Motivación para el aprendizaje en estudiantes de la Universidad de Cuenca

Abstract

Motivation has always been linked to the process of learning, and has been a point of reference for a correct academic achievement, thus, the main goal of this research is to “determine the learning motivation of the students from the Psychology Faculty of the University of Cuenca” which is located in Cuenca City, in the Azuay state. The research was made in a descriptive manner, in here we compare groups using a quantitative methodology, because, the level of motivation of the students was contrasted with their academic performance. The test subjects were 43 students from the freshman years of the Psychology school, who fulfilled with the criteria established for this study, and for the gathering of information, the Test named “MAPE II” which evaluates learning motivation was used. The tool used for data analysis, was SPSS v.20, alongside with Microsoft Office Excel 2013 which was used for graphics and statistical tables. Through the use of these tools, it was determined that 51.2% of test subjects have a quite low learning motivation, in comparrison to the 39.5% of students who feel motivated towards learning. It was also shown in this analysis that motivation and academic performance are not correlated, that because the lowest grade (23/50) was obtained by individuals who are very motivated, on the other hand individuals that show less motivation obtained (48/50). This leads to the conclusion that motivation indeed plays a role in the proccess of learning, but does not solely defines it.