Some students work hard in terms of their study while other spend much time in activities other than study. Some students take their studies seriously while others may study only to get passing marks in their exams. Some students attend the class to learn while others sit in the class only to mark their attendance just to meet the attendance criteria for appearing in the exam.

Why are some students more motivated for their studies while others are less motivated for their studies? There are several factors that contribute to the motivation of a student. Realizing these factors, the teacher can motivate their students to study. Since this is all about motivation, we would discuss here various perspectives of motivation to explain the factors of motivation for study.

The behavioral perspectives consider the external rewards and punishments as the key factors of motivation.  These positive or negative stimuli, known as incentives, direct and energize the behavior of an individual towards some activity.

Educational implications of the behavioral perspective

It implies that students can be motivated by using incentives designed for students to motivate for study. It involves advising and educating students about the general positive outcomes of their studies so that they can take them as incentives for their study, such as if they study, they will become productive citizens and that they will be able to get a good job to lead a good life.

Similarly, in the classroom, the teachers may use grades, scores and verbal appreciation as incentives to motivate the student. Some of the incentives which the teacher can provide are the following:

• Teachers should appreciate students if they perform well in their studies.
• The student should be awarded acknowledgement certificates for their academic achievements.
• Primary level children should be given stars on their better performance in their test. Most schools use this tip to motivate younger students. For instance, if the child gets good marks in a test, he is given one, two or three stars simply by drawing stars near their marks which does motivate them.
• Some prizes may also be promised for students getting top three positions in the class. The prize can be a book, performance badges or shields, or a small amount of money.
• At home, the family can promise younger kids for going on a trip, going to some park or buying a gift (other than the routine ones) as a reward for their academic performance.

Similarly, students can be refrained from wasting time (rather than study) by educating them about the possible negative outcomes of such behaviour for their academic career. Typically, teachers should refrain from criticizing and scolding the students because this can work in the opposite way. Therefore, if a student gets constantly low marks, he should be given polite advice to explain things for his betterment and to boost his morale. This works the best.

One of the main assumptions of the humanistic approach is that every individual has an innate capacity for growth. However, the person will grow to his full potential (in other words self-actualize) only when the right conditions are provided to him. Empathy and unconditional positive regard are the most important conditions which ensure the growth of an individual.

According to this approach, individuals have an innate ability for growth, however, they must be provided with the right conditions for their growth. This approach has a connection with Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation which provides the following five levels of motivation which should be considered for providing the right conditions to an individual.

1. Physiological: Food, water, sleep and sex.
2. Safety: Protection from external threats and harm
3. Love and belonging: To provide love to instill sense of belongingness in the individual to the group.
4. Esteem needs: The need to feel good about oneself and to be valued and recognized by others.
5. Self-actualization: To achieve one's full potentials.

Educational implications of the humanistic approach

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the need fulfillment work in a sequence. This means that the lower-level needs must be met before the higher-level needs are met. The means that unless the lower-level need is fulfilled, the higher-need in the hierarchy may not work properly even if it is fulfilled. However, since the focus here is on student’s growth, we must understand that these are important needs that should be fulfilled for student’s motivation. For instance, a child sitting in the class, who is hungry, may not be able to pay proper attention to what is taught by the teacher. Therefore, the child’s physiological needs (e.g., food, water, and sleep) must be fulfilled in the first place. This would enhance students general physiological wellbeing and mental performance. The other three needs (e.g., safety, love and esteem) are extremely essential for the psychological wellbeing of the student. The student must feel safe from possible dangers and risks. Likewise, the student should be given proper love and esteem (respect) so they can view themselves as a valued member of the group and perform efficiently. Correcting conditions for students considering these needs would help them achieve self-actualization – to reach their full potential. 

The cognitive perspective stresses the cognitive basis of motivation. In other words, people are motivated when they are convinced of something based on their thoughts and judgement. It involves setting goals, identifying the importance of the goals, and devising strategies to achieve the goals. It means that when an individual identifies his goals, and understand the importance of these goals achievement, he is motivated to find out ways and means to achieve the goals efficiently.

Educational implications of the cognitive perspective

According to this perspective, some cognitive changes or considerations are important for motivating a student. Sometimes a student may lack of sense of responsibility which should be addressed in the first place. The student should be made realize that he is a responsible person who will contribute to his personal wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of his family and the larger society. They should be advised on what can be good goals of a student and why these goals are important. This will give an opportunity to the student to realize or to set his academic goals. The student may also be advised in a way to make it easier for him to choose the best course of action in relation to his goal achievement.

According to this perspective, students should be given a sense of responsibility. They should be given the chance to set goals for themselves. If they set their goals, they will also hold themselves responsible for their goals. Such a sense of responsibility will boost their motivation.

The above psychological approaches emphasize extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation means that the factors of motivation come from outside the body such as prizes, gifts and rewards. Intrinsic motivation means that factors of motivation come from inside the body such as a sense of pleasure, sense of satisfaction and personal potential, and personal sense of responsibility or judgement.

Extrinsic motivation is suggested by behaviour approaches that emphasize incentives and rewards for motivation. The intrinsic motivation is suggested by cognitive and humanistic approaches which emphasize the role of internal bases of motivation such as cognitive considerations.

Extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation are equally important; however, they should work in balance with each other. For instance, if the student is motivated to learn solely by incentives, it may undermine his intrinsic motivation which is equally important. This means that the student would study only to earn some incentives but not because of his internal motivation which is necessary for a student to develop his personal interest in his studies. Therefore, there should be balance in the provision of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The student may be motivated by some incentive and at the same time, he should be advised to trigger his intrinsic motivation. Another aspect of it is that a student at an early age may be motivated by incentives to help him develop his intrinsic motivation as he matures.

The focus here is on balance because the incentives are generally easy to provide but enhancing intrinsic motivation may require some work on the part of parents and teachers. Therefore, the role of intrinsic motivation should not be ignored because it is necessary for a student’s personal devotion to his studies, sense of creativity, sense of responsibility and other such attributes required for academic performance. An intrinsically motivated student would express relatively more love, seriousness, and persistence about his studies.

Interest is one of the key factors in intrinsic motivation that can be increased in multiple ways. For younger students, the books must be colorful and having pictures which attract the students to study them. It can be used with primary level students. Similarly, teacher should provide examples from real life to make the understanding easier. Use of technology should be made to provide videos about the topics taught in the class. This will make the learning more interesting. Charts and models should be made available to the students. One important thing to be noticed is that students show interest in those subjects which they understand, thus the teacher should clarify each and every concept to the students the easiest possible way.

Students have their own individual level of intelligence. Every student has his/her level of ability. Thus, tasks provided by the teacher should match the level of the students. If easier tasks are given to intellectually superior students, they might get bored. On the other hand, if too much challenging tasks are given to normal level students, it will make them anxious. Thus, the teacher must examine the mental level of the students in giving them tasks.

According to Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs we all humans have the need to be loved and have healthy relationships. Thus, for students who have conflicts in family, with peers or with teachers, their conflicts must be resolved.  Parents can also play their role by supporting their children and understanding their perspective. Resolving student’s conflicts help students concentrate on their studies.