The tendency to find academic activities meaningful and worthwhile and try to benefit from them is called as
Motivation to learn
Understanding Motivation to Learn in Academic Activities
The question asks about the tendency for students to find academic activities meaningful and worthwhile and to strive to benefit from them. This concept is central to educational psychology and understanding how students engage with their studies.
Let's break down the key terms from the question:
- Academic activities: Refers to schoolwork, homework, classroom participation, studying, etc.
- Meaningful and worthwhile: Implies the student sees the value and relevance of these activities beyond just completing a task. They understand why they are doing it and see its potential benefit.
- Tendency to benefit: Indicates an active effort or drive to gain knowledge, skills, or understanding from the academic activities.
This specific combination of finding value and striving for benefit in academic activities points towards a particular type of motivation.
Exploring the Options
Let's look at the provided options and see which one best fits this description:
- Motivation to learn: This term directly addresses the internal drive or desire to acquire knowledge, skills, and understanding. It often involves finding inherent satisfaction and value in the learning process itself and the academic activities that facilitate it. This aligns perfectly with finding academic activities meaningful and worthwhile and trying to benefit from them.
- Performance goal: Performance goals focus on demonstrating competence relative to others or achieving external outcomes like grades, awards, or recognition. While performance goals can motivate students, they don't specifically capture the essence of finding the academic activities *themselves* meaningful and worthwhile. The focus is more on the result or comparison.
- Mastery goals: Mastery goals focus on developing competence, understanding the subject matter deeply, and improving skills. This is a type of intrinsic motivation and is closely related to finding academic activities worthwhile in terms of personal growth and understanding. However, "Motivation to learn" is a broader term that encompasses this drive for mastery but also includes finding general value and purpose in the academic journey beyond just skill acquisition.
- Positive practice: This is a very general term that could refer to beneficial study habits or positive engagement, but it's not a specific psychological construct describing the underlying tendency to value and benefit from academic activities.
Why Motivation to Learn is the Correct Term
Based on the definitions, "Motivation to learn" is the most accurate term to describe the tendency to find academic activities meaningful, worthwhile, and beneficial. It encompasses the intrinsic drive to understand and grow, the perceived relevance of the material, and the active engagement aimed at gaining something valuable from the learning process.
Importance of Motivation to Learn
Students with high motivation to learn are more likely to:
- Engage deeply with the material.
- Persist through challenges.
- Use effective learning strategies.
- Achieve a deeper understanding.
- Experience greater satisfaction from their academic activities.
| Concept | Primary Focus | Relation to Academic Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Motivation to learn | Finding value and seeking benefit in learning | Activities are seen as meaningful and worthwhile |
| Performance goals | Demonstrating competence, external outcomes | Activities are a means to achieve grades or surpass others |
| Mastery goals | Developing competence, deep understanding | Activities are opportunities for growth and skill development |
Revision Table: Key Terms in Academic Motivation
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Motivation to learn | The tendency to find academic activities meaningful, worthwhile, and to try to benefit from them. |
| Performance Goal | Aiming to demonstrate ability relative to others or achieve external rewards. |
| Mastery Goals | Aiming to understand the material deeply, develop skills, and improve competence. |
| Positive practice | General term for beneficial habits or engagement. |
Additional Information on Student Motivation
Understanding motivation to learn is part of the broader field of student motivation. Motivation can be broadly categorized into intrinsic and extrinsic types:
- Intrinsic Motivation: This comes from within the individual. A student is intrinsically motivated when they engage in an academic activity because they find it inherently interesting, enjoyable, or satisfying. Mastery goals are often linked to intrinsic motivation. Finding academic activities meaningful and worthwhile is a strong indicator of intrinsic motivation.
- Extrinsic Motivation: This comes from external factors. A student is extrinsically motivated when they engage in an academic activity to earn a reward (like good grades or praise) or avoid punishment. Performance goals often involve extrinsic motivation, though they can also have intrinsic components related to feeling competent.
Motivation to learn, as described in the question, heavily emphasizes the intrinsic value perceived in academic activities and the internal drive to benefit from them, although it can be influenced by a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
Important Questions from Types of Motivation
How does arts motivate student ?
A student writes in good hand writing because his teacher gives him a big star in his notebook. This is an example of -
Out of the following which is not an innate motive?
Praising effort rather than marks develops :
Excessive rewards in learning reduce :
