To Learn or Not To Learn: Understanding Student Motivation.

A multitude of factors affect the attitudes and behaviors that students bring to the learning situation. This document discusses some motivation-related terms and concepts. It then examines several factors that affect students' basic beliefs about and attitudes toward learning. The first section differentiates between the following terms: ability focus and task focus, performance goals and mastery goals, and learning and performance. The concept of "motivation to learn" implies that no external reasons exist for the pursuit of academic activities. Variables that contribute to the development of motivation to learn include parent role, developmental changes, self-perceptions of ability and competence, self-worth and effort, causal attributions, meaning, autonomy, and relatedness and belonging. (LMI)