Motivating Factors for Adult Learners in Higher Education Report Writing - Management Assignment Help

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Abstract

All learners learn best when they are motivated; so do adults. Hence, the way to ensure success of students in higher education is first to know what motivates and sustains them in the learning process. Based on a study of 203 university students, this paper presents eight top most motivating factors for adult learners in higher education. These include quality of instruction; quality of curriculum; relevance and pragmatism; interactive classrooms and effective management practices; progressive assessment and timely feedback; self-directedness; conducive learning environment; and effective academic advising practices. The study concludes that these eight factors are critical to eliciting or enhancing the will power in students in higher education toward successful learning. The implications for practice and further research are also discussed.

Keywords: Higher education, Motivating factors, Adult learners, Andragogy, Pedagogy 1. Introduction Gaining admission to a higher education institution is one thing, achieving academic success in a program of study is another thing. Many factors are critical to a student’s success in higher education and motivation is one of those key factors. The reality is that in all teaching and learning transactions, motivation is an inevitable construct that evokes and sustains effective learning. According to Wlodkowski (2008), motivation is an important condition in learning-- when it is low, potential for learning diminishes. In exploring the biology of learning, Zull (2002) concluded that motivation and learning are inseparable entities and from a motivational science perspective, Pintrich (2003) affirms a reciprocal relationship between motivation and academic achievement. Rotgans and Schmidt (2012) also corroborate the postulation of educational theories that an intricate relationship exists between motivation and achievement. Although there is a realization that motivation cannot be seen, touched, or measured directly, several schools of thoughts believe that a positive relationship exists between motivation and adult learning (Benseman, 2005; Brookfield, 1986; Brophy, 2004; Deckers, 2005; Deshler, 1996; Hirsch, 2001; Kim & Merriam, 2004; Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2005; Wlodkowski, 1985, 1999, 2003, 2008).

As explained by Wlodkowski (1999), “if we match two people of identical ability and give them identical opportunity and conditions to achieve, the motivated person will surpass the unmotivated person in performance and outcome” (pp. 3-4). This means that there is a causal factor--something causing one to behave in a particular way and that something is motivation. In other words, the higher the level of motivation, the more learning takes place. Among many distinguishing characteristics, adult learners can be differentiated from other categories of learners simply by age. In the United States of America, a person is legally considered an adult at age 18. The Wikipedia (free encyclopedia) defines an Adult learner (North America) or mature learner (United Kingdom) (sometimes also called adult student, returning adult, adult returner, and student) as any person socially accepted as an adult who is in a learning process, whether it is formal education, informal learning, or corporate-sponsored learning. The UK National Adult Learning Survey 2010 has emphasized that adult learners are more likely than other groups of students to engage in further learning and to be motivated in doing so (BIS, 2012).

2. Literature Review

According to Beck (2004), “The word motivation is derived from the Latin verb movere, which means to move. Motivation is then concerned with our movements, or actions, and what determines them” (p. 3). It is a broad theoretical concept that we often use to explain why people engage in particular actions at particular times (Beck, 2004). Schunk, Pintrich, and Meece (2008) define motivation as “the process whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained” (p. 4). Thorkildsen (2002) defines motivation as “an internal force that activates, guides, and maintains behavior over time (p. ix). “Most psychologists concerned with learning and education use the word motivation to describe those processes that can (a) arouse and instigate behavior, (b) give direction or purpose to behavior, (c) continue to allow behavior to persist, and (d) lead to choosing or preferring a particular behavior” (Wlodkowski, 1985, p. 2). Galbraith (1990) perceives motivation as a concept that helps us to understand human behavior and performance and as an unstable construct that cannot be directly measured or validated through the physical or natural sciences. According to him, most psychologists use the term motivation to describe those processes that can energize human behavior and give direction or purpose to a particular behavior. In other words, when we consider the human behavior in a learning setting, such as attention, concentration, effort, perseverance, and initiative, we are dealing with motivational processes that are activated and sustained through human energy while what we focus upon or pay attention to deals with the directional aspect of human motivation.

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