Abstract
In recent years, motivation has received noticeable research attention. Self-motivated students' online learning efforts can be influenced by their ability to control their thoughts, learning behaviour, and motivation. Studies indicate that motivation in online learning does not gain adequate attention. This chapter will contribute to fulfil the gap and offer prospects for online higher education in Bangladesh. It will highlight some detailed empirical findings regarding motivation in online learning of tertiary students of Bangladesh and its association with students' academic achievement. The chapter will also provide some suggestions based on existing experiences gained from continuing efforts in the pandemic for developing countries and low-resource settings like Bangladesh that will be helpful for teachers, researchers, and policymakers to redesign teaching-learning activities. From the suggestions of this chapter, even resource-constrained countries would get some ideas to identify appropriate online teaching-learning tools to re-organise and reuse their trivial resources.
TopIntroduction
In the twenty-first century, the education system worldwide has been unprecedentedly damnified due to the unanticipated prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that the pandemic has crippled conventional face-to-face learning considering public health crisis and social isolation, all countries, including Bangladesh, have been compelled to shift from face-to-face learning to emergency online learning to protect the education system from an adverse effect of this pandemic that has made an enormous impact on the teaching-learning process (Godber & Atkins, 2021; Sarkar et al., 2021). In such a climate of unpredictability, online learning has been turned into the predominant choice of education during the COVID-19 pandemic as it, both in synchronous and asynchronous forms, can provide flexibility of time and place, accessibility of information and resources, equity in access to education, learning opportunities in distance education programs and innovations in education (Roy & Abdin, 2023; Xie et al., 2020). Despite these benefits, the abrupt transition to online teaching and learning has posed various challenges to students and teachers. Studies have found that this urgent shift has raised many questions surrounding online learning and creating many challenges for teachers and students. These challenges include unavailability of electronic devices, limited internet access, poor internet coverage and speed, unfamiliarity, and inadequate experience in dealing with online learning platforms, difficulty in developing online course content and assessing online learning outcomes (Al-Baadani & Abbas, 2020; Almahasees et al., 2021, Dutta & Smita, 2020; Fawaz et al., 2021; Roy et al., 2023; Xie et al., 2020). Despite the above drawbacks, online learning has been an indispensable choice for continuing education in this new normal period of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in response to the transformation in the pandemic crisis, students’ online learning behaviour patterns have changed. Students’ mental and health issues like disruptions of study, obstacles in interactivity, engagement and encouragement, distraction, stress, anxiety, depression, lack of self-regulation and study motivation have been associated with this new online learning behaviour (Al-Baadani & Abbas, 2020; Chiu, 2022; Dutta & Smita, 2020; Kapasia et al., 2020; Xie et al., 2020). It is argued that a particular amount of independence, discipline, persistence, responsibility, and maturity are prerequisites in online learning (Xie et al., 2020). Therefore, students’ motivation plays a significant role in online learning as motivation drives learners to be enthusiastic enough to set apparent goals and succeed in attaining those goals.
Motivation is a key to learning and academic achievement (Fairchild et al., 2005). Brophy (2010) has viewed motivation as “a theoretical construct to explain the initiation, direction, intensity, persistence, and quality of behaviour, especially goal-directed behaviour” (p. 3). Motivation, an engine of learning (Paris & Turner, 1994), can spread impact on what, when, and how we learn (Schunk & Usher, 2012). Etymologically, it refers to what moves one to action and helps predict learning, performance, and behaviour change (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Students need to be adequately motivated to promote learning and increase effort, persistence and enhance performance (Buckley & Doyle, 2016), as motivation can stir their reflection, attention, and interest in learning. Studies found that motivated students tend to take charge of challenging activities, engage actively, and enjoy those activities, adopt a profound approach to learning and exhibit excellent performance, continuity and creativity (Schunk et al., 2008). It is also discussed that students’ motivation is linked to the achievement of learning outcomes (Hsu et al., 2019). Therefore, having knowledge and understanding about motivation is highly important to improve students’ learning.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Academic Performance: Academic performance is the term that indicates a student’s achievement after completing a course or subject from an institution. It measures students’ learning across various academic subjects, which is assessed by formative and summative assessments. It refers to the outcome of students’ efforts to attain some educational goals.
Online Learning: Online learning is a learning process provided through internet platforms and different multimedia modalities. It helps students by providing flexibility of time and pace in both synchronous and asynchronous forms and can connect students and teachers of diverse geographical backgrounds. Online learning is also mentioned by different terms such as e-learning, computer-assisted instruction, web-based learning, and Internet-based learning.
Situational Interest: Situational interest is a short-term interest that appears spontaneously for environmental factors and engages students in a specific class or course. It is generally aroused by the intensity of attractiveness towards a situation that may or may not last long.
Self-Regulated Learning: Self-regulated learning is a learning process by which a learner tries to control his or her behaviour towards learning. Learner initiates to learn, motivate and regulate action to learn to achieve expertise, knowledge and self-development. It does not refer to students’ innate ability but rather skills to be enhanced to support students in directing themselves through learning.
Intrinsic Motivation: Intrinsic motivation indicates internal force or internal rewards that lead to the actions. Inherent satisfaction is the driving force for intrinsic motivation. It is associated with one’s curiosity to learn, interest to perform tasks, and eagerness to confront challenges and not related to prizes or rewards.
Motivation: Motivation is a force or energy that leads human beings towards any goal. Without motivation, students cannot do any work spontaneously. Motivation guides one’s behaviour to be creative, competent, and successful in every endeavour. It boosts interest and engagement to perform any action willingly.
Pandemic: Pandemic is an outbreak of an active infectious illness that can spread over a huge area and affect many people’s lives. It is a kind of global epidemic of high prevalence. Generally, the reasons behind the pandemic are the rapid spreading of infectious agents like bacteria or viruses.
Self-Directed Learning: Self-directed learning is a process by which a learner can arrange, manage and evaluate his or her learning opportunities. It is a learning strategy that gives learners access to take charge and responsibility of their own learning out of integrity, intrinsic motivation, and perseverance. Learners can identify their own learning needs, set goals, choose strategies for learning and diagnosis, and evaluate their achievements of learning outcomes.