Essay Summary: Academic Degree and Initial Motivational Orientation

Submitted By gurjots
Words: 313
Pages: 2

In the article “Initial motivational orientation of students enrolling in undergraduate degrees” by David Kember, Amber Ho, and Celina Hong, the authors claim that a well-educated workforce is the chief catalyst of prosperous, knowledge-based economies for developed countries. Stating that governments are looking to expand the intake to higher education, they deem the importance of understanding students’ motivation to enroll in a university and choose a program to be quite significant. Emphasizing the fact that “critical thinking, problem-solving, communication skills and the ability to work in teams” are essential attributes needed in an exemplary workforce, the authors conduct a study to attempt to understand the motivations of students to enter university, study and obtain a degree. The aim of their study was to take a developed motivational orientation framework designed to reveal motivation for studying and extend it to illustrate motivation for enrolment, thereby giving them a conceptual model with which they could explain why students choose to apply to a university and enroll. The authors encompass their study to explain the nature of motivation to study as well, justifying this decision by asserting that “Attitudes to studying prior and subsequent to the decision to enter university will be implicitly related to doing so.” Implementing a framework consisting of individual interviews with 36 undergraduate students and six facets categorized as compliance, individual