ABSTRACT
The study attempts
to investigate the influence of motivation on the academic performance of
students in selected secondary schools in Ikeja Local Government Area of Lagos
State. In this study, extensive and relevant literature was reviewed under sub-
headings.
The descriptive
research survey was employed in assessing the opinions of the respondents using
the questionnaires and the sampling techniques. One hundred and twenty
respondents were selected as samples for the study.
Four null
hypotheses were formulated and tested in this study using the t- test
statistical tool at 0.05 level of significance. At the end of the analyses, the
following results emerged:
1. A significant
influence of motivation on academic achievement exists.
2. The academic achievements
of students who are motivated differ from those who are not motivated.
3. There is no
significant gender difference in the performance of students who are motivated
and those who are not.
In conclusion, it
was found that a insignificant differences exists between the social adjustment
of students who are motivated and those who are not.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgment iv
Abstract v
CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 Introduction/Background
to the study 1
1.1 Theoretical
background to the study 2
1.2 Statement
of the Problem 5
1.2 Purpose
of the study 7
1.3 Research
Questions 8
1.4 Research
hypotheses 8
1.5 Significance
of the study 9
1.6 Scope
of the study 10
1.7 Operational
Definition of Terms 11
CHAPTER
TWO
2.1 Concept
of Motivation 13
2.2 Early
Theories of Motivation 14
2.21 Drive
Theory 15
2.2.2 Expectancy-
value theory 16
2.3 Contemporary
Theories of Motivation 18
2.3.1 Beliefs about Ability 19
2.3.2 Belief
about ability: Self efficacy Theory 21
2.3.4 Belief
about ability :Learned Helplessness Theory 22
2.4 Future
Challenges of Motivation 27
2.6 Extrinsic
Reformers in Motivation 28
2.7 Mediating
cognitive processing motivation 29
2.8 Intrinsic
Versus Extrinsic Motives 32
2.9 Classical
Reinforcement Theory 34
2.10 Individual
Differences in Motivation 35
CHAPTER
THREE
3.0 Introduction 37
3.1 Research
Design 37
3.2 Population
of the study 38
3.3 Sample
and sampling Techniques 38
3.4 Research
Instrument 38
3.5 Procedure
for data collection 39
3.6 Data
analysis procedure 39
CHAPTER
FOUR
4.1 introduction 40
4.2 Hypothesis
one 40
4.4.2 Hypothesis
two 41
4.4.3 Hypothesis
Three 43
4.2.4 Hypothesis
four 44
4.3 Summary
of Findings 45
4.4 Discussion
of Findings 45
CHAPTER
FIVE
5.1 Introduction 51
5.2 Summary
of the study 51
5.3 Conclusions 52
5.4 Recommendations 53
References 56
Appendix 59
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION/
BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM
Miller and Janet
(1989) defined motivation as the study of why people think and behave as they
do. It is a branch of psychology which concerned with the understanding of the activation, organisation and direction
of behaviour.
If actions that
seem to lead to the same goal, such as food, are grouped together , it may be
said that these actions are all energiesed and guided by the same motive
(hunger). But ,
unless the motives existence can be shown apart from the actions, it is
supposed to explain the explanation in
circular ( why does he / she eat?) because he/ she is hungry. How do you know ?
Because he eats. Psychologists have used
general approaches to show that motives
exist and that they are useful theoretical concepts.
Adams (2002),claims
that in an achievement setting, someone would be concerned with motivation if
he were to ask , for example, why some students persist to task completion dispite erroneous difficulty, while others
give up at the slightest provocation,
or why some students set such
unrealistically high goals for themselves that failure is bound to
occur.
Motivation is the
study of what pushes or pulls an individual to start, direct, sustain and
finally end an activity. For example, an achievement activity such as studying
for examination. Motivation researchers would want to examine what the person
is doing, the choice of behaviour, how long it takes that person to get started
etc or wish to see the latency of behaviour, how hand the individual actually
works at the activity ( the intensity of behaviour);how long that individual is
willing to remain at the activity ( the
persistence of behaviour ) and what the
person is thinking or feeling while engaged in the activity or the cognition
and emotional reactions that accompanying behavioural (Anet, 1999).
The focus on the “why” of achievement is quite different from the study of
achievement itself. Educationist, sometimes continue the topics of researchers
who study motivation with the topic of
researchers who study performance , achievement and learning.
1.1 THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The scientific
study of motivation as a discipline
separated from learning, began researchers were primarily interested in the
factors that aroused behaviour, so that got it started in the first place. It
was widely belived at the time that the optional state of balance and
equilibrium where all needs were
satisfied .
The process of
keeping the organisaiton at this optional level is known as homeostasis.
Homeostatic balance was also thought to
be satisfying which was compatible with the belief that organism or the desire
to maximize pleasure and minimize pains.
Theories of
motivation that emerged in the 1930s were based on the ideas of homeostatic and
Idolism as foundational principles.
Drive Theory : The
best known of these early conceptions was Clark Hull’s drive theory. (Hull
1950), behaviour is a function of drive and habit. Drives in Hullian framework
are unsatisfied needs such as the need for food ( hunger) or the need for water
(Thirst) .The drive to satisfy one’s needs is what arouses or energies
behaviour . habits in term providers a direction for behaviour . Habits are
stimulus responses, bonds that are built
up over time as a result of prior learning for example , if someone’s needs to acheive has been satisfied
in the past studying hard for exams,
then deficit in that need (arousal) should be satisfied by renewed study
behaviour.
Thus, behaviour can
be explained by both a motivation components ( the drive that energies
behaviour) and a learning component ( the habit that provides direction or
indicates what particular behaviour will be initiated.
Simple, yet
elegant, drive theory generated vast
amount of motivation research from the 1930s thought he 1950s of most relevance
to education were studies on anxiety are conducted by Kenneth (1957) who was a
student of Hull. According to Kenneth, anxiety is a drive and it therefore,
arouses behaviour. In this case, the speed with which one learns simple versus
complex tasks. One simple tasks where there is already a strong habit, strength
anxiety will facilitate the speed of learning with complex tasks on the other
hand, where there are weak stimulus- response bonds,high anxiety should
interfere with learning because high
anxiety activates incorrect stimulus-
response bonds ( habits) that compete with correct response. In support of this
analysis, many studies reveals that high anxiety is neither uniformity adoptive
or maladaptive across all learning contexts.(puppet, 1988).
Achievement goals
capture the reason why a person engages in achievement behaviour and two broad
types have been identified. Students who pursue mastery goals are oriented
towards acquiring new skills or improving on their levels of competence . In
contrast, students who adopt performance goals are motivated by the intent to
demonstrate that they have adequate
ability and avoid displaying signs that they have low ability. According to
this analysis, individual can therefore, decide to engage in achievement
activities for two very difficult reasons: they strive to develop competence by
learning as much as they can, or they may strive to publicly display their competence by trying to out
perform others.(Amos, 1991)
A vast number of
studies suggest that mastery goals increase motivation more than do performance
goals. The general thinking is that mastery oriented individuals seek challenges and escalate their efforts
when task become difficult, whereas as performance ability as threatened in
challenging situations, which they tend
to avoid. More recently, researcher such as Edmund et al (2003) however
suggests that adopting performance goals in some situations may enhance
motivation. At times , the two goal orientation may go hand in hand (
people may strive to attain mastery and
outperform others ) the pursuit of performance
goals ( ie companying one’s elf to others) can provide dues that the
person is competent as will therefore, enhance motivation. It also appears that
when performance goals are
differentiated by approach ( demonstrating ability) and avoidance concealing
how ability) tendencies , it is mainly the avoidance components that
compromises sustained achievement strivings.(Adams, 2000)
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
motivation is the
reason why people think and behave as they do. It is what pulls or pushes an
individual to start, direct, sustain and finally end an activity. For
example, an achievement activity such as studying for
examination, motivation researchers would want to examine what the person is
doing, the choice of behaviour , how long it takes that person to get started
etc or they wish to see the latency of behaviour how long the individual
actually works at the activity ( the intensity of behaviour), how long that
individual is willing to remain at the
activity ( the persistence of behaviour) and what the person is thinking or
feeling while engaged in the
activity, or the cognitive
and emotional reactions that accompany behaviour (Anet ,
1999).
Adolescents in the
school setting need to be motivated if they would achieve
high academic performance . Teachers , who are in the habit of
motivating their students get the benefits of it because those students
motivated in terms of rewards such as praises and using other patterns of
motivation, out perform other children who are not motivated by their teachers.
Children who are not motivated tend to perform very low in their academic
pursuits. For example, children who
are not given pocket money, who are not
provided with educational materials such as textbooks, school fees are not paid
as at when do, will no doubt, perform below expectation by parents and
teachers. Also, students who are not given the needed classroom instructions by
their teachers and who are not rewarded whenever they do the right things in
the school will not have the interest, the desire to carry out the same performance or task again. This is
because a child carries out or repeats the same act or task again and again when he/ she is motivated or rewarded. The child refuses to
repeat itself he / she is not motivated or punished.
This study
therefore attempts to examine the influence of motivation on the academic performance of students in secondary schools.
This is because motivation is the central element in the academic performance
of children even adults in the educational setting anywhere.
1.2
PURPOSE OF THE
STUDY
The purpose of the
study is to examine the influence of motivation on the academic performance of
students in some selected secondary schools in Ikeja Local Government Area of
Lagos State.
Other specific
objectives of the study include to find
out
1. Whether motivation
has a significant influence on academic
performance of adolescents in schools.
2. Whether there is a
significant difference in the academic performance of students who are
motivated and those who are not.
3. whether there is a
significant influence of motivation on
the social adjustment of adolescents in schools.
4. Whether there is a
significant gender difference in
academic performance of students due to motivation.
1.3
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions will be raised in this
study :
1. Will there be any
significant influence of motivation on academic achievement of adolescents in
schools?
2. Will there be any
significant difference between the academic
performance of students who are motivated and those who are not ?
3. Do students who are
motivated have better school adjustment than those who are not?
4. Is there any
significant gender difference in the performance of students
who are motivated?
5. Will there be any
significant difference in the social adjustment of students who are motivated
in schools and those who are not?
1.4
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The following
hypotheses will be tested and analysed in this study.
1. There will be no
significant influence of motivation on the academic achievement of adolescents
in the school.
2. There will be no
significant difference between the academic performance of students who are
motivated and those who are not.
3. There will be no
significant gender difference in the
performance of students who are motivated.
4. There will be no
significant difference between the social adjustment of students who are
motivated.
1.5
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
STUDY
The study will be
beneficial to the following individuals.
1. Teachers will
benefit from this study in that, they will know better off the impact of
motivation on the academic achievement of students, with the findings and
recommendations of this study, teachers would have better insight into the
importance of motivating adolescents in school, so as to achieve greater
academic performance.
2.
Students would be the most beneficiaries of this study because
they would learn a lot from the recommendations of this study and its outcomes. They would be exposed to
the concept of motivation and achievement in school. This study will also
motivate them to study hard so as to increase their performance rates at
school.
3.
Parents would find this study of great benefit because it will
enable them to have positive perception of motivation and academic achievement
of their children and wards. The
recommendations of this study will no doubt help parents to motivate their
children and wards the more so that they would be high academic achievers in
the schools.
4.
Guidance and Counsellors would also see this study as beneficial and good because the
recommendations will assist them to counsel people, especially, the students
who are having low academic achievement due to poor or non- motivation by
either their teachers or their parents.
5.
The society will also find this study a great reference
point because it will also help them to
know better the importance of motivation
on the performance of adolescents in the school setting.
6.
scholars , new researchers and readers would find this study
beneficial in that , it will help them to carry out their work well either in
the school or out of it. This work will generally be a reference material to
many people who are solving problem of motivation and academic performance of adolescents in our secondary schools.
1.6
SCOPE AND
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The study will
cover the influence of motivation on the academic performance of adolescents
in some selected secondary schools in
Ikeja Local Government Area of Lagos State. Time, Finance and other logistics
would be a hindrance to the completion of this study.
1.7
OPERATIONAL
DEFINITION OF TERMS
The following
unfamiliar terms were defined in this
study thus:
1. Motivation:
Incentive Psychology the mental function or instincts that produces, sustains
and regulates behaviour in humans and animals. The drive or push that maintains
an action or behaviour of individuals.
2.
Psychology : according to Armolds (19994) , this means the
science that studies the human mind and behaviour.
3.
Motives: something (
as a need or desired ) that causes a person to act.
4. Achievement
Motivation : According to Camera and Barreh (1997)achievement motivation is the
desire to do well on tasks, relative to a stand and of achievement. Researchers
who study achievement motivation examine why some people persist on a task,
when most people would give up, and why others set unrealistically
high goals for themselves.
5. Intrinsic
Motivation: According to Hall (1995), This refers to the desire to perform an
activity for its own sake for example, people are likely to do something when
they find it inherently enjoyable.
6. Extrinsic
Motivation: Hall (1995) sees extrinsic motivation as the desire to perform an
activity because of external rewards,
7. Incentive Theory:
Reeve (1997) defines incentive theory as
the influence of external goals. For example, incentive theory emphasizes how
external goals motivates one to respond. An attractive incentive energises us
to do something, and unattractive incentive encourages us not to do something.
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