Becoming Lifelong Learners

By Sara Zifa, PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Resident

MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

Throughout this Educational Theory Course, we have learned different educational theories that mostly revolved around rewards as motivation for learning. In most cases, this reward would come in the form of a letter grade on a transcript or report card. While this method works almost as a bribe in getting students to learn the material, it is not certain that this information will be retained for very long. This is because once the award is achieved, there is no longer any incentive to review the material, perfect the skill or remember it in the future. Pure curiosity is what motivates students to go home and keep working on a project even after a grade has already been submitted for it. Curiosity is also vital for students to become lifelong learners, which encourages them to continue to grow and seek more information well after they complete the semester or graduate. The Self-Determination Theory (SDT) predicts that a students’ motivation to learn is determined by three main factors; autonomy, competence and relatedness¹.

What is Self-Determination Theory? 

SDT proposes the idea that extrinsic rewards may weaken student’s natural interest in the topic as they become less interested in the reward². Conversely, motivation increases as autonomy and intrinsic rewards increase¹. For this reason, SDT theory encourages educators to increase options for students, allowing them to make more decisions and thus increasing their motivation to learn. When students are under the impression that they chose to do something, then they are more likely to take more responsibility for the product. One way teachers can give off the impression that students are making all the decisions is by assigning projects but giving the students the option to do it any way they like. For example if they are doing a project about the respiratory system, the project can be a poster, a paper model, a story or an essay. Students will choose which way they would like to complete the project based on their own personal interests and strengths. When they don’t feel as though they were forced into doing something then they are less likely to think of excuses as to why they cannot complete it. This also provides the students with an advantage because they can use their strengths to create a project that makes the most sense to them. For example a student who is particularly artistic may draw pictures of the lungs and then realize that he understands the respiratory system much better now.

SDT theory also states that motivation increases when students have a high perception of their own competence level¹. When students perceive themselves as being proficient at a task or perceive themselves as doing well, they are more likely to work harder and continue to learn more. Conversely, students who feel that they are not succeeding in class are more likely to lose motivation and discontinue studying. Because of this, SDT theory encourages educators to provide unexpected positive feedback to students to improve their motivation to keep learning and growing. The third component of the SDT theory is relatedness. This part of the theory suggests that students feel more motivated to succeed in school when they have a stronger connection with their instructor. This becomes very important for students during middle childhood (ages eight to twelve)³. Educators can do this by becoming more culturally competent, teaching with examples related to the students’ day-to-day life and expressing genuine concern in their students’ life.

By providing more options in the classroom setting, giving positive feedback and taking steps to better understand the students, educators can improve intrinsic motivation. Once students develop a high level of intrinsic motivation, they can go on to maximize their learning ability while in school but then also beyond graduation to become lifelong learners.

Self-Determination Theory, http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/. Accessed 24 September 2017. 

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum.

McCombs, B. Developing Responsible and Autonomous Learners: A Key to Motivating Students. American Psychological Association, http://www.apa.org/education/k12/learners.aspx. Accessed 24 September 2017.