Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Learning Motivation
Learners come from all walks of life. They have different life experiences, different educational levels and different reasons to learn. With so much variation in the learners who may be following a course, how can educators all achieve the best? The first step is to understand learner motivations, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, and with what level of knowledge they come into the course.
Intrinsically motivated learners
Intrinsically motivated learners are self-motivated. They may be interested in the subject out of their own sense of curiosity. These learners want to learn the background and context of the material, and they want to hear your anecdotes and participate in activities. These learners are often enthusiastic and can actually help motivate other learners to be more enthusiastic about the material as well.
Intrinsically motivated learners may also be interested in following the course in an effort to acquire specific knowledge towards a future goal. Some examples of this could be learning coding to build a video game or learning a language before a big holiday. These learners do not care much for the context or background, they just want to learn the material or the skill. As self-motivated learners, they value the time to work on the material or problems on their own without too much guidance, and prefer a trial-and-error style of learning. Fortunately, it is generally fairly easy to keep both types of intrinsically motivated learners involved.
Extrinsically motivated learners
This brings us to extrinsically motivated learners. Rather than being self-motivated to learn the material, these learners have external reasons to be in the course. The most common reason why these types of learners are enrolled in a course is that it is a required course for a greater goal or prospect, often going on to a degree or a compulsory training required by a job word. Learners respond to this situation in different ways. Some prefer to just learn what they need to know and be on the go. These learners do not want context or anecdotes. Often they will be content with just a list of what they need to know. They are often most motivated simply by the degree they will receive or the completion of the course in general.
Some externally motivated learners may have problems as motivation above. One example is a learner who feels that they already know the material and therefore do not have to be in the course. These learners may already have a broad knowledge of the topic and will not want to go through the “beginner” material or hear about background stories or anecdotes. While it can be challenging to keep these learners involved, they are very good at picking up nuances in the material, which can be a great strength. Another more typically difficult type of externally-motivated learner is the one who studied the subject long ago and needs to update their knowledge base. The learners may not feel that they have anything to learn and may need to be convinced that the course is worth their time. These learners thrive when they have time to make sense of the differences between their previous knowledge and the new knowledge presented to them.
By this time, it may seem obvious that it may be a little harder to keep extrinsically motivated learners busy with the material. However, there are ways to help improve it. The best first step is to help learners find intrinsic motivation. Try to help them determine if there is in fact a real application for the material they are going to learn. Use examples that are relevant to the learners’ experiences to build more interest in the topic. Challenge the learners to tell you how this material can be useful to them.
Learner knowledge levels and learning motivation
Apparently, learners in a course will all be at the same level of knowledge. However, just as you will have learners with different motivations in your course, so you will also have learners with different amounts of background knowledge. Learners at different levels logically need different things from an educator. Learners with less background knowledge need more guidance, good introductions to new material, and some early “easy wins” in classroom activities to get them interested in the topic. More advanced learners will want more independence, more nuanced material and answers to more specific, higher-level questions.
While it may seem difficult to keep all of these types and levels of learners happy, there are a few ways to accommodate these differences. Firstly, you do not have to make every part of the learning process compulsory for every learner. Consider which parts can be done optionally or independently rather than during active class time. It allows higher level learners and learners who have an agenda on what to learn to bypass parts that will not be particularly useful to them.
Second, find ways to make lower-level background information accessible without cluttering it up. For example, in an e-learning environment, if a reading passage has terms or concepts that lower-level learners may need help with, make those definitions available by flipping through the term, rather than spelling out everything in the reading itself.
Third, intrinsically motivated and higher-level learners provide opportunities to help their peers with the material. These learners may have relevant experiences or anecdotes that may be useful to the other learners.
Teaching learners at different levels and with different motivations may feel like a challenging task, but it can be done successfully if approached carefully. Taking into account the levels and motivations of your learners, you can find ways to accommodate as many of them as possible throughout the course.