme that they have before, people will be motivated to learn.
It brings the idea to create the learning process which is meaningful for the real life, because the students will feel motivated to learn new things with their existing knowledge and current understanding (Greeno, Collins, & Resnick, 1996). Thus, it is important to understand the development of students’ cognitive.

• Humanistic     :

Humans have the needs that they need to fulfill as a human being. These desire to According to Abraham Maslow (1970) there are five stages of need, they are psychological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization. These needs are not always in sequence, because in several cases, people might achieve the fifth stage (self-actualization) when they haven’t achieved the psychological needs.

• Socioculturalist     :

Vygotsky’s description of zone of proximal of development has explained that by interacting in society, people are motivated to learn. Social interaction can be the source for individual development and to constructs knowledge. Society can scaffold students to achieve their goals and it can motivate students because they know that they have more expert people   to ask for help.

Source:
Eggen, P., & Kauchak, D. (2010). Educational Psychology: Windows on Classrooms (8th Ed). New Jersey: Pearson Education International.