MOTIVATION AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT 1

The Effects of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation on Student Achievement

Lee McFatridge

FRER 7130 Educational Research

Dr. Cordelia Zinskie

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As a teacher, I have contemplated if there were ways to get students to take ownership of
their learning. Often when we discuss intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation we are
talking more about the prevalence of handing out candy for students to have positive motivation.
That isnt necessarily the case as these studies defined it. Extrinsic motivation in these studies
was more inclined to be outside forces, parents or teachers roles, praise, and social acceptance,
that was motivation for the student. In all the research articles they did consider this a reward in
the view of the students instead of an internal desire to learn for the sake of learning and
enjoyment. The commonality among the articles I chose was on the effects of different types of
motivation on student academic success. I attempted to stay with research dealing with
elementary students but found one study using university students that I found interesting since it
dealt with the subject of teacher classroom behaviors providing different forms of student
motivation.

In finding articles that addressed intrinsic and extrinsic motivation research, I only had a
few issues. I made sure to use the Discover@GeorgiaSouthern library search engine to find
empirical research articles that would fit the topic of my search. I did have to initially change a
few of my search word phrases in order to find articles that were pertinent as well as make sure
they fit the time frame of 2006 to 2016. At first, I did not consider the length of the article as
something to consider, however, there were several that I did not use due to a length of more than
30 pages of manuscript. This effort of less lengthy articles was not to take the easy road.
Several of the lengthier ones got in more detail of the statistical analysis than I am able to
understand at this time. I have realized the structure of empirical research articles are very
similar in appearance. They may have slightly different names for the sections they use, but
most remain consistent with section labels. This does provide for easy access when comparing
articles several articles for design, method or measurement devices used in the study.

One of the things I quickly noticed was this is a global concern in education. In only 2 of
my articles were the sample from the United States. The other 3 articles were from Jordan,
Germany, and Portugal. Seeing this is a global concern, I see how these studies could be
generalized into any classroom across the entire world. The one study which took place in
Jordan may not have complete generalizability due to the fact of how females education is not
considered as important as males in that culture. Another thing I had not considered was how
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can work together during some instances, especially in early
elementary school. Early elementary school children receive joy from the parents and teachers
praise and although this is extrinsic motivation, younger children want to please for how that
makes them feel. Eventually, as students get older the value of acceptance from parents or
teachers becomes more like a control factor and they soon disregard the praise. If the student did
not have a strong intrinsic value of learning as well, then there is no switch over to it after this
occurs. In this type of case, the extrinsic motivation was detrimental to any intrinsic value the
student may have had. Although the research did suggest that students can eventually succeed in
higher grades, i.e., high school, having a strong extrinsic motivation, this is usually due to the
competition for college acceptance. If a student isnt interested in pursuing a higher degree, then
this could be why high school dropout rates are high.
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In order to help develop a more secure intrinsic motivation for students, it seems there are
several things parents and teachers can do to support this. One thing parents can do is provide
support at home without trying to control the students behavior towards learning. Both teacher
support and parent support should promote autonomy behaviors with the students education. By
doing this the student can be more prepared for middle school and higher grade environments
that call for more student self-regulation and mastery of the material. In order for teachers to
have students foster intrinsic value of learning, they can make sure to provide lessons that foster
learning that has purpose, such as project-based learning and authentic real-world application.
Teachers should also consider providing a safe atmosphere for students with strong interpersonal
relationships. In order to promote student autonomy, parents and teachers should let the student
have a voice in their learning and not attempt to control every aspect of the learning process.
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AlDhamit, Y., & Kreishan, L. (2016). Gifted students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and

parental influence on their motivation: From the selfdetermination theory perspective.

Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 16(1), 13-23. doi:10.1111/1471-

3802.12048

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between student
motivation and parental influence. Intrinsic motivation was determined as that which students
have set autonomous goals for themselves and their learning. Extrinsic motivation was
determined by outside influences (e.g., pressures to meet expectations) that others have set for
the students and their learning. Both of the motivations were then compared to parental support
at home. The study aimed to determine the correlation between these variables and students
perceived competence, achievement based on grades, differences between male and female
students, and parents educational level as it bears on childrens motivation. This correlation
study used Likert scale surveys to the students. Three different scales were included;
motivational, perceived competence, and parental support. After the data was collected results
indicated that there were notable positive correlations between the two motivations and the type
of parental support provided at home and perceived future roles of male versus female children.

Becker, M., McElvany, N., & Kortenbruck, M. (2010). Intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation

as predictors of reading literacy: A longitudinal study. Journal of Educational

Psychology, 102(4), 773-785. doi:10.1037/a0020084

The aim of this longitudinal study was to determine the predictability of the dependent
variable, 6th-grade reading literacy, based on the independent variable of 4th-grade reading
motivation. Another independent variable was suggested to be the reading amount which should
positively correlate with reading literacy and motivation. The study would examine using a
longitudinal perspective on reading amount and reading literacy correlation to both intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation. Students reading literacy was measured in three waves: at the end of
Grade 3, the middle of Grade 4, and the end of Grade 6. Measures were taken using multiple
choice tests to check for comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. Intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation measures were taken using Likert scales. Although the reading amount was a
continuous variable the researchers categorized it for easier data interpretation. They concluded
that a students intrinsic motivation in Grade 4 can predict the reading literacy of students in
Grade 6 and above, whereas, extrinsic motivation has a direct negative effect on reading literacy.

Corpus, J. H., & Wormington, S. V. (2014). Profiles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in

elementary school: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Experimental Education, 82(4),

480-501. doi:10.1080/00220973.2013.876225
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The purpose of this study was to determine if students with both intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation (high quality), high intrinsic motivation (primarily intrinsic), or high extrinsic
motivation (primarily extrinsic) achieve better in elementary school. This study would also
determine if the motivation of a student changed over the course of time. The hypothesis was
that primarily intrinsic motivation would be positively correlated to both the instruments of
achievement. The dependent variable, achievement, was determined by grade point average and
standardized tests given once a year to the students. A Likert scale survey was used to determine
the students motivation. Once the data was available, the grade level students, 3rd through 5th,
were then cluster grouped according to achievement and motivation. The primarily intrinsic
group scored better on achievement measures than the other groups, while the high quality group
scored higher than the primarily extrinsic group. Students did move into different cluster groups
during the study, though students did not go into the primarily intrinsic group from the others.

Lemos, M. S., & Verssimo, L. (2014). The relationships between intrinsic motivation, extrinsic

motivation, and achievement, along elementary school. Procedia - Social and Behavioral

Sciences, 112, 930-938. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1251

The researchers offer that other studies of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation have noted
students may use a combination of the two in any academic task. However, the aim of this study
was to assess IM and EM separately and then analyze any relationships between them. This
study used two groups of students. One group was a cross-sectional group to determine the
analysis of the constructs of IM and EM. The other group was a longitudinal group to examine if
the relation between IM and EM evolve over time and how it may affect achievement. The
measurement instrument for motivation was decomposed Harters scale so students could rate
the degree to which both motivations independently affected their academics. For academic
performance, a single score was obtained by averaging academic scores. The data showed that
there was only a modest correlation between motivations when they were assessed
independently. Lower grade elementary students use both motivations equally and achieve well.
Whereas, by the time students reach 6th-grade extrinsic motivation will not help them achieve.

Reeve, J., & Jang, H. (2006). What teachers say and do to support students' autonomy during a

learning activity. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(1), 209-218. doi:10.1037/0022-

0663.98.1.209

The aim of this quantitative study was to investigate if teacher behaviors could influence
students autonomy. The researchers used a sample of 72 pairs of homogenous pre-service
teachers. One would be the teacher the other the student. The teacher would then be given time
to go over a puzzle alone and then have time to set up a seating arrangement. The choice of the
teacher to sit near the puzzle and manipulatives versus allowing the student to sit closer
determined the instructional setting, controlling or autonomy-supportive, by the researchers. The
student was told their job was to solve the puzzle and the teacher was told their job was to help
the student solve the puzzle. After 10 minutes, post-session questionnaires, teacher and student
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surveys, were given to determine if the independent variable, teacher behavior, had a relationship
to the two dependent variables, perceived autonomy and interest-enjoyment. Results supported
that some autonomy-supportive styles of teaching (e.g., listening, time for student talking,
affirmation, allowing student self-direction) are positively correlated with students sense of
autonomy.