my research is in full swing...

When I began considering topics for my research paper, I knew I wanted to focus on education. I began thinking, which got me thinking about thinking… How do we learn and how does the learning process work? While researching information on these ideas, the word motivation became very familiar which lead to me to include; What role does motivation take in learning and what factors influence motivation? Into my questions I want to answer for my final research paper. When a student encounters the learning process there are many ways in which learning occurs and many factors that influence their ability to learn such as prior knowledge, their learning environment, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and social aspects. Some factors that influence a student’s ability to learn include what prior knowledge they possess, how information is organized in a manner to easily understand during the learning process and how it is organized to maximize memorization and retention. Each of these factors includes strategies to enhance learning. Another factor that influences learning is motivation. Gender and the environment are two aspects to consider when talking about motivation in academics. There are two kinds of motivation I am looking into during my research, intrinsic and extrinsic, which is motivation that comes from within or from an outside influence. Many parties including teachers, peers, and the learner themselves can influence motivation. I learned from one of my sources that students that are highly motivated could positively influence other students while working in small groups. Academic motivation to perform well can have a great impact on the outcome of how well they actually do. Learning takes place in a social environment and this is an important factor to consider including how the physical environment is set up to enhance learning, how students are interacting, and how the teacher is impacting the students and their learning. Teachers need to take into consideration that students learn in different ways and are different levels of academic performance. A classroom has many levels of abilities and understandings that create many different approaches to learning.

I think the knowledge I have obtained thus far in my research is very general and I need to continue to narrow down my topic and be more specific. I think I have partial responses to the questions I want to answer for my final research paper but I do not think I have enough information to form complete answers yet. I need to find an opposing view on my topic. I think this is going to be a task because I am taking note in my research that there are many ways in which people learn. I think my argument has more than one viewpoint and this is something I need to strongly considering refining for my final topic.

Sources I have looked at so far are listed as citations below.

Ambrose, Susan A., Michael W. Bridges, Michele DiPietro, Marsha C. Lovett, and Marie K. Norman. How Learning Works. 1^st ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2010. Print.

Dunn, Rita, and Shirley A. Griggs. Learning Styles: Quiet Revolution in American Secondery Schools. Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1988. Print.

Lei, Simon A. “Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Evaluating Benefits and Drawback from College Instructors’ Perspectives.” Journal of Instructional Psychology. 37.2: pp 153-160. Online Journal.

Riener, Cedar, and Daniel Willingham. “Myth of Learning Styles.” 42.5 Sept/Oct 2010. 32-35. Web.

Saab, Nadira, van Joolingen, Wouter R., van Hout-Wolters, B.H.A.M. “The Relation of Learners’ Motivation with the Process of Collaborative Scientific Discovery Learning.” Educational Studies 35.2 (2009): pp 205-222. Online Journal.

Tan, Seref. "Perception of Students on Factors in Motivation to Learn." e-Journal of New World Sciences Academy 4.1 (2009): n. pag. Web. 28 Feb 2011.