Essay Sample on Intrinsic Motivation

Introduction

Motivation is an individual's direction to behavior that renders him/her to desire to repeat a particular behavior for a prolonged period. It is also a set of forces that act behind a person's motives to execute certain tasks repeatedly. Motivation is an important part of living a healthy, productive and fulfilling life. Overcoming the challenges to motivation can play an imperative role in managing difficult times as well an in achieving an individual's goals. In learning institutions, intrinsic motivation is an imperative phenomenon that promotes the students' ability to yield a high academic performance.

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Students' motivation can be caused by either internal or external factors (Harris, 2013). Internal factors are measured as forms of intrinsic motivation and they are characterized by individual behavior that is encouraged by internal rewards (Berliner & Calfee, 2013; Deci, 2012). In intrinsic motivation, the motivational behavior arises from inside a student himself/herself because it is naturally satisfying to him/her. For instance, the feeling of triumph in a student after being offered an English contest award can be an intrinsic motivator for him/her to continue working hard in the subject for future rewards. There are six fundamental self-administered strategies that can be employed to promote intrinsic motivation in students in learning institutions.

Strategies for Intrinsic Motivation

Compete With Yourself

It is possible for a student to derive pleasure in working hard to achieve exemplary results in their academic performance. In such a case, students can train themselves to enjoy successful results after taking different examinations in class having worked very hard for it. Also, to maintain the exemplary achievements, the students can set higher targets for different subjects in every examination they undertake. For instance, if a student achieved 80% in English in the last examination, he/she can set a goal to achieve a 90% in the next English examination. Such goals are self-set and they can be used as internal influences to encourage learners to yield excellent results in their school work.

Compete With Others

Having a healthy competition with other students is also a strategy that can be used by learners as an intrinsic motivator in learning institutions. Inter-students competition can be highly effective for learners who love to be the best in examinations issued to them in class. The feeling of recognition by the other students due to excellent performance in a certain test can be a strong motivator for a particular student to work harder. To motivate himself/herself, a student should cultivate the desire to excel or be the best in his/her class as an intrinsic motivation strategy for encouraging hard work in education. Nevertheless, such an intrinsic motivational strategy should be performed with the parameters of the school's regulations. For instance, a student should not cheat on examination to defeat his/her peers. Instead, he/she can work hard by reading his/her academic work prior to examinations.

Setting Greater Goals

Every student should set realistic academic goals as an essential strategy for promoting exemplary performance. Individualized academic goals can be effective internal influences for students to work hard in their studies. Also, such goals should be renewed often after every academic milestone set by a student is attained. For instance, a student can set the goal to be number three in his/her class in terms of performance. If such a student attains that target, he/she should create an additional greater goal to meet in the next examination. For instance, the same stated student can set a greater goal of being first in his/her class in the next examination as a new self-driven goal to promote better academic performance.

Reinvent the System of Individual Rewards

High performing students have a way of rewarding themselves when every time they achieve a planned goal in their academics. Such rewards could be a number of things ranging from treating themselves at the local restaurants to having vacations with their close family members. Nevertheless, to promote their continued performance in schoolwork, learners should reinvent their individual goals for every new achievement they make in their academics. For instance, in the event a student went to the local museum as a treat for scoring an aggregate of "B" in their academics, he/she should develop a different reward for the next time he/she scores a good grade. For instance, the student can plan to attend a big music festival by the end of the semester if he/she scores an "A" grade in his/her examinations. Subsequently, such reinvented rewards can act as internal influences to promoting better rewards in the future.

Seek Better Mentorship

Mentors play an imperative role in people's lives. They are people with exemplary performance and personalities that are admired for their achievement. In academics, having a good mentor can be a source of self-inspiration to students. For instance, a student who has a mentor that is an academic with a great academic profile can view the mentor as his/her role model. In such a case, the student can work remarkably hard in his/her own academic work to achieve similar qualifications to those of his/her mentor. In addition, learners can also seek better mentors if their current mentors do not meet their desired future expectations. Such individual desires to seek better mentors to promote individual academic performance can also be considered as an intrinsic motivation strategy.

Avoid Negative Motivation

It is the opposite of motivation in an individual. In learning institutions, some people fear to try achieving some educational goals out of fear of an undesirable outcome. For instance, a student may fear to participate in a mathematics contest in his/her school out of fear of not becoming the best in the tests offered. Such fears can also be driven by worries of letting down peers for not representing them in the interschool mathematics contests in the right way. Recognizing the influences of negative motivation in a student and devising counteractive measures to promote motivation can be an effective internal driven strategy of attaining excellence in academics.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in learning institutions, intrinsic motivation is an imperative phenomenon that promotes the students' ability to yield a high academic performance. Intrinsic motivation can be characterized as the individual behavior to desire to continue perpetrating a certain act to seek an internal reward. In learning institutions, the use of intrinsic motivation strategies can help students in securing exemplary academic performance. In addition, some of the intrinsic motivation strategies that can be employed to promote the achievement of students include competing with oneself, competing with others, as well as setting greater performance goals. Other intrinsic strategies that may be beneficial to students may include reinventing the system of individual rewards, seeking better mentorship, as well as avoiding instances of negative motivation.

References

Berliner, D. C., & Calfee, R. C. (2013). Handbook of Educational Psychology. New York: Routledge.

Deci, E. L. (2012). Intrinsic Motivation. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media.

Harris, A. (2013). School Improvement: What's In It For Schools? New York: Routledge.